Friday, July 21, 2023

I Didn't Say It

Jinkx Monsoon, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7, on the current strike from the Screen Actors Guild [SAG] and the Writers Guild of America [WGA] and asking drag performers to strike in solidarity:

“I want to talk to all my fellow drag entertainers and queer artists, content creators, and influencers. I am a member of SAG, so I have a vested interest in the actors and the writers’ strike right now. But I am also a drag artist and queer entertainer who’s worked in this industry for 10 years now. And I know firsthand that drag artists, queer entertainers … we are not fully taken seriously yet. Especially drag artists. Lots of times we’re treated like a novelty. We’re treated like we’re interchangeable with each other. I know as a drag artist and queer entertainer that you never know when your next gig is coming and we live off our gigs, so it’s scary to turn down work. But if a company approaches you right now to promote new work, to act in new work, to write for new work, and you take that job, you will be considered a ‘scab.’ What that means is that SAG will no longer consider you eligible to ever join the actor’s union. This could affect your career in the long run when this strike is over. Taking a job right now could prevent you from getting work in the future.”

Monsoon also noted how important it is for LGBTQ+ performers to stand strong right now in order to prove how valuable our community is to Hollywood studios.

​A few commenters criticized Jinkx for supporting the strike but still going on the road with her current Everything at Stake Tour but she reminded them that the strike does not apply to live entertainment that has no connection to any major studio, film or TV show, which is Monsoon’s case.

So see a drag show, but stand with all the actors and writers, straight and LGBTQ+ who are on strike.

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Charles Barkley, NBA legend, standing up transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light in a bar and in his own inimitable style:

"So I’m gonna buy some drinks for y’all and I’m gonna buy Bud Light. All you rednecks or assholes who don't want to drink Bud Light—fuck y'all. Hey, y'all can't cancel me. "I ain't worried about getting canceled. If y'all fire me and give me all that money, I'm going to be playing golf every fucking day. I got three cases of Bud Light. If you're gay, bless you. If you're trans, bless you. If you have a problem with that, fuck you!"

This is what we … and I’ll channel my inner Charles Barkley … fucking need is allies to stand the fuck up against the bigots and the haters and fucking shut them down every fucking time they spew their ignorance.

Fuck them; and bless Charles Barkley.

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Robert Garcia, out Democrat Representative from California, calling out Large Marge for her publicity stunt of trying to humiliate Hunter Biden by showing naked pictures of him in a Congressional  hearing:

“Today’s hearing is like most of the majority’s investigations and hearings: a lot of allegations, zero proof, no receipts, but apparently some d**k pics. Now, at a certain point, the American people need some actual evidence, actual evidence, but we’ve seen absolutely none. This is, of course, in stark contrast to the _____ crime family. The majority conveniently glazes over the _____ family’s foreign dealings. The _____ family, who, of course, were actually appointed to White House senior jobs, from Ivanka’s Chinese trademarks to Jared’s Qatari real estate bailout and two billion in Saudi private equity money. So where’s that investigation? They were actually in the White House.”

Of note: Hunter Biden doesn’t work for the president or have a position in the White House, but Marge thought it a good idea to show nude photos of him during another hearing on Hunter not paying taxes.

They have no evidence that President Biden did anything wrong but, like Benghazi, they will beat this dead horse. Yet, sadly, the dead horse I refer to is not Marjorie Taylor Green.

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Ted Cruz, going after Barbie because … of who the hell knows … for the attention:

“There’s a scene in Barbie, where there is this map of the world, and it’s drawn like with crayon. I mean, it’s really a very simple cartoon. And so they have this blockish thing that is called ‘Asia.’ And then they’ve drawn what are called the nine-dashes. This is Chinese communist propaganda in which the Chinese are asserting sovereignty over the entirety of the South China Sea. And they don’t have any right to it under international law, but they are trying to take it away from their neighbors there.”

The image in question that has Rafael’s panties bunched shows a crude map of the world with Barbie standing in front of, and an outline of land labeled “Asia” with eight dashes drawn in the sea.

And this has Rafael pissed; not the excessive heat in his home state that’s been going on for weeks, or the murder of immigrants in the Rio Grande, or Climate Change or anything else.

It’s Barbie.

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Vivek Ramaswamy, businessman and GOP candidate for the presidency, proving he’s perfect for the GOP by flip-flopping on January 6 and the Thing 45 indictments:

“My concern is unless we reconcile ourselves with what the truth of the matter was that led to Jan. 6, that’s really just going to be a friendly preview of what’s to come in this country. I think every American has to look, especially much of the Left in this country that denounces Jan. 6 and the supposed threats to our democracy. Everyone in this country has to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves what role each of us played in getting to that day.”

Well, Vivek, I played no role in it; I didn’t amass a mob at the White House and rile them up and tell them to march to the capitol and “take back our country.”

And what’s funny is that your change of heart about January 6 occurred mere hours after Thing 45 talked about you as a possible running mate. And what’s especially funny is that you felt very differently about Thing 45 and 1/6 right after it happened:

Kerry Kennedy, sister of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaking out about his conspiracy theory that Covid-19 was “targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people” and that Jewish people are most immune:

I strongly condemn my brother’s deplorable and untruthful remarks last week about Covid being engineered for ethnic targeting. His statements do not represent what I believe or what Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights stand for, with our 50+-year track record of protecting rights and standing against racism and all forms of discrimination.”

Kerry Kennedy is president of the non-profit group Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

How lovely to have a brother like that and to constantly distance yourself from his inane ramblings and half-truths.

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27 comments:

  1. Tony Bennett took his last ride on that little cable carđźš‹that goes halfway to the stars! He was 96!!

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    1. Long fabulous career he head. RIP

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  2. Barkley Rocks! (who'd a thunk!). I saw Garcia's clip where he said dick pics! Amazing. Cruz was asked after he'd made that statement if he'd actually seen the movie... and of course not.

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    1. I loved Barkley's unabashed f-bombs.
      And of course Cruz hasn't seen the movie; what an ass.

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    2. What Dave said...

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  3. Oh, Jinkx is right and is giving fantastic advice to Drag performers. BTW, I'll be seeing her when she comes back to Chi. And yes, support your local Drag artists!
    It's funny that we see what some people (Barkley, K,Kennedy, GarcĂ­a) are doing as outstanding when they are simply being logical and correct. Well, that tells us how fucked up Rafael Cruz and that other 'candidate' are.
    Go to a Drag show!!

    XOXO

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    1. Like we said yesterday: respectful. That's Jinkx, Charles, Kerry and Robert.
      The others simply want to inflict their rules on everyone else.
      xoxo

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  4. I wonder what JFK would think of his nephew? From Democrat to Republican...I assume RFK, Jr. has decided his privilege is deserved.
    I saw the video of the disgusting stunt MTG pulled. One can only hope that Hunter decides to sue her for her stupidity.

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    1. JFK AND RFK, I think, would be sickened by the bigoted statements of Junior.
      MTG is an abhorrent stunt queen.

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  5. Scab is such an ugly word; some people can't afford not to go to work however right the strike is. Here people are striking for decent pay and the government is too busy giving the twit on the throne a 45% pay-rise....rather more than the 6.5% nurses were asking for and even more than the 35% consultants are demanding. Them wot has gets; them without don't.

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    1. I think striking workers ought to stick together; what benefits one should benefit all.

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  6. I just adore Jinx monsoon. I support the writers strike mostly for the writers and behind the scenes production teams and support. I'm still on the fence about actors. Top-tier entertainers are obscenely paid and I do not agree with that. It's not like they're saving lives. People who are truly making a difference and risking their lives or who should be making the big money.

    Ted Cruz obviously should step down as he proves he obviously does not have enough to do if he has to ridicule a movie. Worse yet the voters of Texas must be dumb also to keep re-electing somebody. So their quality of life evidently is not important to them to keep re-electing him. At this point his fat ass is just taking up space.

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    1. To be fair, actors aren't striking for more money, though they are striking against the use of AI which could limit the use of live actors in some scenes. They are striking in solidarity with the writer's who are getting screwed by the corporate studios.

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    2. I have listened to a lot of discussions on why the actors/writers are striking.

      The strike is covering four main issues:

      The union is striking over four primary issues: “economic fairness, residuals, regulating the use of artificial intelligence, and alleviating the burdens of the industry-wide shift to self-taping.” -- https://movieweb.com/why-are-actors-striking/

      Self-taping explanation-"Too many pages, too little time and unreasonable requirements have made self-taping auditions a massive, daily, uncompensated burden on the lives of performers. Reasonable rules and limitations, and access to other casting formats, are sorely needed to ensure fair access to work opportunities and protect performers against exploitation.” See above link for reference.

      For the actors, not the big name stars we know, it is not being treated like day labors-think UBER driver. Many actors make a living doing work as character actors. They are not on a hit series-and even then they may not be making the big bucks. In times past doing a few shows a year could sustain you AND one would still QUALIFY for company health insurance. Also the initial pay/ residual guidelines were enough to carry one over from one gig to the next. With streaming, just took hold just about the time of the last contract negotiation, the landscape has changed. I listened to a segment yesterday on NPR-FreshAir and the guy explaining the landscape of streaming and every minor and major player trying to grab a piece of the pie was head spinning. We now have streaming services producing their own content and luring talent-actors and writers-from traditional ways of making money-with more money than they could make with the networks. We have Netflix not releasing their viewing numbers. In times past this was a piece on how actors/writers negotiated their rates. The entertainment business is a mess and NOW with the ever changing landscape it is time to create new terms that will benefit all. Right now it's in flux and things are shaking out. But never loose sight of who created the finished product. One has to ensure actors/writers are being compensated fairly now and in the future. It is not the actors/writers fault that steaming is throwing money hand over fist to get programing on the air to claim king of the jungle. It has not paid off for some and many are hemorrhaging money. It's time to regroup. But don't do it on the backs of our actors/writers.

      I am sure we all know what AI can do. Why should a company feed in a writers original work and create new content. Why should a company use AI to do looping on a finished product without compensating the actor for new work. Why should a company us AI to use an original actor in a scene in another film without additional pay. You get the point.

      All in all actors/writers are striking because the greed in this country is floating to the top. Companies should not be punching down because of their failed business model. Fair pay for a honest days work is all that is being asked. And a piece of the pie when using that work again. just that simple.

      Now don't get me started on the part-time pay of UPS drivers compared to the full-time route drivers.

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  7. Anonymous12:03 PM

    the dog's mother
    (Charles Barkley)
    xoxo :-)

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  8. How did you get to be so clever about finding such quotations that either speak truths or demonstrate the moral bankruptcy of the American right?

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    1. Various news sites and such. Sadly, a lot of weeks it's all moral bankruptcy and I struggle to find a good quote. This week was a better one.

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  9. I have family and friends who are of IATSE,SAG-AFTRA, and WGA, so I agree with Jinx and support the unions Here in LA hotel workers are also striking and have joined with the other strikers picketing. I would hope that people outside of the entertainment and hospitality unions will understand that folks are striking for livable wages and sustainable careers. The top tier actors are striking IN SUPPORT of those who aren't making millions, who don't have agents to negotiate contracts for them. The industry is supported by middle income folks who are asking to be treated fairly. *stepping off my soapbox* I think you know how I feel about Raphael and Large Marge already, sweetpea, and RFK, Jr can go pound sand! Much love to Sir Charles! xoxo

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    1. This ... "The top tier actors are striking IN SUPPORT ..." needs to be pounded into people's heads. It's not the highest paid actors demanding more coins for themselves, it's the higher paid actors asking that the writer's be fairly compensated.
      xoxo

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  10. As if we're not already up to our necks in alligators, along comes another Junior. My heart goes out to Kerry Kennedy. I can't imagine the shame and fury she must be feeling. Jinkx Monsoon, Robert Garcia, Charles Barkley: If I could hug them all, I would.

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    1. Barkley slayed me this week!

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  11. Ramaswamy writes but says nothing to me. What I interpret him as actually meaning would go far above the heads of any Thing 45 type voters. A blogmate in Perth WA used to refer to your disgraceful and disgraced former president as #45. Both your and her names for Trumpet amuse me.

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    1. I have never called him by name. I used to use _____ instead of printing it, but Thing 45 works just as well.

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  12. I have heard that Charles Barkley is a Republican but I'm glad he has common sense about Bud Light

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Say anything, but keep it civil .......