Bobservations

In addition to losing his eyesight, Carlos is also colorblind, and he recently received a new jiggy-mah-giggy—that’s what he calls electronic devices—that tells him the color of his clothing. He holds it next to a shirt or pair of pants and it says … “blue blue blue Green GREEN” … and then he knows it’s a green shirt. He calls it his Electric Valet™. He held it up to me and it said:

“Tell this story on your blog.”

And so here it is ...

From the blog, February 15, 2009:

“Carlos and I decided today would be a good day to do some deep cleaning, so we worked from one end of the house to the other with vacuums and sprays and laundry baskets and window cleaners and furniture polishes and floor cleaners.

I planned dinner. Sunday is usually Carlos' day, but I was in the mood for marinated pork loin, so there you have it. I gave Carlos a haircut. Not the pseudo-mohawk he wanted but something short so he won't have to mess with it too much.

I stripped the beds and was doing laundry and wondered where the cats had gone. All of them hide on cleaning day. I don't know if it's because they think they're getting a bath, or they simply don't like the turmoil. I discovered Tallulah napping behind the love-seat in the sunroom. MaxGoldberg hid under the guest room bed.

But Tuxedo was a harder find … until I walked in the bedroom and caught a glimpse of something cat-like.

I lay down on the bed and peered into the pile of blankets, and there he was. Hiding out because he doesn't like it when you clean; all his regular smells and places to play get cleaned up and put away.

I feel that way sometimes myself. Crawl into a hole and pull the hole in after me.”

One of my favorite things to do was walk not a room and find Tuxedo under something, inside something, on top of something, happy as can be.

The Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill that will allow people to refuse to perform a marriage if they disagree with it because of their so-called faith. Tennessee law already says that religious leaders do not have to officiate weddings they object to and some say this new Hate Bill would empower county clerks to refuse to certify marriage licenses, meaning that LGBTQ, interfaith, or interracial couples could be unable to get married at all, rather than just needing to find a new officiant for their ceremony.

Hate; plain and simple.

This week, Democratic members on the House Oversight Committee asked their GOP colleagues to sign a two-sentence statement that rejects white supremacy, white nationalism, and a far-right conspiracy theory that suggests politicians … of the Democratic persuasion … are intentionally seeking to displace white Americans by loosening immigration.

Every single Republicans on the GOP-led committee have signaled that will not sign the statement, and here are those white supremacists, white nationalists and bigots:

James Comer ... Jim Jordan ... Mike Turner ... Paul Gosar ... Virginia Foxx ... Glenn Grothman ... Gary Palmer ... Clay Higgins ... Pete Sessions ...  Andy Biggs ... Nancy Mace ... Jake LaTurner ... Pat Fallon ... Byron Donalds ... Kelly Armstrong ... Scott Perry ... William Timmons ... Tim Burchett ... Marjorie Taylor Greene ... Lisa McClain ... Lauren Boebert ... Russell Fry ... Anna Paulina Luna ... Chuck Edwards ... Nick Langworthy ... Eric Burlison

On the upside, Iowans rallied this past weekend at the Iowa State Capitol to protest legislation targeting the rights of LGBTQ+ citizens. Nearly a thousand parents, students, educators, faith leaders, community organizers and elected officials attended the Rally to Resist:

“Iowans have had enough. We understand that our friends, neighbors, and family members are under attack and their rights are being stripped away. And Iowans are unified against anti-LGBTQ bills.”

Some Republican lawmakers want to change the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage because everything old, and hate-filled, appears to be new again, when the GOP is around.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Iowa since 2009 when the state became the third state to legalize marriage equality after Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

A coworker, who also does hair and makeup on the side, was telling me about a friend of his who is a hairdresser and was taking classes on how to cut hair for Black men and women, said to me:

“My friend just called me and said she had four Black men today.”

And I said:

“Lucky.”

You could have heard a pin drop in that office.

Haymarket Books is coming for Ron DeSantis:

“The racist governor of Florida continues to escalate his attacks on the freedom to learn and teach history. We at Haymarket stand in solidarity with all those in Florida and across the country who are organizing to resist. We know that books can be dangerous to those in power, especially when they are in the hands of folks who are organizing to fight for liberation. That’s why we publish them. That’s why they’re trying to ban them. In light of this recent round of attacks on the freedom to read, we’ve made these ebooks free for all to download. We are also connecting with folks in Florida directly to distribute radical books for free to young people.”

Read, learn, educate yourself, and vote the racist and the fascists and the bigots and the wingnuts from office.

California Governor, and Democrat, Gavin Newsom slammed Walgreens this week, saying California would no longer do business with the chain after they chose not to distribute abortion pills to 20 states. Newsom’s office released this statement:

“California is reviewing all relationships between Walgreens and the state. We will not pursue business with companies that cave to right wing bullies pushing their extremist agenda or companies that put politics above the health of women and girls.”

Snap.

Florida Republicans are under fire for state bill SB254, which would allow the state to seize custody of children they feel are “at risk” or “being subjected” to gender-affirming medical care, including from families where the child at question may reside outside of Florida. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, and transphobic asshat, said:

“Parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit, and government intervention should be a last resort. Unfortunately, all too often we are hearing about treatments for gender dysphoria being administered to children, often very young children. That’s just wrong, and we need to step in and make sure it isn’t happening in our state.”

Let that sink in … ‘parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit’ unless the child is trans.

Ramón Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican actor known for his current role as the title character in the ABC series Will Trent.  He has the most delicious Southern drawl as droopy and sensual as Spanish Moss draping from the branches of a live oak but that’s not the issue: Would You Hit It?

I have been reinstated to Twitter this week, and instantly went to MTG’s page and told her to ‘Fuck off with her special brand of ignorance and bigotry.’ 

And I’m still on Twitter! Go figure …