Dot Gay May be on the Horizon

Move over .com and make way for .gay!

...or .love, .eco, .car, .health, .radio, .ski, etc. In fact, there's a large list of all the possibilities various groups already want to see when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) completes its tasks to implement the new Top level Domains over on the .NXT Conference site. The custom domain will also mean cities and states can have their own top level domain like .nyc or .florida. We may also see brand ones like .coke (.canon and .unicef are already listed).

What's the catch, you may ask? Having your own top level domain like this will be coming with a hefty price tag. $185,000 plus a $25,000 annual fee according to the Washington Post. Pretty big catch! Luckily, the dotGAYalliance and dotGAY will be pushing to have the .gay extension included so we may see eventually sites like hotel.gay, sports.gay, or health.gay popping up.

Unfortunately, as has happened in the past with the Bush Administration stopping the .xxx extension, the Obama administration is quietly pushing to allow countries, including the US, to veto top level domains. That then leads to the trouble that having a central domain such as .gay (or any number of potentially controversial extensions like .abortion, .aids, etc) would allow countries who aren't friendly towards a particular subject to block any domain with that extension if it was approved by the ICANN.

Confused About "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"? You're Not Alone...

As one of my followers on Twitter mentioned recently, the news about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been less than clear. He is, of course, absolutely right as it seems things are constantly going back and forth about whether it will be repealed or not (and even if it will be included in the Defense Authorization Act this year). I've been reading the stories as they appear on various news sites and have seen everything from the White House not approving any defense bill without the repeal of DADT to the lame duck congress won't be able to pass the defense bill with or without it due to the small time span.

While I won't be able to make anything clearer about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" myself as I'm not a member of congress, at least I can do some of the legwork by giving you a list of the most informative articles I've read lately to do with DADT.

While Wikipedia has its flaws in the communal editing and potential of false information being edited in by those who aren't up on their facts or are trolling, generally, it is always a good place to look for quickly updated information and source linkes. Don't Ask, Don't Tell article on Wikipedia

Advocate.com is also another source and is where most of the articles I've been reading has stemmed from. The latest one posted as of November 16, 2010 is A Midwestern DADT Repeal Effort.

Others Articles Posted Recently

• http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/yes_dadt_repeal_could_still_pa.html


• http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/mccain_is_still_on_the_wrong_s.html


• http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/the_morning_plum_131.html


• http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/on_dadt_its_imperial_presidenc.html


• http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/11/gates-launches-investigation-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-review-leak.html


• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131223266


• http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-1114-court-gays-military-20101112,0,6155475.story


• http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cindy-mccain-opposes-john-mccain-dont/story?id=12131423


• http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20022790-503544.html


• http://www.washingtonblade.com/2010/11/17/obama-restates-commitment-on-keeping-dont-ask-in-defense-bill/

Overall, we're going to have to wait and see what comes out of the lame-duck congressional session. Taking a look through some of those links will help to piece together a semblance of where things are currently standing. If it's anything like a couple recent days though, tomorrow it may very well be a different story.

Lady Gaga and Senator Tweet Regarding DADT

Lady Gaga and Sen. Harry Reid communicated via Twitter this week.

The subject of the Twitter chat was actually quite serious: the potential repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell". In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Gaga has asked that the opponents of the policy to call Reid and demand the Senate vote on the issue.

Lady Gaga tweeted on Tuesday to her 6.3 million followers on Twitter,"Gay Veterans were my VMA dates. Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. CALL HARRY REID to Schedule Senate Vote."

Harry Reid's replied to Gaga's Tweet..."@ladygaga There is a vote on #DADT next week. Anyone qualified to serve this country should be allowed to do so."

LADY GaGa says taking drugs inspired her music

Lady Gaga began using illegal substances after she dropped out of a music course at New York University in 2005, and she insists getting high helped her creativity.

“[Using drugs] I really figured out the art I wanted to make and was inspired. Some people find inspiration in dark places. I guess I’m one of them,” she said.

“What always made me different is that if I was doing drugs I was also making music. I wasn’t just doing drugs.”

She revealed her mother Cynthia didn’t understand why she felt she needed to take drugs and was confused by her early performances.

“At the beginning I was doing performance art in handmade leather and leopard bikinis talking about oral sex and Andy Warhol and heavy metal,” she said. “My mom was like, ‘You’ve lost your mind.’ I was doing drugs, I was really out of control. But I never got so far into it that I overdosed or anything.”

Gaga is adamant she doesn’t need drugs anymore and has toned down her wild lifestyle.

“Once you open those doors they’re open for ever,” she said. “People who say they need [drugs] to be creative are full of s**t. I’m not some chick on the road getting high and f***ed up every night. I wake up, drink coffee and get on the phone to talk about the creative direction of the next video.”

Divorce Court Needed

Joanne Gibeault gave up her cabinetry business and spent her days caring for her partner's ill parents. She was told to screw off by her now-ex when a younger lady found her way between the two.

Gibeault is filing a palimony suit, one of the state's first for same-sex couples.

"All I want is what married people would have if it happened to them,” says “She promised it to me. I am 53 years old. I don't have a lot of time left before I retire.”

Gibeault can't actually file a palimony suit, since the state doesn't recognize any form of same-sex relationships.

Gibeault is taking her ex to civil court, alleging they had a verbal contract that all of their assets, which are in the ex's name, would be shared.

A Lesbian Cure Pill?

Next month medical groups will release guidelines for doctors on the treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a condition affecting 1 in 15,000 newborns that may result in girls being born with ambiguous/intersex genitalia (among other things), and the increasing use of the hormone treatment dexamethasone that's shown to eliminate the chances these female babies will be gay or exhibit masculine characteristics. So that should get everyone on the same page!

"Carriers of the gene mutation that causes this form of hyperplasia have roughly a 12.5% chance of having a daughter with the condition. The hormone treatment must be started as soon as possible, before the gender of the child is determined, for it to have an effect on genital development."

There is no medical group that appears ready to recommend research on the drug stop (medical types would never discourage this, of course), it seems like a slippery slope that will lead to the drug, or a variant, being used on boys to cure their homosexuality before they leave the womb.

Gay Marriage Will Stay in D.C.

Washington DC legalized gay marriage in March of this year.

Opponent's of gay marriage attempted to take the topic to the polls and ask voters to vote marriage be defined as a woman and a man.

The D.C. appeals court ruled 5-4 to keep the law the same and off the ballot.

City officials said a district human rights law barred initiatives that would authorize discrimination.