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Navy Football Players Had Secret Party House Called "Black Pineapple"

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Navy Football Players Had Secret Party House Called "Black Pineapple"

The off-campus party house where a Naval Academy midshipman has alleged three football players gang raped her in 2012 was apparently called the "Black Pineapple," and was strictly prohibited by Navy rules.

Naval Academy rules require that students live in an on-campus dorm or with sponsor families. The academy also bars plebes from drinking and requires students leave their dorm room door open if a member of the opposite gender is present. To circumvent these rules, many students apparently rent homes like the Black Pineapple, a "brick split-level on a quiet cul de sac lined with cherry trees," for drinking and partying.

According to neighbors, the house was a "nuisance," and police were routinely called for noise and party complaints.

Navy officials warn students' families and sponsor families that they may not rent a house on behalf of midshipmen, but one of the Black Pineapple residents, football player Jabaree Tuani, said he rented out the house out with three teammates anyway.

"We knew what we were getting ourselves into, and we knew we were putting ourselves at risk," Tuani told the Baltimore Sun. "We didn't think anything like this was going to happen. We thought it was going to be a low-key, under-the-radar type deal where we could just relax."

[image via Shutterstock]


Prominent Marijuana Activist Killed by Drunk Driver

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Prominent Marijuana Activist Killed by Drunk Driver

Jenny "Kush" Friede, a prominent Denver medical marijuana activist, was killed this weekend after a drunk driver headed the wrong way down an Interstate slammed into her car.

The driver, 27-year-old Rebecca Maez, was arrested for a DUI and vehicular homicide. According to the Denver Post Maez had previously been arrested for a DUI in 2009.

Friede and her boyfriend, Jeremy DePinto, were driving home from a concert around 1 a.m. when Maez hit their car. DePinto, who was driving, suffered injuries.

"She was trying to end the oppression over [marijuana]," DePinto said. "We'd rally at the Capitol the last Saturday of every month for years, trying to tell people that cannabis is safer than alcohol. It's ironic that it was an uninsured drunk driver that killed her."

[image via Shutterstock]

The TSA Racket is Now Selling Your Basic Rights Back to You

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The TSA Racket is Now Selling Your Basic Rights Back to You

The TSA announced today that they will be accepting payments to give you back your basic rights in airports — if passengers pay to sign up for the TSA Precheck program, they can keep their shoes, belts and jackets on, leave laptops in their cases, and not have to remove liquids and gels from carry-ons.

The $85 pizzo also requires fingerprinting, and will be available in 100 airports by the end of the year. The program had previously been limited to frequent flier members from "select airlines".

No word on how this new protection plan will affect Hindus, passengers with light sabers, or three-year-olds.

Also set to change this year are the FAA draconian policies concerning cell phone use on airplanes. The FAA is set to make a formal decision at the end of September.

[image via Shutterstock]

"Well, it's clear we will not give him up, he can feel safe here.

"I used to shoot cocaine, heroin and ketamine.

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"I used to shoot cocaine, heroin and ketamine. All together. Morning, night, 20 times a day." Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., now four years sober, can finally wear short sleeves.

Two Guys You've Never Heard Of Just Released the Song of the Summer

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Sure, summer is almost over. And we've already had plenty of worthy pretenders to the "Song of the Summer" throne. But that just makes this unknown duo's accomplishment that much more impressive.

Perhaps calling Bård Ylvisåker and Vegard Ylvisåker "unknown" is somewhat unfair. They're plenty known in their home country of Norway where they go by "Ylvis" and have their very own talk show on TVNorge.

And as part of the promotion campaign for that show's upcoming season premiere, Ylvis released a music video for a song unassumingly called "The Fox" which went on to set the world of sound on fire.

Don't read another word. Just, uh, just listen to it. Seriously, stop reading. Go listen. Stop. Go.

[H/T: Pleated-Jeans]

Here Is the Gun That Got Ted Nugent's Wife Arrested

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Here Is the Gun That Got Ted Nugent's Wife Arrested

One week ago, Shemane Nugent was arrested at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport after TSA agents found a .38-caliber handgun in her carry-on bag. Her lawyer justified his client's lapsed judgment as an “honest mistake” to the Dallas Morning News, explaining that the 51-year-old, who has a concealed-carry license, woke up early for her flight and “completely forgot or never knew the weapon was in her bag.” The firearm was loaded.

Her lawyer's account may very well be true. For the last 23 years, Nugent, née Strem, has been married to Ted Nugent, a National Rifle Association board member who's vaguely threatened to assassinate President Obama and swore he would be "either be dead or in jail by this time next year" if Barack Hussein were re-elected, but then proved to be full of shit. A gun in this woman's purse is the equivalent of a Xanax bottle for nearly anyone else, except that Xanax cannot shoot holes into people mid-air and/or directly be used to commandeer a plane and send its defenseless inhabitants to a fiery death.

TMZ floats the rumor that Shemane started carrying the gun "after receiving death threats." But it's true that she started carrying the gun after she married a notorious rock-goon who waves around automatic weapons like cartoony phalluses and it seems reasonable that those two things might be related. Just a hunch.

In any case! Every week, the Transportation Security Administration's blog posts weekly photos of the guns discovered in carry-on bags. From August 23 to 30, the agency confiscated 44 firearms in total, 39 of them loaded, and one of those weapons belonged to Shemane Nugent.

We confirmed with the TSA communications office that the Smith & Wesson pictured below was, in fact, the .38 confiscated on August 29 at DFW. So here's the loaded gun Ted Nugent's wife (completely forgot she) was carrying around in her purse last Thursday—probably rattling up against lipstick or breath mints or, even more likely, Binaca:

Here Is the Gun That Got Ted Nugent's Wife Arrested

[Shemane Nugent Booking Photo via Getty Images / gun photo via the TSA]

To contact the author of this post, email camille@gawker.com.

This Terrifying 'Twerk Fail' Is Proof That Twerking Is Bad For You

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It's not every day that a video entitled "Worst Twerk Fail EVER" actually follows through, but in Caitlin Heller's case, every single thing that could possibly go wrong does — and then some.

Some fire, that is.

"I tried making a sexy twerk video for my boyfriend and things got a little too hot," Heller writes puts it mildly in the video's description.

Tip for headphone users: Turn your volume way down unless you want to join Heller in the Emergency Room.

[H/T: Reddit]


Organizers say that 100 people were arrested in 11 cities across the country yesterday during protes

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Organizers say that 100 people were arrested in 11 cities across the country yesterday during protests over Wal-Mart's low wages. They also say they plan to protest Wal-Mart stores on Black Friday, just like last year.

Teens Check Out 'Kind of Attractive Girl,' Realize She's Being Kidnapped

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The hormonal instinct of two strapping young lads from Texas to scope out the woman in the backseat of the car next to them reportedly saved that woman from an unknown fate at the hands of a kidnapper.

Aaron Arias, 19, and Jamal Harris, 17, noticed the woman mouthing "help me" and immediately phoned the police.

"It's me and another guy. So we're checking out the girl in the backseat because, we're like, 'OK, she's kind of attractive,'" Arias told the 911 dispatcher, "and then all of a sudden the guy is turned back, looking at us. We looked in the backseat and the blonde female in the back was saying 'help me' or something, whispering it."

A short while later, officers arrived on the scene and pulled the suspicious car over.

Sure enough, the 25-year-old woman in the backseat was indeed in the process of being abducted.

Police say the driver of the vehicle, Charles Atkins Lewis Jr., 37, forced the victim into her own Lexus at gunpoint as she was leaving an office party in downtown Dallas.

Atkins was subsequently arrested and booked on a charge of aggravated kidnapping. He remains in jail in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

The unidentified woman, who was not injured, met her saviors after being rescued and gave them a big hug.

"I would describe it as the best hug I have ever gotten," said Arias.

[videos via ABC News]

The New York Times corrected its Thursday front-page report on new footage of Syrian rebels — and wo

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The New York Times corrected its Thursday front-page report on new footage of Syrian rebels — and would-be U.S. confederates — executing and burying seven kidnapped soldiers of the Syrian Armed Forces. It turns out the video was filmed in the spring of 2012, not April 2013.

Most Households Bizarrely Still Have a Landline

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Most Households Bizarrely Still Have a Landline

In the olden days, in order to make a phone call to someone farther than shouting distance, you had to stand in one place and speak into a receiver wired to a wall, and if someone called you, you had to dash from wherever you were to wherever the phone was anchored. Most people still do this, apparently??

New Census data shows that the vast majority of Americans are—I'm hypothesizing here—some sort of weird steampunk retro fetishists who probably also build fires using only pieces of flint out of respect for the ancient roots of human evolution. From the Wall Street Journal:

Just 71% of households had landlines in 2011, down from a little more than 96% 15 years ago. Cellphone ownership reached 89%, up from about 36% in 1998, the first year the survey asked about the devices.

I'm no "math whiz," but it sounds like (I checked and double-checked this, unable to believe the shocking implications of the data) most of the households that have landlines also have cell phones. In other words, Americans who already possess the ability to make and receive phone calls anywhere at any time, at home or on the road, nevertheless choose to pay money to have another telephone anchored to a wall inside of their house, immovable as the mountains.

This is just an example of old people slipping into dementia, right? WRONG. A full third of households "led by people ages 15 to 29" (all these alleged households "led" by 15-year-olds should be a subject for future exploration) ALSO HAVE A LANDLINE. It's like an inexplicable sickness that spreads from generation to generation, ineradicable by good common sense.

Cellular telephones are available at your nearest electronics retailer.

[WSJ. Photo: Flickr]

Prankster Convinces Class He's Their Professor, Shatters Their Dreams

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The University of Rochester's merry prankster troupe The Chamber Boys sent their agent Patrick to play the ol' "fake professor" gag on a bunch of freshmen — and he aced it.

Walking into Chem 131 a few minutes before the real professor, Dr. Benjamin Hafensteiner, Patrick assumed the role of Professor of the Year in the Natural Sciences, and proceeded to dash the hopes and dreams of UR's class of 2017 as they were just in the process of forming them.

He also gets them to put away their laptops and cellphones, a feat of which the real Dr. Hafensteiner might to take note.

[H/T: Daily Picks and Flicks]

New York Fashion Weavz: Fashion's Night Awk

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New York Fashion Weavz: Fashion's Night Awk

It is two nights ago—Wednesday, September 4, 2013—around 8:15 p.m. At this precise moment, you are enjoying yourself, conservatively, one thousand million times more than Kate Upton is. I know this, because I am in the same room as Kate Upton, and a man she does not know is bellowing at her to tell the hundreds of people seated around her what she would do if she had a penis. Kate Upton and I are at the 2013 Style Awards.

I am wearing a short, loose cotton dress printed with what even the most imaginative child could identify as “an unlikely jungle scene.” The design features dozens of giant cheetahs poking their heads out from behind leafy green palm fronds. The overall effect of the pattern is “green and brown splotches.” I anticipate I will be receiving many "Nicest Style" awards tonight from my peers in the fashion community. Kate Upton is not wearing the same thing. Kate Upton is wearing this.

New York Fashion Weavz: Fashion's Night Awk

I am in the lobby of the Theatre at Lincoln Center, chatting with a nice girl who works for a publication called Footwear News (Breaking: Shoes) when Kate Upton arrives. We know she has arrived because the cavernous room suddenly fills with photographers' loud cries of “Kate! KATE! KAAAATE!” and I have been here since 5 p.m., guys, thanks, I’m glad you love my dress.

Upon arriving, Kate Upton does her job, which consists of standing next to an expensive-looking car while appearing to have the time of her life. She also stands in a different part of the room. She is the Model of the Year.

An earlier model of the same product, Christie Brinkley, is standing on the "red carpet," along with her towering 15-year-old daughter, Sailor (a prototype). I am also on the red carpet, next to a white piece of paper reading "GAWKER" that has been taped to the floor. Christie Brinkley is the happiest, most beautiful human being I have ever seen. I’m sorry to report that Christie Brinkley has died, but surely she must have, for only an angel could be as warm and luminous as she is, in this moment.

New York Fashion Weavz: Fashion's Night Awk

Footwear News asks Christie Brinkley’s assistant what exactly Christie Brinkley is wearing to protect and decorate her feet tonight (got a hot lead on SHOES). The assistant asks Christie Brinkley, who casually plops her hand on my shoulder, like we are old friends or maybe a coat rack and the owner of the coat rack, for thirty seconds while she struggles to check.

“Oh no, I’m wearing so many pads!” Christie Brinkley exclaims, as all manner of meticulously concealed foot-cushioning devices threaten to spill out of her high-heeled claw-shoes. “Oh, we all are!” I say, which MAKES NO SENSE because we are not. I will say anything to make Christie Brinkley feel at ease. My dearest wish is for her to forget her hand is on my shoulder and accidentally leave it there forever.

After Christie Brinkley successfully removes her silver shoe and then untangles it from where it has become lost inside the voluminous folds at the bottom of her grey lace dress (Christie Brinkley! How did that happen?), she looks at her hand on my shoulder, as if noticing it for the first time. She scrunches her face in apology. Don’t even worry about it, Christie.

I follow Christie Brinkley’s new assistant (my shoulder), out of the lobby, into the shadowy chamber where the presentation ceremony will take place.

The theatre is filled with wide round tables draped in white cloths. Three hundred people (celebrities on the ground floor; people of no consequence out of the way on raised platforms) are clustered around them on clear, plastic chairs. On every table rests the ingredients for a hearty autumn soup: two (2) bottles of water, one (1) bottle of vodka, and three (3) pods of Crystal Light Liquid.

The “host” of the the 2013 Style Awards is a socialite made of Popsicle sticks named Nicole Richie, though the real “host” of the evening is “a teleprompter,” and the really real “host” of the evening is comedian Sherrod Small, who will not appear on camera when the broadcast of the night airs on CNN September 14th, but who has been brought out to prod and corral the crowd in ways the delicate Richie cannot. You may recognize Small from past appearances on VH1’s Best Week Ever, or future appearances in Kate Upton’s stress dreams.

Under Small’s command, the energy in the room blossoms to that of a “Sales Manager of the Quarter” foodless awards banquet held in the group event space of an Asheville Marriott. Tedium bleeds into delirium. The evening is punctuated by extended periods of stony silence, often following, but not confined to, those moments occurring directly after Small has told a joke. (Things start at the bottom of the hill when he opens with a line about PETA and quickly burrow down through the Earth’s mantle as he jokes that no one in the room knows who Kofi Annan is.)

One of the first things Small has the crowd do is perform an elaborate applause pantomime, presumably so that footage of us clapping can be edited into the CNN broadcast after the fact. (Small’s explanation of the exercise: “For television.”) As cameras film us, we clap mildly three times, clap loudly and cheer three times, and give two standing ovations to an empty stage. The exercise feels oddly sinister, like we are all hostages who have been instructed to make merry. We are all Models of the Year.

Then, the fun—or at any rate, the next part—begins. One by one, Megan from Mad Men, a werewolf from True Blood, and Vogue’s André Leon Talley (clad in a shiny blue wizard’s cape) march on stage and deliver their lines from a teleprompter with a lack of enthusiasm matched only by the recipients of the rewards, who, with the exception of a couple, also read their lines from a teleprompter.

Receiving a 2013 Style Award sponsored by Crystal Light is similar to receiving Kennedy Center Honors or a Nobel Peace Prize, in that there are no on-the-night “winners”; there are only honorees," all of whom have been publicly announced well in advance.

Another quirk of the show is that the categories are not consistent from year to year, which lends the impression that the Style Awards' nominating committee decides whom they want to reward and then creates a category for that person. Someone thought it might be nice for Patrick Demarchelier—a photographer who has been shooting Vogue covers since the 1970s and famously snapped some of the most iconic photos of Princess Diana—to receive an award, so now he is the 2013 Style Award Photographer of the Year!

(Last year, the category "Photographer of the Year" did not exist, though "Breakthrough Designer of the Year" did, and was awarded to Prabal Gurung. This year, no "Breakthrough Designer of the Year" was recognized, suggesting that whatever Prabal Gurung broke through was so badly damaged it has yet to be rebuilt.)

The ceremony relies heavily (mercifully) on vast quantities of heavily edited pre-taped video. The most exciting thing that happens is that, at one point, Nicole Richie emerges wearing a jumpsuit of sequins. Recipient after recipient thanks the room for this truly special honor that they will cherish for the rest of their lives (the 2013 Style Award for Most Visible Brand goes to...Victoria's Secret!) and the only thing that prevents these heartfelt statements from coming across as intolerably sad is the knowledge that they are lies. This Vine, taken by Dodge & Burn editor Victor Jeffreys II, captures the general vibe of the night: hesitant.

Shortly before the evening ends, confident young person Ariana Grande takes to the stage to sing a song about a tattoo. She stands there, in the dark, breathing audibly into the mic (why won't someone turn down the mic?!) for a good two minutes while everyone struggles to figure out exactly what is going on, and then one additional minute while she waits for designer John Varvatos and Nicole Richie (seated, suddenly, in the middle of the room at Varvatos’ table—sure, why not?) to introduce her. She sings her song, the loudest thing anyone has ever heard, well. By the time she squeaks “Thank you!” into the microphone, the spotlight on her has already been extinguished.

But rewind. That hasn’t happened yet. Christie Brinkley has not yet strutted onstage breathless with excitement, to present Kate Upton with a mango-sized glass pyramid—the Model of the Year award!—and Kate Upton has not yet accepted it with identical breathless excitement. The crowd has not yet risen as a single mass and filed out of the room in shell-shocked silence, its members having just borne witness to an inexplicable tragedy.

Because right now, it is about 8:15 p.m. and Kate Upton is squirming uncomfortably in her chair while a comedian she thinks she remembers seeing on VH1 once, in high school, demands to know what she would do if she had a penis. Christie Brinkley is there, and Sailor Brinkley Cook, and Kate’s personal trainer, David, who has modeled Kate's body into a beautiful model of a human model's body. Frédéric Fekkai is there, and André Leon Talley and Maria Sharapova. Rachel Zoe is there, and Zac Posen (or, in the words of the Sherrod Small, “Jack Posen”).

And everyone is staring at Kate, waiting in nervous silence for this endless moment to expire so that we might crown Victor Cruz the Most Stylish Athlete of the Year, Anno Domini two thousand thirteen, and return to the house-sized glass pyramids we call home.

If you had an operation and you could have a penis, what would you do with it for the first day, Katie?! If you had one day to have a penis what would you do in that one day?!

Finally, she comes up with an answer:

“Pee in the bushes."

Model of the year.

[Images by Victor Jeffreys of Dodge & Burn]

“He was a wonderful boss.

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“He was a wonderful boss. I lived with him for five years. We were the closest people who worked with him ... we were always there. Hitler was never without us day and night.” — Rochus Misch, former bodyguard of Adolf Hitler, is dead at 96.


Restaurant Posts Sign Insulting Entire Town on Its Way Out of Business

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Restaurant Posts Sign Insulting Entire Town on Its Way Out of Business

An Italian restaurant that recently closed up shop in Amarillo, Texas, appears to have left behind a sign explaining in graphic detail exactly why it went out of business.

"You sorry assed, rednecked sacked of goat sperm had no idea what you had here!" reads the exclamation-point-heavy "Not Sorry We're Closed" sign. "Good luck with your pre-packaged frozen shit food in this town."

You better believe it goes on:

Maybe you'll remember us when you're boning your sister and think she smells like pasta. We are off to make money in a town whose average IQ is above room temperature! CIAO!!!

Shortly after the sign began spreading online this morning, Sava!'s owners took to their Facebook page to suggest they were not responsible for the strongly worded farewell.

"Don't believe all you hear and see folks!" said a status update published three hours ago.

But web sleuths soon noticed that the restaurant's denial flies in the face of several inarguable truths.

Such as the fact that the sign is posted behind the glass of a locked door.

And just prior to picking up and moving to nearby Lubbuck, Sava!'s executive chef Mark Coffman told the Amarillo Globe-News, "I think Lubbock will get what we do a little better. It’s a bigger wine town."

He also called Amarillo "a tough sell" and griped that customers "think they know what Italian food is and they still argue with me about it."

Another hint that suggests Sava! had more to do with the note than they are willing to concede is the owner's penchant for signing everything with the word "CIAO" in all caps, and this reply posted on Urban Spoon last month that uses suspiciously similar language:

Restaurant Posts Sign Insulting Entire Town on Its Way Out of Business

All that being said, it could still be a "malicious" fake as Sava! claims.

But if ultimately proven true, with customer complaints like "wine was old," can you really blame them?

[H/T: Reddit, photos via Facebook]

Are Hedge Funds Detrimental to College Idealism?

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Are Hedge Funds Detrimental to College Idealism?

College endowments are much flashier than they used to be. They frequently reach into the billions of dollars; they attract top investing talent; and, most notably, the majority of their money is in "alternative" investments like private equity and hedge funds. Is this hurting students' ability to be proper idealists?

It's not just a theoretical question. The entire premise of colleges putting so much of their money into hedge funds and other instruments that charge very high fees in return for performance that is often subpar is worth questioning on financial grounds alone. Unlike more workaday institutions, though, colleges also have responsibilities that go above and beyond maximizing earnings— they're expected to live up to all those philosophies and righteous aspirations that they teach to all those students. How they invest their endowments, therefore, becomes a political question in addition to a financial one.

College students are not known for their firm grasp of finance. But their idealism is one of their best traits. Student-led divestment campaigns, for example, pushed many schools to pull their money out of apartheid South Africa. Such campaigns can have real positive social effects. The latest divestment campaign seeks to get colleges to divest themselves of holdings in fossil fuel companies, for the sake of the environment. We won't argue the merits of that specific cause here. More interesting is the larger debate over whether divestment is a more effective tool than proxy campaigns— that is, can colleges accomplish change better by pulling their money out of companies, or by keeping their money in, which gives them a voice with which to push for change from the inside, as a financial stakeholder? Consider this nugget from today's New York Times story on the fossil fuels campaign:

Jon Lukomnik, a corporate governance consultant, said college endowments’ ability to use the proxy process had been curtailed by their increased holdings in alternatives like private equity, venture capital, real estate and hedge funds. That trend has left “an ever decreasing portion of their assets” in publicly traded stocks.

At Harvard, the number of proxy proposals on social issues that its shareholder responsibility committee has considered has fallen from a recent peak of 157 in 2004 to 41 in 2012.

Since colleges have most of their money in alternative investment funds, and since those funds are widely diversified and have many holdings outside of the stock market, they have less clout with individual companies. In other words, the divestment vs. proxy question may be becoming a moot point. Thanks to their love affair with hedge funds, colleges may be losing their ability to effect social change through financial leverage, even if they wanted to.

Something for students to think about: a new campaign to reduce colleges' reliance on hedge funds. Divest from scams.

[Photo: 350/ Flickr]

Burning Man: Bikes

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Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man is overwhelming and impossible to describe in one post. This is the first in a series many about this past year's gathering in the middle of the desert.

Black Rock Desert, Nev., is 100 miles north of Reno, sits 3,900 feet above sea level, is managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior, and for the past 23 years has played host to Burning Man, "an annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance. That "temporary community" is called Black Rock City (BRC). It consists of a series of concentric (A-N) and radial streets (2:00 - 10:00) that are centered around The Burning Man. The circle's diameter is approximately 2.3 miles long; its circumference is a little over 7 miles. BRC was home to 68,000 'burners' from August 26 through September 2, and in a place where there is no running water, electricity, cell phone service, or plant or animal life, it is hard to find a cab. Bikes are the way to get around.

Editor's Note: Victor Jeffreys II, the author of this post, attended Burning Man as a member of the credentialed press. Black Rock City, LLC, the for-profit entity that organizes the Burning Man festival and owns the trademark to the name, requires credentialed photographers to sign a detailed and onerous contract as a condition of entry. Among other things, the contract forbids publication of images that portray "nudity, sexual activity, the use of drugs or any act that might be considered in violation of criminal laws." It also requires photographers to submit all images to Black Rock City, LLC, for review prior to publication.

This is a stupid and perverse policy. But signing the contract was our only way of getting in, so we signed it. These images have been "cleared" for publication by Black Rock City, LLC. Our arrangement with Burning Man does not extend to submissions of photos from other photographers, so if you have any images depicting nudity, sex, drug use, or any criminal activity at the 2013 Burning Man festival, please send them our way. Our better yet, post them in the comments below. We would be delighted to publish them.

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

Burning Man: Bikes

[ Images by Victor G. Jeffreys II]

Mother Stuns Son with Supportive Letter After He Comes Out on Facebook

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Mother Stuns Son with Supportive Letter After He Comes Out on Facebook

When Zach Gibson made the decision to come out on Facebook, he expected to hear from his mother. What he didn't expect was to hear his mom say "I'm so proud of you."

But that's exactly what Michelle Conway McClain wrote to her son in a letter she left on his bedroom door and later posted on Facebook for the world to see.

And see it they did: After getting shared by the NO H8 Campaign, the letter went on to be liked and shared thousands of times, touching thousands of hearts as it went.

The full letter reads:

Zach, I was surprised by your Facebook post where you came out. I want you to know that I love you unconditionally. I love you with my actions, not just my words. I'm so proud of you. You are the bravest person I know. I'll fight for you always. Your sexual orientation does not define you. You are still the boy who forever won my heart. The only thing that concerns me is the number of empty soda cups and tea bottles in your room. Throw them away before ants come inside. I love you always, Mom.

Unlike other viral letters of support from the parents of openly gay children, in this case both Zach and his mom immediately came forward to prove both they and their sentiments were real.

"I'm Zach, the one this is addressed too (sic)," the teen wrote in the comments section of the NO H8 post. "When I came out last week, I never expected this much support. I knew my mom would be fine with it, but I never expected this letter and I never expected this many people to spread it around. This means so much."

McClain followed up her son's gratitude with a status update of her own.

"This note is not fake," she said, adding that she wrote it after reading her son's Facebook post about coming out. "And I meant every word. I'm so proud of him!"

And as for the "soda cups and tea bottles" comment, McClain sets the record straight: "They were cups from fountain sodas and bottles from bottled tea from the gas station."

Good to know.

Mother Stuns Son with Supportive Letter After He Comes Out on Facebook

[images via Facebook]

Ohio Drunk Driver Confesses To Killing a Man in YouTube Video

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Vincent Canzani was a 61-year-old Navy submarine veteran living in Ohio. Divorced with two daughters, he was an amateur photographer and a cigar connoisseur who'd just recently started working part-time at his favorite tobacco shop, the Tinder Box, in Columbus. Around three in the morning on Saturday, June 22, Vincent was driving down a stretch of the interstate and a truck hurtling the wrong way crashed into his Jeep. Vince was pronounced dead at the scene.

The truck operator, who'd been speeding into oncoming traffic, survived with injuries. A medical professional who treated the driver described him as "very, very drunk." His name wasn't released, but officials said no charges would be filed against him until they finished the ongoing investigation.

This past Tuesday, the drunk driver came forth, publicly identifying himself in a video posted to becauseisaidiwould.com on YouTube. “My name is Matthew Cordle and on June 22, 2013, I hit and killed Vincent Canzani," the 22-year-old says. "This video will act as my confession.”

In the video, posted above, Cordle says that the accident happened after a night of bar-hopping with his buddies, when he got into his truck "completely blacked out" and somehow ended up driving into oncoming traffic. In the aftermath of the fatal accident, he claims he consulted lawyers who told him they could probably get off if he was willing to lie. "I won't go down that path," he declares. “When I get charged, I will plead guilty and take full responsibility for everything I’ve done to Vincent and his family.”

In the monologue, Cordle insists that his motivation for identifying himself in this way is to deter others from doing what he did, telling themselves those little lies that allow senseless deaths like this to happen. “I beg you, and I say the word beg specifically, I’m begging you, please don’t drink and drive," he says. "Don’t make the same excuses that I did. Don’t say it’s only a few miles or you’ve only had a few beers or you do it all the time and it'll never happen to you because it happened to me and all those are just excuses to make yourself feel better about a decision you know is wrong."

The clip is jarringly slick for a homicide confession. Cordle apparently reached out through Facebook to Alex Sheen, a fellow Ohioan who runs the website becauseisaidiwould.com, and asked him to shoot the footage.

“He feels very, very guilty for what he has done and he is just struggling with this,” Sheen told the Columbus Dispatch. “He wants to take responsibility for this. I can sympathize with him wanting to help people.”

The Columbus Dispatch also reports that Cordle's lawyer wasn't aware his client intended to do this, but that the local prosecution has already seen Cordle's statement:

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien watched Cordle’s video three times. “It’s the most compelling video I think I have seen. He strikes me as remorseful and sincere,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien said he received the completed police investigation yesterday and will ask grand jurors on Monday to indict Cordle on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide. The second-degree felony carries a prison sentence of two to eight years.

A video of the local-news coverage of the initial crash is here:

To contact the author of this post, write to camille@gawker.com.

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