Pen and Ink

A fitting departure.

Ah, the Fourth of July. Our nation's birthday, the day we declared our independence from England. The day we celebrate all that this country stands for, most importantly the belief that all people are created equal.

How fitting that one of our nation's most virulent bigots, Jesse Helms, should die today.

This from the AP:  "It's just incredible that he would die on July 4, the same day of the Declaration of Independence and the same day that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, and he certainly is a patriot in the mold of those great men," said former North Carolina GOP Rep. Bill Cobey, the chairman of The Jesse Helms Center in Wingate, N.C.

A patriot?  A PATRIOT?

This man personified hatred.  His hatred for us LGBT folks and those living with HIV/AIDS is legendary. It's fitting that he should die today. In these dark days in our nation's history, his death is a bright light, brighter than tonight's fireworks, a symbol that perhaps better days are ahead.

Good riddance!

Eyes shut.

The Times had an article on Saturday that said that just over 10% of homeowners in the United States have mortgages that are higher than their homes are currently worth.

That's an astounding number and I'm happy that I'm not one of them.

I'm no economist, but I have to wonder: Didn't anyone see this coming?

The housing market throughout the country has been out of control with prices climbing higher and higher. Here in South Florida, developers have been building and building to a point that people are walking away from deposits on the thousands of newly-built condo in downtown Miami and littered along the coast.

Everything is cyclical. It's a basic fundamental law of economic physics, if you will.

So where was the government throughout all of this?

They're all hot and bothered about trying to jump start the economy. They're sending $600 checks to millions of people who will use them to pay their heating bills or put gas in their cars because oil prices have skyrocketed. Those checks will do nothing for the economy.

So I repeat the question: where was the government. Did no one predict this?

I asked this while out to dinner with Cary and John the other night. Cary replied, "Bush was focused on his war, and nothing else."

He's right. And as I've long maintained, history will look back on this president and his band of thugs with derision. And rightly so.

And history will ridicule us all if McCain is elected president.

It didn't take long.

Well, you know it had to happen. The whack jobs are starting to crawl out of their caves to bash Heath Ledger for his role in Brokeback Mountain. It's no surprise that one of those caves has "Fox News" scratched into the stone above the doorway. Consider this call to action posted on the GLAAD website.

In the wake of Heath Ledger’s death, people around the world are mourning the gifted actor’s passing and are expressing their appreciation for how he changed hearts and minds with his Oscar-nominated role as a gay cowboy in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain.

In a stark and disturbing contrast, Fox News Radio host John Gibson cruelly mocked Ledger’s death and his role in Brokeback Mountain during his Jan. 22 John Gibson Show radio broadcast.  During the show, Gibson played an audio clip from the film of Jake Gyllenhaal’s character, Jack, telling Ennis (played by Ledger), "I wish I knew how to quit you." Gibson then coldly quipped, "Well, he found out how to quit you."  Then, after playing another audio clip from the movie of Ledger’s character saying, "We're dead," Gibson mockingly said, "We’re dead" and played the clip again.

“Gibson’s remarks are vulgar and disgusting,” said Rashad Robinson, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Media Programs. “It’s sickening that Gibson would exploit Heath Ledger’s tragic death to promote such hurtful intolerance. And to do so at a time when family and friends are grieving shows a level of insensitivity that is beyond the pale.”

  Beyond his mockery of Ledger’s role in Brokeback Mountain, Gibson called the actor a "weirdo" with "a serious drug problem," and callously speculated on the reasons Ledger might have committed suicide.  Gibson had previously mocked Brokeback Mountain--calling it a "gay agenda movie" on his Fox News TV program in 2006.

Out of control.

With the federal budget deficit and the country's debt out of control (currently over $9 trillion), one would think a little restraint would be in order.

This post could go on and on about the stupid war and pork projects, but I'll spare you.  I'm going to focus on one tiny expenditure (relatively speaking) which has my panties in a twist.

The Rubik's Cube.

You remember that insane mind-boggler of a game. But like me, you probably thought it went the way of the pet rock.

No, dears, it's still around.  And apparently, the government is interested in it.

You see, previously, computer scientists used to think the puzzle could be solved in 27 twists out of a possible 43 quintillion.  Yes, quintillion.

But that wasn't good enough. The National Science Foundation gave $200,000 to Northwestern University to see if the computer geeks there could do it with fewer twists.

And such a return on the NSF's investment! Guess what?  It can be done in just 26 twists.

I fail to understand how this advances science at all? With all of the disease in the world that need curing, the alternative fuels that need developing, the equipment the men and women in our military need to keep them safe, couldn't we have found better things to do with $200 grand?

What the brain trust at the NSF doesn't know is that it the puzzle can be solved with no twists. Just peel the damned stickers off.

The unfair audience.

South Florida is a weird place.

Don't get me wrong. I like living here, but this place is whacked sometimes. Or, more to the point, the people are whacked.

John and I were at the Carnival Center in Miami tonight for the opening of My Fair Lady. As the curtain fell after the final number (but before the bows), a whole bunch of people got up to leave. I mean, a whole bunch.

"Why are they all getting up now?" I whispered to John.

"It's the rude South Florida audiences," he replied.

I have a great deal of respect for performers, musicians, choreographers, directors, and everyone else who's involved in putting on a musical.  All of those people -- on stage and off -- coming together in harmony -- each person playing his or her part -- is just astounding to me.  For me, it's something to which I assign a high value.

So to leave the theater before the performers and musicians have taken their bows and received whatever applause is due to them is just the ultimate insult. It's rude.

I was trying to understand why people would do it. The only reason could possibly be to avoid the long line to retrieve their cars from the valet. But if they bothered to walk the half-block to the self-parking lot, they'd be out of there in no-time at all. The streets around the Carnival Center are not crowded, so it's easy to maneuver around.

These people should be ashamed.

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By the way, the show was really good. I wasn't supposed to go tonight, as I have Thursday night season tickets to the Broadway Across America series. But John had press tickets and no one to go with him, so I went. It certainly won't be the first time I've seen a Broadway show twice.

Politcal potpourri.

There are so many things to comment on from the political world this week. And just think, it's only Tuesday.  So here I go.

On Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez: Well, it sure took him long enough. This has been coming on for months. The latest of the Bushies to fall depart. That's what arrogance will get ya.

On Senator Larry Craig: "I did nothing wrong."  Right. Sure. Larry, you went into a men's room, started tapping your foot, put your hand under the wall of the stall into the next one, and peered into the crack between the walls.  I'm not one to cruise for sex in bathrooms, but this doesn't sound to me like he was just there to do his "business."  After he was caught, he plead guilty.

So, the guy's gay and closeted (and butt-ugly, too). So many are. But he's one of the ones who's aligned himself with the conservatives and would deny us GLBT folk equal rights.

Another closet case brought down. Gotta love it.

On an "invincible" Democratic ticket: Everyone's favorite octogenarian Commie, Fidel Castro, has pronounced a Clinton-Obama ticket "invincible." Now Fidel is hardly a good barometer of US politics, but I think he's on to something. I've often thought that Hil and Barack would make an interesting pair. She'd have to be prez because her ego wouldn't allow anything else, and he's got some learnin' to do anyway. Both of them are trailblazers, to be sure. It's a ticket I think I could vote for.

On the ultra-conservative Bush administration: This from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force -- the federal government is proposing regulations that would effectively kill adult social-networking sites. This is being done under the guide of fighting child pornography. The regulations would in part allow the attorney general to conduct warrantless searches at will on targeted sites' records, including visitors' personal information. There are few safeguards over what the FBI can do with the information it obtains. You have until September 10 to object to these regulations, and the Task Force, Inc., urges you to do so. It's easy and essential.

There's nothing wrong with adult-networking sites. Hell, it's where I met John. It's just another attempt by this administration to limit our freedoms.  Check out the Task Force and let your voice be heard.

Concerned about waste.

OK. I've heard it all now.

Please consider this paragraph, lifted from Tuesday's edition of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Beginning today, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will spend $1.1 million to notify 2.2 million people that it is under court order to release their addresses to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as part of the newspaper's lengthy investigation into massive waste and fraud in disaster aid.

Huh?? What was that? 

I almost spit out my bagel as John read that paragraph to me while we sat in Dunkin' Donuts this morning.

The Sun-Sentinel, which I never read unless it's lying around Dunkin' Donuts and I have nothing else to look at (as was the case today) is concerned about waste at FEMA. OK. Good to be interested in that. FEMA doesn't have the best reputation around.

But because of this rat-ass newspaper's inquiry, FEMA has to waste another $1.1 million on top of what they may have or have not already wasted on God-knows what else.

Is it me, or is this absurd?

There are still people living in trailers after the devastation of Katrina. There are still people, I'm sure, with blue tarps as roofs here in Florida after Wilma and the hurricanes in 2004.  Couldn't $1.1 million be better spent helping them? Or maybe, just perhaps, wouldn't saving the money for the next disaster that comes along be a good idea?

But no, because of the Sun-Sentinel -- which is not fit to read by anyone with a modicum of intelligence --  they will rack up more waste. Waste, just like the paper itself.

Stupid whore.

Regrettably, I followed the reports of last week's media feeding frenzy for the post-prison interview with that tramp Paris Hilton.

 

Of course television news, like all other programming, is about ratings. But I just don't get the fascination with Paris Hilton, and all of the other stupid, blonde bitches out there. Why should we about Nicole Ritchie, Lindsay Lohan, the Simpson girls, and the rest of them? They've done nothing other than cultivate hollow celebrity status. Do they have any talent? I don't think so. They have no socially redeeming value.

What's worse is that those who otherwise respectable journalists -- Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, et al -- actually get into the fray. They demean themselves, their profession, and their audiences by actually thinking the blonde bimbos warrant any attention at all.

OK. Rant over.

Stupid retailers.

I went to Costco over the weekend. Or at least I tried.

Shopping in that warehouse is never a pleasant experience. And as someone who generally enjoys shopping, experience for me is key.

On my first attempt, at 9 a.m., I found the place closed. On a Saturday morning. All of the big stores around here are open by that point or earlier. Not Costco.

So I went back around 1 p.m. Silly me. There wasn't a single parking space to be had. And even if I could knock over some old people and steal their space, the thought of what the checkout lines must be like caused me to just keep driving out the exit.

Third attempt was at 6:30 p.m.  The friggin' place was closed! Huh?

After subjecting John to profanity-laden rant, I decided I would try again Sunday. Now the logical thing would be to get there when the dump first opens. That would be 10 a.m. However, I'm shopping for a party in two weeks and I need to buy alcohol. God forbid we should be able to buy booze before noon on a Sunday here in Florida.

Is it me, or wouldn't it make sense for this company to have more convenient hours? On weekdays they don't even open before 11 a.m.?  Having more hours would alleviate parking problems and would eliminate the need to stand in a check-out line for 30 minutes.

Is it really worth it?

What a maroon!

I found this quote in one of our local bar rags:

"...We're going to try to strengthen and maintain marriage as our society's most pro-child institution. I'm not condemning homosexual relationships. But the best institutional friend children have is marraige, and if grownups make a mess of it, the children are going to suffer."

The enlightened spewer of this bile is David Blankenhorn, founder of the Institute for American Values.

Is he on crack?  "If grownups make a mess of it???" Uh, hello?  Earth to Dum-Dum David?

I can't believe people actually listen to this shit, let alone buy his books. We all know what the divorce rate is in this country. Grownups have been making a mess of it for years and children are, in fact, suffering.

We gay folk have nothing to do with it. Our marriages, quite often don't have anything to do with children. We're no threat to kids or the sacred (and I use that term loosely) institution of marriage.

But most likely you know all this. I'm not covering any new ground here.

What kills me is that someone like Blankenhorn is so idiotic as to actually utter such a ridiculous comment.

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A prize to the first person who correctly identifies where the title of this blog comes from. Hint: it's related to kids.