The Funny Papers ... Regular Postings Resume Tuesday

Matt Wuerker, Darrin Bell, Christopher Weyant, Pat Bagley, Liam Simonelli, Nick Anderson, Scott Stantis, RJ Matson, Drew Sheneman, John Cole, Ed Hall, Jack Ohman, Adam Zyglis, Mike Luckovich, Bill Day,

On My Way .....

 I am already midair on the way back home. My dad is doing very well, we've lined up friends to check in on him, and my brother will be up in a week to take my Dad to his next orthopedic appointment.

All is good, and thanks so much for the positive thoughts. I will be home very late tonight and have some cartoons set for tomorrow and something for Tuesday, but new posting won't be back until Wednesday  cuz I'm'a need a minute.

Thanks again. Talk soon.

Mid-Week Update

We had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, and the good news is that my Dad doesn't need surgery. The not so good news is that this kind of break may take six weeks to heal, so he'll be on limited duty for a while but gets better every day. He has a checkup with the doctor again in two weeks and will be able to start some rehab exercises to get the arm and shoulder back to normal.

I will stay the rest of this week to see how he's doing, then get his list of friends and such to help him out as needed.

Thanks' for all the positive thoughts; much appreciated.

Well Hello ....

I'm still in Oregon. My father has an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow and if surgery is necessary. I should be here for at least another week and will be in and out as time allows. I will take a few minutes this AM to check out my blogs and see what y'all are up to.

Stay safe.

PS Carlos' mother had her surgery on her shoulder Friday and came through quite successfully. One down, one to go!

So There's This ...

 A few weeks ago Carlos' mother tripped over one of the family dogs and requires surgery on her shoulder.

Last week my father tripped over his dog and requires surgery on his humerus bone--there's nothing funny about that.

So I am on my way to Oregon to get my dad to the hospital and get his arm fixed. I will be gone at least ten days and, of course, blogging will probably be non-existent or sporadic during that time.

Talk soon, and if you'd like, send some positive thoughts to our respective parents.

Thanks.

Every Day Is An Education

There was a show on CNN last year called Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy that featured many of my loves, from food and cooking, to travel and history, to the adorable Stanley Tucci. Well, this year they are doing Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico, and again it features food and travel and history, though, sadly, without The Tooch.

On a recent episode, Longoria was in Oaxaca cooking with the Indigenous Zapotec people, and she was introduced to an extremely interesting subset of people, the Muxe—pronounced moo-shay. As legend has it, San Vicente Ferrer, the patron saint of Juchitán, was carrying three bags of seeds meant to be distributed around the world. The first contained male seeds, the second contained female seeds and a third bag contained a mixture of the two, and as San Vicente was passing through Juchitán, the third bag ruptured and from that arose the  town’s famed community of Muxes. The Zapotec people often refer to Muxes as a third gender; they embody the characteristics of both men and women, but as Felina Santiago, a Muxe featured in the episode says:

“We are people of two spirits. We are the duality, neither man nor woman. You are neither less nor more.”

Muxes are generally assigned male at birth but tend to present in typically feminine ways through their behaviors, brightly colored clothing and makeup, flowers in their hair and chosen occupations. Many are skilled in embroidery or other artisan crafts, or work as merchants in the markets that drive the region’s economy; often they are the caretakers for the elderly in their community. And yet other Muxes are teachers, lawyers and social justice activists who wear masculine clothing at work but don the more feminine attire in their private lives.

But Muxes aren’t defined by their appearance, nor are they labeled with being transgender, a more Westernized, almost simplistic description. Muxes are not male and they are not female; they are the duality of gender. Most Muxes are attracted to heterosexual men, though many do not label themselves as gay but see themselves as a social and gender category rather than a sexual orientation classification. Even the Zapotec language is accommodating to the Muxe as it has no grammatical gender, only one form for all people. And while the older generations of Muxe don’t experience gender dysphoria, the younger generation is more open to hormone therapies.

One thing all Muxes are is proud of their Zapotec heritage, and they play a key role in preserving Zapotec culture, upholding culinary traditions and other ancient rituals. And as the keepers of their history and society, Muxes enjoy a level of respect and acceptance in the Zapotec community. Some think having a Muxe in the family is a blessing, because of how Muxes tend to nurture the young and care for the elderly.

Still, life is not all easy for Muxes, especially in a Latin country with a distinct patriarchy and a high level of machismo. Many are forced to leave home by their fathers if the father becomes aware the child is Muxe, seeing it as a mark against the family, but many more times the women in the household override the male machismo and allow their child to remain and stay part of the family; they say women choose their children over their men any day.

And they are becoming more well-known, more outspoken, and more accepted by the outside community; every November Muxes in Juchitán put on a festival, “La Vela de Las Auténticas Intrépidas Buscadoras del Peligro,” or “The Vigil of the Authentic, Intrepid Danger-Seekers.” The festival began in 1976 in response to the persecution Muxes faced, and the celebration draws crowds from all over the world, with a parade of colorful floats, a Catholic mass and dancing, and a catwalk show that culminates in the crowning of a queen.

“La Vela de Las Auténticas Intrépidas Buscadoras del Peligro” is a way for Muxes to assert themselves, to come out so to speak, in a space that’s their own. And every year Muxes and non-Muxes alike join the celebration, embracing Muxes and their culture. But their lives are not all fancy dresses and flowers and a once-a-year celebration, for they still struggle for recognition while the debate about what it means to be Muxe, and whether their identity is inherent at birth or shaped by society, whether Muxes must be of Zapotec ancestry, and whether undergoing gender reassignment therapies changes the calculus.

But what I learned most about watching the episode, and then reading about Muxes, is their joy; their passion for their lives, their beauty, their desire to care for others that may have been forgotten by their own families. I thought about all of the anti-transgender hatred, and the anti-drag laws in this so-called modern society, and  then look at Muxes who have been in existence for hundreds and hundreds of years, and most of the time, aren’t given a second thought.

They are just Muxes, reminding the rest of us that literally since time began there has been no single way to express gender identity. And if this ancient community can understand that, even as some struggle with the idea, why can’t the rest of the world, especially in this country?

Sidenote: and this isn’t the only community like this that has been around for centuries. I also learned from Drag Race … sheesh, who knew a cooking show and a drag show could be so educational … and Sasha Colby that in Hawaiian culture, Mahu refers to someone with a male and female spirit and a mixture of gender traits.

This is nothing new people, so why are some of us so frightened by it?

The Funny Papers

RJ Matson, Ann Telnaes, Dave Whamond, Mike Luckovich, David Horsey, Bruce MacKinnon, Drew Sheneman, Ted Littleford, Liam Simonelli, Scott Stantis, JD Crowe, Marc Murphy, Clay Bennett, Darrin Bell, Nick Anderson,

I Didn't Say It

Dan Crenshaw, Texas GOP Congressman, jumped on the Boycott Bud Light bandwagon in a video and showed us all that he’s just another clueless fool:

“Saw Bud Light’s stupid ad campaign, so guess what we’re going to do? We’re going to throw out every single Bud Light we’ve got in the fridge. Alright, well I guess that was easy.”

Oops, no Bud Light in the fridge to throw out because it was filled with Karbach beer … owned by Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch.

I was gonna make a joke about the eye patch hindering his ability to see his own ignorance, but I won’t.

Oops.

photo

Ron DeSantis, on being Bitch Slapped by Mickey:

“Now that the Disney has reopened this issue we’re not just going to void the development agreement they tried to do. We’re going to look at things, like taxes on the hotels, we’re going to look at things like tolls on the roads, we’re going to look at things like developing some of the property that the district owns. They are not superior to the people of Florida. So come hell or high water we’re going to make sure that policy of Florida carries the day. They can keep trying to do things. But ultimately we’re going to win on every single issue involving Disney, I can tell you that.”

Let me allow the Orlando Sentinel to respond, as they did in an editorial this week, asking DeSantis to go back to:

“Running a massive state government where people are dying every day of drug overdoses and mass shootings that you barely acknowledge. Where school boards across the state are grimly awaiting the final price tag of the economically reckless voucher bill you just signed. Where insurance rates are skyrocketing and damage claims from back-to-back hurricanes are being summarily denied. Where, every day, we’re discovering more cracks your machinations have inflicted on the fundamental integrity of Florida’s own government. If Disney executives had responded to DeSantis in the same vengeful vein—by pulling back even a small fraction of the resources the company has invested in Florida—the economic wreckage could have been massive.”

Then the paper Disney’s response to DeSantis “elegant and witty” and said, if anything, DeSantis has created a “situation where Disney has more control, and potentially more secrecy, than it ever did.”

Snap.

photo

Lindsey Graham, confirmed bachelor, lying about pro-choice Democrats on Fox News … again:

“I’m very pro-life, and I think being pro-life is a winning message. I oppose late-term abortions. I have a bill to set a national minimum standard of 15 weeks. 50 of the 53 European nations ban abortion at 15 weeks. I have an exception for rape, incest, and life of the mother. … The Democratic solution when it comes to abortion is taxpayer-funded abortion up to the moment of birth. That’s barbaric. That’s like China. That’s like North Korea. We can win this issue at the ballot box if we show up with reasonable positions.”

You can’t win, ma’am, because you’re a pandering lying twazcock.

Pro-life isn’t a winning message; allowing women to make their own choices about their own bodies and their own healthcare without the input of an ambiguously—well not so much—gay, lifelong bachelor is a winning message.

Look at Wisconsin, dumbass.

photo

Will Cain, Fox & Friends host, lying about that protest by Democrats in the Tennessee statehouse:

“I’m listening to President Biden, and I’m just trying to understand—and I’m going to feign some inability to understand this because I fully get that the use of protecting democracy or accusing something of being undemocratic is just a proxy for ‘I want you to lose.’ So during January 6th, people condemn-ably rioted and stormed the Capitol and it is described as undemocratic. In Tennessee, people stormed the Capitol, interrupted the democratic process, and used bullhorns. And if you punish them, that’s undemocratic. It’s undemocratic as long as it is in disfavor with Joe Biden.”

Will? You’re an ass.

On 1/6 violent extremists broke into the US Capitol building; broke into private offices of Senators and Congresspeople; some of them were arm; some of them smeared their feces along the walls; some of them attacked police officers; some of them stole private property.

In Tennessee, a peaceful protest occurred with no violence, no injury, no death, but one young Congressman was kicked out of the statehouse because he used a bull horn.

One of these things is nothing like the other and for you to suggest they are the same is so totally Fox News Lies of you.

photo

Bobservations

Not so much a Tale of Carlos, but a quick story about his birthday and how he told me last week that he didn’t “care” about his birthday.

Cut to a couple of celebrations here in town, a quick getaway out of town and then Monday—three days after his birthday—we ran errands and stopped for lunch at one of our favorite spots, Café Strudel, and he asked if I was buying since it was his, ahem, “Birthday Week.”

So much for not caring.

PS I bought his birthday lunch.

PPS We’re out of town this weekend, too, taking a quick couple of days in Greenville for Carlos to attend a conference and for us to explore Greenville again.

There will be posts … but I’ll be gone until Monday.

Play nice.

This is a repost of The Great Tuxedo from Friday, June 26, 2009

“Friday Tuxedo

Apparently somebody had a rough night, because, right after breakfast, he was back in bed. Perhaps this explains the empty bottle of vodka I found under the couch.”

I loved how he made himself at home in every single part of the house … and of course I refused to make the bed while he was napping in it!

It looks like a group called RuPublicans on Instagram used AI to transform some of today’s most powerful fascists into powerful drag queens. Incredible work! Spread the love and give them a follow at Rupublicans

Click to emBIGGERate for full glorious appeal ...

Anita Filibust-Her AKA Mitch McConnell and Cruzela Deville AKA Ted Cruz.

Lady Graham Cracker AKA Miss Lindsey Graham and Hawl About Me AKA Josh Hawley.

Rhonda Shanty AKA Ron DeSantis and Rudy Garland AKA Rudy Giuliani.

Mother Pence AKA Michael Elizabeth Pence and Speaker Sparklebottom AKA Kevin McCarthy.

Bombshell Bannon AKA Steve Bannon and Claretta Corrupta AKA Clarence Thomas.

Dang, them are some ugly queens.

At least four people are dead and another eight people have been injured after a mass shooting at the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky. This shooting is the 146th mass shooting this year and occurred on the 100th day of year; yes, at least one mass shooting every day in the United States of Guns.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, revealed two of his close friends were among the four killed in the massacre, while both of Kentucky’s U.S. Senators offered meaningless “thoughts and prayers.”

PS Kentucky is one of the many U.S. states that allow permitless carry.

GOP Representative Large Marge Taylor Greene pitched a hissy fit when she found out that Bud Light was working with transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney and, as a woman who lives for attention, released a statement to the world that she’s switching to Coors Light:

“I would have bought the king of beers, but it changed it’s [sic] gender to the queen of beers.”

Once again, unable to spark a coherent thought in that bleached blond, white trash dumb bitch head of hers, Large Marge failed to note that Coors Light is also a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, has sponsored Pride events, supported its LGBTQ+ employees, and marketed to LGBTQ+ consumers as well, where the T stands for trans. 

With the backing of Nashville’s Council Democrat Representative Justin Jones, left, will reclaim his seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives after that GOP-controlled body expelled for leading chants for gun reform with a bullhorn on the chamber floor.

And it looks like his fellow Democrat Representative Justin Pearson, right, who was expelled for using a bull horn :::cough racist lie cough::: will be reinstated by Memphis’ Council as well.

There will be a special election and both men can run for the offices they held until the GOP got butt hurt at a gun control protest. Hope the people of Nashville and Memphis and their surrounding areas pout these two men back in office; they are what’s needed in  politics today.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is an English actor best known for his portrayal of the title character in Kick-Ass and of Pietro Maximoff in Avengers: Age of Ultron. To me, however, he is best known for A Million Little Pieces when he gave us the full Taylor-Johnson and it was real and it was spectacular. But this isn’t about that—or even the rumors that he might be the next Bond—it’s about Would You Hit It?