Just For Giggles: Catty Patty Cake

I saw this earlier today, over at EllEmEllEmBee, or LMLMB, or Love Me Love My Blog, and I knew I would steal it!
Thanks Twunty!

Read It And Weep, Old Man McCain and Miss Lindsey Graham

Apparently the Pentagon's long-long-awaited report on ::::gasp:::: gays in the military comes to the same conclusion that i had about, oh, seventeen-years or so ago when it was implemented:
Repealing DADT would present a low risk, low risk Johnny Boy, to the armed forces' ability to carry out their mission.And, some 70% of service members believe it would have little or no effect on their units.
From the Washington Post:

According to a survey sent to 400,000 service members, 69 percent of those responding reported that they had served with someone in their unit who they believed to be gay or lesbian. Of those who did, 92 percent stated that their unit's ability to work together was very good, good, or neither good nor poor, according to the sources.
Combat units reported similar responses, with 89 percent of Army combat units and 84 percent of Marine combat units saying they had good or neutral experiences working with gays and lesbians.

Of course, Gramps and Miss Lindsey will focus only on the idea of those surveyed overall--and between 40- and 60-percent of the Marine Corps--express concern about the repeal, or predicted a negative reaction, but the fact is that gay men and women have been serving in the military forever, and now we see that even members of the military, and military leaders, want discrimination to end.

It's Today

Out there in Illinois, the Illinois General Assembly is expected to vote on same-sex civil unions legislation. It is expected, of course, to be a very close vote, though Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan expects lawmakers to approve the bill, and the governor has voiced his support for civil unions.
I'm a bit ambivalent about this. I think if we start getting civilly unionized, or whatever you call it, then people will say we don't need marriage; to me, civil unions are still back of the bus. If Americans, straight Americans, can marry whomever they love, then gay Americans should be able to do so as well.
To me, it's just that simple.
Now, don't get me wrong, civil unions are nice, but they still feel less than. Some people are married, you know, most people, but others aren't because they can only have civil unions. It's different, and different is less than. See, straight couples have the option of marriage or civil union, gay couples do not.
Back of the bus.
And, if civil unions are legalized in Illinois, well, don't take that to mean that gay marriages performed elsewhere will be recognized, because that won't happen. The bill will provide the same spousal rights to same-sex partners when it comes to surrogate decision-making for medical treatment, survivorship, adoptions, and accident and health insurance.
Nice, but still, not good enough.
For me, it should be marriage; equal marriage only.
This is just marriage-lite. And I won't be spoon-fed this crap.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I was really excited about this story when I first read it, and couldn't wait to post it.

It seems that a Texas couple, a Texas gay couple, recently got married. In Texas. Where, you know, equality for the LGBT community and marriage is not exactly a reality. So, how did Mark Reed and Dante Walkup do it?

Via Skype. Reed, who is on the board of GetEQUAL, recently married Dante Walkup at the W Dallas Victory hotel. Their wedding was officiated by Skype, from Washington, D.C., where same-sex marriage is legal. They were married in a conference room  in front of about 80 people with a 6-by-8-foot screen looming behind them. At a W hotel in Washington, marriage quality activist Sheila Alexander-Reid officiated the wedding.

Folks are calling it an “e-marriage;” a high-tech version of the proxy wedding traditionally held when one of the parties can’t be physically present — because, for example, they’re in the military stationed overseas.

Mark Reed: “The reason we wanted to do it this way is because we wanted to have a wedding here in Dallas with our family and friends. It was very important that all of our family came. It was the first time they actually met, even though we’ve been together 10 years. If we had to go to D.C., there’s no way we could have had the people there who we wanted to be there.”

Although Reed and Walkup could marry in Dallas, they first had to travel to Washington DC to register. And Reed said while DC’s marriage law has no provision against e-marriage, the validity of the procedure could be challenged in court. So, the couple is working with legal experts and legislators from states where same-sex marriage is legal to draft statutes to solidify the practice.

Reed and Walkup say they have no desire to use their e-marriage to challenge Texas’ bans on same-sex marriage, but they do want to make same-sex marriage more convenient and less expensive for gay and lesbian couples to legally wed.

One step forward, right? Except then I read that the Washington DC marriage bureau is having issues with the legality of an e-marriage.

Sheila Alexander-Reid, who officiated at the Reed-Walkup e-marriage, says: "The D.C. marriage bureau kicked back the certificate we had filed." Apparently, the DC marriage bureau has deemed that the marriage license filed following the Skype ceremony is invalid.

Reid-Alexander says the license is said to be void because the marriage did not take place within the District. She received a fresh marriage license from the court. Alexander-Reid could use it to re-officiate a Reed-Walkup ceremony, if they choose to marry again in DC, "with all parties . . . in physical attendance."

Two steps back.

Gay Couple Legally Weds In Texas

DC Marriage Bureau Rejects Same-Sex Skype Wedding

Just For Giggles

source

Odds'n'Ends

Doddering old fool, and out-of-touch-asshat, John McCain said the only reason the DADT repeal is such a hot button issue in Washington is because a president...oops, a presidential candidate used it as an issue to pander to the public for votes in 2008.
Kind of like some doddering old asshat who took all of five minutes to pick the most unqualified person on the planet to be his running mate because she was a woman and he thought Hillary voters would go for the Mama Grizzly Bore.....but I digress.
McCain is saying again and again, everywhere he gets a microphone, or what looks like a microphone, shoved in his face that DADT is not necessarily damaging to the military because it only discriminates against fags and dykes so, really, what's the problem? I mean, it's not like picking on the Jews or the Blacks....it's gays. Who cares?
Note to John McCain: Retire already you useless gasbag. You cannot get over the fact that America chose Barack Obama over you, so quit already, like your esteemed VP choice in Alaska, and go back to Arizona and write a book. Or get yourself a delusional reality show. 

Then we have South Carolina asshat senator, perhaps deeply closeted--oh, who am I kidding, there is no perhaps--Lindsay Graham, who never met an anti-gay bandwagon he didn't want to high-kick behind in sequins and feathers.
See, Miss Lindsay agrees with McCain--so maybe there's a little man crush happening there--and has taken to saying that there is no call for the repeal of DADT, it's all just politics started by Senator Obama.
Um, Lindsay, it's President Obama, bitch.
And it isn't political, it's equality. Dumbass.

And then speaking of Obama, he was asked by doddering--I am enjoying the use of the word doddering--old TV legend Babara Walters about Mama Grizzly Bore's assertion that she believes she can beat him in the 2012 election. Obama hemmed and hawed and swerved away from answering, until he finally uttered the QUOTE OF THE WEEK when he said:
"I don't think about Sarah Palin."
Thank you, Mister President.

Leslie Nielsen has died, and I can't think of anyone who doesn't remember his performances in Airplane or The Naked Gun or Police Squad without laughing. I mean, surely you can't think about Nielsen and his long, varied career, and end up with thoughts of his comic work and not giggle.
And don't call me Shirley.

I keep reading these, um, reviews throughout the blogopshere of Burlesque and I have to giggle. People are acting like it was meant to be a Chekhov play or the great American novel brought to the screen and are angry that it was a piece of fluff.
It was burlesque and Cher and sequins and Cher and glitter and Cher and songs and Cher and dancing and Cher and Christina and Cher and Cam Gigandet's ass and Cher and Tucci's chest hair and Cher and Cher.
What did you expect?
It was meant to be fun and frivolous and lighthearted.
Not Sophie's Choice 2.

Now, perhaps someone smarter than I can help me with this one. And I know you're out there because I can hear you all breathing.
The Portland bomber situation.
I understand that the FBI or Homeland Security or one of those agencies was in on this thing for years, and worked undercover for years to get this crazy kid, Mohamed Osman Mohamud.
What i don't get is why they waited to arrest him until after he called his cell phone hoping to detonate the bomb-that-wasn't-really-a-bomb? I mean, couldn't he have been arrested for making his terrorist threats to undercover agents? Couldn't he have been arrested for buying and making, or buying and having some one make, a bomb--even if it wasn't a real bomb? Could he have been arrested for taking his car to the plaza with the fake bomb in it?
I just think so many things could have gone wrong while the FBI or Homeland Security or the Keystone Kops were working with this lunatic.

And, since I am being so good with the segues today, the people responsible for setting the fire at the mosque where Mohamed Osman Mohamud worshipped are terrorists, too.
I mean, is there really any difference between trying to set off a bomb in a public square filled with people and setting fire to a mosque where people are praying?
I hope they catch the sons-of-bitches who think they are being pro-American and set them up in a cell alongside Mohamed Osman Mohamud for the rest of their lives.

Thanksgiving At Holiday House

So, we're back from our weekend in the woods with The Round-The-Way-Gays, Neal and David. And we had such a wonderful time.

It was nice to get out of Smallville and up into the mountains--even though neither Carlos nor I are what one might call 'Mountain Boys'--and nice to spend the weekend with good friends.

Neal and David's cabin, dubbed Holiday House, I assume because being there is like a holiday--or at least it was for us--is just a couple of hours or so from home, but seemed a world away. Up in the Blue Ridge Mountains it is much cooler and quieter--yes, there are places quieter than Smallville--and just so peaceful. And, being our first trip up there, though we'd been through there a time or two, it was a treat to have Gladys The Tour Guide, aka Neal, to show us around.

If there is a corner of the area that Neal doesn't know about, well, then it probably isn't worth knowing about; he took us on tours around the mountains--with our trusty chauffeur David at the wheel--and through Saluda, which is tinier than Smallville, yet oddly more bustling, and up into Hendersonville, which is bigger and more bustling than Smallville.

And just so pretty.

We took the Pocket Dog, Ozzo, with us, for his first road trip, and he was quite well-behaved, for the most part. There was those awkward moments when he tried to hump Neal and David's dog, Beecher, and there was an incident where, when Neal and David returned to the cabin without us, and then let him out of his carrier, that Ozzo ripped through the house, out the door, across the deck, into the yard, under the fence and into the woods. Neal and David were certain that Ozzo was lost to us, but, well, the little bastard found his face right around to the front door; he was just looking for his two daddies.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Saluda Grade Restaurant. Now, Carlos and I love cooking turkey for the big day, so this was quite different for us, but after stuffing ourselves with stuffing, and turkey and all those fixin's, it made no difference to us. It was  a wonderful meal.

And we walked into every shop in town. One morning, Carlos and I went by ourselves into Saluda and walked through the shops. The first one, a garden shop, we talked for a while with the owner, who finally asked where we lived. We mentioned Smallville and she told us she had two friends, Neal and David from there. We laughed and said we were staying with them, and then she said, "Oh, you're Bob and Carlos."

Small town.

At an antique store down the road, we bought a couple of things and once again were asked where we lived. Smallville, we said. the woman asked her father, "Who's that guy we bought that stuff from? Neal....something?"

That's who we're staying with, we said.

Smaller town.

Of course, then Hendersonville was bigger with more shops and more little nooks and crannies to explore. There was a Mast general Store, and as usual I couldn't walk out of there without something, and neither could Carlos. There were art galleries and home stores and book stores and music stores, and, perhaps strangest of all, people on the streets....walking....shopping. At one store, owned by yet another friend of Neal and David, Carlos met a woman who lived in Spain for a few years so they prattled on in Spanish. I browsed the store,. listening for my name and the phrase "idioto esposo". Then we walked down to the courthouse to see the Christmas Tree and, I want to say it was beautiful, but, as we all stared at it, with it's limp strings of lights, we decided Hendersonville needed a homo to do the tree. Carlos volunteered, so, if all goes as planned, next year Hendersonville will have the most fabulous.tree.ever.

We ate; we drank; we drove; we bought; we shopped; we talked; we laughed.
All in all, a truly wonderful weekend.
Thanks Neal and David for such a great time.

Sunday Funnies

I Ain't One To Gossip, But......

Earlier this month, "actress" Jessica Alba made headlines when she said in an interview that "good actors never use [scripts]."

Now, I know what you're thinking. This means Jessica Alba uses scripts all the time. Well, she ought to, because more of the interview has been released and Alba is making no friends anywhere at all in Hollywood.

Jessica Alba admits that she contemplated quitting acting during the filming of 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer': "[The director told me] 'It looks too real. It looks too painful. Can you be prettier when you cry? Cry pretty, Jessica.' He was like, 'Don't do that thing with your face. Just make it flat. We can CGI the tears in.'"

See, since the director wanted to computer-generate Alba's tears, it started her thinking "Am I not good enough? Are my instincts and my emotions not good enough? Do people hate them so much that they don't want me to be a person? Am I not allowed to be a person in my work? And so I just said, 'F**k it. I don't care about this business anymore.'"

Should'a continued along that line of thought and just walked away, perhaps to a job more suited to your talents, like a cocktail waitress or pretty secretary.

But Alba doesn't take the blame for her bad acting, or her bad movies, saying the only reason her movies, um, underperform at the box office is: "First-time directors."

First writers, now directors. Good luck finding work.

Oh Courtney.

Drunk. Nekkid. Now this.

A celebrity jeweler says Courtney Love hasn't returned nearly $114,000 worth of borrowed baubles, and he is suing to get them back.

Love ALLEGEDLY borrowed two white gold and diamond chains, a white gold, floral-design mesh bracelet and a pair of white gold and diamond pave hoop earrings at the end of September. Or, so says Jacob & Co., who filed a lawsuit this week, saying she only returned the bracelet, despite demands for the other pieces.

Courtney has ALLEGEDLY indicated to the jeweler that she lost the other items, but their agreement specified that she was responsible for them "regardless of loss or damage."

Well.......yeah.

The lawsuit seeks the gems or their $113,700 value.

Poor Courtney, but I guess when you get high and take off all your clothes, the jewels come off, too.

Oh, Mama Grizzly Bore. Take a little time off from the publicity tour that is your life and try being a parent, before you become a grandma again. Or visit your daughter in prison.

It seems that Life & Style magazine has some exclusive interviews with some of homophobe Willow Palin's former friends that suggest that the The Life & Times Of Willow Palin reads almost like a page out of Lindsay Lohan's biography.

According to classmates close to her, the middle Palin child ALLEGEDLY "chugged" vodka at the tender age of 15, as well as took part in a 1 a.m. drug deal!

Last Christmas, according former friend--emphasis on former--Lance Nezaticky, Willow was spotted in the deserted parking lot of a Target store at 1AM with a man who invited the Palin teen into his car where he ALLEGEDLY sold her over $20 worth of marijuana to the teen.

Nezaticky insists the story is true, and claims that Willow bought "really great stuff."

Okay, so the word of one former friend doesn't mean much, unless.....

Another former friend, Matt Scott ALLEGES that he saw similar destructive behavior out of Willow. His story's just a little more believable, as he claims that he saw her at a house party drinking with friends--although he calls it bingeing: “I saw her drinking from a bottle of Monarch. She was chugging it pretty hard. She was like, ‘I just want to drink.’”

Well, I would say who can blame her, considering the hot mess that is her family, but.....when is the Mama Grizzly Bore gonna confront these issues....or even the issue of the online Facebook bullying?

I guess it's more important that she focus on her other daughter, the unwed single mom who dances on TV.

So, how about that Eva Longoria and Tony Parker?

Tony is a big old cheater, though he claims he's just an emotional cheat. And now his friends are coming to his side saying Eva isn't quite the good little wife she's trying to portray.

A friend--and by friend, I mean someone who sat next to them one time at a restaurant--says: "Eva has been no angel, either. When they first got married, they both agreed to spend as much time with each other as possible. They knew it would be a challenge with them working in different states, but Eva's part-time taping schedule for 'Desperate Housewives' and the resources they had meant it wouldn't be that hard."

Hmmm, she works in California and he's on the road nine months a year. Yeah, no one saw this coming. As time went by, it became obvious that the couple were spending more and more time apart, with Tony in Texas and Eva in Los Angeles.
The friend--who once parked Eva's car while she got her nails done--says: "During the first year of marriage, Eva partially lived on an plane, visiting Tony the minute the director shouted 'cut' on the set of 'Housewives'. Eva didn't care about the lavish Hollywood parties she was missing or the fantastic private events she was invited to. All Eva wanted to do was be with Tony and build a life together, but things started to change as she got more and more sucked into the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle."
Both parties have filed for divorce in their home states, Eva in California and Tony in Texas.
Even in divorce they can't seem to get together.


Adult film star Capri Anderson--don't call her a prostitute because prostitutes have sex for money and adult film stars have sex for money on film--who was with Charlie Sheen the night of his nekkid breakdown at the Plaza in New York City is telling her story.

In an interview with ABC's 'Good Morning America' and 'Nightline,' Anderson says: "He was, from the beginning of the night, very loud and he had no hesitations when it came to using derogatory language or cuss words."

And still, Not-A-Prostitute, Capri went back to his room.

She continues: "Towards the latter half of the night, it got really bad. He started yelling racial slurs. But it wasn't until he put his hands around my neck that I really thought to myself, you have gotten yourself in a bad, bad situation."

Yeah, when they are loud and obnoxious and use derogatory language and racial slurs it's all fun. But as soon as the choking starts, it's time to collect your money and hit the streets.

And yet she continues to speak: "I'm not going to stand down and be completely walked over, mistreated. My whole life has been changed. I think that this story and this treatment sends a message in itself and this is clearly something that's not right. It's not right to hurt people. It's not right to scare people. It's not right to carry on with such disregard for the people around you."

I guess she wants to be treated with dignity, like she is on a movie set when a group of strange men jerk off on her.

Capri Anderson plans to file charges against Charlie Sheen for battery, assault and false imprisonment.

But Sheen's attorney, who must be on speed dial and available 24/7, says: "Ms. Capri never made any allegation of wrongful conduct on the part of Mr. Sheen the night of the incident. She has posted on her website that she was 'fine' after the incident, but if you wanted to see more of her enter the web site for money. We will defend this lawsuit vigorously and will never pay her a dime. These allegations against Mr. Sheen are completely false, and are an blatant attempt to cash in on his celebrity."

Hmmm, the drunk drug addict and the pron star. It's so hard to pick sides in stories like these.

I Didn't Say It....

True Blood's Ryan Kwanten, on his gay brother:

"My youngest brother, Lloyd, is gay. He’s a doctor, so he got every ounce of intelligence in the family. He was probably about 18 when he came out, and I can wholeheartedly tell you that from the day that he did, he was a changed man for the better. The sheer beauty of who he is really came through...There was never an issue (with my family). My parents always encouraged an open channel of communication, so we talked about that and everything else. That’s something lacking in a lot of modern-day families — just talking. It’s almost a lost art form."

First off: Helloooooooooo. But I digress.

This is how it should be.

When Portia de Rossi Degeneres was on Oprah a couple of weeks back, all she said she hoped for was that when someone came out, to family or friends, the response would be "So what?"
I long for the day when coming out won't be a big deal, it will just be.


Indiana Republican and Asshat, Mike Pence, on DADT:

"I would still have a problem with it because there’s no question to mainstream homosexuality within active duty military would have an impact on unit cohesion would have an impact on recruitment, an impact on readiness, that’s been established and written about and chronicled for many many years and I believe we need to continue to keep the focus of our military on the mission of the military. Don’t ask don’t tell was a compromise back in the early 90s, it’s been a successful compromise we ought to leave it like it is and and not run the risk of impacting the readiness of our military or recruitment for our military because of an effort to advance some liberal domestic social agenda."

I have a problem with someone who isn't in the military speaking for the military via their own homophobia.

People in the military said repealing DADT won't have any effect on unit cohesion, but Mike Pence, who is not in the military, disagrees.
It's not DADT he's against, it's equality in any way shape or form for the LGBT community.

Mama Grizzly Bore, on the Obama's and America:

"Certainly his wife expressed this view when she said during the 2008 campaign that she had never felt proud of her country until her husband started winning elections. In retrospect, I guess this shouldn't surprise us, since both of them spent almost two decades in the pews of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's church listening to his rants against America and white people."

Leave it to Mama Grizzly Bore to bring up a two-year old subject and treat it as though it's fresh and new.

Juts shows that she has nothing new to offer.

Except homophobe-spewing daughters.

Quincy Jones, to a reporter who compared Kanye West to him:

"How man? No way. Did he write for a symphony orchestra? Does he write for a jazz orchestra? Come on, man. He’s just a rapper. There’s no comparison. I’m not putting him down or making a judgement or anything, but we come from two different sides of the planet. I spent 28 years learning my first skill. I don’t rap. It’s not the same thing. A producer has to have some sort of skills that enable him to be a producer. It’s totally different to know what to do with 16 woodwinds you know from piccolos down to bass clarinet. It’s a whole different mindset. No comparison. None."

I agree.

Maybe when Kanye has about fifty years or so under his belt and has accomplished even half of what Jones has accomplished, will he be any sort of equal.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, on how the 14th Amendment was not written with the intent of granting equal protection to ALL Americans:

“The due process clause has been distorted so it’s no longer a guarantee of process but a guarantee of liberty. But some of the liberties the Supreme Court has found to be protected by that word - liberty - nobody thought constituted a liberty when the 14th Amendment was adopted. Homosexual sodomy? It was criminal in all the states. Abortion? It was criminal in all the states.” “The way to change the Constitution is through amendments approved by the people, not by judges altering the meaning of its words.”

This just sends shivers down my spine.

Justice?

Hardly.

Apparently Scalia doesn't buy into the concept of a living Constitution that changes with time.

I, apparently, don't buy into the concept of Antonin Scalia.

Happy Turkey Day!

Thanks.
Giving.

Giving thanks for any and all good things in life.

It takes only a moment to reflect on the things in life that make you thankful.

Family. Friends. Love. Peace.

Have a fabulous day!

We're Off.........

Carlos and I are leaving later this morning to spend the holiday with Round-The-Way Gays, Neal and David, up in the mountains. It should be a nice simple and quiet holiday with friends, away from the hustle and bustle that is life in Smallville.

I have several posts planned for your amusement, and if Blogger cooperates, I hope you like. If Blogger doesn't cooperate, well, then I have some extra posts for next week when I return to active Blogging duty.

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.

Have a safe and wonderful holiday.

Just For Giggles

source

That's Our Nikki: She's Just Like Us, Only Not So Much

Nikki Haley ran for governor telling us that she understands our pain about big government and taxes and how hard it is to survive in this economy. Even when the news broke that Nikki Haley failed to pay her own income tax, on several occasions, until the state threatened to put a lien on her family business,she told us she understands how sometimes you don't have the money to pay your taxes because times are so hard. She said she was one of us.

Strange, that now that Nikki Haley is the governor-elect, that "just like you" mantra seems to have disappeared,. and suddenly Nikki Haley is just like every other wealthy Republican who buys their way out of following the rules.

See, when Nikki Haley and her family move into the Governor's Mansion next month, this will put her children in a different school district, and Nikki doesn't like that. Now, she could stay in her family home in Lexington County and her children won't have to change schools, but, hey, why do that when the state gives you a free house for the next four years?

So, Nikki is jumping through some hoops to keep her two children enrolled in their Lexington 1 schools. Rob Godfrey, Nikki's mouthpiece, says: “The Haley family is working closely with Lexington District 1 to ensure both that their children can remain with their friends and teachers in the public school district they have called home since their first day in kindergarten and that the family is in compliance with all rules and laws set by the district.”

In "compliance with all rules and laws"? In order to keep her children in Lexington 1 schools, however, the Haleys must make some changes in order to meet that district’s attendance policies since their primary residence will be at the Governor’s Mansion, not within Lexington 1. They must:

• Have one piece of property per child, valued at $5,000 or more, put in each child’s name. For example, they could transfer the deed of their home in the Governors Grant subdivision in Lexington 1, which the Haleys have said they will keep, to one child and buy other real estate, valued at $5,000 or more, within the school district for the other child.
• Pay Lexington 1 the difference annually between the taxes paid on the property owned by the children and the district’s cost to educate each child. Last year, it cost Lexington 1 $1,886.05 in local dollars to educate each child per semester. That would work out to more than $7,500 for the two Haley children minus the tax on the transferred property. If payments are not made within a reasonable time, the children can be removed from the school.

 The Haleys have until the beginning of next school year, 2011-2012, to meet the requirements. Since the Haley children will not move out of the Lexington 1 district until next semester, school district policy allows them to finish the school year in the district.

See, she's just like us, except when it comes to sending her children to school, and then she's just like every other politician who has come down the pike. She can't pay her taxes because times are hard, but she can pay $10,000 for two pieces of property, in her children's names, plus tuition, to keep her kids happy.

That's our Nikki: just like us, only not so much.

source

Odds'n'Ends

I haven't talked about this whole TSA scanning mess because, well, everyone else was doing it, and doing just fine. But now, since it's the story that won't die, and since there is an ALLEGED plot to shut down the system tomorrow, the biggest travel day of the year, by having everyone ask for the pat down, I thought I'd throw in my two-cents. So, here there are:
Build a fucking bridge and get over it.
Seriously. If you're that worried about you scanned image being seen, and laughed at, or titillating a TSA agent, then opt out and go for the pat down. If you are that worried about the pat down, that a TSA agent might touch your junk, or that you might get a little aroused, then opt out of that and find the nearest bus station, train  station, or car rental agency and travel unscanned and unfondled to your heart's content.
See, I think the people that are the most enraged are actually people who don't fly often. And I think the people that fly often are more upset about any added delay rather than a scan and a hand job. As for this National Opt Out Day, do you really think the airlines are going to hold flights because everyone is getting a TSA massage? No; you'll just miss your flight and bitch about that.
Grow a pair, or strap a pair on.
One more thing, the very people complaining about this invasion of privacy are the very same people who would file a lawsuit against an airline if a family member died as a result of a terrorist attempt on board a plane.

Well, it looks like Grampa McCain might have to eat his words. According to the Pentagon there were no discharges under Don't Ask, Don't Tell last month. And there were no stories of a lack of unit cohesion or morale or gays hitting on guys in the shower.
Grampa? You're old. You're out of touch.

I still get the giggles when I think of Mama Grizzly Bore's assertion that she believes she can beat Barack Obama in 2012. I mean, does she think they'll be competing on Dancing With The Stars or something? I just read a new poll that, while it shows that some 49% think Obama shouldn't run for reelection, it shows that if he did, he'd beat The Bore by about 8-percentage points.
I believe she can run, back to Alaska to find more ways to scam the American people out of their hard earned dollars by "writing" another book.
Sidenote: Mama Grizzly Bore says she won't ever do another interview with Katie Couric because Katie is biased against her because she asked tough questions about the Constitution and what books or newspapers MGB reads. And then MGB goes on to say that she got a degree on communications from one of the many colleges she attended before finally graduating, so she knows how to be a good journalist. She knows how to ask the Who, What, Where, Where, Why and How questions.....she just doesn't know how to answer them.

The Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC] has recently added a couple of mare na\mes to their list of hate groups. and they are: the Family Research Council and the American Family Association.
Yes, these two morally superior organizations that preach to know what's best for this country are now listed as hate groups.
Sounds about right.

Just For Giggles



Blatantly stolen from Larry on Facebook.



Another T-Shirt, Another School

Remember when Jim DeMint ::::sigh:::: from South Carolina, proclaimed that sexually active gays and lesbians shouldn't be allowed to teach? And remember when an Oregon teacher was fired because he responded to a student's question about why he was single by saying the law didn't allow him to marry a man?

Yeah, it's like the good old days of  John Briggs, and the Briggs' Initiative, and Anita Bryant and her Save Our Children campaign in the 70's. Openly gay teachers are being singled out as being bad for students, and bad for education, and, well, just plain bad.

In the interests of clarity, Matt Tratner was not wearing the
t-shirt, as shown, in class; he wore a cardigan over it.

Well, openly gay Matt Tratner, a teacher and guidance counselor at John Bowne High School in New York, arrived at school one day in a t-shirt that said: "OUT And I'm not alone."

And he posted pictures of himself, in the shirt, on Facebook with the caption: "Yes- I am OUT at my job... Yes the students like my shirt :)."

Well, that shirt, and that photo caused a lot of ruckus, but by the end of the day. Tratner updated his status to say: "A little after 3pm today, after classes were over a few teachers came over to me to tell me what they thought of my OUT SHIRT I had worn to school today... They said that they had heard all about Tratner wearing it. They asked where they could get one so they too could wear them at school- gay and straight teachers asked to have one. I was never so proud to be OUT."

And gay teachers aren't any different than straight teachers; their job is to educate children; they go through years of college and training to do so, and dedicate their lives to it, gay or straight. So, Matt Tratner's shirt is simply confronting people lie Jim DeMint and that Oregon school, and saying, quite queerly, er, clearly, that gay is okay.

Let's not allow people like DeMint to turn the clocks back to the days when homosexuality was being challenged every single day, and when gay men and women, especially gay teachers, were forced to stay closeted out of fear of being fired.

Jeffrey Campagna, of the Huffington Post:

"Tratner's shirt is also inspiring because it speaks truth to power when others, who should be speaking have been silent. The President has been confronted on his silence about this and a number of other LGBT issues and has refused to use his bully pulpit speak out about it. The teacher in Oregon got fired and Jim Demint got away with his comments because in the year 2010 this country still tolerates the lie that gay teachers lack integrity and that they corrupt the morals of young people....

[Matt]Tratner doesn't have to worry about professional retribution for being out at work or wearing a t-shirt. In New York, unlike the United States, it is illegal to discriminate against someone in employment because of his or her sexual orientation. But the fact that he can do this while in other parts of this country he would be fired instantly only highlights the fact that the President has a lot of leading to do. Mr. President, are you listening?"

Jeffrey Campagna's article for the HuffPo

UPDATE: Kate Cohn and The "Marriage Is So Gay" T-Shirt

Remember Kate Cohn? I wrote about her HERE; she was the girl who wore the "Marriage is so gay" t-shirt to school and got herself in a boatload of trouble because she wouldn't take it off.

Well, now it seems that the ACLU stepped in and fired off a letter to the school, and officials have decided to rescind its decision to ban the shirt.

According to an ACLU release, the principal at Falcon High School told Kate Cohn that she couldn't wear a "Marriage is so gay" t-shirt, which she wore on election day in support of gay marriage rights. The ACLU called censorship, especially given that many students were all sorts of shirts to school with political, and social, messages emblazoned across their chests.

Rebecca T. Wallace, Staff Attorney for the ACLU: "Falcon High School administrators are censoring Kate Cohn's message of equality simply because they did not like what she has to say, but the First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees students like Kate Cohn the right to peacefully and quietly display their political message, even when that message is unpopular."

All it took was a letter, and Falcon High School determined that Cohn "is entitled to wear [the shirt]."

All it takes, in many cases, is speaking up.

Class dismissed.

source

It's My Blogiversary!

Who'da thunk it?
Two years ago today I started ISBL.......and I haven't shut up since!
It's been a blast and I want to thank all of you who stop by here every day, to leave a comment. I would also thank you for all your blogs--especially La Grande Duchess of Dust Bunnies, Her Royal Highness David Dust, who, after visiting his delicious site, inspired me to give this bloggery thing a try--because I find such great stories, pictures, jokes, inspiration, conversations, factoids, and trivia in all your blogiverses.
And so, in honor of this :::cough cough:::: momentous occasion, here is a repeat of that very first thought-provoking, hysterically funny, pensive, erudite, cogent, concise post.....such as it was:

I'm new to this blog thing, but I do love to talk and I do have an opinion--hell I have thousands of opinions--so I guess that's as good a place to start. Let's talk about.........Me!

I am a happily-partnered gay male, and I have been with the love of my life for the last eight years. We met online in an AOL chatroom--no, not THAT kind of chatroom--and became IM friends, and then email friends, and then phone friends and then friends across the country and then I went from California to Miami to meet him, and that was that. A few months later I'd left California and settled in Miami--talk about culture shock!

We stayed in Miami for about six years until Carlos--the aforementioned partner--accepted a job in Smallville, South Carolina, and we loaded up the truck and moved to....well, not Beverly Hills, but Smallville. A small town. A cute town. A town full of nice people who didn't seem at all peeved that the newest arrivals were a couple of mo's from Miami. That's a start, I think. More to come.....I hope.

Sunday Funnies