Archie Comics Gets Gay Friend

It's about as mainstream as you can get.  Archie Comics is introducing a gay character into their newsprint world.  The character's name is Kevin and of all people to confide his sexual orientation to, he picks Jughead.  I am sure hilarity will ensue.  (irony intended)

Stuck in DFW and Hating Delta Airlines Already

Gosh sometimes I outsmart myself...well often I outsmart myself.  I am on my way to Florida for Beyond Leather and I had reservations on American Airlines.  Well, and here is where the outsmart part comes in, I heard from a friend who is a flight attendant on American that a strike was imminent, as in any day now.

So I swallowed the cancellation fee and re-booked on Delta, even though they don't have direct flights.  What the heck? A connection in Memphis should be easy!  WRONG!

The airlines neglected to tell me that the original flight was being delayed by an hour, which means no connection in Memphis.  So I am here at the airport, bags checked and arrive at the gate to see the changed time.  Now I call Delta and speak with someone in India.  He tells me in broken English I can get a connecting flight at 3:40 out of Memphis....through Atlanta, getting me into Ft. Lauderdale at 9:00pm instead of 3:00pm.

We shall see if my bags make it.  If not I will be doing three workshops without any materials or gear and all my leather in in the baggage.  I am praying they don't lose it!

God I hate flying!

More Killer Heathers! Another Teen Hate Attack on Gay Teen

If the story about the attack last fall in Trafalgar Square, London was not frightening enough, here comes news from Kentucky.  Three teenage girls tried to push a fourth girl over a cliff.  They are charged with attempted murder and kidnapping.

Why would they do something so horrible?  The victim was perceived as being a lesbian.  I guess we shouldn't expect anything more from Flat Lick Falls, Kentucky, but the whole blond high school girls plotting to murder another student reeks of a Hollywood plot.  Too bad it's real.

Portrait of a Bigot - Florida Politician Clay Yarborough

Is bigot too strong a word to use for Clay Yarborough? Well let his words answer that for you. In an interview with the Times-Union here were a couple of his responses.

Just in general, do you believe Muslims should be able to hold any public office in Florida?
“I don’t know.”

Do you think homosexuals should be able to hold a public office in Florida
“I would prefer they did not.”

Yarborough, city councilperson in Jacksonville, has attempted to block a Muslim and an openly gay woman form the city's Human Rights Commission. Talk about wanting to stack the deck!

Jon Stewart - Full Gospel Throwdown

I swear Jon Stewart is getting better and better!  Last night he took on Fox News again and with full gospel backup!  If he doesn't get an Emmy for this one, I'll be amazed.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Bernie Goldberg Fires Back
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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - But I Don't Speak Russian

If anyone can translate the cover of this children's book from Russia, please let me know what the hell it is about.  The images are truly disturbing unless you sport a brown hanky.  More at I Am Bored!

"Clockwork Orange" Killers On Trial For Murder of Gay Man

It sounds like something of a cross between the ultra-violent movie "A Clockwork Orange" and "Heathers".  Ian Baynham, a gay man was in Trafalgar Square when he was attacked by a drunken boy and two blond haired teenage girls.  The three began by shouting epithets at him, according to his partner Phillip Brown who witnessed the scene. 

One of the girls began shouting "fucking faggot" and Mr. Baynham slapped her.  At that point all hell broke loose.  The 19 year old boy punched Baynham who fell to the ground hitting his head. Then the two 18 year old girls, Ruby Thomas and Rachel Burke, began kicking him in the face and head and stomping on his stomach.

Baynham who was already in a seizure from the head injury when they began kicking him, never regained consciousness.  The brutality of the attack caught spectators by surprise.  His partner tried to intervene and was assaulted by the girls as well.

This bloody murder should not fade from the media, dismissed as another example of drunken kids.  It is a hate crime pure and simple, and I would expect the UK to prosecute it to the fullest extent.  

The fact that these three teenagers felt secure enough to not only shout insults but murder a man in cold blood shows how dangerous the atmosphere is for LGBT people in the UK.  Sadly things are not much better here.

Duke College Republicans "Out" Their Own Chairman

This one falls under the "duh" file in my book.  Justin Robinette a Junior at Duke University was booted from his position as head of the Duke’s College Republicans because he is gay.  That action also served to out him as well and he is upset. 

In an interview in the Daily Tar Heel he said, “Comments were made directly to me and my executive board before and after the meeting concerning my sexual orientation, calling me a supporter of the faggot center, calling me ironic, calling me disgusting...."

Well I wouldn't call it ironic, I'd call it expected from a political party who openly states it is against LGBT rights.  What was Robinette thinking?

Like the Log Cabin Republicans, this guy is suffering from the delusion that the GOP can be changed.  It cannot and if anything it is becoming more and more hard line.  Though I feel sorry for this guy who had his position taken away from him, perhaps it will be a wake up call to him and a chance to reexamine his political allegiances.

Sarah Palin, Even Less Intelligent That I Thought!

Moose killer and ex-half term Governor of Alaska has made some silly statements in the past.  It is just too easy to ridicule her or dismiss her as merely today's fad.  What I find harder to dismiss is her blatant misstating of fact.  That would be a kind way of saying lying!

Ms. Palin has been telling her adoring fans that America was founded on the principal that religion and the state should be one.  She conveniently forgets Thomas Jefferson, (that guy who was recently written out of Texas history textbooks), who coined the phrase "separation of church and state".  She also forgets the little cornerstone of the Bill of Rights.  For those who suffer the ignorance of Ms Palin and believe it to be true, here is that passage verbatum:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

From her remarks at a recent evangelical women's conference she denies this fact categorically. Here are Ms. Palin's words:

"I beg you, Women of Joy, to bring light and be involved, loving America and praying for her. Really, it is our solemn duty. Praying for true spiritual awakening to overcome deterioration. That is where God wants us to be. Lest anyone try to convince you that God should be separated from the state, our Founding Fathers, they were believers. And George Washington, he saw faith in God as basic to life."

So where does she get this stuff?  She makes it up from thin air with no remorse or conscience, and that is the worst kind of villain, a pathological liar.

For the record, Washington was a diest.  There are numerous web sites that dispute this but their source material is flawed.  This quote by Reverend Bird Wilson, an Episcopal minister in Albany, New York was published in 1831 and is quoted in The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents, (pp. 27).

"I have diligently perused every line that Washington ever gave to the public, and I do not find one expression in which he pledges, himself as a believer in Christianity. I think anyone who will candidly do as I have done, will come to the conclusion that he was a Deist and nothing more."

Bird was told this fact by Reverend Doctor James Abercrombie, rector of the church Washington had attended with his wife.  Though he attended that church he never took communion and many believe he went to please Martha.

Tapping Into America's Dirty Secret

The South has never stopped fighting the Civil War, or as my friend from Mississippi calls it "the War of Northern Aggression".  That is seriously how it was taught in his school!

That war rages not just in the South but across the country, but it's just hidden.  I firmly believe there is a great percentage of the Tea Baggers who though they would deny it are just tapping into that hidden war.  It is not about succession.  It is about racism.

Just look at the demographics of that whole manufactured movement, it's 99% white for starters.  Heck, that's even whiter than the GOP!  And listen to the anger they vent at their events.  You will hear more than one racial epithet with quite a few "fags" and "homos" tossed in for variety.

This is the rage that people like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have tapped into.  They want to "take our country back".  From who?  The country elected the government, we are still a Democracy so who are they wanting to take it back from?  Well it all boils down to the fact that there is a black man in the White House.

That sticks in their craw worse than any ideological issue.  Oh they rant about health care, but when you ask them for specifics, they can only reply with the lies that have been spread.  Then their anger turns to their real problem, President Obama.  They have been raised in a world of white privilege and that has ended and they don't like it!

Just look at the outrageously racist posters they carry and their inflammatory if misspelled signs.  These folks are holding metaphoric torches and pitchforks and they might as well be chanting slogans from the Ku Klux Klan.  If you showed them pictures of themselves they would be embarrassed, but in the heat of the moment they have let their inner racist out to rant.

What Fox News and Palin and the others are doing is very dangerous.  They are playing with fire, and they have no idea how or if they can control it. It's time to turn down the burner and stop feeding the flames.  Some in the Republican Party have already realized this and are distancing themselves from the Tea Baggers, but it may be too little too late.  The GOP is cracking at the seams, and their lock-step mentality may have worked when they were the party in power but now it is just making them look obstructionist and worse.

If the GOP  get co-opted by the Tea Baggers, the true conservatives will stay away, not wanting to be identified with the radical elements of that bunch.  It's good news for Democrats if they can start behaving like a unified party, but hey, they are Democrats!

The whole thing is potential bad news for the rest of us.  With luck it will fizzle out and fade into history's dustbin.  On the other hand, a small group of racists managed to control a whole continent for a while, and all they had to do was tap into the racial hatred of Jews.  Maybe Palin and Fox will start down that road next?

Michele Bachmann is Lying Again

OK, so this is not really big news.  Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is part of the GOP spin machine and she will parrot whatever is put in front of her apparently.  She went on Larry King last night and absolutely lied through her teeth.  What's worse, King let her just go on and do it.

Bachmann was trying to sell the line that by reforming health care in this country Obama was nationalizing the system and had a full "51% of the private economy".

Listening to this crap it's no wonder the Tea Baggers are upset. The truth is far from this and nowhere in the health care reform bill that was passed is government takeover of the industry, far from it!  Here is a little of her pathological diatribe:

" The story in our country has been the federal government takeover of private industry. The federal government literally, in 18 months’ time, has taken either direct ownership or control of 51 percent of the private economy. Eighteen months ago, 100 percent of the private economy was private. But today, the federal government literally owns banks., the largest insurance company in the United States. The federal government owns over half of all home mortgages today in the United States — Chrysler, G.M. the student loan industry and now health care."

The truth, something the GOP never worries about is that the private economy is still private.  The TARP may have bailed out some institutions, but they still belong to the stockholders. Yes, the government  ( that is you and me) have become minor stockholders in a few banks, 6 percent of Bank of America and 7.8 percent of Citigroup as of early 2009, but that is a far cry from "literally owning the banks".

Now I don't expect that the truth can stand up to the Big Lie if it is told long enough, but the news organizations should at least check facts and ask the question of where this lying talking head gets her numbers.  Her answer would be telling, and I'll bet it came from the RNC's talking points.

Vatican Praised Bishop for Covering Up Pedophile Priest

Say what? Do you mean to tell me that there is a letter from the Vatican actually praising a Bishop for his decision to cover up child abuse rather than expose it to authorities? Well, if you read Latin, you could see for yourself. Here is a translation of the letter by French publication Golias, sent by the Vatican to Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos.

“I rejoice to have a colleague in the episcopate who, in the eyes of history and all the other bishops of the world, preferred prison rather than denouncing one of his sons, a priest....”

A priest who was jailed for three months for not reporting a pedophile priest to the authorities. Funny thing to praise someone for? 

Meanwhile the tone of rhetoric from the Pope has become less defensive.  In his homily on Vatican Radio yesterday he said, “I have to say that we Christians, even in recent times, have often avoided the word ‘repentance,’ which seems too harsh. Now under the attacks of the world, which speaks to us of our sins, we see that the ability to repent is a grace, and we see how it is necessary to repent, that is, to recognize what is wrong in our life.”

This is a major shift in the statements that have come out about the recent scandals, and perhaps signals a change in Vatican attitude.  Who know?  Personally, I think the Catholic Church in this Pope is headed for a major schism.  Glad I am not Catholic, this must be very tough on the faithful.

Meteor Streaks Across Wisconsin Sky - CNN Has Video

Wonderful video!

Traditional Values Coalition Lies Again & Again & Again

This time they are trying to use transgendered folks as their scapegoat.  TVC's Andrea Lafferty tells this whopper in an attempt to derail ENDA:

"Every state will be forced to make cross-dressers, drag queens, transsexuals, and she-males* (male-female hybrids) into protected classes. Therefore, every school district in America will be forbidden by law to reassign any she-male teacher because this would be considered "discrimination." Thus, children will be trapped in classes taught by men who dress as women, and students will be indoctrinated to affirm that this is normal behavior."

Someday all this pathological lying will come back to bite these people!

Wha' Happen' to WaMu?

Just blocks from my house a brand new building went up back in 2008.  It was going to be a Washington Mutual branch and it was nearing completion when the skids were put on at WaMu in September.  That building, complete except for removing the covers from the signs and putting in furniture sat empty until a couple of weeks ago.  That's when the bulldozers moved in and tore the bright new bank building to the ground.

It is a suitable parallel to the company itself.  Flying high in the sub-prime bubble and then bulldozed into the ground as it failed.

In the case of WaMu it was just plain unbridled greed that bulldozed it.  Bankers drinking their own Kool-Aid and believing that the artificially inflated housing market couldn't fail were the cause. If you ever needed proof of that greed, how about this story from Politico which details the WaMu lenders on a junket to Hawaii where they gleefully took a turn at karaoke.  The song?  "I Like Big Bucks" to the tune of rap song "Baby Got Back".

“I like big bucks and I cannot lie/You mortgage brothers can't deny,” sang the WaMu rappers.

The presentation, which included cheerleaders moving in time to the music, and choreographed moves by the singers, continued:

“That when the dough roles in like you're printin’ your own cash/
And you gotta make a splash/You just spends/Like it never ends/
Cuz you gotta have that big new Benz/
All of that bling you're wearin'/ Shining so bright peoples starin'/
It's crazy, I gotta ski Aspen/That's all I'm askin'”

During another skit, the WaMu bankers in Kauai staged a mock funeral for their competition, Countrywide Financial, a mortgage lender that was also deeply involved in the subprime market.

From rapping to rap-sheet kind of makes some kind of karmic sense doesn't it?

Beware the Ides of April

Happy Tax Day!  If you haven't done your taxes yet, either get a copy of Turbo Tax and get cracking or file an extension.  As for me?  Well I did mine back the first week of February, that is a personal best.  In the past I have been known to file one or two extensions before getting them done.

Also, it's Earth Day at Starbucks.  Bring in a refillable mug and get a free coffee!  On my way now.

Senate Passes Resolution Condemning Uganda

The Senate in a rare bipartisan move issued a resolution condemning Uganda's anti-homosexual laws. The resolution was introduced by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Coburn  (R-Ok.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Feingold said in a prepared statement, "Sadly, this legislation is just one example of actions taken around the world to restrict the rights of people just because of their gender or sexual orientation… We need to speak out consistently against all such discrimination. The Senate’s passage of this resolution begins to move us in that direction, and I will continue working with my colleagues and the administration to continue to address this issue.”

The resolution passed unanimously!

Cat vs iPad - Enough Cute Video to Last a Week

All I can say is, "Awwww". Oh yea and "I WANT AN IPAD!"

GOP Opposes Wall Street Regulation - No Surprise!

Sometimes it's all too easy to see where the allegiances of the Republican Party are.  Mitch McConnell , (R-KY) is squaring off in a battle over financial reform.  As a "fiscal conservative" you'd think he would be all for ending the excesses of Wall Street that brought the country to the brink of financial disaster.  Think again!

Big business and big money are what the GOP is all about!

Catholic Bishop Blames Jews for Pope's Troubles

So true to its form, the Catholic Church has decided that with all the controversy swirling around Pope Benedict XVI to take it's usual tactic and ....(drum roll) blame the Jews!

That seems to be a sort of default for the Vatican, deflect criticism and then blame those who had nothing to do with the source of the problem. 

Giacomo Babini, the emeritus bishop of Grosseto has determined that the criticism directed at the Pope is coming from "Zionists".  Why?  Well because it is so "powerful and refined".  Well I feel pretty sure that many Jews would be flattered to have Bishop Babini think they were powerful and refined, but most would say, "what is with this Babini?"

Moreover,  the Catholic church needs to start looking inward to find the root of its problems with pedophile priests, not casting about for a scapegoat.  Of course that is not the Vatican way.  So what else is new?