Hooker-turned-hero Mike Jones is nothing if not tenacious. As we reported earlier in the week, eBay pulled the plug on his charitable auction of his massage table - the same massage table upon which he used to fuck fallen Evangelical pastor, Ted Haggard.

eBay representatives insisted the matter amounted to nothing more than a minor technicality in filing. Others, however, wonder if the Christian Right had something to do with it. Delaware-based Transforming Congregations' Reverend Karen Booth penned an angry letter, promising the website would feel her and her brethren's wrath unless they cancel the auction:

I have put an alert on my ministry’s national website and have also informed other national Christian ministries, including the American Family Association. (The auction is also being discussed on several Internet blogs.) If the offensive listing is not removed, I will encourage my supporters to boycott eBay, which I also intend to do.

And, since you're feeling so generous, send Karen Booth a little electronic love: transcong@aol.com. [Thanks, Joe]

Mitt Romney's fund-raising blitz got off to a disturbingly good start yesterday, raising 6.5 million bones for the Evangelical, allegedly homo-phobic and certainly opportunistic Republican. While it comes as no surprise that people would throw money at a man many see as the Republican front runner (although, we're not convinced the Evans will be by his side), two readers pointed us in the direction of one particular snippet from Adam Nagourney's piece for The New York Times:

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay, in a break from her callers. “I start out by saying: ‘You won’t believe where I am! I’m at the Boston Convention Center with four or five hundred other people dialing for contributions for Mitt Romney.’ ”

Another part of the article reads thus: .

..Mr. Romney was certainly not taking any chances. When it came time for him to make a fund-raising call, piped over the loudspeaker and in front of a crush of cameras, he chose to call his older sister, Lynn Keenan, at her home outside Detroit.

• Good God. The Brokeback Mountain shirts being auctioned off on Ebay went for over $100,000! [Ebay]

• News of the World's anonymous source has more info about the gay soccer player orgy story, this time with even more kinky sex. Says the source: "But they're not gay. It's normal for some of them to do this." Um, sure. [News of the World]

• Tom Ford continues to attack hot guys during photoshoots. Jake didn't seem to mind Ford's hand shoved down his pants. [Towleroad]

• The next time meth addicts log onto a gay chat sight looking to "party n' play," they may just end up up talking to a drug counselor instead. [NY Times]

• Lindsay Lohan hearts Angelina Jolie [Zap2it]

• Michael Lucas interviews Clay Aiken’s bare power bottom John Paulus. [Lucas Blog]

• Twelve men who were arrested in the United Arab Emirates in November were sentenced to jail time for their role in planning a gay wedding. [News 24]

• You too could own a truck like Jack and Ennis in Brokeback Mountain. [eBay]

• An interview with Stacie Andree, Laurel Hester's Partner is up at Big Gay Picture. [Big Gay Picture]

• Out has 7 reasons why The Gays are better than straights. We could add a few hundred more to the list. [Out]

We know that we’re not perfect. As much as we love all things gay, there are some things that some of our fellow homos do that make us cringe: frosted hair, mesh shirts, rainbow ringed necklaces, Miatas. We know we usually have more taste and style than the straights, but sometimes good taste turns to tackiness, kitsch, garishness. Like Elton John.

And we’re cool with tacky things, but only when they’re done in that smart, ironic way. Think Todd Oldham. Sometimes The Gays go a bit overboard. Leave it to a bunch of fags to get so inspired by Brokeback Mountain to create art. Really bad art, but art nonetheless.

Defamer recently found that eBay has become the hot spot for your original artwork inspired by Brokeback Mountain. It will look great next to your Judy Garland photograph or your Tom of Finland poster, honey. Psyche.

They’re so bad, they’re almost good. At least we found something to get Andy Towle for his birthday this year.

Brokeback Mania Inspires Art [Defamer]
Brokeback Gay Paintings [eBay]

The Bid 2 Beat AIDS auction has gotten off to a great start, but we still have a lot of money to raise for LIFEbeat. Today’s featured items will make great, irreverent gifts.

Do you know someone with a lame-ass voicemail message? Are you sick of listening to it? Now is your chance to give the gift that keeps on giving (every time you ring them up). Michael Musto, Jackie Beat, Dan Savage, and a few other offbeat, oddball personalities have agreed to write and record a custom voicemail message for the winner of these ridiculous auctions.

And because Queerty has such a devoted following Bradford has also agreed to offer up his squealing, gay voice. Yes our resident wannabe-somebody editor can be the voice of yours or somebody you love’s outgoing message. This is a fundraiser for a good cause. So get to bidding queens. We don’t want to be outdone by "The Dell Dude".

Any good queer has already put to bed his final Thanksgiving menu and has already begun planning the glittery and snow-covered extravaganza of Christmas! And if you are not Christian, Christmas is still fun to celebrate. Think eggnog, presents, and snowman sweaters! These are things everyone should love.

In the past we have gone all out Martha at Christmas, putting out our Poinsettias, stringing pearls on our fresh tree, and roasting both a ham and a turkey. This year we are going modern and kitsch. And you should too.

The tinsel tree is a fun, fagtastic way to make any home a happy one for the holidays. You do not have to water them and if you hate the color green you are in luck! Tinsel trees come in the gayest colors: gold, silver, pink, baby blue, and orange!

Many kitsch specialty shops in your town will carry these guys. eBay also has a huge selection. Our pick is West Elm’s 5 foot silver tree. It is the perfect size and looks great with a color scheme of two or three colors. We’re doing pink and green. But really any color would work. These trees are so fabulous that even a colorblind queen could do no wrong.