Road To Marriage Equality Paved By Gov. Cuomo

There is a fascinating story in the New York Times about all the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that had to happen in order to make Marriage Equality a reality in New York. And, the article says, it was Gov. Andrew Cuomo who did the heavy lifting. There are also some other interesting tidbits:

• Cuomo's girlfriend, TV Food Network chef  star  personality Sandra Lee has a gay brother - and she frequently reminded her man how much she wanted to see the law change.
• Democratic Senator Carl Kruger - one of the four Dems who voted "No" back in 2009 - desperately wanted to change his vote. The Times says it was because the woman he lives with has a gay nephew who cut off all contact with them after Kruger voted "No". [Note from DD: Others would say Kruger got tired of all the "closet case" talk].
• The Catholic Church - the only institution in NY which could have derailed this thing - got outmaneuvered by Gov. Cuomo.
• Senate Majority Leader Skelos, who opposed the bill, didn't oppose it enough to prevent a vote on it. New York politics are controlled by "Three Men in a Room" - the Governor, the Assembly Speaker, and the Senate Majority Leader - any of whom can kill a bill. Republican Majority Leader Skelos is described by the Times as being "weak" - so Cuomo swooped in an filled in the leadership void.

The article is a really great read - check it out.

BREAKING: I Fixed The Federal Deficit!

And you can too. Get your Fiscal Responsibility on and go to THIS COOL INTERACTIVE DEMONSTRATION from the New York Times to tackle the deficit yourself.

And while there, check out how very little the elimination of Teatard hated "Earmarks" actually reduces the deficit.

All the new Republicans entering Congress should be forced to do this before being sworn in.

h/t Whatevs Dot Net

Robot Throws NY Times Reporter The Side-Eye

New York Times reporter Amy Harmon (above right) recently sat down to interview Bina48 (left) - who just so happens to be a robot (see story HERE).  But things don't go as smoothly as Amy expected - in fact, check out the .38 mark when I SWEAR Miss Bina gives Amy the whatchutalkinboutwillis Side-Eye.  BTW - they need to get Bina a better wig ... or at least a comb.

It's Pronounced "BAY-bee Zhay-ZOOSE"

The New York Times did a hard-hitting exposé on Madge's hot piece - Jesus Luz - and the only news that came out of it was the correct way to say his name. According to the article, it is pronounced "Zhay-ZOOSE Loose". Madonna, however, pronounces it "Hey-YOU Loser" or simply "Boi"...

If I Had To Live In Brooklyn...

...then this would be the place. From The New York Times:

Despite the tumbling prices for trophy apartments, a striking triplex penthouse apartment in a clock tower overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge and New York Harbor has gone on the market for $25 million, more than double the highest price known to have been paid for a home in Brooklyn.

The main floor of the sleek modern apartment is dominated by four working clocks housed in four 14-foot-high round windows, which provide nearly unobstructed views (except for the clock faces) out to the four points of the compass.

Ongina Delivers

RuPaul's Drag Racer Ongina delivered a $25,000 check from M.A.C. Cosmetics to the Harvey Milk High School on Wednesday - according to the New York Times.

The New York City school was established for GLBT children who have had trouble in traditional schools due to sexuality/gender issues. The Hetrick-Martin Institute, which provides many services for the school, has recently suffered cutbacks in funding, and the M.A.C. donation was intended to help fill the budget gap.

The New York Times article had this to say about Ongina:

Ryan Ong Palao, who revealed that he was H.I.V. positive on television, is a contestant in the RuPaul Drag Race. He started suffering harassment when he first became more flamboyant after coming out in high school in a small town in Washington State. He would have appreciated a “school that provided me as much of an education as a comfort zone.” His drag identity is Ongina, a play off his middle name.

At least some of the students could relate to being a drag queen. Among the questions they peppered him with: what were his favorite makeup products (C-Thru is his favorite lip gloss) and how long it takes to get into drag (two hours).

I LOVE it that the kids wanted to know about lip gloss and drag - and those questions were from the BOYS!

You Are NOT Going To Believe This...

I said yesterday that I would be picking/announcing the winner of the historic Obama editions of the New York Times today. So I found a random number generator online, determined the number of comments (18) - and requested a number between 1 and 18.

The number that came up was #2. When I looked to see who made the second comment, I LOL'd.


It is my beloved TrannyBeth!!

Now before you claim that the contest was fixed, I would like to assure you that I did this by-the-book. I almost selected ANOTHER number, thinking that no one would believe I "randomly" selected my bestest blogger girlfriend as the winner. But that wouldn't be fair to her.

So, darling Beth, I will be mailing you the newspapers. Please keep them safe for your kids, and your grandkids. Who knows, they might even be worth something someday.

XOXOXOXOXOXO


P.S. - If anyone has something of value they would like to plug here on DavidDust, and would be interested in participating in a giveaway - please email me at daviddust@gmail.com. I would really like to do more giveaways in the future, but I need to get my hands on some good crap first.

Win a Piece of History

I will announce the winner of the two historic Obama New York Times editions tomorrow. If you would like the chance to win, please go HERE and make a comment. Remember, please include your email address, and only comment once.

There are only a few people who have signed up so far - so your chances of winning are decent.

Newspapers Sell Out In NYC

I managed to get a copy of the The New York Times yesterday - but by mid-morning there were no newspapers to be found at newsstands across the city.

The picture above is the line of people waiting outside The New York Times building to purchase a copy. The Times printed an extra run of 50,000 copies to meet the demand.

By 7:00 pm, I saw vendors outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal with plenty of copies, and people were still buying them 5 at a time.

My copy is safely hidden away...