KAOS

the destination for the

week's essential news

and pop culture stories,

with a gay bias.

PONDER THIS

WE cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized to mass shootings. "I live in Washington DC, yet I was struck by how normal the day was for many. Remember the victims and demand change."

AMERICAN gun use is out of control. Shouldn't the world intervene? "The death toll from firearms in the US suggests that the country is gripped by civil war."

> HOW the 'war on terror' came home. "The story of Aaron Alexis is still obscure. But effects of an over-taxed US military are painfully visible among 2 million veterans."

THE latest Forbes rich list is out. It's a celebration of excess and exploitation.

< BRUISED and broke in Bloomberg's New York. "Choire Sicha's first book documents the lives, loves, and looming debt of New York's new-media power brokers as the gay 20-somethings try to navigate Mayor Michael Bloomberg's millionaire island."

DRUGS: let's welcome this new starting point for legalisation. "As countries across the world relax their drug laws, it is wrong to ignore a growing trend."

< BLACK models are still barely seen or heard – why has nothing changed?

BACK up all your data – but memories worth keeping will live on in your mind. "All that is digital melts into air but I remember the blur of nights out, the first time I heard that song, my children's first laughter. None of that is on any cloud. So sure, back everything up, but the time machine is you. Your memory. Your mind. Live your data well."

IT'S time to rethink religion.

IS the pope Catholic? "Pope Francis's more relaxed views on gay people and abortion chime well with atheists, but probably less so his own church."

THERE'S faecal bacteria in the holy water.

U.S. & CANADA NEWS

> THE wrong kind of direct action? Floyd Corkins II planned a mass shooting at the anti-gay Family Research Council, but was disarmed before he could start his attack. He has received a twenty-five year jail sentence.

< 22-YEAR-old Bronx man Steven Torres is arrested for the stabbing murder of 69-year-old Edward Orozco, in what is reported to be an anti-gay hate crime. Torres claims Orozco blew kisses at him.

FORMER Dallas Voice editor John Wright speaks out about his recent termination, and policies at his former paper under its new owner. "I... raised objections about the cover of our Pride issue because I didn't think it included enough minorities, and specifically African-Americans. In response, I was shouted down and told, 'That's not our market.'"

PAULA Deen's comeback: proof racism still has a market in America. "Despite Deen's racist past, I knew one sad fact about her career moving forward: she is going to be as popular as ever before."

> WHAT'S really behind the right-wing media's Matthew Shepard trutherism?

< EVANGELICAL minister Scott Lively proud to be the inspiration for Russia's anti-gay laws.

REPUBLICAN senator John McCain condemns Russia's anti-gay laws in Pravda.ru editorial.

TWO years on, do you ask? Do you tell?

> ACT UP New York activists disrupt Stoli event over Russian ties.

< GAY NYPD cops seek honour for hero sergeant who came out three decades ago.

GAY juror sent home for being gay - what it means for gay equality.

> 95-YEAR-old WWII veteran marries 67-year-old Vietnam veteran at California seniors home.

< HELP this needy couple's parents attend one of their four weddings...

BUT it turns out Eric Turner and Morné Coetzer didn't like all the attention their begging bowl got, and have since deleted their GoFundMe page.

> TURNER was once in another hot gay couple. We wonder whatever happened to John - and is he sniggering over his former fiancée's viral humiliation?

COULD the success of Philly's Gayborhood be its undoing?

< FOUR of America's tallest towers will rise within blocks of each other - including a development at 107 West 57th, which will be only forty feet wide, despite being the second tallest building in New York.

U.K. NEWS

> THE gay couple who had a romantic meal at McDonalds - complete with electric tea-lights and tablecloth - only to be ejected and banned by the multinational. Except, the boys weren't gay, and they weren't ejected.

< MEANWHILE, in Yorkshire, a waitress labelled two straight friends "gay guys" on their printed bar receipt.

CHRISTIAN B&B owners who refused gay couple forced to sell hotel after a drop in business, death threats and a costly legal battle.

HOW older gay people still experience prejudice from care staff.

IS Great Britain really a "small island"?

WHAT price a golliwog in Shetland? "After I saw a golliwog in a Shetland Islands shop window I blogged about it, upsetting the owner. Should I have done it?"

EUROPE NEWS

FRANCE: Gay man jailed for attacking husband on wedding day following row about mother-in-laws.

FRANCE: Fines, jail time, for children's beauty pageant organisers, as parliament addresses the hypersexualisation of under-16s.

FINLAND: Parliament to reconsider marriage equality after popular campaign.

> ITALY: Dozens of politicians in parliament hugged and kissed in protest during a debate over an anti-homophobia bill. Video.

< ITALY: The Costa Concordia has finally been freed from rocks it ran aground on nearly two years ago. Photos show the crumpled cabins that were previously below the waterline. Here's a time-lapse video of the nineteen hour salvage operation.

> RUSSIA: Anti-gay propaganda video claims gays adopt children to rape them.

RUSSIA: Disgraced Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is being persecuted for being heterosexual, Vladimir Putin claims.

< RUSSIA: Vitaly Milonov, the author of the country's anti-gay laws, descended on the fifth annual QueerFest with an entourage and verbally and physically abused attendees.

RUSSIA: Vladimir Putin is a tyrant at home, and a friend of tyrants abroad. "What does Russia have to show for Putin's rule? A corrupt and brutal oligarchy – and shameful support for Syria's bloody regime."

BULGARIA: Hundreds march for gay equality - and against Russian anti-gay laws in Sofia.

LATIN AMERICA NEWS

BERMUDA: Donal Smith, the Deputy Mayor of Hamilton, apologises for likening gays to dogs, freaks.

AFRICA NEWS

> ZAMBIA: The trial of Philip Mubiana and James Mwape - locked up on homosexuality charges - has been delayed again, with medical experts busy because "they had other things to do". Mubiana and Mwape meanwhile languish in prison awaiting trial.

UGANDA: Journalist, radio presenter and blogger Peterson Ssendi discusses why some people in Uganda think "being gay is cursed, others think it's criminal". Peterson's blog is here.

UGANDA: "Kill the Gays" Bill champion Kadaga suddenly wants Uganda's laws to pass human rights test.

NIGERIA: Bishops say foreigners will destroy their culture with marriage equality and abortion.

< NIGERIA: "Scientist" Chibuihem Amalaha proves same sex attraction is "unnatural". He made the "ground-breaking discovery" using magnets. "

SOUTH AFRICA: Archbishop Desmond Tutu says it's not that he "wants" to speak for gay equality - "it's God catching me by my neck".

ASIA NEWS

ONE in four men in Asia "admit to committing rape"? It doesn't add up.

BANGLADESH: No decriminalisation of homosexuality on the horizon.

PAKISTAN: The growing problem of alcoholism.

THE BIG PICTURE: In southern Philippines, a resident holds his head as fire continues to raze several
homes while government troopers continue their assault against Muslim rebels, 12th September 2013.

AUSTRALIA: new Prime Minister Tony Abbott wants to block the Australian Capital Territory's plans to marry same-sex couples.

AUSTRALIA: New survey examines the ongoing anti-gay hate in the Australian Army.

PLANET EARTH

IPCC issues stark warning over global warming.

TO fight climate change, we must trust scientific truth and collective action. "Sceptics will rubbish a new report on climate change, dismissing calls for governmental action. Don't be swayed."

> GEOENGINEERING: Can we cool our planet by artificially controlling the atmosphere?

DOES gold come from outer space?

< NEW "transparent" snail species discovered in Croatia.

WHY do some plants eat flesh?

BODY, MIND & SOUL

> STEPHEN Crohn, the man with a genetic defect in his CD4 cells making him immune to HIV, is dead. He was 66. The cause of death was suicide.

COULD a Siberian mushroom stop HIV?

< AIDS posters from around the world.

THE meningitis outbreak in New York's gay community has been stopped, health officials say.

UK Government confirms it has no plans to extend the HPV vaccine to gay men. Sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust registers its disappointment at the decision. Celebrity Doctor Christian Jessen brands the decision "discriminatory and negligent".

MAD cow, bird flu, pink slime? The bigger threat is antibiotics in our meat.

TOXOPLASMA. Another reason to hate cats.

BOYS should be given the HPV vaccine to help protect them from cancers, such as those of the mouth, throat, anus and penis.

> IS masturbating in public a laughing matter?

SHOULD women have a right to sex-selective abortion?

WHAT'S the best hangover cure?

WHY is it so impossible to get out of bed in the morning?

HARD evidence that lifestyle changes can reverse aging.

INSIDE THE SPACESHIP

THE Internet of Things - and how it might try to kill you!

TROLLS hijack Wikipedia to turn articles against gays.

GOOGLE tinkers with logo, search page.

"I AM here" days: The wonderful surprises of (briefly) unplugging.

< THE dark side of the iPhone queues.

WHICH of today's current technologies will be around in 50 years?

BOFFINS develop "auto-repair" polymer that heals itself to 97% efficiency.

ART & DESIGN

> ARTISTS come out against Russian oppression.

< WHO Was Henry Darger? "A provocative new biography reveals that the famous outsider artist was in fact a misunderstood (and abused) gay man."

> BLAKE Little's documentation of a new gay masculinity continues with his new book Manifest.

ART on the Block: Works that capture gentrification and change in the New York art world.

IN PRINT

< COLOUR-field maps of books based on how often the colour is mentioned, by artist Jaz Parkinson.

FROM Wrongs to Gay Rights, a new book in which writers of the 76 Crimes blog (a key resource for your weekly kaos news compendium) portray in vividly human terms the toll of 76-plus countries' anti-gay laws. Proceeds from the sale of the book are used to support 76 Crimes, as well as the work of activists seeking a better life for sexual minorities worldwide.

> COLOUR Scheme author John R. Gordon's writer's diary: What would really happen?

BOOK review: Clay, by David Groff, "a verse collection that both celebrates those who have died from AIDS and records with fierce precision how one man forges a loving relationship with an HIV-positive partner."

PERFORMANCE

IS gay theatre struggling to evolve?

BROADWAY star Bobby Steggert opens up about coming out.

JOE Manganiello delivers a one-minute Stanley Kowalski monologue from Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.

AT THE MOVIES

< CANADIAN film-maker John Greyson detained in Egypt, launches hunger strike. Greyson directed the 1996 film Lillies, as well as episodes of Queer As Folk.

> LAST week (THE KAOS THEORY Issue 156) we heard how Isaiah Washington is starring in Patrik-Ian Polk's adaptation of Larry Duplechan's classic novel Blackbird. But it seems like his anti-gay rehabilitation might not be complete.

TALKING to director Micah Fink about An Abominable Crime

THE Washington DC premiere of An Abominable Crime. In pictures. Courtesy of Maurice Tomlinson.

< TOMLINSON made sure to leave a copy of the film at the Jamaican embassy.

> MATT Bomer is to portray Hollywood legend - and closet gay - Montgomery Clift in new biopic.

ROBERT Redford says it is "un-American" to discriminate against gays.

JAMES Franco mocks gossip site Gawker for its speculation over his sexuality, by fighting fire with fire...

JOSEPH Gordon-Levitt says it would be "really tacky" to clarify his sexuality.

TALKING to Stephen King about alcoholism, Twilight ("tweenager porn"), and returning to The Shining.

< DVD review: Bashment. "Not always an easy watch, but... an interesting one. An interesting mix of gritty realism and heightened possibility."

> ELYSIUM'S unseen sex robots.

WHAT throwaway movie scene still pisses you off even to this day? (Mine? The unbearable I've Got A Golden Ticket number in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. It's in Charlie's crumby hovel, with his dreary grandparents, and it goes on forever).

TRAILERS: I Do; and TOM, the Tom of Finland biopic.

T.V.

WHEN did Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner take over TV? "More often than not, TV actors with production companies are useless when it comes to actual producing. But the Will & Grace vet and his college pal have five shows on the air, including his own new sitcom, Sean Saves the World."

< WHAT does the Queer Eye For The Straight Guy reunion mean?

WATCH the first episode of Six Months for Six Weeks, a six-part web series from singer-songwriter John Coons and filmmaker Alex Berry.

> NEW webseries Gays: the Series set to debut in the autumn. The drama-comedy, created by the New York-based Peter William Dunn, follows a group of twenty-something gay men living and working in the Big Apple.

< SKY commissions new police drama, titled Nightshift, starring Ashley Walters.

WHY teen dramas are the most radical shows on TV.

HOLLYOAKS to introduce the three sisters of gay character Ste Hay. Their names are Leela, Tegan and Peri - bizarrely, named after three Doctor Who companions.

GAYS of our lives: All the latest gay soap developments from around the world, with Anthony D. Langford.

> TAYE Diggs is coming back to our screens in new Steven Bochco (NYPD Blue) detective series Murder In The First.

WHY The Newsroom is a failure.

WHY broadcast TV lost its edge after NYPD Blue.

HUMAN error: BBC presenter does live broadcast clutching stack of paper instead of iPad (proving, perhaps, he could get by perfectly well without the rotten Apple).

< THE CW releases beefcake Arrow posters to promote new season.

> GAME of Thrones actor Richard Madden snapped on London Underground with legs akimbo sparks debate about mass transit etiquette.

THIS isn't the conversation we should be having about Julie Chen's eyelid surgery.

< LOOKING back at Doctor Who – Logopolis.

> DVD review: Doctor Who - The Ice Warriors. "Here's one classic story that's scary and packed with ideas."

MUSIC

PEOPLE still want real things: Vinyl record sales are up 745% since 2008.

> FRANK Ocean strips off.

< GAY rapper Mykki Blanco accuses female artists (Lady Gaga, Britney Spears) of exploiting gay fans for money. He just earned himself a new fan. "This is not 'gay pride' it's 'gay marketing' to keep you fags on ecstasy blasting garbage music till 6am." Love. Him.

DRAKE and the rise of the new pop melancholy.

< GAY country singer Steve Grand jacks up a car (with his massive guns).

GET DRKLING, by Zebra Katz.

< GET LE1F's new mixtape, Tree House.

CHECK out these sizzling new shots of the Freaky Boiz.

SCOTT Matthew strips down Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody; and two Orthodox Jewish boys find forbidden love in the woods in Potpourri of Pearls' Island

EROTICA

BEL Ami's 20th anniversary party in Prague.

ARQUEZ'S gutter butt party.

< PORN star twerking contest.

IN THE ARENA

RUSSIA "persuaded" to change wording in Olympic Truce which ignored gay equality...

...BUT is it two steps back for gay people?

> NEARLY all UK premier league football clubs snub Stonewall and Paddy Power's "Right Behind Gay Footballers" campaign.

BUT Stonewall has dismissed criticism of the campaign.

THE mind-bending number which proves the UK has gay professional footballers.

< PLAY of the week.

AND WHILST YOU'RE

THINKING ABOUT

THAT, THINK

ABOUT THIS

FIVE underwear no-nos.

> HELL now a thriving epicenter of gay culture.

OBITUARIES. Full of "eccentricities" and "devotion". Time for a bit of honesty.

DON'T send in the clowns – we're too scared.

< THE terrifying clown stalking the streets of Northampton.

IN praise of nautical vocabulary.

PIZZA delivery "special instructions" fulfilled.

AND finally, we enjoy fitness model Bryan Hawn's impressive thighs, Mark asks girls if they think he's gay, Rogue "Marbie" Scott has some weight loss advice, and the drunk chicken nugget challenge.