Random Musings

For all those of you who wanted to jump on the Pope Frankie bandwagon, hailing him as the LGBT friendly Pope and the new future of the Catholic Church, think on this:

Last week, in Slovakia, Pope Francis gave his blessing to a referendum that would ban same-sex marriage and adoption rights for gay couples there; a vote on the referendum will take place this weekend. Frankie said:

“I greet the pilgrims from Slovakia and, through them, I wish to express my appreciation to the entire Slovak church, encouraging everyone to continue their efforts in defense of the family, the vital cell of society.”

He isn’t an ally; he’s just another goose-stepping Catholic trying to placate the Gays in some places, while working to deny us equality in others.

All the while wearing hideous hats.

Doesn’t it seem like it’s been years since the last season of RuPaul’s Drag Race? I keep seeing the ads, but still it won’t be back until March. Oy! I can’t wait, LOGO!

But, when it does come back — March 2nd, to be exact — the Drag Race will be serving the tea and the shade without Santino Rice. He will be replaced by the likes of Carson Kressley and Ross Matthews, though he is slated to be back as a ‘guest’ judge.

Poor Santino, from co-star to guest.

From the WTF Is Wrong With People File:

Tommy Dean Gaa, a 65-year-old white Missouri man, recently went out for a meal, ALLEGEDLY told his Black waitress, who’d asked if he wanted wheat or white bread that he was prejudiced and therefore would need white bread.

So, he’s an unfunny old racist, I’m guessing, except then it took down to a whole other level.

He then ALLEGEDLY grabbed the girl’s arm, asked if she liked to party, and said, "I have a place I would like to take you where I hung your grandpa." 

The waitress left the dining area and waited in the kitchen until the police arrived. Gaa initially denied making the remarks, but then began spewing racial epithets during his explanation of innocence. He was arrested, charged with a hate crime, and released on bail.

Asshat.

So, that Super Bowl thing was on last week. I know, because, while waiting to watch Downton Abbey, I channel surfed to NBC and saw a bit of the game; I was actually hoping to catch some of the commercials.

But Carlos, who knows nothing — seriously, nothing — about sports, except for maybe soccer and figure skating, wandered through the room and mentioned the tie score.

I said, ‘It’s not tied, it’s 24-14. The Seahawks are ahead.”

He said something about the ‘other’ team catching up, and I asked if he knew how many touchdowns the ‘other’ team — I know it’s the Patriots — would have to score to go ahead.

He said, “I dunno. Ten?”

I replied, “That’s right! The Seahawks have scored 24 touchdowns and the Patriots 14 touchdowns, in the first twenty minutes of the game.”

Goddess love him, though I should have known. This is the same man who, when we attended a Marlins game a few years back with people from his office, stood up after the first inning, said, “That was fun,” and turned to go because he thought the game was over since both sides got to play.

Again … goddess love him; I know I do.

I am so excited!

Harper Lee, author of one of my very favorite books, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” will be publishing a sequel to the book; her second novel! She hasn’t published anything in fifty years and once news spread about her new book, “Go Set a Watchman,” the Internet went wild. Me, too!

The book is said to be a sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” although it was written earlier, according to Miss Lee:

“In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called `Go Set a Watchman.’ It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood, persuaded me to write a novel [what became `To Kill a Mockingbird’] from the point of view of the young Scout. I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn’t realized [the original book] had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.”

The book will be available in July and I will run out and get it first thing.

Matt Barber, swoon-worthy, made his first appearance on Downton Abbey last week as Atticus Aldridge, the apparent love interest for Lady Rose.

Why can’t he be a love interest for Thomas is all I’m saying.

Sweet Cakes, the Oregon bakery which refused to bake a cake in January 2013 after they found out it was for a lesbian's wedding, has been found guilty by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries [BOLI] of discriminating against the same-sex couple and faces fines of up to $150,000.

Boo-yah. It all began back in January 2013, when Laurel Bowman said Sweet Cakes refused to sell her and her fiancée a cake for their upcoming wedding. Aaron Klein, co-owner of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, called the marriage an "abomination unto the lord." Bowman filed an anti-discrimination complaint with BOLI alleging that the bakery violated the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, which protects the rights of Oregonians who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

Sweet Cakes, rather than bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, closed in September 2013, and began calling themselves an in-home bakery. When the ruling came down, the Klein’s posted this note on their door:

"This fight is not over. We will continue to stand strong. Your Religious Freedom is becoming not Free anymore. This is ridiculous that we can not practice our faith. The LORD is good and we will continue to serve Him with all our heart. ♥”

And She is not amused, though She is slightly happy that you went out of business and face a hefty fine.

Our Photo of the Week:

God, I hope Pharrell doesn’t see this because, Lord knows, that man loves a hat.

God, I hate when I don’t make the three traffic lights between my house and my job, so thank god, I’m not James Robertson.

Robertson lives in Detroit, but he works in Rochester Hills, and when his car broke down, ten years ago, he began walking to work because buses don’t cover the entire route. He walks eight miles each day to work, and another 13 miles on his return home. His journey starts at 8AM and concludes at 4AM the following morning, when he arrives home after completing his shift at Schain Mold and Engineering.

In most metro areas, Robertson would not have to make this trek; he would have public transit to take him all the way to and from his destination. But, he says, over the past five years, bus service has been cut back. Rochester Hills offers no bus service because voters there elected not to pay for it.

He never replaced his car after it broke down because he hasn’t been able to save for one; he makes $10.55 an hour, above minimum wage, but not enough for him to afford to buy a car, plus pay for the expenses of owning one.

Evan Leedy, a Wayne State University student heard the story, and started a Go Fund Me page, which at last count had raised over $132,000 to buy James Robertson a car. In addition to using the money to buy a car, Leedy wants to make sure that part of the proceeds are set aside for expenses such as insurance and maintenance.

I love a good story, and I love when someone helps out someone else, just because …

Oh Brian Williams.

For years, years, the NBC Nightly News has been saying he was onboard a helicopter that was hit by enemy fire and forced down during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Turns out it was a bold-faced lie. And when Williams repeated the claim last week during NBC’s coverage of a public tribute at a New York Rangers hockey game for a retired soldier that had provided ground security for the grounded helicopters, crew members on the 159th Aviation Regiment’s Chinook that was hit by two rockets and small arms fire told Stars and Stripes came forward and said Williams was nowhere near that aircraft or two other Chinooks flying in the formation that took fire. In fact, he arrived in the area about an hour later.

And Williams, a blatant liar, is now trying to cover it up by saying, and get this, he made a mistake:

 “I would not have chosen to make this mistake. I don’t know what screwed up in my mind that caused me to conflate one aircraft with another.”

Wait. What? You were confused about which helicopter you were on? The one that was hit and forced down and the one that landed safely?

Nice try, Brian; liar. Maybe you should get a job at Fox news. They lie over there, too, but no one cares.

Out there in San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, the conservative Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, has developed a new document for Catholic high school faculty and staff clarifying that sex outside of marriage, homosexual relations, the viewing of pornography and masturbation are “gravely evil.”

Cordileone’s document applies to faculty and staff at four Catholic high schools: Riordan and Sacred Heart in San Francisco, Marin Catholic in Kentfield and Serra High School in San Mateo. It states that administrators, faculty and staff “affirm and believe” the controversial statements, which will be part of the faculty handbook. The document goes on to say that marriage is between “one man and one woman,” despite California law allowing same-sex marriages. It also notes that sperm donation, the use of a surrogate and other forms of “artificial reproductive technology” are also gravely evil.

Now, students at those schools are protesting the new "morality" rules:

“We call on the Archbishop to cease his efforts to institute outdated and discriminatory “morality clauses,” to retain workplace protections and to allow Catholic school teachers to focus on the work they are doing to educate thousands of Bay Area children. The proposed changes directly contradict the Pope’s teachings, the Catholic values of inclusion and diversity, and the free and open exchange of ideas, which is the hallmark of a good education. They create a culture of fear that denies staff the right to follow their own individual consciences and harms students. As people of faith who value education, equality and freedom of conscience, we ask the Archbishop to remove this language immediately.”

I know some of these anti-gay measures result in a Kiss In as a way of protesting. I sincerely hope the students don’t result to a Jerk-Off … um, In.

Just sayin’.