Meme Dump

Bobservations

Carlos has a serious issue with time, being late almost, almost, always. On the other hand, I was raised to almost, almost, always be early.

The other day, though, I got stuck at work chatting with co-workers and was late picking him up; he was annoyed. And we had a small spat about it, where I apologized—I should have called—but also reminded him that he has no sense of time and he is almost, almost, always late and has no issue with making people wait.

Cut to this morning; we had to leave early because Ozzo had a surgery and a dental cleaning planned and we had to have him at the vet’s office between seven and seven-thirty. We usually have breakfast at 7:30 so I suggested Carlos, who gets up first, have his breakfast first, and I’d eat after we dropped the dog off because I don’t need to go in as early.

I awoke at 6:45. We had fifteen minutes to leave, so I jumped out of bed and brushed my teeth, got dressed, threw on a ball cap and went out to the kitchen where Carlos … was preparing to make a couple of Café con Leches! I said:

“We have to go! We have to get Ozzo to the vet before 7:30.”

Carlos was stunned:

“Well, when can I have breakfast!”

“You’re right, call the vet and tell them we’ll be there at eight or so … after you have breakfast because they’ll wait on surgery for your breakfast!”

This is the same man who, when we lived in Miami, had a forty-five-minute commute to work each morning, and one morning, as we ate breakfast, he noticed he had just twenty minutes to get to work.

“Oh my god! I’m gonna be so late …”

I started to get up from the table.

“…so, I’ll have one more piece of toast.”

Seriously.

In Perhaps He Shouldn’t Speak news … Kanye West is back and under fire for Tweeting his support for Candace Owens, a pro-Trump, anti-Black Lives Matter conservative:

“I love the way Candace Owens thinks … only free thinkers.”

Kanye failed to notice that Owens is the conservative communications director for Turning Point USA, a nonprofit that spreads right-leaning values on college campuses and is thisclose to the _____ White House. Owens oversees the group’s “urban engagement” which means she attempts to dismantle arguments about white privilege put forward by black activists and the Democratic Party and defends the NRA because “they helped to train black Americans to use guns to defend themselves against the Ku Klux Klan, a Democrat terrorist group.”

Again, Kanye, take a seat and let the grownups talk.

When Sean Hannity was named in court this week as a client of _____’s fixer Michael Cohen, he insisted their discussions were limited to the subject of buying property:

“I’ve said many times on my radio show: I hate the stock market, I prefer real estate. Michael knows real estate.”

Apparently so; Hannity’s chosen investment strategy is confirmed by thousands of pages of public records detailing a real estate portfolio of remarkable scale. The records link Hannity to a group of shell companies that spent at least $90 million on more than 870 homes in seven states over the past decade. Hannity is the hidden owner behind some of the shell companies and his attorney did not dispute that he owns all of them. But, for some of the mortgages, Hannity obtained funding from HUD, Secretary Ben Carson’s department.

Hannity did not disclose his cooperation with HUD when he had Carson on his show last June, but, during that segment, he railed against the state of public housing.

Naturally, Hannity, Carson and Fox aren’t talking because … criminals.

I’ve shared this story before but, years ago Carlos and I went to Disneyworld in Orlando. After a fabulous day we stayed for the fireworks and then began walking toward the exit; we held hands as we walked and noticed a lesbian couple walking ahead of us also holding hands.

A voice behind us shouted, “What is this? Gay Days?”

And one of the lesbian shouted back, “For us, every day is gay day.”

And now, all these years later, Disney is going even more gay by paying homage to the LGBTQ community with a red cap featuring rainbow-colored ears and a pair of Mickey Mouse hands forming a rainbow heart on the front.

Every day is gay day at Disney!

In This Is High-Larious news, remember when _____ used to boast about his appointment of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch as one of his big accomplishments?

Now, maybe not so much. It seems Gorsuch recently sided with left-leaning Justices Ginsburg, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer in a case dealing with an immigrant who was facing deportation.

And now _____ is said to be fuming.

Liberal and pro-immigrant? I call it well-deserved bad karma for _____, Mitch McTurtle and the entire GOP for stealing that SCOTUS seat. They should've done the right thing and put Merrick Garland on the bench.

Oops. After 11 hours of political pushing and shoving at the Utah Republican Convention delegates forced Mittsy Romney into a primary election against state Representative Mike Kennedy for that U.S. Senate race.

Kennedy finished in first place, with 51% of the vote to Romney’s 49% percent, but neither reached the magic 60% number the get the nod.

Still, it’ll be nice to see Mittsy, who used to blast _____ but now kisses his fat ass, have to actually work for this.

Hopefully the people of Utah will just say ‘No.’

More Oops? As the Pee Tape saga continues to unfold, _____ claims he told James Comey that, well, he didn’t need to hire hookers—when he hires porn stars—and that he was only in Russia for one day when the ALLEGED golden showers took place.

But, it turns out that was another _____ lie as flight records prove he was in Moscow during the “Rainy” season for 45 hours … clearly overnight. Plus, _____’s own bodyguard had contradicted the story.

Now, I’m not saying he was peed on in Russia, but he’s clearly lying about a lot of that trip so… maybe?

As I said to _____ on Twitter:

“Urine trouble!”

I’m’a just say this … I don’t like Beyoncé. I don’t find her talented, unless talent these days is a wig machine, a weave, and an ass shaking.

There. Sue me.

Don Blankenship, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia suggested that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell faced conflicts of interests because his wife, Elaine Chao’s, father is a “wealthy Chinaperson.”

Blankenship is running for the Senate as a proud West Virginian with Appalachian roots, but his primary residence is a $2.4 million villa with palm trees and an infinity pool near Las Vegas.

Yup, he’s clearly a Republican who says one thing while living the other.

Oh, and even better, Blankenship is married to a Chinese immigrant, but maybe her father isn’t a rich “Chinaperson.”

Okay, so now Amazon has announced that they can deliver your packages to your car, rather than your home because they will be able to access the trunk of your car, open it, and put your packages inside; in addition, if the trunk is full, they will also be able to unlock your car and put your order inside the vehicle.

We just learned about our privacy being invaded, and personal information stolen, corrupted on Facebook and now people are going to let Amazon be able to open your car and leave something inside for you.

I cannot wait for the first Amazon customer to sue the company because their car was stolen by someone who hacked into Amazon’s system.

Dear Starbucks,

‘After you get done closing all your stores and giving your employees a racial-bias education, could you close America and offer it to the entire country.

Asking for a country.

Did you see the photo of _____ and French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House when _____ wiped the “dandruff” off Macron’s shoulder and then said:

"They're all saying what a great relationship we have, and they're actually correct. We do have a very special relationship. In fact, I'll get that little piece of dandruff off–we have to make him perfect. He is perfect."

I kinda hoped Macron would have reached out to _____’s shoulder, tried to wipe it off, and the said:

‘Huh. Ignorant, unqualified, racist, rapist, blowhard doesn’t come off as easy.”

That would’a been fun.

In Hot Men News … a new show on BBC America, Killing Eve, features a couple of rugged looking older men who may, or may not, tickle my, um, ivories … Edward Akrout and Owen McDonnell.

On the other end of the age spectrum, we have Garrett Hodges, a high school football player and singer who, until this week, was a contestant on American idol. I love a jock with perfectly manicured brows.

Just sayin’.

Soon Every Day Will Be A Gay Day

Several years ago--many, actually--after I moved to Miami, Carlos and I went to Disney World. I'd been to Disneyland but not yet to the World. So, we did the Magic Kingdom and Epcot and had a really great time. Our last night, wee stayed late for the fireworks and found a beautiful spot beside a pond to watch the night sky light up.

As we were leaving, feeling all aglow, I took Carlos' hand in mine as we walked out of the park. Just ahead of us, a Lesbian couple was doing the same. Just ahead of that couple was, well, this guy, who looked back at The Lesbians and The Gays holding hands and said, "What do you think this is? Gay Day?"

To which one of the Lesbians replied, "Every day is gay day."

And the guy smirked, but kept moving. I like that story because it could have gotten ugly, but it just turned into a giggle and a smile.

Joel Diaz and his friend, Ethan, after a night out, decided on getting some people together and going to a popular spot in their Columbus, Ohio neighborhood. As they stood in line at Mikey's Late Night Slice--apparently the pizza is that good--Joel and Ethan began holding hands.

Gay day, though not so much. At first.

A customer in front of the two men turned around and told the men to, ahem, cut that "gay shit" out.

There weren't a couple of Lesbians standing by to utter the line, "Every day is gay shit" or something, but something else, quite lovely happened that night. Almost every single person in the line that night made it clear to that guy to cut that Homophobic shit out.

And while Joel and Ethan, and another gay friend of theirs, stood up for themselves, and told the man that he couldn't speak to them like that and they wouldn't take his bigoted remarks at all, it was the straight people in line who stood up the loudest.

Of course, as bigots do when they get called on their hate, he continued spewing venom, ignoring the entire crowd. And that was when the people working at Mikey's shouted to the man that they would not serve him because he was spewing hate. They said they support everyone in our community and that he should get out of line because they would not be serving him. He begrudgingly got out of line and walked away escorted by a friend who had been hanging back.

How simple is that? Stand up against hate. Say something, do something, non-violent, and the hate has no place to go, except home.

Joel wrote up his story for a Facebook post and shared it with friends, who, of course, shared it with friends and so on and so on. Suddenly the post had gone viral and people everywhere--even in a small town in South Carolina--began telling the story of standing up against hate.

And the more it’s shared the more people stand up. The more people realize it was just a couple standing in line for pizza and holding hands against the cold. And what's not to like about that?

Stories like this give me hope for the future--especially as more states fall into the Equality Column. People, straight people, are beginning to finally realize that being gay isn't "shit" it's just being gay. And two men, or two women, holding hands in Columbus Ohio or in the Happiest Place On Earth should be treated no differently than any other couple anywhere else.

Read Joel Diaz's tale at HuffPo Gay Voices

The Height of GOP Stupidty, Part Eleven: RNC Delegate Mark Harris Is Offended By The Sight Of Mexicans At Epcot

Mark & Irene Racist

Mark Harris is a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, so you know he got his Disney on while in Florida. He also got his racism on, apparently, while visiting Epcot at Disneyworld.

It seems Mark Harris and his lovely wife, Irene, stopped in at the American Pavilion, as all good Americans, and especially God-fearing, America-loving Republicans, will do, and they were shocked to find a, gulp, Mexican working there.

Cuz you know, Mexicans can't be American, y'all.

The American Pavilion, like all the global pavilions at Epcot, showcases the different cultures in, um, America, but according to Mark and Irene's racist blog, Mark Harris complained to the staff that he was "highly offended" to find a "person from Mexico” working in the American pavilion when other nations’ pavilions were staffed by people from each respective country:

Now that the Harris' inherent racism has gone public, and viral, the GOP in Snyder County, Pennsylvania is doing cartwheels and somersaults and handstands trying to take away the focus of the delegate and his racist viewpoint.

County Commissioner Malcolm Derk said, as if it needed to be said: “Americans are people of any race, color or heritage. Cheers to the individual working at Epcot for showing what a true American looks like.”

Of course, in addition to being racists, Mark and Irene, according to their wesbite are rabidly Pro-Life, unyieldingly anti-marriage equality, and believe in the very conservative principles of the Republican platform.

In other words, they are visiting here from 1953.

Perhaps it's time they reentered the WayBack Machine and left the future to people who understand it.

source

They're Not Having A Gay Old Time

Florida Family Association, a Christian group--and they call themselves 'christians' while they discriminate--is going after Disney World because of the theme park's annual Gay Days celebration by flying a banner plane over Disney World that reads: "Warning Gay Day at Disney".

Danger, Will Robinson, danger!

I have a message for oxymoronic group, FFA: Better people than you have tried to stop Disney from having, promoting, and profiting quite nicely--since it's a huge success--off a Gay Day Celebration. And, in the near-twenty years there have been Gay Days at the park, no one has ever succeeded.

And why is that?

Well, for starters, it's that whole Christian thing where you spout love out of one side of your mouths and hate out of the other.

For another, most of the people who attend Gay Days aren't even gay. With parks as large as Disney's the majority of park goers are straight, and have no problem with Gay Days.

The FFA claims hundreds of thousands of people arrive at the park this time of year, only to turn around because of the weeklong celebration, Yes, I can imagine Joe Podunk and the wife and kids loaded up the camper and drove all the way across the country to spend a week at Disney, and then just went home because fags were on the Matterhorn.

Don't.Think.So.

Personal story: Carlos and I went to Disney World while we lived in Florida, only we went in January, We had a lovely vacation at Epcot and Disney World, and on our last day, after watching the fireworks, we headed for the exit.

As we walked along, we began holding hands, as we are apt to do sometimes, and I noticed a lesbian couple come up alongside of us; they, too, were holding hands.

Suddenly, a voice behind us shouted: "What is this? it isn't Gay Days!"

One of the lesbians turned back, and said, "Honey, every day is gay day for us."

And it is. And will be at Disney World for a long time to come, no matter how many Christians boycott or fly banners or simply wallow in their intolerance.

We're here. We're queer. And we're on Mister Toad's Wild Ride, right alongside of you.

source

Gay Pride Legacy Couples

DisneyWorld likes to bill itself as The Happiest Place on Earth, and there are those who think South Beach is The Gayest Place on Earth. DisneyWorld has had Gay Day for years, but, despite Miami Beach's long, proud history of being a gay-friendly town--even passing a law recognizing domestic partnerships--the city has never hosted a Pride festival.

Huh? What? Huh?

When Carlos and I lived in South Florida, we attended many Pride events......in Palm beach....Ft. Lauderdale....Key West....but never in Miami.

So I was pleased to hear that just last Saturday, Ocean Drive was alive with Rainbow flags and go-go boys, dancing shirtless men from Twist, cars hanging banners saying ''Marriage is a Civil Right,'' and the Miami Gay Men's Chorus singing "Over the Rainbow." However, there was also something a little different about South Beach Pride.

Legacy Couples. Gay couples who had been together twenty-plus years had their own float in the parade, showing all of South Florida, and the world, that even without marriage, gay couple are committed to one another.

One half of one such couple, George Volpe is having a birthday this week. He'll celebrate his 89th birthday with his partner, of 65 years, Peter Santangelo. Sixty-five years! Few "traditional" marriages last that long. But there is one other difference; because of who he loved, and the times in which he was living, Volpe never told his family he was gay. He wasn't allowed the simple act of proclaiming his love, and marrying the man he loved.

"It was like `don't ask, don't tell,' '' says Santangelo. "It was voodoo then. It was a curse. Not like it is now.''

I like the idea of the Legacy Couples, because the gay community isn't just buttless chaps and go-go boys, dykes on bikes and drag queens. We are all that and more; we are everything and then some. Married. Single. Partnered. Out. In. Drag Queen. Leathermen. Poofters and wankers.

And it's all good. We aren't one thing, and we aren't the "other."

On Saturday, Volpe and Santangelo held hands and waved to the crowds from the back seat of a convertible cruising down Ocean Drive during the city's inaugural Gay Pride parade. They were one of many ''legacy couples'' to participate in the parade.

And here are others.