I Didn't Say It ...

Alicia Garza, Black Lives Matter co-founder, defending the group:

“Black Lives Matter has never, ever called for the murder of police officers. What we have said over and over again is that it is time in this country for policing to be accountable, transparent and responsible. That’s not rhetoric. That is what communities in the United States want to see from the people who protect and serve them. And so quite frankly, we can, at the same time as we grieve the loss of life of several officers who were killed last night, we can also push to demand that there be accountable, responsive, transparent policing that has oversight form communities and that is accountable to the communities they are supposed to protect and serve. We are not anti-police, we are anti-our people being murdered in the streets. What happened to Alton Sterling, what happened to Philando, what happens to so many black people in our communities is absolutely unacceptable, and I think that’s something that we can all agree on.”

Anyone who calls the Black Lives Matter movement racist doesn’t know what the words actually mean.

It doesn’t say Black Lives Matter More, it says stop acting like Black Lives Don’t Matter.

[photo]

David Brown, Dallas Police Chief, asking lawmakers to do their job on gun control:

“There is a greater role in policy-making, and folks just need to do their job. There are too many things we all agree on on both sides of the aisle that we haven’t gotten done. We just need to get it done. Quit asking cops to chime in and do it for you. We’ve got a full plate. The policy-making, the laws being passed, that’s their job. We need to do it to be safer in this country. The issues have been long discussed. We are not getting to a place where we do anything. That’s the frustration for police officers. We all know what needs to be done that we agree on, just to say we did something.”

I wonder if Congress will listen now that the Police Chief of a major city, where gun violence just reared its ugly head, has asked them to do something?

[photo]

President Barack Obama, calling upon the United States to reject despair after a week of gun violence and police shootings:

“All of it left us wounded and angry. And hurt. The deepest fault lines of our democracy have suddenly been exposed, perhaps even widened. … Faced with this violence, we wonder if the divides of race in America can ever be bridged. We wonder if an African-American community that feels unfairly targeted by police and a police department that is feel unfairly maligned for doing their jobs can ever understand each other’s experience. … Today, in this audience, I see people who have protested on behalf of criminal justice reform grieving along police officers. I see people who mourn from the five officers we lost, but also weep for the families of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. In this audience, I see what’s possible. I see what’s possible when we recognize that we are one American family, all deserving of equal treatment. All deserving equal respect. All children of God. That’s the America I know.”

I am gonna miss this president when he’s out of office, and I certainly hope the next President, whomever she may be, will not have to spend so much time in office at memorials for Americans killed because of gun violence and race.

[photo]

David Cameron, on what he thinks was the highlight of his career as Britain’s Prime Minister:

“I will never forget the day at No.10 when one of the people who works close to the front door said to me ‘I’m not very interested in politics Mr. Cameron, but because of something your lot have done I am able to marry the person I’ve loved all my life this weekend.'”

Equality is a huge accomplishment.

[photo]

Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary, on The Rump’s Twitter call for the resignation of Justice Ginsburg:

“I would not call her competence into question. I think anybody who’s observed her, she’s done her work. Whether you agree with her or not, and whether you agree with every ruling she has issued, I think over the course of her career, she’s demonstrated a keen intellect and understanding of the law and a commitment to understanding that it’s applied fairly to every American citizen and she didn’t earn the nickname ‘The Notorious RBG’ for nothing.”

Snap. Hot Josh strikes again.

[photo]

I Didn't Say It ...

Michael Sam, on Racism, and -isms in general, in the LGBT Community: 

“It’s terrible. People have told me I’m not gay enough, people have told me I’m not black enough. I don’t know what that means. You want to be accepted by other people but you don’t even accept someone just because of the color of their skin? I just don’t understand that at all. How are you saying that, ‘oh, I want people to accept me because I’m gay but I don’t accept you because you’re black, or because you’re white or because you’re Asian’.”

Racism, sadly, exists everywhere, even in the LGBT community because we’re just like everyone else.

Sadly, though, these LGBT racists don’t get the idea that, if we as a community are being discriminated against for being who we are, how can we discriminate against anyone else for being who they are?

Tis a puzzlement.

[photo]

Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary, on that new law in North Carolina: 

“This Administration is strongly committed to advancing the cause of equality for LGBT Americans and to ensuring that they do not face discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love. Like so many others across the country, we are concerned about the potential harmful impact of this law, especially on transgender youth, and believe it is mean-spirited and sends the wrong message.”

Not much to say here, other than Josh is right, the White House is right.

And, yes, I have a crush on Josh Earnest.

[photo]

Susan Sarandon, a Bernie Sanders supporter, on how she might consider voting for Donald [t]Rump over Hillary Clinton: 

“I think a lot of people are ‘sorry, I just can’t bring myself to [vote Clinton]’…I don’t know [what I’ll do]. I’m going to see what happens. Some people feel that Donald Trump will bring the revolution immediately. If he gets in, then things will really explode. Some people feel that. If you feel it’s pragmatic to shore up the status quo right now then you’re not in touch with the status quo. The status quo’s not working.”

So, if Bernie is the best thing and he doesn’t get it, then the next best choice is [t]Rump?

Siddown Susan. I used to think you were intelligent but this is just ridiculousness.

[photo]

Dan Savage, responding to Sarandon: 

“Can I just say I’m for Bernie, or Hillary, or both. Come November I plan to vote for the Democratic nominee whoever it is, because the lesser of two evils is less evil, and I don’t think Donald will bring the revolution.”

[t]Rump would bring chaos and hate and discord to the country.

The only choice is the Blue one.

[photo]

Anderson Cooper. CNN host and My-Husband-in-My-Head, responding to Donald [t]Rump's claim that he "didn't start" the Wife War with Ted Cruz:

“With all due respect, that’s the argument of a five-year-old. Every parent knows a kid who says ‘he started it.’” 

Snap.

Gosh Randy Andy Cooper is hot.

[photo]

I Didn't Say It ...

Adele, in her cover story for TIME, on her hopes and dreams for her son:

“The other day I was saying, ‘Oh God, I’m finding this really hard again with a kid.’ I have no time for myself because in between doing this, all my spare time is with him. But then I realized, he’s been keeping me totally cool and calm about the whole thing. ... He makes me so proud of myself, and he makes me like myself so much. … I’m so proud of myself that I made him in my belly. Cooked him in my belly and then he came out of me! This human who’s suddenly walking around and doing his own thing. I can’t wait to know who his best friends are going to be, who his girlfriend or his boyfriend is going to be or what movies he likes… Whatever my kid wants to do or be I will always support him no matter what."

If I didn’t love Adele before, I love her now. Any child, gay or straight, needs a parent who will love them unconditionally, and love the person they love, too.

[photo]

Mandy Patinkin, on ending Islamophobia and costly wars:

“It is essential that we stop this paradigm of violence ... by that I mean, it hasn’t worked. It hasn’t worked, this violence ‘an eye for an eye.’ We have to come up with a new paradigm … and what is that new paradigm if war isn’t working? Where you spend $4 trillion on this war. What is being spent on the marginalized people in humanity? All of these wonderful Muslim men and women that have no education, no opportunity, no good schooling and so what do they do? They look for someone else who’s saying ‘will give you a better life.’ Why aren’t we taking that money that’s used for bombs, and making schools and hospitals and homes and opportunity?”

Imagine a world where the United States doesn’t spend billions on war, but instead spends it on erasing hunger and poverty and funding education and helping out those in need.

Wouldn’t that be a great place to live?

[photo]

Kim Davis, Kentucky Kounty Klerk and same-sex marriage opponent, on why God ‘chose’ her:

"How ironic that God would use a person like me, who failed so miserably at marriage in the world, to defend it now. The Lord picks the unlikely source to convey the message."

Perhaps she wasn’t really listening, because maybe God told her that since she had f**ked up her own marriages, time and again, she should not be judging anyone else’s right to marry.

Look, the bitch is a hypocrite who tells herself she can do whatever she wants because God … meanwhile God is watching, shaking her head and weeping at people like Kim Davis.

[photo]

Ben Carson, connecting Bill Clinton‘s sex scandal to the corruption of America’s youth:

“My main problem with it, is I saw innocent little kids… becoming coarser and wanting to know what certain things are that they’re hearing about on television––things that they would’ve never known about as kids before.”

Goddess help me, but this has got to be the dumbest human alive.

Kids weren’t watching the news and hearing about sex from Bill Clinton; they were hearing it about it, and probably experimenting with it, in the schoolyards, asshat.

[photo]

Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, on this year's birther battle:

“It would be quite ironic if after 7 or 8 years of drama around the president’s birth certificate if Republican primary voters were to choose Senator Cruz as their nominee. Somebody who actually wasn’t born in the United States and only 15 months ago renounced his Canadian citizenship.”

Oh.

Snap.

PS He's just so darn cute ... Josh Earnest, I mean, not Ted Cruz.

[photo]

I Didn't Say It ...

George Takei, actor, activist, on Indiana Governor Mike pence signing an anti-gay "religious freedom" bill into law:

"I am outraged that Gov. Pence would sign such a divisive measure into law. He has made it clear that LGBT couples, like Brad and me, are now unwelcome in his state. The notion that this bill was not driven by animus against our community is belied by the record and frankly insulting. I will join many in demanding that socially responsible companies withdraw their business, conferences and support from his state and that LGBTs and our friends and supporters refuse to visit or do business with Indiana. It is a sad day for the Hoosier state, and indeed for the many good people of Indiana, for whom this law now stands as a terrible blight upon that state's reputation."

Let me make this queer: if a governor wishes to sign a law stating that business can deny me service simply because I’m gay, then I, and I hope most of the LGBT community and our allies, will decide not to visit those states.
[photo source]

Tim Cook, Apple CEO, on those Religious Freedom Restoration Acts:

"Men and women have fought and died fighting to protect our country’s founding principles of freedom and equality. We owe it to them, to each other and to our future to continue to fight with our words and our actions to make sure we protect those ideals. The days of segregation and discrimination marked by 'Whites Only' signs on shop doors, water fountains and restrooms must remain deep in our past. We must never return to any semblance of that time. America must be a land of opportunity for everyone. This isn’t a political issue. It isn’t a religious issue. This is about how we treat each other as human beings. Opposing discrimination takes courage. With the lives and dignity of so many people at stake, it’s time for all of us to be courageous."

I’d like to see Tim Cook stage an Apple boycott of Indiana. His words have power, his deed could be mighty.
[photo source]

Rand Paul, speaking to a group of religious leaders at a private prayer breakfast about marriage equality:

"Don’t always look to Washington to solve anything. In fact, the moral crisis we have in our country, there is a role for us trying to figure out things like marriage, there’s also a moral crisis that allows people to think that there would be some sort of other marriage." 

Here’s the moral crisis, Rand: it’s that most people in this country are finally becoming aware that marriage equality is right and fair and doesn’t affect them at all. And you bigots and rightwingnuts and Teabaggers and Republicans are now realizing that your special brand of divisive politics needs a new scapegoat.

[photo source]

Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, talking to reporters about Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act:

“I have seen that there are a number of private businesses and nonprofit organizations that have said that the signing of this law prompts them to reconsider doing business in the state of Indiana. All those business and some of those who are considering having conventions in Indiana have raised concerns about whether all of their employees can count on being treated fairly in Indiana. I think that is a testament to the kind of reaction I think a lot of people all across the country had, which is that the signing of the bill doesn’t seem like it’s a step in the direction of equality and justice and liberty for all Americans. Again, that’s not just the view of the administration, I know that’s the view of the Republican mayor of Indianapolis and a whole host of nonprofit and private sector companies who have legitimate concerns about the impact of this legislation.”

From the top: discrimination, for any reason, is wrong.

And, in  the interests of being transparent: I have a wee crush on Josh.

[photo source]

Martha Stewart, ex-con and lifestyle expert, taking on Ludacris, while pimping out her linens, at the Justin Bieber roast:

“I know you’re all wondering why I’m here tonight, It’s because Martha Stewart Changes peoples’ lives for the better. I believe the bedroom is the most important room in the house but I don’t have to tell you that, Ludacris. You have three kids with three different women. May I suggest pulling out some time and finishing on some fine, highly-absorbent Martha Stewart bed linens?”

Martha plays blue! And I love it!

[photo source]

Random Musings ... A Day Late

A day late because yesterday was a day for just Carlos and me … and the kids.

Nice holiday, gorgeous, but cold, weather, and a delicious meal, our first Thanksgiving as Husband-and-Husband.

Carlos made his Martha Stewart Turkey and Homemade Cranberry Sauce with a Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert; I did wine — cuz I loves me some wine — Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Garlic, Red Onion and Pancetta, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, and Vanilla Whipped Cream for the cheesecake.

It was a lovely, happy day.So, what else has been on my mind …

Just thought I start off musing about our kids, clockwise from top left:

Tuxedo, the most gorgeous, and smartest, cat ever, followed by Miss Consuelo Roca-Jones, quite the diva — she makes me pale by comparison; followed by MaxGoldberg, of the Boca Raton Goldbergs, a retired Jewish accountant from the Sunshine state; then the lone canine, Ozzo, looking like he’s begging for a doggie brother or sister.

Nothing says Christmas like hate, at least in Uganda.

Abdu Latif Ssebagala, a Ugandan lawmaker who helped draft the country's revised anti-gay law is hoping to have the bill passed this year as a "Christmas gift" for Ugandans:

"The draft is ready and we have strengthened the law, especially in areas of promotion and luring children. Next week we expect to meet the speaker to fix a date for the re-tabling to parliament."

In Uganda, nothing says Happy Holidays like Kill The Gays.

I’m hooked on Jesse J. She has kind of a Jolie-thing going on and she can Bang Bang.

Plus her boyfriend, Luke James, is kinda hot.

Just sayin’.

Last week we talked Carlos’ hair. He was trying to grow it and every day it took on a new persona; yes, he went from Bieber to Jackson to Bob’s Big Boy in the space of a day and a half.

Then I came home one day to find that he’d gotten a haircut, and, well, this is what that looked like … without the tiny mustache, of course:

With a little manipulation, and some product of course, because we’re gay, not animals, it looked like this:

Much better … plus I have the hots for Ralph Fiennes, even as a Nazi, but I was afraid to leave the house whilst Carlos looked like Adolf.

I loved hearing the news reports that Brad and Angie had a big blowout ... some reports called it "explosive" ... in Australia, with pictures of the two of them on a balcony.

Yeah, that's a blowout all right. Maybe they should stop by my house and I'll show them what an explosive blowout looks like.

Plus, do they really think that we think Brad and Angie are so perfect that they have never fought? Grow up.

Look at that!

Mississippi and Arkansas welcomed Marriage Equality this week, meaning that I can travel to the state where I was born — I am a Mississippi boy — and get same-sex married.

Who knew?

Darren Wilson says he is sorry for the shooting Michael Brown to death, but he has a "clean conscience" about what happened and would not do anything differently today.

Hmmm, not a thing differently? You wouldn’t even try to something different so that unarmed man wouldn’t die?

Nice, Darren. You need to go away now, far away.

You know, while watching the news one day I came across White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

Hot.

And here’s the song that’s running through the loop in my head this week. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and “The Heart Is Slow To Learn.”

It almost makes me weep … almost.