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Chain of Fools: The dismantling of everything that made Chelsea so great is happening in my old 'hood Dupont Circle, too. Connecticut Avenue, once the home to a slew of independent art galleries, used CD stores, curiosity shops and restaurants with names like the Golden Booeymonger are gone. In 1991 it boasted just three national chain stores along the busy street. Today there are 18 and with rents doubling and tripling, many more are on their way. (WP)

Big Lezzie Brother Is Watching: Once again, New York City council speaker Christine C. Quinn, the city's most visible gay official, has come under fire from her gay constituency after she proposed last week that the city's 250 nightclubs be required to install security cameras at their entrances and exits. Several gay leaders have said the cameras would be an invasion of privacy and pose a particular threat to those who are not open about being gay. It was just this past weekend that patrons at Opus 22 were suspecting it was her doing behind a bar raid at the low-key tea Sunday tea dance. (Advocate)

It's Not Like We Need Soldiers: Even though there are no gay people in the military, the armed forces are dismissing gays from the military in record numbers. An Army base in Missouri used the "don't ask, don't tell" policy to kick out more soldiers than any other military installation last year, followed by an Army base on the Kentucky-Tennessee border and a naval base in Virginia. Sixty people were dismissed last year from Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., according to Defense Department documents shared with The Associated Press by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. That was up from 40 discharges under the policy from the training facility in 2004. Just what we need: more disturbing news from our armed forces. (AP)

Wrong Turn: MSNBC ranks the best Sesame Street characters of all time this week. Bert and Ernie rank high, but the rest of the list is a bunch of bullshit. Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster are both so one-dimensional and totally overrated. Kermit the Frog, on the other hand, was a pioneer of civil rights on top of being like Walter Cronkite to me as a kid. He deserves to be on there. And everyone knows Grover was by far the cutest Muppet of all time. (I just took the online poll and it seems I'm not alone on this one.) (Or is Grover really as bitter as they're making him out to be? (MSNBC)

Separation of Church and What? Once again the president looks to subvert the Constitution. (NYT)

Sitting Bull(shit): Those Republicans will do just about anything for the minority vote. (WP)

Rainbow Coalition: The former "Today" cohost Katie Couric announced yesterday that she has no plans to alter her appearance for her new job as the CBS Evening News anchorwoman. Couric joins a distinguished list of news anchors of color but is the first who is orange. (Baltimore Sun)

Dynamic Duo: Kudos to The Two Bills -- Gates and Clinton, that is -- for aggressively addressing the ongoing AIDS crisis. One can only imagine how different things might have been if these two had been in this position back in 1981. (G&M)

At Least Al Gore Gets It: You try to do something good for the environment and this is the thanks you get. (Bitter Cup of Joe)