China's super-rich 'avoid Gates and Buffett's billionaire's banquet amid donation fears' - Telegraph

This is an interesting news item. I say the rich China people should have been embraced them. Oh well!

The National Organisation for Marriage has been a stumbling block in the way of any movement towards equality for glbt people in the USA for the last three years or so. Since its foundation it has amassed a shedload of money from Catholics, Mormons and other conservative Christians and right-wingers.

The Human Rights Campaign has established the NOM Exposed website to reveal some of the shady dealings of this horrible organisation. NOM supporters do little to enhance the desirability of marriage. What a spiteful, mean, bigoted bunch they are :mad:

I know I'm not American, but I clicked the "NOM Doesn't Speak For Me" button to let some of my Facebook friends and family know about some of the creepy slimeballs they associate with.

Another scandal at the Vatican, involving money-laundering, organized crime and alleged terrorist activities.

This was taken from the dw-world.de website today, article dated 21/09/2010

Italian police seize millions in Vatican bank cash laundering probe.

The head of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, has been placed under investigation for suspected money-laundering, judicial sources said on Tuesday.

Italian financial authorities have seized 23 million euros ($30 million) from an account in the bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).

The Vatican responded saying that it was "perplexed and astonished" by the case, which is being investigated by Rome magistrates.

A report by the Italian news agency ANSA says the money was seized as a precaution.

Tedeschi and another bank manager are said to be under suspicion of breaking legislation that obliges banks to disclose information about their operations.

More than a year ago, Italian investigators were reported to have been scrutinizing bank transactions worth millions of euros to see if they transgressed money laundering rules.

Vatican says it backs bank transparency

The Italian press has reported that investigators suspect that individuals have used the bank as a "screen" to hide crimes such as fraud or tax evasion.

The bank was last involved in a major scandal in 1982, when it was linked to the fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Ambrosiano - then Italy's largest private bank.

US archbishop Paul Marcinkus headed the bank at the time amid accusations that the institution was linked to organized crime and alleged terrorist activities.

Normally you do not seize assets unless you have evidence that the bank has commited an ilegal act, also does the Italian police suspect the money would vanish if not seized.

Just how far was the church involved? Problably we will not know, and will anybody at the Vatican be arrested for any involvement. Regarding the Vatican's support of open banking, why can't the Utah state religion do the same.

Do you like cup cakes? If so, you might want to give Just Cookies in Indianapolis a miss, depending on which version of the story you believe. I don't get how a mature democracy can continue to sustain such prejudice. One can only hope that Mr Stockton's two young impressionable daughters grow up to be a bit more considerate than their father.

The Provision of Goods and Services legislation was something I believe Labour did get right when in government over here.

Homophobic Bakery: Local bakery refuses to make rainbow cupcakes for gay customer - fox59.com

I wasn't sure where I was supposed to post this but here goes!

Why is it that straight men always feel like gay men are coming on to them? I once had an internet buddy who told me that he came out to a male friend of his and he ended their friendship because he felt as if he was pursuing/attracted to him. I guess my question can extend into why gays are seen as such a sexualized people.

What are your thoughts, everyone?

Ahead of next year's census, if it's still going ahead, we've just had what amounts to one of the largest surveys in the UK. Extrapolating the figures the stat-folk have come up with a figure that shows that just 1.5% of the population identify as gay or bi. This is considerably less than the 6% figure used in planning local government services a few years ago. I'm rarer than I thought. I hope I am not an endangered species. Even more depressingly 79% of the population seem to admit to a religious affiliation. So much for the secular wasteland caricatured during the pope's recent visit. We've obviously got a long way to go

1.5% of Britons say they are gay or bisexual, ONS survey finds | World news | guardian.co.uk

who are your Celebrity Crushes



Jason Stathm

Grard Butler

Jeremy Renner

Julian McMahon

Billy Ray Cyrus

and
Hugh Laurie

:biggrin:

I was sitting around watch G4-TV, an my brother shows up an asked if he can use my Laptop to look up bus schedules. I was like sure, I opened my laptop put in my password and started to hand it to my brother.
This is my matrix slow motion moment, as I’m handing my brother the computer I look down at the laptops screen. It’s my gayspeak.com profile I notice this pretty much rip the computer out of my brothers hands quickly close the window an delete all my bookmarks than hand the laptop back to him.

OH! Man!….that’s completely normal unsuspicious right….FRAK ME!

March and rally tomorrow in London.

Despite the odd construction of the catchphrase, see you there!

Protest The Pope

And, just in case anyone is still wondering why ...

Quote:The diverse groups who support this campaign have many different reasons for not approving of the State Visit to the UK by the Pope in September 2010. They all however share the following view:

• That the Pope, as a citizen of Europe and the leader of a religion with many adherents in the UK, is of course free to enter and tour our country.
  
• However, as well as a religious leader, the Pope is a head of state and the state and organisation of which he is head has been responsible for:
  
  1. opposing the distribution of condoms and so increasing large families in poor countries and the spread of AIDS
     
  2. promoting segregated education
     
  3. denying abortion to even the most vulnerable women
     
  4. opposing equal rights for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people
     
  5. failing to address the many cases of abuse of children within its own organisation.
     
  6. rehabilitating the holocaust denier bishop Richard Williamson and the appeaser of Hitler, the war-time Pope, Pius XII.
     
  
  
• The state of which the Pope is the head has also resisted signing many major human rights treaties and has formed its own treaties (‘concordats’) with many states which negatively affect the human rights of citizens of those states.
  
• As a head of state, the Pope is an unsuitable guest of the UK government and should not be accorded the honour and recognition of a state visit to our country.
  

If you believe, as we do, that the Pope should not come to the UK without hearing from the millions of people who reject his harsh, intolerant views and the practices and policies of the Vatican State please get involved.

Russia's most well-known gay activist Nikolai Alekseev was arrested yesterday evening as he was about to board a plane to Geneva on a trip to give evidence at the European Court of Human Rights on the illegal ban of Gay Pride in Moscow.

The flight was delayed while his belongings were removed. He was taken to a secure room at the airport, but it is now feared he is in the hands of the FSB (the former KGB). No one seems to be admitting to knowing where he is.

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