Random Musings

Sometimes it’s hard out there for a Republican …

Last week New Jersey Governor Chris Christie nearly missed his 9:55 Amtrak train from DC to New York and then he didn’t get the seat he wanted on the train and then he ALLEGEDLY had a hissy fit on his phone and then … he got kicked out of the Amtrak quiet car!

Alexander Mann, a commuter on the train tells the tale:

“He got on last minute yelling at his two secret service agents I think because of a seat mixup, sat down and immediately started making phone calls on the quiet car. After about 10 minutes the conductor asked him to stop or go to another car. He got up and walked out again yelling at his secret service. He was drinking a McDonald’s strawberry smoothie.”

I guess he didn’t get the Happy Meal?
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I am a fan of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, because I like it’s twist, and sometimes twisted, take on fairy tales. I also like that they don’t stick to the stereotypes of what a fairytale character should look like.

As in this season’s twist on Camelot, with Guinevere being a Latino woman, and Lancelot being African American.

But it’s Merlin, the white neared old man from the story that interests me now, because he’s played by much younger and far hotter, African American actor Elliot Knight.

That ain’t your Daddy’s Merlin, people.

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Linda Harvey is a religious wingnut who hates gays and hates Halloween, and possibly really hates the gays on Halloween.

But she says this about the upcoming Trick-or-Treat Fest:

“Halloween celebrates the spirits of darkness like no other event. [Demonic forces] are more active than ever in recent times in America because we are inviting their activity in our lives. So here’s my question about Halloween: ‘Why hand your children to dark spiritual powers on a silver platter?’”

Seriously, I agree with her because everyone knows the Devil is so bad about returning things that you should never serve your children on a silver platter ... use a paper plate instead.
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True story: Norwegians use the word "Texas" as slang to mean crazy. It pops up frequently in everyday conversation, as in the phrase "Der var helt Texas!"

Translation: That’s totally Texas!

It became part of the language when Norwegians started watching cowboy movies and reading Western literature. Its first usage dates back to 1957, when it appeared in a novel by Vegard Vigerust called The Boy in which Vigerust writes about a boy who wanted to buy a village and says “he would make it even more Texas in the village".

Nowadays, the word is widespread all over Norway and most frequently used in the phrase "helt Texas" — 'Completely crazy' — and has appeared in Norwegian newspapers 50 times this year alone.

Funny, because here in America, when we say Texas we often mean ‘crazy,’ too.
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First off, I have an alibi … and the alibi is that this happened in Portland, Oregon and I haven’t been there in years.

But … last week a man broke into a Portland home in the middle of the night and found a couple sleeping in bed so … he stripped naked, climbed in the bed and began kissing the man.

The kiss apparently awoke the Sleeping Beauty and he found the naked burglar straddling him. The victim pushed the suspect off of him and the suspect put his pants back on and fled.

The suspect was arrested and faces charges of burglary and sexual abuse, as well as unlawful use of a weapon.

Again, I was three thousand miles away at the time.

This story is still all over our news. If you haven't heard, I'll break it down ...

A girl at a local high school was on her phone in class when the teacher asked her to get off the phone.

She said, 'No.'

He asked for the phone to be given top him for the rest of the class.

She said, 'No.'

He asked her to leave his class.

She said, 'No.'

The police officer on duty at the school was called into remove he and flipped her, in her desk, onto the floor and dragged her from the room.

The officer, who has had these same issues in the past, has been fired.
But, here's the problem with this ...

While the officer's actions were reckless and ridiculous and violent, what do we do about students in school ... children ... who have zero respect for authority?

What do we do about this rash of police violence against, mostly, African Americans?

What do we do about teachers who are so overworked and underpaid that they have lost control of their classes?

All kinds of questions, no clear answers.

The Nanny Who Was A Princess

Norway is one of the more progressive countries on the plant. It was the second country ever to allow same-sex partnerships, back in 1993, and marriage equality became legal in 2009. One thing, however, the government is not very progressive about is surrogate parenting, and the Norwegian government actively discourages citizens from paying surrogates to give birth for them.

Which makes this story a tad bit interesting.
See, Norway’s Crown Princess, Mette-Marit, secretly travelled to India last October to care for infant twins born to her gay friend, and his surrogate mother, after his travel visa was delayed. The Princess used a diplomatic passport to travel to India because it granted her immediate access and did not alert the Indian authorities of her arrival.
She took those somewhat dramatic steps because her friend--who works at the palace--and his husband, were not able to travel to India in time for the birth of their children. Princess Mette-Marit spent several days caring for the twins at Manav Medicare Centre,and, because she travelled fairly anonymously, most of the staff assumed she was a nanny. 
During her absence, the princess’s name still appeared on the Norwegian palace calendar, and her absence, even from a parliamentary dinner, was never explained. Once a relative of the fathers arrived and was able to   take over from Princess Mette-Marit, she returned to Norway; the fathers of the child were granted visas in November and brought their children from India to their new home in Norway.
Princess Mette-Marit spoke briefly about what she had done, and even acknowledged the debate over surrogacy in Norway, but said she had not down what she did as a statement on the issue:

“Sometimes life presents you with situations with few good solutions. This was one of those. There is an important debate going on about surrogacy and this was not meant as taking a side....For me, this is about two babies lying alone in a New Delhi hospital. I was able to travel and wanted to do what I could.”

Even though she never meant her actions to be seen as her stance on the issue of surrogacy, it really was just that. But it was also a statement about same-sex marriage, and equality and friendship, and what friends do for one another regardless of sexual orientation.
We could all use a Princess Mette-Marit in our lives. Lord knows we have enough queens.

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