Gays in Uganda Face Life Sentences for “Aggravated Homosexuality”

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[But just 14 years for the first offense – whew!]

Uganda Gays Face Life in Jail Under Tough New Law

by Henry Austin 

Feb. 24, 2014 

Defying U.S. warnings, Ugandan President Yoweir Museveni signed a tough new anti-gay bill that toughens already strict legislation against homosexuals on Monday.

Life imprisonment could now be on the table for anyone convicted of having gay sex, with first-time offenders facing 14 years in jail, according to drafts of the report seen by The Associated Press. The final bill has not been published.

It will also make it a crime to promote gay activity, and to fail to report someone for breaking the new law, again according to drafts.

A category of offenses called "aggravated homosexuality," defined as repeated gay sex between consenting adults as well as acts involving a minor, a disabled person or where one partner is infected with HIV were also included when the bill was being drawn up.

Museveni's signature will please a staunchly conservative local constituency that is vehemently opposed to homosexuality, but risks alienating Western aid donors.

President Barack Obama warned it would complicate relations with Washington, and called it a “step backward for Ugandans,” earlier this month.

"It's a gloomy day not just for the gay community in Uganda but for all Ugandans who care about human rights because this law will affect everybody," said Julian Peppe Onziema, spokesman for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community in Uganda told the Associated Press.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/uganda-gays-face-life-jail-under-tough-new-law-n37051

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The Beatles – 50 Years Ago on the Ed Sullivan Show

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At 8PM Sunday night February 9, 1964, screaming fans packed The Ed Sullivan Show’s CBS Studio 50 on Broadway in New York City and 73 million people were glued to their TVs watching The Beatles first performance in America. This clip covers The Beatles’ three February 1964 appearances on the Sullivan show.

http://youtu.be/CqrauzHPpwE

From Wiki:

In late 1963, Sullivan and his entourage happened also to be passing through Heathrow and witnessed how The Beatles' fans greeted the group on their return from Stockholm, where they had performed a television show as warmup band to local star Lill Babs. Sullivan was intrigued, telling his entourage it was the same thing as Elvis all over again. He initially offered Beatles manager Brian Epstein top dollar for a single show but the Beatles manager had a better idea—he wanted exposure for his clients: the Beatles would instead appear three times on the show, at bottom dollar, but receive top billing and two spots (opening and closing) on each show.

The Beatles appeared on three consecutive Sundays in February 1964 to great anticipation and fanfare as "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had swiftly risen to No. 1 in the charts. Their first appearance on February 9 is considered a milestone in American pop culture and the beginning of the British Invasion in music. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for US television. [Ed. Note: The 2014 Super Bowl’s 111M viewers comprised approx 35% of the US population. The Beatles 73M viewers in 1964 comprised approx. 38% of the US population.] The Beatles followed Ed's show opening intro, performing "All My Loving"; "Till There Was You", which featured the names of the group members superimposed on closeup shots, including the famous "Sorry girls, he's married" caption on John Lennon; and "She Loves You". The act that followed Beatles in the broadcast was pre-recorded, rather than having someone perform live on stage amidst the pandemonium that occurred in the studio after the Beatles performed their first songs. The group returned later in the program to perform "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

The following week's show was broadcast from Miami Beach where Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) was in training for his first title bout with Sonny Liston. The occasion was used by both camps for publicity. On the evening of the television show (February 16) a crush of people nearly prevented the band from making it onstage. A wedge of policemen were needed and the band began playing "She Loves You" only seconds after reaching their instruments. They continued with "This Boy", and "All My Loving" and returned later to close the show with "I Saw Her Standing There", "From Me to You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

They were shown on tape February 23 (this appearance had been taped earlier in the day on February 9 before their first live appearance). They followed Ed's intro with "Twist and Shout" and "Please Please Me" and closed the show once again with "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

The Beatles appeared live for the final time on August 14, 1965. The show was broadcast September 12, 1965 and earned Sullivan a 60 percent share of the nighttime audience for one of the appearances. This time they followed three acts before coming out to perform "I Feel Fine", "I'm Down", and "Act Naturally" and then closed the show with "Ticket to Ride", "Yesterday", and "Help!." Although this was their final live appearance on the show, the group would for several years provide filmed promotional clips of songs to air exclusively on Sullivan's program such as the 1966 and 1967 clips of "Paperback Writer", "Rain", "Penny Lane", and "Strawberry Fields Forever".

Although the appearances by The Beatles, Elvis and The Supremes are considered the most famous rock and roll performances on Ed Sullivan, several months before Elvis debuted, Sullivan invited Bill Haley & His Comets to perform their then-current hit "Rock Around the Clock" in early August 1955. This was later recognized by CBS and others (including music historian Jim Dawson in his book on "Rock Around the Clock") as the first performance of a rock and roll song on a national television program.

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