New York Passes Gay Marriage; California Should Split State

Celebrating Gay Marriage with champagne, a photo by konstantin sergeyev on Flickr.

In the wake of New York State's successful and historic passage of Gay Marriage, it has to be said that California looks.. Well... Bad.

We're literally raised to think that California, the Golden State. The place of dreams. The place where you can be you. Will let you be you.

Now, in the wake of New York's action to allow something that should not even be an issue for any truly secure person (sorry), California just looks like a different place. The illusion has been shattered and the emperor has no clothes.

Or maybe the emperor's a confused split-personality: conservative one moment, liberal the next. Sorely in need of some way to split into two people.

And by that, I mean the much talked about California split-state movement.

In the past, I wasn't for a split-state movement, thinking that the state could get it's collective act together over such issues as water-rights and gay marriage. But age has a way of making a person impatient, and that's certainly the case with this blogger.

As long as California is one state, it may take another ten years to make Gay Marriage legal in it. How much harder will it be for California to maintain its entertainment industry as state after state around it expresses little care what people do in their private lives?

At some point, California's got to relax about this. I'm not convinced it's going to happen in the near term, so why not just split the state into what we know it really is: Northern California and Southern California.

That's the best remedy.

Anthony Weiner Resigns - Video Press Conference And Job Offer

New York U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner did something on Thursday this blogger honestly didn't think he would do: resign from his seat in Congress.

In a press conference that has been correctly described as a "circus, the 25-year elected official announced he was stepping down from public life, and to take time to correct his life and obviously work to repair a marriage undoubtedly damaged.

Weiner, who personally contacted and sent lewd photos of himself to five women, first said he would not resign, but apparently saw his political life fading as many Democrats ran away from him and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly threatened to strip him of committee assignments.

That move alone would make it much harder for Congressman Weiner to help his constituents.

So, at 2 PM ET, Weiner took to a podium at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, to first explain that the venue was where his political career started, and then said...

Unfortunately the distraction that I have created makes that [work] impossible... so today I am announcing my resignation from Congress.

And that's when all hell broke lose in the form of a man we didn't know until Thursday. That's when he yelled "Goodbye Pervert" and other choice words I really don't want to type here.

Now, we know his name is Benjy Bronk (right), and we know he represents The Howard Stern Show.

And we also know he likes to be in interesting photos of his own (see below - that's really Bronk himself).

Some people just don't think about the photos they're in, do they?  Or maybe Bronk doesn't care? 

At any rate, that planned Howard Stern injection of bombast didn't make things any better for Weiner, and added a sad note to the press conference proceedings.

Anthony Weiner's Future: Larry Flynt?

What's Anthony Weiner's future? Well, we really don't know, but it's good to know that Weiner has at least one appropriate option: working for Hustler Founder Larry Flynt.

In Thursday's Huffington Post, Mr. Flynt wrote:

I would like to make you an offer of employment at Flynt Management Group, LLC in our Internet group. As a Congressman, you are known for your intensity and perseverance...This offer is not made in jest. To show our sincerity, Flynt Management Group, LLC is willing to pay twenty percent more than your former Congressional salary ($174,000), ensuring that your medical benefits would be equal to what you were previously receiving....While you will have to relocate to our corporate offices in Beverly Hills, California, we would pay for all relocation costs.

The job offer is apparently open-ended, and it's not clear exactly what Flynt would ask Weiner to do, although the statement "While this employment opportunity is being offered in large part due to your qualifications and clear passion for making a change.." would seem to point to the same actions that caused him to step down, that's not clear.

Stay tuned.

Springfield, MA Tornado Hampers Boston Weather In Year Of Deadly Twisters

Whatever the reason, it seems America's facing a number of lethal tornados in 2011, the latest in Springfield, MA, which is hampering weather conditions in Boston.

Here are two videos which shows the tornado itself as it makes its way through Springfield.



And in this video below, the camcorder operator, recording the action from his office window on Bridge Street in downtown Springfield, says "it's frikin' tearin shit apart. Oh my God."



According to a new Wikipedia page specifically created to track tornados, there have been 1,415 such events in the United States in 2011, and 1,007 of them confirmed.

Moreover, this year was described as an "exceptionally destructive and deadly" one for tornados, as 519 fatalities have been recorded in America alone. That's the largest number of deaths since 1936.

Springfield Tornado Causes "A Lot Of Damage"

This latest tornado struck at 4:30 EST this afternoon, and has, according to WTNH News 8 of New Haven, Connecticut, caused "extensive damage," with windows blown of out of cars and buildings.

An eyewitness, Carlos Alamo, explained to News 8's Sara Welch, that "strong winds started shaking the house." So he told his wife that they should "get into the bathroom" because there was no shelter. Here's the video from WTNH's YouTube page:



Stay tuned.