Bobservations

This is less about Carlos and more about the look on Carlos’ face as we ran errands one day last week.

We headed down to King’s Kitchen, our favorite breakfast spot in Camden, for a good home cooked breakfast—I had my usual Corned Beef Hash with Scrambled Egg and the best Homemade Biscuit in the world. So good that we lounged a bit and chatted with fellow diners and Kenesha, the owner along with her husband who is the chef. Lovely way to start then day and then …

We started driving to CostCo and about halfway there the traffic stopped; clearly an accident happened up ahead. So we sat for a while and then crawled forward until we came across a semi-truck parked along the left side of the road and all three lanes of traffic blocked forcing everyone to drive on the right shoulder.

“Why the %$#& are they closing the entire road? The %$#&ing truck is way over there. Why the %$#& did we have to sit so long for this?”

Carlos smiled. We made it through and drove on, reaching our exit, at a spot where there’s roadwork on the bridge and side streets; traffic was stopped all down the off-ramp onto the freeway.

“Why the %$#& aren’t they doing this work at night and not on a %$#&ing Saturday morning when everyone is out? And why are these %$#&ers trying to race ahead and get to the head of the line. Not on my %$#&ing watch.”

Carlos smiled. We made it through and as we neared CostCo, at a roundabout where we turn left, another oversized truck apparently took the curve too fast and was tipped over in the roadway.

“What the %$#& is happening today? Is every mother%$#&er who doesn’t know how to drive on the roads? What the %$#&?”

Carlos smiled. We backed up and took an alternate route to CostCo where, by the time we got there, the place was packed.

“Why does every single %$#&ing family with nothing better to %$#&ing do than take their screaming %$#&ing children to the %$#&ing CostCo and feed them all the free samples so the little %$#&ers start screaming and terrorizing those of us just to do a little shopping.”

Carlos smiled. We finally got our groceries, eased through the checkout, and went out to load the car. I took the cart back and when I returned to the car, a giant SUV was parked across the lane, clearly waiting for me to leave so they could take my space. I backed up slowly, trying to turn my car to avoid the gas-%$#&ing-guzzling behemoth, when the mother%$#&er in the car starts honking and waving at me.

“HOW THE %$#& AM I SUPPOSED TO BACK UP WITH YOUR FAT ASS CAR IN MY WAY YOU DUMB MOTHER%$#&ER???”

And then I used both hands and both fingers to accentuate my point, and finally Carlos speaks:

“I’m thinking someone needs a nap.”

Mother%$#&er.

This Tuxedo Says is from August 2020 when Biden became the Democratic nominee to be President.

And, sadly, here we are again.

Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna is chair of the newly formed Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. The task force will be looking into the assassination of JFK and in a recent press conference Luna said:

“I’m looking to actually bring in some of the attending physicians at the initial assassination. Then also people that had been on the various commissions looking into it, like the Warren Commission looking into the initial assassination.”

Um, Luna-tic, every member of the Warren Commission is dead, as all the  three doctors who treated Kennedy at Parkland. And WTF is an “initial” assassination?

The GOP’s best and brightest at work.

I do enjoy it when my local grocer makes cake shopping easier and then they have the cakes help me carry groceries to the car.

Tomorrow is Economic Blackout Day to disrupt the system and show those fascists in charge that we have some power, too.

Do not make any purchases

Do not shop online, or in-store

Do not spend money on: Fast Food, Gas or Major Retailers

Do not use Credit or Debit Cards for non-essential spending

Only buy essentials if absolutely necessary—Food, Medicine, Emergency Supplies—and if you must spend, ONLY support small, local businesses.

Corporations and banks only care about their bottom line. If we disrupt the economy for just ONE day, it sends a powerful message.

If they don't listen, and they won’t, we’ll make the next blackout longer.

This is our first action. This is how we make history.

February 28th; the 24-Hour Economic Black Out Begins

A hack at the Department of Housing and Urban Development this week has trolled The Felon and Leon Skum by playing a short, AI-generated video of The Felon kissing Elon’s feet with the title “Long Live The Real King” over the video.

It’d be a shame if this picture was shared everywhere.

I saw this on Facebook this week and, well, ouch:

He still hasn’t done anything to bring down the price of eggs or gas, but planes on the other hand …

It took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada just minutes to tap out his reaction to his nation’s victory over the United States in an international hockey championship final:

“You can’t take our country—and you can’t take our game.”

Snap.

Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement announced that she will step down from the state's highest court, leaving Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer with the task of appointing her replacement.

Clement's departure and Whitmer's eventual appointment would shift the court from a 5-2 Democratic-nominated majority to a 6-1 Democratic-nominated majority, a margin that could add years to Republican efforts to regain a majority on the state's highest court.

Good.

On the other side … at a GOP town hall this week in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, descended into chaos when Dr. Teresa Borrenpohl was forcibly removed for speaking.

Three plainclothes men from LEAR Asset Management literally dragged Dr. Borrenpohl out of the auditorium and attempted to restrain her with zip ties. As the incident unfolded, the speaker at the podium, Ed Bejarana, made insulting comments:

“Just look at this. This little girl is afraid to leave. She spoke up and now she doesn't want to suffer the consequences. Look at this little girl over here, everyone. Look at her."

Worse is that, despite the clear violation of free speech and civil liberties occurring right before their eyes, the majority of attendees did nothing to intervene or stop a woman from being dragged from the room.

On the upside, after the incident LEAR Asset Management's business license was revoked for violating city ordinances, and a GoFundMe campaign raised over $245,000 for Dr. Borrenpohl's legal expenses.

This is not America and the women of Idaho need to vote these Republican thugs out of office as soon as possible. 

Nicholas Mikovits is a model, sports nutritionist, personal trainer, and actor, and begs the question: Would You Hit It?

Bobservations

Not a Carlos story, but a true story about my mouth. The other morning as I was getting ready for work my phone rang:

“May I speak to Robert Slatten?”

“This is he.”

“How are you today, Mr. Slatten?”

“What can I do for you?”

“I’m Christine ______ from _____ Life and I see by our records you have a birthday coming up soon.”

“No. I don’t.”

“Oh, our records show your date of birth as August 2nd.”

“That’s not my birthday, that’s my father’s birthday. His name is Robert Slatten Jr.”

“Oh. I see the mix up—”

And then she says it:

“Do you think your father would be interested in life insurance?”

“I’m not sure, but considering he’s been dead since February, it looks like a hard pass.”

And then she makes it worse:

“I’m so sorry, please accept our condolences.”

“Thank you.”

“Any chance you’re interested in life insurance?”

“Seriously? You tried to sell life insurance to my dead father and now you want to sell it to me?”

“Well, I—”

:::click:::

This is another in a long list of reasons why I don’t like people.

This Tuxedo Memory is from August 2018 …

We had a bit of a scare last Friday involving the Greatest Cat in the World, Tuxedo.

See, our cats do not go outside, at least unattended. Tuxedo is allowed to walk along the railing with me by his side, or sit in my lap and take a siesta, but because of the rural nature of Casa Bob y Carlos, and the wild-ish animals who roam nearby, it’s not a good thing to let cats wander.

That said, over the course of time we’ve lived here Tuxedo has escaped a handful of times and has always been lured back inside by the promise of treats.

Last Friday, Carlos got up, let the dog out, fed the cats and made the coffee; we had breakfast and chatted and then I got up from the table …

“Where’s Tuxedo?”

“I don’t know, He was here for breakfast.”

"Did he get out when you let the dog in?”

“I don’t know.”

We began the search; through the house, in all the bedrooms, the office, the laundry room, the sunroom; under couches or on tables; in closets where perhaps a door was closed on him; in the bathroom.

No Tuxedo. I head out back, treats in hand, shaking the bag…

“TUXEDO! TUXEDO! TUXEDO!”

No Tuxedo. I go into the front yard …

“TUXEDO! TUXEDO! TUXEDO!”

No Tuxedo. Now I am scared and getting annoyed because I think Carlos missed him when he ran outside and so all kinds of thoughts—of what happened to the cat and what I will do to Carlos—are racing through my head.

“TUXEDO! TUXEDO! TUXEDO!”

Back inside; no cat. I then check every single cupboard in the kitchen, the laundry room and all the bathrooms, shaking that damned bag of treats as I go …

“TUXEDO! TUXEDO! TUXEDO!”

In the master bathroom, I look into a cupboard; no cat. I turn … and there he is, sitting in the bathtub.

See, the night before we’d given all the cats a hit of Advantage because they were scratching a lot. You give Advantage at the base of their neck, so they can’t lick it off.

Tuxedo, because he is so smart, thought he’d wait until Mean Daddy—his name for Carlos—got out of the shower and then he would roll around on the bottom of the tub so see if he could rub the Advantage off.

He got yelled at for disappearing and big smooch from Nice Daddy—that’s what he calls me—for being safe.

In the car, later, driving Carlos to work, I said:

“Sorry for all those hateful things I said about you when we couldn’t find Tuxedo.”

“You didn’t say anything mean to me.”

“In my head, sweetheart in my head.”

“Oh, I expect it was especially vicious then.”

“Yes.”

And luckily, just in my head.

Premise: You have 5 minutes before you die. What are you going to do? Well, I am going to text to a friend saying if they don't send that text to 10 other people immediately, I'll die in 5 minutes.

I’m going out with a laugh!

In the two days since President Biden dropped out of the race for reelection, Vote.org saw more than 38,500 people register to vote, a nearly 700% spike.

Vote.org  hopes to register 8 million voters before November’s election and says that 500,000 have already registered so far, including a record number of 18-year-old new voters.

Onward into the Blue.

More good news … Michigan has become the 20th state to ban the Gay Panic Defense thanks to Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The “gay panic” or “trans panic” legal defense allows defendants to argue that discovering a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity justifies assault and even murder.

No, it doesn’t. Thanks Governor Whitmer.

Y’all heard that The Felon wants to eliminate taxes for tipped workers, right? Well, here’s the deal … 33% of tipped employees are too low wage to pay any income taxes so they would never see any tax cut. But since there is no cap on what counts as a ‘tip’ this plan creates a loophole for hedge fund managers, lawyers and other high-income professionals to take a huge tax cut by dubbing their massive bonuses as ‘tips.’

The rich get richer under The Felon while low-income workers suffer.

VOTE BLUE!!

And more good news ... Jim Kohlberg, chairman and co-founder of the private equity firm Kohlberg & Co., has pledged $30 million to launch a center to push for overhauling the corrupt SCOTUS. Maybe find a way to rid the court from the grifters and liars and cheats.

Let’s do this!

Anilton Cabral is a male model who lives on Praia, Cape Verde, a tiny island off the West coast of Africa, but that’s not what this is about: Would You Hit It?

Architecture Wednesday: Chameleon House

I know, I know, this isn’t the house for everyone, hell, even I don’t think I like it. It’s giving me end-of-the-world- apocalyptic house on the hill to spot the zombie invasion vibes, but … it’s interesting.

Built in 2004, the 1,650 square feet, the three bedroom, three-and-a-half bath industrial marvel sits on just an acre overlooking a vast valley and also has views of Lake Michigan, the Manitou Islands, and the Crib Lighthouse.

Still, it’s a lot of stairs with those going up a half-level front to back with living areas facing  the views and bedrooms looking into the woods. From the entry level it’s a half-flight up to the kitchen and dining area—with its own balcony—capped with exposed wooden beams. Up another half-flight to the back is a bedroom, then go up again to the double height living area on the top floor, and another trek up to the guest room and the outside staircase to the rooftop terrace.

As I said, this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and all those stairs are making my knees creak, but in a zombie apocalypse, this might be just the place.

As always click to emBIGGERate ...

Dwell

The Pedophiles Are Inside The Churches

It’s been a while since we noted the child sexual abuse going on in our nation’s churches by our church leaders, teachers, and such, so let’s take a look, thanks to JoeMyGod, at the latest scandals …

ILLINOIS

Isaiah Mikkelson, who was a youth leader at Hope Lutheran Church in Quincy, was sentenced to 6 years each for two counts of criminal sexual abuse of a victim between 13 and 18 years old on church property.

FLORIDA

Harriet Sugg, a former teacher at an Orlando Christian private school, faces several charges of sexual activity with a minor, “Jane Doe”, who alleges Harriet Sugg started to sexually abuse her when she was 15 years old.

Robert William Austin, a Department of Corrections chaplain, was arrested on seven counts of transmission of harmful material to a minor, two counts of computer pornography, seducing, soliciting, luring, or enticing a child to engage in an illegal act, and one count of unlawful use of a 2-way communication device; Austin sent explicit messages to a “14-year-old girl,” who happened to be an undercover detective; Austin allegedly knew of the “juvenile’s” age but continued to send messages.

OHIO

Michael Zacharias, a former priest was sentenced to life in prison on two counts and 20 years on three counts. A federal jury found him guilty of five counts of sex trafficking, some of which involved minors. Zacharias used his position as a priest at Saint Michael the Archangel Parish to target victims and coerce them into sex acts.

NORTH CAROLINA

Daniel Jeremy Abraham, a teacher at a Christian school has been charged with indecent liberties with a student and sexual battery involving a student.

Ashley James Crouse, a pastor at a Caldwell County church is facing child sex charges after the execution of recent search warrants found him in possession of material depicting child exploitation.

MISSISSIPPI

Samuel Lamar Taylor, a minister at several churches throughout Rankin County, has been sentenced to life without parole after being convicted of one count of sexual battery and one count of gratification of lust concerning an 11-year-old autistic child.

MICHIGAN

After he was convicted of assaulting young boys as a Little League coach in North Carolina, Jonathan Russell relocated to Saginaw Township, Michigan where he now faces charges for allegedly assaulting numerous children by exploiting his position at First Baptist Church of Bridgeport.

Luis Mendoza, who served as a church youth leader, has been charged with multiple counts of criminal sex conduct, grooming and engaging sexually with a minor.

WISCONSIN

Anne Nelson-Koch, a former Tomah Baptist Academy teacher has been sentenced  to 10 years prison, 15 years supervised release for convictions on 25 counts of sexual assault, repeatedly forcing a 14-year-old student to engage in sex acts during school hours.

TEXAS

Corey White, a former youth pastor at Redeemer Midland, was arrested and charged with Access with Intent to View Child Sexual Abuse Materials.

And again, not one drag queen or gay person in the bunch, and two cases of child rape are in Don’t Say Gay and Ban Drag Sows Florida; makes one think Ronnie DeSantis is focusing on the wrong crowd in his state.

And it kinda makes it look like that whole GOP smear campaign about ‘gay people and drag queens are grooming children” is just a lie to cover-up for the real groomers … the so-called Men and Women of God.

The Pedophiles Are Inside The Churches ... Still

Here’s another round-up of the groomers raping children in our churches and schools … and not one is a drag queen reading a book:

MICHIGAN

Vincent DeLorenzo, 84, a former priest accused of abusing a child in the 1980s, pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct for the sexual assault of a 5-year-old boy after a funeral service he officiated for the child’s relative in 1987. He is sentenced to one year in jail, five years’ probation and will be required to register as sex offender and pay restitution.

FLORIDA

Donny Raney, a pastor in the Okeechobee County School District is facing allegations that he was engaged in an inappropriate romantic connection with a student at the school; it’s not romance with an underage student, it’s rape.

IOWA

Kristen Gantt, a Dowling Catholic High School teacher has been arrested for an alleged sexual relationship with a student. Authorities believe Gantt engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student in her class.

COLORADO

Robert Henry Gordon, a music teacher at the First United Pentecostal Church, has been arrested on charges of sexual assault on a child in a position of trust, sexual assault on a child, unlawful sexual contact, and enticement of a child.

CALIFORNIA

Jesse Joshua Aceves, who founded the Christian clothing brand The Way and WAS active in the Christian hip-hop music scene, has been convicted of “numerous” charges of child molestation and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Aceves is suspected of molesting three children though police suspect there might be additional victims.

FLORIDA

Ed Wilds III, a Putnam County youth pastor, was arrested on charges of possessing child porn. Wilds’ father is the main pastor of the church and declined to comment on his son’s arrest.

OKLAHOMA

Cody Barlow, Wewoka Middle School principal and youth pastor, was charged with two felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child under the age of 16. A federal lawsuit reveals graphic allegations of Barlow’s “grooming behavior” towards students. The victim, a then-6th grader, claims Barlow would initiate inappropriate contact in front of other Wewoka faculty members and parents, and on one occasion a WMS counselor walked into Barlow’s office and witnessed Barlow standing behind a 7th grade boy, rubbing the teen’s shoulders and thrusting his hips back and forth against the boy.

CALIFORNIA

Michael Sasser, a Modesto man who has served in a leadership role over student ministries at Redeemer Church, has been charged with forcible sexual penetration, continual sexual abuse of a child and lewd and lascivious acts with a child.

GEORGIA

Alfonza McClendon Sr., a former Savannah pastor, will serve 25 years in prison and life on probation for child molestation and statutory rape. He was convicted of molesting two children between 2013 and 2017 while pastor of the First Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church.

NORTH CAROLINA

Erickson Douglas Lee, a police officer, was arrested for child sex-related crimes committed while acting as a church youth leader. According to his arrest warrant out of York County, the allegations against Erickson Douglas Lee were for incidents reported between December 2020 and July 2022. Lee is accused of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor between December 2020 and June 2022, and of committing a sex act with a victim less than 16 years old.

Remember, when someone tells you about the dangers of drag queens around children, remind them that not one drag queen has been arrested for inappropriate relations with a child, but many members of our churches have raped and sodomized and abused children.

It’s not the Drag Queens.

h/t to JoeMyGod

Bobservations

We recently received a recall notice for our car, and so Carlos called the dealership and set up the appointment; he said, and I quote:

“They open at 7 AM.”

The night before the appointment, I reminded him we needed to leave the house about 6:45 to get the car in, and he was quite unhappy not to have a leisurely breakfast. But we got him up and dressed and ready to go and arrived at the dealership about five minutes early. The place was pitch dark, and there were no other cars around. I asked:

“Are you sure the appointment is at seven?”

“Yes, I put it on my calendar with Siri … Hey Siri, do I have any appointments today?”

“You have one appointment scheduled. 7:45 AM recall on car.”

And yes, we sat and waited the forty-five minutes so I could torture him about his memory.

Here’s another Tuxedo story, and pictures, from March 22, 2009

“A Sunday Tuxedo raises his eyes toward Heaven and prays to the cat gods that there will be fish for dinner.

And when he realizes it'll be a dish of dry stuff like every day, he pouts.

And does his best Camille impression.

Or Tuxedo of the Jungle....or Bond Tuxedo Bond.”

Sidenote: The other morning I went to the bedroom to make the bed and started patting down the covers because Tuxedo used to crawl underneath and sleep. Carlos came in and asked what I was doing and I started to say, ‘Looking for Tuxedo.’

And the tears came again.

That darn cat will always be in my head and heart.

In Denver yesterday a student shot two high school administrators, Good thing he wasn’t reading a banned book … or learning history … or saying gay … in the United States of Guns.

The Walt Disney Company will host a major conference promoting LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace in Central Florida this September, in a defiant display of the limits of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis De Fascists’ campaign against diversity training.

Joining Disney will be Apple, McDonald’s, Uber, Walmart, Hilton, Amazon, Boeing, Cracker Barrel and John Deere who are all sponsoring the Out & Equal Workplace summit.

And they will be saying Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender.

A man and his wife, along with their three small children, were checking into a hotel, and after getting the room key, the father leaned over the counter and whispered to the front desk clerk:

“I hope the porn is disabled.”

And the desk clerk replied:

“It’s all regular porn, you sick fuck.”

It’s all in the phrasing.

I haven’t talked much about our lone cat, Consuelo, since we lost Tuxedo. She’s been somewhat different; before she was a solitary cat—though she played with Tuxedo and Max when they were still with us—but she's become more social, sleeping on the floor of the living room while we watch TV or read. And while she has never been the kind of cat who likes being picked up, she has taken to letting me put her in my lap, where she will fall asleep after a while.

Still, we think she needs a companion, and after having, at one time, seven cats, having just one feels strange. So we’re getting set to look for a new cat, and a friend who works at an animal shelter was asking what kind we wanted: age, color, gender, all those questions. My only criteria: it cannot be a Tuxedo because we’ve already had the best one and anything else would be a letdown.

But we’re hoping for a younger cat that can keep Consuelo busy but will also get along with an aging tiny dog and a couple of queens.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act which expands basic protections for the LGBTQ community, prohibiting discrimination at schools, offices, and housing, based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity.

Whitmer said, as she signed the bill, thanks to a Democrat controlled legislature:

“In the words of Detroit native Lizzo, it’s about damn time!”

It’s about damn time we all vote Blue to end the bigotry and make equality the law.

Thor Bulow is a former fashion model from Germany, and that’s about the end of my knowledge, so I will ask: Would You Hit It?