Pink News Paper: Newsflash

Pink News Paper has been sent a press release, Fagburn can reveal.
It is understood that this press release was sent by someone and has something to do with The Gays.
Although it is of fuck all interest to anyone beyond the people that sent it, it has been faithfully reproduced verbatim.
The Pulitzer Prize is surely in the post.

Mr Gay UK: Great Last Paragraphs Of Our Time

"The return of the contest follows controversy around previous winners – namely, Anthony Francis Morley, who was charged with the murder of Damian Oldfield."

Who he ate.
Quote from the endlessly stupid Pink Paper.

Scotland: The 60 Per Cent Solution

"The recent Scottish Social Attitudes survey found that more than 60 per cent of people in Scotland felt that same sex marriage couples should have the right to marry, compared to 19 per cent who disagreed. The Scottish Government is committed to equality and diversity for all and that is why we pledged to come forward with a consultation on same sex marriage and religious ceremonies for civil partnerships."

Nicola Sturgeon MSP, from The Scottish Government website and news release.
No need to consultate - just do it.

Manhunt: Mom's Talk

"I never thought this would be me: A liberal feminist complaining about a sex-positive, homosexual billboard. Like that would ever happen.

"Well, it has and here it is. Because I’m also a single mom complaining about her child’s premature loss of innocence, caused by driving past this billboard every day on the way to elementary school. Twice a day, since the image is on both sides of the billboard on Cahuenga, the only way to get to and from school for many Valley View Elementary families.

"You try explaining the “Zero feet away MANHUNT MOBILE” phone application to your 9-year-old son. A 9-year-old who loves Army guys, and so noticed the dog tags right away.

"It’s not the blatant porn-iness of the over-lit image, or that it is of two men. It would be equally annoying if it were hetero. It’s the fact that I am forced to figure out a way to frame to my fourth-grader the fact that some people like to find causal sex partners fast using their mobile phones..."

US Mom's Talk columnist Kelly Cole.
Fuck heavens when you come to explain how babies are made.

"Since I have a ten year old boy and I live in the neighborhood I'm an expert on this dilemma. Really!

"I'm not a feminist and I'm not pro-sex but I have to say that the corridor she's talking about is positively littered with billboards that have T&A selling things. This is not the most offensive billboard, not by a long shot.

"Here's what worries me about raising my ten year old son in Los Angeles:

1. I hope he will get a good education.
2. I hope he will be kind to others
3. I hope others will be kind to him
4. I worry that he will crack his head open... again.
5. I worry that there will be an earthquake
6. I worry that he won't love me as much as I love him.
7. I know that he won't love me as much as I love him.
8. I worry that his teachers won't see him as being articulate and interesting.
9. I worry that he will not develop good judgement.
10. I worry that the fundamentalists will make America awful for him.
#'s 10-764 are sort of the same
765. I worry that he'll see a billboard of two really hot guys almost kissing.

Post on StudioCity.com

GT: New Cover Star!

I literally have no idea who the fuck this is.

PSA: Don't Say Gay

Apparently this kid just made this as a Public Servicement Announcement in the States.
Great stuff, sir.

N30: Today

Gary Speed: Mystery

I wonder what the tabloids do know?

The Daily Mail: John Bercow's Heraldry Shame

Balls?
But I read it in The Daily Mail...

Leveson Inquiry: Chris Jefferies

Christopher Jefferies told the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking and media ethics how his life was turned upside down over a fortnight of press intrusion in December last year when he was arrested and released without charge over the murder of Bristol architect Joanna Yeates.

The retired schoolmaster said that allegations were made associating him with a convicted paedophile.

He said that person was somebody who was not on the staff of the establishment where he was teaching but had at one time lived in one of the flats in the building where he lives.

"He had sold that flat to somebody else, who sold it to another person, it was that person who I eventually bought the flat from. There was a very considerable gap."

Robert Jay QC says the allegations were "tenuous, indeed fatuous".

He went on to say that there were also claims that he was sexually perverted.

"It was certainly suggested that there may well have been some sort of sexual motivation for the murder of Joanna Yeates," he said.

He went on to say that some articles suggested that he was gay.

"So that created a bit of a problem as far as that particular line was concerned. I think it was then suggested in another article that the answer was that I was a bisexual. The press were trying to have it every possible way," he said.

Daily Telegraph blog.

I'll try and post the full transcript when it comes...

Ken Russell: 1927-2011

Thank you for being one of the most magnificently queeny straight men who ever drew breath.

Daily Star: Gary Speed RIP

Rumour has it Gary Speed killed himself because a tabloid was about to out him (allegedly).

Gay Dad: LOL

I was walking to the newsagents last Saturday when I heard someone call out my name. I looked over and there was a figure I vaguely recognised as the mother of one of Ed's friends from school.

"Sorry to accost you, but there's something I felt I should tell you," she said, with a concerned expression. I wondered if Ed, my eight-year-old, had been causing trouble, or whether she just felt my hi-tops didn't go with the jeans I was wearing.

"I was driving Ed and Jack home from school a few days ago," she continued, "and I'm afraid I heard Jack ask Ed if you were gay."

I stared blankly.

"I suppose I wanted to apologise, really, in case Ed was upset and had said anything to you."

I wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Oh gosh, how strange," I spluttered. "What did Ed say?"

"Well, he didn't seem that bothered at the time. He told Jack that you weren't gay, you just worked in fashion."

I laughed out loud, thanked her, and pottered off. But it did get me thinking. First, I wondered how Ed really did feel about being asked that question; and second, what on earth had made her son think I might be gay in the first place? I'd only met Jack a couple of times and, as far as I could recall, hadn't been dressed as RuPaul and wasn't watching Sex and the City.

The Observer's Gay Dad.
Almost certainly the only weekly column in a British newspaper written under a pseudonym.
Dat's progress!

Brian Sewell Watch: Might Be Useful To Somebody

"I'm toying with the idea of leaving the country. I have a clique of old ladies and I hope to God that they don't read the book because I'm sure that they will all run away, horrified. But it did seem to me that if I was going to write the damn book, I should be absolutely, scrupulously honest. There are still hundreds and hundreds of young homosexuals saying: "I can't tell my mother." And I thought that talking about my own homosexuality, how it began and how it developed, might be useful to somebody."

Brian Sewell in The Observer.
Fagburn notes with some delight that Private Eye now calls him "Brian R Sewell".

Michael Barrymore: Busted

S'funny, but sad, but I was trying to explain just the other day how the tabloid press works, in a post-blatant homophobia age.
I used Michael Barrymore as an example of the "pantomime villain".
Who can do no right.
Ever.
Boo! Hiss! etc.
Endlessly dredged up - they clearly won't be happy til he dies.
Poor sod.

William S Burroughs: Vs Fagburn

I'm an anarchist, so I think people should only compete against themselves.
I'd have won, though.

Sunday Express: Beyond Satire

Alan Turing: On Pointlessness

If Alan Turing was alive today, he surely would have scoffed at people starting pointless e-petitions like this.
What's the point of pardoning him when the damage is done?
Who - actually - gives a fuck?
To show you care?
Squish squish! *makes sad face*
What will it change?
Do you think anyone takes any notice of these?
Apart from the apolitical moral retards that sign them?
Do you really think the Mayor of St Petersburg cares what some faggots in the West have voted for online?
Are you that thick that you think that our government takes any notice of them?
Or maybe they were made-up by them as another distraction from what's really going on?
Just another way to keep you in your place.
Start and sign all the on-line petitions you want - won't do any harm.
But it won't do any good.
Real change will take more than clicking your fucking mouse.

Tom Daley Watch: Tom Daley Watch Watch

I note that "a popular gay magazine" has now also started a 'Tom Daley Watch' thing (Attitude, page 18, December 2011).
While Fagburn does not hold the copyright on watching our spirited young Olympic hopeful, Tom Daley, nor - indeed - does Fagburn have any particular purchase on the conflation of the words "Tom", "Daley" and "Watch", but he is mine.
So back off!
Good day.

Fagburn: Burnt Out

Gordon Ramsay's Perfect Xmas Dinner, cheap tickets to Disneyland, 2 free mags inside, six free eggs
It was good enough for Posh & Becks.
This is your world.
This is what you want.
And this is what you get.
"Is she dead, yet?"
"That which appears is good
that which is good appears"
Fagburn is going to take a short break.
There's nothing to say beyond my inarticulate rage.
"What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence"
For fuck's fuck fucking sake.

George Michael: Some Speculation

LONDON (AP) — George Michael's management says the singer has canceled all his remaining 2011 tour dates as he recovers from pneumonia.

A statement says the 48-year-old former Wham! frontman "is responding to treatment and slowly improving."

The statement issued Friday says Michael "is ill with pneumonia and any other speculation regarding his illness is unfounded and untrue."

Michael was hospitalized in Vienna earlier this week, and canceled shows in Vienna, Strasbourg, France, and Cardiff, Wales.

The Austrian doctors treating Michael say he has "severe community acquired pneumonia" but "his condition has stabilized and he is responding to treatment."

The singer has canceled dates in Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and London.

Associated Press.

Several media have played the same sick trick as this BBC News story - ending apropos of nothing with the line; "Earlier this month Michael played a gig at the Royal Opera House in London, to raise money for Sir Elton John's Aids Foundation."
Freddie Mercury died 20 years ago yesterday of bronchio-pneumonia brought on by Aids.
One tabloid front page screamed just before he died; "What have you got to hide, Freddie?"
Maybe George has nothing to hide?
The sickfuck slime of Wapping are clearly salivating, hoping this is as bad as it could possibly be, history repeating...
I fear we're about to see British tabloid journalism at its very worst once more.
Remember - no-one knows anything.
And most people with pneumonia just have pneumonia.
Get well soon, George.

x

The Daily Mail: From The Message Boards

"I think Ms/Miss/Mrs Moir is a very clever woman and one who is worthy of an award for services to humankind. May the Lord smile sweetly pon her. I didn't really read what she wrote but from her photo ALONE, I believe she is a blessed national figure. All the billy best!"

- Robin Cooper , London, England, 25/11/2011 11:11

I think you've spoken for us all there, Robin.

Butt: Back

Butt's back in print.
But you probably knew that.
Available from the usual stockists (ie two places in London).

Terence Davies: Happy Talk!

“Being gay has ruined my life! I hate it. I’ll go to my grave hating it. Which is why I have been celibate. One-night stands are not for me. I was not good looking. I did not have a good body. Nobody was interested when I was young. Now I am old. I am still not good looking. I know what I am. I will always loathe it. It has killed part of my soul.”

Terence Davies interviewed in The Irish Times.
Funny, you'd never guess he had such a bleak view of gayery from his fillums...
Ooh look! She's got one of those websites!

Justin Bieber: Advert Of The Advent Season

Adorable!
Lovingly borrowed from Queerty.

Leveson Inquiry: Consenting Adults

“The problem is that if you could breach privacy merely because you disapproved of what someone was doing or it was not to your taste, you would be all over the place.
“Because sexual behaviour covers a huge variety of things, and when you start analysing it, what I might like someone else might hate, and vice-versa, so where would it stop?
“The rational thing is to say that provided it’s adults and provided it’s in private and provided everybody consents, genuinely consents, then it’s nobody else’s business.
“The idea that it’s in some way the function of tabloid journalists to pillory people whose taste may be unusual is completely outdated.
“If that had not disappeared, we would still be persecuting homosexuals, the gay community would be at risk, or anybody else.”

Max Mosley talking to the Leveson Inquiry this afternoon.
Well said.
It doesn't matter what you think about Mr Mosley, he - like anyone - should be free to pursue and perform whatever sexual acts he wants to without having them "exposed" in the press.
One would have hoped this was recognised as such a fundamental human right - the right to privacy - it didn't need saying.
Mosley also put up £3million for anyone who wanted to sue the News of The World over phone hacking, which I presume is how Chris Bryant could pursue his case against News International...

Gary Barlow: Don't Do What I Liked

"The other day I wanted some music in the kitchen and put on one of the music TV channels and a video came on which was so rude I had to turn it off because my nine-year-old was with me.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude but I don't think I really want my children who are nine, 11 and two seeing these kind of videos at that age. I'm a parent."

Stupid Tory Gary Barlow talking to OK! Magazine - and picked up by all the tabloids.

Please let me know what you think about this video for Take That's first single, Do What U Like.
WOULD YOU LET YOUR KIDS WATCH THAT FILTH???

George Michael: Hold The Front Page

Strange that this is front-page news.
Are we meant to read something into it?
Still, guess the tabloids are happy for any distraction from the McCanns' "damning testimony" at the Leveson inquiry yesterday...

Pepper Spraying Cop: Toto, I've A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Nice guy.
More oddly amusing artistic re-imaginings of this cruel cunt's 15 minutes on this here Tumblr.

PS Apparently/allegedly etc... In 2008, Police Lt. John Pike, the police officer who pepper-sprayed peaceful protesters at UC David last week, was the accused in an anti-gay abuse case, which ended up costing his police department $250,000 in a settlement...
More here.

Freddie Mercury: Lest We Forget

Freddie Mercury died twenty years ago today.
Let's not forget how the tabloids hounded him to his death.
The above Sun front page shows a photo taken with a long lens camera of Freddie walking around his walled garden in his last few days.
The other members of Queen were so disgusted that they still will not deal with the Murdoch press.

Pinkwashing: Gay Rights As Zionist PR Tool

"In 2005, with help from American marketing executives, the Israeli government began a marketing campaign, “Brand Israel,” aimed at men ages 18 to 34. The campaign, as reported by The Jewish Daily Forward, sought to depict Israel as “relevant and modern.” The government later expanded the marketing plan by harnessing the gay community to reposition its global image.

"Last year, the Israeli news site Ynet reported that the Tel Aviv tourism board had begun a campaign of around $90 million to brand the city as “an international gay vacation destination.” The promotion, which received support from the Tourism Ministry and Israel’s overseas consulates, includes depictions of young same-sex couples and financing for pro-Israeli movie screenings at lesbian and gay film festivals in the United States. (The government isn’t alone; an Israeli pornography producer even shot a film, “Men of Israel,” on the site of a former Palestinian village.)

"The growing global gay movement against the Israeli occupation has named these tactics “pinkwashing”: a deliberate strategy to conceal the continuing violations of Palestinians’ human rights behind an image of modernity signified by Israeli gay life. Aeyal Gross, a professor of law at Tel Aviv University, argues that “gay rights have essentially become a public-relations tool,” even though “conservative and especially religious politicians remain fiercely homophobic.”..."

The great Sarah Schulman writing in The New York Times (surprisingly).
See if you can spot the four page (!) front-of-house foldover ad from the Israel Government Tourism Office in your favourite gay mag this month.
Don't forget to read that fascinating history of the Galilee - but see if you can spot who's missing from it?

Schools: A Good Lesson

"I think homophobia is the norm for young people because all the time they are trying to prove they are heterosexual. The challenge is to get our kids through school not thinking it's the worst thing in the world to be gay."

Suran Dickson, a former teacher who now runs workshops to tackle homophobia, quoted in The Guardian's Hideously Diverse Britain.

#Occupy: Turning Rebellion Into Moneyshots

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Strictly Come Dancing: Sod's Law

"When Len Goodman called fellow hoofing judge Craig Revel Horwood "a silly little sod", he used a word that has made the reverse journey from dark to light. In its probably 19th-century origins, the insult imputed sodomy until, along with "bugger", becoming a mild and even semi-affectionate rebuke. In online discussions some objecting viewers suspected an anti-camp or homophobic subtext in the TV exchange. I doubt that Goodman intended this, but such judgments are subtle; if he had called the professedly bisexual Revel Horwood a "silly bugger", he would almost certainly have his next few Saturday evenings free because that word retains more of its pejorative power..."

The great Mark Lawson writing in The Guardian on the Strictly Come Dancing Sod debate, and on the acceptability of swearing.
Fagburn has to confess this one completely passed me by - but here's the Daily Mail's outraged account;
'Strictly Out Of Order: Swearing Len Goodman prompts 600 complaints - Judge's 'silly sod' comment attracts hundreds of complaints'
Some people just like complaining, don't they?
Maybe in the future the word "gay" will also drift free of its homosexual meaning and become "a mild and even semi-affectionate rebuke"?
Just like "cunt" has.

UK Aid & Gay Rights: Mad World

A statement is issued by Kaleidoscope Trust - the new UK-based "international organisation to support gay men and lesbians around the world."
They had a meeting yesterday with the Secretary of State For International Development, Andrew Mitchell MP;
"Mr Mitchell said the government did not want changes to British UK aid policy to have any damaging effect on LGBT communities in recipent countries and promised to examine closely the the impact of ministerial comments. He said the government's position had been wrongly reported as a threat to cut aid or to single out LGBT rights as a condition for aid. Aid levels would not be cut but could be switched in response to human rights violations."
Peter Tatchell also attended the meeting.
An email from Peter this morning is headed;
'UK won't cut aid over LGBTI rights abuses'
His email includes a link to a statement presented to Andrew Mitchell "signed by over 100 African social justice activists, criticising the UK's reported new aid policy..."
The statement says;
"It was widely reported, earlier this month, that the British Government has threatened to cut aid to governments of “countries that persecute homosexuals” unless they stop punishing people in same-sex relationships. These threats follow similar decisions that have been taken by a number of other donor countries against countries such as Uganda and Malawi. While the intention may well be to protect the rights of LGBTI people on the continent, the decision to cut aid disregards the role of the LGBTI and broader social justice movement on the continent and creates the real risk of a serious backlash against LGBTI people..."
Peter Tatchell also reports that at yesterdays meeting Andrew Mitchell "explained his government's aid policy had been 'misrepresented by some media'.
"Contrary to media reports, Mr Mitchell confirmed that this aid conditionality was never primarily based on a recipient government's respect for LGBTI rights. Human rights adherence is one of the four pillars of UK aid conditionality and LGBTI rights is just one dimension of respect for human rights, he said."
Good to hear.
But why oh why didn't anyone check this story at the time and point out it was a distortion of government policy?
Oh hang on... Fagburn did.
It was hardly breaking Watergate - all I did was phone the Department for International Development and check.
Took ten minutes.
Did anyone else point out that the supposed story 'We'll cut your aid if you persecute gays, Britain warns African nations' was an invention of The Daily Mail?
It's days like this I feel like giving up...

James Maker: First Prize

Fagburn extends its warmest congratulations to James Maker for winning this year's Polari First Book Prize.
The award is given to "a first book exploring the queer experience" - this was the first year it was held.
Fagburn has always been a big fan of the man and his bands Raymonde (especially) and RPLA.
Impressively his racy memoirs Autofellatio were first self-published an an e-book, but has since been published as a "proper book" by an independent, Bigfib.
It's a whole new gay publishing paradigm!

Spain: Those Election Results In Full

Daily Express: Di! Di! Di!

'RUSSELL GRANT: MY FRIEND DIANA WAS MURDERED'

For The Daily Express it's the story that's got it all; Diana's death - sorry MURDER, Strictly Come Dancing, and some loopy astrology bollocks.
And all they had to do was lift some quotes from an interview in the current Radio Times!
Russell Grant, a "friend" and "confidant" of the fated Princess, said he predicted her death/murder; "I warned her. I said, ‘Don’t go there love. Just don’t go anywhere with him. You’ve got to knock this on the head...'"
So Russell whodunnit???
"Who knows?"
Case closed!
So the Express can finally stop flogging this dead clothes' horse now, eh?

Bradley Manning: Finally Gets First Day In Court

After 17 months in custody, Bradley Manning's pre-trial hearing will begin on Friday December 16th at Fort Meade, Maryland.
This is the day before Bradley's 24th birthday.
Actions are planned on both days - and throughout the hearing which is expected to last five days.

From Bradley Manning Support Network.

Shelagh Delaney: 1939-2011

Shelagh take a bow...

BBC News: Partial To Large Plugs

From the BBC News website.
The last line has since been changed to; "British fashion expert Gok Wan is also partial to large wooden ear plug adornments but it is not known if these are being used to stretch his lobe."
But why???

From The Media Blog.

Alan Turing: His Year Starts Here

Tonight on the tellybox, Channel 4 is showing a drama documentary about the last month's of Alan Turing's life, Britain's Greatest Codebreaker.
Turing arguably did more than anyone to help Britain and the Allies beat the Nazis, and then his country killed him.
Thanks Britain.
The programme has prompted glowing profiles in The Sunday Times - Outcast Who Gave Us The Modern World - and the Daily Telegraph.
Alan Garner wrote about Turing as My Hero in The Guardian last Saturday.
We're swiftly approaching the centenary of Turing's birth - 2012 has been declared Alan Turing Year.
There are events being held across the world all year.
His biographer Alan Hodges maintains an extremely informative website dedicated to Alan's life and work - here.

Benetton: As Boring As Their Knitwear

The Guardian's Comment Is Free on some Benetton ad that shows the Pope kissing an Egyptian imam.
Snore!
Big company release "controversial" ad, big company generates lots of free publicity - haven't heard that one before.
Stick to selling jumpers, dear.

PS It seems the posters appeared in a few Benetton shops in Italy, and were swiftly withdrawn. Job done?
In 1992 Benneton's ad, 'David Kirby', showed the aforenamed Aids activist on his deathbed surrounded by grieving friends and family.
Just about the only text on the ads was a phone number for Benetton - there was no number given for any HIV/Aids organisation.
What cocks.

Brian Sewell: The Condensed Interview

“You have no idea how immediate, how cahzual it could be...”
“f****** dreadful”
“drunken slut”
“something of a prostitute”.
“a whoouuuer”
“my umisixlitay is one of the most important, formative elements in my life”
“I was damned for being queer”.
“And even the most homosexual of young men can shut their eyes and let it happen if it’s being done well.”
“like Diana looked at Endymion”
“sex between the old is ridiculous and sex between the old and the young is even more ridiculous.”
“I can’t say anything”
“not capable of doing anything as well as men”
“like jack russell bitches who grab something and won’t let go”.
“a man in drag”.
“And I didn’t have a little Scottish boy. The poisonous old woman.”
“Agh, my spine!"

All quotes from an interview in The Sunday Times.

Sir Cliff Of Richard: Mind Your Own Business

'The buried aggression keeps surfacing. The compulsion to hit journalists stems mainly from our “impertinent” inquiries into his private life, which often focus on his relationship with a priest, John McElyn, who lives and travels with him. “If I was gay, of what business is it of anyone else?” Yes, but surely there are many gay people who would appreciate a man of Cliff’s stature coming out, if indeed he is gay, I say. “I may well be gay. But supposing I am and I don’t want to talk about it? I have every right as a human being not to.”
'I’m confused again. Is this an admission? Or a poor choice of words. “Do you feel like hitting me?” I ask.
'“No. No I don’t.” he says..."

Interview in The Sunday Times.
Earlier this year Cliff came out in favour of gay marrriage on Woman's Hour.
Whatever next!?

Pink Paper: Mind Your Language 2

In what could be a historical first, The Pink Paper has got a story no-one else has!
Mind you, it is about PinkPaper.com - a gripping readers' poll to be precise.
"The overwhelming majority of PinkPaper.com readers believe that the term 'openly-gay' is not offensive, according to our latest online poll.
"The results come after author Stella Duffy used micro-blogging site Twitter to suggest that PinkPaper.com has been "taken over by the Daily Mail" for using the phrase in a recent article..."
Duffy was descrbed as "openly gay" in an item about the Green Carnation book awards.
She Tweeted;
"UTTERLY bemused (and not a little riled) by the weird gay press and Guardian reportage of Green Carnation shortlist. 1. if the shortlist were only 'famous' authors it would really have been something to complain about; 2. Colm Toibin and Jackie Kay ARE famous ffs. sigh. and grr. "(completed weirded by the PinkPaper referring to me as 'openly-gay' - OPENLY-GAY?, what, like self-confessed?! have they been taken over by the Daily Mail? very odd.)"
[Edit: This first bit above wasn't tweeted - see Stella Duffy's reply below].
"dear PinkPaper, 'openly-gay' is as offensive as 'self-confessed'."
According to Pink Paper, 97% agreed it wasn't offfensive, and three per cent of disagreed.
(Which could mean around 33 people voted).
Dear Pink Paper - and dear Guardian - a simple rule for journalists to follow is to avoid using any word or phrase you wouldn't use in everyday speech.
Like openly-gay, gays or homosexual.
And the gay media doesn't need to continually point out that a well-known person is gay or openly gay - we all know Graham Norton is, thanks.
Just a few thoughts...

PS This story appeared several days ago, but I'm running it now in tribute to PinkPaper.com's editorial standards.

Daily Fail: "Plans To Teach Homosexuality To Six-Year-Olds" Official!

Just got sent this.
I thought it was a mocked-up piss-take of The Daily Mail at its most barking.
Well, obviously the left-hand side is taking the piss out of them, and it is the Mail at their most HOWLING AT THE FUCKING MOON loon, but anyway...
Here's the Mail's made-up scare story.
The Mail really think their readers are that thick.
"And then they teach them about rimming, it's true - I READ IT IN THE DAILY MAIL!!!"
Amazeballs!

The Guardian: Mind Your Language

A Challenge To The Guardian: It's time to drop the word 'homosexual'

Gary Nunn, Guardian Mind Your Language Blog.
A good piece, but my main spat with The Guardian is how they more regularly use the ludicrously out-of-touch phrase "gays" (25,153 times according to their search engine), as opposed to "homosexuals" (8,937).
This contravenes The Guardian's Style Guide which says;
'gay - should be used as an adjective rather than a noun: a gay man, gay people, gay men and lesbians not "gays and lesbians"'
Gay men only use "gays" as an ironic dig at bigots.
I keep bringing it up with The Guardian Style people, and they always agree it's daft and offensive - so flip knows how all these "gays" keep slipping through the net.

John Waters: This Filthy Mainstream

“I think when people come to see my movies or read my books or come to my Christmas show, they want me to take them somewhere they wouldn’t go. And with me as their guide, they never get mad, because I’m not saying you should do this. I’m saying, isn’t it amazing, human behaviour?”

With his books never out of print, his films on Netflix, children going to the Broadway versions and Waters narrating the part of Jessica the Hippo for Animal Planet, I ask how he likes life in the mainstream. “It’s great. It’s the final irony in my life,” he answers. “I think we need a new vocabulary, because [now] everybody wants to be an outsider. When I was one, no one wanted to be one.”

He has mixed feelings about gay culture becoming mainstream: “I miss it … I’m for gay marriage. I don’t want to do it, but I certainly think people should be allowed to, and I wouldn’t vote for anybody that would be against it. But at the same time, why do we have to be good now? Why can’t we be villains in movies?” He says it’s good that more people are able to come out of the closet, but adds: “I wish some gay people would go back in. We have enough...”

Britain's weekend broadsheets continue their obsession with John Waters - as FT Weekend lets him complete the set this year.
I like the FT billing it as "a rare at-home interview" - he's famous for inviting journalists to interview him at home (or one of his homes).
Mr Waters is doing a Christmas thing at the Royal Festival Hall I understand;
“I’m trying to open up new questions such as, is Santa erotic?”

Eddie Mair: Newspaper In Not Quite Understanding Camp Humour Shock!

MIAOW... saucer of milk for Radio 4.
A catfight erupted yesterday after one of the BBC’s most senior broadcasters threw a hissy fit live on air.
Business editor Robert Peston – known as Pesto – had just finished a report on Bank of England head Sir Mervyn King for the afternoon news magazine show PM.
Programme host Eddie Mair then told him: “It was lovely to see you.”
Pesto shot back: “Well, it’s lovely to be back again. Why did you cast me out into the wilderness again?”
Mair, 46, replied with a curt: “Well, anyway we have to press on. Thank you.”
Sources say there is “no love lost” between the pair and that their feud had been simmering for some time.

Daily Mirror.
God I love Eddie Mair...

J Edgar: Hoover 2

"He was a man of mystery," [Director Clint Eastwood] told ABC's "Good Morning America" last week. "He might have been [gay]. I am agnostic about it. I don't really know and nobody really knew."

ABC News asks the question we're all thinking;
J. Edgar Hoover: Gay or Just a Man Who Has Sex With Men?
Fagburn thinks a dude who has sex with another dude is probably a bit gay, but thanks for asking.
I wonder if Clint is similarly agnostic about Dustin Lance Black?

Ruth Davidson: "Dysfunctional Morons"

Unintentionally hilarious interview in The Guardian with Ruth Davidson "the crop-haired former kickboxer and ex-Territorial Army officer" lesbot currently leading the political irrelevancy that is the Scottish Conservative Party.
"That mention of "progressive" is Davidson's only reference to the fact that the Scottish Tories, often associated by critics with intolerant, reactionary politics, have elected, in their first one-member, one-vote contest, a lesbian contender..."
"One of Scotland's most prominent criminal QCs, Paul McBride, lambasted the party as "dysfunctional morons" as he resigned in protest at her victory...
Ah, that'll be the new progressive Tory party for you.