Ellen DeGeneres Pens Open Letter to Supreme Court to Pass Prop 8 for Gay Marriage

With a touch of her trademark humor, Ellen DeGeneres tackles a very serious topic close to the talk show host's heart: gay marriage.

In an open letter posted to her website, Ellen reaches out to members of the Supreme Court, who will soon decide the fate of same-sex couples who wish to wed.

Pics: 'Amazing Race' Stars Cheer Up Bullied Gay Fan

"Portia and I have been married for 4 years and they have been the happiest of my life," she blogs of her longtime partner Portia De Rossi. "And in those 4 years, I don't think we hurt anyone else's marriage. I asked all of my neighbors and they say they're fine."

Ellen, who tied the knot in 2008 during a brief period when gay marriage was legal in California, now urges the powers that be to open their heart and extend the privilege to every gay couple.

"I hope the Supreme Court will do the right thing, and let everyone enjoy the same rights," Ellen writes. "It's going to help keep families together. It's going to make kids feel better about who they are. And it is time."

Related: Neil Patrick Harris: I Knew I was Gay at 6

In closing the comedian writes, "In the words of Benjamin Franklin, 'We're here, we're queer, get over it.'"

Read Ellen's entire plea to the supreme court here.

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I’m all bark and no bite








The British nurse arrested after “mentoring” accused New York cannibal cop Gilbert Valle yesterday denied having ever basted — or tasted — human flesh, despite Internet boasts that he’d feasted on two women and a young child.

“None of this is real. It is all fantasy,” Dale Bolinger, who allegedly coached Valle on how to kidnap, torture and eat women, said yesterday.

Asked if he was a cannibal, the weepy, shaking Bolinger told The Post, “No. No!”

“I’m an a--hole. I’m an idiot,” Bolinger, 57, whined outside his home — which sits directly across the street from a cemetery in the leafy English town of Canterbury, about 60 miles outside London.





BONE TO PICK: Dale Bolinger, biking in Canterbury, England, yesterday, says he’s no cannibal, after he was busted and linked to Gilberto Valle (below in online fetish chats.

Nick Obank





BONE TO PICK: Dale Bolinger, biking in Canterbury, England, yesterday, says he’s no cannibal, after he was busted and linked to Gilberto Valle (below in online fetish chats.






“It was my stupidity, because I went and put stupid things online, thinking that it was funny.”

Authorities said Bolinger used the name “Moody Blues” in an online sex-fetish forum to coach Valle in cannibalistic pursuits.

Bolinger spoke after being released on bail in connection with the gruesome New York federal court case where Valle, 28, is on trial for allegedly conspiring to kidnap women and illegally accessing a law-enforcement database to get information on potential victims.

Bolinger, who also used the online names “MeatMarketMan” and “Christopher Collins,” was arrested last week after British authorities working with the FBI raided his home.

Cops spent 15 hours searching with police dogs, digging up the sicko’s garden and seizing computers. Bolinger is charged with conspiracy and possession of kiddie porn.

Bolinger’s son, Rick, 30, a performance artist and blogger, was also arrested and charged. Bolinger insisted his son was not involved in the cannibalistic conversations.

“It was because he was in the same house. Poor bastard,” said Bolinger, who has been suspended from his nursing job at East Kent Hospital. “We haven’t spoken since it happened. He won’t talk to me.”

Bolinger was nabbed after New York trial testimony asserted that he and Valle met through an extreme-sex-fetish Web site last summer.

Valle allegedly asked to be Bolinger’s “assistant” and asked for flesh-eating advice.

“I don’t know who that guy is,” Bolinger said yesterday about Valle. “I’ve never met him. It was just someone I was talking to online.”

During their chats, Bolinger claimed to have recipes for human flesh, including one for “haggis” made out of human lungs and stomach, and said the foot was his favorite piece of meat. He also urged Valle to consume a victim while she was still alive.

“I think of it as eating her to death,” Bolinger, using his screen name Moody Blues, wrote. “The meat isn’t quite like pork, but very meaty...I’ve eaten a black woman and a white person.”

He also claimed to have eaten a 5-year-old boy.

In another exchange, Bolinger referred to Brit serial killer the Yorkshire Ripper, advising Valle to mix it up when it came to his victims, and not chose the same kind of women for each cannibalistic encounter, according to testimony.

“The main reason the Yorkshire Ripper got caught is he stuck to the same type,” Bolinger wrote. “Don’t follow the same pattern. Pattern is what they look for.”

At one point, the two twisted men talked about knocking women out with anesthetic gas and using a meat cleaver to attack victims.

Bolinger talked of coming to New York, and fretted that he might not get his butchering tools through customs.

Bolinger’s estranged wife, Rosemary, has cerebral palsy and lives with the couple’s 26-year-old daughter in another village. She said she hasn’t not seen Bolinger in a year.

His Canterbury neighbors said they were stunned by the police activity in their tiny hamlet.

“We wondered what on earth was happening,” said one. They came about seven in the morning [and] were there until about 10 o’clock at night.”

Valle’s trial in a Manhattan courtroom is scheduled to resume on Monday.










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Tom Hudson: China’s new leaders plan quiet transition




















If everything goes smoothly, you won’t hear much out of China in the new week. And that’s the way its new leaders want it. Even though the world’s second largest economy officially seats a new president and premier, the beginning of China’s parliamentary session on Tuesday comes without the usual pomp and circumstance. Instead, China’s new leaders hope to show their own version of austerity. For instance, there will be no booze at official meals.

The party leaders want a sober beginning to their terms as the hope for a more sober Chinese economy. They want to avoid any significant pronouncements that could threat China’s gentle economic recovery. The country’s biggest trading partner, Europe, continues to struggle, tensions with Japan have been rising and Chinese workers have been demanding (and in some cases getting) pay raises. Chinese home prices have heated up again as the Beijing government moved late last year to stimulate its economy.

It came after China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in 13 years. The new government knows that its political stability depends upon a steady economy. With choking air pollution, a horrendous record on food safety and sanctioned corruption, the new slate of leaders taking their seats this week would like to reduce China’s reliance on exports to fuel its economic expansion, reassure its trading partners it wants to play fair and stoke a steady and sustainable rise of living standards.





Since early December as the stimulus efforts began, the Shanghai Stock Exchange index has shot up 21 percent. Electricity production is rising and manufacturing has rebounded too. But the political volume has been muted.

Tom Hudson is a financial journalist based in Miami. He is the former co-anchor and managing editor of Nightly Business Report on public television.





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’Les Mis’ touring company works out to stay in shape at Wilton Manors gym




















Even if you’re a Broadway dancer in top shape, it’s not easy looking good and staying fit when you’re on the road with a show like Les Misérables.

"Touring is a difficult life because you’re constantly moving," said Trinity Wheeler, production stage manager for the Les Mis touring company, playing through Sunday at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami.

"It’s not like you can go to a grocery store and have a kitchen and cook the foods that you want and have a consistent workout schedule. We created something that is consistent for the cast," said Wheeler, who is also a certified trainer. "Eating out every meal and stuff can be challenging to stay healthy. Being healthy and on tour is a goal we all try to accomplish."





Thursday morning, Wheeler held a “Guns of the Barricade” boot camp at Steel Gym in Wilton Manors. The workout session allows cast members and others to stay in shape while they’re on the road, Wheeler said.

The Les Mis touring company has 89 people who travel with the show: cast members, crew and musicians, according to Wheeler.

"It’s a large group of people that have this nomadic lifestyle," he said. "Having fitness incorporated into it, you feel better, you wake up, have more energy. It’s been really great for us as individuals, but also for the show."

Among the touring cast members: Wheeler’s partner, Alan Shaw, who plays Joly. The couple own a house in Fort Lauderdale’s Poinsettia Heights neighborhood.

" Les Mis is three hours long and we do eight shows a week. I realized early on because I’ve been with the show over two years now that if I don’t take care of my body and if I don’t eat right and if I don’t really stay on top of it, I can’t do eight shows a week," Shaw said. "We’re onstage in front of 2,000 people on average every night. You have to look your best. It’s part of our job."





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The CW Says Goodbye to 90210

The CW's remake of the '90s hit show 90210 will reportedly end its five-year run in May.

PICS: The High School Hotties of 90210

According to Us Weekly, the show (starring AnnaLynne McCord, Shenae Grimes, Matt Lanter, Jessica Stroup and Jessica Lowndes) has been canceled due to meager ratings.

The show has reportedly averaged 1.23 million viewers this season, being overshadowed by new hits The Vampire Diaries and Arrow.

"The CW has had five great seasons with America's favorite zip code, 90210," CW network president Mark Pedowitz announced in a statement. "I'd like to thank the talented cast, producers, and crew for all their hard work and dedication to the series. We are very proud of the West Beverly High alumni."

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‘Ma chop’ suspect in the bag








The Bronx man accused of killing and dismembering his mother before taking a picture of himself with her severed head appeared in court yesterday wearing only a garbage bag.

At his bizarre appearance, Bahsid McLean, 23, also professed his innocence.

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” McLean blurted out after his lawyer asked for medication for him. “I don’t need anything at all. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

As for the trash sack, McLean “kept urinating on himself,” said defense lawyer Jerry Iannece.

McLean allegedly stabbed mom Tanya Byrd, 45, to death Tuesday, then dismembered the body.





Bashid Mclean

Robert Kalfus





Bashid Mclean





McLean’s pal, William Harris, 26, also appeared in court on charges he helped chop up Byrd’s body and dump dispose of the parts in neighborhood trash.

McLean lived with his mother and 7-year-old brother in Morrisania.










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Don’t get too personal on LinkedIn




















Have you ever received a request to connect on LinkedIn from someone you didn’t know or couldn’t remember?

A few weeks ago, Josh Turner encountered this situation. The online request to connect came from a businessman on the opposite coast of the United States. It came with a short introduction that ended with “Let’s go Blues!” a reference to Turner’s favorite hockey team in St. Louis that he had mentioned in his profile. “It was a personal connection … that’s building rapport.”

LinkedIn is known for being the professional social network where members expect you to keep buttoned-down behavior and network online like you would at a business event. With more than 200 million registered users, the site facilitates interaction as a way to boost your stature, gain a potential customer or rub elbows with a future boss.





But unlike most other social networking sites, LinkedIn is all about business — and you need to take special care that you act accordingly. As in any workplace, the right amount of personal information sharing could be the foot in the door, say experts. The wrong amount could slam it closed.

“Anyone in business needs a professional online presence,’’ says Vanessa McGovern, the VP of Business Development for the Global Institute for Travel Entrepreneurs and a consultant to business owners on how to use LinkedIn. But they should also heed LinkedIn etiquette or risk sending the wrong messages.

One of the biggest mistakes, McGovern says is getting too personal — or not personal enough.

Sending a request to connect blindly equates to cold calling and likely will lead nowhere. Instead, it should come with a personal note, an explanation of who you are, where you met, or how the connection can benefit both parties, McGovern explains.

Your profile should get a little personal, too, she says. “Talk about yourself in the first person and add a personal flair — your goals, your passion … make yourself seem human.”

Beyond that, keep your LinkedIn posts, invitations, comments and photos professional, McGovern says.

If you had a hard day at the office or your child just won an award, you may want to share it with your personal network elsewhere — but not on LinkedIn.

“This is not Facebook. Only share what you would share at a professional networking event,” she says.

Another etiquette pitfall on LinkedIn is the hit and run — making a connection and not following up.

At least once a week, Ari Rollnick, a principal in kabookaboo, an integrated marketing agency in Coral Gables, gets a request to connect with someone on LinkedIn that he has never met or heard of before. The person will have no connections in common and share no information about why they want to build a rapport.

“I won’t accept. That’s a lost opportunity for them,” Rollnick says.

He approaches it differently. When Rollnick graduated from Emory with an MBA in 2001, he had a good idea that his classmates would excel in the business world. Now, Rollnick wanted to find out just where they went and reestablish a connection.

With a few clicks, he tracked down dozens of them on LinkedIn, requested a connection, and was back on their radar. Then came the follow-up — letting them know through emails, phone calls and posts that he was creating a two-way street for business exchange. “Rather than make that connection and disappearing , I let them know I wanted to open the door to conversation.”





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2006 report detailed problems with Havana Palms condos in Little Havana




















In January 2006, executives at Montara Land V, LLC, hired a firm to do an analysis of the roof, structure, plumbing, and other conditions of an apartment complex in Little Havana that they wanted to convert to condominiums.

This report, submitted to the state department that regulates conversions, concluded that the buildings, constructed in 1946, barely had five more years of “useful life.” The cost for repairs would be about $700,000, according to the analysis by architect James Chastanet.

“My report was based on the age of the building and on a visual inspection,” said Chastanet, who did not see structural damage. “It’s an old building and that had to be clearly highlighted in the report, which serves as disclosure for potential buyers.”





Montara Land’s executives presented this information to the 19 buyers, most of them low-income people who relied on government help to buy their condominiums between December 2006 and July 2010. Yet many of them never read this information, which was included as part of a large package of documents from the Havana Palms condominium association.

Last month, seven years after the analysis, the living-room floor of one of the condominiums collapsed and the owner had to move. The floors in other units also do not appear to be firm.

Aníbal Duarte-Viera, one of the partners of Montara Land, said Monday that he would have never knowingly bought a property with structural damage.

“As an investor, why would I do that?” asked Duarte-Viera. “I bought that property because it was pretty and it was a moment when everybody was making these conversions to condominiums.”

Public records show that Duarte-Viera and business partner Gabriel De la Campa bought the complex in 2005 for $2.5 million and invested about $120,000 in repairs to the electrical system and water pipes besides installing a central air conditioning system, according to city permits. They also installed tiles on the floors, though they did not get a city permit for that.

Duarte-Viera, a lawyer, said he had little involvement in managing the complex and therefore could not answer questions about repairs or the conversion, even though his signature appears on various documents. De la Campa has not responded to multiple calls from el Nuevo Herald in recent weeks.

The documents that Montara Land submitted to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Tallahassee indicate that the company deposited $62,000 in special accounts for roof and plumbing repairs as required by state laws.

Apparently, they were not obliged to open a reserve account for other structural repairs, although they had to make monthly payments to the association for each of the 32 condominiums for the general maintenance of the complex. As soon as they sold the condominiums, the responsibility for those payments — between $162 and $222 per month — passed to the new owners.

The Havana Palms unit owners began to notice in 2009 that the floors in some condominiums were sinking. Montara Land began some repairs. Records indicate the work was never completed.

By 2011, after the real estate market plunged, Montara sold the remaining 13 condominiums to investor Constantino Cicchelli for $475,000.

For now, a group of Havana Palms owners is talking to an attorney who has agreed to take their case pro bono. Meanwhile, city officials have asked the owners to present a repair plan for the floors to avoid a mass eviction.

Duarte-Viera said Wednesday that the condo owners should determine the extent of the structural damage and how it started. He added that he is willing to pay for a detailed evaluation.





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Christina Applegate's Gorgeous Wedding Ring

Christina Applegate and longtime boyfriend Martyn Noble said 'I do' on Saturday and now we have a look at the actress' stunning sparkler.

PICS: Most Memorable Celeb Weddings of All-Time

The dazzling diamond ring by Neil Lane completed Applegate's wedding attire along with a gown by Maria Lucia Hohan.

The event took place during a private ceremony at the couple's Los Angeles home. This marks Applegate's second marriage, as she divorced former husband Johnathon Schaech in 2007.

RELATED: Christina Applegate Ties the Knot!

Applegate and Noble share one child together, two-year-old daughter Sadie.

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Slaughter her like this goat!









Cannibal cop Gilberto Valle plotted to slaughter his future bride with the help of a depraved Pakistani “butcher” who bragged about his skills — and even sent the officer a video of a goat’s throat being slit, the feds said yesterday.

In an online chat with Valle last year, a nut job who called himself Aly Khan said he “would love to slaughter a girl and make her meat,” according to a transcript read aloud in Manhattan federal court in testimony by FBI Agent Corey Walsh.

“I killed few goat to see what happens to the animal and how its done,” Aly Khan wrote in a typo-filled, sadistic back-and-forth with Valle, according to documents entered into evidence.





Gilberto Valle


Gilberto Valle




GRISLY: This video of a goat butchering was sent online to Gilberto Valle by an alleged co-conspirator.


GRISLY: This video of a goat butchering was sent online to Gilberto Valle by an alleged co-conspirator.





“i fond it easy. Its just to use some arm power to lay it down. tie it a little and cut its throat.”

To back this up, Kahn sent Valle a graphic YouTube video of someone slitting a goat’s throat halal-style, in an effort to educate the cop about butchery and show him that anyone can do it with a little practice.

The video is so sickening, prosecutors have been barred from showing it to the jury. Only a still picture of a knife against a goat’s throat in the moment before slaughter was entered into evidence.

Valle — who met Aly Khan on a Web site for human-meat-obsessed perverts — wrote in one chat that he was “trying to pick out a girl who i can send over” before saying “i can talk my girlfriend into going to india,” where Walsh said Aly Khan claimed to live.

“If you bring her here, i promise i will make a good meal for you,” Aly Khan wrote in January 2012 about Kathleen Mangan, the woman who would become Valle’s wife about six months later.

The butcher said he would kill Mangan as humanely as possible, adding, “i can’t resist her meat.”

“Will you participate in the slaughtering process with me,” Aly Khan asked.

“Absolutely,” Valle, 28, wrote back.

“I have longed to butcher and cook female meat.”

The two also shared twisted plans to humiliate Mangan. They would “tie her down spread eagle” and take turns raping the woman, mother to Valle’s baby daughter.

“It would humiliate her. do you have something to keep her mouth open? otherwise she will bite,” Aly Khan wrote

“Hell yes,” Valle replied.

He added, “She is a sweet girl. I like her a lot. But I will move on.”

While Aly Khan claimed to be a butcher in India, Walsh said the feds actually traced his IP address to an unspecified location in Pakistan.

After Valle said that his girlfriend was a vegetarian, Aly Khan remarked that “her meat quality be slightly less.” “She will taste like a tasty goat, . .” he added.










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