Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez Dies at 58

Original post by Adam Chandler on Tablet Magazine:

Venezuela’s mercurial, prickish, defiant, and brutal leader Hugo Chávez shuffled off the mortal coil this afternoon at age 58, following a long struggle with cancer. The 9/11 truther, strongman, and moon landing denier led Venezuela since 1999, suppressing free speech and remaining surprisingly successful at minimizing his country’s extreme poverty.

He was not popular with Jewish communities at home or abroad. Writing in Tablet last year, Matthew Fishbane covered Chávez’s reign, during which roughly half of the Jewish population of Venezuela fled the country.

In 2004, Chávez made his first official visit to Tehran and struck up a personal friendship and diplomatic alliance with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, whom he welcomed to Venezuela this month. This came after decades of political tutelage from another Holocaust denier, the Argentine ultra-nationalist Norberto Ceresole, who died in 2003 but who managed to instill a conspiratorial, amalgamated view of Jews in his pupil. Chávez has seemed to find in anti-Zionism, and later anti-Semitism, a valuable political tool, one that enhances, or makes more precise, his love of straw-man rhetoric and open hostility toward the United States, first against the bellicosity of George W. Bush and then against President Barack Obama, who remains an avatar of “imperialismo yanqui,” which has abetted “las oligarquias” in Latin America.

Taking over for Chávez will be Venezuelan Vice President Nicolás Maduro, who doesn’t sound like a very nice guy either.

In his December profile of Maduro for FP, Peter Wilson quotes a professor of Latin American history arguing that it’s “impossible to expect Maduro to be another Chávez.” Instead, the professor explained, “he represents continuity with the policies and programs that the president has promoted.” …Maduro is planning to cloak himself in the more conspiratorial dimensions of Chavismo as well. What’ll be interesting to watch is whether he succeeds — or comes across as an inferior imitation of the Bolivarian Revolution’s original steward.

Yikes.

Chasing the Northern Lights in Alaska

        When people think of Alaska they immediately think of the arctic, snow, ice, and a general freezing cold. Well, when you tell people that you are going to Alaska in February they immediately think you are crazy. I have travelled the world and seen tons of different countries and geographical areas, but nothing compares and nowhere I have been comes close to the uniqueness and rugged natural beauty that is Alaska. The sheer size of Alaska is so big it is difficult to grasp, it is 1/3 the size of the land area of the entire 48 states, or about twice the size of Texas. Not only am I inspired and drawn to the extreme locals and geography, but as an astronomy aficionado the main astronomical phenomena I am chasing here on this Alaska adventure is the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis is a natural brightly colored occurrence as the Sun's radiation hits the Earth's magnetic field a beautiful display of charged particles light up the sky in our upper atmosphere, only visible near the poles and the best time of year to witness it is during the winter time when the nights are longer and chance of seeing the Aurora are the greatest, but you better pray for clear skies or it can be completely obscured. 
        The first stop on this arctic adventure is Anchorage, the most popular place to start your introduction into this sub-arctic wonderland. Surrounded by impressive snow covered mountains, Anchorage is a spread out bustling town of 300,000 out of Alaska's population of 730,000 folks with plenty of things to do, places to go and people to meet. By far Alaska's largest and most sophisticated city, Anchorage is situated in a truly spectacular location surrounded by permanently snow-covered peaks and volcanoes of the Alaska Range. To the west of the city, part of the craggy Chugach Range is actually within the eastern edge of the municipality, and the Talkeetna and Kenai ranges are visible to the north and south. On clear days Mt. McKinley looms on the northern horizon, and two arms of Cook Inlet embrace the town's western and southern borders.
        Staying at the comfortable and classy Copper Whale Inn, a gay friendly bed and breakfast located conveniently in the heart of downtown Anchorage, just a short walk from the city's restaurants, galleries, museums and attractions. One museum that I suggest is the largest museum in Alaska, The Alaska Museum of History and Art, where you can learn about Indigenous art, science, and the history of Alaska and it's cultures. Also a short distance away are the only two gay bars in town, Mad Myrna's and The Raven, if you want to see a super hot bartender, please make sure to ask for Chris Jones at Mad Myrna's (oucha mcgoucha). There is also a small Gay and Lesbian Center nearby on 5th Avenue just down the road so you can inquire on all things homo-Alaskan when you get there. 
       The next stop on the Northern Lights adventure is to Denali National Park, home of Mount Mckinley, the tallest mountain in North America at an elevation of 20,320 feet. Then it is on to Fairbanks and the famous Chena Hot Springs, a location so famous for the Northern Lights viewing that Japanese people fly specifically to Chena Hot Springs so they can conceive a child under the Aurora as it is considered good luck for the future child. I might not be conceiving a Japanese child there but I am sure it will be enjoyable nonetheless.

Copper Whale Inn

An Arctic flight exhibit at The Alaskan Museum of History and Art, 

which shows how planes opened up the Alaskan frontier in the last 100 years

An image of a traditional hairstyle of an unmarried Alaskan Hopi native girl, 

which heavily influenced Princess Lea's famous hairstyle in Star Wars

Anchorage skyline

Alaska's biggest gay bar, Mad Myrna's

Alaska's hottest gay bartender, Chris James at Mad Myrna's 

LGBT Community Center of Anchorage

Sea ice and mountains of Chugach National Park

Aerial view of Anchorage 

Dramatic video of meteorite crash in Russia that injures 1200 people

A meteorite streaked across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, raining fireballs over a vast area and causing a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildings and injured 1,200 people.

People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt the shock wave, according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow.

The fireball, travelling at a speed of 30 km (19 miles) per second according to Russian space agency Roscosmos, had blazed across the horizon, leaving a long white trail that could be seen as far as 200 km (125 miles) away.

Car alarms went off, thousands of windows shattered and mobile phone networks were disrupted. The Interior Ministry said the meteorite explosion, a very rare spectacle, also unleashed a sonic boom.

"I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it were day," said Viktor Prokofiev, 36, a resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains.

"I felt like I was blinded by headlights."

The meteorite, which weighed about 10 metric tons and may have been made of iron, entered Earth's atmosphere and broke apart 30-50 km (19-31 miles) above ground, according to Russia's Academy of Sciences.

The energy released when it entered the Earth's atmosphere was equivalent to a few kilotonnes, the academy said, the power of a small atomic weapon exploding.

No deaths were reported but the Emergencies Ministry said 20,000 rescue and clean-up workers were sent to the region after President Vladimir Putin told Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov to ease the disruption and help the victims.

The Interior Ministry said about 1,200 people had been injured, at least 200 of them children, and most from shards of glass. (Reuters)

First LGBT Jewish children's book published

Kar-Ben Publishing of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has just released the first gay-themed Jewish children’s book. The book, which has a Purim holiday theme, is being published in conjunction with Keshet, an advocacy organization which describes itself as working for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jews in Jewish life.

The Purim Superhero is the story of a young boy whose dilemma over which Purim costume to choose is solved with the help of his two dads.

According to Keshet, the book is the winner of the organization’s national book-writing contest. “We’re so proud to have played such a key role in the publication of this book,” the organization announced on its website, calling The Purim Superhero “the first LGBTinclusive Jewish children’s book in English.”

Author and illustrator Elisabeth Kushner is currently on a book tour throughout the US.

“I realized that my old idea for a Purim story was a perfect fit for this project,” Kushner said in an interview posted on Kar-Ben’s website.

“Purim is very much about ‘coming out’ as yourself – Esther is a great example of someone who comes out of the closet for a good cause – and I thought that would be a good setting for a book about a kid with gay parents.”

Click here for original article on JPost: First LGBT Jewish children'... JPost - Jewish World - Jewish News

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Hedda Lettuce is giving them GOLD on the biggest gay cruise of 2013

All aboard the S.S. Lettuce as Hedda tours the high seas of the Caribbean with 3500 gay men and 32 women (a fantastic ratio) this week on the biggest gay cruise of 2013, Atlantis Event's Independence Caribbean cruise. Armed with a smile and a large gilded crock of Boy Butter Gold Label, The 10th Anniversary Edition, Hedda Lettuce who is 100% organic and certified 'green' is spreading the boy buttery gospel throughout the ship with her comedy stylings, hosting of Bingo night, wanders the ship and entertains the sailors and even decorates her suite door with some BB Gold posters. I could not be more proud of my green goddess of giggles! Please check out some photos and hilarious video of one of Hedda's nightly shows.

PHOTOS:

Hedda gold plated her suite door

Winning smiles.

Nothing like a stroll around a gay cruise ship with some lube.

Cuties!

Muscle Bear goes for gold

I love pizza!

I love how much fun they are having :  )

Hedda Lettuce hilariously introduces BB Gold Label in crowded Chelsea theatre, nearly causing a riot

      Hedda Lettuce, the green goddess of song, drag and comedy hosts a weekly movie night on Thursdays at 7:30 pm called Cheslea Classics at the Chelsea Clearview Cinema in NYC. For the first time Boy Butter Gold Label, the 10th Anniversary Edition was a prize in last night's raffle and it was funny to hear Hedda come up with some new jokes about Boy Butter. Hedda Lettuce performs around the country and starting tomorrow debuting for the first time on the Atlantis Cruise, The Independence of the Seas Feb 2-10, packed with 3500 gay men from all over the world, all potential Boy Butter customers and Hedda will know how to spread our buttery message on thick as she hosts bingo and several comedy shows during the week. The dowager Lettuce will also be giving out Boy Butter Gold Label as prizes during those shows on the cruise, and hopefully we can get some good video and photos of that next week.