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SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court on Tuesday declared California's same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional, putting the bitterly contested, voter-approved law on track for likely consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that a lower court judge correctly interpreted the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedents when he declared in 2010 that Proposition 8 was a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians.

The court said gay marriages cannot resume in the state until the deadline passes for Proposition 8 sponsors to appeal to a larger panel of the 9th Circuit. If such an appeal is filed, gay marriages will remain on hold until it's resolved.

Lawyers for Proposition 8 sponsors have repeatedly said they would consider appealing to a larger panel of the court and then the U.S. Supreme Court if they did not receive a favorable ruling from the 9th Circuit.

"Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted," the ruling states.

The court crafted a narrow decision that applies only to California, even though the court has jurisdiction in nine western states. California is the only one of those states where the ability for gays to marry was granted then rescinded.

"Whether under the Constitution same-sex couples may ever be denied the right to marry, a right that has long been enjoyed by opposite-sex couples, is an important and highly controversial question," the court said. "We need not and do not answer the broader question in this case.

The panel also said there was no evidence that former Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker was biased and should have disclosed before he issued his decision that he was gay and in a long-term relationship with another man.

The ruling came more than a year after the appeals court heard arguments in the case.

Proposition 8 backers had asked the 9th Circuit to set aside Walker's ruling on both constitutional grounds and because of the thorny issue of the judge's personal life. It was the first instance of an American jurist's sexual orientation being cited as grounds for overturning a court decision.

Walker publicly revealed he was gay after he retired. However, supporters of the gay marriage ban argued that he had been obliged to previously reveal if he wanted to marry his partner – like the gay couples who sued to overturn the ban.

Walker's successor as the chief federal judge in Northern California, James Ware, rejected those claims, and the 9th Circuit held a hearing on the conflict-of-interest question in December.

California voters passed Proposition 8 with 52 percent of the vote in November 2008, five months after the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage by striking down a pair of laws that had limited marriage to a man and a woman.

The ballot measure inserted the one man-one woman provision into the California Constitution, thereby overruling the court's decision. It was the first such ban to take away marriage rights from same-sex couples after they had already secured them and its passage followed the most expensive campaign on a social issue in the nation's history.

The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and the Law, a think tank based at the University of California, Los Angeles, has estimated that 18,000 couples tied the knot during the four-month window before Proposition 8 took effect. The California Supreme Court upheld those marriages, but ruled that voters had properly enacted the law.

With same-sex marriages unlikely to resume in California any time soon, Love Honor Cherish, a gay rights group based in Los Angeles, plans to start gathering signatures for a November ballot initiative asking voters to repeal Proposition 8.

A cosmetic procedure for your penis? A group of Korean researchers injected the wrinkle filler hyaluronic acid into study particpants' penises to increase size — and the results were promising.

MONDAY, Feb. 06, 2012 — Hyaluronic acid injections are used to ease arthritis pain, plump-up lips, and fill wrinkles — and now the fillers may also be used to enhance penile girth.

Because of a growing demand for so-called “penis enlargers” (just Google the phrase and you’ll find a plethora of products and potions touting their ability to augment your manhood), scientists from Korea University in Seoul decided to test injecting hyaluronic acid — a substance that’s naturally found in our bodies but also made in labs — would fill out participants’ penises.

The study enrolled 50 brave men with “subjective small penises,” the researchers wrote in the Journal of Sexual Medicine ). These men received injections of 20.5 cc of hyaluronic acid (which is about two-thirds the size of a medicine cup, according to MSNBC) into the tissue surrounding the penis. The volume of the penis was measured before the procedure and then 18 months later — and the doctors also took note of the patients’ penis-size satisfaction post-procedure.

The results? On average, the men experienced an increase in circumference of 4 cm (about 1.5 inches), and the enhancement remained over 18 months. And the participants were pretty happy about it, too: On a scale of 0-4, they rated their satisfaction a 3.3. There were no serious side effects reported, and the scientists concluded that the filler “is a very effective and safe technique for penile augmentation.”
Penis Enlargement Injections: Should You Try It?

Besides the whole “injecting-a-needle-into-the-penis” aspect of the procedure, the penile injections sound promising. But are they for you?

Tony Youn, MD, a Michigan-based plastic surgeon, explains in an article on MSNBC that the current options for penile enlargement tend to either be ineffective and lacking in scientific proof — or tremendously invasive. “One surgery to widen the penis involves cutting it open and implanting radiated cadaver skin around the central shaft,” he writes. “Think this is extreme? Some doctors lengthen the penis by cutting the suspensory ligament and then attaching a weight to the end of the penis daily. For six months.”

While he acknowledges that hyaluronic acid injections sound like a better bet than those mentioned above, he isn’t completely on board. Instead, he recommends a risk-free, needle-free, side-effect-free option: Weight loss.

“Removing fat from around that area can make what’s left look bigger,” he says.

Are you convinced that a penis injection is a good idea for enlargement? Would you or your partner try this? Let us know in comments.

By Mark Brown, wired.co.uk | Published about an hour ago

Torrent search engine BTjunkie is the latest file-sharing service to fall on its sword in the wake of the Megaupload sting. Junkie, one of the largest BitTorrent indexes, decided to shut down voluntarily.

A statement on the website reads, "This is the end of the line my friends. The decision does not come easy, but we've decided to voluntarily shut down. We've been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it's time to move on. It's been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best!"

The site was never directly targeted by copyright holders, an unnamed BTJunkie founder told TorrentFreak. However, the site was reported to the US Trade Representative (USTR) in 2011, the RIAA and MPAA listed the torrent index as a 'rogue' site, and Google censored the search term.

Despite avoiding legal attention so far, the site's founder told TorrentFreak that the legal action against file-sharing sites Megaupload and The Pirate Bay played an important role in its closure.

Online storage locker Megaupload was seized and shut down by the US Department of Justice in January 2012, for allegedly breaching copyright infringement law. The site's staff members were arrested and founder Kim Dotcom was recently been denied bail.

Meanwhile, the founders of The Pirate Bay were arrested for copyright infringement in 2009. This month, the supreme court of Sweden made the ruling final, and announced that the founders will not be able to appeal their months-long prison sentences or combined fines of 46 million kronor (around $6.83 million).

In response to Megaupload's shutdown, a raft of popular Web lockers have neutered the ability to share files with others. FileSonic, FileServe and Uploaded.to all cut off file-sharing in the days after Megaupload was seized.

The Pirate Bay, on the other hand, moved its domain name from .org to the Swedish .se. A Pirate Bay insider told TorrentFreak that this was to prevent US authorities from seizing the popular domain.


On Younger Brother's Suicide, Coming Out As Gay And Media Barrage

The older gay brother of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who took his own life in 2010 after his roommate used a webcam to secretly tape him having sex with another man, says the grief of his brother's death is still at times "overwhelming." Having written a series of letters to his brother in the March issue of Out magazine, James Clementi explained in an interview on my radio program on SiriusXM OutQ that he feels guilt as well, having finally come out to his parents, but only in the aftermath of his brother's suicide. And he wants the world to know what his brother was truly like, believing that Tyler's "humanity was lost" in the media barrage.

"It's been very bittersweet, I guess," 26-year-old Clementi said. "And I have really conflicted feelings about it. You know, I've always – all my life I've dreamt of being open with my parents. And this is not the way in which I would have wanted that to come about. I feel a lot of guilt about the sacrifice that was made just so that I could be accepted by them. I don't think that that's the right way that it should have ever happened."

James says he always had a sense that Tyler was gay, but hadn't spoken to him about it until just months before Tyler jumped from the George Washington Bridge, taking his life.

"I feel like, just being his brother and being close with him, I always sort of intuitively felt that he was gay and it wasn't something we really spoke about for most of our lives together," he recalled. "I mean, we grew up in a very conservative, very religious family, and I just dealt with my own shame and my own baggage, and I wasn't really able to be there for him as I wanted to be, as a brother."

The brothers came out to each other just a few months before Tyler, then 18, went away to school, though neither had come out to their parents.

"I knew it was time to confront him about it," he said. "I had ended up inadvertently stumbling into his room to ask him a question and saw him looking at gay porn on the computer and that was the point at which I said, I can't be in denial about this any longer. I wanted him to know that I was gay and wanted him to know that he could come to me and talk to me about if he wanted to. He seemed very relieved and smiled and was happy. We talked about it at length, but we didn't have that much time. It was just a few months before he went to school. And once he left I actually didn’t speak with him again."

Tyler didn't want to discuss it much anyway.

"He came across as kind of cocky about it, kind of like, 'I know what I'm doing. I don't need your advice. I've got this all figured out,'" James recalled. "I definitely felt like there was a lot of bravado that was covering up maybe more fear and more anxiety. But I guess as a brother I didn't want to parent him or try to lecture him. I wanted to give him space and some freedom. But I did tell him there's always going to be situations that come up where you're going to need a friend and need a brother to talk to and let him know I would be that person. But I don't know how much that message sunk in."

James also responded to some of the reactions to his parents’ interview last year on "The Today Show" where they explained that Tyler had come out to them three weeks before his suicide and how it was difficult for them. Tyler had written to a friend at the time, "Mom has basically completely rejected me."

"I definitely came across that attitude from people that I spoke to in my life about it," he said about the interview and reactions from those who felt his parents still had trouble accepting Tyler was gay. "Maybe not even that they weren't fully comfortable but that there was still a barrier, a line that they didn't want to cross, and a lot of people that I know remarked that maybe it came out of feelings of guilt and maybe it was too painful of a place to go to. I couldn't say exactly what they feel but I think that no one really has suffered more than my mom and my dad out of this. Maybe they didn't handle things perfectly. But I think they made great strides and I know that they would do anything, not that it means much after the fact, but they would do anything to have him back."

One of the reasons James wrote the letters in Out is to let the world know what his brother really was like.

"I greatly admire him," he said. "He was really the smartest person that I know. And I don't think the world has perceived all that he was and all that he had to offer and all that's been lost. I think a lot of his humanity has been lost. He was entertaining. He was definitely someone that would laugh and make you smile. He loved to be the center of attention. He would do anything to have the attention on him. He could be a brat sometimes. He could be annoying. He could be adorable. He was just like the quintessential little brother."

No they came from a blog I visit. But you should post more of those cocks in the forums  :cheers:

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:haha: :haha: :haha: :haha:

Linking Gay Marriage Referendum To Civil Rights

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is still clarifying a comment he made last Tuesday linking a possible gay marriage referendum in the state to the civil rights movement.

"The fact of the matter is, I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South," he said last Tuesday. Christie favors a ballot referendum for gay marriage, while Democratic leaders in the Assembly and Senate have pledged to pass a gay marriage bill.

"The political climate in the South didn't give them the option to have a referendum back then," he said Monday at a press conference in the statehouse, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. "They wished they would have had the option, but the political climate did not permit it, meaning they would not win."

Christie said "numbnuts like [Assemblyman] Reed Gusciora should be ashamed of themselves." Gusciora, who is gay, compared Christie to segregationist Govs. Lester Maddox and George Wallace.

Christie added that African-American leaders he met with earlier understood his comments weren't meant to offend.

Christie's comparison has drawn sharp criticism.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who is African-American, said that he wouldn't have had the same opportunities if civil rights had been put to a vote. "Frankly I wouldn't be where I am today. So it seems to me just sad," he said Thursday on WNYC to Brian Lehrer. "This is not about a choice. It's about a fundamental right, and the 14th Amendment is very clear. It says, 'equal protections under the law' and right now in America we have second-class citizenship set up where certain Americans can have privileges that certain Americans do not enjoy, and that is just wrong."

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) said the governor needed a "history lesson."

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on "Bloody Sunday" in 1965, when marchers were beaten by state and local police, strongly objected to Christie's comparison. "We would never have won [with a referendum]," he said Monday in Trenton, according to PolitickerNJ. (Christie said he'd be willing to meet with Lewis.)

"If two women or two men want to get married, that is a question of human dignity and of human rights," said Lewis. "The day will come when people look back at this and say 'we were just silly.'"

FROM Glennon Melton

I've been watching America's response to recent bullying-related suicides closely. People seem quite shocked by the cruelty that's happening in our schools. I'm confused by their shock. I'm also concerned about what's not being addressed in the proposed solutions to this devastating problem.

The usual response seems to be that we need to better educate students and teachers about what bullying is and how to react appropriately to it. You can't argue with that. But on its own, it seems a little like bailing water frantically without looking for the hole in the boat.

Each time one of these stories is reported we tend to say some version of "Kids these days – they can be so cruel." But I think this is just a phrase we toss around to excuse ourselves from facing the truth. I don't think kids are any crueler than adults. I just think kids aren't quite as adept at disguising their cruelty.

Yesterday I heard a radio report that the students most likely to be bullied are gay kids, overweight kids and Muslim kids.

Hmmmmm.

I would venture a guess that gay adults, overweight adults and Muslim adults feel the most bullied as well.
Children are not cruel. Children are mirrors. They want to be "grown-up." So they act how grown-ups act when we think they're not paying attention. They believe what we believe. They say what we say. And we have taught them that gay people are not okay. That overweight people are not okay. That Muslim people are not okay. Through our words and actions we send the message that these people aren't equal and they should be feared. We know that people hurt the things they fear. What kids are doing in the schools, is what adults do in the media. The only difference is that children bully in the hallways and the cafeterias while we bully from behind pulpits and legislative benches and in one-liners on sitcoms.

People are heart-breakingly sensitive. If enough people tell someone over and over that he is not okay, he will believe it. And one way or another, he will die.

So how is any of this surprising? It's quite predictable, actually. It's trickle-down cruelty.

I don't know much. But I know that each time I see something heartbreaking on the news, each time I encounter a problem outside, the answer to the problem is inside. The problem is ALWAYS me and the solution is ALWAYS me. If I want my world to be less vicious, then I must become more gentle. If I want my children to embrace other children for who they are, to treat other children with the dignity and respect every child of God deserves, then I had better treat other adults the same way. And I better make sure that my children know beyond a shadow of a doubt that in God's and their father's and my eyes, they are okay. They are fine. They are loved as they are. Without a single unless. Because the kids who bully are those who are afraid that a secret part of themselves is not okay.

Dear Chase,

Whoever you are, whoever you become. You are loved. You are a miracle. You are our dream come true.

Chase, here is what would happen in our home if one day you tell your father and I that you are gay:

Our eyes would open wide.

And we would grab you and hold you tighter than you would be able to bear. And while we were holding you we would say a silent prayer that as little time as possible passed between the moment you knew you were gay and the moment you told us. And that you were never once afraid to tell us. And we would love you and ask you one million questions and then we would love you some more and finally, I would likely rush out to buy some rainbow t-shirts, honey, because you know mama likes to have an appropriate outfit for every occasion.

And I don't mean, Chase, that we would be tolerant of you and your sexuality. If our goal is to be tolerant of people who are different than we are, Chase, then we really are aiming quite low. Traffic jams are to be tolerated. People are to be celebrated. People, every person, Is Divine. And so there would be celebrating. Celebrating that you would be one step closer to matching your outsides with your insides, to being who you are. And there would be a teeny part of my heart that would leap at the realization that I would forever be the most important woman in your life. And then we would tell everyone. We would not concern ourselves too much with their reactions. There will always be party poopers, baby.

We just wanted you to know this, honey. We've worried that since we are Christians, and since we love The Bible so much, that there might come a day when you feel unclear about our feelings about this. Because there are a few parts in The Bible that discuss homosexuality as a sin. So let us be clear about how we feel, because we have spent years of research and prayer and discussion deciding.

Chase, we don't believe that homosexuality is a sin. Your parents are Christians who believe that the Bible is inspired by God, just like people are. And since the Bible is a living thing, it is in its very nature to evolve toward becoming more loving. We are to interact with it, to interpret it with our minds and hearts and souls. We are to consider the culture and time in which it was written and then consider the progress humanity's made since then. We believe that when those two things conflict, we are to consider the spirit of the law before the letter of the law. And to always choose mercy over judgment. Sometimes this means that we appear to be picking and choosing what we believe in the Bible. It's not really that, exactly, but it looks like that. And many will tell you that this approach to Christianity is scandalous and blasphemous. But the thing is, honey, that the only thing that's scandalous about this approach is admitting it out loud. The truth is that every Christian is a Christian who picks and chooses what to follow in the Bible, in one way or another.

Several years ago I was in a Bible study at church, and there was some talk about homosexuality being sinful, and I spoke up. I quoted Mother Teresa and said "When we judge people we have no time to love them." And I was immediately reprimanded for my blasphemy by a woman who reminded me of 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10 which says that none of the sexually immoral will inherit the kingdom of God and includes "homosexual offenders" on a list of those types of people.

But, I was very confused because this woman was speaking. In church. And she was also wearing a necklace. And I could see her hair, baby. She had no head covering. All of which are things that are sooooo totally against the Bible Rules. * And so I just assumed that she had decided not to follow the parts of the Bible that limited her particular freedoms, but to hold fast to the parts that limited other people's freedoms. I didn't point this out at the time baby, because she wasn't a bad person. People are doing the best they can, mostly. It's best not to embarrass people.

What I'm trying to say is that each Christian uses different criteria to decide what parts of the Bible to prioritize and demonstrate in their lives. Our criteria is that if it doesn't bring us closer to seeing humanity as one, as connected, if it turns our judgment outward instead of inward, if it doesn't help us become better lovers of God and others, if it distracts us from remembering what we are really supposed to be doing down here, which is finding God in every human being, serving each other before ourselves, feeding hungry people, comforting the sick and sad, giving up everything we have for others, laying down our lives for our friends... then we just assume we don't understand it yet, we put it on a shelf, and we move on. Because all I need to know is that I am reborn. And here's what I believe it means to be reborn:

The first time you're born, you identify the people in the room as your family. The second time you're born, you identify the whole world as your family. Christianity is not about joining a particular club, it's about waking up to the fact that we are all in the same club. Every last one of us. So avoid discussions about who's in and who's out at all costs. Everybody's in, baby. That's what makes it beautiful. And hard. If working out your faith is not beautiful and hard, find a new one to work out. And if spiritual teachers are encouraging you to fear anyone, watch them closely, honey. Raise your eyebrow and then your hand. Because the phrase repeated most often in that Bible they are quoting is Do Not Be Afraid. So when they tell you that gay people are a threat to marriage, honey, think hard.

I can only speak from my personal experience, but I've been married for nine years and barely any gay people have tried to break up my marriage. I say barely any because that Nate Berkus is a little shady. I am defenseless against his cuteness and eye for accessories and so he is always convincing me to buy beautiful trinkets with our grocery money. This drives your sweet father a bit nuts. So you might want to keep your eye on Berkus. But with the exception of him, I'm fairly certain that the only threats to my marriage are my pride and anger and plain old human wanderlust. Do not be afraid of people who seem different than you, baby. Different always turns out to be an illusion. Look hard.

Chase, God gave you the Bible, and He also gave you your heart and your mind and I believe He'd like you to use all three. It's a good system of checks and balances He designed. Prioritizing can still be hard, though. Jesus predicted that. So he gave us this story. A man approached Jesus and said that he was very confused by all of God's laws and directions and asked Jesus to break it down for him. He said, "What are the most important laws?" And Jesus said, "Love God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love others as yourself." When in doubt, Chase, measure all your decisions and beliefs against that. Make damn sure that you are offering others the same rights, courtesies, and respect that you expect for yourself. If you do that, you can't go wrong.

Chase, you are okay. You are a child of God. As is everyone else. There is nothing that you can become or do that will make God love you any more or any less. Nothing that you already are or will become is a surprise to God. Tomorrow has already been approved.

And so baby, your father and I have only one specific expectation of you. And that is that you celebrate others the way we celebrate you. That you remember, every day, every minute, that there is no one on God's Green Earth who deserves more or less respect than you do, My Love.

"He has shown you what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Michah 6:8

Love, Mama

P.S. We thought we should mention, honey, that if you're straight, that's okay too. I mean, it'd be a little anti-climactic now, honestly. But your father and I will deal.

P.P.S. As daddy read this essay, I watched his gorgeous face intensify. He teared up a little. Then he slammed the letter down on the kitchen table and said emphatically and without a touch of irony, "DAMN STRAIGHT."

Which, when you think about it honey, is really the funniest possible thing daddy could have said.

Love you Forever.

Nice cock and pics :cheers:

Avery different video indeed.  :crazy2:

taken from hXXp://www.siliconre…sopa-europe-is/

Just as the SOPA and PIPA debate winds down in the US, the European Union is later this week set to work on ratifying a global intellectual property enforcement treaty: the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

European countries, including Ireland, will later this week join the US, Australia, Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Canada in supporting ACTA.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), ostensibly the agreement deals primarily with counterfeit physical goods, such as medicine.

However, it will in actual fact have broader scope and in particular will deal with new tools targeting "internet distribution and information technology."

Last week, hundreds of major websites in the US - including Wikipedia, WordPress, Boing Boing, Craigslist and Reddit - protested the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill and its sister Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Millions of web users took to social media to join the protests.

The protests, which included petitions and letters to politicians, succeeded in swaying the White House and members of the US Senate to withdraw support for the controversial bills.

One of the reasons ACTA is arousing suspicion and concern is so little is actually known about it.

According to the EFF, it contains several features that raise concerns for consumers' privacy and civil liberties, as well as legitimate commerce, innovation and the free flow of information.

ACTA, it argues, also limits developing countries' ability to choose policy options that best suit their domestic priorities and levels of economic development.

Why is ACTA so mysterious?
The EFF said: "ACTA is being negotiated by a select group of industrialised countries outside of existing international multilateral venues for creating new IP norms, such as the World Intellectual Property Organisation and the World Trade Organisation.

“Both civil society and developing countries are intentionally being excluded from these negotiations. While the existing international fora provide (at least to some extent) room for a range of views to be heard and addressed, no such checks and balances will influence the outcome of the ACTA negotiations," the EFF warns.

Few countries that are about to ratify the agreement, including Ireland, have provided information to the public about the ACTA negotiations.

A document seen by the EFF, a sort of discussion paper, reveals that rightsholders are asking for new legal regimes to "encourage ISPs to co-operate with rights holders in the removal of infringing material." In Ireland, the Government is within days about to pass a statutory instrument that may give rights holders, such as music labels and movie studios, the right to seek injunctions against ISPs concerning illegal downloading on their networks.

The EFF says that rights holder groups that support the creation of ACTA have also called for mandatory network-level filtering by ISPs and three strikes-style graduated response practices.

The EFF warns that the kind of filtering methods ACTA may usher in may include deep packet inspection of citizens' internet communications, raising considerable concerns for civil liberties, privacy rights and internet innovation.