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I'M HONORED TO BE INCLUDED ON THIS LIST!
MIAMI HERALD:
Recognizing outstanding transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals in the struggle for LGBT equality
WASHINGTON, June 10 — In honor of the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, the International Court Services, in collaboration with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is recognizing 40 transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals for their contribution toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.
Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/06/stonewall-trans-heroes-task-force-international-court-council-recognize-40-transgender-gender-nonconforming-individuals.html#storylink=cpy
MORE: MIAMIHERALD
NEVER HEARD THE FEMALE VERSION OF SET IT OFF--VOCALS BY BARBARA TUCKER!
This was Barbara's bigger hit:
A regular at Wigstock and now with a residency every summer in Ibiza, Barbara and her soul-searing sound encapsulates soulful 90s house. Love her to death! I've never been to Ibiza but I imagine she is preaching to the Euro tourists on drugs. I doubt if they understand her or are religious, but I'll bet they feel the spirit, dammit!
And while I'm on the subject of rare records by my favorite divas, here's a forgotten disco jam by Ann-Margret!
GO, BERNIE!
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 – A disappointed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pledged today to continue to fight for improved benefits for veterans after Senate Republicans blocked a vote on comprehensive legislation to expand health care, education, job-training and other programs.
Republicans derailed the bill by raising a budget point of order challenging outlays for veterans. Sanders’ motion to advance the bill won by a vote of 56-41, but Republicans invoked a rule that required 60 votes to proceed.
“I had hoped that at least on this issue – the need to protect and defend our veterans and their families – we could rise above the day-to-day rancor and party politics that we see here in Congress,” said Sanders, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
“I am going to keep fighting. I am proud that we received every Democratic vote and that two Republicans also voted with us. In the coming weeks I will be working hard to secure three additional Republican votes and I think we can do that,” Sanders added.
MORE: SANDERS
UPCOMING APPEARANCES
FRIDAY NIGHT I'M PERFORMING AT HOT MESS AND THEN DJING AT BERLIN!
SATURDAY NIGHT IN DALLAS! Here's an interview in the Dallas Voice promoting the appearance, which also delves into politics and whether or not I'm trans and need surgery!
NEXT SUNDAY MARCH 2ND, DISCO SUNDAYS TEA DANCE RETURNS TO THE MONSTER. IT'S BEEN SO MUCH FUN THAT WE'RE NOW DOING IT THE FIRST AND THIRD SUNDAYS OF EACH MONTH. IT'S FROM 6-10 AND HAS BEEN A BLAST!
THE CHARMING MR. GEORGE TAKEI
FACEBOOK IS TRIPPIN'!
Right after several friends' accounts were blocked/disabled, today I got this notice when I attempted to log in. But I never posted this pic--it's from June at a club which no longer exists--and I certainly would never use Facebook as a place to air grievances with a former employer. Especially since I still work with these promoters as I have for 5 years. Funny how this unwarranted block occurs the day after I post about Alec Baldwin with a liberal slant. And I've also been critical of Facebook's association with conservative group ALEC. Or maybe some troll just hates anything close to male nudity. Very bizarre. But the good news is, I'll be blogging more!
AND I CAN BARELY EVEN SPELL!
BUGGING ME TODAY
I love the way one of the first things the news mentions about Arizona bill which would legalize discrimination against gays is the financial losses the state would take. McCain is worried that the state he reps could lose the Superbowl. Reports focus on how this would cause Arizona jobs and the huge companies that have come out urging that Jan Brewer veto it. But the reason to oppose this legislation isn't financial. It's wrong to discriminate. That's all you need to know.
MUSTO ON DEL RIO
Very fun interview with Drag Race's Bianca Del Rio and Michael Musto for Out.com.
READ: OUT.COM
IN DEFENCE OF ALEC BALDWIN
Several months ago, I was scrolling down my Facebook newsfeed and I saw a venomous post about Alec Baldwin. Apparently, he’d used an anti-gay slur, and it wasn’t the first time. I did a little research on what happened, and I learned that the actor appeared to have yelled the word at a paparazzi who was stalking him outside his NYC home. Baldwin had just won a case against a female stalker who had made his life hell for two years by claiming she’d had an affair with him. Which must have put an enormous put a strain on his marriage, especially since his wife was pregnant. What woman wouldn’t love to carry the baby of a possibly cheating husband? I felt sorry for Baldwin.
Flashback to a decade when I was the faggot popping up in Baldwin’s face with a camera. Although since I was in a wig, make-up and women’s attire, I suppose a better term for me would a draggot. It was at a chaotic red carpet event in LA, with a zillion flashbulbs popping. He turned around and there I was, a big drag queen inches from his face. I asked him if I could snap a photo of the best looking guy that night and he said “Sure!” and posed. I said “Could you please move—he’s right behind you.” Alec giggled at my little joke. Drag queens have a highly-developed sense of gaydar, since some of us do have the nerve to cruise straight men. We have to interpret body language, clothing pheromones or whatever to determine if any particular heterosexual guy is gonna screw our brains out or beat our brains out. Even as I, a stranger, had attempted to jokingly insult him, Alec came across as extremely warm and personable and not homophobic in the slightest. I remember thinking “Here’s a A-List Hollywood leading man with all of the looks and talent yet with none of the attitude that you’d expect to go with it.”
So based on that brief but telling personal encounter, I was mystified by the vitriol of all the “Baldwin’s a homophobe” posts, which rapidly multiplied. To protest his hate speech, gays were throwing around all kinds of hate speech back at him: his career was finished, he’d sucked in his last few roles and he wasn’t even hot any more. Was the fact that he’s nice-looking and perceived as insulting gays what triggered the immense backlash? Let’s not confuse the fact that gay men are exactly like straight men in that they lose interest after in whoever they see as less screwable. I have zero reason to be a fan for Alec Baldwin. I couldn’t name a movie or play he’d been in and had only seen snippets of 30 Rock—which seemed fun. But no assessment of his career answers the question at the center of this controversy—is he a homophobe?
I spoke to my faggot friend Dan Mathews from PETA who’s worked with Alec for twenty years and Dan claims that he’s a total sweetheart. Should we really be decimating the man’s entire career over a few angry words that flew out of his mouth during an angry exchange at the end of a draining trial during which had his hair literally turned grey? As Dan said, “We often revert to high school-era insults when we’re deeply upset.” As far as I’m concerned, a member of the paparrazi had acted inappropriately and got an inappropriate response from the actor he was stalking—who had just won a two year case against a different stalker, for chrissakes! Baldwin even claims that the shutterbug almost hit his infant’s head with the camera’s lens. Now I know that stars welcome photographers into their lives when they become public figures, but I also know that people are human and even the kindest people on earth have a breaking point. You tell me that you’ve never gotten on a train with a load of luggage or shopping, desperate for a seat, when someone takes the very last perch available. Unless you’re a saint, you might easily take the most noticeable characteristic about that person and spout off: that old biddy, that black bitch, that thoughtless snob, that stupid kid or that fat whore. (Don’t ask me how I know about the last one.)
But does an occasional slip-up make you a bigot? Should you lose your job for a few heated words? Alec has denied that he used the word fag or faggot and at one time claimed to use the word maggot. Who cares? Is the guy actively crusading against gay rights? No! He’s a progressive liberal—the only straight group who supports equal rights for gays across the board. And we can’t cut an ally any slack? Nope, he’s suddenly a demon from hell bent on destroying gay lib. Hey gays! Would it make a little more sense to focus on the people who are truly out to get you? There are obvious targets like Chik-Fil-A and Vladimir Putin. But many more exist who are, unlike Baldwin, out to destroy any advances gays have made in recent years. Arizona governor Jan Brewer is currently brewing over whether or not to veto or sign into law a bill which would permit businesses to discriminate against gays if we offend their religious beliefs. Similar bills have tanked in Idaho and Kansas, and there’s another one being debated in Utah. What would impact more people—an insult flung at a photographer who may have deserved it, or legalized discrimination in multiple states? How do you think the right wing think tanks get the money to lobby against gay rights in the first place? We pay the companies who donate to them every day with the food and drinks we choose, our shopping choices from toiletries to clothing to electronics and our cellphone carriers. I’m always unsettled when I perform on the road at a gay bar and they house me at the local Marriott. As in the mormon-run chain that gave millions of dollars to support Prop 8, which crushed gay marriage hopes in California. Other big donors included eBay, Reuters and Aetna. Use any of those? If you’re gay, you’re paying for ammunition which is used against you and your rights. Yet getting Baldwin off the air is gay America’s most pressing goal.
Gay were upset by the Sochi Olympics being hosted in Russia, with it’s new legislation against gays. In a tepid move, Obama decided not to attend the games instead of taking a strong stand against Russia. And you may have heard about the “kill the gays” bill in Uganda. An American conservative group called The Family partnered with Ugandan leaders to helped craft these laws. And on February 6th, Obama dignified these hate-mongers by speaking at The Family’s annual National Prayer Breakfast, as every president has done every year for decades. Breaking bread with the enemies who are orchestrating death to gays in other countries—possibly as out-of-town trials for a US run of similar laws? These are our real enemies who reach all he way up to the president—and you’re focusing on Alec Baldwin cursing a photographer? What a waste of your time if advancing gay rights, not celebrity gossip, is truly your goal.
While I can understand my friends’ snarky comments on Facebook, our news should be held to a higher standard. Yet the media was dying to catch a falling star and this alleged anti-gay slur was to be the nail in Alec’s coffin. Anderson Cooper slammed Baldwin for showing “his true colors yet again.” Anderson, your true colors are that you didn’t come out of the closet until your hair was white. Now you’re an activist? May I suggest that CNN’s ratings were in the toilet and so Anderson grabbed at any celeb gossip to parade it as news—now that he’s finally open about his own sexuality? Gay blogger Andrew Sullivan called Baldwin a “raging, violent bigot”. Violent? Who did Baldwin physically attack? And I’m really going to believe a neoconservative gay blogger, like Sullivan, who privately trolled the internet for bareback sex while publicly denouncing it as having the gay community’s best interests at heart. TMZ hammered the actor when he retaliated against George Stark for chiding Baldwin’s wife for tweeting during James Gandolfini’s funeral. For that, Baldwin called Stark a “toxic little queen” and threatened to fuck him up. So Baldwin has anger issues. Maybe he deserves to be angry if people are timing his wife’s tweets as a sign of disrespect. But that doesn’t make Alec a bigot—and if “toxic little queen” and “cocksucking fag” are all that Baldwin said, I’d say definitely give him a pass. Maybe our tabloid-ized news would prefer to focus on making Baldwin the bad guy so that they can ignore the huge corporations which funnel fortunes against anti-gay groups because those corporations advertise on their networks.
Here’s the saddest part of all. The article titled Good-bye, Public Life begins with Alec contacting a gay rights group in Hawaii. Here’s the question he asked when he got someone on the phone.
“Who would you say, by your estimation, is the most homophobic member of the entertainment industry currently in the media?”
Here’s the answer he got: “Um … Alec Baldwin?”
Alec then met with the group to learn more about the hate speech and it’s effects. It sounds like he’s sorry for the perception of the slurs—regardless of whether he actually made them or not. Or whether they were even that harsh. Here’s an enlightened straight guy who has openly supports gay rights. A few choice words and our junk news sent him into a free fall which he seems to still be trying to understand. I don’t know or care anything about Shia LeBeouf or that part of Baldwin’s rant. I also did not enjoy the one episode I caught of Alec’s MSNBC talk show with Debra Winger, since that network is already infotainment enough and doesn’t need a Piers Morgan celebrity soft-pedal hour. But even slightly unhinged and in this free fall pattern he perceptively hit this nail on the head when he said: “I think Rachel Maddow is quite good at what she does. I also think she’s a phony who doesn’t have the same passion for the truth off-camera that she seems to have on the air.” Actually, she is only concerned with one truth ON the air. I’ve been a big fan of Rachel since she was a radio jock on Air America. She’s brilliant. But no one with a brain can deny that she has totally turned her show into the Chris Christie hour at the exclusion of every other story for weeks. I understand that her reporting on the bridge closure may have uncovered evidence which is leading to a GOP presidential hopeful being discredited, but there are other important news stories happening. And while Chris Christie’s unravelling is a fascinating mess, Obama and democrats are making plenty of messes themselves which a truly progressive network ought to be exposing. Did ya hear the one about Obama trying to fast-track the Trans Pacific Partnership through Congress without debate? Or that it would kill jobs and wages for generations and force US workers to compete with Vietnamese workers making 29 cents an hour? No, but I’ll bet you can name every mayor and state senator in New Jersey if you regularly watch MSNBC. I stopped watching in disgust after one MSNBC segment asked “Which Christie employee should get the axe next?” Who cares? Let’s focus on stopping the “democratic” president from outsourcing tons of our jobs overseas. If a few lanes on a bridge closing in New Jersey for less than a week this summer impacts the nation so heavily deserves a solid month of non-stop coverage, then MSNBC is the “news” network for you.
I guess Maddow’s Chris Christie coverage gets ratings. Maybe that’s why Anderson Cooper took Baldwin to task—Baldwin was beating his numbers in the same time slot. Maybe conservative news outlets jumped all over this in order to smear a progressive. And that whipped gays up into such a frenzy that suddenly Baldwin is our number 1 enemy. How are gays going to know how to fight their true enemies if they can’t even identify them? So this member of the gay community would like to offer a sincere apology to Alec Baldwin. Hell, he’s shone so much light on the charlatans, including some high profile gay ones, which masquerade as news that I’d suggest giving him a GLAAD award! Watch your temper, Alec, but thank you for consistently supporting our rights among the many enlightened causes you’ve lent your name to.
SHE'S KILLING IT!
The first song is Shangela!
LB IN PV!
Bun-Bun in performing in Puerto Vallarta from March 19th-23rd!
AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH!
BLUNTANDCRANKY: "That is a picture of around one hundred-thousand people marching through Raleigh this past Saturday, protesting a whole raft of screw-everybody-but-rich-white-male-Repub laws that are being foisted upon the populace by North Carolina’s 100% Teapublican government. And here is a link to more such pictures. Oh, and here is another link to a local report.
And did you hear about this on the national “news” programs, Gentle Reader? No, you did not. You heard about the Olympics, various celebrity peccadillos, a politician’s 1990′s sex life, and lots of finger-pointing tripe from Congress.
It is apparently too much to expect our Infotainment industry to cover a huge grass-roots march by ordinary people, asking for ordinary things, in an ordinary way. You see, the “news” media is no longer about news, and hasn’t been since the 1970′s. "
MORE: BLUNTANDCRANKY
PLEASE SIGN!
Gays and our supporters! Many of you were upset by Russia's treatment of gays. And Uganda's Kill The Gays law. Well, now the tragic bigots of the Arizona legislature have passed a bill which allows open discrimination to gays which is headed to the hateful Governor Jan Brewer's desk. If she doesn't veto it, businesses who frown on gays because of their religious beliefs can refuse to serve gays. I guess they forgot about separation of church and state and I don't want the fairy tales these idiots worship to impact equal treatment of gays. What if you live in a rural area with one pharmacy and the Christian pharmacist doesn't approve of your lifestyle. So they refuse to sell you condoms or AIDS meds? Or hell, a damn hamburger? Surely this will outrage enough of you to sign this. It's a little taste of Putin's Russia right here at home! And if these right-wing @ssholes get away with this, you can better believe it will spread to other states, as these efforts are funded by national GOP think tanks. Is a US Kill The Gay bill coming here? That law was co-created by right-wing groups in the US. You think they don't want that in the US? Maybe they'll start easy--by quarantining gays with HIV. This is frightening! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
DAILY KOS: Sign our petition to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer—urging her to veto the anti-gay “okay-to-discriminate” bill. Click here to sign.
The Arizona legislature has passed a bill that would allow businesses to discriminate against LGBT customers—or any other customers who they claim it would be against their religion to serve.
Gov. Jan Brewer only has until Tuesday to sign or veto the bill. Click here to urge her to veto.
Brewer has not taken a position yet, despite having vetoed an earlier version last year. But she is under increasing pressure from national right-wing groups, who have been pushing such discriminatory laws in state legislatures across the country.
Arizona already passed an anti-immigrant law. Don’t let them pass an anti-gay law as well.
Sign our petition urging Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to say “no” to discrimination and veto SB 1062—the “turn the gays away” bill.
MORE: DAILYKOS
MEMES I'VE ENJOYED THIS WEEK
SECRET SOCIETY OF BANKING BIG-WIGS EXPOSED
A reporter sneaks into an annual gala at the St. Regis for banking kingpins. For a bizarre evening which included the execs in drag, as well as misogynist, homophobic and racist jokes. I do drag and enjoy off-color humor, so I can't fault them for that. But here is the reporter's interesting take on the filthy rich at play after he was ejected from the event:
NYMAG: "As I walked through the streets of midtown in my ill-fitting tuxedo, I thought about the implications of what I’d just seen.
The first and most obvious conclusion was that the upper ranks of finance are composed of people who have completely divorced themselves from reality. No self-aware and socially conscious Wall Street executive would have agreed to be part of a group whose tacit mission is to make light of the financial sector’s foibles. Not when those foibles had resulted in real harm to millions of people in the form of foreclosures, wrecked 401(k)s, and a devastating unemployment crisis.
The second thing I realized was that Kappa Beta Phi was, in large part, a fear-based organization. Here were executives who had strong ideas about politics, society, and the work of their colleagues, but who would never have the courage to voice those opinions in a public setting. Their cowardice had reduced them to sniping at their perceived enemies in the form of satirical songs and sketches, among only those people who had been handpicked to share their view of the world. And the idea of a reporter making those views public had caused them to throw a mass temper tantrum.
The last thought I had, and the saddest, was that many of these self-righteous Kappa Beta Phi members had surely been first-year bankers once. And in the 20, 30, or 40 years since, something fundamental about them had changed. Their pursuit of money and power had removed them from the larger world to the sad extent that, now, in the primes of their careers, the only people with whom they could be truly themselves were a handful of other prominent financiers.
Perhaps, I realized, this social isolation is why despite extraordinary evidence to the contrary, one-percenters like Ross keep saying how badly persecuted they are. When you’re a member of the fraternity of money, it can be hard to see past the foie gras to the real world."
Now wouldn't it be nice if 90% of our elected officials weren't bought and sold by these banking execs who are so out of touch with the people of a struggling country in an economic downturn?
MORE: NYMAG
SO CUTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY!
Great news! Obama has dropped cuts to Social Security from his 2014 budget. Before he suddenly became so concerned with income inequality a few months, Chained CPI cuts were in the president's budgets for the last few years. Thanks to everyone who signed petitions and kept the pressure on--it worked. For all of those who didn't sign a thing, I'm glad you're either independently wealthy. Or just independent of the knowledge is going to try to rip you off every chance they get. Or don't care about preserving your hard-won benefits. But it's never too late get involved. The next step is to join Elizabeth Warren and other progressives who want to strengthen, not cut, vital services like Social Security during an economic downturn.
HUFFPO: "Great news! The Associated Press reported on Thursday that an unnamed Obama administration official (speaking on background) announced that the chained CPI will not be in President Obama's budget. Just so we all really believed this signal, the White House Office of Legislative Affairs emailed out the AP story a few minutes later. The announcement comes after 16 Senators, 117 House Members, and many progressive groups (including mine), uncertain whether the White House would renew last year's proposal to cut Social Security indexing, had all sent letters to the President, urging him drop it."
This announcement represents a victory for populists who want politicians to fight for the majority of real Americans facing tough economic realities at work and in retirement. Apparently the bad idea of means-testing Medicare will still be in the budget, but the disappearance of the chained CPI is a win to be savored and built upon. It sends a powerful message to politicians that the old Washington game no longer works. It is harder and harder to do the bidding of powerful elites in the halls of Congress while pretending to be on the side of the voters.
"We have truly reached a tipping point. Recurrently Americans have joined together in a populist movement to advance the interests of "the people" against "the elite." Today, after many years of struggle, that new populist movement is rising to defend and expand Social Security. And the politicians had better lead or get out of the way."
MORE: HUFFPO
LAST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH!
Legendary Bar D'O is back with Raven Oh, Sherry Vine, and Joey Arias Nyc.
CECE MCDONALD IS FREE!
A guy with cocaine and meth in his system attacked trans woman Cece McDonald, who protected herself with fabric scissors from her purse. She was on her way to the grocery store with friends. Cece was sentenced to a men's prison for attempted manslaughter, but just released. Cece and Laverne Cox (from Orange Is The New Black) discuss the rough situation that trans people live with. I hope gays will stick by their trans sisters and brothers. Like us, they have it rough. Possibly rougher.
YOU WILL NEVER FORGET THIS VOICE!
WERD!
Yet sheeple still support democrats as the party has moved more and more to the middle. And then democrats criticize anyone who votes for a 3rd party as siphoning votes from the democrats. Because the republicans are so much worse. If both are bad, who cares which is worse? Now is the time to start building a 3rd party that can win. But that would take involvement and actual concern for the country.
TRAGIC: US RANKS 34 OUT OF 35 IN NEW UNICEF STUDY
NYC mayor Bill DeBlasio recently took heat for deciding to open schools in the heavy snow days. One of the reasons for his decision? Many kids won't get lunch if they stay home. Is this the America you grew up in? I may be older than some of you, but this is heart-breaking. Meanwhile, both parties continue to cut social services and neither party advocates taxing the corporations, many of whom pay zero taxes. What boggles my mind is that so many of you continue to support the parties which don't support you. So go ahead and watch "real housewives" with nose jobs and weaves enjoying cocktails at lunch. Many real housewives' kids can't afford lunch unless they're at school. These kids don't have a voice--we have to be their voices. Or admit that we don't care about kids right in our own back yard who can't afford food. A "Christian" country that doesn't care about the poor is a study in hypocrisy and ignorance.
IACKNOWLEDGE.NET:
A sobering report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) found that out of the top 35 developed nations in the world, the United States comes 2nd to last in childhood poverty.
While many of the Scandinavian and Western European countries (i.e. countries with a robust social safety net) have very low rates of childhood poverty, America only just narrowly beat Romania for the worst. Poverty is a reality for at least 22 percent of American children (and considerably higher by other estimates).
MORE: UNICEF
SICK CHICKEN LAW
Hysterical video. Sick law Obama and Agriculture Vilasck are pushing to make chicken even less safe than it already is. I wonder if that's part of Michelle Obama's healthier eating platform?
SIGN THE PETITION:
MESSAGE
Stop Pushing the Filthy Chicken Rule
Dear [Decision Maker],
I urge you to withdraw the so-called "Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection" regulation, or the "Filthy Chicken Rule," that would turn most poultry inspection over to poultry companies so that they can police themselves.
The proposed rule would decrease the number of USDA inspectors in poultry plants while increasing line speeds up to 175 birds per minute or three birds per second. In order to compensate for missed fecal contamination, the proposed rule would permit companies to use more anti-microbial chemicals to clean the poultry carcasses.
This rule will lead to unsafe food and unsafe working conditions, and will put consumer health at risk by allowing inadequate inspection of poultry. I urge you to withdraw this rule for privatizing poultry inspection.
PLEASE SIGN IF YOU AGREE!
Obama can't remember what party he's in. Only republicans and Obama want to cut social security in any way. It's a popular program with love from both parties that's solvent for decades to come. That's why Obama and republicans have hit on the idea of ransacking Social Security funds so that the wealthy can pay less taxes and many large corporations pay zero taxes. So they steal from the seniors who are already poor in a dastardly reverse Robin Hood move. Neither republican or democratic voters want to cut SS, only their elected representatives. Which voter is going to say "Rob me of part of the $ I paid into SS?" We voted against Romney and the 1%, but we got Romney with Obama anyway. All of his bullshit talk about income inequality and raising the minimum wage for some workers is a liar talking out of both sides of his mouth. As he tries to screw seniors and kill future jobs by sending them overseas via the Trans Pacific Partnership. Who cares if the minimum wage is raised if we don't actually have jobs? Please sign this if you want to protect Social Security. He has put Chained CPI cuts in his budget last year and the president needs to know how strongly we feel about any cuts. Every word Obama has ever said is based on poll #s, so he's well aware of how people feel. He just doesn't care. Make him care. If we're lucky, we'll all be seniors one day.
http://action.ourfuture.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=210
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Happy Valentine's Day, y'all! As a friend put it so beautifully, I'm like a box of chocolates--always open and half eaten! Photo by Bobby Miller in the early 90s.
NYC DEMENTIA ALERT
TAMMIE BROWN: WALKING CHILDREN IN NATURE
February 21 & 22: Laurie Beechman Theatre, 407 West 42nd Street.
RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars alum Tammie Brown Brown makes her New York debut with WALKING CHILDREN IN NATURE. The show features many of Tammie’s original songs, including “Clam Happy,” "Love Pinata,” and “Disco’s Undead.” 7:30pm. Tickets are $22, with a $15 food/drink minimum. A $40 VIP ticket that includes reserved seating and a meet-and-greet are also available. For tix, call 212-352-3101 or click HERE:
OVATIONTIX
CAROL CHANNING IN SKIDOO!
As if Carol Channing go-go dancing on LSD ain't enough, then she strips! Wearing Rudi Gernreich!
THANKS, OBAMA!
The hypocritical president who campaigned on greater transarency has plunged the US to #46 out of 180 nations in press freedom. Whistleblowers have to tell the truth because the Obama White House and it's cronies in the media sure won't.
TRAYVON PART 2
Michael Dunn fatally shot 17 year old Jordan Davis because he and his friends refused to turn down the music while both were parked at a FLA convenience store. Dunn ordered pizza that night, not turning himself in until the next day. Dunn has a record. He even wrote letters in prison which recommend shooting blacks to teach them a lesson. Yet these letters weren't introduced as evidence because Florida courtrooms don't want to mention race, as with the Trayvon Martin case, for some inexplicable reason.
THINK SID CEASAR WOULD HAVE APPRECIATED THIS LOONEY TRIBUTE
SOCIALIZED MEDICINE FOR NYC
You may not chip in $3, but this is well worth a read. Unlike Obamacare, it's the health care reform we deserved. That most other civilized countries from Cuba to Canada already have.
WORKING FAMILIES: Do you remember how much the Tea Party hooted and hollered about “socialized medicine” during the fight over Obamacare.
What do you think they’ll do if we try to pass ACTUAL socialized medicine? A Medicare-for-all style, single-payer, everybody-in, nobody-out healthcare plan for every New Yorker?
With no premiums, no insurance company red tape, no big CEO pay, no profit, and paid for by progressive taxes on the rich? What would the Tea Party say? Will their heads explode? We’re about to find out.
Contribute $3 to help us launch our campaign for a Medicare-for-all style healthcare plan for New York.
Today, I was proud to stand with Assemblymembers Gottfried and Perkins at the launch of the New York Health campaign, new legislation for truly universal healthcare for every New Yorker.
Don’t get me wrong – for all its flaws, I supported Obamacare. It was huge step forward. Ending pre-existing conditions. Covering millions of young people and low-wage workers. And it was what was able to pass Congress.
But that doesn’t mean we can't do better – a lot better – in New York State.
After all, Buffalo is just as cold as Toronto – shouldn’t the healthcare be just as good?
I think so. If you agree, help us launch our campaign:
Click here to chip in $3 to fight for New York health, a truly universal Medicare-for-all Healthcare system for New York.
New York Health plan would enshrine healthcare as a basic right. Everybody in. Nobody out. That’s an incredible statement of humanity and dignity for all.
Onward,
Bill Lipton
New York State Director
Working Families
PS. As Dr. King said: "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." Let’s win this.
MORE: ACTBLUE.COM
CANNOT WAIT!
This is gonna be a scream! Castro Theatre in San Fran on Saturday, March 29th. Two shows with Bianca Del Rio, Sasha Soprano, Heklina, Peaches Christ, Shangela Debutantess, Coco Peru, Pandora Boxx, Willam Belli, Vicki Voxx and Detox Icunt!
IN CHELSEA? CHECK THESE OUT!
Please click the link and watch the .gif of these classical slinky sculptures in action! Too much!
FIERTH.COM
PLEASE CALL IF YOU AGREE!
No one could disagree that the right to vote is crucial to a functioning democracy. It's black history month, yet instead of learning from history, were repeating it with new GOP-sponsored voter ID laws that make it more difficult to vote for people of color, youth and seniors in many states. There have also been widespread attempts to whittle down early voting and Sunday voting, crushing popular minority voting events in NC and Florida. Republicans haven't found a way to take away women's right to vote, but I'm sure those backward f#ckers are working on it. Time to get angry, New Yorkers. Please call Rep. Jerrold Nadler now. I don't care who you vote for--you deserve the right to vote and it's being systematically whittled away thanks to Republicans. I got right through to Nadler's office--the call took 1 minute. They need to know that we care about our rights or they'll trample our other ones think that no one said anything the first time.It hasn't been in the news much (even on "liberal" MSNBC, which has appointed itself as a Chris Christie TMZ station.
MOVEON.ORG: Our voting rights campaign is working! Since we launched our Defend the Vote campaign in nearly 400 congressional districts across the country, twelve more members of Congress (four Republicans and eight Democrats) have signed on to cosponsor the Voting Rights Amendment Act—the critical, bipartisan legislation that would restore most of the protections of the Voting Rights Act and help millions of voters in upcoming elections.
But your member of Congress, Representative Jerrold Nadler, hasn't yet signed on. Right now, we only have a short window of time to move forward this critical piece of voting rights legislation. That's why it's so important for Rep. Nadler to hear directly from you today so that we can show how much of a priority this is to his constituents.
Can you call Rep. Nadler right now and ask him to sign on as a cosponsor of the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 and stand up for voting rights?
Here's where to call:
Representative Jerrold Nadler
Phone: (202) 225-5635
Hearing directly from constituents is one of the most effective ways Rep. Nadler can be convinced to join this effort right now.
Making a call is easy. Just tell the person who answers the phone who you are, that voting rights matter to you, and that you want Rep. Nadler to support this legislation. Here's an example of what you might say:
"Hi. I'm your constituent and I live in [YOUR CITY]. I'm calling to urge Representative Jerrold Nadler to sign on as a cosponsor of the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014. Restoring the protections of the Voting Rights Act is critical to protecting the vote in upcoming elections and it's important to me that Rep. Nadler help lead the effort to improve and pass this bill."
Then, after you're done, please report your call by clicking here:
CALL NOW: MOVEON.ORG
BITTER AND FUNNY FASHION WEEK COMMENTARY FROM VICE.COM
SOCHI UPDATE
The favorite menu item at Sochi seems suspicioously gay or at least homo-erotic.
A GAY-POSITIVE MESSAGE FROM CANADA:
THIS IS A BIG ONE, FOLKS!
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU MUST ENJOY THE INTERNET IN IT'S CURRENT FORM. SO I HOPE YOU'LL SIGN THIS PETITION TO KEEP IT THE WAY IT IS! OR YOU'LL BE SORRY.....
AVAAZ: "Great news! Hours after Avaaz and partners delivered our call outside his offices, the US Communications Chair announced he will react shortly to massive public pressure. He is feeling the heat! Now let’s double our numbers and win in the US and the EU -- keep signing and sharing
The richest 1% could now control what we all see on the Internet forever. It’s the apocalypse of the internet as we know it, and will erase the democratic promise of an information highway for everyone the founders of the world wide web imagined.
Together, Avaaz has built on that vision, using the web to fight corruption, save lives, and bring people-powered aid to countries in crisis. But the US and the EU are on the verge of giving the richest corporations the right to show content fast, while paywalling or slowing down everything else. Avaaz’s ability to show the world citizen journalist footage from Syria, or run campaigns to save our planet is under threat!
Decisions on both sides of the Atlantic are being made now. But tech innovators, free speech advocates and the best web companies are fighting back. If millions of us join them now we can create the largest call for a democratic and free Internet ever. Sign up now and tell everyone."
SIGN HERE: AVAAZ.ORG
THIS CONFIRMS MY DECADES OF RESEARCH ON THE SUBJECT!
FLORIDA AGAIN!
Michael Dunn shot a black teen after he and his friends refused to turn down the music in their car while both were parked at a convenience store. The teen died as a result. "Dunn is expected to use the Stand Your Ground defense during his trial, in which he faces the same prosecutor who argued the Trayvon Martin case." Dunn drove away without calling the police. And may get away with it.
MICHAEL SKOLNIK: You know, Juan, the hard thing for me to rationalize here is that, as I was reflecting last night, the defense attorney was trying to make sense of why he would drive away, why he would go to a motel, why he would order food, why he would sit and watch a movie, why he would make himself a rum and coke, why he would walk his dog, why he would drive two-and-a-half hours to his house the next day, and never call the police. And the defense said it was because of his girlfriend. She was the one who made him do this. They basically threw her under the entire bus and said it wasn’t him. He was panicked. He was flipped out. And she was the one who said, "Let’s go back to the hotel." That, to me, is hard to sit with. This gentleman—and let’s remember the difference between this case and the Trayvon Martin case. This gentleman, Michael Dunn, has been in prison, in jail, since he was arrested. He has not been bonded out since he was arrested, because the court has felt he was a threat to society.
TELL IT, BERNIE!
In other words, destroy other countries while the US is falling apart. It takes an Independent like Bernie Sanders to say this. You won't hear it from republican politicians or even many democrats. They're all too busy cutting social services we desperately need in a recession to pay for weapons.
ZSA ZSA'S B'DAY TODAY! ONE OF MY IDOLS!
VOTE FOR ME!
Actually, it's not a competition. Just a petition that a sweet fan started to have me guest dj on Ellen Degeneres's show for a week. Sounds like fun to me! If you agree, please sign. THANK YOU!
NEW BARNEY'S WINDO WITH VOGUERSW FEATURES VOGUERS AND MUSIC FROM CHIC
CAT BURGLAR DOES CATWALK MOVE!
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