Meme Dump

Florida GOP & Democrats: Ignorance Versus Education

Down in Florida where you can’t say Gay, or make certain healthcare decisions for yourself or your own child, Florida Republicans and the state Board of Education … hold for laughter, Florida and education … have approved a new set of standards for teaching Black history and it goes like this:

Florida’s public schools will now teach students that some Black people benefited from slavery because “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Let’s stop there … slaves benefited from slavery because they learned to tend crops and blacksmith and sew and serve white people. Slaves, who were free in their own countries until they were kidnapped, chained in the bowels of ships, and brought thousands of miles away to America where they were bought and sold; where they were beaten and raped—often to produce slave children who would grow up to “benefit” from assaults and rapes; where they were sold as property, away from their own families. Ask a white person if that sounds like a benefit.

The Board of Education points to “blacksmiths like Ned Cobb, Henry Blair, Lewis Latimer and John Henry; shoemakers like James Forten, Paul Cuffe and Betty Washington Lewis; fishing and shipping industry workers like Jupiter Hammon, John Chavis, William Whipper and Crispus Attucks; tailors like Elizabeth Keckley, James Thomas and Marietta Carter; and teachers like Betsey Stockton and Booker T. Washington” who learned something while enslaved, beaten, raped, bought, sold and tortured.

Yes, some slaves took their talents once they were freed and made lives for themselves, but that does not diminish all the suffering endured while enslaved … unless you live in Florida where it’s more, “Look, sure she was raped, but she also learned to cook and sew” and “Yeah, he was whipped so badly his skin split and his blood ran into the dirt, but he learned to plant crops, too.”

And just as disgusting, in other language that has drawn fire from educators and education advocates, these new education standards will also teach that Black people were also perpetrators of violence during race massacres.

As in the Tulsa Race Massacre—which I have posted about HERE and HERE—which destroyed an area of Tulsa called Blac Wall Street, filled with Black-owned businesses and schools and churches and homes; as in 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, 1919 Washington, D.C. Race Riot, 1920 Ocoee Massacre, and the 1923 Rosewood Massacre. Children will be taught that Black people were also the perpetrators of these race riots.

Fuck Florida, fuck the GOP, fuck Ron DeSantis, and fuck their Board of Education for whitewashing history for future generations.

On the other hand …

Nikki Fried, the Chair of the Florida Democratic Party and state Democrat  legislators will be in Tallahassee Saturday as part of a “banned bookmobile” gambit.

Fried will be joined by Representatives Angie Nixon and Michele Rayner-Goolsby, activist Thomas Kennedy, and Jen Cousins, founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, as part of MoveOn Political Action’s first Banned Bookmobile multistate tour. MoveOn Political Action Executive Director Rahna Epting:

“DeSantis and MAGA Republicans’ vision for our country is to censor all of our diverse backgrounds and to punish those who live, love and think differently than they do. We won’t surrender to their extremism, and our Banned Bookmobile tour will give access to books that celebrate the immense diversity of perspectives that are part of the human experience and essential to our development as a society.”

It seems that while the Florida GOP is trying to rewrite history to make themselves and certain white people feel better about America’s racist past, the Democrats and trying to educate the public about what has happened, and what is happening, and what will happen, if we don’t stand up against authoritarian politics like DeSantis and the clearly racist MAGAts.

Speak up.

Stand up.

The Funny Papers

Jack Ohman, Mike Thompson, Joe Heller, Tim Campbell, MacLeod, Tjeerd Royaards, Nick Anderson, Adam Zyglis, RJ Matson, Christopher Weyant, Dennis Goris, Drew Sheneman, Steve Breen, Michael de Adder, George Danby,

Why Is It ...

… that rightwingnuts tell me that if I don’t like Jason Aldean’s gun-toting ambiguously racist filmed on a lynching site video and song, then I don’t need to watch it or listen to it?  But if I same the same thing to them about books—if you don’t like certain books, don’t read them—they don’t understand the hypocrisy?

… that Tori Spelling and the five children she shares with her soon-to-be-ex Dean McDermott appear to be living at a $100-a-night motel in the Los Angeles area? Is it because she’s filming another reality show, Tori Does Skid Row?

… a federal judge has refused to allow Florida’s drag ban to go back into effect after an earlier ruling placed a temporary injunction against it?  Is it because the judge knows that drag is art and as such is protected as Free Speech? Go see a drag show, Florida, it’ll take your mind off the fascist you elected governor.

… that Large Marge is all over Twitter saying she will never stop fighting to protect kids, but says not one single word about the so-called men of faith who are raping children in churches? Is it because in church child rape is acceptable to the GOP?

… that the state of Florida wants to teach children that enslaved people benefited from slavery because they learned a trade?

… Miranda Lambert pitched a fit when people took selfies while she sang? I mean, she got her coins and, no disrespect, it’s Miranda Lambert. Does anyone really wanna hear her sing?

... that some days I realize I'm surrounded by idiots, and other days I realize that it's not just some days?

... that the GOP wants so-called pornography, in the form of LGBTQ+ literature, removed from libraries, but cheer when Large Marge shows pornographic, private images in Congress?

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:

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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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Bobservations

The other day I was telling Carlos about a new client at work. This woman had come with a friend who told me she had lived in Camden through high school, but then moved to Texas, and had now moved back to Columbia.

Carlos looked at me quizzically, and asked her name, but I had forgotten it—luckily, she wasn’t the client … awkward. He said her story was similar to a woman who’d asked him to play his trumpet at her church Christmas service while she played piano.

I tried remembering even her first name and couldn’t, and then, not thinking which is how I go through life, I said to Carlos:

“What does she look like?”

He paused; I paused. And then we both burst out laughing as he said:

“I’ve never seen her!”

Sometimes we forget about his vision impairment. Luckily, he can laugh about it.

This one is from September 2010:

“Someone Has it Easy On Caturday....

While Carlos and I cleaned house and reorganized a closet.......yes, we are that much fun....someone else took a snooze.

Lucky.”

He looks a little annoyed that I was disturbing his nap.

Word has it that the relationship between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, AKA Large Marge and The Bobo, has gotten so bad that one of their colleagues, Rep. Tim Burchett, thinks “a fistfight could break out at any moment.”

Well, whoever wins that fight should be forced to take on the winner of the Elon Musk-Mark Zuckerberg Big Dick Battle … and fight to the death.

Okay, when he was younger, Brad Pitt was steaming hot—and this is from me, a guy who’s not really into blonds—but as he got older, he became more rugged sexy … Once Upon A Time In Hollywood sexy. But this week Brad went to Wimbledon and, maybe it’s just me, but he seems to be Benjamin Button-ing … getting younger rather than older.

House Republicans have proposed several amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act in order to limit the Pentagon’s use of electric vehicles because it's a Biden thing, going green and all. And while there is some debate over the merits of EVs, they emit less noise and heat, so they’re harder for enemies to detect.

I imagine a world where one day all cars are electric … well, except one: The GOP Clown Car will always be a stench emitting gas bag.

There’s growing crisis in Ron DeSantis’ campaign … between reports the campaign is burning through cash—Casey DeSantis’ opera glove budget must be extensive—and that staff is leaving or being fired.

So what does a desperate fool do when he needs some attention? He goes to the “woke” media for a sit-down. Yes, the same Ron DeSantis who called corporate media “very, very untrustworthy” sat down with Jake Tapper on CNN this week,

The desperation stinks as bad as Ronnie’s feet did when he took off those white go-go boots.

Down in Texas, officers working for Governor Greg Abbott’s border security initiative have been told not to give water to asylum seekers even in extreme heat and to push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande, which has been strung with razor wire and a wall of buoys.

They aren’t trying to stop immigrants from  crossing the border, they’re trying to kill them. I have joked about it before, but Abbott really needs to have his wheelchair pushed into the Rio Grande.

Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons, AKA Max Iron,  is a six-foot-one, 37-year-old,  English-Irish actor, and the son of actor Jeremy Irons. But this is more about Would You Hit It?

Architecture Wednesday: Little Pink House

I sometimes think we could live in a tiny house, btu then I also sometimes think I need to understand what “tiny” really means.

This home, nestled on an expansive, 60-foot-wide flower and vegetable garden  lot is a rare blend of 1920s-era architecture and tastefully updated, modern industrial details, two things I love. It also features other things I adore, like vaulted ceiling, exposed beams, an urban sleeping loft,  open floor plan, and oak and slate floors, but, and here’s the rub, it sits at just 565 square feet. Now, our current home is 2545 square feet and much larger than this home, while our house in Miami was small, or so I thought, at 1300 square feet.

But 565 … ?

It’s all one room, save for a bathroom at the back and a room off the kitchen; the living and dining and kitchen and bedroom fill the main floor, while there is also a sleeping loft under the rafters up top.

I like the house … I kinda love it … but could you double it in size … or maybe almost triple it? Howsabout turning the two-car garage into a private, separate primary suite?

That might be as small as I go.

Dwell