(POP NEWS) BITCH in OZ; Big Bird; Champion; Madonna; Gaga; GLAAD!

• SOMEONE'S BITCH: Jerry Sandusky Sentenced to 30 to 60 Years!

• ELEPHANT: Obama Ad Snarks at America's 'Real' Menace: Big Bird!

• GOLDEN: Sam Champion shares his bliss with GMA viewers!

• CONTROL: Madonna; Fine, I'll Ditch Muslim 'Terror Bride' Costume!

• APPROVE: Assange Gets Visit From Lady Gaga!

• OVER: DeVito, Perlman Divorcing After 30 Years!

• PRE-MATURE: 'One Million Moms' Boycotts J Lo-Produced Gay-Themed TV Show That Might Someday Exist!

• GLAAD TV report: Highest percentage of LGBT characters on broadcast television – ever!

(POP NEWS) Harry Busted; Taylor's Swift; Teen study; Assange; Hover; Asian AIDS; Lewis' Lincoln!

• BUSTED: Prince Harry Faces Queen's Wrath After Nude Hijinks!

• RUDE: Taylor Crashed Kennedy Wedding, Wouldn't Leave!

• CRISIS: 86% of Teens Say Peers Smoke, Do Drugs ... at School!

• LUBE: Tampa’s Gay Male Prostitutes Ready For RNC’s Closeted GOPs!

• Assange Who? US Unlikely to Prosecute!

• FUTURE: Why, Yes, This Is a Star Wars-Style Hover Bike!

• WARNING: Autism Linked to Dad's Age!

• DISCOVERED: AIDS-Like Disease Identified in Asians!

• OUT: Dying of Cancer, Former Seattle City Councilwoman Comes Out as Lesbian!

• NOT OUT: Jessica Lange And Sarah Paulson Are Not Lesbian Lovers!

• SIGNS: How to Spot Potential Heroes!

• MIRROR IMAGE: Daniel Day-Lewis Looks Awesomely Lincolnesque in 'Lincoln' Poster!

(Politics WEEKLY) Obama Grabs a Guinness; Romney Passes on Medicare and Stumbles; Game Change Wins; Santorum Wins; Hilary 2016; Blago; Viagra; Assange!;

• ROOTS: Obama Grabs Guinness for St. Paddy's Day! 

• PRO-GOV: Romney willll Get Rid of Planned Parenthood!

• LOSER: Romney Stumbles in Fox Interview!

• OZ'd: Jail-Bound Blago Says Goodbye!

• GOLDEN: GOP Handing 2016 to Hillary! 
  

• HIT: Game Change Draws Biggest HBO Audience Since 2004! 

• Sandra Fluke: Name Calling Won't Silence Us!

• HATE: Santorum Wins Alabama, Mississippi!

• TIRED: Vets Rip Flag With Obama's Face!

• UNITED: 6 Female Politicians Go After Male Masturbation, Viagra!

• Xpress: Santorum: Time to Ban Pornography!

• LOSER(S): Republicans Brace for Brokered Convention!

• STAR: Julian Assange to Run for Senate in Australia!

DEBUT! (POP NEWS) Mitt's Bomb; Gabby's Gay Vote; HEE HAW, out; Ellen Mess; Soul Shocker!

Starting Today instead of News, News, News all day you get just One post of the Top news and Breaking news and Different Views throughout the day!

• G-BOMB: Mitt Romney Waves to Gay Activist After Being Glitter-Bombed in Minnesota!

•  UNITED: Openly Gay Arizona Lawmaker to Run for Gabby Giffords Seat!

•  HEE HAW: Canadian Country Singer Drake Jensen Comes Out, Features Husband in His Video!

• BOYCOTT: One Million Moms Go After JC Penney for Hiring 'Open Homosexual' Ellen DeGeneres!

• DICK: Weiner Used Campaign Cash in Attempted Cover-Up!

• LAST DITCH: Assange in Last Bid to Dodge Extradition!

• SHOCKER: Soul Train's Don Cornelius Found Dead!

QUESTION (S): Assange Says He's Hosting a Talk Show!

Julian Assange has many titles clogging his resume, but he's apparently about to add talk show host to the list. WikiLeaks released a statement today promising that Assange will host a new TV show centered around "a series of in-depth conversations with key political players" from around the world, Reuters reports. WikiLeaks says it already has licensing deals with cable, satellite, and broadcast providers to get the show to at least 600 million people, for a 10-episode season beginning in mid-March.

 "Through this series I will explore the possibilities for our future in conversations with those who are shaping it," Assange said. "Are we heading toward utopia, or dystopia and how we can set our paths?" So does Assange have what it takes to be a TV titan? A celebrity culture expert the Washington Post spoke with is dubious. "Assange has got a good, deep voice," he says. "But he's a slow, deliberate talker and not especially televisual."

It's WAR: Log Cabin Republicans Rip Bradley Manning's Lawyers for Using the Gay Card!

Cooper, Executive Director of the Log Cabin Republicans, takes Wikileaks soldier Bradley Manning's lawyers to task in the Stars & Stripes military newspaper:If he’s guilty, Manning not only violated security protocol and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, he violated the trust of his colleagues, the Army and his countrymen. Now that he prepares to stand trial, he has shown himself to be willing to sacrifice honorable gay and lesbian servicemembers to avoid responsibility. Lawyers for Manning are claiming that his struggle with his sexual orientation contributed to emotional problems that should have precluded him from working in a classified environment. This shameful defense is an offense to the tens of thousands of gay servicemembers who served honorably under “don’t ask, don’t tell.” We all served under the same law, with the same challenges and struggles. We did not commit treason because of it.

Log Cabin Republicans have long advocated that one’s sexual orientation should not be grounds for discrimination or dismissal in the workplace. As conservatives, we believe in the meritocracy of one’s labor. Good behavior and excellent performance come with reward and encouragement. Bad behavior and poor performance come with punishment and corrective measures. To justify misbehavior in the workplace because of minority status is detrimental to the morale and performance of others. For Manning’s legal counsel at Fort Meade, Md., to suggest that his orientation and/or gender identity be part of a defense or excuse for misbehavior is as unacceptable as the use of a “gay panic” defense by a murderer.

OVER: Manning WikiLeaks Hearing Ends!

Bradley Manning's court hearing ended today almost a week after it began. Prosecutors revealed an alleged al-Qaeda propaganda video that featured militants describing how they used leaked documents to their advantage. Manning, prosecutors said, "aided in the publication of those files, knowing that our enemies would use those files." Defenders called him a naive and emotionally troubled young man who didn't get the support he needed from the military, the New York Times reports.

Manning's lawyers didn't suggest he was innocent of giving material to WikiLeaks, but they said prosecutors were "over-charging" a young private who hadn't threatened national security. Manning thought of himself as a whistleblower who "thought he could make a difference," they said, adding that he was troubled by having to keep his homosexuality a secret for years. On Jan. 16, the officer running the hearing will decide whether to proceed with a court-martial, notes the Christian Science Monitor. A trial is likely on at least some of the charges, according to experts.

BANNED: Lt. Dan Choi Ejected from Bradley Manning Trial, Thrown Off Base!

Lt. Dan Choi, who was thrown out of the courtroom at the Bradley Manning trial, talks about his view of the proceedings as a "show trial". Olbermann agrees that it is "ridiculous even by military standards".

FireDogLake has a report on Choi's ejection from the trial and the base, during which the rank was ripped from his uniform: Choi, a West Point graduate, went to the Manning trial because “soldiers stand up for integrity, and if the code of ethics and army values are important, then we should support Bradley Manning.” He added that Manning’s actions were not only in the interest of his unit, but also in the interest of the country. “He believed that our country as a whole needed to have integrity. The law of land warfare says that if a soldier sees a crime — a rape or a murder — it’s their responsibility to report it. As I understood it, he brought it up to the chain of command. The chain of command knew about it, and they were the ones who were in violation of the law of land warfare. To not report it is to be complicit. He was the only soldier in the chain of command to do the right thing, so that’s why we have to support him.”

CONNECTED: Prosecution Links Manning to Assange!

Prosecutors unveiled a damning litany of evidence yesterday at a pretrial hearing linking Bradley Manning to the massive leak of government materials posted on WikiLeaks, reports the Washington Post. The trove includes chat logs between Manning and Julian Assange, testimony that Manning's computers contained more than 100,000 State Department cables, and an email Manning wrote in 2010 taking responsibility for the leak of the 2007 Apache helicopter video showing the killing of two journalists.

Many of the files recovered from Manning's computers had been deleted, including a file containing a contact number for Assange in Iceland and a file containing another 10,000 State Department cables that apparently was never sent to WikiLeaks. “You add it up, add it up, and eventually it gives people something approaching a moral certainty” that Manning committed the crimes, said a military justice expert. “Private Manning is in serious trouble."

DEFENSE: Did Homophobia Make Manning Leak?

Private First Class Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence specialist who allegedly leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks, has officially made his sexual orientation a keystone of his defense. From Salon: The young Army intelligence specialist accused of passing government secrets spent his 24th birthday in court Saturday as his lawyers argued his status as a gay soldier before the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” played an important role in his actions.

Lawyers for Pfc. Bradley Manning began laying out a defense to show that his struggles as a gay soldier in an environment hostile to homosexuality contributed to mental and emotional problems that should have barred him from having access to sensitive material.

DUTY: Bradley Manning Heads to Court!

Bradley Manning will at last head to court today, for a pre-trial hearing in which prosecutors must prove they have sufficient evidence to court-martial him. The charges against him include aiding the enemy, violating the Espionage Act, and a variety of lesser offenses, the Washington Post reports.

While aiding the enemy carries a potential death sentence, the Army says it will not seek it and instead try to send the alleged Wikileaker—who turns 24 tomorrow—to prison for life. Manning hasn't been seen in public since his arrest in May of last year, though he is unlikely to speak. Prosecutors' key piece of evidence is expected to be a series of chat logs between Manning and hacker Adrian Lamo, but those chat logs may actually undercut the central "aiding the enemy" charge. For that charge, prosecutors must provide "reasonable grounds" to believe Manning intentionally gave intelligence to an enemy. In the logs, Manning instead evinces altruistic moments, saying he wants "people to see the truth. … We're human … and we're killing ourselves."

MEATBALL: UK Denies Assange's Extradition Appeal!

Julian Assange is likely headed to Sweden after a British court today rejected his claim that extraditing him to face sex assault charges there would be "unfair and unlawful." Charges of rape and sexual coercion, stemming from alleged incidents last August, await the WikiLeaks founder in Sweden. "There can be no doubt that if what Mr. Assange had done had been done in England and Wales, he would have been charged," read the ruling, rejecting Assange's claim that his actions would not have been considered criminal in the UK.

Supporters crowded outside the London courthouse, notes the Telegraph, carrying signs that echoed Assange's own claim that the charges were politically motivated. Assange's remaining hope of avoiding extradition is an appeal to the country's highest court, notes the AP, an avenue a legal expert says Assange can take only if today's ruling involves an issue of "real legal significance." Barring that, Assange will likely be extradited within 10 days.

BUST: Assange Memoir Sells Just 644 Copies!

A war of words between Julian Assange and publisher Canongate generated plenty of free publicity for Julian Assange: The Unauthorized Autobiography but that hasn't translated into sales. The book—which the WikiLeaks founder worked on with a ghostwriter before withdrawing from the project earlier this year—sold only 644 copies in the three days after its release in Britain, the Guardian reports. 

Canongate's publishing director says he expects sales of Assange's life story to pick up. "We're proud of the way we handled what has been a difficult and unusual launch, and we are extremely proud of the book," he says. "Fortunately, the conversation now seems to be moving away from the 'publishing story' and focusing on the quality of the book itself." Canongate says it plans to pay Assange royalties—as soon as the memoir sells enough to cover the $500,000 advance he received.

LIES: Assange Slams 'Unauthorized Autobiography'!

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is clashing with a British publisher over a memoir being released without his consent. The "unauthorized autobiography," which will go on sale in the UK today, is being published because Assange used a $500,000 advance to pay his legal bills then withdrew from the project because of fears US authorities might use the information in the memoir against him, Canongate says. 

Assange, however, accuses the publisher of "profiteering from an unfinished and erroneous draft" that he worked on with a ghostwriter earlier this year. The events surrounding the memoir's publication "are not about freedom of information. They are about old-fashioned opportunism and duplicity—screwing people over to make a buck," Assange tells AP. "This draft was a work in progress. It is entirely uncorrected or fact-checked by me." Canongate's publishing director says Assange ought to be pleased with the memoir. "What comes through here is this very human portrait of Julian, warts and all," he says. "He's a warmer character than a lot of people will be expecting."