A suicide bomber struck inside the American embassy in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Friday, killing a Turkish embassy worker and the suicide bomber. According to investigators, the bomber panicked at the security checkpoint and detonated the bomb early.
It's unclear who's behind the attack, though some Turkish outlets are linking it with the arrest of Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law — an event reported by the Turkish paper Milliyet today.
[NYT]
Though it initially made "absolute assurances" that all of its burgers were 100% beef, Burger King has been forced to admit that some of its patties may have contained horse meat, after traces of equine DNA were found at one of their processing plants.
The scandal started two weeks ago, when supermarket chains in the UK and Ireland began pulling certain beefburger products off the shelf after test concluded that they contained varying amounts of horse meat.
The tainted product was traced back to three processing plants, one of which — Silvercreft Foods — supplies Burger King restaurants in both the UK and Ireland with some of their patties.
"Our independent DNA test results on product taken from restaurants were negative for any equine DNA," the company said in a statement. "However, four samples recently taken from the Silvercrest plant have shown the presence of very small trace levels of equine DNA."
The statement went on to say that Silvercrest had imported adulterated beef from a "non-approved supplier in Poland," despite promising the company "to deliver 100% British and Irish beef patties."
As a result, Burger King has stopped doing business with Silvercrest, and has hired a new suppliers based in Germany and Italy.
"While the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has stated that this is not a food safety issue, we are deeply troubled by the findings," said the company's vice president of global quality, Diego Beamonte.
[photo via AP]
Suicide is the leading cause of death among active duty US soldiers. And it's widely known that suicide is a big problem for veterans, too—but solid statistics have been hard to come by. Now, a new study says that, yes, suicide is a problem for veterans. And for everyone else.
New figures from a VA researcher paint an interesting and somewhat counterintuitive picture of the military veteran suicide problem. Among the findings, via the Washington Post:
[WaPo. Photo: AP]
Applebee's this morning finally issued an official statement concerning the controversial termination of server Chelsea Welch, and managed to rile up even more potential customers in the process.
The response opens with boilerplate self-congratulatory platitudes such as "every one of our franchisees values our hard working team members," and "we recognize...the tremendous contribution they make."
It goes on:
At the same time, as we know you will agree, the guests who visit Applebee's — people like you — expect and deserve to be treated with professionalism and care in everything we do. That is a universal standard in the hospitality business. That includes respecting and protecting the privacy of every guest, which is why our franchisees who own and operate Applebee's have strict policies to protect personal information — even guest's names.
Speaking with Consumerist yesterday, Welch said she checked the employee handbook to make sure she "didn't break any specific guidelines."
But in its statement, Applebee's disputes this, saying Welch violated the company's social media policy, which states: "Employees must honor the privacy rights of APPLEBEE's and its employees by seeking permission before writing about or displaying internal APPLEBEE'S happenings that might be considered to be a breach of privacy and confidentiality."
The policy does not specifically refer to receipts, only to "photographs, video, or audio" of employees, customers, suppliers, agents, or competitors. Additionally, "permission" is defined as "written approval from the Vice President of Operations."
The punishment for violating this policy is "disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment."
HIRE BACK Chelsea, a Facebook group with 4,000 likes and climbing, takes serious issue with Applebee's' claim that "disregard for an important policy" got Welch fired, pointing out at least two instances where an Applebee's in St. Louis reportedly owned by the same franchisee posted customer receipts on its own Facebook page (see left, click to enlarge).
It is also worth noting that at least one of these two receipts has since been mysteriously scrubbed from the restaurant's Facebook.
Meanwhile, many were left unimpressed by Applebee's attempt at PR control, admonishing the company for terminating Welch without considering a written warning first, and vowing to boycott the company until she is reinstated.
On a lighter note, this stand-up routine from comedian Aaron Weaver is suddenly very apropos:
[photo via Reddit]
In 2011, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania went bankrupt. Municipally bankrupt. The city is broke, tapped, in penury, scraping by on nada. Personal bankruptcy is tragic, and corporate bankruptcy is financially significant, but there is something especially pitiful about municipal bankruptcies. An entire city of thousands, whose leadership has failed them. It's like watching a scrappy but flailing football team losing in a particularly bloody way.
When it comes to Pitiful Bankrupt Municipal Messes, Harrisburg is working to establish a new, lower floor. As a great author once wrote, more or less, in an effort to help writing-blocked journalists of the future: Happy cities are all alike; every unhappy city is unhappy in its own way. Harrisburg is unhappy in the "our streets are riddled with sinkholes that we cannot afford to repair, rendering our entire landscape a veritable moonscape of nature's trap doors." The WSJ reports:
Harrisburg officials have identified at least 40 other sinkholes around the 50,000-person city. The combination of particularly sandy soil and leaky pipes under Harrisburg's streets make it susceptible to sinkholes, city officials say... It would cost almost half of the city's $50 million budget to permanently fix them, a city engineer estimates.
Harrisburg is bankrupt because it spent over $300 million on trash incinerator, btw.
"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other whooaaaa [Falls in sinkhole]." -Winston Churchill
[WSJ. Photo: urbanfeel/ Flickr]
In an interview with the New York Times that was "not to be made public until Mr. Koch's death," former NYC mayor Ed Koch—who died earlier this morning—finally said what he really wanted to about his former mayoral opponent Mario Cuomo—he's "a prick."
During the campaign for that race in 1977, posters surfaced on Queens Boulevard referencing Koch's sexuality, telling people to "Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo." According to Koch's obituary in The Times:
Mr. Koch did not respond at the time, but 12 years later, in his book "His Eminence and Hizzoner," he recalled, "When I first saw those posters, I cringed, and I wondered how I would be able to bear it."
In the Times interview, which was released this morning, Koch said that he had never forgiven Cuomo (or his son, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo) for the posters. "Even though social relationships when we meet in public are good, underneath, he knows that I know what I'm thinking—'you prick.'"
Twenty-seven New Hampshire bear cub orphans are having the slumber party of their lives this winter, because they have decided not to go to sleep.
They are waking each other up, playing in the trees within the 8-acre fence, burning up the calories and running up a huge bill on Kibbles 'n Bits.
As far as the bear babies are concerned, the only rule is "no rules" and everyone is invited to New Hampshire's Bear Hill Conservancy for a real cool time.
WCVB-Boston reports that the man in charge of the babies, state bear rehabilitator Ben Kilham, was forced to care for a record number of cubs this year because an unusually high number of mama bears were shot foraging for food inside chicken coops and beehives in the part of the movie that is so hard to watch. :(
Typically, Kilham only cares for three to five cubs at a time. This year, it's like he's hosting a goddamn teddy bear picnic in the wooden enclosure behind his home.
The cubs are putting on make-up and prank calling owls they know and playing with a Ouija board even though Jessica's mom said it's a tool of the Devil. No bear wants to fall asleep because he's afraid his friends will put his paw in a cup of warm water. They refuse to settle down for the winter.
And now it's getting expensive.
According to WCVB, food costs for the bears are usually low, since they sleep all through the season. (In the wild, bears hibernate because food is scarce in winter.)
Now that the bears are living it up at a months-long bear Coachella, the cost of procuring enough "steam-flaked corn and dog food" for them to live on is through the roof. Kilham estimates it will $1,000 per bear to keep them fed through June.
Hosting bear parties is expensive.
[WCVB-Boston via The Awl // Image via Shutterstock]
As part of an ongoing project, we've written letters to American death row prisoners scheduled for execution this year. We asked them about their lives in prison, their daily routines, and their thoughts on the American justice system. Today, a response from Douglas Feldman, a death row prisoner in Texas.
Feldman, 54, was convicted of the 1998 shooting murders of two different truck drivers, on the same night. Less than two weeks later, he shot another man, who lived. Feldman told a jury he was "consumed by anger" during the shootings. He is currently scheduled to be executed July 31.
On the first page of his letter to us, Feldman recommended contacting Amnesty International and the Death Penalty Information Center for background on the death penalty in America. We start with the second page of his letter (click to enlarge the images):
Does Gawker Media have a print magazine or are you an internet only media source?
If you Google my name, you should find plenty of newspaper articles that will tell you all about my case and my background. Just a little research on your part would answer most of your basic questions. At this point I don't really have much time to waste writing about already public info.
So I guess you are really fishing for something interesting or unique to post. Even though there are automatic federal appeals including to the US Supreme Court, the state of Texas is in control of my incarceration and my execution, and the only way the Federal system can remand my case is if they find something in direct conflict with clearly established federal law. All I have left is the US Supreme Court and they rarely agree to review cases, so I don't have much hope. I don't want to die, but it's not up to me. The State of Texas has a system of laws and when all the issues are resolved my appeals are basically over. Even the president (Obama) cannot stop my execution. He could ask the governor (Rick Perry) but Obama could not order him to comply. Thats where the authority lies. Its a mechanical system of rules that results in execution.
I think that most of the public is so far removed from the death penalty that it is really only a curiosity for them, like a morbid celebrity event. People have a lot of interest in murders, who were the victims, why were they killed, who was the killer, what were the circumstances, etc... So there are infamous cases like Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz, Jack the Ripper, Boston Strangler, Hillside Strangler etc... That stick in peoples minds. Of course, most of the people on death row are just people who got caught up in a robbery, drug deal or sexual encounter (or marital conflict) in which someone got killed. Thats why they are so easy to execute because they are poor, unknown, low social class people who can't defend themselves against the criminal justice system very well. Rich people and crafty people are better equipped to evade the death penalty. You might call death row "Losers Row." There are plenty of examples of people who got away with murder for years and years because they were devious, cold-blooded, sociopathic and they covered their tracks well enough to avoid detection. People like John Gotti and Woody Harrellsons dad. So the death penalty, just like life, is not fair. They execute who they can catch and prosecute.
So: stupid, rash, thoughtless= caught= executed.
Smart, cold-blooded, devious= evade detection= go on living.
That's the basic truth of it.
Well, I could go on and on...
Here are several things you could help me out with possibly:
1) I've been wanting a subscription to "The Horse-Backstreet Choppers" magazine for several years but no one has sent it to me.
2) I need someone to send $200 or so to Perfect Score, PO BOX 3962, Brownsville, TX 78523 so I can buy some magazines and photos.
3) I've been trying to find someone who could send me or help me get some LSD Hydrate as medicine. In Switzerland they prescribe it for psychiatric reasons, (pre-death anxiety and as an anti-psychotic).
4) I'm looking for some pretty girls and attractive women to send me some sexy photos.I only have 6 months left so theres no time to waste. Maybe you can help me out with any or all of the items above. Maybe if you post this info some inspired readers will come to my rescue? I hope you will help me.
Doug Feldman 999326
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, TX 77351
[A list of death row prison pen pal sites.]
Also enclosed are a bunch of letters that I need mailed. Can you mail them for me? I never have enough stamps.
Thanks for your help.
You know, I'm not advocating violence, and some terrible things have happened in some of these capital murder cases. But the state of Texas is no better than the criminals at administering the death penalty. Nobody really cares about the outcomes. Everyone involved from the prison guards all the way up to the judges are employees of the state and they just want to have a nice career where they can retire with a state pension and no one is going to risk their own livelyhood standing up against a bad system. Also, law enforcement is embued with a real macho culture and they have developed an entire philosophy and psychology so that they actually feel good when they execute someone because they believe that they've done something good and just for the people of the state. Sort of like self-righteous police zealots, who get rewarded for killing people. Well I could easily write a whole book about this. I'll stop here. I used to be a friendly hardworking person but being on death row for 15 years has turned me hateful + bitter.
[Previous Letters from Death Row can be found here. Image by Jim Cooke.]
If you need any more proof of the increased cultural pull of Jennie Livingston's 1990 New York drag-ball documentary Paris Is Burning, look no further than the most popular show in the United States. On last night's American Idol, former judge/Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler donned a wig, makeup and a dress for a gag audition. He introduced himself as "Pepper LaBeija, from the House of LaBeija," referencing an actual (now dead) human being, who is featured prominently in Burning. Granted, the joke of Tyler's appearance was to be antithetical to the "realness" rhapsodized by the Burning queens. His drag was more on the Milton Berle side of things, approaching disrespect for the medium, but at least he knows his shit — or knows someone who knows. Wise.
His take on drag, of course, was no match for that of the actual drag queens who are on the judging panel, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.
The Obama administration has proposed another compromise on the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate. And it's pretty fair! Women get access to birth control without having to pay out the wazoo and religious groups get to plug their ears and pretend everyone is still fucking au naturel.
Religious non-profits will be allowed to issue employees health care that doesn't provide contraception coverage. Instead, employees who want birth control would be automatically enrolled in a separate, individual policy by their health insurer. That policy would only cover contraceptives; women would still not have any premiums or co-payments and "eligible organizations would not have to contract, arrange, pay or refer for any contraceptive coverage to which they object on religious grounds," according to the Obama administration.
The Affordable Care Act's initial wording mandated all employers provide their employees with coverage that includes birth control. Religious hospitals and universities pushed back, even sued, citing their religion-based opposition to all contraceptives. Places of worship were exempt.
"Today, the administration is taking the next step in providing women across the nation with coverage of recommended preventive care at no cost, while respecting religious concerns," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a press release. "We will continue to work with faith-based organizations, women's organizations, insurers and others to achieve these goals."
What remains to be seen, though, is whether the religious set will accept the compromise. President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Cardinal Timothy Dolan issued a brief and vague statement: "Today, the Administration issued proposed regulations regarding the HHS mandate. We welcome the opportunity to study the proposed regulations closely. We look forward to issuing a more detailed statement later."
What's amazing though is that this group continues to wield such power. According to a recent Gallup study, only 11 percent of Americans oppose birth control. For context, more Americans believe President George W. Bush was complicit in the attack of the World Trade Center than oppose birth control.
Specific methods of contraception covered by the Affordable Care Act include sterilization and all birth control pills approved by the FDA, including emergency contraception like Plan B. For Catholics, there's always the rhythm method, it's bound to work sometimes.
[Image via AP]
It's Friday afternoon. You've just about finished pretending to do actual work, and you want to go home. Now.
Your inner child is getting crankier by the second.
Enter: Sesame Street's spoof of Downton Abbey.
You don't have to be a kid to appreciate "Upside Downton Abbey" — in fact, it's probably more enjoyable if you're a grown-up with an immature sense of humor.
And once you're done with that, why not take another look at some of Sesame's other awesome parodies and spoofs for childish adults.
It'll be bye-bye time before you know it.
[video via Sesame Street]
The head football coach at Lauderdale County High School in Alabama gave a number of students a lesson in bigotry recently when he expressed his distaste for "queers" and "big fat gorilla" Michelle Obama in the same breath.
Coach Bob Grisham, who also teaches psychology and driver's ed at the school, was caught on tape ranting about the cafeteria's "600-calorie" lunches, blaming them on "fat butt Michelle Obama."
He went on to call the First Lady a "big fat gorilla."
"Our country is going in the wrong direction, you'd better be aware of it," Grisham told his students. "And people running around like, oh it'll get better, it'll get better. No, it ain't gone get no better until things change."
Apparently unaware that "it gets better" is the slogan of a campaign aimed at gay teens who are bullied because of their sexuality, Grisham prods students to "call the superintendent and tell her" that "I don't like queers."
"I don't hate them as a person but what they do is wrong, it's an abomination against God," he continues. "I don't like being around queers."
Word did eventually reach Superintendent Jennifer Gray, who told the TimesDaily that an investigation into the remarks had been launched.
Reached for comment, Grisham told the TimesDaily that he "misspoke in a debate-type situation," adding that he has "no hatred toward anyone or any group," and "people that know my heart" know that.
But the Huntsville-based GLBT Advocacy and Youth Services isn't convinced, calling for Grisham to resign or be fired.
Incidentally, the TimesDaily named Grisham "Coach of the Year" just a few weeks ago.
[video via WAFF]
A Los Angeles man wanted for allegedly drinking and driving was stopped today after a brief low-speed car chase in which LAPD disabled the vehicle with a spike strip. With nothing left to do but wait for police to apprehend him, the suspect started filling balloon after balloon from a canister in the passenger seat of his car and furiously huffing the ones he didn't pop. Eventually, police took him out with a "non-lethal projectile," dragged him out of the car, and wrestled him to the ground.
[NBCLA]
On Monday, Iran announced they had sent a monkey into space. Because such a move would never have anything to do with warfare, officials swore the launch was another step toward Tehran's totally innocent dreams of a manned space flight.
But today, the Times UK wisely points out a glaring discrepancy in state-controlled media's before-and-after photos, which you can compare above, thanks to the AP. Before the launch, the Iran Space Monkey had a red mole above his right eye (left). After he returned, the mole was gone (right). The Mirror also notes that the monkey had a different shade of fur before his travel. Did Mr. Monkey stop by the space dermatologist and the space colorist on the way back to Planet Earth?
There'd already been skepticism about the country's bold, and dangerous, claim. Henry Hertzfeld, a former NASA policy analyst, told Buzzfeed on Monday that the trip seemed highly unlikely. "I wouldn't believe it yet, but I'm not saying they couldn't."
The U.S. State Department also wouldn't confirm any aspect of the allegation. "Neither monkey nor launch," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland informed CBS, "nor launched monkey."
Since examining the conflicting photos, "international observers," a/k/a anyone with eyeballs and brain cells, have concluded that the first monkey died, or far more likely, no monkeys ever went anywhere at all.
This simian-space news is oddly timed. Because we would like to announce exclusively, here, right now, that Gawker Media also recently launched a monkey into space, in our march to become a sovereign nation. The monkey did lose some weight in his journey, it's true, but he made it back safely and is said to be in good spirits.
Here he is, before, on the left. Then a few minutes ago, after, on the right:
This is a very exciting development.
[Times UK; r-l: AP Photo/ISNA, Mohammad Agah; AP Photo/AP Video]
On Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., the city's Metro green line, which connects its southern fringes to its northern extremities, up and stopped moving during rush hour after workers accidentally cut power to it while battling a fire. What ensued, according to one eyewitness account from a man named Scott, was a chaotic mass of thousands of sweaty bodies, vomit, urine, and panicked people smashing apart Metro cars in a desperate attempt to get fresh air (sic throughout):
The next two hours were spent in the dark on the train. An hour in, panic started to set in. In our car, one woman had passed out. We heard people pounding on windows in other cars, we heard glass breaking and people screaming. More than two hours in, folks in our car forced open the emergency door to get some air into the car. Some to actually exited and walked the tunnel. Mind you, we were in the dark somewhere under the Anacostia River. Inside the temperature was close to 90 degrees. Most people managed to get their coats off, and in some cases, even shirts came off, I was dripping with sweat, but tried to keep breathing and conserve my energy and keep calm. I did not talk much, and kept my eyes closed while standing face to face and body to body with the other sweaty passengers.
About two and a half hours, someone threw up in our car. The car also smelt of urine. I'm certain more than one person had pissed themselves. The car smelt rank, and the situation was getting out of control. Multiple emergency doors were forced open, and now passengers were wondering around in the train tunnels in the dark. The train operator came by our car, asked us to help him get the door closed and said not to open it again. He said several other doors were open and had to be closed. He had police and firemen with him. They were trying to round up everyone and get them back on the train before the fire department would give permissions to the power company to restore power to the third rail.
Never forget how near society is to anarchy every minute of every day. Sometimes it just takes a few hot subway cars.
Three people were hospitalized once power had been restored, with one listed as in serious condition. The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority has said anyone it trapped Wednesday is eligible for a full refund.
[Image via Flickr user Glyn Lowe]
Looking to get out of going through a messy and expensive divorce, 27-year-old Stephen Perry of Carmel, Indiana, allegedly decided to ask a coworker to kill his estranged wife instead.
Perry and Allison Mayer were already heavily in debt, owing over $200,000 in student loans and living expenses.
According to prosecutors, Perry was desperate to avoid spending more money on legal fees to divorce Mayer, and also sought to prevent her from obtaining a portion of money he inherited from his mother in 2011.
The probable cause affidavit states that Perry, who was employed at a local Valvoline Instant Oil Change, approached a coworker and asked him if he could help him kill someone.
"You're black," Perry said according to the coworker, Adrian Howard. "I know y'all know people."
Thinking it was a joke at first, Howard wasn't laughing a few weeks later, on December 8th, when Perry approached him again with the same request.
This time, Howard was ready with a cellphone to record their conversation.
Perry offered Howard $15,000 and a counterfeit currency printer in exchange for offing his wife. "I just want this to be over and done with," Perry said, according to a transcript of their conversation. "So if she dies, I can drop the divorce lawsuit, she's dead and I'm free."
Perry did have one caveat: "You hurt my dog, the deal's off."
Howard wasted no time in contacting Mayer and handing her the audio of his conversation with Perry. She, in turn, passed it on to the police.
Perry was subsequently arrested and booked into Hamilton County Jail on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
His pretrial hearing has been set for mid-March, and the trial itself is expected to start in June.
[H/T: Guy Code Blog, mug shot via Hamilton County sheriff]
Ed Koch, who died this morning at 88, was the the only mayor New York City had during its legendarily gritty 1980s, and while his death comes far too late to be the end of an era, it serves as another reminder of how different the city was during his tenure.
As a kind of commemoration, here's a set of photos and videos taken during the 12 years that Koch was mayor. It's easy to romanticize now that the subways are more or less graffiti-free and the most pornographic thing in Times Square is the Guy Fieri menu; at the time, it was a lot more difficult to feel excited about the drug epidemic and the AIDS crisis, not to mention the burning cars on Canal Street or the junkies passed out in front of the subway. But three decades on — what photos it made for!
[Photo by Steve Siegel (Flickriver | Flickr). ]
Hell's Kitchen, 1980. Photo via Getty.
42nd Street and 11th Avenue, 1979. Photo by Brian Alpert/Getty
Washington Square Park, 1982. Photo by Leo Vals/Getty.
7th Avenue Express. Photo via Getty.
Times Square, 1978. Photo by Peter Keegan/Getty.
Fifth Avenue, 1979. Photo by Birian Alpert/Getty.
Chinatown, 1981. Photo via Getty.
Times Square, 1987. Photo by Steve Siegel (Flickriver | Flickr)
South Bronx, 1982. Photo by Steve Siegel (Flickriver | Flickr)
Lower East Side, 1980. Photo by Steve Siegel (Flickriver | Flickr)
South Bronx, 1980. Photo by Steve Siegel (Flickriver | Flickr)
The Bowery, 1980. Photo by Steve Siegel (Flickriver | Flickr)
Broadway and 111th Street. Photo by Steve Siegel (Flickriver | Flickr)
The High Line. Photo by Yvonne B. (Flickr)
Canal Street. Photo by Yvonne B. (Flickr)
Times Square subway, 1986
Chinatown, 1986
Yesterday was Portia de Rossi's 40th birthday. So on her daytime talk show today, Ellen DeGeneres paid tribute to her wife of four years.
In the sketch called "de Bold, de Beautiful, de Rossi", Ellen plays Portia and Ellen is played by Sean Hayes in what is probably his best performance since Will & Grace — and, yes, I'm counting The Three Stooges.
The whole thing is very sweet everyone deserves a birthday tribute on network television like this.
The suspense is burning. For the first time in the history of the Super Bowl, people who care nothing about football can experience the same level of investment over the outcome of the big day as sports fans. For my money, the halftime show will be the most exciting of the night's offerings: there is so much riding on Beyoncé's performance. Will she stay true to her word and sing live? Will she reinforce her status as her generation's greatest performer during this relatively vulnerable time in her carer? Will she deliver something that erases the Inauguration lip-synching/backing-track accompaniment fiasco? Will she fuck everything up?
There is nothing new about tuning in for the spectacle itself – the intoxicating grandiosity of the event, the outrageous consumerist revelry of commercials as can't-miss entertainment and, certainly, the musical performances. But this is different. Now, there is a palpable pregame sense of something actually being at stake. What once felt like necessary viewing for cultural literacy now has the pull of the next page in a brilliant book. It is essential viewing. At long last, I am ready for some football, or at least, the football I have to get through to watch Beyoncé.
That the halftime show is the next installment in 2013's most riveting pop-cultural narrative means there are pop music fans/diva lovers/members of the Beyhive who previously did not care about the Super Bowl now do. Within this group is a visible subset of women and gay men, who aren't necessarily among the demographics that spring to mind when you think about the Super Bowl, and football in general. That's not to say that this is the first time that women and gay men will be tuning into the Super Bowl with interest (sports fans come in all walks of life), but that now the door is open for ignored populations wider than it has been. That this comes at a time when public discourse about and acceptance of homosexuality is at an all time high, when we're poring over two major news stories (Manti Te'o and Chris Culliver) regarding gayness and football, is at the very least a gorgeous coincidence.
But it's probably a bit deeper than just coincidence. While not specifically gay, there is something about the high stakes of Beyoncé's that appeals to the traditional gay sensibility that prizes camp and melodrama. If the Inauguration controversy brought Beyoncé down to human size for a minute (her image is based on never giving indication that she is less than a demi-god), the ridiculous press conference she starred in yesterday inflated her right back up to absurd proportions.
She opened with a moment of supreme divacy when she asked the members of her audience to stand. That she was about to launch into an acapella, now unmistakably live version of "The Star Spangled Banner" wasn't immediately clear – for a delirious five or ten seconds, it seemed that she was demanding a presidential level of respect from the room, asking to be received by a crowd on its feet. Even with the traditional standing response to the national anthem in mind, that is, in fact, basically what she was asking.
In retrospect, it was amazing that the fawning media members weren't already standing. What followed her predictably terrific rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" (sung with virtually the same turns and curlicues as the Inaugural rendition) was as much of a charade of communication as the entire concept of lip synching. Fielding softball question after softball question, all preceded by compliments on Beyoncé's supreme being like a spontaneous Saturday Night Live skit ("Hi, Beyoncé. You are gorgeous. I love you. Did you hear me? That's my question. Thanks for existing."), Beyoncé was able to argue the case for her supremacy (and also, somewhat paradoxically the commonality of using backing tracks) against a backdrop that appeared to be vetted and orchestrated by her people. On the offset, Beyoncé telegraphed the absurdity of ever challenging Beyoncé's abilities: after belting out the anthem she turned her head and asked, "Any questions?"
What should have been a throwaway moment of puffy promotion was another entertaining act of Beyoncé Theater. The senses of pageantry and over-the-top expression are key features of Beyoncé's repertoire and they will feature prominently in her showing at the Super Bowl. It was always going to be that way, but what it now could mean for her career and status makes for delicious drama. Beyoncé's performance comes a year after her fellow gay icon Madonna played the Super Bowl amongst ripped man-gods while singing her most overt ode to gay culture, "Vogue." As Wesley Morris wrote on Grantland last year:
Nothing homosexually gay happened on that stage. But it seemed to liberate people who watch sports both casually and obsessively to observe, with what sounded like a degree of amused catharsis, how gay Madonna's show felt.
Despite Beyoncé's occasional use of the word "shade" (as in yesterday's press conference), the gay coding will most likely be less prominent, but no less deeply felt. Keep in mind, too, that even the gayest Super Bowl is an event rooted in straightness — nudges, winks and perhaps a lighthearted jokey commercial are about all we can expect in the realm of gay signals. Gay culture is based, in part, on recognizing and claiming such signals.
If nothing else, we know that if Beyoncé does in fact lip synch, she'll be lip synching for her life, just like the queens do every week on RuPaul's Drag Race.
[Image via Getty]
Barney Bush, former First Dog of the United States (FDOTUS), has lost his battle with lymphoma. The Scottish Terrier was 12 years old and described by Bush as the son he never had.
Barney was born in New Jersey but grew up in Washington, D.C. He is survived by his owners Laura and George W. Bush, as well as a niece, Miss Beazley, who is also owned by the Bushes.
Barney is memorialized here in an oil painting done by Dubya — who clearly doesn't want you to forget he was the 43rd president — himself.
President Bush issued this statement on Facebook:
Laura and I are sad to announce that our Scottish Terrier, Barney, has passed away. The little fellow had been suffering from lymphoma and after twelve and a half years of life, his body could not fight off the illness.
Barney and I enjoyed the outdoors. He loved to accompany me when I fished for bass at the ranch. He was a fierce armadillo hunter. At Camp David, his favorite activity was chasing golf balls on the chipping green.
Barney guarded the South Lawn entrance of the White House as if he were a Secret Service agent. He wandered the halls of the West Wing looking for treats from his many friends. He starred in Barney Cam and gave the American people Christmas tours of the White House. Barney greeted Queens, Heads of State, and Prime Ministers. He was always polite and never jumped in their laps.
Barney was by my side during our eight years in the White House. He never discussed politics and was always a faithful friend. Laura and I will miss our pal.
Though Barney's life was relatively brief, it was not without its controversies. Barney was ridiculed by Russian President Vladimir Putin who believed owning a small dog was weak. During a trip to Russia, Barney met Putin's Labrador Koni who Putin described as "bigger, tougher, stronger, faster, meaner." He also had a mean streak, biting Reuters reporter Jon Decker and Boston Celtics public relations director Heather Walker.
Prior to succumbing to lymphoma, Barney had one previous brush with death: when President Bush dropped him on his face in front of some horrified children. Rest in peace, Barney.
[Images via AP and the Dallas Morning News]
