Showing posts with label Gregg Popovich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gregg Popovich. Show all posts

Friday, March 30, 2018

I Didn't Say It ....


John Paul Stevens, former SCOTUS justice, on gun control … repeal the Second Amendment:

“That simple but dramatic action would move Saturday’s marchers closer to their objective than any other possible reform. It would eliminate the only legal rule that protects sellers of firearms in the United States — unlike every other market in the world. It would make our schoolchildren safer than they have been since 2008 and honor the memories of the many, indeed far too many, victims of recent gun violence.”

It will never happen, but wouldn’t it be great? I mean, it doesn’t mean couldn’t own guns, but this whole “it’s my right” argument would have no merit.
Karl Schmid, an entertainment reporter for ABC affiliate in LA, coming out as HIV-positive:

“Hi. I’m a 37 year old HIV+ man who has been poz for almost ten years. I work in television. And on the side of the camera where, for better or worse it’s considered “taboo” for people ‘like me’ to be ‘like me’. For 10 years I’ve struggled with ‘do I or don’t I’? For ten years the stigma and industry professionals have said, ‘don’t! It’ll ruin you’. But here’s the thing. I’m me. I’m just like you. I have a big heart and I want to be loved and accepted. I may be on TV from time to time, but at the end of the day I’m just an average guy who wants what we all want. To be accepted and loved by our friends and family and to be encouraged by our peers. So here’s what I say, stand tall, and stand proud. You can’t make everybody happy, but you can make you happy. And so long as you tell the truth, you will never have to remember anything. Labels are things that come and go but your dignity and who you are is what defines you. I know who I am, I know what I stand for and while in the past I may not have always had clarity, I do now. Love me or hate me, that’s up to you. But, for anyone who has ever doubted themselves because of those scary three letters and one symbol, let me tell you this, you are somebody who matters. Your feelings, your thoughts, your emotions count. And don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. I’m Karl Schmid, and I’m an HIV-positive man!”

Good for Schmid.
Thirty-five-plus years into the virus and there’s still this stigma and shame from some people. Being positive is a condition, a manageable condition, and shouldn’t be treated, by anyone, as a death sentence or something to fear.
Silence + Death.
Kellyanne Conway, White House Propaganda Minister, on the opioid crisis:

“On our college campuses, your folks are reading the labels, they won’t put any sugar in their body, they don’t eat carbs anymore, and they’re very, very fastidious about what goes into their body. And then you buy a street drug for $5 or $10, it’s laced with fentanyl, and that’s it. So I guess my short advice is, as somebody double your age: eat the ice cream, have the French fry, don’t buy the street drug. Believe me, it all works out.”

Seriously, this bitch thinks having a French fry will solve the problem?
God is she dumb.
Gregg Popovichhead coach of the San Antonio Spurs, on _____ and the GOP’s response to school shootings:

“Imagine bullets going through bodies, and what those bodies might have looked like afterwards. How can the president of the country talk about all of the things he’s going to do, and then go have lunch with the NRA? It’s just cowardice. A real leader would have been in Washington DC, not at his penthouse at Mar-a-Lago. He would have had the decency to meet with a group, to see what’s going on, and how important it is, and how important our children are to us. For all those politicians involved, it’s just a dereliction of duty.”

I.Love.This.Guy. Too bad we can’t get him into the White House and get back to some Obama-era common sense and compassion.
Rick Santorum, former Senator and Frothy Mix, admitted he was an idiot for saying students should take CPR classes instead of fighting for gun control:

“I blame myself. I said that wrong comment Sunday and I got everybody off on a rabbit trail. The fact of the matter is I did misspeak in using the term CPR and I think Sanjay Gupta’s job here at CNN is probably safe as being the medical commentator on things.”

Everyone’s job is safe from you because you don’t have the common sense to even be a rubbish collector.
See, right after apologizing for being a daft fool Frothy Mix then said that past mass shootings have spawned organizations that he said have done significant work in combating school shootings by addressing mental health issues and bullying.
Yes, mass shootings have helped in combating mass shootings.
Luca Guadagnino, on the lack of male frontal nudity in Call Me By Your Name;

"To put our gaze upon their lovemaking would have been a sort of unkind intrusion. I think that their love is in all things, so when we gaze towards the window and we see the trees, there is a sense of witnessing that. I refuse with strong firmness that I was coy in not showing that, because I think that Oliver and Elio and Armie and Timothée, the four of them displayed a very strong intimacy and closeness in so many ways and it was enough."

Um, wait just a gosh darned minute … There was a chance that I could have seen Armie Hammer, My Husband In My Head, in his full glory and you quashed it.
Someone hold my shoes cuz shiz is about to get real.
James IvoryCall Me By Your Name screenwriter, on director Luca Guadagnino choice to not show male full-front nudity:

"When Luca says he never thought of putting nudity in, that is totally untrue. He sat in this very room where I am sitting now, talking about how he would do it. So when he says that it was a conscious aesthetic decision not to—well, that’s just bullshit. When people are wandering around before or after making love, and they’re decorously covered with sheets, it’s always seemed phony to me. To me, there’s a more natural way of doing things than to hide them, or to do what Luca did, which is to pan the camera out of the window toward some trees … "

Ivory, who won an Oscar for adapting André Aciman's novel, said his screenplay explicitly specified nude scenes for Elio and Oliver—Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer. The idea was scrapped, thanks to clauses in the actors’ contracts.
Still, there is a sequel in the works, which will take place "five or six years" after the ending of the first film, and maybe, just maybe, Hammer and Chalamet will update those nudity riders.
Armie? Do it for me?????
Dan Reynolds, Imagine Dragons frontman and a straight Mormon, on his support for LGBTQ youth:

“One of the reasons I’ve felt such a need to speak out on this is I’ve gotten countless emails and letters from fans around the world who said, ‘I’m gay, but I know you’re Mormon so that probably means you don’t accept my lifestyle, but I love ‘It’s Time’ and your music.’ That was devastating, and it broke my heart to get letters like that. I’ve written back to these people to tell them, “No, I do support you and I’m here for you.” It’s been a driving force for me to raise awareness and make a difference and not just sit back to let people feel that hurt. “It’s Time” reached a lot in a lot of different ways.”

You can’t paint all people of faith with the same brush. Many, like Reynolds, have evolved and don’t buy into the hate and intolerance.
The march goes on …

Friday, February 16, 2018

I Didn't Say It ...


Adam Rippon, US Olympic figure skater, on how his life has changed since coming out and taking on Bigot Pence:

“Being here at the Olympics it does give me a louder voice. And I’ve got a big mouth and a loud voice. But it has given men a platform. I think it’s so important that I use this platform to my advantage. I think that me using my voice has given my skating a greater purpose. I’ve gotten so many messages from young kids all over the country that my story has resonated with them and it’s incredibly powerful…In the past week I’ve heard a lot of people like, ‘whoa, Adam Rippon should tone it down.’ I can’t tone it down. I’m being me. And I’m being myself. And I’d be doing myself an injustice, and I’d be doing an injustice to those kids who don’t feel like they’re comfortable to be themselves. I talked to you about how I felt before the Games. And you know, it’s brought a lot of attention and questions to my other teammates. I don’t want to distract from their Olympic experience and I don’t want my Olympic experience to be about Mike Pence.”

We don’t want anything to be about Mike Pence, but thanks for standing up nonetheless.
Antonio Sabato Jr., is running for Congress in California and playing the Obama is a Muslim card:

“No, what I was saying was he changed his name to ‘Obama’ because he followed the Islam religion when he was growing up. So I felt once you’re in that religion, you stay for the rest of your life.”

As Judge Judy says, beauty fades but dumb is forever…and now it’s running for Congress.
Joe Biden, suggesting _____ may be compromised by Russia and Putin:

“Look, you know, I want to give every American, including the president, the benefit of the doubt, but I can’t fathom any reason other than he is concerned of what Putin might say or do, or what information he may or may not have.”

Come on, Joe, take him on. Run!
Andrew Garfield, actor, one again saying he is heterosexual, but can see himself having sex with a man:

“Up until this point, I’ve only been sexually attracted to women. My stance toward life, though, is that I always try to surrender to the mystery of not being in charge. I think most people — we’re intrinsically trying to control our experience here, and manage it, and put walls around what we are and who we are. I want to know as much of the garden as possible before I pass — I have an openness to any impulses that may arise within me at any time. But, if I were to identify, I would identify as heterosexual, and being someone who identifies that way, and who’s taking on this seminal role, my scariest thought was, Am I allowed to do this?”

So, you’re straight but you might have sex with men, but you’ve never had sex with men and you’re straight and attracted to women?
Have I got that queer?
Siddown. You’re just posing.
Jennie Willoughby, ex-wife of former White House staff secretary and alleged abuser, Rob Porter, on _____’s skepticism that she was a victim of domestic abuse:

“In light of the President’s and the White House’s continued dismissal of me and Colbie, I want to assure you my truth has not been diminished. I own my story and now that I have been compelled to share it, I’m not willing to cover it up for anyone. And for any men, women, or children currently in situations of abuse, please know: It is real. You are not crazy. You are not alone. I believe you.”

Of course a sexual predator and abuser will always stand by another abuser.
It’s what they do. I believe the women.
Mick Mulvaney, _____lackey, defending the President-For-Now and his Tweet defending abuser Rob Porter:

“What I think you saw there was a couple of different things. That tweet we can be applied to a bunch of different people. When I saw the tweet, I noticed Rob Porter wasn’t mentioned. I had wondered if he was talking about his friend Steve Wynn who has been essentially condemned without due process. What you also saw that from the president is a certain sadness that somebody that he liked had let him down.”

So, it boils down to this:_____ has so many domestic abusers around him that Mulvaney wasn’t sure who he was talking about.
Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs coach, on why it's important for the NBA to promote Black History Month:

"We live in a racist country… And it's always important to bring attention to it, even if it angers some people."

Plus, and get this clear, Black History is American History; it’s part of this country and to ignore or act like it’s for someone else is to diminish all history.
Jeff Sessions, our National Keebler Elf and Attorney General, might just be a white supremacist:

"I want to thank every sheriff in America. Since our founding, the independently elected sheriff has been the people's protector, who keeps law enforcement close to and accountable to people through the elected process. The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement."

Anglo: a white, English-speaking American as distinct from a Hispanic American.
Yup. And it turns out that using the phrase "Anglo-American heritage" seems to have been an impromptu decision by Sessions because a written version of his remarks didn’t contain that phrase, but used the words … “The sheriff is a critical part of our legal heritage" … instead.
Anderson Cooper, on the Fox News asshat John Moody’s assertion—that has since been deleted, that the motto of the Olympics, “Faster, Higher, Stronger”, might have been changed to “Darker, Gayer, Different”:

“First of all, darker, gayer, different is a terrible motto for the Olympics. It’s not a bad motto for a gay bar, I’ll give you that, but I’ll just assume those aren’t Mr. Moody’s favorite watering holes. Apparently Mr. Moody likes his Winter Olympics like he likes his orthodontia – straight, white, and all the same. [But] why is he clutching his pearls in fear and outrage over Team USA? Well it turns out that of over 244 athletes on the team, two of them had the courage to say openly and proudly that they’re gay. And as for the darker part of Mr. Moody’s Olympic fever dream? 10 [athletes]. Does this guy seriously have so little to do that he’s sitting around worrying that people who have no athletic ability get put on an Olympic team just because they’re gay or African American? And does it strike anyone else as hugely inappropriate that a guy who’s apparently high up at a news organization is upset about another organization striving for diversity? Moody’s comments might be funny if he was just a crank standing out on the street corner on Sixth Avenue outside Fox & Friends trying to get his sign on camera with a sign saying ‘darker, gayer, different’…but he is actually inside the building in a top position…I don’t know exactly what he does. It doesn’t sound like he does much – but as a gay man, if I was working under him, I sure would not feel all that welcome.”

It’s Fox News; stupid makes the news. Ignorance rules; bigotry and homophobia and asshattery are the norm.

Friday, September 29, 2017

I Didn't Say It ...

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Emmy award-winning actress from Veep and Seinfeld, announcing that she has breast cancer:

 “1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I’m the one. The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union. The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let’s fight all cancers and make universal health care a reality.”

Good for her, to shine a light of the plight of breast cancer victims in this country and the plight of folks wity no healthcare.
Here’s to a speedy recovery for one of my favorites.
Trevor Noah, Daily Show host, responding to former Congressman Joe Walsh’s claim that Stevie Wonder is just “another ungrateful black multi-millionaire” because he took a knee at a concert in New York:

“Ungrateful to whom? I’m fascinated by that concept. People always say that. Ungrateful to whom? This idea that black people should be grateful is some sneaky-ass racism. A white billionaire spends a year screaming that America is a disaster, and he’s “in touch with the country” but when a black man kneels quietly, he should be grateful for the successes that America has allowed him to have? You think black Americans are free from the worry of being shot by agents of the state [if they kneel during the anthem]? That’s the whole thing that they’re protesting in the first place!”

Yes, black people need to be more grateful to white folks because we’ve done so much for y’all. OIf course, this comes from Joe Walsh, one of the biggest lying asshatted f**kmonkey to ever sit in the Congress so, yeah, there’s that.
Megyn Kelly, to Russell Turner, a Will  Grace superfan, on the first day of her new Today Show segment:

“Is it true that you became a lawyer — and you became gay! — because of Will?”

Yes, Megyn, and interestingly enough, I became a Hillbilly Millionaire who loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly ... Hills, that is, because I watched that show on TV. I also turned out to be a wacky redhead married to a Cuban bandleader because of TV ... okay, that one’s not so far off the mark.
Still, Megyn, thanks for taking a giant step backward you idiot. TV cannot make you gay, but, clearly, being a Fox news hack for a while can't make you an idiot.
Jim ParsonsBig Bang Theory actor, on what it felt like to be a gay man in a relationship for 15 years and to finally marry his partner, Todd—above left:

“I didn’t really think we cared about the act of it that much, to be honest with you. And that sounds cold in a way, but I finally thought … well, let’s have a party then for the celebration, and we’ll go ahead and legalize this thing. And I really thought it would kind of end at that ... but it was so much more meaningful in the moment to me than I predicted. And it’s been resonantly more meaningful to me afterward than I ever saw coming. I’d been an adult gay person for so long at a time when that wasn’t possible that life was ‘fine,’ you know what I mean? There is an underlying thing a little buzz of something. I keep reminding myself of it. I kind of forget, and then I’m like, ‘we’re a legal thing, just like mom and dad were.'”

That’s exactly how I felt when Carlos and I got married; I mean, I knew we didn’t need to do it, but we did it because we wanted everyone to know that we were a married couple, just like our parents, and had the same desires and hopes as anyone else.
John McCain, Arizona’s GOP Senator, on the differences between him and _____:

“He is in the business of making money and he has been successful both in television as well as Miss America and others. I was raised in a military family. I was raised in the concept and belief that duty, honor, country is the — is the lodestar for the behavior that we have to exhibit every single day.”

Well, when you’re a draft-dodging spoiled brat that’s all you know; and, sadly, that’s what the minority of us elected in 2016.
Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors, in response to _____’s racist un-American rants:

“How about the irony of, ‘Free speech is fine if you’re a neo-Nazi chanting hate slogans, but free speech is not allowed to kneel in protest?' No matter how many times a football player says, ‘I honor our military, but I’m protesting police brutality and racial inequality,’ it doesn’t matter. Nationalists are saying, ‘You’re disrespecting our flag.’ Well, you know what else is disrespectful to our flag? Racism. And one’s way worse than the other.”

It’s not about a flag or a song or a knee; it’s about wanting to be recognized, to be equal, to be allowed to live, to be safe from being shot dead if you get stopped while driving.
It’s about being equal, and that’s one of our founding tenets so let’s all move toward that, m’kay?
Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs head coach, on the NFL Take A Knee flap:

Race is the elephant in the room and we all understand that. Unless it is talked about constantly, it’s not going to get better. ‘Oh, they’re talking about that again. They pulled the race card again. Why do we have to talk about that?’ Well, because it’s uncomfortable. There has to be an uncomfortable element in the discourse for anything to change, whether it’s the LGBT movement, or women’s suffrage, race, it doesn’t matter. People have to be made to feel uncomfortable, and especially white people, because we’re comfortable. We still have no clue what being born white means. And if you read some of the recent literature, you realize there really is no such thing as whiteness. We kind of made it up. That’s not my original thought, but it’s true. It’s hard to sit down and decide that, yes, it’s like you’re at the 50-meter mark in a 100-meter dash. You’ve got that kind of a lead, yes, because you were born white. You have advantage that are systemically, culturally, psychologically rare. And they’ve been built up and cemented for hundreds of years. But many people can’t look at it that way, because it’s too difficult. It can’t be something that’s on their plate on a daily basis. People want to hold their position, people want their status quo, people don’t want to give that up. Until it’s given up, it’s not going to be fixed.”

So sorry white people feel uncomfortable when a minority demands equality, or just the right not to die because of their skin color.
And not talking about it solves nothing.
Jimmy Kimmel, on the latest death of an Obamacare repeal:

 “Thank you Senator Collins, you know Maine needs affordable healthcare more than almost any state. You know the sewers up there are filled with child-eating clowns.”

Pennywise be damned!