Would you go nude hot-tubbing with Republican Rep. Kevin Garn of Utah?

First, the strange news from NPR:

Utah’s House majority leader resigned from the Legislature Saturday, two days after acknowledging he paid a woman $150,000 to keep quiet about a nude hot-tubbing incident that took place a quarter century ago when she was a teenager.

Republican Rep. Kevin Garn’s Thursday night confession came in a speech before House colleagues and stunned this conservative state. On Saturday, he apologized in an e-mail to House Speaker David Clark for becoming a distraction.

"After discussing this matter with my family, I have decided that it is in the best interests of them, my colleagues and the people of Utah," he wrote.

Garn, 55, acknowledged the indiscretion with the legal minor immediately after the Legislature adjourned for the session.

"Although we did not have any sexual contact, it was still clearly inappropriate — and it was my fault," he said from the House floor Thursday night.

Lawmakers responded with a standing ovation for his honesty and embraced him, a move some found offensive given the nature of what Garn was saying. In hindsight, the ovation may not have been the best move, but it shouldn’t be misconstrued to indicate support for unethical behavior, Clark said Saturday.

Garn told colleagues he paid the woman, Cheryl Maher, after she began contacting reporters about the incident during his unsuccessful bid for a congressional seat in 2002. Despite a confidentiality agreement, the now 40-year-old Maher began contacting local news media last week to retell her story about being naked with Garn when she was 15, he said Thursday.

It’s unclear whether Garn was 29 or 30 at the time of the incident. He’s more than 14 years older than Maher, who now lives in Derry, N.H.

This happened a quarter century ago. She was legal (at 15???). He was conservative and Republican. They were both nude. There was no sex. (Really???) He paid her $150,000 to keep silent. What could go wrong?

I honestly don’t know Rep. Kevin Garn at all. My favorite from all of this is from Utah Republican Party Chairman Dave Hansen, who says the party will bounce back from this and the January resignation of Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack following his arrest on a charge of driving under the influence.

"I would’ve preferred neither one of them had happened, obviously, but they did," Hansen said of the Garn and Killpack resignations. "But I don’t think in the long run it’s going to have any effect."

That’s a nice attempt to spin bad news, but, somewhere along the line, we all have to surrender our sanctimony, on the left and the right.

Anyhow, enjoy the vintage Eddie Murphy video.

March 13th, 2010
Categories: Conservatives, Ethics, Legal, Republicans . Author: G . Comments: No Comments

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The arrest of a North-Central Pennsylvania man on internet child pornography charges spurred dozens of more arrests from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, state police said.

Half of the 44 men arrested since the investigation began three months ago are from Western Pennsylvania counties or connected to cases on this side of the state.

Two agencies, the Internet Crimes Against Children task force and the State Police Computer Crime Task Force, began investigating after an agent detected Ronald Paul Bellows of Richmond, Tioga County, was online sharing child pornography with other men.

Armed with a search warrant at Mr. Bellows’ residence, state police arrested him on 15 child pornography counts.

More here.

March 12th, 2010
Categories: Violence . Author: G . Comments: No Comments

From NBC Chicago:

Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday received a bill that would push Illinois’ primary election back to March.

He’s expected to sign it.

Four years ago, lawmakers moved the state’s primary election in an effort to give then-Sen. Barack Obama an early win in a big state during the 2008 presidential campaign.  But last month’s election saw voter turnout reach an all-time low.

For those of you running in the Consolidated Election next year, once signed, that will put the primary on March 15, 2011, the third Tuesday of March next year.

This also means that if you turn 18 on or before March 15, 2011, you will be able to register to vote before the election.

For the record, if you currently will  be 18 on or before November 2, 2010, in Illinois, you can register to vote NOW.

March 11th, 2010
Categories: Chicago, Chicagoland, Elections, Illinois . Author: G . Comments: No Comments

From Yahoo! News:

In a fitting show of solidarity for International Women’s Day, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made light of the brutal 2008 battle Clinton conducted to defeat Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. As Michelle Obama launched a State Department commemoration of International Women’s Day, she briefly stumbled over Clinton’s job title. "Let me thank my dear friend, Senator – Secretary Clinton. I almost said, ‘President Clinton,’ " said the first lady to laughter and applause. "But let me thank you for that kind introduction, and most of all thank you for your friendship, thank you for your support, and thank you for your indispensable advice in getting me through this first year and helping me figure out how to get my family settled in our new life in D.C."

The exchange stood as another rebuke to a favored theme of the Beltway pundit set: that tensions between the Obamas and the Secretary of State still run high. More than that, though, the series of events that the first lady presided over drew wider attention to the stubborn lags in gender equality beyond the developed Western world. Both women stressed this issue in their respective speeches. As Secretary Clinton put it, the world "can’t solve problems of financial crisis, climate change, disease and poverty if half of the population is left behind."

It’s so nice to see this pleasant exchange. The pundits on the left and the pundits on the right want to see arguments and fights. Turns out they get along just fine.

Michelle is incredible. And Secretary Clinton is as well.

March 11th, 2010
Categories: Barack Obama, Democratic News, Hillary Clinton, Humor, White House . Author: G . Comments: No Comments

From GLAAD:

GLAAD has learned from a source that wishes to remain anonymous that sponsors of the Stars on Ice Tour, which include Smuckers and IMG Entertainment, have refused to allow 3-time US National Champion and 2-time Olympian Johnny Weir to participate because they claim that he is “not family friendly.”

To say that Weir is “not family friendly” would be a clear jab at his perceived sexual orientation. Weir is extremely involved with his family. He is putting his younger brother through college, and supports the family financially because his father’s disability prohibits him from working. Weir’s dedication to his family can be clearly documented in the Sundance series, Be Good Johnny Weir, which follows him and his family and friends through his life and career as a championship skater.

Catch that again: Weir is “putting his younger brother through college, and supports the family financially because his father’s disability prohibits him from working.”

So it goes.

March 11th, 2010
Categories: GLBT, Sports . Author: G . Comments: No Comments

From GLAAD:

A Mississippi school district cancelled a local high school’s prom on Wednesday after an openly lesbian student asked to bring her girlfriend as a date, The Associated Press reported on Thursday.

In a statement released by the Itawamba County school district, school board members state that “Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year.”

The student, Constance McMillen, 18, told Jackson, Miss. newspaper The Clarion Ledger that the cancellation is retaliation for her request to bring her girlfriend to the event.

“I feel like I should be able to go and be myself and not have to worry about what clothes I’m wearing or who I am bringing or who I’m dancing with,” McMillen said.

USA Today reports today that “school officials told McMillen last month that she could not bring her sophomore girlfriend to the prom and also told her she could not wear a tuxedo. The school then circulated a memo that prohibited same-sex dates.”

McMillen then ACLU, and the school district canceled the prom.

So it goes.

March 11th, 2010
Categories: GLBT, Strange . Author: G . Comments: No Comments

From the Chicago Tribune:

Decatur police have issued an Amber Alert after two young boys, one of them a 1-month-old infant, who were abducted this afternoon.

Authorities said that J-Amarcus Upchurch and Terry Antonio Smith were taken by two men in the 1900 block of East Cantrell Street at about 3:30 p.m.

They were last seen in a silver passenger car with the partial Missouri license plate U D G, turning on to a side road off Cantrell Street.

J-Amarcus is described as a 1-month-old African-American boy, wearing a blue one-piece jumpsuit, weighing 8 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.

Terry is a 4-year-old African-American boy about 3-foot-6, 60 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt and blue jeans.

March 9th, 2010
Categories: Chicago, Chicagoland, Illinois, Violence . Author: G . Comments: No Comments

From the Chicago Tribune:

A 22-year-old man was found shot in the face and unresponsive this morning on Chicago’s South Side.

Jovan Kelly, of the 8600 block of South Paxton Avenue, was pronounced dead this morning, according to a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Police are investigating, according to the Trib.

Any fool can shoot a gun. Put away your guns and talk to each other. That’s a skill worth developing.

March 7th, 2010
Categories: Chicago, Chicagoland, Violence, gun control . Author: G . Comments: No Comments

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Bystanders flagged down a CTA bus for help after a man and a woman were critically shot on the West Side Saturday night.

Both victims, in their mid-20s, were taken from Cermak Road and Rockwell Street to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition at about 7:35 p.m. Saturday night, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quention Curtis said.

The driver of an eastbound #21 Cermak bus called for help to assist a single person who had been shot, and no shots were fired on the bus, said CTA spokesperson Sheila Gregory.

After the bus pulled over, the male victim, who was not a passenger when he was shot, then got onto the bus, said police News Affairs Officer Daniel O’Brien.

Two pools of blood were seen splattered onto the steps inside the entrance area of the bus, which was still parked at the intersection of Cermak Road and Rockwell Street as of 9 p.m. No blood was seen on the seats inside the bus.

A woman also suffered a side graze wound to the chest, said police at the scene of the shooting.

Two pools of human blood, an image no one should have to see in our society.

Any fool can shoot a gun. Put away your guns and talk to each other. That’s a skill worth developing.

March 7th, 2010
Categories: Chicago, Chicagoland, Violence, gun control . Author: G . Comments: No Comments

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Authorities say eight teenage boys were shot while leaving a Gary, Ind., skating rink where they were attending a concert.

Police Cpl. Gabrielle King says "chaos broke loose" when a fight erupted Friday night event at World of Skates. Police say the shooting started in the parking lot.

The victims were taken to three area hospitals, where some remained Saturday. Police say they ranged in age from 14 to 18, with wounds in the legs, wrist, stomach or back. King said injuries weren’t believed to be life-threatening.

Any fool can shoot a gun. Put away your guns and talk to each other. That’s a skill worth developing.

March 7th, 2010
Categories: Chicagoland, Violence, gun control . Author: G . Comments: No Comments