Founder of Wikipedia Ask Brits To Block Extradition of 24 yrs old Student

Change.org

Richard O'Dwyer

The founder of Wikipedia urged British officials on Monday to block the extradition of a 24-year-old British student wanted in the United States over alleged copyright offenses. 

Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales expressed support for Richard O'Dwyer, who was arrested at his university dorm in 2010 by British officers accompanied by agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. O'Dwyer's alleged crime was running a file-swapping website called TVShack.net, where users shared links to movies and television shows, many of them protected by copyright.

Wales said merely posting links is not a crime and urged citizens to stand up for their rights online.

"Richard O'Dwyer is the human face of the battle between the content industry and the interests of the general public," Wales said in an online petition posted on Change.org, adding that the student had always done his best to "play by the rules."

By midday Monday the petition to halt O'Dwyer's extradition had gained more than 20,400 signatures.

The Guardian newspaper has thrown its support behind O'Dwyer as well, saying in an editorial published Monday that his case was "unfair" and "absurd." 

In the United States, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said it finds it "troubling" that the American government "is trying to haul a British citizen into criminal court in the U.S. for running a website that probably doesn't violate either U.S. law or U.K. law."

Mitch Stoltz, staff attorney for the digital rights organization, told msnbc.com that the government's actions in the case "send a dangerous message to other governments that websites can be shut down and their operators threatened with prosecution in a foreign country, no matter how tenuous the legal case. Surely the U.S. government can come up with better ways to spend our tax dollars than putting a British college student in jail for running what was, in effect, a search engine."

msnbc.com

This U.S. government statement about the TVShack.net website is what you'll see if you go 

It’s Never Been Easy as Gay in Russia, Future Looks Tough

 A law banning so-called "homosexual propaganda" in Russia could be introduced nationally after it is debated in parliament next month.

Critics, who include high-profile stars such as Madonna, say the law - already active in St Petersburg - discriminates against gays.

For the seventh year in a row the gay pride parade has been banned in Moscow but activists challenge the authorities by taking to the streets anyway.

The inevitable arrests have become almost routine. Many are detained for wearing badges bearing pink triangles.

One woman was arrested for holding a packet of coloured felt tip pens, a replacement for the banned rainbow symbol of gay pride.

In Russia's second city of St Petersburg it is now illegal to "make public actions among minors for the propaganda of homosexuality".

Gay rights activists like former teacher, Grigory Zaritovsky, have called for a veto of the law.

He lost his teaching job when his employers discovered he was gay. They said it was inappropriate for him to work with children.

"Most people in Russia are sane and don't equal homosexuality with paedophilia," he said.

"But there is a part of society that is radically minded, they protest against the gay community - promoting the idea that a gay person is always a paedophile. In their minds it is intrinsically linked."

Madonna says she will speak out against the 'ridiculous' law

Some people who hold that view also hold positions of power and influence.

United Russia member Vitaly Milonov introduced the law in St Petersburg - he says to protect the city's children.

"They should not kiss in kindergartens," he says. "They should not come close to a school and kiss each other."

Asked if he thinks gay people would really be interested in doing that, he replies he says: "They are doing this. An activist from one of the Russian homosexual organisations tried to show his posters only near schools, children's libraries or kindergartens."

Madonna, whose upcoming concert in St Petersburg is promoted with posters around the city, has promised to speak out against the law, which she calls a "ridiculous atrocity".

So far it has been used against activists carrying banners that read things like "Homosexuality is not a Perversion".

The interpretation seems to be that promotion of gay rights equals propaganda.

St Petersburg's gay community has expressed its outrage, with many feeling they are simply victims of a crackdown on gays.

Now, any expression of homosexuality has to be confined to gay clubs.

Being homosexual in Russia has never been easy - the future looks set to be even more of a challenge.

Amanda Walker, Moscow http://news.sky.com

Deliverance 40 Years Latter } Squeal Like a Pig

Strong opinions on both sides from where the movie was shot:

FB New APPs.} Find Friends Nearby???Creepy or Nifty and...

 FaceBook is rolling out an optional new service that connects you with like-minded strangers in the hood. Facebook has quietly rolled out a new feature called "Find Friends Nearby" (originally called "Friendshake") that, as its name suggests, allows users to more easily discover potential pals in the real world. Users can access the feature fromhttp://fb.com/ffn or by navigating through their Android or iPhone's Facebook app.  


 Once you agree to share your location, the names of friends and potential friends in the same small geographic area pop up. The thinking goes that like-minded people attend similar events in similar places. Will Find Friends Nearby catch on, or will its arguably sketchy premise have users crying foul?This is so creepy: There's definitely a "dark side to this thing," says Brent Rose at Gizmodo. Imagine: You're out at a bar, and some creep "opens the app, can kinda recognize your face from your profile picture, and now said creeper knows your name and possibly some of your personal info." Facebook will probably add more privacy safeguards, but the social network "doesn't have the most sterling of records when it comes to these things." Be careful!

Facebook's latest addition to their mobile app, "Find Friends Nearby", is a service that allows users to view the profiles of people in their proximity. Photo: GAETAN BALLY/Keystone/Corbis 

  theweek.com

Also: FB Changes Your email

Whether you've noticed or not, you have a new primary e-mail address listed as your Facebook contact and most likely, it's an address you've never used.

The social-networking site has quietly replaced your default e-mail addresses such as Gmail and Yahoo! with your @Facebook.com address, an e-mail service option the company launched a few years ago and synced with Timeline in April.

"As we announced back in April, we've been updating addresses on Facebook to make them consistent across our site," a Facebook spokesperson told Mashable. "In addition to everyone receiving an address, we're also rolling out a new setting that gives people the choice to decide which addresses they want to show on their Timelines."

Mashable.com: Facebook quietly tests shareable ad units

Cheyenne Jackson

 

Cruise Line Worker Sues Travolta } Third Claim of Sex Assault

    

A former cruise line worker is the latest man to accuse actor John Travolta of sexual assault, filing a federal complaint on the heels of similar claims from male masseurs last month.
     Travolta's camp has vehemently denied the allegations against the actor since the first masseur filed suit anonymously in May.
     Shortly after a second masseur joined that case, the first plaintiff admitted that he had gotten the dates of the alleged attack wrong, and attorney Okorie Okorocha dropped him from the complaint.
     Famed civil rights attorney Gloria Allred has since signed on to represent the first plaintiff, known in the case as John Doe No. 1.
     Last month, a Chilean man told reporters that Royal Caribbean Cruise fired him after Travolta allegedly tried to have sex with him on a June 2009 voyage.
     Fabian Zanzi sued Travolta over the alleged incident Thursday, but does not name Royal Caribbean as a defendant.
     The 58-year old "Pulp Fiction" star allegedly took the offensive when Zanzi delivered a meal to the Travolta suite on the afternoon of June 9, 2009.
     Zanzi says he delivered the meal, but that Travolta asked for more food. When Zanzi returned, Travolta was dressed in a bath robe and complained of discomfort in his neck, according to the complaint.
     The actor then "solicited physical contact" from Zanzi, pleading with him to touch his neck, the complaint states.
     Zanzi claims that he thought Travolta was complaining about a label tag on his bathrobe and reached to touch him, at which point the actor allegedly took off his bathrobe "exposing his erect penis to plaintiff."
     "After disrobing in front, and close proximity, of plaintiff, defendant Travolta proceeded to forcefully embrace plaintiff," the complaint states. "Defendant Travolta forced his naked person and his erect penis against plaintiff's person causing plaintiff to experience pain, shock, embarrassment, distress, and fear."
     "Defendant Travolta stated to plaintiff that he was beautiful and asked plaintiff to 'take me, I will take care of you, please.'" (Italics in original.)
     Zanzi says he asked the actor to release him so that he could return to work.
     "Defendant Travolta maintained a hard and painful grasp on plaintiff's hands," the complaint states. "Defendant Travolta continued pressing his erect penis against plaintiff's person."
     Travolta also allegedly offered Zanzi $12,000 in exchange for the worker's "discretion and silence," and asked him to pick up the money later that night.
     Zanzi says he immediately reported what had happened to three of his superiors, but that they would not let him mention nudity or sexual contact in a written report.
     A human resources manager made Zanzi write the report in English, though Spanish is his native language, and "further advised plaintiff that he may be fired," according to the complaint.
     Cruise line workers then "restrained" Zanzi in a segregated room for five days until Travolta left the ship, telling Zanzi that he was on indefinite sick leave, the complaint states.
     Zanzi says he had to file a demand with the American Arbitration Association because Royal Caribbean Cruise did nothing to resolve his claims.
     He seeks punitive damages for emotional distress and assault and battery. Sarah Golden with Golden & Timbol of Costa Mesa, Calif., represents Zanzi

     (LOS ANGELES (CN) -By MATT REYNOLDS) 

First Anniversary of Same Sex Marriage in NY

New York marked the anniversary of the state's same-sex marriage law with a gay pride march that exuded diversity, from grand marshal Cyndi Lauper to the mayor and the governor.

"New York is a place where you can do whatever you want to do," Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared before he joined the Manhattan parade at noon.

He said he had a message for the rest of America: "The government should get out of your personal life."

Hundreds of thousands of spectators crowded Fifth Avenue sidewalks a dozen deep, cheering and waving rainbow-colored flags for the annual festivities one year after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Marriage Equality Act into law.

The governor appeared Sunday with his girlfriend, Food Network chef Sandra Lee.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn went to the parade as a newlywed, married last month to longtime partner Kim Catullo.

"A year ago, I was walking with my fiancee," Quinn said. "Today, I'm marching with my wife, my father and the mayor."

Not far behind was a contingent of police officers.

A banner that stretched across Fifth Avenue from sidewalk to sidewalk bore the words Heritage of Pride, a non-profit organization that organizes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender events in New York to commemorate the 1969 riots at Manhattan's Stonewall Inn, which have come to symbolize the gay rights movement.

Marchers holding up the banner included Evette Simmons, a 55-year-old nurse practitioner from Brooklyn.

This year's parade was special because, as a result of the marriage equality law, she said, she and others "are acknowledged as part of a legalized family of love and respect, and this has a ripple effect across the country and the world."

The mayor and City Council speaker stood with their hands over their hearts for the national anthem before a roar of motorcycles signaled the start of the parade with the Sirens lesbian bikers. One woman rolled off holding a cardboard heart with the inscription, "Love is love."

Floating high above the avenue was a giant double arch of multicolored balloons.

Each year since 1970, the parade has had a different theme. This time, it was called "Share the Love." Organizers say they want other states to pass legislation that allows same-sex marriage. Six states and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage.

This year marked another first for the movement, with a float carrying active members of the U.S. military who can now openly declare their sexuality while being allowed to serve.

"It's great to be proud of who we are," said Air Force 1st Lt. Josh Seefried, co-director of OutServe, a network of actively serving LGBT military personnel.

However, spectators and participants voiced frustrations over what has yet to be accomplished.

"There are still a lot of issues, like so many homeless gay youth and federal rights for the LGBT community," said 26-year-old Nathan Tabak, of Queens. "But it would be unrealistic to expect that anytime soon, given how conservative the Supreme Court is."

Kim Van Sprundel, a 21-year-old spectator, said her Long Island community of West Islip is "still very conservative, and when I say I'm gay, I get frowned upon, and my parents don't approve."

But on Sunday on Fifth Avenue, she said, "we can celebrate that being gay is OK."

Robert Ordonez, a 40-year-old artist from Spain living in New York, was decked out from head to toe, wearing bright orange boots, blue velvet swimming trunks, a pink T-shirt, a pink leather dog collar and blue feathers around his neck.

Despite the festive attire, he carried some somber advice, saying, "I want to tell gay kids, 'It gets better, so if you get bullied, you don't have to kill yourself.'"

Gay Magazine ‘Attitude' Sold

• Mark Sweney
• guardian.co.uk,  Blue Photograph: Attitude Magazine/PA

 Vitality Publishing, the owner of lads' magazine Loaded, has sold gay lifestyle magazine Attitude to a new joint-venture publishing and events company.

The company, which acquired Loaded and three other titles from IPC Media in October 2010, was subject to a management buyout in January, led by publishing director Peter Hatch, who took the role of managing director.

Attitude has been spun off into newly formed publishing and events company Attitude Media, which has three shareholders.

Triactive, which had owned Vitality, takes a 50% stake in Attitude Media; 25% is held personally by Julian Agostini, the owner of Mash Media, which publishes business titles including Exhibition News and Conference News. The remaining 25% is held personally by Darren Styles, owner of Stream Publishing, which handles customer and in-flight publishing for Vauxhall, Flybe and CityJet.

Styles will become publishing director at Attitude Media, which has 20 editorial and design staff, while Agostini is to launch an events division. The fledgling division, which currently has four staff, is to launch Club With Attitude to mark the magazine's 18th birthday in April, and the Attitude awards in October.

Attitude is published every four weeks at a price of £4.25 for the printed edition. It also has 5,000 digital-only subscribers via its website and is available as an iPad edition.

Vitality has previously sold off titles such as Women's Fitness, which was acquired by Dennis Publishing in July last year.

Triactive, the former parent company of Vitality Publishing, also owns Magazine Cloner, which makes digital versions of about 300 titles including the iPad version of the Independent newspaper.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

Brad Pitt and Angelina Finally Getting Married

 Angelina Jollie and Brad Pitt have finally decided to tie the knot. As reported by the Daily Star Newspaper. They are looking to have a ‘low key’ wedding ceremony. 

It was also reported that the ceremony is supposed to take place in Windsor.  The Honeymoon will be in the South of France, where else?lol. They are even reporting where the’ll be staying which would be at the very luxurious Chateau Miraval estate in Provence. 

  

They have always stated their wishes than when and if they got married, they would be having the official part in secret with just their kids. They have also said that they would not get married until gay marriage was official in the US. I guess they feel that things are well enough here. We know is not true but I don’t think we should hold them to that promise. They have been faithful friends of the gay community from way back. Besides when it comes to marriage, it happens when the love birds are ready wether anybody else is ready or not. 

They have been together for so long that marriage is not that important in this case.  However they do have kids and they are not getting any younger, so it’s right that they protect their assets and their kids by making their relationship official with the government.

I do wish them great happiness. 

adamfoxie*

Chile Full of Cute Guys and Now Changing Times For Them

Pablo and Marcel would like to marry but cannot

 Chile has long had a reputation as one of the most straitlaced, socially conservative and homophobic countries in Latin America.

Gay sex was decriminalised only as recently as 1999, in stark contrast to Brazil and Argentina, where it has been allowed since the 19th Century.

To this day, Chile is one of only four countries in the region where the age of consent is higher for homosexuals than for heterosexuals.

The civil partnerships for gay couples that are now commonplace in Europe are outlawed here.

Gay marriage, legal in Argentina and Mexico City, is impossible in Chile. So is adoption by same-sex couples.

But things are changing. On Saturday 23 June, tens of thousands of people are expected to march though the capital, Santiago, demanding equality - not just for gays but for bisexuals, transvestites, transsexuals and indeed for Chilean society as a whole.

This will be the country's second March for Equality. Around 35,000 people turned up for the first, a year ago, and organisers say they expect this one to be at least as big.

"Chilean society is changing," says Pablo Simonetti, a novelist and well-known gay rights campaigner.

"Ten years ago, people didn't come out of the closet until they were 25 or 26. I myself was 28. Those from the generation before us didn't come out of the closet until they were 40 or 50 and the generation before that simply never came out."

"But, these days, young people are coming out and talking to their parents about it. They have much more freedom than we did and much less fear."

Indignation

In March, a 24-year-old man, Daniel Zamudio, was beaten to within an inch of his life in a Santiago park, apparently for being gay

His attackers carved swastikas into his body. He was taken to hospital where he died three weeks later.

In years gone by his murder might have passed uncommented in Chile, but in the current climate of change it prompted indignation.

Within weeks, politicians had passed a new anti-discrimination lawthat had languished in parliament for the previous seven years.

The 2012 census was the first in Chile's history to give gays the option to declare that they live in a same sex couple.

And the government is also changing the rules on blood donation to prevent potential donors from being turned away simply for being gay.

In March, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ICHR) ruled in favour of a lesbian mother who had been denied custody of her daughters by Chile's Supreme Court because she lived with a woman.

The ICHR ordered the state to pay compensation and educate its judiciary about gender issues.

"Each year the pace of change gets faster," says Pablo Capellaro, a gay Chilean who lives in Santiago with his Peruvian partner, Marcel Deza.

The couple have been together for six years. "I'd love to marry Marcel but it's not possible for now," Mr Capellaro says. "I'd love to have the right to adopt too, but that's not possible either."

Mr Deza says Chileans tend to be more conservative than his Peruvian compatriots, but that gay rights campaign groups are better organised and more vocal in Santiago than in Lima.

Both men say they have been discriminated against in Chile for being gay, but that on the whole people accept them for who they are.

"I don't think Chileans are discriminatory in general," Mr Capellaro says. "At work I'm very open about the fact I'm gay. It usually stops people in their tracks for a few minutes but then they just deal with it."

Opinion polls show that while most Chileans remain opposed to gay marriage - they view marriage as strictly between a man and a woman - they favour civil partnerships, which would put gay relationships on a firmer legal footing.

That is the view of the President Sebastian Pinera, who made the introduction of civil partnerships an election pledge in 2009. He surprised many by including openly gay couples in his campaign commercials.

Last year, his government sent a bill to parliament to legalise civil partnerships but it has been blocked by conservatives within his own coalition and has made little headway.

The fear among the gay community is that, with presidential elections due next year, the timetable is slipping.

"One of the aims of Saturday's march is to remind the government of the need to keep its promise," says Mr Simonetti. "I personally plan to keep up the pressure on President Pinera until the last day of his mandate."

Mr Deza says that as well as legislative reform he would like to see better education on gender issues in Chilean schools.

Earlier this year, the education ministry was forced to revise some of its teaching material that described homosexuality as "a disorder".

Incidents like that suggest that Chile still has a way to go before it shrugs off its reputation as a conservative, homophobic corner of South America.

But gay rights campaigners say marches like the one to be held on Saturday are a step in that direction.

bbc.co.uk

New Fashion For Dating Guys According to Zachary Quinto } Wear Same Shirts-What? }

They have reportedly been dating for about a year and it appears the romance between Star Trek actor Zachary Quinto and Glee star Jonathan Groff is getting serious.

Quinto, 35, and his 27-year-old boyfriend were spotted taking a romantic stroll yesterday in the West Village neighbourhood of New York City

Casually dressed in shorts, flip-flops and a chequered shirt, Quinto smiled while he chatted away with Jonathan.

Swapping clothes: Jonathan Groff was spotted wearing the same T-shirt on Saturday in New York City that his boyfriend Zachary Quinto donned on June 14

Rising star: Zachary just wrapped production on the Star Trek sequel

Groff also appeared in a cheery mood and was spotted wearing the same striped T-shirt that Quinto wore nine days earlier.

Zachary was snapped in the shirt when he dropped off some dry cleaning on 14 June in New York City.

The two reportedly started dating sometime in 2011, and were frequently seen hanging out together in Los Angeles and New York, generating industry whispers that they two were a couple.

But they kept the relationship quiet until Quinto came out as an openly gay actor in October of last year.

Quinto, who played Mr. Spock in JJ Abrams' Star Trek, revealed his true sexuality in a profile in New York Magazine, following the tragic suicide of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer.

Late last month, Zachary wrapped filming J.J. Abrams' yet-to-be-titled sequel to Star Trek.

Gleeful: The happy couple smiled as they strolled around New York yesterday

Passionate: The couple stopped and enjoyed a romantic moment

He tweeted: ''goodbye spock. it's been real,' sharing a picture of his shorn black hair on the salon floor.

Jonathan will next be seen in a theatre documentary called The Standbys, which premieres at the Seattle International Film Festival next month.

David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, and Cheyenne Jackson are also featured in the doc