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.

Utah Man Had The Words "Die Fag" Carved Into His Skin

Rick Jones, his family, and their business, are under attack in Delta Utah simply because Rick is gay. There’s no other explanation.

Last week, while taking out the trash at the family restaurant, Grand Central Station Pizzeria, Rick Jones was beaten, robbed, nearly forced to drink bleach, and had the words “Die Fag” carved into his arm with a knife.

“I went out to take out the trash, and when I came back in, I thought it was strange that I didn’t hear the door close. I turned around to shut the door, and someone grabbed me by the head and slammed me to the wall. … I remember waking up and I was lying on the floor. Someone was on my chest and legs and they were trying to force me to drink bleach.”

Rick passed out and when he woke up later, in the hospital, a medical team was considering life-flighting him to Salt Lake City, He was treated for the wounds, and the carvings into his flesh, held overnight and then released.

"I've lived here my whole live with my family. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I don't have any known enemies, but obviously I have one somewhere." — Rick Jones

But it wasn’t over; five days later, the words “Die Fag” were spray-painted on the family home, and then last week a Molotov cocktail was thrown through Rick’s bedroom window, and the house was spray-painted again, this time with “You’ll Die. Burn Fag.” The family restaurant was also hit by burglary, theft and vandalism that morning.

Millard County police are having a hard time finding suspects, because the young man, his family and his pizzeria seemingly have no enemies. And, sadly, in the town of Delta, little to no media attention has been given to the incidents, and the police are stretched pretty thin as they cover 7,000 square miles of land in Millard County. But Sheriff Robert Dekker has called the case a priority for his agency, and has assigned multiple detectives to the investigation.

"So many things go toward somebody trying to get somebody in the gay community. All of the cases indicate that's what they're after, that's what they're mad at. I would classify it as a hate crime." — Millard County Sheriff Robert Dekker

It’s very clearly a hate crime, and, luckily, the Utah Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has stepped in with an offer of a $5,000 reward for new information leading to the successful apprehension and prosecution of the perpetrators of the attack. Those with information about the crimes committed against Rick Jones should contact Lt. Morris Burton of the Millard County Sheriff’s Office at 435-864-2755.

Terri Jones, Rick's mother, says she and her family refuse to be intimidated by the attacks:

"When you attack any member of our family, you attack everybody here. This is not just against my son, it is against every single one of us. We're not going to back down, we're not going to close the restaurant if we can keep from it. We're not going to move from Delta, we're not going to be afraid. … The only thing we can do is stand strong as a family."

And the local community, small though it may be, has also rallied behind the family, who opened their business just six months ago. Residents have approached the family to offer support, prayers and sympathy, and have made a point of patronizing the pizzeria to help the family stay open, and to show that this kind of crime will not be tolerated.

Even Lt. Governor Spencer Cox issued a statement:

"I was horrified and heart-broken to learn of this cowardly and barbaric assault. The Jones family is an upstanding, well-respected and beloved part of the Delta community. ... This will not stand."

Seriously. Is this what we can expect in any part of this country simply because a young man is gay? As I’ve said before, and before and before and before, if someone just beat up and robbed Rick Jones and the family business, that’s a hateful crime, but when they carve into his skin the words “Die Fag” and spray-paint the same words on his home, it’s Hate, pure and simple.

And it needs to be dealt with, quickly, and severely, to send a message that this will not be tolerated anywhere in this country.

It’s Hate, and it needs to stop.

Gay Salt Lake

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