Bobservations

Another not so happy week at Casa Bob y Carlos …

Yesterday we let Ozzo out for his business. About twenty minutes later our vet’s office called to say that one of our neighbors found Ozzo in their yard; they put us in contact with the neighbor and Ozzo was brought back home, but it started that conversation again. You see, Ozzo is also about 18 to 20 years old, and he doesn’t see well, he doesn’t hear well, and he doesn’t move well—though he moved well enough to work his way through the fence and go for a Blind Man Stroll.

I suggested we make an appointment with the vet to make sure he’s okay, other than his eyes and ears and back legs, and Carlos couldn’t handle it. As pets do when they come into your home, they bond with one of you; Ozzo bonded to Carlos, Tuxedo bonded with me, MaxGoldberg actually bonded with us both, though he was slightly more partial to me, and Consuelo bonded with her food dish.

So. We’re taking Ozzo to the vet next week, for a checkup only, and to see how his health is because I don’t want him hurt or in pain,  like Max. I’d like the old man to go in his sleep, peaceful and calm, and if he’s okay, other than the aging, then he will live out his days in peace and comfort.

It’s hard; there’s what’s best for the pet and what you want, and really what you want shouldn’t matter.

I, too, was stunned at so many members of the GOP thanking Columbus for discovering America and calling him a hero. No wonder they don’t want history taught in schools.

Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson told would-be GOP presidential candidates—even Thing 45—that she is not getting involved in the 2024 primary.

No money for you! No money for you!

Blake Masters, the GOP nominee for US Senate in Arizona has long denied the results of 2020 election … until this week. Though he ran in the Primary on the Big Lie now, trailing in the polls, Masters now says Biden is the “legitimate president” and that he’s seen no evidence the vote count was rigged.

Pandering, lying, white supremacist. I did ‘Nazi’ that … oops, maybe I spoke too soon. Yesterday Masters said he still believes the 2020 presidential election was neither free nor fair.

I guess he felt the wrath of MAGAts and Nazis and flip-flopped back.

For the first time ever five of Oklahoma’s largest Native American tribes have united to endorse a candidate for governor: Democrat Joy Hofmeister.

The GOP nominee, current governor Kevin Stitt, has had a frosty relationship with tribes after fighting to overturn the 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that weakened the state’s ability to prosecute some crimes on Native American land.

The tribes have spoken.

In Arkansas, the Conway School Board issued new regulations on bathroom use and overnight hotel stays, based on a student's sex assigned at birth. The board also agreed to ban books that discuss LGBTQ+ romances, deeming them "inappropriate."

Some members of the LGBTQ+ community spoke out against the new policy and one parent of a transgender child shared that after this vote, they plan to move out of state. But many of the people who showed up, and almost the entire school board, said that they're proud of the decision. In fact, applause and cheers erupted after one man suggested LGBTQ+ people should be put to death,

If you know anyone who is trans in this country and you still think you need to vote Republican, strike the word ‘ally’ from beside your name because you are no different than that man who suggested killing LGBTQ+ Americans.

Inspired by her late mother, Catrine, Cyndi Lauper created the Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights Fund to support organizations fighting for abortion and reproductive healthcare after SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade:

“If you don’t have control over your own body, how can you be anything but a second-class citizen? Now, the government has control over your body—not you. What should be a private medical decision between you and your doctor is now a government decision. So, this is a big issue for me.”

Good on Cyndi, and her  mother’s inspiration, for taking a stand.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson—or as I call him, Mr. Eraserhead—says he’s been “blown away” by calls for him to run for president, but says his focus is on his family.

For the love of the goddess, America? The Rock? Seriously?

In another story of a celebrity taking a stand, LeBron James will not air an episode of his HBO show The Shop that featured Kanye West. Maverick Carter, LeBron’s producing partner, said the decision was made after “talking to Kanye directly”:

“[After] talking to Kanye directly the day before we taped, I believed he was capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address all his recent comments. Unfortunately, he used The Shop to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes. We have made the decision not to air this episode or any of Kanye’s remarks … The Shop [has] … zero tolerance for hate speech of any kind and will never allow our channels to be used to promote hate … Hate speech should never have an audience.”

Good on James and Carter for standing up against Hate Speech; we need more of that in this country. We need everyone to call out Hate Speech, and refuse to vote for it, when they hear it.

Not so much a Would You Hit It, but another Which Chris Pine Would You Hit: formerly blond and shaggy Chris Pine from Don’t Worry Darling promotional tour, or the newly shorn silver fox Chris Pine?

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Tuesday Thought #3

I Didn't Say It ...

LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player, endorsing Hillary Clinton for president:

“As a kid, I didn't have much money. It was just my mom and me, and things were rough at times. But I had basketball. That gave me a family, a community, and an education. That’s more than a lot of children in Akron can say. There are a lot of people who want to tell kids who grew up like me and looked like me that they just don’t have anything to look forward to. That’s dead wrong. And that’s why I came back to Cleveland … I am determined to make sure my kids in Akron have what they need to become their best selves. … I don’t want to see any of them fall through the cracks. That easily could have happened to me. … When I look at this year’s presidential race, it’s clear which candidate believes the same thing. Only one person running truly understands the struggles of an Akron child born into poverty. And when I think about the kinds of policies and ideas the kids in my foundation need from our government, the choice is clear. That candidate is Hillary Clinton.”

Seriously, you have one candidate working for all children, and one candidate telling the Black community how bad off they are and yet not offering one single solution.

And keep in mind, Stop-and-Frisk is not a solution.

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Kayla Moore, president of the Foundation for Moral Law, on her husband’s, Roy Moore, suspension for blocking same-sex marriage:

“The ruling today regarding our founder Chief Justice Roy Moore is nothing more than persecution of a Christian official. This small unelected group of people, mostly Democrats, have overturned an election of the people of Alabama. All these efforts are being led by a guy who dresses up like a woman and prances on the stage.”

Where to start ….

First off, Kayla, your husband isn’t “Christian” official; he’s a civil official, okurrr?

Secondly, he disobeyed a ruling by the Supreme Court and that’s why he’s out, okurrr?

Thirdly, your anti-LGBT taunt there at the end proves you’re just as bigoted and narrow-minded as your husband, okurrr?

Sit down.

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Donald [t]Rump, on the twenty veterans who die every die by suicide because they are not "strong" enough and just "can't handle” PTSD:

“When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat — and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it.”

Lovely words; and this from a man who received five draft deferments, including one for bad feet — obviously meaning the ones he often puts in his mouth.

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Ryan Lochte, upset that Michael Phelps wasn’t there for him after his drunken night of vandalism and lying at the Olympics: 

“I was like, ‘Hey, can you please call me? Let me know, I need help.’ That never really happened.”

Maybe Michael Phelps decided that since your drunken ass created this mess you should get yourself out of it.

Grow up already.

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Trey Pearson, openly gay Christian rocker, on Mike Pence’s attacks on LGBT rights: 

“Governor Pence got one thing right [in the debate] — society will be judged by how it deals with its most vulnerable. Too bad he’s built a career on marginalizing the least among us, and is a part of a campaign founded on the oppression of women, LGBT individuals and people of color. If we do not believe in hate, name calling or bullying, we should not vote for it.”

And that’s it in a nutshell.

One candidate is using fear and hate as a method to being elected, while one candidate is offering ideas and inclusion.

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