MSNBC newsman Keith Olbermann hosted a very special Countdown last night. Rather than counting down the days top news stories, the former sports reporter offered us a collection of his favorite "Oddball"moments (see example after the jump).

Before diving into the bizarre snatches of this human life, Olbermann offered this summation of the soon-to-be expired 2007:

2007 will be remembered as a year of dramatic contradictions. President Bush got a torrent of advice to leave Iraq, and decides instead to digs us in deeper. Bush sees his popularity plummet, while Al Gore wins an Oscar and a Noble Peace prize.

2007, also a year of scandal, from locked up Paris Hilton, to lock out Alberto Gonzales, as in never let him near the Justice Department ever again.

The year where Larry Craig’s toe-tap made headlines around the world. A scandal with such international import that German TV, the Germans were calling us to play our Larry Craig Dragnet spoof on their newscasts.

That’s what says it all about this bizarre year.

Yup.

CONTINUED »

We're absolutely astonished this morning. The mainstream media - namely: the New York Times - has turned its attention to the plight of gay Iraqis. Here's but a taste of Cara Buckley's piece:

…Until recently, Mohammed and many of his gay friends went one step further, slipping into lovers’ houses late at night. And, until the American invasion, they said, Iraqi society had quietly accepted them.

But being openly gay is not an option in the new Iraq, where the rise of religious extremism has left Mohammed and his gay friends feeling especially vilified.

Wait, the American-led invasion didn't bring peace and queer prosperity? Preposterous!

Long shot presidential candidate Duncan Hunter took some time to smear queers on this weekend's Don't Ask-oriented 60 Minutes. The Republican reiterated his homophobic ideology, saying that gays shouldn't serve in the military because we're not "hardened warriors". Hunter also took aim at those gay-loving Brits, a key ally in our Iraq invasion:

The Fallujahs of the world, the Ramadis of the world that require heavy combat and lots of fire-fighting capability - those are the places the Americans go. The other countries tend to go to the so-called peacekeeper zones, where they have fewer fire fights and less contact with the enemy. And the European nations show little will to send large contingents of their military people into dangerous places.

Admiral Sir Alan West defended his nation's bravery, "I think American troops are very brave and I think British troops are very brave." He also reminded Hunter that homos can fight with the best of 'em:

You read about the Spartans, they were all homosexuals, the whole lot of them. And I don't think anyone would suggest for a second that the 500 Spartans fighting against the Persian Army were not pretty macho.

No one in their right mind, at least…

• Robots apparently haven't forgiven former President Bill Clinton for the 1992 Sister Souljah scandal.

• David Sedaris on the trials and tribulations of business class.

• Jossip's Rebecca Aronauer talks to a journalist who lived to tell about Iraq.

• Queen Latifah again denies she's a lesbian, destroys our wedding dreams.

CONTINUED »

Judy Shepard ain't shutting up about the House's decision to ditch hate crimes legislation. Nor should she.

CONTINUED »

Our previous installments of The Home Issue have revolved around design, interior and aesthetic.

We're shifting focus today with an interview between our editor and travel writer Mike Luongo. Luongo's longed to travel since childhood and has traveled around the globe documenting life in Afghanistan, Iraq and Argentina, among many, many others.

The New York-based journalist just edited and released Gay Travels In The Muslim World: an anthology of anecdotes and impressions from and of the Middle East. Though he and Belonsky definitely discuss the book, their conversation veers into religion, the parameters of democratization and the ever-troublesome "other".

Check it out, after the jump.

CONTINUED »

The CNN/YouTube debates sure were straight last night, huh? We had to wade through immigration, Iraq and the economy before we got our 'mo moment.

For those of you who came and went before the blessed event, we'll fill you in: homosexual and Retired Brigadier General Keith Kerr inquired:

I'm a retired brigadier general with 43 years of service. And I'm a graduate of the Special Forces Officer Course, the Commanding General Staff Course and the Army War College. And I'm an openly gay man.

I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.

Well said, if you ask us.

We break the candidates down, after the jump.

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Queer Coloradan congressional candidate Jared Polis announced that he'll spend Thanksgiving in Iraq. Says the Democrat blasting Democrat:

The war in Iraq is the most important issue facing Americans and the Congress.

I am traveling to Iraq over the Thanksgiving Holiday to let the soldiers know how appreciative Coloradans are for their brave service.

I hope my trip with also provide the people of Colorado with a clear understanding of what is happening in Iraq and the situations we are facing there.

In addition to touring Baghdad, Polis will take a jaunt over to Jordan.

It's a sad day for gay Iraqis. Two of the nation's five homo safe houses have been forced to shutter themselves for lack of funds. The houses were organized by gay group Iraqi LGBT, whose president Ali Hili had some harsh words for the apathetic international community:

Over 30 gay residents who we cared for in these three safe houses now have to take their chances in a country where religious militia regularly seek out gays and execute them.
…
We feel deserted by the international gay community. Few people seem to care about our fate.

A 29-year old lesbian named Sarah had a similar message: "The world has let us down so badly." It's not too late to help rectify the situation - you can still donate to Iraqi LGBT, which holds the US-led invasion responsible for their country's blood turmoil.

If you want to put a human face to this potentially abstract problem, check out this mini-doc, Queer Fear: Gay Life, Gay Death in Iraq.

Gay Iraqi exile Ali Hili has some choice words for the United States army:

The U.S, and other allied forces are doing nothing to stop the massacres of any ordinary Iraqi, not to mention the homosexuals, the most unpopular portion of Iraqi society under the new evil regime.

Hili and his organization, Iraqi LGBT, are facing considerable financial burden. President Bush, meanwhile, wants another $46 billion for his childish war games.

The "emotional distress" case against the Westboro Baptist Church began in Baltimore today. Grieving father Arnold Snyder filed the suit against Fred Phelps' crew after they picketed his soldier son's funeral. The original lawsuit accused WBC of "intentionally causing emotional distress," invasion of privacy and defamation. The latter's since been tossed.

Opening the case today, Shirley Phelps-Roper said that God himself instructed her and her unsavory ilk to protest funerals with signs reading "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God For Dead Soldiers". It's been a while since we saw God last, but we remember "him" being pretty stylish and we can't imagine such a divine creature would hire Phelps-Roper to be his earthly representative. We could be wrong.

Phelps-Roper also says her brood stayed out of sight and in a cop-approved area. Snyder's lawyer, however, claims his client knew about the protest, which traumatized him. He's been struck by diabetic complications ever since. Phelps-Roper blamed that on God, too.

Psych! She didn't, but we bet she thought it, just like she thought about ruining Snyder's saddest day

• John Aravosis chats with CNN's resident tool Rick Sanchez about Larry Craig. Moral of the story: Craig's coincidence defies reality. Meanwhile Aravosis wrote this piece about ENDA. A reader suggested we add him to our list of 20 Most Frightful Anti-Gay Activists…

• GLAAD gets into the news business.

• Queer Iraqi situation worse than imagined:

Up to 25 gay men will next month have to ‘take their chances’ in Iraq where religious militia regularly seek out gays and execute them. Two ‘safe houses’ for gays will be forced to close at the end month – due to lack of cash, it was learned last night.

Make potentially life saving donation here. Or continue being apathetic. It's up to you.

CONTINUED »

Things aren't looking good for Iraq's queers. The isolated, endangered population may lose their only gay rights group, Iraqi LGBT.

As the US-led occupation continues, says leader Ali Hili, the need and subsequent cost of maintaining safe houses has become a burden:

According to Hili, 34, the cost of funding a safe house - which serves 10 to 12 people at a time - is about $1,800 a month: $800 for rent, usually paid three months in advance; $400 for the salaries of two armed guards for each house, an essential part of securing each facility; and $600 per month for gas, fuel for electricity generators, food, clean drinking water and hygienic supplies.
…
Currently, the majority of the group’s work is funded through private donations and small grants from other non-governmental organizations.

Complicating the situation, Hili said, is that the need for Iraqi LGBT’s services and assistance has continued to increase while financial resources have dwindled. Unless more financing can be raised quickly, the group’s safe houses will have to close their doors, possibly as early as the end of this month, putting dozens of vulnerable people at risk of execution.

If you want to help liberate gay Iraqis, we suggest you start by throwing Iraqi LBGT some dough.

All these wars and altercations are making the Army even looser than before:

The Army last year again increased the number of its recruits who have prior criminal records by granting them special exceptions.
…
In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 18 percent of recruits needed waivers for problems with the law - up from 15 percent the previous year, Maj. Gen. Thomas Bostick, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, told a Pentagon news conference. He said 87 percent of those were for misdemeanors such as joy riding or violating curfew.

Taking it up the butt, however, simply won't be tolerated.

Conservative journalist Robert Maginnis on why we should keep Don't Ask, Don't Tell:

Sexual tensions and sex-based favoritism in intimate settings destroy cohesion, whether they involve opposite- or same-sex attraction. If we respect women’s need for privacy from men, then we ought to respect the same need on the part of heterosexuals with regard to homosexuals. Protecting privacy in a military with open homosexuality would necessitate recognizing essentially four sexes and would severely disrupt units.

If that's the case, why don't we have four types of bathrooms? Or, actually, six (for the trannies).