In 1940 over 335,000 soldiers were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk in one of the largest boat rescue operations in history. Civilian boats from all over the United Kingdom responded to a special governmental appeal and by the thousands headed across the channel to rescue their country's soldiers. That was the largest mass evacuation by boats in history until September 11, 2011.
Most people believe they have heard all the stories about 9/11 but this one has not received the coverage that it deserves. As the Trade Center Towers burned and eventually collapse , a massive evacuation of over 500,000 people took place in lower Manhattan making it the largest in history. Hundreds of boats of all kinds converged on the disaster site and in just nine hours removed half a million people to safety.
Remember that day all the bridges, tunnels, subways and trains were totally closed and the only way out was by boat. This is a remarkable video narrated by Tom Hanks.
Yea, yea, I have made my resolutions one more time this New Year Day and actually plan to keep some of them. At least I hope I do. Made the usual ones about world peace, people loving each other, a pray to end world hunger and for better health in 2012 . Even though I know some might be a little bit out of my power at least I am putting good thoughts out there.
What is really a good idea is to make wishes for 2012. Some here are my "My Top Ten New Year's Wishes" to share with you.
Number One: In 2012, I would love whoever wins the Republican nomination that they make Harman Cain their Vice-Presidential choice.
Number Two: That the Democrats hold on to the Presidency and take the Congress.
Number Three: That the chant "Yes, We Did" begins soon since we all know it is inevitable.
Number Four: That Ron Paul delegates take control of the Platform Committee at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Number Five: That Tea Party once again means some nice little sandwiches and scones at a four o'clock in the afternoon.
Number Six: That we defeat the Constitutional Amendments in Minnesota and North Carolina and pass marriage equality in Maine.
Number Seven: That the Federal Courts will overturn Proposition 8 in California.
Number Eight: That the Occupy Wall Street movement flourishes.
Number Nine: Hoping for a good old fashion snowstorm sometime this winter in New York City. Love storms.
Number Ten: That the Mets win the World Series and that the Yankees place last in their league!
-Sexy actor Daniel Craig has a very low opinion of elected officials. Craig is quoted by "Politico" as say that "politicians are shitheads." Craig was had a few more choice words when he also stated “That’s how they become politicians, even the good ones. We're actors, we're artists, we're very nice to each other. They'll turn around and stab you in the fucking back.
-Broadway's hit musical "Jersey Boys" just passed "Ave Q" to become the 21st longest running show in the history of Broadway. On Monday, December 26th, they will have played 2,535 performances!
-More lists are coming out about the last year. GLBTQ.com has published their compilation of "The Top Ten Stories of 2011". It is an interesting list.
-The New York Times published a moving and long obituary for John Lawrence who was the plaintiff in the famous Supreme Court Case -Lawrence v. Texas who passed away on November 20th. Please read since this our history and our heroes.
-Since it is still holiday time and we can be frivolous, Greg in Hollywood published the result of poll of readers on Soaphunks.net. Winning 'Best Eyes" was Brandon Beemer (photograph above) of "The Bold and Beautiful".
-In the latest rankings, Brazil has overtaken Great Britain and has the world's sixth largest economy. The United States is still number one followed closely by China.
-Given up the cutbacks in budgets around the country, the mentally ill are seeing their services and support vanish. The problem is so severe that emergency rooms are being flooded by those mentally challenged and desperately seeking assistance.
-For the first time in quite awhile, Gallup Poll shows that President Obama has more people approving of his job performance than disapproving. It's about time!
-Not everyone was happy with their Christmas Cards this year. Lulu the Cat was not a happy camper at all with her greetings.
-OutTraveler.com has picked the "Top 20 Gayest Destinations In the USA" for the year 2011. You will be surprised to hear that P-Town is number 20!
-A little historical fact from OMG Facts. In 1979, homosexuality was classified as an illness in Sweden. One day thousands of Swedish citizens called in 'sick' to work giving as their reason "homosexuality'. As a result of that action, Sweden became one of the first countries to say homosexuality is not a mental illness.
-Former "Today Show" host Meredith Vieira (photograph above) was dining at the Glass House Tavern with her husband journalist Richard Cohen. At another table was pioneering table show host Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas. Finally the beautiful actress Blythe Danner graced one of the tables at the Tavern.
-There is new site called "Celebrities on the Subway." People send him their pictures of celebrities riding the trains or subways. Love the one of Hugh Jackman!.(via JoeMyGod)
-When we first heard about the reports of the tropical storm hitting the Philippines the death toll was projected to be 600 from the flash floods. Now fisherman are finding bodies sixty miles out to sea that were washed away in the storm. The toll is near 1,300 dead and counting.
-One of my favorite sites for this year has been Boston.com's Big Picture which is the modern day version of the old "LIFE" magazine. They recently published "Best Photos From The Natural World" for 2011. Here are my favorites and you can click to see the rest and received the all important photographer credits
As sure as the sun comes up in the east one thing is certain. LGBT citizens are great travelers and love adventure. Even with the budding family building taking place in the community new opportunities are even being created for LGBT family vacations. Places like P-Town have 'family weeks' and cruises are being created for LGBT families.
One of the most compensative reports so far on LGBT travel has just been released by Community Marketing, Inc. This is their "16th Annual Gay and Lesbian Tourism Report." Here are some of the key findings and you can find out incredible more details by clicking here.
-CMI’s annual destination rankings did not see much change from the previous year. However some cities did see a more significant increase. New York City has always been the number one LGBT destination in the U.S. and the city slightly increased its lead. New Orleans continued to gain visitors and is approaching pre-Katrina rankings. Miami also continued to trend upwards and has jumped back into the top ten for U.S. destinations on the survey.
-New York City scored the highest in all three key indicators; actual visits to the destination in past 12 months, most gay-friendly destination in the world and personal favorite destination. Las Vegas, San Francisco and London also scored well in all three indicators.
-Considering their size and number of hotel rooms, Provincetown, Key West and Palm Springs scored extremely well in all three indicators. If the data is analyzed by the number of hotel rooms in a destination, these three destinations would be the most popular in the U.S.
-LGBT travelers, and especially gay men, are much more likely to describe themselves as “urban core travelers” than “eco travelers” or “outdoor adventure travelers.”
-Survey results suggest the mid-range market is the biggest group among LGBT travelers, followed by economy/budget and then luxury.
-The LGBT economy/budget market is larger than often assumed. More LGBT travelers consider themselves to be “economy/budget travelers” than “luxury travelers,” indicating an opportunity for every tier of travel marketers
-Once gay men or lesbians have children, family-friendly travel preferences become more important than LGBT-friendly travel preferences by a 2-1 margin.
-Before booking a trip, gay men and lesbians compare on average three to four websites before making a purchase.
-Results indicate that gay men and lesbians are more likely to avoid a destination because of recent LGBT violence as compated to anti-LGBT laws.
-71% of gay men and 62% of lesbians own a smart phone, and 60% of LGBT smartphone owners use their smartphones during their trips to finds local tourism resources
Momentum continues to grow for the construction of an AIDS Memorial at the triangle near St. Vincent's hospital. On World's AIDS Day, the planners have announced an international competition to design the space into a living memorial. St. Vincent's was the epicenter of the epidemic in the 1980's and early 1990's.
All design entries must be into the jury by January 21, 2012 and the winner will receive a $5,000 prize plus a gallery show of his design. A blue ribbon panel of judges led by Michael Arad who designed the World Trade Center Memorial and also including famous architect Richard Meier, dance legend Bill T. Jones and CEO of Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) Dr. Marjorie Hill will pick the winning design.
Last night at the Empire State Pride Agenda's packed annual dinner, Executive Director Ross Levi laid out the legislative and political agenda for the next year. Levi first spoke of the success of the work of the Agenda for the last twenty years - especially with marriage equality. The organization was instrumental in taking New Yorkers from the around 35% for marriage to the near 60% today.
Levi spoke of the coalition and the work that was done to make marriage equality a reality. Over 125,000 calls were made from New Yorkers to their representatives easing the legislation to victory.
Most important for the New York LGBT community to hear was the work yet still to be done. Especially in passing protections for our brothers and sisters in the Transgender Community and the repeal of DOMA. Here is how Levi sees the community's future efforts;
Now the question on everyone’s mind is, “What’s next?” Well, for one thing, we cannot take our wins for granted. We must be vigilant watchdogs of our government, making sure our legislative victories hold and live up to their promise. And in November of 2012 when every legislator who voted for marriage faces reelection, we must stand by those who stood by us and make sure no has their support for equality used against them in their run for public office.
Right now, in our state, hardworking New Yorkers are being fired from their jobs and evicted from their homes simply for being transgender. Until every LGBT person is treated fairly under the law, we cannot say we are truly equal. Let us commit to getting a statewide transgender non-discrimination bill passed in New York, just like 15 other states have done.
We must also remember that there are still LGBT youth who are being bullied or who are homeless, elders who are fearful that they will be denied their dignity in long-term care facilities, and people who will face insensitivity when going to doctors and counselors. This past year, in an incredibly challenging economic climate, the Pride Agenda secured over $5M of state funding for community organizations all across the state that provide for these needs. We must continue to demand that we are visible to our government and that the state funds our fair share of the essential services we need.
We should not, however, have any illusions about the environment in which we are working. We have won an extraordinary victory, but it has also fueled our opposition:
The so-called National Organization for Marriage has pledged to spend two million dollars on defeating the courageous legislators who did the right thing on marriage equality.
The New York State Conservative party has virulently opposed, among other things, providing transgender New Yorkers their basic equality and even access to medically necessary healthcare.
Our opponents have not gone away, not by a long shot. And they don’t just want to defeat us in the legislative arena. They want to deny us the very substance of our equality and our fundamental dignity as citizens and human beings, and we will not let that happen!
Author, journalist and feminist Naomi Wolf was attending a Huffington Post event in New York City. Suddenly she found herself, unintentionally at first then embracing it, swept up in the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Writing for The Guardian in London, she relates the details of her experience. Here are excerpts and for the full article click here.
"Let me explain; my partner and I were attending an event for the Huffington Post, for which I often write: Game Changers 2011, in a venue space on Hudson Street. As we entered the space, we saw that about 200 Occupy Wall Street protesters were peacefully assembled and were chanting. They wanted to address Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was going to be arriving at the event. They were using a technique that has become known as "the human mic" – by which the crowd laboriously repeats every word the speaker says – since they had been told that using real megaphones was illegal."
She continues:
Then my partner suggested that I ask the group for their list of demands. Since we would be inside, we thought it would be helpful to take their list into the event and if I had a chance to talk with the governor I could pass the list on. That is how a democracy works, right? The people have the right to address their representatives.
We went inside, chatted with our friends, but needed to leave before the governor had arrived. I decided I would present their list to his office in the morning and write about the response. On our exit, I saw that the protesters had been cordoned off by a now-massive phalanx of NYPD cops and pinned against the far side of the street – far away from the event they sought to address.
She describes the circumstances of her arrest:
I went up and asked them [the police]why. They replied that they had been informed that the Huffington Post event had a permit that forbade them to use the sidewalk. I knew from my investigative reporting on NYC permits that this was impossible: a private entity cannot lease the public sidewalks; even film crews must allow pedestrian traffic. I asked the police for clarification – no response.
I went over to the sidewalk at issue and identified myself as a NYC citizen and a reporter, and asked to see the permit in question or to locate the source on the police or event side that claimed it forbade citizen access to a public sidewalk. Finally a tall man, who seemed to be with the event, confessed that while it did have a permit, the permit did allow for protest so long as we did not block pedestrian passage.
I thanked him, returned to the protesters, and said: "The permit allows us to walk on the other side of the street if we don't block access. I am now going to walk on the public sidewalk and not block it. It is legal to do so. Please join me if you wish." My partner and I then returned to the event-side sidewalk and began to walk peacefully arm in arm, while about 30 or 40 people walked with us in single file, not blocking access.
Then a phalanx of perhaps 40 white-shirted senior officers descended out of seemingly nowhere and, with a megaphone (which was supposedly illegal for citizens to use), one said: "You are unlawfully creating a disruption. You are ordered to disperse." I approached him peacefully, slowly, gently and respectfully and said: "I am confused. I was told that the permit in question allows us to walk if we don't block pedestrian access and as you see we are complying with the permit."He gave me a look of pure hate. "Are you going to back down?" he shouted. I stood, immobilised, for a moment. "Are you getting out of my way?" I did not even make a conscious decision not to "fall back" – I simply couldn't even will myself to do so, because I knew that he was not giving a lawful order and that if I stepped aside it would be not because of the law, which I was following, but as a capitulation to sheer force. In that moment's hesitation, he said, "OK," gestured, and my partner and I were surrounded by about 20 officers who pulled our hands behind our backs and cuffed us with plastic handcuffs.
We were taken in a van to the seventh precinct – the scary part about that is that the protesters and lawyers marched to the first precinct, which handles Hudson Street, but in the van the police got the message to avoid them by rerouting me. I understood later that the protesters were lied to about our whereabouts, which seemed to me to be a trickle-down of the Bush-era detention practice of unaccountable detentions.
The officers who had us in custody were very courteous, and several expressed sympathy for the movements' aims. Nonetheless, my partner and I had our possessions taken from us, our ID copied, and we were placed in separate cells for about half an hour. It was clear that by then the police knew there was scrutiny of this arrest so they handled us with great courtesy, but my phone was taken and for half an hour I was in a faeces- or blood-smeared cell, thinking at that moment the only thing that separates civil societies from barbaric states is the rule of law – that finds the prisoner, and holds the arresting officers and courts accountable.
No, Fracking is not a sexual act, a fraternity prank or some sort of nuclear fusion!
In the Northeast United States lies the a huge reserve of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale which is heavily focused in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Catskills of New York. There is enough natural gas in this area to supply the United States for over 14 years. Hydraulic Fracking is the process of going into the ground to reach the gas. However it is hotly debated topic on the safety of extracting this gas.
After many studies and much academic discussion on both sides, it is pretty clear to that the process of fracking not only will contaminate the water of the local communities but also put in danger New York City's water supply. While reasonable make arguments that the water supply will be 100% protected, we have been led down this rosy path too many times by energy companies. We have seen environmental disasters that we were promised would never ever happen.
New York and Pennsylvania should do everything possible to stop fracking to obtain the natural gas. What if the energy companies are wrong and suddenly the drinking water of over 10 million people is contaminated and unusable? There are times the risks far out weigh the benefits and this is one of them.
Here is the Earth Focus investigative video on the issue. Take time to watch it.
In the 1980's, if St. Vincent's (NYC), Sherman Oaks (LA) or San Francisco General (SF) came up in conversations you most likely were discussing a friend going into the hospital for HIV/AIDS. Especially in that decade, the odds were overwhelming that if you entered the AIDS wards in those institutions your time on this planet was very limited. It also meant that there was a over 90% chance that you were a gay man.
In New York City, St. Vincent's Hospital has been closed and in its place will rise a development of high rise residential towers and some town houses built by Rudin Management. At the heart of this plan would be a triangle shaped park. You almost shout "eureka!" when you find out it is in the shape of a triangle. Rudin's plan for the park space is mundane and predictable. That is until young visionaries Chris Tepper and Paul Kelterborn came up with the idea of an AIDS Memorial Park.
Of course, it is obvious. What should be built in the open space that remains of the original St. Vincent's is a memorial to all those who died within its walls of HIV/AIDS. In fact, it is sacred ground. In the best spirit of the High Line project, Tepper and Kelterborn are fighting for this space to remain just that - sacred ground.
In a Sunday New York Times story this week about the proposed project, Robin Finn writes:
Where there now sits a dreary tangle of rat-infested ivy and half-dead trees, the Queer History Alliance envisions a sylvan masterpiece at street level, with the shape of the totemic AIDS ribbon integrated into the landscaping. In an existing underground space, an education facility/museum about the history of the epidemic, and the pivotal role played by St. Vincent’s and the community, would be installed.
The ultimate design would be selected through a juried competition and ownership of the park would be given to the city.
The alliance has grown from the grass-roots vision of Mr. Tepper and Mr. Kelterborn to an advocacy group with an e-mail list of 300 supporters and an advisory board that includes Robert Hammond, co-founder of the High Line; Philip E. Aarons, co-founder of the developer Millennium Partners; and Richard Burns, for 22 years the executive director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, a block from St. Vincent’s.
There is another AIDS Memorial in Battery Park and it is wonderful. However, having this triangle space on the former grounds of St. Vincent's is kismet. Just plain common sense says this space was destined to be an AIDS Memorial Park. It has my full and excited support.
Alan van Capelle, who's organizing experience is legendary, has been picked by the recently merged Jewish Funds for Justice and Progressive Jewish Alliance to be their new CEO. Capelle, who started out as an organizer for SEIU Local 32BJ and then was Executive Director of Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) , will leave his current position with New York City Controller John Liu to head the newly-merged organizations.
The two organizations represent a new national force with one located in New York and the other in Los Angeles. PJA&JFSJ Board member, John Levy, said this about Alan's appointment:
“Alan has exactly the right combination of skills, experience, values and personal attributes to guide our expansion into a national organization engaging and investing in communities all across the country. He is a dynamic, engaging communicator with the ability to manage and inspire and, most of all, lead.”
Alan was instrumental in bringing marriage equality to New York State while leading the Empire State Pride Agenda. He is highly regarded in national political and social activism circles.
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