The New Delhi High Court ruled yesterday that a British-created 1860 law that decriminalizes gay sex in the country violates "basic human rights."  It's a move that was last attempted in 2001 and was turned away at that time but has gained increased activism and presence in the current Indian landscape, from both gay activists and Bollywood activists.  Before everyone balks at the fact that it took until 2009 for the 1860 law to be nixed, the United States of America only decriminalized gay sex at the federal level in 2003, even if rarely enforced.  Apparently people are beginning to realize that genetalia between consenting adults can be placed anywhere they decide they want, as it's attached, at the end of the day, to them.  Sorry, folks.  But, it wasn't me who conjured up that image you just had cross your mind.  It might be evidence, though, that you need to decriminalize a few of your own internal laws.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released June jobs numbers today and the news isn't pretty.  Cnn.com reports that the "U.S reports economy shed 467,000 jobs in June, much higher than expected; unemployment rate ticks up to 9.5 percent." Last month, job losses were actually lower than expected, but this month's news is not as happy.  The forecast for June job losses was "only" 365,000, but that was clearly exceeded with 467,000 jobs actually lost.  However, economists were expecting an unemployment rate hike to 9.6% from May's 9.4%, but it only hit 9.5% so that's decent, right? This news marks the ninth straight month of job losses and the first time in 4 months that the number of jobs lost exceeded the previous month's losses. And I heard this morning on Good Morning America (yes, I watch GMA) that 80% of the unemployed in this recession are men.  So congrats, ladies!

If you haven't seen this yet, rectify the situation.

This Take Away Show is not necessarily the newest thing on the interwebs, but Stark Online has brought this wonderful video session to my attention. Kristian Matsson aka The Tallest Man On Earth is a Swede that plays some of the most "American" music that I could possibly conjure up, one that alludes to a certain Robert Zimmerman. Right around the time these videos were shot by the wonderful people at La Blogotheque, I saw The Tallest Man On Earth open for Bon Iver. His rendition of "These Days" is a crowd favorite, and I hope he keeps it in rotation. Kristian Matsson was in NYC to play a few shows during a stretch of nasty weather. We got together one rainy afternoon to raid some downtown spot to make a film. Tallest Man on Earth - The Gardener - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo. One catch: after soundcheck the day before, Tallest Man’s guitars were locked inside the NYC music venue, Town Hall, where he’d be playing later that night with Bon Iver....

In response to Alyssa Rosenberg's article for The Atlantic, in which she criticizes the Harry Potter films for not showing "adult sexual relationships", PopWatch's Jean Bentley asks why anyone finds the movies lacking for such a subject. Bentley makes a succinct, solid point: "Last time I checked, the Harry Potter books were a children's series. Sure, the audience grew up as the characters aged, but this is not adult fiction." To yearn and/or criticize for the inclusion of sexual scenes between the characters is not a specific slam on Harry Potter or J.K. Rowling, but rather a reflection of our society's mentality that only sex can express depth, maturity, and emotion. This hit home for me, since I used to follow that belief (although I didn't project it on poor Harry and his hormonal friends). I was convinced not naïvely that sex always equaled love, but rather that the absence of sex automatically meant a superficial relationship. If you weren't having it, then you couldn't...

In "breaking" news, Kevin Jonas, the one with the raging case of pompadouridis, has asked his girlfriend of two years, Danielle Deleasa, to marry him. And guess what she SAID?!? Just guess. Socialite Life reports that his parents told People, "Our hearts are filled with joy today and we are happy to share with you that our son Kevin has asked Danielle for her hand in marriage. Her answer was yes, and it is such a blessing that she will be joining our family. Kevin and Danielle have not yet set a date. Family is very dear to us, and we hope we have raised Kevin to be a wonderful man and husband. Please join us in our family's celebration and in congratulating Kevin and Danielle. Thank you for all of your support." Is Kevin Jonas standing in front of a picture of Kevin Jonas? Now, JB fans are not taking the news lightly, and most of the nasty comments being made are towards boyfriend-stealer and home-wrecker Danielle. She looks like Bristol Palin! That's what a purity ring...

Image via Joystiq Being an early adopter of tech - especially game consoles - can be SERIOUSLY cost prohibitive. It's equally frustrating to finally be able to afford a console, only to have a new generation announced soon after, effectively rendering your purchase moot. Lord knows that happened to me before, which made me shy away from several different systems (sorry, SEGA). However, according to a rather exhaustive report on the industry by Wedbush Morgan (via Joystiq), we won't be seeing that type of issue anytime soon. Why? Because this is going to be the last. Pointing to the small adoption rates for HD displays, Pachter says that unless consumers start coming out in droves to pick up HD displays, these consumers aren't going to feel compelled to pick up a HD-compatible console (or upgrade from their Wii). This, he feels, adds longevity to the current cycle, stating that current-generation console sales will go long tail, and says that the lower-than-expected...

If you're into gadgets, you probably read Gizmodo and Engadget. These two sites are something like the two superpowers of the gadget blogging world, created in 2002 and 2004, respectively. Interestingly, Engadget was created by Gizmodo's founder Peter Rojas and set up to be a rival blog. Now he's at it again. Rojas and a colleague have defected from Engadget, and have set up GDGT. GDGT differs from the two main blogs in that instead of having paid writers develop content, GDGT content will be mainly user-generated. In other words, it's going to be a gadget-oriented social network. The GDGT founders says most gadget sites cater only to 5 percent of a gadget’s lifecycle — the “lust phase;" for “the 95 percent of the time you own the product there is nowhere to go. We are building the place where you can live with your gadgets online in perpetuity.” Instead of providing product reviews themselves, they will linking to news and reviews on other sites, and will...

Kelley Vlahos from FOX News has written a story on their website about the sad, paltry truth about being a college Republican.  Seriously, though, this article plays the violin for Republicans on college campuses.  Remember for a while there when young Republicans were gaining momentum?  They were doing quite well for a long stretch, and now that two universities have banned their respective political clubs.  You'd never know from the title, though, that the Democratic clubs were banned as well.  Now, let's put a little bit of perspective on this.  It's not like these clubs aren't allowed to be on the campus, they're just not officially backed by the college.  It just makes me very angry to hear FOX get all pissy about the 'troubles' of being a young Republican, 'It's hard enough to be a Republican on most campuses these days. Now you can't even be a member of the Republican Club at two of America's most conservative colleges -- because the clubs have been...

That's right, friends, if you're having some money problems, move to Latvia, 'cause boy does someone have a deal for you! Sure the unemployment rate is staggering, and banks are locking their doors, but at least if you're in serious debt, some crazy asshole will take your soul as collateral for a loan.  And no, he's not joking.  Either this guy is certifiably insane, or he's some sort of modern-day Robin Hood, giving people their money back.  It hasn't been explained how exactly he'll take your soul, but claims that he will, ' "If they don't give it back, what can you do? They won't have a soul, that's all," he told Reuters in a basement office, with one desk, a computer and three chairs.' I'm going to go with 'crazy' on this one.  But hey, it's not a bad deal, especially if you think that some dude in a basement can't actually steal your soul.  Right?  Maybe I'm the crazy one...