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Every year, thousands of bright and interesting people assume the stage at TED, TED-X, and affiliated conferences all over the world, and just about every day TED posts one of their talks for online consumption. The massively popular TED Conference -- "TED" stands for "Technology, Entertiainment, and Design" -- is predicated on the idea that luminaries in all kinds of different fields probably have something of value to share with the world, and the world might be willing to listen if those luminaries distill their One Big Idea into a brief, humorous, and passionate speech. Many of the world's smartest and most inventive people go to TED and affiliated events each year and return home even smarter and more inventive, for TED Talks can be both life-changingly informative and peerlessly inspirational. Sometimes they're both.
Because thousands of people end up on stage at TED-affiliated events each year, not everybody's talk gets featured on TED's website. That's certainly true of those talks, such as the one below, which are pitched and delivered by non-featured speakers -- basically, during the audience-participation part of the conference.
But this particular talk was delivered by Nick Hanauer, the venture capitalist, and its subject was inequality. And when it didn't get featured on TED's website, Hanauer was angry. The National Review wrote a story about the snub, assuming it resulted from some censorious impulse at TED. TED's founder, Chris Anderson, took to the web to defend himself. It's not that TED"s censorious; it's that Hanauer's talk was "partisan" and "unvonvincing."
But that's nonsense. Hanauer's talk has now been posted, and it's fine. Anyway, all TED lectures are either for or against something, which is what it means to be partisan. If I can hazard a guess, the problem's that the TEDfolk, like most West coast techno-cultural intelligentsia, are libertarians, and don't like to see gazillionaires bescmirching the free market, which Hanauer does repeatedly.
If, however, you enjoy seeing billionaires besmirch the free market, please watch Hanauer's talk video AFTER THE JUMP ...
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BOY CULTURE REVIEW: ***1/2 OUT OF ****
I just saw Lady Rizo's show last night at the Highline in NYC and I'm left feeling kind of how I felt when Janice Dickinson kissed me and licked my eyeball—except less afraid of getting herpes and more hopeful that Rizo's creativity might be viral.
Having no idea what to expect, we calmly ate our grilled cheese sandwiches and coconut shrimp and tomato soup that was really just Ragu in a bowl. I was nervous about what would happen if I didn't like Rizo (not pronounced like the Grease character, more like Ree-zoh) since my pal Greg and his partner Dan are friends of hers and had invited us. I needn't have worried. As soon as she emerged (in total darkness) and we heard the first notes, it was clear this bitch could sing just about anything. And wound up doing so.
Lady Rizo is hard to describe. She has the offbeat sense of Lady Gaga, but that comparison feels too easy, and Gaga always feels in character whereas Rizo is more in on her own joke. She looks like Moon Unit Zappa meets Taylor Dayne and sings like Bette Midler, Jimmy Durante, Amy Winehouse and Janis Joplin. Her stage banter is hilarious, like Jane Krakowski. Buts in spite of the myriad of comparisons, she's original. She was able to perform covers and completely—and I mean completely—change them into her own creations. Her "Close To You" by the Carpenters and "Toxic" by Britney Spears were unrecognizable, whimsical and aggressive.
For me, a highlight among the covers was her tribute to the late, great Donna Summer. With exquisite taste, she selected what I would argue is Summer's most important and best song, "I Feel Love". Rizo could easily have aped Summer's sound, but instead gave the song a more muscular and eventually a more '60s frat house feel. "Can you feel it???" she implored, seguing into a bit of "Love to Love You" as well. We felt it.
I loved, loved, loved Rizo's original material, some of which I would say was less intentionally bawdy and humorous and more haunting. She can write a song as well as she can sing it.
The most hilarious moment came when she dragged an audience member on stage to witness one of her costume changes behind a backlit scrim. "Tell me when you lost your virginity?" she asked, and the rest of the interview took off in that direction.
But her most brilliant number might have been when she sang T-Pain as cabaret, relishing the stupidity of every word.
The only part of her show that left me cold was the inclusion of some burlesque numbers executed by a pair of cuties. The stripteasers were talented but really just in the way, and distracted from the impact when Rizo emerged mostly nude at the end (reminiscent of Sandra Bernhard's Without You I'm Nothing).
Happily, we will soon have Lady Rizo's album and you can hear for yourself what I'm inadequately trying to express. But in case you have a chance to witness her in the flesh, don't miss her.
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Hollywood screenwriter Paul Haggis (Crash, Million-Dollar Baby) and his wife, Deborah Rennard, have filed for divorce.
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Frankly, I couldn’t imagine myself denying a right to my neighbor, my fellow citizen, that I enjoy myself. I don’t think you can say we believe in equal rights for some people, but not for others. I think that’s a what they call an oxymoron. If you believe in equal rights, you help grant them to all of the people. I could not imagine myself saying to someone, I have a right, but not permit you to enjoy. I have to give it to everybody if i give it to anybody. That’s what Dr. King meant when he said, ‘Injustice breeds injustice everywhere.’
Basically it’s a civil-rights issue. It’s under the law that we have the right to affect a union, a covenant, a relationship, a marriage if you will, between two consenting people.”
—Civil-rights legend Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery, 90, discussing same-sex marriage with Al Sharpton on MSNBC’s Politics Nation. Lowery co-founded the Southern Leadership Conference with MLK, participated in freedom rides and the March on Washington, and delivered the benediction at President Obama’s inauguration.
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Each week, Queerty picks one blowhard, hypocrite, airhead, sanctimonious prick or other enemy of all that is queer to be the Douche of the Week.
Have a nominee for DOTW? Have a nominee for DOTW? E-mail it to us at holla@queerty.com.
This is a first for us—a repeat offender!
Union, NJ, teacher Viki Knox made Douche of the Week last October when she posted a 36-page homophobic screed claiming homosexuality was “a perverted spirit.” Now Knox wants to retire on a disability pension rather than face possible punishment.
Knox, a special-needs educator with the district since 2000, was incensed that her school had created a bulletin board in honor of LGBT History Month and proposed a GSA. So she took to the Web and crafted a rant that, among other things, likened being gay to having cancer:
Homosexuality is a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of creation… I have friends and loved ones who are practicing/living as homosexuals. Yes I love can care about them. We hug and exchange gifts. We have family dinners. But how they live and their actions, behaviors -CHOICES are against the nature and character of God! Do I tell me so? Yes, of course. Do I treat them bad? If course not! Jesus never did that to ANYONE he meant… I do not pretend to know ALL things. Nor do I pretend not to have biases, failings and faults. But I know sin and it breeds like cancer!
She also suggested teen girls lose their virginity to “professionals” rather than some fumbling adolescent:
As a 15 yr old girl, how many positive fulfilling sexual encounters has she had with a man to know or THINK she wants to only have sex with another female. Most of her experiences would have been with some male trying to practice his techniques and control on her. I haven’t run across any teenagers/young adults fortunate enough to be introduced to sexual relations by professionals: gigolo and escorts
The sword of justice moves slowly in education, though, and while Knox was put on suspension, a final decision about her future hasn’t been made.
Hoping to head things off at the pass, Knox filed a motion this month asking that her case be postponed so she can retire and file for a disability pension, “due to both a back injury and ‘psychological grounds,’” reports the New Jersey Star Ledger.
“If I can retire then there is no need for me to go through this unpleasant experience,” Knox stated in court papers.
“Although I continue to maintain that I have done nothing that warrants me being disciplined … the thought of going through a tenure trial causes a great deal of angst. Unfortunately for all concerned, this matter has already received great notoriety in the local community. Avoiding a hearing will allow the local community to start the healing process sooner.”
This woman is an angel—thinking of the community before herself.
All together now: What a douche!
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Jenna Talackova (above) didn’t take the crown at the Miss Universe Canada contest yesterday, but the 6’2″ looker emerged a champion nonetheless: As the first openly transgender competitor in pageant history, she helped change the rules of the Miss Universe Organization.
“If you are legally recognized in your country and you’ve had your surgery and been through everything, you’d be able to compete in your country’s pageant,” said Paula Shugar, president of the organization. But Shugar admits that won’t be any help in countries that don’t provide legal recognition of a trans woman’s change in gender.
Wearing a white bikini and blinged-out heels, Talackova sashayed into the top 12 but was eliminated after the evening-gown segment. Sahar Biniaz, 26, won the competition, reports the Toronto Star, but Talackova was in a four-way tie for Miss Congeniality.
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Ryan Reynolds is in final discussions to play the title role in the reboot of Highlander. I used to love the television show, but this feels like another unnecessary reboot.The NAACP has passed a...
Florida lowered FCAT language requirements to keep two thirds of the state's kids from failing. Half failed anyway.
New York's most senior gay public servant was married today:
Christine Quinn, New York's highest-ranking openly gay official and the leading candidate to be the city's next mayor, married her longtime girlfriend on Saturday, walking down the aisle to Beyonce's "Ave Maria."
Quinn, the speaker of the New York City Council and a vocal advocate of same-sex marriage, wore a full-length, cream-colored gown designed by Carolina Herrera and a hair comb fashioned with family heirlooms.
Quinn's wife, New York lawyer Kim Catullo, wore a cream silk evening suit designed by Ralph Lauren. Catullo, who like Quinn is 45, walked in to Bruce Springsteen's "If I Should Fall Behind."
Cuomo, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were among the 275 guests.
Fourth-rate NBA player Dominique Jones really dislikes gay people.
In the Hardin County school system, straight teens are punished for wearing LGBT-supportive apparel; the Southern Poverty Law Center sues.
In Michigan, representatives and senators sign awards for "women of accomplishment" -- unless those women are lesbians.
"Family values" legislator dons bikini, gets hot bod pictured in Maxim.
"The 20 Biggest Consequences of Same-Sex Marriage"
Nick Stahl, lost and found.
Some producers say they have marveled at how fast the opinions of television viewers have changed, even as gay rights activists have marveled at how voters across the country have shifted on gay marriage.
“What this is about, really, is how far America has come, not how far television has come,” said Christopher Lloyd, a co-creator of “Modern Family.”
Shonda Rhimes, the “Grey’s Anatomy” producer, recalled having to “go to the mattresses with broadcast standards and practices” at ABC in 2006 to insist on preserving a steamy shower sequence with three female doctors. That sequence was just a fantasy in the mind of one of the male characters — but now six years later, in the show’s version of reality, two female doctors are married. “Nobody even blinked” at the relationship, Ms. Rhimes said.
The only outcry she recalled came when one of the doctors, Arizona, flirted with a man. “It was from lesbians who said, ‘How dare she sleep with a man!’�”
Any Towleroad readers following the NBA playoffs? Know this: The Onion's sports coverage is no joke.
Smart, funny, versatile–why you should be crushing on Channing Tatum. He’s done it all. He’s framed houses, worked at a puppy nursery, and sold credit cards to students. But it was his job as a...
Want to see more? Visit ETHAN SAYS for the rest!
Ten days after Barack Obama’s historic announcement, the board of directors of the NAACP voted to endorse marriage equality today. “The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people. We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law,” stated board chair Roslyn M. Brock.
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Reuters published an article yesterday neatly summarizing the support Dharun Ravi has received from various members of the gay community. (If you're just tuning in: Ravi is the 20-year-old who, two years ago, briefly used his webcam to spy on his new roommate, Tyler Clementi, during a gay hookup; Clementi committed suicide shortly thereafter, and Ravi's now been convicted of a hate crime. He could face substantial prison time, and will likely be deported.)
Reuters quoted Aaron Hicklin, the debonaire editor of Out:
"Ravi's conviction was a compelling signal that harassment and bullying of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people carries penalties," Aaron Hicklin [wrote] in an article arguing that Ravi be set free.
"Yet the verdict also left a bitter aftertaste, as if what was being satisfied was not justice, but revenge."
Hicklin cited a past comment by Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan that even if Clementi were alive today, he would have presented virtually the same case to the jury. Anyone who believes Kaplan, Hicklin wrote, is "kidding himself."
"Ravi was convicted because Clementi is dead," Hicklin wrote, adding that the suicide "left us reaching for simplistic answers where there are none."
... and gay rights activist Bill Dobbs:
At a rally in support of Ravi outside the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton this week, Bill Dobbs ... told the crowd that Ravi was "overcharged" in the incident.
"The hate crime law in New Jersey has got so many problems that it should be repealed," Dobbs said. "It has become a dangerous weapon that is not necessary."
... and Andrew Sullivan:
Sullivan ... said the hate crime charges, without which Ravi would likely get probation and no prison time, were "tenuous" and "repellent."
"This was a bigoted online hazing, followed by a judicial witch-hunt," Sullivan wrote.
... and lesbian writer E.J. Graff:
E.J. Graff ... said in her column in The American Prospect, "I fear that Ravi is an easy scapegoat for a complicated problem."
... and the head of Garden State Equality, Steven Goldstein:
"Justice is best served by his serving some jail time for the crime committed," ... Goldstein said. "The moderate position is not to throw the book at this young man, nor should he get off Scott free."
... and mentions that Ravi has the support of Dan Savage and New Jersey's gay ex-governor, Jim McGreevey, as well.
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Friday night, The Silver Fox won $50,000 for The Trevor Project -- the organization devoted to combating suicide amongst gay youth -- by winning Jeopardy! Power Players. His competition: NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and the New York Times's Thomas Friedman.�
Watch Anderson gloat adorably AFTER THE JUMP ...
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The Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery is everywhere, all of a sudden, and not for the first time. The estimable, 90-year-old Rev. Dr. is the founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Black Leadership Conference; he led the Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks's protest and led the Selma To Montgomery march ten years later. Just last week he signed his name to a letter from black civil rights leaders endorsing Barack Obama's support of marriage equality, and now he's making his case on TV.
Note that the Rev. Dr. has undergone his own evolution on marriage equality. Just four years ago, he was adamant in his support of civil unions, but was uncertain about the "m"-word:
I've never said I support gay marriage. I support gay rights and I support civil unions. Like a whole lot of people, I have some difficulty with the term gay marriage. Because deep in my heart, deeply rooted in my heart and mind, marriage is associated with man and woman. So I have a little cultural shock with that. But I certainly support civil unions, and that gay partners ought to have all the rights that any other citizens have in this country.
Now he views the issue a little differently, as he explains to Rev. Al Sharpton AFTER THE JUMP ...
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�When it comes to the movies, we’ve seen some classic battles. There’s the War of the Roses, Freddie vs Jason and many more. However, no battle has proven more entertaining and sexy than the battle between twinks and hunks. In this SD Boy scene, you’ll watch a hunk go up against a twink in an oral battle. Who sucked it best? Click here and choose a side!
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