More TSA Nonsense - Rape Victim Refuses Grope & is Arrested

OK, this is just getting insane.  The TSA detained a lady in Austin, TX this week after she refused a pat down by TSA agents. She has a pacemaker implant and could not be X-rayed, so she was escorted to a room for a pat down.  She is a rape survivor and is very sensitive about being touched. She told the woman from TSA she would not have her breasts touched.  The less than friendly screener said, "yes you are!"  When she resisted she was thrown to the floor and dragged through the lobby and arrested.

Now does it take a genius to figure this one out?  Holiday rush and an underpaid over zealous TSA agent gets angry.  Is that a reason to wrestle a 56 year-old woman with a pacemaker to the floor?

The TSA theater is getting really annoying.  Pretty son, it will affect the airline industry profits and they will start complaining.  Maybe then someone will figure out how to maintain reasonable security without these kinds of silly invasions of privacy.

12 Daze of Christmas - Las Vegas Lounge Act Fay McKay Sings

Fay did this act for years in Vegas. She is a charming lady whose twisted sense of humor has inspired numerous drag queens to do the same song. Still funny after all these years!

Merry Christmas! Have A Cup Of Xmas Weirdness - Grace Jones Sings to Pee Wee Herman

Amazing video from the PeeWee Playhouse show. Enjoy and spread the weirdness!

Very Nice WSJ Article on Our Interfaith Peace Chapel

The architecture critic for the Wall Street Journal wrote eloquently about the Phillip Johnson Interfaith Peace Chapel at the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas.As many of you know it is my home church and the chappel and ultimately the new cathedral has been a project our congregation has poured our money and souls into for years.  Nice that someone "gets it"!
Learn more about the church and the new chapel here.

Eartha Kitt Sings "Santa Baby" - Wouldn't be Christmas Without It!

This rare footage of Ms. Kitt singing "Santa Baby" is well worth watching, always makes the season feel warmer!  Also, there is a strange remix of the song at the end...not nearly as much fun as the original.

Yet Another Xmas Gif Suggestion - For ME!

Dust Ball from Dave Hakkens on Vimeo.

LeAnn Rimes Signs With GMCLA

John McCain Hates Our Troops

Strong headline?  Yes, but true.  In an amazing display of petulance for an old guy like McCain, he has stripped a provision from the National Defense Authorization Act for 2011 which is designed to prevent suicides of veterans.  The provision funds counselors who check up on members of the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve) who have had PTSD diagnoses.  It's specifically designed to catch and prevent suicides and for someone like McCain who is a survivor of PTSD it's unconscionable for him to block this.

Of course McCain has been slipping into crotchety "old man" mode for some time.  Now he is just being hateful.

President Obama Signs DADT Repeal

I just watched President Obama sign the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and I got goose bumps.  He spoke eloquently of the gay and lesbian service members who have been unfairly discharged because of the policy and actually encouraged them to reenlist once the policy has been set in place.  Pretty nice to hear.

I will admit I have been critical of Obama over the past year.  I am impatient for the change his presidency promised.  I also am delighted to see at least some of that change starting to happen.

Do I believe all the barriers to equal rights for LGBT people will fall during his term in office?  No. However I am grateful for the changes that have happened so far. As of this date his policies and the laws passed in the past two years have gone further toward equal rights for LGBT American's than any other administration.  Perhaps, even with a GOP controlled House further advances can be made. 

Louie Gohmert - Yet Another D**k!

OK this guy is officially an idiot!  Why does he have to be from Texas?

Missouri Names Highway After Killed Gay Trooper, But Refuses To Give His Partner Benefits

As the story in Riverfront Times says, "Merry F-ing Christmas!"  Yup the Show Me state decided to name a section of Interstate 44 in Franklin County after Dennis Engelhard.  The State Trooper was killed last year after he was struck by an SUV that was skidding on icy conditions.  He had been assisting a stranded motorist.

As a reward to Engelhard's partner of 15 years, the state has denied any benefits, even though Kelly Glossip and Dennis Engelhard had raised a child together.  Nice frigging present Missouri!

Pope Officially Loony - Claims Child Pornography Was "The Norm" in The 1970's

No offense to any of my Catholic friends, but Pope Benedict XVI has gone round-the-bend.  His Christmas message is bizarre.  It sounds like he is apologizing for the pedophile priests who molested their congregation's children and were conveniently shuffled from one parish to another by the church. 

How am I to interpret this statement in his Christmas message?

“In the 1970s, pedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children,” the Pope said. “It was maintained — even within the realm of Catholic theology — that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a ‘better than' and a ‘worse than'. Nothing is good or bad in itself.”

This comes on the heels of an investigative report in "Der Spiegle" about the Pope's role in allowing a known pedophile priest to continue to serve back in the 1980's.

The Holy Father has succeeded in pissing off just about everyone with this Christmas' message.  I suspect it will not be a Silent Night in Rome this year.

Tom Coburn is a D**K - Blocks 9-11 First Responder Health Care!

OK how can I out this delicately?  Tom Coburn, Republican from Oklahoma is a dick.  Nope that really doesn't do him justice, he is a huge dick!  That's better.

Coburn, in a fit not unlike a petulant child is doing everything he can to block health benefits for the first responders to 9-11.  I know you won't believe it so here is a video of his dickishness. His claim that the bill hasn't gone through the process is a lie. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions committee did in fact hold a hearing on the bill in June — and Coburn should know as he sits on that committee.

John Lewis In Support Of DADT Repeal

In case you missed the debate in the House last week over DADT Repeal, you missed one of my heroes, Representative John Lewis give an impassioned speech for the repeal of the law.  He is one of the living legends of the Civil Rights movement and someone who I have had the honor of meeting. He is a giant of justice in Congress.

Idaho Football Hazing Scandal Includes Sexual Assault

I though hazing had gone the way of the Dodo bird but apparently not in Idaho.  Last year at Blackfoot High School three football players, "restrained the victims in a locker room and on a school bus during a three-month period that began last December".  What they did with them includes penetration with foreign objects and other sexual charges that have rocked the Boise State and Idaho State football teams.  Most of the players charges are in college now and have been suspended from their respective teams while the investigation continues.

Read more here on Huffington Post.