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Two men dressed as women were charged with mugging a teenage girl Friday as she walked near Lincoln Park Zoo, only minutes after they allegedly assaulted another pedestrian and tried to take his wallet, prosecutors said. Brandon Arnold, 24, of the 6800 block of South Aberdeen Street, and roommate Michael Burns, 21, appeared in Cook County Central Bond Court charged with robbery and attempted armed robbery, both sporting long, styled hair and gray leggings. Their bond was set at $100,000 each. Court records say the pair approached a 16-year-old girl as she walked past an alley in the 2300 block...

Running toward a dream of a lifetimeWhen I tested positive for HIV in 1994, I never would have imagined an AIDS-free generation to be possible in my lifetime. I also didn't think I would live past 35.And yet, I am 42 years old today and we have arrived at the precipice of that dream. With recent medical advances, and the promise of more soon to come, an AIDS-free generation is possible. Achieving this goal, as eloquently outlined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month, would save millions of American dollars and countless lives around the world. The question...

Freddie Mercury died 20 years ago today. The Queen singer and songwriter had been secretly battling AIDS for four years, announcing that he had contracted the disease on Nov. 23, 1991, one day before he passed away of AIDS-related bronchopneumonia. He was 45. Known for his wide vocal range and unparalleled showmanship, the Zanzibar-born Mercury (nee Farrokh Bulsara) also wrote many of Queen’s biggest hits including the six-minute-long rock opus "Bohemian Rhapsody,” sports anthems "We Are the Champions" and “We Will Rock You” and throwback "Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”

The hospital refused to say why the star was moved but it is believed it was decided that the singer's condition was so acute that it would be better if he was moved to the AKH - the biggest in Europe and where many of the continent's top medical experts are based because of the advanced facilities it offers for research as well as treatment. The hospital has two skyscrapers, identified for navigating around the huge complex as the red tower and the green tower. He is currently in intensive care on the 13th floor of the red tower as...

PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday said homosexuals and lesbians will be punished severely for their behaviour which is inconsistent with African and Christian values. He made the remarks at the launch of the Tongogara Community Share Ownership Tru-st at Unki Mine. Zimbabweans told Copac during the outreach programme that they want homosexuality outlawed. Said the President: "Do not get tempted into that (homosexuality). You are young people. Mukaenda ikoko we will punish you severely." He took a swipe at recent utterances by British Prime Minister David Cameron that London will not aid countries that do not respect gay rights. Mr Cameron said...

<p>RUSH: From the Los Angeles Times: "A teenager who fatally shot a gay classmate in the back of the head during an Oxnard middle school computer lab will spend 21 years in prison under a plea deal reached Monday, closing the books on a case that drew international headlines and ignited debate on how schools should handle sexual identity issues.</p>

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Led by such American staples as AT&T, Kellogg and Coca-Cola, a record number of businesses -- 337 in all -- achieved a perfect score in 2011 for their policies affirming homosexuality. That's according to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay organization, which launched its Corporate Equality Index in 2002, when only 13 businesses received a perfect score. By 2006 it had grown to 138, and last year it was at 305. Released each fall, the list shows the challenge that pro-family groups and citizens face when attempting to spend their money only at businesses that...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — In the middle of Curtin Road, John Matko held one handwritten sign in his right hand and rested another against his jeans. Two inches of black tape obscured Penn State’s logo on the 34-year-old father’s hat, as he tried to ignore the jeers, slaps and beer hurled at him. “Put abused kids first,” one of Matko’s signs read. “Don’t be fooled, they all knew. Tom Bradley, everyone must go.” Penn State’s Beaver Stadium loomed 30 yards away, rumbling with the first roars of Saturday’s game with Nebraska. The sea of blue-clad supporters wearing gray fedoras and...

'Glee' Set to Show Gay Sex By Paul Wilson Created 11/08/2011 - 1:07pm From its inception, popular TV musical comedy Glee has waged a relentless campaign of liberal propaganda and pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable on broadcast TV. The show is now stepping up its campaign of homosexual promotion. The latest episode of Glee (airing on Nov. 8) titled "The First Time," will feature a gay couple having sex on TV. Tim Stack of Entertainment Weekly calls the episode a "game-changer," declaring "I can't think of another network series that's taken a teenage gay relationship so far or been...

BOSTON, November 7, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A lawsuit that could nullify the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has received the support of major U.S. corporations, who filed a brief opposing the law in federal court this week. A friend-of-the-court brief filed last Thursday in the case of Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services argues that DOMA, which protects marriage as between a man and a woman in federal law, imposes crippling burdens on employers. Seventy employers are represented in the brief, including Microsoft, Starbucks, Google, NIKE, Levi Strauss and Co., CBS, Aetna, Blue Cross...

Gay Couples To Be Allowed Civil Ceremonies In Church Homosexual couples will be able to take part in civil partnerships in church and other places of worship from next month, it will be announced. It is estimated that about 1,500 civil partnerships a year would take place in religious settings once the ban is lifted. By Andrew Porter, and Martin Beckford 01 Nov 2011 Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister, will say that the ban on the ceremonies in religious surroundings will be lifted on Dec 5. The move has been championed by David Cameron but is likely to be opposed...

Washington D.C., Oct 31, 2011 / 03:01 pm (CNA).- Marriage advocates are warning that a repeal of the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act could have disastrous consequences for the nation, including the further erosion of religious liberty and a continued effort to legalize multiple-partner relationships.“Marriage is critically important because the marriage-based family is the original and best Department of Health, Education and Welfare,” said Robert P. George, law professor at Princeton University.George told CNA that a healthy marriage culture is “crucial to the overall success of any society.”In an Oct. 28 interview, George responded to reports that the Senate Judiciary...

Is Shep Smith losing weight or what? He sure looks gaunt.

A Connecticut high school musical causes a public walkout after two men in the cast kissed during the performance. It happened during the “Zanna Don’t!” musical at Hartford Public High School last Friday. “There are always circumstances (in organizing these programs) under which the values of the student or their family come into play,” said Adam Johnson, principal of the Government and Law Academy at the high school, told CBS Connecticut. He added that many students expressed a desire to skip the show due to the subject matter. “It’s a balancing act of individual values and the expectations of the...

An illegal immigrant from Mexico was arrested Saturday after he allegedly assaulted his boyfriend with a weapon after the couple had a dispute over their dog. Martin Ramos Contreras, 39, is being held without bond on a first-degree felony of aggravated assault on a date with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor charges of unlawful restraint and interfering with an emergency call. Bond has not been set because of his alleged immigration status. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has placed an immigrations hold on Contreras' status. Midland County deputies responded to a disturbance on the 5100 block of North A Street Saturday...

SUBJECT: Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces References: (a) DoD Directive 1344.10, “Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces on Active Duty,” August 2, 2004 (hereby canceled) (b) Sections 973, 888, 101, and Chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (c) DoD Instruction 1334.1, “Wearing of the Uniform,” October 26, 2005 (d) Section 441a of title 2, United States Code (e) through (i), see Enclosure 1

Archie is going from comic to culture warrior again, as the Archie Comics universe fields praise and scorn over a gay wedding. After a pair of straight weddings -- both strangely involving Archie, though in his dreams -- drew national attention, the publisher behind the popular stories has confirmed that it’s making room for someone else to walk down the aisle: Kevin Keller, the series’ first openly-gay character. “Kevin followed in his father's footsteps and is returning to Riverdale as a war hero, but that's not all – It’s Kevin’s wedding day!” reads a news release from Archie Comic Publications,...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- A Minnesota lawmaker's speech against banning gay marriage in the state's Constitution has become an online hit. A video of Rep. Steve Simon's remarks had more than 170,000 views on YouTube early Thursday. At a Capitol hearing on Monday, the St. Louis Park Democrat asked, "How many gays must God create before we accept that he wants them around?"

When they first discovered them, the slender tubes perplexed the Ivy League Archaeologists exploring the ancient Mayan ruins. Nothing in their experience would have prepared them to contemplate an elite whose highest rites included pumping fermented Lonchocarpus tree bark up their anuses. At the time, our society still held to the ancient covenants that prohibited inserting foreign objects up our rectums. Imagine how surprised these same academics would have been if they would have known that thirty years later the health services and administrators of the universities where they worked would be promoting such practices.

A grand jury on Thursday accused the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of failing to stop the sexual abuse of children more than five years after a grand jury report documented abuse by more than 50 priests. The new report said a senior church official charged with investigating allegations of sexual abuse by priests had in fact allowed some of those accused to remain in posts that gave them continued access to children. It charged him with endangering the welfare of minors and accused three priests and a teacher of raping two boys between 1996 and 1999. “By no means do we...