Oh! OH! I thought you meant SAM HARRIS, 80’s Star Search pseudo-phenom, whose vibrato could rattle windows underground on Mars and whose Judy Garland covers brought even her corpse to tears! Remember? Remember?

I don‘t.

Ladies and gentleman…the ORIGINAL American fucking Idol (and, uh, Liza)…

What is he doing now, do you think? And what is his relationship with Jesus? I wonder…

If God loves the world, he has a terribly noncommittal way of showing it. Why rig a silly game in which only the poorly educated and mentally unbalanced are perfectly tuned to glimpse the truth of your existence, while smart, well-adjusted, and well-educated people (like yourself) must wrestle with doubt, barricade themselves behind euphemism, and cling to spurious “mysteries” to keep from tumbling into unbelief? You beckon me to a world in which George Bush and James Dobson have an effortless bead on the deepest conceivable truth; meanwhile, 93 percent of the members of the National Academy of Sciences may well be doomed for eternity by their skepticism. It’s hard for me to imagine that this scenario seems even remotely plausible to you—but this is Christianity at a glance. I am not the first to notice that it is a strange sort of loving God who would make salvation depend upon a person’s ability to believe in him on bad evidence.

Finally, let me say that there is something tragically unnecessary about all of this. I do not doubt the consolations you get from your faith. But faith is like a pickpocket who loans you your own money on generous terms. Your resultant feelings of gratitude are perfectly understandable, but misplaced. You are the source of the love that you attribute to Jesus (how else can you feel it?). Realizing this, what need is there to feel certain about ancient miracles?

Buy his books….

Letter to a Christian Nation and The End of Faith.

Oh, and buy Richard Dawkins’ book—The God Delusion—while you’re at it.

…didn’t we have our first 9/11 after the Republicans won?

Giuliani warns of ‘new 9/11’ if Dems win

A burrito wielding Captain America, apparently back from the dead, has been arrested for groping several women in a Florida bar.

As if a battery and disorderly conduct charges weren’t damaging enough to the Sentinel of Liberty’s credibility, Cap was also caught flushing a bag of weed down the toilet while in police custody. He was then charged with possession and destruction of evidence.

Can’t a superhero get a break?

And now, Captain America as a werewolf:

Via The Smoking Gun

Virginia Tech mass murderer Cho Seung-Hui spent $21.50 last year in two online auctions to procure three dozen small rubber duckies—and one giant one (not pictured)—from an Illinois dealer who specializes in rubber bath toys. There’s a joke here, but I don’t know what it is. TSG has the story.

The Port of Seattle Commission tried to lower the temperature today, voting to refer the Pat Davis scandal to a Port ethics board rather than calling for Port Commissioner Davis to resign. Davis signed a memo a-okaying a hefty retirement package for former Port CEO Mic Dinsmore without the consent of her fellow commissioners. She says they knew about it. They say they didn’t.

However, longtime open government activist and Renton resident Chris Clifford filed a petition with King County to recall Davis. Clifford reports that KC rejected the petition on technical grounds, and says he’s complying and sending it back in tonight.

Here it is:

PETITION FOR RECALL
KING COUNTY RECORDS AND ELECTIONS

1) SWORN STATEMENT

COMES NOW, Christopher P. Clifford, a resident of the City of Renton, in King County, in the State of Washington, being 18 years of age or older, being a registered voter in King County Washington, swears under the penalty of perjury, and under the laws of the State of Washington, that the following is true and have knowledge of the alleged facts upon which the stated grounds for recall are based.

2) PETITION FOR RECALL
FACTS
On or about January 10, 2006, the Port of Seattle Commission met in an executive session.
On or about June 8, 2006, the Port of Seattle Commission met in an executive session.
On or about October 10, 2006, Port of Seattle Commission signed a memorandum granting Mic Dinsmore an outgoing employee of the Port of Seattle, $339,841.00 of extra compensation outside the original employee contract for that employee.
On or about March/April of 2007 Mic Dinsmore sought to collect the monies granted to him by Port of Seattle Commissioner Pat Davis.

Acts of Malfeasance and Misfeasance
1) Port of Seattle Commissioner Pat Davis committed an act of malfeasance by signing an agreement to provide a “gift” of public money to an individual outside the employee contract approved by the Port of Seattle Commission.
2) Port of Seattle Commissioner Pat Davis committed an act of malfeasance by obligating the Port of Seattle to pay monies not voted on or approved by the Port of Seattle Commissioners at a regularly scheduled public hearing.
3) Port of Seattle Commissioner Pat Davis committed an act of misfeasance and malfeasance by using her position as Port Commissioner to provide a “gift” of public money to her personal friend and political ally Mic Dinsmore.
4) Port of Seattle Commissioner Pat Davis committed an act of malfeasance by voting on an issue in an executive session on or about January 10, 2006, in violation of the Washington State Open Meetings Act.
5) Port of Seattle Commissioner Pat Davis committed an act of malfeasance by voting on an issue in an executive session on or about June 8, 2006, in violation of the Washington State Open Meetings Act.
6) Port of Seattle Commissioner Pat Davis committed an act of malfeasance by knowingly violating the limited context of the executive session exclusions of the Open Meetings Act to improperly negotiate and vote on a “gift” of public money.
The acts of malfeasance and misfeasance regarding Port of Seattle funds are evidenced by the October 10, 2006, memo signed by Pat Davis to Mic Dinsmore. Further evidence of these acts are Mr. Dinsmore’s attempt to obtain the monies stated in the October 10, 2006 memo in 2007.
The Acts of malfeasance and misfeasance regarding violations of the open meetings act and the executive session exemption are evidenced by the public statements of Port of Seattle Commissioner Pat Davis.
Dated this 24th day of April, 2007

Awesome: Other Music Opens Digital Store.

Terrorist Spinach Attack: Trent Moorman’s Shitty Tour.

Rememberment Plan: Megan Seling Still Loves You, So Many Dynamos.

Hovercraft Camaros, But No Trans Am: Zombi’s Prog Grandeur.

Overkill: Too Many Promo CDs.

And now, a playful harbor seal:

For those of you following the Mike Daisey vs. angry Christians saga, you can read its conclusion here.

Wherein:

• Daisey hunts down the “Christians” who were actually from a public high school in Norco, California: “the people in charge freely identified themselves as a Christian group, until reporters call and they remember they are from a public high school.”

• An administrator at the school says that they had to evacuate their students after Daisey said “fuck” (even though they were told when they bought tickets that the show contained adult language) because of, uh, safety:

she insisted it was a “safety issue”, and that “we had to get our students out of there.” There was no discussion of language or appropriateness—it had become a safety issue, as though the students were in danger of being physically assaulted. I think it is tremendously chilling that the language of the war on terror, the language of security, has been appropriated for even this—we can’t even begin a dialogue about what is and is not appropriate, because it has all become a “safety” issue. That ends a conversation before it has even begun.

• Daisey talks to the angry jackass who splashed Daisey’s table and notes with water: “His name is David… He has three kids—one is 21, and two are 17—and he’s terrified of the world.”

• And then they start talking about God…

(Check here to watch the video of the original incident.)

Dear Dan:

In the planning stages for our 2007 roller derby season, the Rat City Rollergirls were excited to learn that Key Arena was available the day of the Seattle Pride Parade. We immediately placed a hold, and set about trying to partner with the organizers of Pride to be a part of the post-parade Seattle Center events and entertainment. The result of our joint planning was “The Big, Gay Bout at Seattle Pride,” which was to be be held in Key Arena late Sunday afternoon on June 24 after Pride-goers were sun-crisped, pleasantly drunk and looking for a seat and a spot of air conditioning before heading to the all-out, into-the-night dance party in the fountain.

Several weeks ago we both announced this partnership (SOaP in a press release, us on our Web site). The Rat City Rollergirls were to assume all costs for playing in Key Arena, and were happy to offer a discount, day-of ticket to the masses (normally $20-25) for $10 in order to make the event available and affordable to as many Pride-goers as possible. Also, on top of our original plan to donate 10 percent of the “Big, Gay Bout” profits to Lambert House, we were also looking to donate $1 from every ticket sold back to Seattle Pride to help the organization with its costs, past and present. We were just excited to be a part of it all!

Like many, we were surprised and saddened by news of the change in Pride plans, though we certainly understand SOaP’s position. Our league’s support for the principles and ideas behind the annual event rise above scheduling details or business partnerships—no matter when and where it is, we’d really like to participate.

However, we are now a bit worried about not only playing in a venue more than five times the size of our normal Magnuson Park Hangar with no larger celebration going on outside at Seattle Center, but also that if Pride events are held elsewhere that day, we may suddenly be competing with the very events we had hoped to be a central part of.

I write to you because it seems that The Stranger’s Slog has become a town hall, real-time discussion of what’s next for Pride. Obviously the decision ultimately rests with those who are willing to do the heavy lifting to organize and plan Pride, but after reading what you and others have had to say, we wanted you to know of our Pride plans, and that we still somehow want to help and be a part of it.

If the parade remains downtown, even if there is no formal mass gathering at Seattle Center, we may consider keeping our event at Key Arena in the hopes that it would provide a fun place for people to assemble and celebrate. If the parade moves to Capitol Hill, we will likely need to seek an alternate venue. No matter where we (or Pride) end up, the beneficiary, theme and spirit of our June roller derby bout will remain the same—wherever it is, it will benefit Lambert House, it will be sometime during Pride weekend, and it will undoubtedly be as big and gay and fabulous as we can possibly make it.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Warnick
aka Shovey Chase
Media, marketing and PR manager
Rat City Rollergirls
www.ratcityrollergirls.com

This LGBT Community Center e-mail—written by Shannon Thomas—was forwarded to Stranger HQ:

Hi all,

I wanted to email you all as soon as possible regarding MAJOR changes that The Center is implementing this week. I’m sure you’ve all heard the new about Seattle Out and Proud and “pride”. They are unable to produce an event this year, and we are stepping up. I’m attaching a press release we’re about to send to the media. IT HAS NOT YET BEEN RELEASED, SO IT IS CONFIDENTIAL TO YOU ONLY AT THIS TIME.

I’m emailing because this is a huge opportunity for The Center and we will be tying all our programs and services and other events (Fruit Bowl) into this fundraising and marketing opportunity. This will allow us to fundraise in a greater capacity than ever before—to raise dollars immediately for staff and infrastructure.

Hence, I need all the volunteer time any of you have.

We will have a launch meeting for QueerFest: Seattle’s new 2007 Pride Festival tomorrow night at 6pm - if you’re interest in joining a committee, please join us. ALSO, Fruit Bowl will need MORE volunteers as the scope of what The Center does has just increased, and FBA will be HUGE this year.

I also need volunteers to just come in and help me out with projects that
have now become more critical.

We have a GREAT opportunity to finally showcase all the good community-building The Center does and I’d LOVE you to be a part of it.

First on my list is someone who can take the Helpline and Volunteer Coordination off my plate. I need one loyal and dedicated person to help me schedule and recruit more volunteers in this interim time. I also have numerous other projects - in addition to the TONS of volunteers we’ll need for Pride and Fruit Bowl.

Any takers?

MY HUGE THANKS! This is going to put us on the map!

Shannon

Well, well, well. SOaP hasn’t disbanded yet and so far as anyone knows, the permits for the Pride Parade are still in SOaP’s hands—and currently in the name of one of SOaP’s members. Nothing has been transferred to the LGBT Community Center. But, hey, there’s money to be made here, and Shannon is all over it.

It seems pretty clear what’s going on here, huh?

In the press release, Shannon quotes herself as saying…

We’re just ecstatic to be able to offer our communities the opportunity for a fantastic Pride Celebration.

Uh-huh. It looks like what Shannon is most ecstatic about is the opportunity to rake in the dough.

Full text of the LGBT Community Center’s press release after the jump.

Continue reading "LGBT Center: In It for the Money, Honey" »

Smile, Lornet Turnbull, you’re on Slog!

Lornet called our offices to ask me a question about the pride parade. Brad told her she’d have better luck getting me via e-mail. Lornet told Brad she didn’t want to send me an e-mail because she “didn’t want to end up on Slog.” Well, well, well.

Ladies and gentlemen…shhh. I give you, Miss Shirley Q. Liquor!

Oh, glury!

With the news that Seattle’s Gay Pride organizing committee has collapsed and will file for bankruptcy, a lot of the discussion about next steps will concern money and logistics: Can the Pride Parade and festival be made profitable? Who should run it? Why, exactly, did the festival fail at Seattle Center? Etc.

That’s all important, but I want to talk for a moment about symbolism, which is what parades are all about—grand symbolism, on a scale that alters the city-scape and perhaps the mind-scape of participants and observers.

The idea of moving the parade downtown last year may have been motivated, in part, by practical and financial concerns (specifically, that the size of the event was outgrowing Capitol Hill and Volunteer Park, and that organizers thought the Seattle Center would be more conducive to running a celebration that brought in money through beer gardens, merchandising, and perhaps ticketed performances).

But it’s important to remember that the move was sold to the community using symbolism that tugged at the yearnings of gay people to be accepted and celebrated in the heart of their city.

Now, it must be said: Anyone, gay or straight, who ties his or her entire sense of self to a parade deserves to be disappointed.

But, it must also be said: People love parades. They line sidewalks to watch them. They march in them. They link huge meanings to them, even if their more rational instincts tell them not to. In the case of the gay community, which has historically used parades in cities across America to push for acceptance and equality under the law, parades come with tremendous emotional baggage and symbolism attached. They become an embodiment of a city’s gay community at a given moment, a snapshot of its best, worst, and most bizarre aspects. The fact that they happen at all—that gay communites are able to parade their best, worst, and most bizarre members down the streets of major American cities each summer—is a testament to how far gay Americans have come since the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

Thus, the location, within a city, of a particular parade, is important and hardly devoid of meaning. When the Seattle parade’s move downtown was sold last year as a major symbolic statement—an announcement that gay people here were not just denizens of the “gay ghetto” on Capitol Hill, but in fact a central part of the civic fabric—people bought into that. They bought into the meaning of the move.

And they loved it. As Dan noted earlier, Ed Murray, dean of this state’s gay legislators, summed up the sentiments of lot of gay parade-goers with this statement after last year’s march down Fourth Avenue:

“There was a sense, marching down the streets today, of having arrived. Of being viewed as equal,” said state Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, who strode down the broad, leafy avenues of Fourth Avenue holding hands with his longtime partner, Michael Shiosaki. “I think the fact that people felt comfortable downtown is new. Michael and I hold hands on the Hill. We don’t downtown. But we did today.”

The organizers of the Pride Parade should of course be accountable to their bottom line, and they shouldn’t put on an event that can’t support itself (why they weren’t able to turn a profit on an event that draws 200,000 people is another, very mind-boggling, question). But the current and future organizers also need to see themselves as accountable to the symbolic storyline that the gay community was sold, and enthusiastically bought, last year.

By “voting with their feet,” as Dan says, and picking the downtown parade over the scraggly counter-parade held last year on the Hill, gay Seattleites were saying, among other things, that they see themselves as part a grand narrative that begins in the gay ghetto and ends on Fourth Avenue, or around the fountain at the Seattle Center. It’s a narrative that begins with marginalization and scorn from the wider community and ends with integration, acceptance, and celebration in the heart of Seattle’s civic space.

What would it mean for this narrative, then, if this year the Pride Parade and celebration slinks back up to the gay ghetto on the Hill, due to the gay community’s inability to create a self-sustaining celebration in the center of Seattle?

The abject failure of the Seattle Pride organizing committee, however well-meaning and devoted its volunteers may have been, is already a huge embarrassment to the larger gay community in Seattle.

Whoever picks up the pieces of the organizing committee’s financial mess will not just be dealing with a financial mess, however. They will need to fix a symbolic mess, too, and answer this question:

Is retreating back to Capitol Hill simply adding embarrassing, self-inflicted insult to embarrassing, self-inflicted injury?

I was editing a piece for this week’s paper and looked up the term “P-Patch” in the dictionary. It wasn’t in there. Weird, right? I discovered that P-Patch is a phrase particular to Seattle. Hmm. I asked a coworker from California if she had heard it before she moved here—she hadn’t. Who knew?

Apparently, the P stands for Picardo Farm in Wedgwood, the original local community garden. Fun fact: There are now over 50 P-Patches in Seattle.

(It’s Back!) For years, the Brown Derby reading series has turned movies—from Flashdance to Alien—into entertaining, always-almost-falling-apart comedy clusterfucks. But the decision to do Trapped in the Closet—R. Kelly’s inadvertently hilarious serial hip-hopera—was inspired. Considering how much audiences loved last year’s production of Derby’s Closet, the decision to bring it back is just merciful. Starring Sarah Rudinoff, Nick Garrison, Rebecca Davis, Ian Bell, and other funny fucks. (Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 233-9873. 8 pm, $12 DOS, 21+.) Brendan Kiley

I just spoke with someone in the loop about the pride parade. He recently had a conversation with a city official about the possibility of staging the pride parade without the route ending at an official rally site. The city official was doubtful at first—the parade needed a gathering spot at its end. But the person-in-the-loop pointed out that Seattle’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade don’t terminate at rally sites. They just… end… at the end of their designated routes. (Does anyone know if the same is true for the SeaFair Parade?)

That being the case, the city official conceded that, yes, the downtown pride parade could go on—even without an official rally site. And the route right now—click here to see it—ends at the entrances to Seattle Center, which would be a lovely site for an unofficial rally.

The Concerned Women for America hate homos. But apparently they looooove racists. John Aravosis busts ‘em over Americablog.

Gotta love Sean’s comment:

Jesus Christ. If Seattle has one defining characteristic, it’s the inability to reach anything approaching consensus on any issue, no matter how large or trivial.

If you want true meaning and symbolism, move the parade to the viaduct.

Today, April 24, is Equal Pay Day, the date on which the salaries of full-time working women catch up to what full-time working men made by December 31 of the previous year, controlling for age, hours worked, education, work experience, union status, and region of the country. (The data used to calculate the wage gap includes only full-time workers who do not take extra time off, and not, as some conservatives claim, women who take time off for maternity leave or work part time.)

According to a new study by the American Association of University Women, titled “Beyond the Pay Gap,” the pay gap between the genders already exists one year after college and only widens over time. One year out of college, women working full-time make 80 percent of what men make, accounting for hours, occupation, and whether a worker is a parent. Ten years later, women make just 69 percent of men’s earnings. “One year out of college, men and women should arguably be the least likely to show a gender pay gap,” the study said, “since neither tend to be parents yet and they enter the work force without significant experience.” This was also true despite the fact that women tend to outperform men academically.

In Washington State, college-educated women working full time made 71 cents for every dollar made by their male couterparts, putting us in 42nd place nationwide—in front of only Massachusetts, Florida, Kansas, Alabama, South Carolina, Indiana, Virginia, and New Jersey.

I bought a bike on Saturday! Woohoo! I was riding it to work today, even though I only live four blocks away. Since I live so close, I was taking it slow, riding down Nagle Avenue. Since Nagle doesn’t have a stoplight, I turned left onto the sidewalk on Pine. Riding along at a leisurely pace, with only two people on the sidewalk, I hummed to myself, “La di da da, I’m riding my new bike. Yay!” Then, as I was riding past the second person who was walking on that wide sidewalk, he said:

“Stupid female, breaking the law.”

It is not against the law to ride on the sidewalk as long as you are not endangering anyone by riding fast or riding through crowds. And you sir: You ruined my nice morning.

Those are the three words used to describe the VA Tech Killer by his last known escort.

For the full, weird, and not-all-there story (the killer used a credit card to pay the escort for a hands-off dance party in a motel room?), go here.

(Like I said, it’s not much of a story, and the most interesting parts are what are left out. Still, if the media’s going to show photos of the killer looking tough with guns, it’s also important to show him looking stupid with call girls.)

I just returned from a weekend in New York, where I saw fashionable women en masse. They all wore shirts and dresses that made them look pregnant. Every last one.

But you know what?

THEY WEREN’T.

SOaP—the group that moved the pride parade downtown last year—is having a meeting tonight to decide what the hell to do. They owe Seattle Center 100K and the planned post-parade festival at Seattle Center has already been cancelled. Tonight SOaP is meeting and may decide to disband and/or cancel the downtown pride parade too.

Let’s back up for a minute:

Last year whiners predicted that a downtown parade would be a poorly attended disaster and under the divisive “leadership” of the LGBT Center (never writing them a check) hosted a competing event on Capitol Hill. The Seattle Gay News did its level best to create the impression of controversy and predicted that the parade on the hill would be bigger and and better attended than the parade downtown.

On Pride Weekend 2006 Seattle’s gays and lesbians voted with their feet: the LGBT Center/SGN “Queer Fest” was a poorly attended disaster; the downtown parade and the festival at Seattle Center were a smash. The downtown parade attracted ten times as many people as the Capitol Hill parade. (And that’s if we accept the LGBT Center’s doubtless inflated estimates of Queer Fest attendance.) People were giddy after last year’s parade through downtown; the parade was invigorated, meaningful again, symbolic of the arrival of gays and lesbians in the mainstream of this city’s cultural life.

The shit storm over this year’s pride events can’t be allowed to erase the positive memories of last year’s event. It’s worth pausing for a moment to review some of the coverage of last year’s pride events. The 2006’s post-parade coverage can be read here, here, and here.

And here are some choice quotes from last year’s Pride Parade wrap-ups in the Seattle Times, PI, and Stranger:

The march traditionally has been held on Capitol Hill, the epicenter of the city’s gay community. But this year the parade for the first time marched from Westlake Park to Seattle Center. For many, the walk right through the heart of the city was special.

“There was a sense, marching down the streets today, of having arrived. Of being viewed as equal,” said state Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, who strode down the broad, leafy avenues of Fourth Avenue holding hands with his longtime partner, Michael Shiosaki. “I think the fact that people felt comfortable downtown is new. Michael and I hold hands on the Hill. We don’t downtown. But we did today.”

Most interviewed at Sunday’s parade, supported the move to downtown. “With so much going on with legislation about our rights, it’s really important to be seen as just a part of the larger community,” said Keith Smith of Seattle as he stood near the Belltown fire station on Fourth Avenue.

On Saturday evening, the business-backed rival parade on Broadway, meant to be a finger in the eye of the Seattle Out and Proud committee, turned out to be little more than a whimpered lament grafted onto the normal night-before-Pride dyke march. Then, on Sunday morning, under a hot sun, more than 200,000 gays and gay-watchers voted with their feet, gathering along Fourth Avenue to watch Seattle’s first downtown Pride Parade. The sidewalks were clogged and the spectacle was well-received. The appearance of so many homosexuals (and their fans) in the heart of downtown Seattle accomplished its un-ghettoizing aim. And afterward, the Seattle Center grounds were packed with celebrants. A dykeish-looking female police officer was spotted dancing in the Center’s main fountain with a large group of half-naked homos.

That’s what really happened, folks: the leaders at SOaP made the right choice in moving the parade downtown. People went, people loved it—ten times as many people attended the parade downtown. Bear that in mind when you read quotes like this one from yesterday’s PI:

“They were doing things that were not the will of the people,” said Susan Benner, who helped coordinate last year’s Saturday-night parade. “I am very pleased to hear that it is not going to be downtown. Whatever happens up here on the hill will be much more to the people’s liking.”

Huh? Who is this douchebag and where does she get off speaking for “the people”? The will of the people was pretty clearly expressed last year: people preferred the parade downtown. There were ten times as many people at the parade downtown than there were at the Capitol Hill sulkfest. The parade downtown was much more to people’s liking than the parade on the hill.

The one thing the parade downtown failed to do, of course, was raise enough money to cover its expenses—some of which appear to have come as a surprise to SOaP. (From today’s Seattle Times: “On the surface, it appeared a huge success. Then the city sent a $97,000 bill — a figure that came as a surprise to some Seattle Out and Proud members — and letters asking for a payment plan.”)

So what to do? Well, SOaP—which in the time its taken me to write this post has moved from contemplating disbanding to actually disbanding—has the permits for a parade through downtown on Sunday June 24, 2007. What SOaP doesn’t have is the right to stage a festival at Seattle Center after. But as I pointed out yesterday, Seattle Center is open to the public—there’s actually nothing to stop SOaP—or the group they decide to hand off their parade permits to—from staging the pride parade along the downtown route. Then after it’s over the gays can quietly file back up the hill. Or we can storm into Seattle Center anyway, take over the fountain, and have a big DIY picnic party blowout. If you can’t party without booze, fill a water bottle with vodka. If you can’t enjoy the fountain without pounding house music, bring a boom box or your iPod. We can have what we had last year—just without the elephant ear stands and community group booths. And is that really a loss?

I also want to second, again, what Dom said yesterday. There’s a role for the city to play here. The pride parade had not only outgrown the Broadway route and the Volunteer Park rally site symbolically, it had outgrown both sites physically. It needs to be downtown, and the city knows it. And the city should step up, forgive the debt, create a new permitting process that makes Seattle Center available for “free-speech evnts” at reduced rates, and help make this event happen.

Sadly, as things stand now, the parade will most likely limp back up the hill and into the arms of the reactionary douchebags that did all they could to discredit last year’s move downtown. These douchebags claimed to speak for the whole community then—people like Susan Benner, the idiots at Seattle Gay News, a useless LGBT Center that actively works against the clearly expressed wishes of the gay community—and they’ll claim to speak for the whole community now. It’s galling enough to see them win. We don’t have to let them re-write history: The parade downtown was a success, people preferred it, and but for SOaP’s financial crack-up there would be no question about the route of this year’s parade.

A source close to the Seattle Out and Proud Committee’s process tells me that the committee, which has traditionally organized the parade and festival, will unanimously vote today to disband, file for bankruptcy, and surrender control of the downtown parade (in addition to giving up on the post-parade festival at Seattle Center, which it has already done).

UPDATE: It’s official. Here’s the release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, April 23, 2007 Seattle – In 2006, the Seattle Pride March and Festival moved from Capitol Hill to Downtown Seattle and the Seattle Center. Event attendees, organizers and city officials all hailed the events as great successes. Unfortunately, the increased scale of both the March and Festival produced poor financial results including the well publicized and still unpaid debts.

The move created a lot of controversy and a competing event was produced that divided sponsorship opportunities and divided the community. Simply put, the income from both events was not adequate to cover the costs of the March and Festival.

In 2007 Pride organizers Seattle Out and Proud (SOaP) voted in new leadership and SOaP’s primary concern was to produce a financially sound March and Festival in 2007. This week, after months of intense research and negotiation, it has been concluded that producing a Pride Event at Seattle Center is not financially prudent at this time. While most people believe that the 2006 March and Festival in Downtown Seattle showcased the LGBT Community extremely well, a fiscally responsible 2007 March and Festival, no matter their physical location, is the most important goal.

With all of the baggage that has built up over the last year, the SOaP board has decided the best thing for the community and the future of Seattle Pride is for SOaP to step down from producing the Seattle Pride Parade and Festival, and allow someone else to step in and take over Seattle Pride.

We have honestly tried to do our best as a volunteer board with no agenda other than to produce a great celebration for our community. We hope that whoever does step in can unite the community behind them and likewise lead with no alternative agenda. We look forward to supporting whichever group of people can step up. We must agree that as a community we must cut our losses and start anew. We must keep moving forward with energy, strength, unity and passion.

The SOaP Board of Directors will be meeting tonight to start working out the details. This press release is being sent out as heads-up and courtesy to the community. A formal press release will follow in the near future. No further information or interviews will be granted until after our Board meets tonight.

The Pentagon is officially allowing pentacles.

From NYT.

In other military news: The Pat Tillman thing, Bush vetoes war spending bill, and Jessica Lynch castigates “Pentagon efforts to turn her into a ‘little girl Rambo’, accusing military chiefs of using ‘elaborate lies’ to turn her into a hero.”

The Pentagon initially put out the story that Private Lynch - a slight woman who was just 19 at the time - had been wounded by Iraqi gunfire but had kept fighting until her ammunition ran out. In fact her gun jammed and she did not fire a shot.

Pentacles!

A Bentonville, Ark., man is seeking $20,000 from the city after his two teenage sons found a book on lesbian sex on a public library bookshelf. He also wants the library director fired.

Earl Adams said his 14- and 16-year-old sons were “greatly disturbed” after finding the book, titled “The Whole Lesbian Sex Book.” Adams said the book caused “many sleepless nights in our house.”

I’ll bet it did.

Impeachment: Kucinich goes after Cheney

March 31st: Dems set date for Iraq troop withdrawal

Presidential Seal of Approval: Bush still rootin’ for Gonzales despite common sense

Cruel and Unusual: Lethal injections

3,333: Car bomb kills 9 more US soldiers

Gas-vestigation: Washington state analyzing prices at the pump

Don’t Expect Any Mercy in the Great Robot Wars: Can robots be trusted?

Fun Superhero Fact of the Day: William Moulton Marston, the man who created Wonder Woman and her Lasso of Truth, helped invent the polygraph!