Rod 2.0:Beta #gay #news #lgbt #gaynews

Review 2.0

Police make arrests in fatal attack of Ecudoran immigrant ...
Mistakenly believed to be gay.
Baseball-wielding thug "laughed" after attack.
NAACP, Julian Bond call for overturn of Prop 8.
Crystal meth use increasing among black gay men.
Tyler Perry will buy his own "private" island. Ha!
Senate votes to give DC vote in House.
Deranged man sends HIV-infected blood to Obama.
Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black ...
And actor Sean Penn win Academy Awards.
Hotness: Linebacker Dhani Jones strips and travels.
RNC Chair Steele: GOP needs "hip hop makeover...
And says civil unions are "crazy".
Log Cabin (thankfully) criticizes Steele.
Jindal rejects $98 million in recovery funds.
Shawn Sutton and Dominique Holington for Diesel.
Polls find broad support for Obama.
Simmie Williams' murder: One year later, no arrests.
Bow Wow butches it up in new video.
Durbin says Burris should resign.
Kobe Bryant covers Complex.
Oscar-Nominated Viola Davis: Gay men "demonized"
Most released inmates delay HIV treatment.
Hotness: New black male physique book.
Hawaii senate committee deadlocked on civil unions.
Tributes to black gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin.
Obama: Tax fund increase to fund health care.
Holder says raids on marijuana dispensaries to end.
Sexy wide receiver Laveranues Coles a free agent.
Hateful anti-gay Dobson to step down ...
Evil homophobic dictator Mugabe celebrates his birthday.
Hot (and bulging) model Nate Gill featured in Out.

After Elton and Rod 2.0's:
Best and Worst Dressed (Mostly) Gay Men.

Tyler Perry Will Buy Private Island for 40th Birthday

Perennial bachelor and very! straight! g-fab movie director Tyler Perry will celebrate his 40th birthday this September by purchasing a private island.

"I'm a loner by nature, so when I'm out there on these islands, I just feel like the only person in the world," says Perry, whose latest film, Madea Goes to Jail, grossed a whopping $41 million its opening weekend.

After recently spending a week vacationing on a private island in the Great Exumas in the Bahamas, he admits it's not all relaxation: "Renting an island is the best place for me to work uninterrupted." [...]

But he will put one rule into full effect: "There will be no paparazzi on my island!" he declares.

Of course there won't be any paparazzi on Tyler Perry's private getaway. But it's not like there is any special person in his life. "I'm just looking for the right woman," the nearly 40-year-old man told Essence, addressing those perennial gay rumors and explaining why he has never been linked with a woman.

You keep telling yourself that, Tyler. Oh and enjoy the privacy of your island.

Tyler Perry Plans Private Island Purchase [People]

Dictator Mugabe Turns 85, Throws Lavish Party While Millions Starve

Despite his nation's myriad ills—231 million percent inflation, massive unemployment, thousands dying weekly from HIV/AIDS and a cholera outbreak that has claimed nearly 4,000 people in six months— corrupt and notoriously anti-gay president dictator Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe focuses on the important things and throws a lavish birthday bash for his 85th birthday.

More than half the country's 13 million people survive on food aid ... but the dictator slaughtered more than $150,000 worth of livestock for his extravaganza. "This kind of celebration, amid so much suffering by so many, is obscene," says outspoken Mugabe critic John Makumbe.

Mugabe is infamous for describing gays as "worse than dogs and pigs." Mugabe's government has enacted tougher anti-sodomy legislation and a statute that makes simple touching between men a criminal offense.

Mugabe Celebrates 85th Bday with Huge Party [Reuters]

Rabidly Anti-Gay Dobson "Resigns" as Chairman of Focus on the Family

Ding dong the witch is dead. Rabidly anti-gay conservative evangelical leader James Dobson announces he is "resigning" as chairman of Focus On The Family. Apparently after spending a million dollars on Proposition 8 and laying off hundreds of employees over the holidays, the organization is "right on track" and the "resignation" is just part of the "succession plan." Dobson will continue to play a prominent role at the Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire he founded thirty years ago.

Dobson, 72, will continue to host Focus on the Family's flagship radio program, write a monthly newsletter and speak out on moral issues. Dobson's resignation as board chairman "lessens his administrative burden" and is the latest step in a succession plan, the group said. Dobson began relinquishing control six years ago by stepping down as president and CEO

Dobson has a devoted following. His radio broadcast reaches an estimated 1.5 million U.S. listeners daily. Yet critics say his influence is waning, pointing to evangelicals pushing to broaden the movement's agenda beyond abortion, gay marriage and other issues Dobson views as most vital. ...

At the same time, Focus officials have acknowledged difficulties in raising money from younger families critical to its future. The economy also has hurt. Last fall Focus on the Family eliminated more than 200 staff positions, its largest employee cutbacks ever. [A spoksperson] said the group is now "right on track" with a revised annual budget of $138 million.

Dobson's wife Shirley is also stepping down from the board.

Focus on the Family is one of the main social conservative groups that has mobilized opposition to gay rights in the past two decades, and, promoted the dangerous "ex-gay" myth. It has been conservatively estimated their annual budget alone is more than double that of all LGBT rights organizations. But revenues are declining, hundreds of staff have been dismissed, and, conservative evangelicals are declining in influence. Sounds to me like the board wants to re-brand their organization with younger, more appealing faces to attract a new generation to their intolerance.

Dobson Resigning as Chairman of FoF [Chron]

After Elton's Best and Worst Dressed (Mostly) Gay Men

Michael Jensen at After Elton asked for our input in the latest Best. Gay. Week. Ever. This week's column wraps the Academy Awards, fashion week, and includes our list of the Top Best and Worst Dressed (Mostly) Gay Men.

Of course supermodel-actor-Rod 2.0 obsession Tyson Beckford makes the best dressed list but he is not number one. Our number one should not be surprising but some may disagree. Oh and is anyone surprised the Worst Dressed list is populated with those ridiculous "style" and "fashion" "gurus"?  Let me know what you think.

Best. Gay. Week. Ever also interviews modeling hotness Ronnie Kroell, the openly gay winner of the first season of Bravo's Make Me a Supermodel. Project Runway's Jack Mackenroth, the openly gay and HIV positive fashion designer, offers his highlights (and lowlights) of fashion week and the Academy Awards. Very flattering for After Elton to include us in the same column with Kroell and Mackenroth.

Half Day

Sorry, but there will only be a few posts today. There was a last minute call to field produce for Access Hollywood and a brotha has to make some coins. Enjoy your Friday and check in Saturday morning. We'll be posting over the weekend.

Second Arrest in Fatal "Anti-Gay" Baseball Bat Attack

The second man wanted in connection with the bloody beating death of an Ecuadoran immigrant—mistakenly believed to be gay—has been arrested and made a full confession.

Twenty-eight-year-old Keith Phoenix was arrested in a pre-dawn raid. Surveillance video and traffic cameras led police to man who they say wielded the lethal baseball bat in the vicious December 7 Brooklyn attack of Jose Sucuzhanay. The Ecuadoran immigrant was walking arm in arm with his brother to keep warm when two men jumped from an SUV. Witnesses say the thugs shouted anti-Hispanic and anti-gay slurs.

Phoenix was caught on camera smiling as he pulled into an RFK bridge toll booth just 19 minutes after the Dec. 7 beating of Jose Sucuzhanay, was nabbed after an acquaintance saw the video in the media and called police.

"The cops just called and told me they caught the second man," said the victim's younger brother, Diego Sucuzhanay. "He is the one who was the real attacker - who beat my brother with the bat. "I saw the video of him, laughing. It is a great relief to know this person is behind bars because he would continue to commit crimes. Now there will be no more victims."

On Thursday, Phoenix's accomplice Hakim Scott was arraigned on second-degree murder as a hate crime.

What type of a depraved human being laughs after beating a complete stranger to a pulp? We'll let the jury answer that question.

Second Suspect in Fatal Beating Arrested [NY1] 
Sucuzhanay Hate Crime Suspect Nabbed [NYDN]

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Arrest After Fatal "Anti-Gay" Baseball Bat Attack [R20]
Ecuadoran Immigrant Dies After Brutal Attack [R20]
Police Search for Suspects in Brooklyn Attack [R20]
Candlelight Vigils for Victim of Brooklyn Hate Attack [R20]

FBI Arrests Man Accused of Sending HIV-Infected Blood to Obama

Extremely disturbing. A Chicago man with a history of mental illness is (thankfully) in federal custody after allegedly sending Barack Obama and Rahm Emmanuel—seen above in the Oval Office—envelopes smeared with HIV-infected blood nwith the hopes of killing or harming them.

The envelopes were mailed in late December. The Chicago Sun-Times quotes a criminal complaint filed in January by federal prosecutors that names Saad Hussein, an Ethiopian refugee. Hussein told investigators "he cut his fingers with a razor to bleed on the letter for Obama."

"Saad stated he is very sick with HIV [confirmed by his brother, Abdulaziz] and it was his way of seeking help from the government," the criminal complaint said.

The interview with investigators happened on Dec. 29, a day after a Springfield government building went on lockdown after an employee at the Illinois Department of Revenue’s Aging Unit opened a suspicious envelope.

The envelope contained a two-page note with writing and “orange and reddish stains,” a color photo of Hussein taken in Ethiopia, an admission ticket for the Nov. 4 election night party in Grant Park, six index cards with “reddish stains” and a Christmas card, the complaint said.

FOX News reports days after sending the letter, the troubled man sent a "similar letter with what appeared to be dried blood" to then-Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, who is now the president's chief of staff.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service says this is only the second time HIV-infected blood has been deliberately sent with malicious intent through the mail system. Let's hope this is the last.

Saad Hussein is obviously a very disturbed man. Surely there are easier, less threatening ways to cry for help than sending HIV-tainted blood through the mail. What's really baffling about this case is that the  defendant claims to be an "admirer" of Barack Obama. With friends like these ...

Man Claims Blood on Letter was HIV [Sun Times]
Chicago Man Arrested Allegedly Targeting Obama [FOX]

Breaking: Senate Votes to D.C. Residents a House Vote

The Senate approves legislation that would give the District of Columbia a vote in Congress.

The 61-37 vote would give full voting rights in the House of Representatives to the district's congressional delegate. The measure also gives a new House seat to the state of Utah, to balance out the expected Democratic gain.

The House is expected to approve the bill next week and President Barack Obama indicates he will sign it into law.

The measure would give Washington, D.C.—which has a majority black population, a significant black gay community and a gay friendly black mayor—full political representation in the House but no senators. The measure will probably be challenged by conservatives and the suit is likely to go to the Supreme Court.

Hot (and Bulging) Model Nate Gill Featured in "Out" Magazine

In case you don't recognize hot new model Nate Gill wearing clothes—remember, first time he was practically naked wearing only a pair of tight underwear—that is him featured in a new editorial in the March Out.

"Bed Stuy Boys" is the second recent fashion editorial to draw inspiration (and models) from the Brooklyn neighborhood of the same name. Fashion photographer David Armstrong lenses the editorial. Grant Woolhead is the stylist and does a fab job showcasing some of the colors and styles you will be seeing this spring. That green nylon zip-up  A/X hoodie is clever. Click the page for the scan and you may be pleased to find a slight "bulge" in the cycling shorts.

 

The abtastic stunner gets the credits page wearing this "Mars" red stretch twill Calvin Klein suit. Impressive, especially because red is our favorite color.

Nate was last seen with Beyonce and photographed by Bruce Weber for V.

Nate Gill is represented by Major Model Management.

You May Enjoy ...
Monday Morning Model: Nate Gill [R20]
Bruce Weber Does Nate Gill and Beyonce in "V" [R20]