Tuesday Notes on the News

It is a frosty morning here in North Texas with the temperature standing at 23 degrees Farenheit.  Of course this is spring like weather if you live in Chicago, Bangor or even NYC compared to the morning temperatures there.  But for North Texas, it is just too damn cold!  I am off today and tomorrow however I may opt to stay in and stay warm.  

Slowly but surely I am clearing my feed reader of its back log and I thought I would share some of the things I found there.  In Saturday's post I discussed Chris Kluwe and his Deadspin article.  Kluwe was interviewed by Anderson Cooper last night on CNN.  It was also reported this morning on Towleroad that Kluwe has hired attorneys from the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Clayton Halunen to represent his interests in the forthcoming independent investigation by the Vikings.  Kluwe said that his hiring attorneys does not mean a lawsuit is imminently forthcoming, however it is not beyond consideration either depending on the outcome of the investigation.  His point of contention is not with the Vikings organization but rather with 3 individuals in the organization (Mike Priefer, Leslie Frazier and Rick Speilman).  We will be watching this closely and will report additional details when they become available.

There have been some developments on the Marriage Equality front in the news also.  SCOTUS has issued a stay of Judge Shelby's Marriage Equality ruling pending a 'proper appeal' by Utah in the District 10 Appeals Court.  Utah Governor Gary Herbert is of the opinion that the issuance of the stay by SCOTUS was the right thing to do.  Right on time, NOM's Brian Brown was commending SCOTUS for its ruling.   Brown also made the comment in a radio interview with the Voice of Russia that the same sex wedding featured in the Rose Parade on New Year's Day was to 'indoctrinate children', not a celebration of love in a long time partnership between two men. 

Meanwhile in Arizona, four couples have filed a class action law suit challenging that state's ban on Marriage Equality.  The suit naming Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, Attorney General Tom Horne and County Clerk Michael Jeanes as defendants was filed by attorneys Shawn and Ellen Aiken. It claimed that a voter-approved ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.  If the suit is successful, it will pave the way for Marriage Equality in Arizona and allow recognition of all legally married couples from other states. 

In other news, John Stewart's rip on Fox News and climate change deniers is hilarious and spot on.  Then there is the Celeb Tweet of the Day coming from Anderson Cooper.  And finally, Frank Bruni wrote an OpEd in Sunday's New York Times about former Marine Sergeant Hal Faulkner.  Faulkner is 79, terminally ill with cancer and his dying wish was to have his 'other than honorable' discharge from the Marines corrected now that DADT has been repealed.  The military now has a process to do this for the more than 110,000 service personnel separated prior to DADT.  Anne Brooksher-Yen, the New York lawyer who took on his discharge appeal two months ago was successful in getting an expedited appeal and Faulkner's record has now been changed to Honorable to reflect the quality and value of his service to our country more than 50 years ago.  The correction came in a letter in mid-December, and she traveled all the way to Fort Lauderdale for a gathering on Friday afternoon at which the letter was presented to Hal. JOHN GILLESPIE, a member of OutServe-SLDN’s board of directors, traveled to Fort Lauderdale, too, from Mississippi, and he arranged for two local Marines, in uniform, to be on hand to congratulate Hal, who’d been told what the letter said and would now get a special moment to savor it.  Congratulations Hal!

I was listening to the Dallas Symphony broadcast last night while I was at work when they played Antonin Dvorak's immensely popular Symphony Number 8 in G major.  When I got home I went to You Tube to find a video of a  Symphony Number 8 performance to share with you today.  However when I opened my subscriptions page, today's Musical Moment jumped out of the monitor at me and is posted below.  The Musical Moment features a rare recording of the late Fort Worth Piano Virtuoso Van Cliburn in a live recital in Leningrad in June of 1965.  The video is made of still photos of Cliburn's appearances in the Soviet Union at the height of his popularity there.  The recording is of the state radio broadcast of his Leningrad recital and the commentary is of course in Russian, so I cannot tell you all the pieces that he performed that night, but it is an excellent listening experience and a glimpse at the history of the legendary Van Cliburn in his youth.  If you recall, Cliburn passed away shortly before last year's quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.  However, if you would like to hear Dvorak's Symphony Number 8, I posted a 1974 recording by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Herbert von Karajan over on my tumbler this morning. 

Then to wrap things up, I have a sensuous selection of sleek studs in this edition of Tuesday's Temptations to add a little heat to a frosty day.  Thanks for sharing a part of your day with me, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!