Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Page 1 Consider (05/30)

  • The Wright Stuff: Coca-Cola bought Vitamin Water for a cool $4.1 billion over the weekend, and Mets slugger David Wright stands to pocket $20 million. Why, you ask? In lieu of payment for his ad campaign, the sexy third baseman accepted a 0.5 percent interest in the company last year. (Smarter than he looks, huh?) Wright was quoted as saying he is "extremely pleased" with the deal. (Who could blame him?) Michael and I will be seeing Davey in the flesh tonight as the Mets take on the Giants at Shea Stadium, with hottie Barry Zito pitching -- and Barry Bonds looking to make "history." (NYP)

  • Divided Apple: A new poll shows New Yorkers are nearly evenly split on the topic of gay marriage, with a majority of Democrats, voters under 55 years old and Jewish voters support gay marriage the poll shows. (Don't all Jewish mothers want their children married to someone?) (Source)

  • Love, American Style: Meanwhile, a new Gallup poll shows American acceptance of gay rights is at its highest level in 30 years: 59% of Americans believe that "homosexual relations between consenting adults" should be legal. This question, which is part of the Gallup Poll’s annual Values and Beliefs survey carried out each May, has been asked every year since 1977, when only 43 percent responded affirmatively. (I'm surprised it was that high then given the fact that Texas' sodomy laws were only shot down in recent years.) (Advocate)

  • What Can He Do for Browns? Checking in with quarterback Brady Quinn after his first day of training camp with the Cleveland Browns. (AOL)

  • Memorial May: The American military said that 10 American soldiers had died Monday in separate attacks, making May the deadliest month for American troops since November 2004. (NYT)

  • Statewide Embarrassment: I thought Arizona's impeached, racist car dealer, Evan Meacham, was the most embarrassing governor in American history until I read about Nevada's latest, Jim Gibbons. In recent months, Gibbons -- already the subject of an FBI probe into whether he failed to report gifts from a military contractor while serving in Congress -- announced a plan to turn coal into jet fuel to raise money (problematic, as Nevada has no coal to speak of) and proposed paying for a $3.8 billion shortfall in highway construction money by selling water rights under state highways (it turns out the state did not actually own the rights). He told a local editorial board he could not pronounce the name of his energy adviser because she was “Indian” -- she is Turkish. He muddled through a bruising primary and general election, the latter overshadowed by an altercation with a cocktail waitress in a Las Vegas parking lot (his version: he was trying to help her into her car. her version: he sexually assaulted her). Wait till you read about his wife. (NYT)

  • Homeless Lesbian: A woman who sought housing at a Chicago homeless shelter but was turned away because she is a lesbian is filing a complaint over the matter. Michelle Wang, 27, came to the Chicago from Indianapolis last year with her partner, but their relationship ended, leaving her without a home, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which is handling her case. (Advocate)


  • Near Cat-astrophe: An Israeli man clad only in underwear and a T-shirt wrestled a leopard to the ground and pinned it for 20 minutes after it entered his bedroom in a desert college and tried to make a meal of his pet cat. Both animals survived. (AP)

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