Random Musings

Oh dear.

JCPenney has a new billboard advertising a designer tea kettle that has left many California motorists seeing, well, Nazis.

It seems that, to some, myself included, the Michael Graves-designed kettle looks a little like Adolf Hitler with right hand extended outward in the infamous Nazi salute.

♪♫I’m a little Hitler, short and stout …. ♫♪

C’mon, you were goin’ there, too!

A little update on the Kaitlyn Hunt story.

It appears that I, as well as other bloggers, and the mainstream/lamestream media, got the story, or at least, some of the facts wrong.

So, to update: Kaitlyn Hunt is a Lesbian who had a consensual affair with a fellow Lesbian student at their high school. But, contrary to initial reports, Kaitlyn was already 18 when the relationship began, and not, as some, myself included, arrested the moment she turned eighteen a few months later.

Does it make a difference, though? Not really. I mean, if a high school Senior boy dates a Freshman girl, and they have a sexual relationship, how often are the police called? How often is that boy arrested? How often is he expelled?

The fact is that Kaitlyn and this unnamed girl were in school together, played on  the basketball team together, and just because they had a sexual relationship does not mean that Kaitlyn is a sexual predator and should go to jail for fifteen years.

This is not the case of an adult, a legal, out of high school, adult, having an affair with a high school student. She doesn’t deserve the punishment she’s facing or the vitriol she’s experiencing.

Out there round Nevada way, the state Assembly passed a final vote on a constitutional amendment that would send same-sex marriage to the ballot in 2016. The Senate Joint Resolution 13 passed the Assembly on a 27-14 vote, bringing the process to get it to the ballot in 2016 to an end for this year.

Naturally, all the no votes were Republicans and just one lone Republican, Assemblywoman Michele Fiore voted with Democrats.

Nevada is on the move y’all. It’s still a couple of years out, but they are on the move.

I absolutely love this story.

The Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, an advisory panel tasked with determining whom, or what, to commemorate with U.S. postage stamps is said to be considering the late gay Supervisor Harvey Milk for such an honor.

The group has contacted Milk's family to gather more information about the San Francisco politician, who, back in November 1977, was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in a major U.S. city. Milk, as we all know, was murdered by Dan White a year later, along with then-Mayor George Moscone.

The committee also notified the Harvey Milk National Stamp Campaign that it was looking at issuing a Milk stamp at some point.

Milk's openly gay nephew, Stuart Milk, says his family has been asked by postal officials about upcoming significant milestones that the issuance of a Milk stamp could commemorate. November 8, 2012 would mark the 35th anniversary of Milk's historic electoral win, while May 22, 2015 would coincide with Milk's 85th birthday.

I say just pick a date and let me buy that stamp!

This kills me; in a highlarious way.

Last week California released its rates for the Affordable Care Act [ACA], aka “Obamacare” and guess what? The rates are lower, cheaper, and less costly, however you wanna say it, than the Congressional Budget Office’s original 2009 estimates.

Take that GOP.

And, not only are  the rates cheaper, but the ACA looks like it’s doing exactly what they said it would, by creating competition to make health insurance rates more competitive.

You.Don’t.Say.

And now, while traditional—read  “conservative states”—have done everything possible to sabotage the ACA, more and more states like Oregon, Washington, and California are proving that the law is performing better than all those naysayers—read “GOP asshats—previously said.

It’s pathetic that millions of Americans living in these Republican controlled Red States will have to suffer without health care coverage, and many die due to a lack of treatment, just because conservative politicians would rather play partisan politics than just admit the truth.

And while we all rejoice in the news that Michele Bachmann won’t seek re-election, there is still that little Ethics probe thingy to deal with.

Bachmann, never one to lie … I kid, she lies every time she speaks … says her decision to flee like Mama Grizzly Bore™ has nothing to do with  that ongoing ethics investigation into misconduct during her 2012 presidential campaign:

"It was clearly understood that compliance with all rules and regulations was an absolute necessity for my presidential campaign. And I have no reason to believe that that was not the case."

Liar Liar yada yada yada.

Hey Michigan? What’s new?

Well, this week, Democrats in the Michigan state Senate introduced a bill to repeal the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The measure needs two-thirds support in the Republican-led House and Senate to make the statewide ballot, so it’s an uphill battle. But, in addition to that bill, another that would recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages in Michigan was also introduced.

A recent poll shows that 56% of Michigan voters support some form of relationship recognition for same-sex couples.

Michigan is on the move, too.

FUNNY OF THE WEEK

Read that first headline and then follow up with the other. Oh, someone needs to be watched down there in the layout room.

Blatantly stolen from BosGuy.

HOT MEN OF THE WEEK

On top, photographically speaking, Tom Hiddleston. I have no idea who is or what he’s been in, but I came across this picture from Cannes and I was intrigued.

Charlie Carrick, in the middle, played Pascal, Micheletto’s spy-lover on The Borgia’s. There he wears a beard and looks delicious.

On the bottom, also photographically speaking, Oscar Isaac, whom I saw in a Channing Tatum movie, Ten Years—which sadly had no Tatum ass shots. But it had Oscar, who was the best thing, eye-candy wise, and acting wise, in the movie.

A trifecta of film and TV hunkdom. You’re welcome.

I don’t shop at WalMart because they treat their employees like crap and, while they profess to be oh-so-patriotic, most of their merchandise is made Not-In-America. So, that’s why I love this bitchslap that Wally got this week.

The mega-store has agreed to pay an $82 million fine for improper disposal of hazard wastes such as fertilizer and bleach in cases filed in California and Missouri. 

As part of the California plea agreement, Wal-Mart must a $40 million criminal fine and an additional $20 million to fund community service projects including helping U.S. retailers learn how to properly handle hazardous waste; something WalMart doesn’t, or didn’t, do.

As part of the Missouri plea agreement, Wal-Mart must $11 million criminal fine and an additional $3 million to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Wal-Mart also must pay a $7.628 million civil penalty to the federal government.

Ouch.

More on Bachmann. As she heads toward obscurity, or a place on FoxNews, which is really the same thing, House Speaker John Boehner, boner, Tweeted his goodbye and his appreciation for all she’s done. So let’s take a look at what she did, shall we?

She sponsored 58 bills.

• Of those, 53 were referred to committee, AKA they went nowhere
• One, HR 850, which was to facilitate a proposed project on the Lower St. Croix Wild and Scenic River, made it out of committee.
• Three [HR 373, which expressed support for the creation of a National Hydrocephalous Awareness Month; HR  923, which recognized Minnesota’s 150^th anniversary, and HR 789, which honored public child welfare agencies] were agreed to.
• One [HR 45, which sought to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act] passed the House.
• None. Zip. Zero. Nada. Were signed into law.

So, to sum up: eight years and she did jackshit. And Boner, er, Boehner, applauds her.

Asshat-to-asshat.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

A JC Penney Tweet in response to Hitler-gate. I gotta give it to them for having a sense of humor, though.

UPDATE: Kaitlyn Hunt Won't Take A Plea

Last week I posted about Kaitlyn Hunt, the Florida high school senior who was arrested and then expelled from school for being in a lesbian relationship with a high school freshman. Kaitlyn Hunt was charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child and could face up to fifteen years in jail and be labeled a sexual predator for life. [see post HERE]

Now, I got a couple of comments that this wasn’t about Kaitlyn being gay, even though the other girl’s parents were completely against the relationship. And, of course, they waited until about a minute after Kaitlyn turned eighteen to file charges against her. I cannot help but think that if Kaitlyn Hunt had been an eighteen-year-old boy, and star basketball player, those parents would have reacted differently.

But I digress. This isn’t about the parents of the other girl, or straight relationships versus gay relationships, it's about ruining a young girl’s life because she fell in love with one of her teammates on the basketball team.

Kaitlyn Hunt was offered a plea deal in the case, in which she would face two years of house arrest and a year of probation, and her ‘crime’ would stay on her permanent adult record. Kaitlyn Hunt said, ‘No.’

Julia Graves, the attorney for the Hunt family:

"Our client is a courageous teenager who is choosing not to accept the current plea offer by the state of Florida. It’s a situation of two teenagers who happen to be of the same sex involved in a relationship. If this case involved a boy and a girl, we don't believe there'd be the media attention to this case. Our client's a model citizen. She's been placed in an environment of school with her classmates where they go to school together, they have lunch together, and play on the same team (and are) allowed to have communication and contact without barriers. Then when something develops between the two of them as a result of this environment which is created by the state, it leads to criminal prosecution."

Charles Sullivan, who's representing the as-yet-unnamed family of the other teen, says his clients won’t comment yet, and he said he believed the plea deal was a reasonable one and was surprised Hunt didn't take it.

Reasonable for a high school, student who fell in love with another student to accept being labeled a predator for life?

As I said, had this been a straight relationship, I doubt it would be national news. I doubt the other girl’s parents would have filed charges. I doubt the boy would face being labeled a pedophile.

You can say this case has nothing to do with the other girl’s parents’ homophobia, but it reeks of discrimination and bigotry and hate, to me. Now, to be clear, if Kaitlyn Hunt wasn’t a high school student when she began her relationship with the girl, then, yes, she should be punished. But the fact is that, like any number of us, gay and straight, these two girls became friends, fell in love, and started a relationship while they were both high school students and one should not be punished for that.

I hope Kaitlyn sticks to her guns and fights this all the way to the end. She was a high school girl who fell in love with another student and anyone who thinks that makes her a predator or a pedophile just isn’t thinking clearly. 

Head on over to Free Kate, read her story, and add your name to Kate's 296,450 supporters.

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Kaitlyn Hunt Was Arrested, Expelled From School, For Being In A Lesbian Relationship

Kaitlyn Hunt was one of those all-American high school girls. She was blond, and a cheerleader; she played on the basketball team. She’s gay.

Oops.

Not so fast. Not really so ‘all-American’ now, is she? At least not in Florida.

Kaitlyn Hunt started dating a girl she met on the basketball team and, according to her father, Steven everything changed. Kaitlyn was dropped from the team because the coach didn’t want the “drama” of a lesbian relationship.

Then it gets worse because, at the time, Hunt was seventeen and her girlfriend just fifteen. Kaitlyn’s girlfriend’s parents were not about to have a lesbian daughter, and the moment Kaitlyn Hunt turned eighteen, those parents had her arrested. Kaitlyn Hunt was charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child. And then she was expelled from school, just weeks before her graduation.

"[The girlfriend's parents] are out to destroy my daughter, because they feel like she ‘made’ their daughter gay. They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100% differently. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality – with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter.”—Kelley Hunt Smith, Kaitlyn’s mother

The attorney general offered Kaitlyn a plea deal: two years of house arrest and a year of probation, though the ‘crime’ would stay on her permanent adult record.

Crime. Being a Lesbian in high school and falling in love with a younger girl. Kaitlyn’s parents are asking people to sign a Change.org petition urging authorities to drop or lessen the charges.

You know, of being gay.

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Change.org Petition