Morning Meme: Goodbye Adele Starr, Simon Cowell May Drink Pepsi, and Ogling the Boys of Quake Rugby

Gawker got hacked for their “arrogance,” which I can certainly understand. But for the rest of us, change your password, and change any place else you might use that same password, because it’s been published.

Adele Starr, gay rights activist and the first National President of PFLAG has passed away at the age of 90. When you read the number of arguments and quotes for equality that are credited to Starr, we should all be flying our rainbow flags at half masts. We’ve lost a hero and a trailblazer.

Evidently, there’s a bidding war to be the brand of soda that sits in front of Simon Cowell when he launches The X Factor USA next year. Coca-Cola traditionally adorned the desk on American Idol, and the soft drink got in at bargain basement prices on the unknown format. But Cowell is said to be favoring Pepsi as a way to break from Idol.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader won the weekend box office with $24 million, which is pretty sad, really. The Tourist, despite the star power of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie only banked $17 million.

When Dr. Laura spoke out for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal last week, no one was more shocked than I was that the frequently hateful woman took that stand. Bilerico was equally skeptical, but guess who dropped by in the comments to plead her case? Dr. Laura. I smell publicity stunt!

Sure holiday light displays are nice to look at, but what are they costing you? For one family, their month long display will run them an astounding $82k in electricity. See what you get for that, and other large displays.

Beyonce paid £1.3 million to buy her husband a Bugatti. Which if you compare our net worth, is like me buying a Hot Wheel version of a Bugatti.

Last night, HBO aired Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking. And Abe Gurko scored a great interview with Fisher on that subject, and so much more.

A new casting call has gone out for a reality show that’s basically looking for straight guys who do “gay” things like get pedicures. Or straight women who do lesbian things, like teach gym. It’s called Straight As a Board, and someone thought this was a good idea.

Command Sergeant Major Marvin Hill, aid to General Patraeus says that if some homophobic troops can’t adapt to open gay service, it’s possible they’ll have to leave the service. And that’s fine.

The American Film Institute has released their list of honorees in film and television. The Kids Are All Right made the list, as did Modern Family and Glee.

This Is a Book, which was written to get kids interested in reading, has been banned by some schools in Massachusetts. For once it’s not gay penguins getting a book banned, but the single line of text that appears on the very last page, “It's a book, jackass.”

Air New Zealand has pulled their fun safety video because some found the reaction of a rugby player, All Black Richard Kahui, rejecting a kiss request from a gay flight attendant offensive. I admit, I called it offensive some months ago, and most of you called me overly sensitive. The gay flight attendant in the film agrees with you, but I stand by my assessment.

The CEO of General Motors may have caught a screening of The Dilemma. He says he wouldn't be caught dead in the "geek-mobile" Prius. Geeks are not really thrilled.