Hypocrisy Rules

August 29th is my mother's birthday. She is 76! Go Jo Go!

Yesterday was also the second anniversary of Katrina and I watched a couple of the many updates and special reports.
Our government's Katrina response did more damage to my heart than a ton of greasy junk food and a four pack a day habit could have. I doubt if I'll ever get over it but, I am grateful for the wake up slap in the face.
I didn't think I was naive. I've worked for the U.S. Government, worked on political campaigns and with politicians. I grew up Black, spent my summers in the south, and I am gay and a woman. I know racism and bigotry. But I didn't know the DEPTHS of U.S. hypocrisy and hatred until August 29, 2005.

I could blame it all on Bush and his insensitive ignorant mother, but I won't because it goes deeper than them. It goes beyond party or so-called liberals and conservatives.
So, from that date forward my faith in our American Government was shaken to the core, permanently. I still have faith in the American people to help each other, but not this government.

Hypocrisy, thy name is America. Watching the political debates is a joke, really. America is made up of so many underground societies that will NEVER be addressed by any candidate or politician. We will never deal with anything; the drug problem, poverty, public education, health care, bigotry, crime etc., because what's real in America is never discussed or dealt with in any real way. It's all band aids and bull shit. Republicans and Democrats are amazingly alike in this way.

In light of Senator Larry Craig's adamant declaration that he is NOT gay, made in response to his former guilty plea when arrested for lewd behavior in a Minnesota airport bathroom stall, I surprisingly found myself agreeing with Tucker Carlson. How 'bout that!
Tucker noted that every one of Senator Craig's former friends and colleagues were ready to drop him like they'd never known or worked with him. All perfectly willing to throw him on the fire. "Not one.." Tucker said, was willing to say, he's in trouble yes, but I liked working with him, he's a nice guy. Not one.
Sen. Craig's not gay activities are no secret around Washington. No big surprises here. And yet, everyone is feigning shock and lighting torches to run him out of town like the Frankenstein monster. I want him gone too. He is the worst kind of hypocrite. But the hypocrisy of his Washington cronies stinks to high heavens too.

Miss Teen America Pageant 2007

This is so sad. God bless America.

Dim Dems

LOGO and the Human Rights Campaign's 2008 Presidential Forum certainly made clearer for me the positions of the top Democratic candidates on GLBT issues. Senators Kucinich and Gravel are 100% supportive and there is overwhelming quasi-support from Senators Edwards, Clinton and Obama.
The audience was full of familiar GLBT faces like Alec Mapa and Calpernia Adams. I also noticed filling in the seats were cast members of some LOGO shows.

What I gleaned from the Democratic GLBT Forum.

Senator Obama says his job as Prez would be to assure equal rights and benefits (including Federal bens) to all via civil unions. Marriage is a matter for each church to deal with. OK. So, does that mean civil ceremonies will no longer be called "marriage"? All things being equal it would mean that. But, of course he gives ownership of marriage to the church only in GLBT cases. Barack claims he wants to take things "step by step". Full benefits and rights would be a great big step. I'll take it.

Senator Clinton, also a proponent for full civil union rights but, again with the semantics, "marriage", should be left up to the states. Okey Dokey. Again with the states deciding if and where I am a full human being and a full U.S. citizen? That's pathetic.

(Monica feels Barack and Hillary have no personal qualms against same sex marriage and are simply playing it safe to get elected. Could be.)

Hillary didn't introduce legislation to overturn DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell) because it would be futile with this hostile Prez. True, but legislation is often brought to the floor for more reasons than assured passage. How about taking a stand and putting it out there, making a point. The same with that horrid DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act). C'mon Hillary.

HRC/LOGO did not include a Transgender person on the panel. They should have. The only Trans related question of the evening was directed to Senator Edwards who assured us he would hypothetically support a Transgender employee if faced with that situation. That's good.
However, Edwards is still "on a journey" regarding gay marriage.
I realize he has conribution problems considering he is at such a disadvantage not being able to turn black or into a woman and all. Geesh.
I don't dislike Edwards and I appreciate his honesty about his "journey". It could end in a sunny grassy field full of wonderful GLBT folk. Who knows. And I appreciate that he vowed not to impose his faith on the country.
But his "journey" just irks me.

Bill Richardson was asked if being gay was a choice. He replied yes. Then he said in essence, who cares. What difference does it make when it comes to equal rights. "I am interested in human beings, not science I don't understand." Well, I was thinking that's interesting way to see this because some folks will never understand. For those folks, all they need to understand is that we have the same rights as Americans and human beings. I was all ready to think this was the best point of the evening. But WAIT! The next day Kucinich says, of course it's not a choice. "I know that." "I didn't understand the question due to jet lag." (More commonly known as the Paula Abdul gibberish syndrome).

Kucinich is too good to be true. He talked of love and real equality and spoke on the war, etc. He is the kind of critical thinker that this country will never elect, but should.

Elvis!

We still celebrate this American Treasure, even 30 years after his death.
He was gorgeous and could sing and move his hips like no one else. He admitted he was not really much of a guitarist, that's a surprise to many people - the piano was more his instrument, and he was good, especially with blues and gospel. I loved his unique, nerdy, quirky dancing and loved most when he sat at the piano or just with a mike and sang.

The 1968 Comeback Special with it's big production numbers and intimate jam sessions in front of a small studio audience remain one of my favorite concert performances ever.
I liked his movies too. Well, some of them. The first Elvis flick Love Me Tender 1956, Jailhouse Rock 1957, Kid Galahad, Wild in the Country with Hope Lange, Viva Las Vegas with Ann Margaret 1964, and King Creole in 1958, his most critically acclaimed acting performance. It's a shame he never pursued more serious roles outside of the usual light fluff. It's a shame he didn't, even with Barbra Streisands strong encouragement, take the role opposite her in A Star is Born. It may have changed his life.

So they are lined up outside Graceland today to remember his music and phenomenal success and his unfortunate tragic early end. He was the consummate rags to riches to overindulgent American story. And we can't let him go.

Rockin' to the Jailhouse Rock !




Elvis sings Memories in 1968 special.

Elvis Pics

This guy was so photogenic it's ridiculous! So here are some Elvis pictures to celebrate his good looks. Check out the lip - the early development of the sneer.




The black leather clad Elvis on the NBC 1968 Comback Special

King Creole and Viva Las Vegas





My cousin Sandy worked at Graceland as a tour guide.


In the 1970s, his chart hits and movie smashes dried up - but Elvis reinvigorated his career as a touring artist. He played almost 1,100 concerts between 1969 and 1977

National Underwear Day

PlanetOut/Gay.com is celebrating Underwear Day with
Rockers in their undies!
My guy, Joshua Klipp's career is going in so many directions. He not only has a smoking new CD, a hot video directed by Margaret Cho that's going onto LOGOS Click List, and his exciting show on tour, but now he is modelling underwear. Yep, Josh the rock star in his skivvies. Lookin' so Good.



Check out Joshua Klipp and his new CD, "Won't Stop Now." that features both b-box/dancer Hollywood and Trans rapper Katastrophe.

We met Josh a couple months, ago saw his show and had a blast. He is a wonderful gracious man and a dynamic performer.
His success is well deserved.

Pearl & Dinah

I can't tell you how much I wish we could see more pure entertainment like this.
Priceless.

Summer Flicks

Monica and I see loads of movies in the summer. My nephew Nolen and his wife Aisha like to "call" movies, that is, beating each other at predicting good ones. They must get the trailers on the day of release because we can rarely beat them on calling a movie. This may be a good thing because if you call a bad one, they hound you forever about it. I once suggested they see Magnolia. I wasn't calling it, just saying they should see it because it was so weird. So now when I suggest a film, I hear, "aren't you the one that told us to go see Magnolia?" Such a vindictive bunch.
I remember Magnolia because that was our first encounter with the "Show Nazi." We saw it at the Village Theater on Clark Street in Chicago. It was then what was called a $1 show. Almost recent movies for a buck. Good deal. It's a dinky little theater and should be only a buck. But they had this guy, an usher? or manager or something who directed everything in the lobby. He put up this velvetine rope and barked orders while we stood in line. If you wanted to use the bathroom before the movie you had to raise your hand and he'd let you through to sit in the chair and wait your turn. He watched everyone closely. Now this theater is in a pretty upscale area so it's not like the patrons were hoods, far from it. But this power hungry usherguy took no prisoners including with the snacks. Monica and I bought popcorn and added salt to which he barked, "that's too much salt!" OMG! I hid the Raisonettes.

Anyway two flicks we've seen are Hairspray and I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry.

Hairspray 1988 vs. Hairspray 2007
The 1988 John Waters cult classic is an old favorite of ours (especially Monica) and now the 2007 version is just chock full of some of my favorite people. John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, Jerry Stiller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Allison Janney and a slew of talented new folks.
I'm doing a comparison here not a review. But I'll tell you the new version is really new, with new songs and dances, a different perspective and emphasis on different characters. But, the story is the same. In early 1960's Baltimore, chubby teen Tracy Turnblad is obsessed with a local TV dance show. "The Corny Collins Show" is all white except the once a month "Negro Day". This reality creates the drama worked out in the midst of tons of teenage angst.
Overall, I like the John Waters film better, but there are exceptions.

Mrs. Turnblad - Divine vs. Travolta. Slight edge to Divine. Slight. Travolta's fat suit was curvy and fun but his face didn't move. John's dancing at the end was wonderful. But I miss Divine's voice and Edna's obsession with ironing.
Mr. Turnblad - Walken, a good dancer, but is always spooky looking and not very fatherly and I was disappointed that he didnt dance more.
Jerry Stiller - I prefer Stiller opposite Divine in '88 as Wilbur Turnblad. Playing a small part in 2007, Stiller is always an asset.
Mrs. Von Tussell - Michelle Pfeiffer as a bigot and villain? It worked! And she can sing! How 'bout that!
Motormouth Maybelle - Diminuitive R&B singer Ruth Brown in HS'88 with the blond hair and kooky rhymes, was more quirky and it worked with John Waters' edgy humor. Queen, with her talented bigger than life self, made it harder to believe that even in the '60's she could be held to one "Negro Day" a month on The Corny Collins Show. But, Queen is a winner with her singing, especially the moving song during the protest march that brought home the racial topic. Nice touch.
Mrs. Pingleton - Allison Janney's Prudy Pingleton was even more manic about keeping daughter Penny pure and white than in the original version. Penny's character was faded back a lot in 2007. I liked the 1988 lollipopping, positivily permanantly punished Penny much better.
Seaweed Stubbs - This character overshadowed Penny this time. Played by Elijah Kelley, this guy can do it all and made that character stand out.
Tracy Turnblad - Ricki vs. Nikki - For me Ricki. Nikki Blonsky is certainly talented, energetic and adorable in her first movie and did Tracy proud but Ricki's Tracy just seemed more personable.

HS'88 was made 20 years after the events in the film and it was still fresh and topical. John Waters used actual 1960's songs and dances. Add another 20 years, HS'2007 creatively took a different approach with slicker production numbers, snappier modern lyrics, but still bringing home how things were. Both movies do a good job of reminding us, and especially teens, of how racist and stupid the world was not so very long ago.
Look for cameos of John Waters and Ricki Lake.

Chuck and Larry
I like Kevin James and Adam Sandler so I went to see what I thought was sure to be a growing and learning type flick. Nothing deep, just another entertaining, lightweight, summertime, little message movie. Cool.
Sandler (Chuck) and James (Larry) are NYC fireman and best buddies. Chuck is a womanizing jerk pretty much and Larry is a still grieving widow with two kids who wants to name his buddy as beneficiary to care for his children if he dies. He discovers he has let the time expire to name a beneficiary after his wife died and the only immediate remedy is get remarried or gay domestic partnership. Yep, Chuck and Larry go up to Canada to get hitched and spend the rest of the movie trying to fool the insurance peeps and everyone else.

What and who was this movie aiming for? (A)Can crushing macho heterosexuals and homophobes and the folks who never gave gays a serious thought? (B)Trying to reach a broader audience with it's little message? Well it was marketed to reach both but the script was writen for group A.
It's a comedy that trotted out every gay cliche and stereotype. All of them. The point being, I assume, to oversaturate with the bashing and stereotypes and cheap shots, then hit us with tolerance. Bam! Stop It! Gays are people too!
That's nice. However, according to this flick, gay men are all sex crazed swishy clowns who may incidently manage to contribute to society and don't deserve to be hated or ridiculed.

Just a few of the stereotypes and cliches all in this one movie.
Chuck and Larry's firefighter buds don't want to play basketball or shower with them anymore. Surprise!
Their lawyer, played by Jessica Biel, has a silly swishy brother.
A very macho black firefighter who is reveered and feared by all, comes out.
The mailman is gay and offers late night deliveries and more.
Larry tries to get his son to play baseball, but he's more interested in tap dance, doing the splits and getting a part in Pippin' and Annie.
Larry is ousted from coaching little league and the scout troop.

There is not a single gay man in this film who is not sniffing around for sex, skipping, or wearing a boa. (Except for Chuck and Larry who aren't really gay.)

The two buddies confront their firefighter friends, "we are the same guys" who have come to your aid many times including pulling you from burning buildings. Think about that.
When the guys go to court, the fire squad shows up in full support. Because of Chuck and Larry, they understand being gay is ok. (Except Chuck and Larry are not really gay.) When the guys come out as not gay it makes no difference because everyone is now all tolerant. Chuck says, "don't say faggot, it's not nice".
Well, unfortunately, or fortunately there exist some group A types who will learn something from this flick, it goes where they are, so all is not lost.

And, there was the one character that could have help pull this film from the fire, but nope, they totally missed it.
It's the super macho black firefighter, played by Ving Rhames, who was inspired to come out by Chuck and Larry's situation. But, as soon as Rhames' character admits he's gay, he gets the limp wrist etc. etc. They could not just let him be.

Oh, and Larry's son gets the part in Annie because Chuck has been secretly encouraging and helping him with his role. Quelle Suprise.

Serving Time

If you haven't seen this already, check out how the inmates of a Phillipine prison spend their time in the yard. Michael Jackson should be so proud.

VICTORY!

A few weeks ago I was made aware by my very community active friends Gordon and Deborah, that a very popular Jamaican singer, Buju Banton, was scheduled to perform on the main stage at the
annual African/Caribbean International Festival of Life's July Fourth concert here in Chicago. Mr. Banton is well known not only for his music but for his flaming homophobia. His hateful lyrics, rhetoric and actions are anti-GLBT to the point of encouraging violence and even murder. His popular song Boom Bye Bye is an ode to the murder of homosexuals. His concerts have been protested in several countries with public officials in other countries calling for a complete ban.

Deborah and her organization Sankofa Way, in concert with The L.I.F.E. Association, The Coalition for Justice & Respect, and the Black LGBT & Allies for Equality, have been protesting this artist and any homophobic artist at any private club or theater where they perform.

The International Festival of Life billed as a "family festival" with the theme of "Bringing Nations Together", would be held in a city park. These organizations held a joint news conference at City Hall to protest allowing this outrage on city property, and call for sponsors to withdraw or justify their support for an artist who stands for hatred and killing. They also made clear that even if Banton does not sing his more hateful songs, he represents homophobia.
I quickly dashed off e-mails to all sponsors including main sponsor NBC 5 here in Chicago. Coming close on the heels of the Imus situation, the Public Relations Director I contacted and both news persons whose faces were representing channel 5 with the festival got back to me with the quickness. After several phone calls and e-mails, before the day was over, NBC had withdrawn their sponsorship of Banton. How 'bout that!

Now A Major Victory!
Gotta hit them in the wallet! Deb tells me that Mr. Banton has joined other homophobic performers in signing the Compassion Act. This is a promise to stop the hate in their music and public speech. Certainly this does not signify a change of heart. But, the cancellation and loss of sponsors for hundreds of shows have caused a change in behavior.
I believe in free speech. But IMO, for people from a homophobic culture, these hate filled dancehall songs are like yelling "fire' in a public building.

Time Flies...

When you are blissfully happy. It's our anniversary today! 28 years! WooHoo!!!
Time for reflection. Hmmmm
Our song: Forever Mine - O'Jays
Our new favorite Song: We Will Dance - Nan Mason
Monica likes my - Pepper Steak
I like her - Spaghetti with meat sauce
Favorite Dance (traditional) - Steppin' and Electric Slide
Favorite Dance (modern) - Aunt Jackie and Walkin' it out
Favorite movie memory - In our first studio apartment on a freezing Chicago day, we closed the French doors to the bedroom area to keep warm and hunkered down near the kitchen, baked some cookies and watched Bette Davis in Jezebel.
Favorite Tradition - Jumping on the bed like little kids when we first go to any hotel room.
Favorite trip - Hawaii. First off, it was a free 7 days on Oahu, I won by writing a poem for a radio station. We had a blast from body surfing to hitting all the sleeziest night spots.
Favorite club - Gentry on Halsted. It is no more. Gone. We have many good memories and met many people both wonderful and strange. Thanks Nan Mason, Alex Billings, Honey West, Ginger Tam, the amazing Russ Long and Joey with his slushy machine.
Favorite daily ritual- We have a dry erase board in the kitchen. We alternate writing the "question of the day". The question can be about anything we want, from politics to, Monica, why are there 3 bottles of relish open in the fridge? Also we have wonderful breakfast chats.
Favorite physical feature - I love the cleft in her chin. A doctor actually asked Moni if she had it "put" in. Her mother was upset about that and strongly offered to go talk to the doctor.
Monica likes my - Eyes.
Our alter Egos
Me - Snoopy aka Superjackie
Monica - Woodstock aka hair standing up all over her head.

Sheer Liza

Liza with a Z is something else.
J-LO forgetaboutit. You are no longer see-through queen on the red carpet. Check out the barely pants outfit Liza wore to the Hairspray Premiere.
And her gams look pretty darn good!

Black Church- Don't Go There!

I'll say it again, Monica Roberts is brilliant-and courageous. She has written a poem called They Don't Want No Sissy Church.

Monica takes on the church. I have been warned not to do that. Don't Go There! Especially the black church. Do Not Go There. I've been warned.

As Monica points out it is ironic that the very institutions that were the foundation and in the forefront of the civil rights movement are the same institutions that are providing strong support and ammo for Bush's deplorable, divisive attitudes and policies.

It doesn't matter whether we are regular church-goers or not, church teachings are ingrained and have been since slavery. I understand it is because the hope and strength it provided got us through the hardest of times making it difficult to question or accept new ways of looking at God and in particular the Bible. Questioning is not encouraged, it shows a lack of faith. Re-examining is not encouraged and will often get you kicked out. (See 20/20's report this Friday 7/13, to see a conservative mega church pastor who re-examined hell and the Bible and was ousted from his church.)

The teachings in the black church are often the basis of thinking (or not thinking) for most black people. I saw very funny comedienne Sherri Shepherd co-hosting on The View. The subject of evolution came up. She declared she believes her Bible not science.
I believe the literal interpretation of the Bible along with the don't think attitude is behind many of the social and cultural ills we face. Why has there always been an absence of science related black professionals? Science vs Bible?
Why is HIV/AIDS beyond plague status in my community. Much to blame are the anti-gay attitudes coming from the church. Yes, many churches now may have HIV/AIDS education etc. with love the sinner hate the sin approach, but the attitude for GLBT shame and the HIV/AIDS stigma is still overwhelming.
Why are our children killing each other? Where is the moral strength that used to come from the church? Certainly there is no lack of churches because there are sometimes three or four to a block. Count them, Moni and I have, it's unbelievable. and yet...
Is it because literal application of the Bible can lack relevance to today's world? God knows we aren't in the old covenant and that we drive cars, and women work, and planes fly, and we use the Internet. Where is the common sense? I'll betcha God is wondering about that. Gave them common sense and a brain, but they don't use them.
The Bible is the most wonderful guide for life. Common sense should tell us however that rules meant to keep people safe, prosperous and in order, in that time, don't always apply now. I believe God assumed we would know that.

I am not saying that black churches are not good places full of good people that do good things, they can be. I certainly cannot put every black church and congregation into a lump, there are certainly exceptions. I know also the problems we face are multi-faceted. The black church is certainly a strong presence and foundation of the community. So, I'd love to see that foundation strengthened by allowing people to open their minds, use their brains, re-examine, and grow without fear to become a strong, relevant, inclusive foundation built on open hearts, and minds that know God didn't stop speaking to us ages ago.

Jesus told us he is not going to be here always and directed us to do what he did and better. And Better.

The Comfort Zone

In the last few weeks it has come to my attention that we live in a euphemistic society. Oh you say, that's not news. No, but it's getting worse and we need to watch out for it especially from this particular President.
A recent Bill Maher show guest was Republican Pollster Frank Luntz. Luntz wrote a book called Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear. During the show Bill Maher said "Bush has made us weaker. Why don't the Democrats just say the word "weak" over and over? "Bush lost the war. He made us weaker." Because he did. The National Intelligence estimate that came out last year said, undeniably, all our intelligence agencies agree, the war in Iraq has created more terrorists."
Weak Weaker and more Weak. Say it! Why are the Democrats afraid to just say it?

Anyway, under Lunzt's skill in language crafting, Bush tells us that Global Warming is really just "Climate Change", drilling for oil is actually "Responsible Exploration for Energy" and logging is "Healthy Forests Initiative". Yep, sounds better and less scary. So I guess we should listen when the Administration talks about how the Troop Surge is working, even though the violence has increased. What is this administration's meaning of "winning"?

Of course we are all aware of used car sale tricks but guess what, there are no more "used" cars. They are all pre owned or pre driven vehicles. How 'bout that?

On 20/20 a recent report on the benefits and problems of selling your house yourself instead of using a broker was interesting especially regarding the sales ads.
"The dead giveaway for a house that's in trouble is the exclamation point. !! When you've got exclamation points littered through the listing, that's probably a sign the house has problems." Uh Huh!!!
Words to watch out for whether writing or reading a real estate ad.....
"Fantastic", "charming", "spacious", "great neighborhood" those are terms that are correlated with lower sales prices. "Fantastic" is a term thrown in when a broker can't think of anything else. Also "cozy" usually means small and "charming" usually means old, dark, dank and small. On the flipside 20/20 found that five descriptors were associated with quality and higher prices: "state of the art," "gourmet," "maple," "granite" and "Corian" (that's a material for countertops).

So beware realty brokers, because 20/20 spilled the beans and also beware if you are doing the Buy Owner thing.

If you've ever been involved in planning a funeral, you know euphemisms abound. Even born and died become sunrise and sunset, appearance/entrance and exit/departed, or came to this earth and left this earth. The funeral itself is now sometimes called a "celebration of life". That's nice. In my culture it used to be mandatory for everyone to be crying and wailing away and falling out during the service. I have been to some doozies, let me tell you. My mother tells me that in the south, back in the day, the service would go on until everyone was crying, no matter how longggg it took. As a kid going to funerals, I'd forget all about the deceased person and watch the show. Don't get me wrong, people are emotional, I am emotional, so I understand getting your cry on. But I do like the focus on the person's life rather than death itself. I like feeling better after a funeral, full of memories and learning how the person touched others instead of full of dread that "soon one morning, death come a-creeping in the room". OMG!

Monica and I went to the bank recently and the young reception/information woman directed us to the waiting area before speaking to our banker. "Please have a seat in the "Comfort Zone".
Comfort Zone?
"Yes", she said in an incredulous embarrassed whisper, "and the bankers cubicles are now called Hotel Rooms". "Have you ever heard of anything so silly?"
Well, the Comfort Zone didn't feel any more comfy than when it was called a waiting area. They didn't even add any new magazines. Do they think we won't notice we are waiting?
So now we are going to a banker's Hotel Room? Not that business can't be conducted in a hotel room, of course it can and not only shady lady biz either. But, how could any bank think that this will conjure up positive connotations in a financial institution? Ok, I get the idea behind the comfort zone, but someone explain the thinking behind the hotel/bank word association.
Of course I asked Rex, our banker, if he had a mini bar. Rex just rolled his eyes and didn't want to talk about it. And wouldn't ya know it, the computer was down, he couldn't get it up and we couldn't take care of business. I'm just saying, watch those euphemisms.

Comedian George Carlin is a master analyst of language usage and he hates euphemisms. This man is a genius.

Happy Gay Pride Day!

Today we celebrate Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender pride.
Get your wave on!

Bush is just plain stupid.

I received an important heads up from my friend Gordon about the man President Bush wants to be the next U.S. Surgeon General? His name is Dr. James Holsinger. Google him, please.

Holsinger's record seems to demonstrate that he is uninterested in the best scientific information available; instead for example, he allows his anti-gay bias to inform his medical judgments.

His past writings indicate that he believes homosexuality is a "lifestyle" choice that should be "cured," (his church believes in reparative therapy) and he has compared reproductive organs to plumbing parts as proof that homosexuality leads to desease.

And he's the man America might be depending on for sound medical advice.

That means that along with hearing the usual warnings against smoking and drinking, America might be subjected to GLBT warning slogans like "homosexuality is unnatural and unhealthy!" and "It has been determined by the Surgeon General that being gay is hazardous to your health."
This man could set our country back into the dark ages. He is dangerous.

Please contact to your Senators. Ask them to vote NO to this nomination.
Clinton and Obama have already voiced opposition.

The Senate needs to hear from as many of us as possible - so that they have no choice but to listen. You can email/write/call your Senators or take action here today. It's easy. Please.

How could anyone think this man should be the top doctor of our nation. Does our president's ignorance have no limit.

Maybe we should send Kermit to teach Mr. Bush a thing or two. It's not a real Sesame Street song but it could be. Makes me feel better.

For you Monica

Monica Roberts missed the Belmont Stakes but this battle of the sexes is too cool to miss and almost as exciting as the Billie Jean King - Bobby Riggs battle. So here it is. The announcer is a hoot too. Check out Imawildandcrazyguy.

Rags to Riches, You Go Girl!

For the first time since 1905 a filly won the Belmont Stakes in New York.
What a performance!
Rags to Riches is now the most valuable female horse in the world. It may encourage more trainers may look at training and running fillies against colts.

Rags to Riches, despite a slight stumble at the start, became the third filly to capture the Belmont - Ruthless took the first running in 1867 and Tanya won in 1905. Only 22 fillies have tried the Belmont, with Rags to Riches the first since Silverbulletday finished seventh in 1999.

For some reason I have an uncanny ability to pick triple crown winners and did again this year picking Street Sense to win the Kentucky Derby. I missed in the second leg, the Preakness, but had to go for the only lady contending against the strong three year old colts in the Belmont.

Rags to Riches beat the favorite Curlin, winner of the Preakness, in a hard fought exciting down to the wire battle of the sexes. Monica and I were screaming "come on girl" along with the women of the world. It was fun. It was thrilling and it was history.

Post Prison Paris?

There has been much speculation about Paris Hilton's upcoming jail time. What will happen to this rich and famous young woman in a locked down facility full of people she has nothing in common with. She would never spend 24/7 with women from public schools, or who have been abused, and who are worst of all, poor. I have heard the snide remarks that not having a proper beauty salon may cause her trauma. That she may have anxiety attacks for lack of shopping and clubbing. And that she may never be the same if she is made to actually do some work. Also people say her stint in the pokey will only increase her above the law, do nothing little snob attitude and she'll be more famous than ever.

But while talking to my wonderful and wickedly funny friend James on the phone, we mentioned that our minister Don got a longer sentence for civil disobedience than Paris got for being a law breaking winey little snot. We pondered whether people may be selling her short. There are other possible outcomes for Post Prison Paris other than binge shopping.

Paris may come in contact with real women who have real problems (not that hers aren't real) but you all know what I mean, and actually learn that the world is totally different than she thought. A rude awakening. Very Rude.
This could cause her to become angry and she might organize the Paris Panthers and start a school lunch program.
Paris could do what many inmates do and become a Muslim, imagine Paris X.
Or, she could become a Patty Hearst type revolutionary and rob a bank.
With a new found social conscience she could become a civil rights activist and insist her family provide luxury housing for the poor... Hotel Hilton for the Homeless.
Perhaps she'll become an evangelist...Socialites for Jesus. I could see that.
Maybe her experience will lead her to be a prison reformer. She could do a new reality show, Extreme Prison Makeovers. Imagine the possibilities there.
So don't count this girl out. With the education awaiting her in prison, the possibilities are endless.

Josh Klipp

Check out Josh's new video! It's hot.
Look for Margaret Cho getting down with her bad self with Josh's gorgeous dancer girlfriend Sarah.
Josh and his crew will be in Chicago Sunday May 20 at
SPIN Nightclub, Belmont and Halsted 9pm-12am
He and Sarah were on the Tyra Banks show recently. He makes me proud.