Page 1 Consider (12/13)

Danger: Avoid Death: This is probably a good rule of thumb. (AP)

New Hampshire Anew! Same-sex couples plan to celebrate New Hampshire's new civil unions law by holding a midnight group ceremony as soon as the law takes effect Jan. 1. (AP)

Texas Justice? This story about a 61-year-old retiree in Texas who shot dead two guys he saw burglarizing his neighbor's house has to be read to be believed. I'm not advocating stealing from people, but this lunatic sounds like he waited 61 years with a gun in his hand hoping this moment would arrive and even after the 911 operator implored him to not leave his own house -- let alone use his gun -- cautioning him that he could get hurt he responded, "You want to make a bet? I’m going to kill them." Again, it's truly beyond belief that someone could treat another human as prey. (NYT)

Cream Rinse Sold Separately: A lock of John Lennon's hair sold for $48,000 Wednesday in an auction of Beatles' memorabilia collected by the band's hairdresser. Imagine how stupid this person must feel. (AP)

Seven Year (Head)ache: I'm happy to hear that one of my all-time favorite musicians (and neighbor!) Rosanne Cash is on the mend from her brain surgery for a rare but benign condition. Read about my fave album of hers here and about seeing her in concert last year here. (AP)

Prof Does Dairy Good: A straight political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is challenging his state’s 2006 ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions, claiming the ballot measure illegally asked two questions in one. (Advocate)

Church and State: Roger Cohen's column in today's Times responds brilliantly to Mitt Romney vision of a faith-based presidency and is worth a full read: Religion informed America’s birth. But its distancing from politics was decisive to the republic’s success. Indeed, the devastating European experience of religious war influenced the founders' thinking. That is why I find Romney's speech and the society it reflects far more troubling than Europe’s vacant cathedrals. Romney allows no place in the United States for atheists. He opines that, "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom." Yet secular Sweden is free while religious Iran is not.

Bad Design: I really don't mean this disrespectfully but could anything be worse than having to sit through this? (Isaac Mizrahi)

Reasonable Justice: A court in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday sentenced two Emirati men to 15 years in prison in a highly charged case involving the kidnapping and sexual assault of a French-Swiss teenage boy. Veronique Robert, the mother of the 15-year-old victim, said ''justice was done'' but that she would still appeal to try to gain a life sentence for one of the defendants, a 35-year-old man she contends knew he was HIV-positive before the attack. (I completely condemn the attack but can't help but be pleased that no one was sentenced to death in this case. Progress?) (AP)

Fire Her, Already: A female Tucson Fire Department battalion chief is trying to overturn a suspension she received for engaging in a disparaging e-mail exchange about gays. An anti-gay firewoman? Is this kind of like being an anti-gay senator? (Advocate)

Expired & Indirect: Like to order your groceries online? Things may not be so fresh or direct these days. (NYT)