Lucky

Former principal dancer for the New York City Ballet, Jock Soto, is featured in today's New York Times wedding profiles. Soto is one of the main factors I finally took a liking to ballet, after having watched his sizzling, sexy moves on the City Ballet stage. He married Luis Fuentes, an opera buff who did not know who Jock Soto was when they met. Mr. Fuentes is a sommelier. Their wedding included an entrance song by Abba "I Do, I Do, I Do" with Mr. Soto dancing down the aisle before the best men swept him onto their shoulders for "Dancing Queen." Former Massachusetts governor William Weld performed the wedding at the restaurant Indochine. More details in the NY Times article: Jock's Wedding

Yes, I do. And that is me soft. I love poking people with it, but my tragedy is that most people can't take it!

Frank Rich, in a recent column in New York magazine on Occupy Wall Street, had this to say on Steve Jobs: But while Romney is a class enemy liberals and conservatives can unite against, perhaps nothing has revealed how much the class warriors of the right and left of our time have in common than the national outpouring after Steve Jobs’s death. Indeed, the near-universal over-the-top emotional response—more commensurate with a saintly religious or civic leader, not a sometimes bullying captain of industry—brought Americans of all stripes together as few events have in recent memory. Some on the right were baffled that the ostensible Marxists demonstrating in lower Manhattan would observe a moment of silence and assemble makeshift shrines for a top one-percenter like Jobs, whose expensive products were engineered for near-­instant obsolescence and produced by Chinese laborers in factories with substandard health-and-safety records. For heaven’s sake, the guy didn’t even join Warren Buffett and Bill Gates in their Giving Pledge. “There is perhaps no greater image of irony,” wrote the conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, “than that of anti-capitalist, anti-corporate, anti-materialist extremists of the Occupy Wall Street movement paying tribute to Steve Jobs.” Of course, that's not all he has to say on Jobs, Occupy Wall Street, or the economy. Read the whole article for choice comments like this: The anger of the class war across the spectrum seems fatalistic more than incendiary. No wonder. Everyone just assumes the fix is in for the highest bidder, no matter what. Take—please!—the latest bipartisan Beltway panacea: the congressional supercommittee charged by the president and GOP leaders to hammer out the deficit-reduction compromise they couldn’t do on their own. The Washington Post recently discovered that nearly 100 of the registered lobbyists no doubt charged with besieging the committee to protect the interests of the financial, defense, and health-care industries are former employees of its dozen members. Indeed, six of those members (three from each party) currently have former lobbyists on their staffs. nymag.com

The Hollywood Reporter has obtained a copy of a lawsuit alleging that Adam Lambert was ineligible for American Idol because Lambert had an operating agreement with recording label Welsford Music Productions when he tried out for the show. If he did, that would be a violation of eligibility rules. On October 6th, representatives for Lambert got Amazon to remove a recording allegedly by him from their sales list. "Beg For Mercy" was released by a subsidiary of Welsford. Lambert claims that it is actually his 2009 album consisting of mostly pre-American Idol material. (The lawsuit contends in part that Lambert wrote and recorded the tracks on Take One while under an agreement with Welsford, which says it paid him $200,000.) (NYmag.com) Here's the story as reported in New York magazine: Lambert Lawsuit Revealed

The Daily News reports: Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and another school administrator were charged Saturday with perjury and failure to report in an investigation into allegations that former football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually abused eight young men, state prosecutors said. Sandusky, 67, of State College, was arrested Saturday and released on $100,000 bail, the attorney general's office said. Curley, 57, and Penn State vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz, 62, both of Boalsburg, were expected to turn themselves in Monday in Harrisburg. Schultz's position includes oversight of the university's police department. Closely identified with the school's reputation as a defensive powerhouse and a program that produced top-quality linebackers, Sandusky retired in 1999. Longtime head coach Joe Paterno, who has more victories than any coach in the history of Division I football, was not charged, authorities said. When Paterno first learned of one report of abuse he immediately reported it to Curley, prosecutors said. Sandusky, who worked with at-risk children through his Second Mile organization, was charged with seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; eight counts of corruption of minors, eight counts of endangering the welfare of a child, seven counts of indecent assault and other offenses. A preliminary hearing for Sandusky is scheduled for Wednesday. Attorney General Linda Kelly called him "a sexual predator who used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on young boys." The grand jury identified eight young men who were targets of sexual advances or assaults by Sandusky from 1994 to 2009, prosecutors said. As stunning as the charges were the names implicated at a school where the football program is known for its consistency as much as its success - a big change this year was the removal of white trim from players' uniforms. "It is also a case about high-ranking university officials who allegedly failed to report the sexual assault of a young boy after the information was brought to their attention, and later made false statements to a grand jury," Kelly said. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/penn-state-coach-jerry-sandusky-arrested-child-sex-case-ad-tim-curley-charged-perjury-article-1.972670#ixzz1crfqdGBj The NY Times provides a link to the grand jury report: Times Account

I had to Google it: The simple theory of the apathist: Perhaps there is a god, or gods, or goddesses, or higher powers. Perhaps not. It's irrelevant. You do the most good you can with what you have. If you get help from somewhere else, that's just icing on the cake.

Hope this pic lasts, I don't want to have to take it again.

The mysteries of the Orient have long attracted westerners. Today the Weekend Market in Bangkok, which is the last place where I saw our fellow poster kjun, is partially underwater, resulting in many fewer merchants and customers at what is otherwise a fantastic Bangkok weekend excursion. Flood waters continue to threaten central Bangkok. In Beijing, smog is overwhelming the city. Masks do little other than cover the faces of the cute guys. Both cities have long faced these problems, but even with all of the money now flowing to them as the Asian economy rises,the problems are no better, and probably worse than ever. Flooding leads to mosquitoes and mold. Smog leads to dirty buildings and dirty lungs. What's an intrigued Westerner to do? Probably nothing. The rising Asian economies will have to find ways to clean their own houses, then lend us some more money so we can afford to buy their goods. In the meantime, plans to visit are on hold. A decline in the tourist industry does not help, but what's a westerner to do?

The New York Times today reports that a 26 year old Florida man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for having pornographic images of children on his computer. This is a longer sentence than if he had actually molested a child, or even children. Yet two Pennsylvania judges who were convicted in a kickback scam of actually sentencing juveniles to a privately run prison in return for bribes received sentences of only 28 and 17.5 years in prison. In many cases the juveniles would have received no sentence at all, but for the judges' need for money. They directly hurt children's lives, as well as breached their public trust. Prison sentencing disparities have increased as conservative legislators and judges have increased penalties for various crimes. Often the prisons receive no extra funding,leading to our now common gross overpopulation of prisons. In tight economic crimes, taxpayers cannot handle the funding needed to provide humane prisons. Of course, humane prisons are not what some people want. Corrupt prison guards can act without worry that they will be caught or even punished if caught. Life in prison for many is a nightmare, well beyond any reasonable punishment for the crime convicted for which they were convicted. The worst example are these high security prisons such as we have in California's Pelican Bay. There, and at other federal prisons, inmates are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day, and on their short exercise release do not come into contact with any other prisoners. Can you imagine spending 23 hours a day in a windowless room...for years? Naturally some will say that the prisoners deserve what they get. Prison is for punishment, after all. But our own legal principles require us to use punishment that is not cruel or inhumane. The sentence should be just for the crime commited. We seem to have gotten far from that. At a minimum, we need to provide prison facilities that are not overcrowded, that use well-trained guards who see their functions in a professional manner, that provide decent meals, that protect the prisoners from predators, and provide humane living conditions that include access to other inmates for conversation and relaxation, as well as plenty of access to fresh air and materials such as libraries and other opportunities for self-advancement. This has been a Lucky editorial. Nothing is expected to change as a result, but it felt good to vent.

No, they are hoping to get Lucky!

I hope that lurkerspeaks is benefiting from this information- he has not said. I wrote him privately, then afterward thought how easy it is to advise someone else, but when it is me it is not so easy. As was posted, my mom died earlier this year, but she had lived a full life and was ready to go. Still a loss for me, but perhaps not so hard as losing your mother at a younger age.

It has been Christmas at Costco since September.

Why I know that boy and he is only 16! Now we can go after Bing. Or, should I say, Bingo! (j/k- I don't know him, but I'd like to, assuming he is over 18!)

The Muslim majority in the southeast Asian nation of Malaysia has just put a stop to the Gay Pride celebrations planned for this weekend, despite letting it "fly under the radar" for the last few years. A deputy minister led the charge, saying that it ran counter to Muslim traditions in Malaysia. Malaysia Muslims Stop Gay Pride We know that it was the Mormons and the Catholics who pushed Prop 8 in California to stop gay marriage. The Russians in Moscow also stopped Gay Pride proceedings, but what religion are they?

Seems like Dancing With the Stars has lost viewership here, same as across the country. I only tune in for Derek.

More for the statistically minded: The main page holds 27 unpinned threads. 6 of them have 0 responses and 4 have just 1. The thread that is most responded to is the one on why you hired your first escort. So, about 40% of posted threads get no response to speak of, but personal stories involving sex- well, they are a hit! So, once upon a time I went out with this statistics major. All night long he kept giving me the odds that we would end up in bed. He figured them for my place,then his place, or, of course, not at all. I remember those stats to this day. It was 100% all night that we would go back for sex. It was always 100% at his place yet also 100% at my place. We were roommates, after all!

More previews from the upcoming Glee season are out, including the pic of the hot new gay character who makes a play for Blaine. I found it at towleroad.com: Gaily Gleeful

Over at kennethinthe212.com, I see in a picture that I didn't get the job I applied for:

Too strenuous for the eyes does not mean too scintillating for the brain. Sure, I may have to work harder, but I do get through them. Besides, why punish everyone else for my eyes?

Most parents probably don't think to filter Google, but take a look at Google Images for "large penis." It's both exciting and gross. They have a crucified Jesus with a huge penis hanging down. How did that escape the Santorum folks? Here's one of the search results that mommies might like...daddies too, for that matter:

On my first visit to Rio I was at Roger's sauna. A boy who spoke English was chatting me up, and since English was just what I needed, I could only gawk when a very cute boyish guy with a huge dick flashed me as he dried off. His smile was just as inviting, but I didn't want to be rude to my guy. Sad to say, I went with him for a lackluster first time in Rio, and never saw the other guy again.

"Experts" weigh in on the inability of the NYPD to police itself: Who Ya Gonna Call?

Hmmm...let us know if you're going to die. That's what I keep telling God, let me know when I am going to die. He just laughs. And who knew God was from Kentucky? Or, maybe you would like this one:

In my time I have been around many judges, and they all seem to see themselves as fascinating people. We were expected to gather around and be all ears when they spoke, especially laughing at their jokes. Judges, after all, are lawyers, and lawyers are never as interesting as they think they are. But twice when I was upgraded on a cross country flight I got to sit next to Stanford professors. The conversations I had with them were truly fascinating. They, too, are used to having students gather at their feet, and surely the students must laugh at their jokes. But is an advantage for professors that they are well-educated and specialists in their fields, whilst judges are often hacks. So, while it is true that the professors did more talking than I did, I didn't mind at all. They have learned how to speak as teachers, and knowing that I was a lawyer seemed to give them the opportunity to be less magisterial and more collegial, something I didn't see much as a student. There was a professor posting at Hooboy's site for a while, and I did meet him and found him just as fascinating. But I think he tired of us after a while. Now I know that one can be fascinated with people who have accomplished something. We saw last week the admiration for Steve Jobs, but I couldn't get past all of the personality flaws he had. Maybe if I knew these professors on a more personal level I might be less fascinated. But, for a few hours...

Gee, cursor, did you read the thread? It was a commentary on how folks can get to the top here without actually being here that much. Not a very tough competition, is it? As the thread went along, it was pointed out that quantity isn't so important as quality. Again, kind of burns your idea that it is a "another competition." Hey, that's it. We could have a burning competition...