Drag star, Willam Belli, showcases Boy Butter H20 in his latest performance

Willam Belli, the real winner of Ru Paul's Drag Race Season 4 (BEST SEASON EVER!), performs the song, "Slow Hand" by The Pointer Sisters on May 14th 2012's SHOWGIRLS, the weekly Monday night Drag-stravaganza at Micky's in West Hollywood. No need for Willam to Ru- Pauligize for looking this good in an assess skirt. She definitely is displaying plenty of Charisma Uniqueness Nerve and Talent waving around the Boy Butter H20 and a rubber fist on stage.

Israel’s gay baby boom

Israel at forefront of the next revolution in same-sex family life.

There is a true revolution in same-sex parenthood underway in Israel. A series of ground-breaking legal achievements, led by New Family and other actors over a decade, have practically equated the parenting rights of same-sex couples to heterosexual couples, triggering a dramatic transformation of the legal and social reality in Israel.


Since the cancellation of the clause forbidding homosexual relations in Israel’s Penal Code in 1988, the courts and the attorney-general have liberally interpreted the law to equate the rights of same-sex spouses to those of heterosexuals.


The courts tend not to discriminate against gay couples in cases they hear, though this is strictly legal interpretation and no legal protections are enshrined in legislation. Legal precedents for the rights of same-sex couples in finance, employment, inheritance and military service have been stepping stones toward family equality in Israel.

Two ground-breaking legal precedents in adoption for same-sex couples paved the way for the revolution in same-sex parenting. In 2000, the High Court of Justice accepted the petition of Ruti and Nicole Berner-Kadish, and ordered the Interior Ministry to register both women as parents of the biological son of one of the partners, who had been legally adopted by the other partner in the US.

Read the original article from Jpost

Encountering Ancient Rome in LA: The Getty Villa

By Eyal Feldman
     
     Have you thought about what it would be like to travel back in time 2000 years to walk inside an authentic luxurious Roman villa, perched upon a beautiful hillside with a stunning ocean view? Well, look no further than the Getty Villa located in Pacific Palisades of Los Angeles, California. The villa is a one of a kind reproduction of a first century Roman villa, based upon the real Villa dei Papyri in Herculaneum, which was buried under one hundred feet of volcanic ash due to the infamous eruption of Mount Vesuvious in 79 CE. It was perfectly preserved and then discovered 1600 years later in 1750 CE, during a time of Renaissance, when people would discover the works of the classical pagan world. 
     
     The Villa was originally built by twentieth century oil-magnate & billionaire, J. Paul Getty to house his expansive arts and antiquities collections back in 1976. When it first opened the ground floor housed the antiquities while the upper floor was home to various paintings and French decorative art which are now housed at the main Getty Museum in nearby Brentwood, another great place to visit while soaking up the world class culture that Los Angeles has to offer. Since the museum's remodeling and reopening in 2006, all of the it's contents are of ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan artifacts spanning from 500 BCE to 400 CE with items such as marble and bronze statuary, jewelry, tombstones, a mummy and funerary masks, pottery, coins, and various glassware.

    These rare exhibits portray a sampling of what life was like for the upper classes of the 1st century, how they lived,  loved, and worshiped. The Villa's architecture, layout and collections are wonderful, but to me the real jewel is the Villa itself, with its many beautiful gardens, pools and fountains. It even has a paved road exactly as was the 50,000 odd miles of paved road that connected ancient Rome. The verdant landscaping on this sprawling 64 acre estate are accurate recreations of what actual ancient Roman gardens contained and they grow well in the mediterranean climate of Southern California. At the herb garden you can enjoy the sights and smells of fruit trees, grapevines, various herbs, and vegetables, which would have been grown in a typical ancient Roman household garden.

    You will love the perfect symmetry of the architecture and of the tromphe l'oeil paintings that adorn the walls. Since the Villa is situated up and away from any roads, the silence is broken only by sweet birdsong and ocean breezes through the trees. This is a very peaceful place with so much to explore, just make sure to take advantage of the guided Garden and Archetecture tours of the Villa and it's grounds. Each of the tours are 45 minutes long and are a great way to explore and learn about the fascinating culture of the ancients. A few helpful tips are reserving your entrance tickets online at the Getty Villa website the day before your visit and print out and bring the tickets to be scanned when entering the museum property. The entrance fee is totally free for everyone, although parking is $15 for the day (totally worth it) and there is a nice cafe to eat and sip coffee and a museum gift shop to buy a little memento.  So get over to Los Angeles because it is always fun and at the Getty Villa you can travel back in time to lose yourself just drinking in the beauty of the ancient world.

My bf looking cute in the inner peristyle 

Enthroned Zeus, King of the Greek gods

Authentic decorated walls, ceilings and columns of the outer peristyle

Hercules with Namean lion and club

A funerary mask for a second century woman

The End of the Jewish Left

Political theorist Michael Walzer and others argue about the death of the century-long Jewish-Leftist alliance

“Why so many alte kockers? Where is the rising generation?” The grumbler sitting behind me at the conference on “Jews and the Left,” sponsored by YIVO last week at the Center for Jewish History in New York, was not exactly being fair. Any academic conference will attract an older-skewing audience, and for all the gray hair in the seats and on the dais, the YIVO conference did have its share of eager young attendees.

Behind the complaint, however, it was possible to hear a larger, more painful question. For the first two-thirds of the 20th century, from the first immigrant generation through the baby boom, the radical and revolutionary left played a hugely important role in defining how the rest of America saw Jews and how Jews saw themselves. From Mike Gold’s proletarian novel Jews Without Moneyall the way down to Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, the literature and mythology of American Jewish radicalism has often appeared identical—to a certain audience—with Judaism itself. Even now there are people who revel in bygone lore about the Forverts and the Freiheit, Jay Lovestone and Max Shachtman. But living heirs to that tradition can be hard to find. Somewhat plaintively, my neighbor at the conference—like many of the participants—seemed to be asking, Is there still such a thing as a Jewish left? And if not, ought we to regret it?

Read the entire Tablet Magazine article by clicking here

Opening up the Boy Butter Beach house for summer 2012

The Boy Butter flag waves

A harmless Boy Butter poster on Fire Island Blvd.

What kind of sick pervert put this poster up on the community bulletin board?

Fire Island fauna

Relaxation with a view

A view from above

Guess who is mentioned in the new SAGE Matters Newsletter?

The SAGE Center for LGBT Older Adults (and Cyber Center) 

Weekday Dinner Service for People 60+

Monday-Friday 5pm to 6:30 pm

305 7th Avenue, 15th Floor (Cross-streets 27th & 28th)

www.sageusa.org

Check out my sister, Donna Feldman, uber-glam red carpet hostess at Britweek 2012 in Beverly Hills

      Donna Feldman of ReeKandi.tv, Hollywood's hottest super-model red carpet hostess is giving us real good red carpet interviews with Kelly Osbourne, Piers Morgan, and best selling author Jackie Collins. Donna is reporting from The Britweek 2012 Gala in Beverly Hills is in honor of Piers Morgan, who seems to be keen on feeding her some mushy pees (gross)!

Britweek 2012 Gala in Beverly Hills in honor of Piers Morgan