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Glacial movement The culture has been slow to change, despite the increased acceptance of gays in music industry.

New York Snoop Dogg has rapped in songs where the f-word the other f-word has been tossed about. Hes even said it, part of a long list of rappers who have freely used the gay slur in rhyme.

For years, anti-gay epithets and sentiments in rap have largely been accepted, along with its frequent misogyny and violence, as part of the hip-hop culture a culture that has been slow to change, even as gays enjoy more mainstream acceptance, particularly in entertainment.

But while perhaps glacial, a shift appears to be on the horizon.

"People are learning how to live and get along more, and accept people for who they are and not bash them or hurt them because theyre different," Snoop Dogg said in a recent interview.

Frank Ocean may be largely responsible for that. The rising star, who revealed on his blog last month that his first love was a man, is technically an R&B singer. But he has produced and collaborated with some of musics top hip-hop acts, from Jay-Z to Andre 3000 to Kanye West to Nas. Hes also co-written songs for Beyonce, Justin Bieber and John Legend, and is a member of the alternative rap group Odd Future.

"When I was growing up, you could never do that and announce that," Snoop said of Oceans revelation. "There would be so much scrutiny and hate and negativity, and no one would step (forward) to support you because thats what we were brainwashed and trained to know."

When 24-year-old Ocean made his announcement, he received a ton of support from the music world, mainly through Twitter and blogs, including encouraging words from 50 Cent, Nas, Jamie Foxx, Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons, Beyonce and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Even Oceans Odd Future band mate, Tyler, the Creator, showed some love, though hes used homophobic slurs in his songs.

"(The support for Frank is) an extension of the overall kind of support were seeing across the country for LGBT people, and not just in a broad sense, but specifically from iconic members of the black community," said Daryl Hannah, GLAADs director of media and community partnerships, who namedropped President Barack Obama and Jay-Z as those leading the change.

While the support for Ocean is strong, and some rappers including Nicki Minaj have said a gay rapper will soon hit the music scene, its still hard to imagine that the male-dominated, macho rap world could include a gay performer.

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No homo(phobia)? Hip-hop’s shift in anti-gay tone

The idea of privatizing Medicare is not winning popularity contests with voters. A Pew Research Center poll released Tuesday found that the public is aware of the proposal by GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan to transform Medicare from social insurance into a voucher plan. And among Americans who have heard of the Ryan plan, 49 percent opposed it; only 34 percent were in favor. Pew found particularly high disapproval rates among older Americans, and independent voters werent keen on it either: 49 percent oppose and 34 percent support it. Thursday The New York Times reported that the GOP plan is widely disliked, and also that it has become the third most crucial issue to likely voters in the key swing states of Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin, ranking behind the economy and healthcare.

This is another in CJRs ongoing series of CJR Town Hallsconversations with citizens about the issues they are following in the press, and it will be the first of several Town Halls focused on Medicare. Part of the idea is to encourage journalists to do similar pieces, talking to ordinary people about dollars and cents issues and their needs and perceptions. Last week I was in Missouri, a swing state leaning red. My unscientific sample in St. Louismade up of white women, some of whom just turned 65pretty much lined up with what the scientific polls are showing.

Marie Cunningham and Janie Mueller

Cunningham, 65, and Mueller, 60, were on their lunch break, sitting outside the Bank of America Tower in downtown St. Louis, where they manage accounts for a property/casualty insurance broker. Cunningham, who recently signed up for Medicare, hadnt heard much about Paul Ryans planAre they trying to do away with it? she wanted to knowand then let Mueller do the talking.

And Mueller had a lot to say. She had read about Ryans ideas in the newspapers, and watched coverage of it on CNN and MSNBC, and has an idea of how Medicare could change: He wants to do away with what we know Medicare to be, she said. Im not in favor of it at all. Im extremely concerned. Her main worry: preexisting conditions. She believes that under Ryans plan, older people who have medical conditions may not get insurance. It is an issue worth worrying about, since no one knows what final legislation might look like, though pre-existing conditions would seem to be something such legislation would address.

Realistically when people into their 60s, their bodies start to fail, she said. Where are they going to get insurance? If Obamacare falls apart, we dont have the force to make insurance companies take them. Mueller is a Democrat and will vote for Obama, but she made clear that she views the issues independently, and also believes that focusing on tort reform would be beneficial in solving the healthcare cost dilemma. Tort reform is a solution pushed by the GOP.

Frances Flecke

Flecke, 55, was on her lunch break too, smoking outside the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis where she is the assistant manager for the Federal Reserve credit union. She told me she knew firsthand how the Great Recession has affected working families. I saw many families suffering. They were living off courtesy pay, she said, referring to a form of check overdraft protection that some banks and credit unions offer, which can be costly, but which allows consumers to pay their bills. I saw more people living off that than I care to mention, Flecke said. A lot of our middle class is now lower class. What they had has been taken away from them.

I asked Flecke how she gets her news. The media doesnt always tell you whats true, she said. What TV stations you watch are what you believe. You have to open your eyes or youll never have a clue. She said she sometimes voted as an independent, and I asked her what she knew about Paul Ryans plan. I would say its not a good one, she said, and proceeded to accurately described what the plan would do.

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The Word on the Street: Apprehensive

Prime Minister Julia Gillard responds to media questions about her time at law firm Slater and Gordon. Photo: Andrew Meares

ON THE night of June 23, 2010, as factional players blitzed the federal caucus with phone calls, urging Labor MPs to throw out Kevin Rudd in favour of Julia Gillard, one leading figure of the labour movement was anxious to prosecute the case in public. When all other leading figures were running for cover, Paul Howes, the national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, appeared on ABC television to argue for Gillard as the nation's new prime minister.

In strictly political terms, the AWU is the most powerful single entity within the Labor Party. It has been the bulwark of Gillard's support base within the ALP and the union movement during her time as leader. When she faced a challenge from Rudd early this year, the AWU stuck fast, ensuring her a big victory.

Gillard's political and professional relationship with the AWU goes back a long way, through various ideological twists and turns. Twenty years ago, before she became a political adviser and then a member of parliament, Gillard was a solicitor with the industrial practice of Melbourne firm Slater & Gordon. The AWU was a client of the firm. Gillard handled the AWU's legal work and developed a romantic connection with the union's then Victorian secretary, Bruce Wilson.

In 1995, two big events took place in Gillard's life: her relationship with Wilson ended and she left Slater & Gordon, where she had been a salaried partner. The events were not unrelated. Wilson had allegedly misused funds from a legal entity that Gillard had helped establish, the AWU Workplace Reform Association.

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Soon after this became known within Slater & Gordon, Gillard resigned her position, but not before she was interviewed by the senior partner, Peter Gordon, and general manager, Geoff Shaw.

The transcript of that interview, conducted on September 11, 1995 - 18 days before Gillard's 34th birthday - appeared in The Australian this week. The paper has been devoting a lot of energy and space to the matter of Gillard's time as a lawyer.

There is a legitimate question about how much it is in the public interest to dredge up what Gillard did or did not do and what she did or did not know in relation to Wilson and his stewardship of the AWU and its finances. It pre-dates her time as an MP and no charges were ever laid following a police investigation. The Prime Minister herself said last Sunday that it had no relevance to her in her current role.

But it is also legitimate to look at a prime minister's entire professional life. Character and conduct count. And if things have gone wrong in the past, if mistakes were made, there is always a real prospect of redemption. Bob Hawke is living proof of that. In this case, it's worth noting that while these events were taking place, Gillard was not young, freshly arrived in the workforce. She was in her 30s.

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Her last word? Perhaps, but it isn't all history yet

LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwire -08/23/12)- LiveDeal, Inc. (LIVE), a provider of local Internet marketing services and mobile technology solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today provided commentary on its strategic growth initiatives and unaudited financial results for its third quarter of fiscal year 2012, ended June 30, 2012.

Fiscal Third Quarter Financial and Recent Business Highlights

"During our third quarter, we continued our strategic transition to web-based mobile marketing tools for SMBs. At the same time, we maintained tight expense controls to reduce our operating loss, generated positive cash flow and significantly narrowed our net loss to near break-even," said Jon Isaac, Chief Executive Officer of LiveDeal. "We expect our focus on mobile solutions to provide our company with predictable, recurring revenue streams, with minimal capital expenditures and the necessary structure to support expansion as we grow our business. We are already rolling out our first new mobile tool, InstantProfile, a high-margin, subscription-based product that enables businesses to easily establish a customized, mobile Internet presence, and better feature their profiles on Internet search engines and mobile directory listings. Our initial marketing efforts will be focused on local restaurants. We have a strong foothold in the local commerce market, and plan to exploit our substantial cross-selling opportunities with our thousands of customers. Initial market reception for InstantProfile has been encouraging and we expect to see an immediate financial impact beginning in our fourth quarter, with more meaningful top- and bottom-line gains in our fiscal 2013."

Fiscal Third Quarter Financial Results

Net revenues were $0.8 million, compared with $1.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2011. The decrease was primarily attributable to the ongoing suspension of new sales efforts as part of LiveDeal's strategic decision to explore new sales programs and improve its marketing and fulfillment services.

Gross profit increased to $0.7 million, compared with $0.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2011, primarily due to the decreased cost of fulfillment services, which the company has been transitioning from outside vendors to in-house execution.

Total operating expenses decreased by approximately 38% to $0.7 million, compared with $1.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2011. The decrease in operating expenses was due to a 37% decline in general and administrative expenses, primarily as a result of decreases in compensation costs, professional fees, depreciation and amortization, and other expenses, and a 91% decline in sales and marketing expenses, primarily due to reduced spending for marketing materials, as new sales activities remained on hold in accordance with the company's strategic transition to suspend new product sales beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.

Net loss was $0.3 million, or $0.12 per share based on 2.4 million weighted average shares outstanding, compared with a net loss of $1.1 million, or $1.68 per share based on 0.7 million weighted average shares outstanding, in the third quarter of fiscal 2011. Net loss for the 2012 period included a $150,000 expense related to the tentative settlement of a class action proceeding, recorded in other income (expense).

As of June 30, 2012, the company had $1.7 million in cash and cash equivalents.

Additional information on LiveDeal's third quarter fiscal 2012 results can be viewed on the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed August 14, 2012 by visiting the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

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LiveDeal Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2012 Financial Results

REHOBOTH - The Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School Committee has approved a new social networking policy for the district.

The policy, which has been available to the public for review and comment since June, outlines the district's expectations for staff members' use of social networks such as Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter and others.

"The school committee felt it was important to put a policy in writing to make it clear as to what is acceptable with regards to social networking. As always our top priority is the welfare of the students in this district," committee Chairwoman Susan Lorenz said.

Lorenz said it was also important in light of recent stories in the news of alleged inappropriate behavior by teachers.

Some school districts across the state have already implemented social media policies and others are in the process of drafting guidelines.

The Massachusetts Association of School Committees issued recommendations on the subject for school districts in September 2010.

The Dighton-Rehoboth policy states that the school district expects staff members "to keep the line of professional life and your personal life clearly drawn at all times."

The policy does not prevent teachers from communicating with students on social networking sites, but encourages staff members to limit that communication to educational matters only and only through school-based resources, such as school email and Web portal accounts.

Staff members are discouraged from using personal cellphones, email and text messages to communicate with students, but the district recognizes that in some cases it might be necessary, especially for notification of last-minute sports and event schedule changes, according to the policy.

Any inappropriate conduct from a staff member may result in discipline "up to and including discharge," according to the policy.

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D-R starts social networking policy