I Didn't Say It

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and fighter of apartheid, died on Sunday at the age of 90, and this is one of my favorite quotes of his:

“I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. ‘No,’ I would say. ‘Sorry, I mean, I would much rather go to the other place.' I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I cannot keep quiet when people are penalized for something about which they can do nothing. I am as passionate about this … as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level.”

His stance in support of LGBTQ+ rights put him at opposition with many other Africans and Anglican church leaders, but he never backed down.

RIP.

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Sarah Palin, Alaska’s half-term quitter ex-governor and the woman who ruined John McCain, says she might run for office … hold for laughter … again:

“I would love to [run again]. I would never say never. I’m not so obsessively partisan that I’d let that get in the way of just doing what’s right for the people so I would love to.”

First off, this tool has so much baggage that running would be a hoot, but the idea that Sarah-Motherfucking-Palin thinks she is nonpartisan shows just how stupid she is, or how stupid she thinks we are; no Blue would vote for her because she is a partisan fuck, and no Re would vote for her because she’ says she’s partisan and the GOP don’t like partisan..

Goddess she is stupid, and funny … in a stupid way.

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Billie Lourd, actor, opens up on grief five years after her mother Carrie Fisher’s death:

“People always ask me what stage of grief I’m in. And my answer is never simple. I’m in a different stage of grief in each moment of every day. My grief is a multi-course meal with many complicated ingredients. An amuse bouche of bargaining followed by an anger appetizer with a side of depression, acceptance for the entree and of course a little denial for dessert. And that’s how grief should be—all things all at once—actually there is no ‘should’ in grief—grief just is whatever it is for you and that is how it ‘should be.’ I didn’t know who to be or what to do after my mom died. I was afraid of changing because I had built my life around her. Then she was gone. And I had to rebuild my life without her. And it wasn’t (and still isn’t) easy. But time has made me bolder. I never stop missing her but I have gotten stronger with each passing year.”

I know exactly what she means. It’s been 14 years since my mother passed away, and while it may get better it never gets easier.

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Joe Rogan, on his podcast, suggesting that Michelle Obama will run for president in 2024, with Kamala Harris as her Vice President, and who on the right can beat them:

“Michelle Obama and they’re going to bring in Harris, [who] comes back as the Vice President and Michelle Obama is the President. We get a double dose of diversity. [And the right will run Thing 45] and DeSantis together. They have to make a super team. That’s the only way they win.”

Rogan is using fear to spur on the right … the fear of women, and especially women of color, running this country. But what Joe Rogan doesn’t know is that, with one notable exception, this country has been run into the ground for over 200 years by white men and it’s well past time for women, and women of color, to lead.

Now, Michelle won’t run, she has no desire, but if she did, she would be unstoppable.

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Tom Rice, GOP Congressman from South Carolina, saying he wishes he had certified the electoral votes of several states that voted for Biden in 2020:

“In retrospect I should have voted to certify, because [Thing 45] was responsible for the attack on the Capitol. In the wee hours of that disgraceful night, while waiting for the Capitol of our great country to be secured, I knew I should vote to certify. But because I had made a public announcement of my intent to object, I did not want to go back on my word. So yeah, I regret my vote to object.”

Rice, who was among 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Thing 45, calling the former president's behavior during the riot “inexcusable”, still thinks there were “real issues with the election.”

Pandering fuck.

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Ted Cruz, GOP asshat senator, on who should be president in 2024”

“You know, I ran in 2016. It was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. We had a very crowded field with 17 candidates in the race. A very strong field, and I ended up placing second. And you know, there’s a reason historically that the runner-up is almost always the next nominee. And that’s been true going back to Nixon, Reagan, or McCain, or Romney. That has played out repeatedly. You come in with just an enormous base of support. In 2016, we raised over $92 million. That was the most money any Republican’s ever raised in the history of presidential primaries.”

The "most fun" he's ever had ... when Thing 45 said his father murdered Kennedy and then called Cruz' wife ugly? Fun?

Yes, Ted, maybe the runner-up in the last election could be the nominee in 2024, unless he’s Ted Cruz who went on vacation while the people in his state literally froze to death, and didn’t return until AOC went down to Texas to help.

You’re a schmuck, Mr. Cruz, and your own party hates you.

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Bobservations

The other night Carlos was at a rehearsal—he joined another musician playing at our local Catholic Church—and I was home. I let Ozzo outside and saw a black-and-white cat on the deck. I thought nothing about it, but then I couldn’t find Consuelo and I thought what I’d taken as black-and-white was actually Calico in the twilight, so I headed to the back deck again. I walked outside and the little black-and-white cat came up and rubbed against me and purred; then she rubbed against Ozzo. She seemed well-fed and perfectly healthy, so I assumed she was just visiting Casa Bob y Carlos … and Ozzo. I told Carlos about the cat when he got home and he said:

“We can’t have another cat.”

I replied:

“To be fair, we once had seven cats, so we can have another bringing us to four, but we don’t need another cat, and this one belongs to somebody in the neighborhood.”

Cut to Christmas Day and the little cat returned, to the front porch this time, and Carlos … wait for it … it’s grand … took the cat dinner.

We are never going to get rid of this cat, I told him as he began thinking of names.

UPDATE: The cat, which … wait for it … Carlos has named Comet … visits our porch every afternoon for dinner. It’s only a matter of time before Comet comes inside.

Even Tuxedo looks at this talk show quack with a side-eye … and he’s not fond of Dr, Oz either.

Well, I felt the earth move … this past Tuesday we had an earthquake in Smallville, registering 3.3 on the Richter scale and centered just a few miles from Casa Bob y Carlos.

We shook, but nothing broke.

Republican asshat Rand Paul has accused Democrats of stealing elections by … wait for it … he’s the dumbest man on planet Earth … by convincing people to register as democrats and then vote in every election.

No, seriously, this is his idea of stealing.

As the goddess is my witness I thought the delivery man said, ‘Sign my package’ and not ‘I need a signature for the package.’

GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger said the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is looking into whether Thing 45 acted criminally in connection to the Capitol riots.

Prove it, and then have Hillary Clinton go on TV to shout:

“Lock him up!”

That would be Must See TV.

Smallville, AKA Camden, is the oldest inland city in South Carolina, having been established in 1733, and the folks here, the older ones, do not like change.

That picture above is an old bank at the corner of Broad and Dekalb in Camden. The faux stonework on the front is being removed and the old windows are being put back in and people are outraged, most notably, because the twirling sign on the front of the building, which gave time and temperature is being removed.

The building is being restored back to the way it looked when it was built in the early 1900s—see below—and the folks on Facebook, clearly older folks, are asking how they will tell time and temperature now,

Best answer: look at your damned phone.

Michele Morrone is an Italian actor, model, singer, fashion designer hunk of prosciutto.

Would you hit it?

Architecture Wednesday: 19th-Century Victorian

In Denver’s beloved West Highland neighborhood, a rare historic home has just hit the market. The completely restored one-hundred-plus-year-old Victorian estate is the personal home of Anna Slade and her husband, Isaac Slade, lead singer of The Fray. They have lived in, treasured, and renovated this home for over a decade, and it brims with unique details, history, and one-of-a-kind character and can be yours for a smidge under $3M.

Designed by William Lang, and built in the late 1800s, the home was completely restored by the Slades, who took extra care at every turn, even reinforcing the entire underlying structures without compromising any of the original architecture. The iconic red brick exterior and colorful trim are a reminder of the era’s classic style. The Slades’ eye for design, artistic touch, and passion are evident throughout the three-story home, which comes complete with a well-appointed basement and hidden speakeasy.

Just off the foyer is a conversation room, warmed by a fireplace adorned in tile what was salvaged from the original hearth. Within this room and through an ornate wooden door, a private reading nook nestled into the turret of the home. Beyond that is a back parlor, the dining room,  and the library. The large kitchen, laundry area and sunroom fill the back of the house, while upstairs four bedrooms—including a stunning primary suite with turret bathtub—and three baths.

The lower level, which comes with a separate entrance, is a dream come true for musicians, or anyone with a knack for entertaining; this part of the home includes a speakeasy-style lounge complete with a built-in bar, double sink, glass chiller, and ice machine.

You had me at speakeasy …

Dwell

This Bitch: Rob Standridge

Well, first it was Texas, and now it’s Oklahoma trying to turn its citizens into Money Grubbing Vigilantes.

You recall that in Texas you can make money if you  squeal on a neighbor who went to Planned Parenthood or rat out an Uber driver who took a woman to a clinic. Now, in Oklahoma, because they like looking more ignorant than Texas, a GOP lawmaker, Rob Standridge, has introduced a bill that would give any parent the power to ban books in school districts. The legislation further empowers those parents to collect at least $10,000 for each day a book is not removed.

So a parent demands a book be removed from their school district and if the book isn’t they’ll make ten grand a day. It’s like Publisher’s Clearing House for Nazi Book Burning Homophobes.

Oh, I forgot; I say homophobes, because the bill seeks to ban all books "that make as their primary subject the study of sex, sexual preferences, sexual activity, sexual perversion, sex-based classifications, sexual identity, or gender identity or books that are of a sexual nature that a reasonable parent or legal guardian would want to know of or approve of prior to their child being exposed to it."

And so when a conservative ignorant Republican still believing they live in the 1950s believes a book violates these guidelines, they would be able to request in writing that it be removed from the library and if it isn’t they will be paid $10,000 a day; and any school employee who fails to remove the book within 30 days of the request "shall be dismissed or not reemployed."

Standridge said that he has concerns about books like “Trans Teen Survival Guide,” “Quick and Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities, “A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns,” and “The Art of Drag,” though he knows that his bill will end up in court, but he doesn’t care.

As long as he can find a way to make hate pay, he’s all good.

Jeff Green Outs Mormonism As Less Church and More Business

Jeff Green, the billionaire founder of the advertising technology company The Trade Desk and one of the wealthiest people in Utah, has resigned from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS] in a scathing letter in which he accuses the church of a misuse of its wealth and cites its stances on a range of social issues.

Green says that LDS leadership “is not honest about its history, its finances, and its advocacy” and that while “most members are good people trying to do the right thing” he feels “the church is actively and currently doing harm in the world.”

Green’s rebuke was outlined in a letter sent to LDS President Russel Nelson in which he says he has not been a “believing, attending, or practicing” member of the Mormon Church for more than a decade. The difference now is that he wants his name removed from all LDS records now:

“Although I have deep love for many Mormons and gratitude for many things that have come into my life through Mormonism, I have not considered myself a member for many years, and I’d like to make clear to you and others that I am not a member.”

Green, with an estimated net worth of $5.2 billion, joined a growing group of billionaires in signing The Giving Pledge, vowing to donate more than 90% of his wealth before or at the time of his death. His choice to leave the church is based on the fact that LDS “has been wealthy for many generations and yet doesn’t do nearly as much as it could.” The church uses its funds to buy real-estate and investments that add to its wealth, rather than using its money to help its members and it’s community.

“Given you claim to represent the will of God and act as a special witness of Jesus, the Mormon church should be doing more to help the world and its members with its wealth. Instead, I think the church has exploited its members and their need for hope to build temples, build shopping malls, cattle ranches, fund Ensign Peak Advisors investment funds, and own mortgage-backed securities, rather than alleviating human suffering in or out of the church.”

Even worse for Jeff Green in that he feels the Mormon Church “has strained and divided millions of families” through its stances on a range of social issues that have “hindered global progress in women’s rights, civil rights and racial equality, and LGBTQ+ rights.” He’s also donating $600,000 to the Utah-based LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Utah, with half of the funds going to scholarships for LGBTQ students in the state.

Green says deciding to leave was an “extremely difficult” process and took “several years of study and reflection,” but feels that remaining would have led to a “less fulfilling [and inauthentic] life.” He now wants “a life of honesty, morality, truth, and a desire to pursue a more socially just world—not because I desired a different lifestyle”:

“Whenever someone leaves a high-demand, insular religion—it brings some initial pain for all involved. I feel deep empathy for those who have been ostracized from the Mormon community or who choose to leave because of their beliefs, values, or even just who they are. Leaving almost always means losing some amount of family harmony. And those who stay feel loss and pain for those who have left, especially when in the believers’ minds, they are losing family forever. I live with this discomfort every day.”

At the end of the letter, Green requested his name be “permanently and completely” removed from LDS membership rolls:

“I am aware that the church handbook says that my resignation ‘cancels the effects of baptism and confirmation, withdraws the priesthood held by a male member and revokes temple blessings [but] my resignation should be processed immediately, without any 'waiting periods. I am not going to be dissuaded and I am not going to change my mind. I expect this matter to be handled promptly, with respect and with full confidentiality. After today, the only contact I want from the church is a single letter of confirmation to let me know that I am no longer listed as a member of the church.”

For its part, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not responding to Green’s letter.

And Jeff Green isn’t the first prominent Mormon to publicly criticized the church; in March, James Huntsman—the brother of former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr.—filed a federal lawsuit against the church that accused the organization of using tithes for commercial purposes rather than for charity.

It’s not a church or religion or faith for those in positions of authority, it’s a business, and people who belong to this business, this cult, need to know that.

The Funny Papers

Ed Hall, Steve Breen, David Horsey, Michael de Adder, Ann Telnaes, Mike Luckovich, Clay Bennett, Bill Day,