1. Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara told the NME this week that Miley Cyrus is "this generation's Madonna." Quin told the British music mag, "She's this generation's Madonna - a hugely talented pop star with agency over her body and sexuality, which terrifies people. And she's constantly switching up between sounds. 'Bangerz' is part electro, part country, part rap, all incredible." Take a lap, Gaga.
2. Scientists at Sweden's Lund University have discovered a new strain of HIV that progresses faster than previously identified strains. Called A3/02, this new strain is a recombinant, which means it's a cross between two strains. According to ABC News the infection moves from HIV to AIDS in about 5 years, 2 to 2.5 years quicker than previously discovered strains.
3. Every other Tuesday, Steven Petrow, author of "Steven Petrow's Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners," answers queer etiquette queries for his "Civil Behavior" column in The New York Times. Today a parent of a college-bound, lesbian teen, who wants to talk about coming out in her college application essay, asks if this is a good idea. Petrow's answer: it depends.
4. According to The Guardian, a Tampa theater accidently ran the very explicit trailer for Lars von Trier's upcoming film Nymphomaniac before a screening of the Disney movie Frozen. Obviously all Hell broke loose.
5.Aussie Mayor to Justin Bieber: Clean up your graffiti or sing. The mayor of Gold Coast Australia, Tom Tate, sent Biebs a video message after the singer tagged up his hotel in the city. Tate's demands to the "pop princess"--his words not ours;--come back and clean up the graffiti or come back and sing at the Mayor's Christmas Carols event on December 7. Or Bieber can take the third option of not doing anything about it and suffering absolutely no reproductions.
6. It's December, so that means it's time to watch the spectacle that is the "War on Christmas" (a.k.a. Fox phoning it in all through the 25th). John Stewart takes them to task for it.
