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HBO shocked the world on April 4 by unveiling a 100-minute documentary honoring the legacy and legislative career of Sen. Jesse Helms. Kidding -- delayed April fool. It did, though, feature Senator Helms as a villain in a 100-minute documentary honoring the life and art of Robert Mapplethorpe, the infamous anti-Christian, penis-obsessed purveyor of sadomasochistic black-and-white photography. This defines the ideological and anti-religious sensibilities of HBO: It celebrates those who upset Christian conservatives (and conservative Christians) most. The idea that this perverted sex maniac is a significant historical figure is laughable -- you can't watch the parade of penis pictures...

SOUTHFIELD. Leaders want radio station to stop airing comments by priest they say defame Muhammad. Muslims and interfaith leaders in Metro Detroit are asking a local radio station owner to discontinue broadcasts in which, they say, a Coptic priest has repeatedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad over the past year. In an Arabic-language broadcast Wednesday on WNZK 680/690 AM, the Rev. Zakariah Boutros said the Muslim prophet Muhammad had engaged in necrophilia and gay sex, according to the Council on American Islamic Relations. Boutros has previously come under fire from area Muslims, who say he disparages Islam. The controversial, American-based priest...

As the final days of the historic California recall election near, another historic development has unfolded behind the scenes. Campaign operatives are scrambling to contain full nude erotic photographs taken by controversialist Robert Mapplethorpe -- full nude photographs of Arnold Schwarzenegger! The shocking nudes of Republican Schwarzenegger have been kept under lock at the Estate of Robert Mapplethorpe in New York, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. Mapplethorpe, whose infamous self-portrait with a bullwhip inserted in his anus as well as many photographs of penises and men engaging in homosexual acts, considered Schwarzenegger one of his favorite subjects, sources close to...

As the final days of the historic California recall election near, another historic development has unfolded behind the scenes. Campaign operatives are scrambling to contain full nude [b]erotic[/b] photographs taken by controversialist Robert Mapplethorpe -- full nude photographs of Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Second of two parts. What is the artist's role in society? Artists have been debating the question throughout history. The former U.S. poet laureate said he thought about the election results all day -- "when I could think." "The question of how the rest of us should behave seems pressing," he said. "Erosion of civil liberties? The courts? Further and deeper predations on the environment? It's hard to see how the Endangered Species Act will survive, except perhaps in name. An interesting indicator of the intentions of that Bush clique will be to see whether they punish Republican dissenters like...

Outrage at obscene photos would be a little easier to take from liberal senators if they didn't have a history of financing them. Had Robert Mapplethorpe snapped the photos at Abu Ghraib, the Senate might have given him a government grant. Jesse Helms would certainly be surprised at the moral horror on display these days in the Senate. In 1989, he asked his fellow senators to stop funding degrading photography coming out of the National Endowment for the Arts. They refused. "I'm going to ask that all the pages, all the ladies and maybe all the staff leave the chamber...

print reply subscribe Schwarzenegger's stand on gay rights puts him in middle of road By LISA LEFFAssociated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO -- Of all the issues that separate Arnold Schwarzenegger from his conservative rival, Sen. Tom McClintock, few are as stark as the actor-turned-candidate's tolerant attitude toward gay rights. Schwarzenegger, who describes himself as socially moderate, says on his campaign Web site that he thinks "gay couples are entitled to full protection under the law and should not be discriminated against." McClintock, on the other hand, doesn't support giving gay couples the same rights enjoyed by married couples. But...

Matt Drudge announced tonight that Robert Mapplethorpe was the photographer who did the nudes of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mapplethorpe made in the news years ago when his pornographic homosexual photographs were displayed in a New York public art museum.