Russia: Why The Independent Is A Complete Joke (Part Of An Ongoing Series)

Can you just NOT!

PS Of course The Independent's anti-Putinism has nothing to do with the billionaire Lebedev's who are bankrolling them.

And in no way is Evgeny Lebedev a big closet case.

Fagburn: For Justin Bieber

Pray for Justin.
Do not hate him just cause he's pretty.
Thank you.

Tom Daley: Eh?

This Guardian "interview" with our Tom is too boring for words.
Shame cause the Jonathan Ross Show showed he's a very bright boy with lots to say.
There's another one of absolutely no consequence in the Mirror.
And a crap one in the Telegraph!
"Quick do some publicity, no-one's watching Splash!"
Fagburn wonders if the gay mags are still being told "No print interviews!"

Update: I am reliably informed they are.

Fagburn Fun Quiz: Can You Guess Which Paper This Is From?

Clue: It's The Daily Mail.

Fagburn: Gay Media Map Of The World

Dreamy top gay sexy holiday destination, Tel Aviv, obscured by occupied clouds.

Thanks to fellow comrade Darren. x

Fagburn: Nothing

My mood today, roughly speaking. x

Pink News: Trending Right Now!

Because gay banality knows no bounds...

Fagburn: Happy Birthday

Gramsci used to get bullied at school, cause of his height and his hunchback.

"Until one day I threw stones back - I felt exalted!"

Today's Sochi Balls: Take That Putin!

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The Dutch brass band that always performs at Olympic speed skating ovals is considering playing a popular gay song -- "Y.M.C.A." -- at the Sochi Winter Olympics to show its support for gay rights.

It remains to be seen how Russian and Olympic authorities would react should the Kleintje Pils band play a song widely considered to be a gay anthem. A ban on information about "nontraditional sexual relations" signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin has provoked widespread international outrage from critics who believe it discriminates against gays.

Band leader Ruud Bakker told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Kleintje Pils could mix the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." in its sing-along repertoire as "a signal." But he added that the band didn't want to antagonize organizers or turn its performances into a "political game."

"We will see if we can get one or two songs into the selection, knowing that in the Netherlands it will be seen as a signal we are thinking of them (gays)," Bakker said...

This idiocy knows no bounds.

Fagburn: According To Experts

According to experts
The Earth was created by a god 6,000 years ago.*
According to experts
The world is flat

According to experts
The Sun goes around the Earth
According to experts
King's have a divine right to rule
According to experts
Slavery is god-ordained.*
According to experts
Homosexuality is a mental illness
According to experts
Aryans are the master race
According to experts
My dick is 10" long
According to experts
You only got Aids cause you took those drugs
According to experts
You only got Aids cause you didn't take these drugs
According to experts
Capitalism is the natural order of things
According to experts
The universe is made out of wool and string and plasticine
According to experts
Diana went to the Vauxhall Taverrn in drag
According to experts
A lot of "experts" are idiots and charlatans
According to experts
Some people will believe any silly old thing if it's
According to experts
According to experts.

Dedicated to all those who have recently quoted "experts" at me. x

* Not Zeus or Thor or one of hundreds of another gods, but yours, obvs. Cause he's the only real one, "according to experts".

Daily Mail: Bizarre Love Triangle 3

Eagle-eyed viewers may notice the Mail story strangely neglects to mention the Mail's role in this story.

PS Note to Mail picture editor - try and find a photo where Huhne looks 'a bit gay'. Like John Inman or Larry Grayson, say.

Questions To Which The Answer Is No: Part Of An Ongoing Series

Mail!

Thanks to Andrew. x

Dr Dick Swaab (!) first rose to infamy 24 years ago with his claim that the hypothalamus in gay men's brains was a bit funny. 
We have no idea what makes people gay - human understanding may never reach that point.
But projects like this are like the Swiftian folly of trying to extract sunbeams out of cucumbers.
Is it nature or nurture...
Or manure?

PS Guardian interview.

Fagburn: In The Absence Of News

Via OFalafel.

By 9pm last night this was the lead story on BBC Radio 4 News.

Was the suspension of a local councillor who 472 people voted for (!!!) really the biggest story of the day?

Hey-ho...

A lingering look between 2 men at a gym in York has sparked concerns from residents living near the River Ouse
— UkipWeather (@UkipWeather) January 19, 2014

PS Nigel Farage criticises the media reaction to Ukip town councillor David Silvester's claim that recent floods were caused by gay marriage. The Ukip leader says coverage of the event was disproportionate considering Silvester's low status in the party and claims members of the other three parties do not receive such intense scrutiny. Guardian online video.

Sorry, but the right-wing cunt is kinda right this time.

Men's Mags: Wholesome

The circulation of men's magazines such as Loaded, Nuts and Zoo have been in freefall in recent years - but a title with more "wholesome" content claims to be bucking the trend.

Sorted, a men's title with a Christian slant, comes out six times a year and has doubled its circulation over the last year from 20,000 to 40,000.

Launched in 2007, it has a newsstand sale of 2,000 and 3,300 subscribers with the remainder circulated via bulk distribution deals to outlets including bars, gyms and health clubs. Business backers pay for the title to be distributed for free into UK prisons and to the armed forces

The title covers usual men's mag fare of science, football and movies - but also deals with "faith"....

Press Gazette.

Look and learn learn gay mag dudes, look and learn!

These buggers say they're selling 5,000 copies every two months!*

* Magazines tend to exaggerate their sales by 50% to 200%, so draw your own conclusions.

Russia: Putin Speaks!

Pink News et bumpress all - reporting on the Andrew Marr Show interview earlier today, where Putin said he's not homophobic and has gay friends - claimed by stunning GAYPRESSLOGIC this proves PUTIN SECRETLY HATES THE GAYS!!!

Hey Putin! There is no link between being gay and sexualising underage boys

Last year, Pink News famously said Margaret Thatcher was "a gay icon" - "Despite some controversy around Section 28, which in 1987 banned the teaching or promotion of homosexuality" - so why don't they say Uncle Vlad is a gay icon, too?

Thank you Miss Babs!

'Slamming': 'Meteoric' Crap About Gay Men And Drugs By - Surprise! - The Independent

Three times as many gay and bisexual men in London inject drugs than in England as a whole, according to new analysis, which also found that four times as many use crystal meth in the capital than across the rest of the country.

The figures, compiled by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), reinforce experts’ warnings of a “meteoric” rise in the number of gay men injecting drugs such as mephedrone, GHB or crystal meth, in the capital. The trend – known as “slamming” – gives users a more intense high and commonly takes places at sex parties which can go on for several days, according to experts; they warn that the trend could be linked to a disturbing rise in HIV infection rates.

The number of men injecting in a sexual context quadrupled between 2011 and 2013, according to Antidote, the UK’s only lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender drug and alcohol support service. More than 60 per cent of their clients injected drugs last year. This is double the number who injected in 2010. Nine years ago, fewer than 1 per cent were injecting drugs.

Antidote has been “overwhelmed” by men presenting with health conditions from the sexualised use of these drugs – which increase libido while decreasing sexual inhibition...

The Independent.

Apologies for not writing this earlier today.

Even though I've been writing this blog about coverage of gay men in the media for almost four years now, sometimes an article comes along that's so spectacularly shit and cranium-shatteringly stupid that I am - temporarily - literally lost for words.

Of course, one can have nothing but respect for the thoughts of a journalist who bills themselves 'Human Rights Correspondent' - as does Sarah Morrison.

So when she warns of 'a “meteoric” rise in the number of gay men injecting drugs' it's hard not to believe her - even though the number of gay men we are talking about here is so small it's almost statistically insignificant - and not think it's easier to file a news story based on hyperbole and scare-mongering.

And I am sure Sarah has an intimate knowledge of the gay chem-sex parties ("which can go on for several days, according to experts") of which she writes.

One can only admire a journalist who writes an expose that hinges on the word "anecdotally", cites tiny subject-specific self-selecting surveys as "proof", and backs it all up by quoting someone called "Jason (not his real name)".

Likewise, Antidote are a great organisation - and it would be cynical to suggest they have here invented a problem - "Slamming" WTF? - that doesn't really exist as that's how they can get even more funding.

It's not like they have any history of that sort of thing. 

Oh no.

Boys, The Independent On Sunday has discovered we are all fucking and drugging ourselves to death.

Although there is absolutely no evidence for that.

PS Interesting you can't leave comments after this feature. Shame - as every gay man I've communicated with thinks it's a piece of utter shit. I've asked Sarah Morrison and the IoS to get them to turn it on.

PPS The straight - and sometimes sadly gay - press love these kind of unfounded scare stories. See also: "bug chasing", and the imminent invasion of crystal meth - now regularly predicted for 20 years!

Russia: Flag Day

The gay media has gone into predictable full-on "RUSSIA = ANTI-GAY NAZI STATE!!" mode over this one.
I chose to pick Boston Edge - one of the least hysterical - as they might know a bit about the need for security at a high-profile sporting event.
Lest some suicide bombers turn up and kill people like at the last Boston Marathon.
A few brief points...

1. Pavel Lebedev was detained. So far he has not been arrested or charged.

2. This account from GayRussia.eu, citing his fellow activists, said he didn't just unveil a rainbow flag; "Lebedev ran before torchbearer with rainbow flag".

3. He would have been stopped by security for doing something similar - gay or not - at any public event. 

4. For example, 37 people were arrested protesting the London Olympic Torch Relay in 2008.   

5. During the 2012 UK Olympic Torch Relay at least two people were detained for protesting, and two arrested. In Derry, the route had to be diverted after scuffles with the police. Does this make the UK a fascist state?

6. I seriously doubt the Russian security would have any idea what his rainbow flag represented, so this may not be a gay thing.

7. They may have had other security concerns on their minds as at least 39 people were killed in suicide bombings last month, and seven people died in a shoot-out with suspected Islamic terrorists on Wednesday. Just a thought.

I applaud Pavel Lebedev and all Russian gay campaigners, but - as ever - can non-Russian gayers get some perspective on this?

One Direction: Fan Fury After Liam Tweets He Quite Likes A TV Show!

Liam Payne has defended a tweet to 'Duck Dynasty's' Willie Robertson saying he supports their family values.

The One Direction singer wrote on Twitter: "@williebosshog huge love to you/your family huge respect for your business prosperities and the family values you still all behold. big fan."

Fans were quick to express their anger and the singer responded shortly after insisting he doesn't agree with everything they say.

He wrote: "Being a fan of someones show and the way they still hold a family together doesnt mean i am ok with all they say."

Fans were furious with the initial comment and YouTube personality Tyler Oakley wrote: "Wow. Very confused and disappointed by this @Real_Liam_Payne. This literally changes everything..."

@aurosan added: "Well, we already got our fake apology/explanation from @Real_Liam_Payne. That was fast. Straight people are on fire this week."

Mirror.

Liam is currently Fagburn's favourite member of One Direction. I think he has nice hair. Thanks for asking.

Paul Flowers: Random Outraged Sunday Tabloid Headline Generator

“CRYSTAL methodist” Paul Flowers has had gates put up to stop doggers having sex outside his vicarage.

Daily Star.

2 out of 10. Must try harder.

Thought For The Day: Hanif Kureishi

At home, in Bromley, the family hinterland had no relevance or meaning. Here, he was just "a Paki". Then came Enoch Powell and the "rivers of blood" speech. "It was terrifying," he remembers. "We thought we were going to be sent back. We'd been brought over here to help run the NHS and the public services, but now we realised that we were just Pakis and niggers. There were a lot of skinheads. My dad was persecuted as he came home from work and he thought it was all too difficult. But I liked my name. I couldn't change it to Pete Brown. So what I had to do," he continues, "was uncover who I really was. You saw that a lot in the 70s: blacks, gays, women. It all came out of EP Thompson [author of The Making of the English Working Class)] and the idea that ordinary people have their own history."

Hanif Kureishi interviewed in The Observer.

You can read The Making Of The English Working Class online here.

Fagburn: 46

Just bringing out my inner flowery Dave Spart.

Camus died at 46.
Gramsci died at 46.
TE Lawrence died at 46.
George Orwell died at 46.
Oscar Wilde died again at 46.

But I intend to carry on for a bit.
(If that's okay with the rest of you, that is).
x

UKIP: After The Flood

Oh my giddy aunts!

This nonsense has become your actual proper news!!! 

I think it's an "And finally... a skateboarding duck!" story, only there to give people a laugh.
Isn't it?!!

Daily Mail readers divided over the great 'Does bumming cause flooding?' debate.

UKIP: Angry God Causes Twitterstorm

David Silvester, a UKIP councillor for Henley on Thames has claimed that he warned David Cameron that allowing gay couples to marry would lead to flooding and that the Prime Minister ignored him.

Mr Silvester defected to UKIP from the Conservatives in 2012 in opposition to same-sex marriage.

Now in a letter to his local newspaper, the Henley Standard, following flooding in parts of the UK over Christmas and the new year, Mr Silvester has put the blame on same-sex marriage...

Pink News.

This cutting is currently ripping up the Twittersphere.

Ludicrous and extremely minor politician with obnoxious bigoted views says something ludicrous, bigoted and obnoxious shock!

Can we not just deny old jokes like this the oxygen of publicity?

Ideally by putting a plastic bag over their heads.

Fagburn> Night

x

Lord McAlpine: RIP

Something tells Fagburn we haven'd heard the last about this man...
#innocentface #etcetc