GOOD CLEAN FUN!

Post by Ron Wininger.

GENIUS!

Post by I Discover Stars.

INSANE!

SUCH A SCENE-STEALER!

Post by Christian de Oliveira.

VERY TALENTED!

Post by Liz Ok.

"I'M A VERY NICE WOMAN"

WOW!

NEW YORKERS! STAND UP FOR NYC!

I traveled somewhere for a gig and when the club picked me up from the airport, they asked me if I wanted to grab something to eat. How could they possibly have guessed that I did? Anyhoo, I asked them what kind of restaurants were around and they replied "Everything." What they meant was a strip mall where "everything" from Olive Garden to Taco Bell to McD's were located. A snooty NYC eye roll followed. Chain restaurants are all they had nearby. Well, the same thing is happening here in NYC. I walked for blocks to find a non-chain restaurant in midtown recently. And they're closing up all over Manhattan, giving the borough a very tired shopping mall feeling. As I say in Clowns Syndrome, both parties pretend to support mom & pop businesses and claim they are the backbone of the American economy. Yet neither party actively supports this ailing backbone.

"There is a loss of pride, a loss of belonging, to be a New Yorker."

This article was sent to me by Nicky Perry, a neighbor and friend who owns Tea & Sympathy, which serves english fare. English food isn't exactly known for being tasty, but when Nicky makes it, it is. Within a few years, she'd opened two more tiny stores: Tea & Sympathy to go and fish & chips shop called A Salt And Battery. But when St. Vincent's hospital closed, much of her lunch clientele vanished with it. And she's struggling, as are mostl small businesses, to pay high rents. Rents which aren't as high for national chains. That are turning NYC into McHattan with no interesting, unique choices like Tea & Sympathy. And we are hemorrhaging jobs as small businesses close.

Mayor Deblasio claimed to support small businesses while campaigning, but he's doing little to address the crisis after he got into office. I don't know if you will read this entire long article or call your council member to see if s/he supports a bill before the City Council. But I would like to share a few excerpts so you can see how dire this crisis is. We pay a lot of rent in NYC--one of the reasons why is that our city is unique. Small businesses have always defined that uniqueness.

GOTHAMGAZETTE.COM: City's Small Business Crisis Continues

Umberto's Clam House. Gray's Papaya. Union Square Cafe. These famous, long-established New York City businesses and many more are victims of circumstances advocates say come down to a lack of protections for commercial tenants. Given the recent focus on residential tenants and affordable housing, many don't realize the bitter plight of the city's small businesses, especially low-profile mom-and-pop type stores and restaurants.

And these establishments - the city's small businesses - are desperately looking for help.

Few New Yorkers can't name a favorite local business or neighborhood staple forced to close over the last several years. Bodegas, Korean markets, and Irish Pubs are now considered to be part of a dying breed - endangered species poached by high rents, corporate competitors, and real estate development deals. Large swaths of commercial areas have all but disappeared from Little Italy, Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. Empty storefronts litter the five boroughs, sometimes for weeks, months, even years.

Ramon Murphy, president of the Bodega Association of the United States, told the Daily News the main reason for all the small business closings "is the one-sided process of lease renewal...Landlords either do not renew them or want to raise the rent four or five times. Often, you have to give money under the table for the lease to be extended."

The crisis Barrison describes has been building for decades: from 2002-2012, during Mayor Michael Bloomberg's tenure, the city's Landlord and Tenant Courts issued 83,211 warrants to evict commercial tenants, according to SBC data. SBC believes for every business that fights in court, two walk away, and estimates that at least 240,000 businesses closed and between 2.5 and 2.8 million jobs were lost (gross, not net) over the combined years of the Giuliani and Bloomberg mayoralties.

Landlords evict commercial tenants for a variety of reasons. Often, tenants fall behind paying escalating rents, but don't want to walk away from their life's work. Activists say they see a growing trend by which owners move faster to evict because they want to make space available for a corporate franchise or a bank, which can and do pay substantially higher rents.

Even though thousands of new small businesses also open every year, the odds are against their success and many close within the same year they open. Sung Soo Kim, who is president of the Korean-American Small Business Service Center (KASBSC) and has been called the godfather of New York's small business community, explains the significant obstacles against success, chief among them being high rents and operating costs. With the city's small businesses providing the large majority of jobs for New Yorkers - and establishing a gateway to the middle class, especially for immigrants and in ethnic communities - many, including Kim, wonder why little has been done by city government in the last twenty years to stem the tide of business closings, particularly of long-standing, neighborhood establishments.

"It's a crisis," agreed Ron Shiffman, founder of the Pratt Center for Community Development. "There's a dramatic impact on neighborhoods, especially on lower income folks [who rely on] inexpensive stores and culture, who get priced out," Shiffman said, referring to gentrification. Shiffman says the importance of neighborhood small businesses is that they "hire locally, they contract out services, their purchases are local. A dollar recovered in the local community [means] far more than it does [from] corporations."

The city's small business community is looking to its local government to act before entrepreneurship is further stifled and every mom-and-pop store is replaced by a corporate chain, making "family business" an oxymoron.

Please read on to see how Deblasio has appointed a former Bloomberg staffer to head up the SBS, which deals with this. Deblasio has focused on reducing fines, not absurd rents. And the Bloomberg staffer has partnered with Citibank to get loans for small businesses. But unless sky-high rents are address, expect lots more loans. (Which is probably the only reason Citi would partner with anyone.) This is very sad to read.

But Kim, who is also co-founder and president of the SBC, explained his members ask daily for assistance because the City only views them as "cash cows." He discussed the psychological damage and disenfranchisement that's been festering as a result, "There is a loss of pride, a loss of belonging, to be a New Yorker." In 2013 alone, 24 percent of Korean-owned businesses closed, Kim said.

And Kim doesn't buy the myriad of services and initiatives SBS promotes. "SBS programs are ridiculous and worthless to the majority of NYC hard-working immigrant owners," Kim said. "There is nothing more absurd," he added, "than a loan program to [businesses] who can't pay their rent."

With an "absurd" strategy, things aren't looking good for small businesses in NYC. Deblasio doesn't appear to be getting his promises right. So if you appreciate them as I do and I suspect you do, I hope you'll consider reading this article in full and then phoning your council member to encourage their support the upcoming SBJSA bill. Ifthis doesn't concern you, enjoy your hot dogs from 7/11. You ain't gonna get none from the recently closed Gray's Papaya!

MORE:   GOTHAMGAZETTE

LAS VEGAS, HERE I COME!

SOMEWHAT INSANE

Post by Chil-p.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

NYC HIGHRISE WITH A SEPARATE ENTRANCE FOR POOR PEOPLE

Gawker: "It would be difficult to come with a more on-the-nose metaphor for New York City's income inequality problem than the new high-rise apartment building coming to 40 Riverside Boulevard, which will feature separate doors for regular, wealthy humans and whatever you call the scum that rents affordable housing."

MORE:   GAWKER.COM

TRUTH!

Post by Andrew Harrison.

SET YOUR DVRS!

From Martha Wash: "Darlins just got word that the upcoming season of TV One’s hit music docu-series Unsung will be a good one! My feature airs WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 8PM/ET – Martha Wash #unsung"

BASEMENT JAXX: NEVER SAY NEVER

I haven't really followed the Basement Jaxx but I did love their hit 2001 Do Your Thing. I like their new track Never Say Never, but the video is raising eyebrows. Maybe it'll create enough curiosity within the dying music industry to help launch what's actually a pretty song with hooks--it's refreshing to hear pretty piano chords in a dance song. But I'm wondering if people will view this latest offering as:

 a) just another dance video from European producers which objectifies women, as so many do. Even though this is not a woman, but a robot woman without a head. Does the fact that the robot has no head further demean women as turning them literally into a piece of @ss with no face to talk back to a man as she shakes her money-maker solely for his pleasure?

b) There are so many dance videos where models wearing next to nothing cavort to the beat--the formula was worn out 15 years ago, if selling sex ever wears out. So is this twerkbot derivative, reductive or whatever buzz word we are currently using to let the Basement Jaxx know that they've failed to reinvent anything in an attempt to reinvent themselves? Or have they ripped someone else off? We love to make that accusation. Robot drag worked last summer for Daft Punk. And the hookiest part of the song has chords similar to the frequently revived/remixed/covered Womack & Womack jam Teardrops. Hmmm...

c) Is Basement Jaxx is not aware of the twerking controversy or are they trying to cash in on it? I don't know if the producers are gay or not, but will someone claim that they're appropriating black women's culture by twerking? And is it ok for straight men to appropriate black women's culture?

d) A woman of color seems to be teaching the robot to twerk as they formulate it. They only show her backside, but isn't that what twerking is all about? And the robot's @ss, while rubber, is decidedly caucasian. Miley Cyrus was criticized for twerking with black women with big butts. Can a robot sprayed white get away with it?

e) Are these synthetic butts recyclable? Or will they eventually join that massive island of plastic bags and soda bottles which can't biodegrade that's the size of that island the size of Belgium floating in the Pacific?

f) e) In this video, scientists have manufactured something roughly female. So is this transphobic?

g) Is this racist towards asians by painting them as clinical, calculating and working in a scientific field? Is this perpetuating the notion that asians push their children too hard or does it offend whites, blacks and latinos who don't push as hard?

h) Do the Basement Jaxx, in the intro, dare to critique their main audience of clubbers, many of whom have stopped dancing in favor of taking selfies and even dancing to songs about selfies? Maybe these guys are old and out of touch.

i) Should the big bucks used in this expensive video have been sent to kids without water in Detroit, kidnapped Nigerian girls, victims of the recent typhoon or the feature film Hurricane Bianca instead?

j) Can we just enjoy a decent song without worrying so much about everything?

What do you think?

LAST 2 PERFORMANCES OF CLOWNS SYNDROME!

I'm headed to Provincetown from 8/3-Labor Day so my last two performances of Clowns Syndrome are July 22nd and July 29th at 8PM. LadyBunnyTix.com for tickets.

A HOOT!

Post by Most Viral Videos.

COURTESY OF PRINCESS DIANDRA

Post by Dwayne 'Rowoches' Lightsey.

R.I.P. ELAINE STRITCH

MY FIRST EVER RUN IN PROVINCETOWN!

I'll be performing at the A House on Thurs, Fri, Sat all of August. And then djing a retro night of disco, 80s, 90s, current stuff that's good--which is increasingly rare. So if you're on the cape, don't miss:

HILARIOUS!

Post by Andy Farley.

2 REMAINING PERFORMANCES OF CLOWNS SYDROME

Hey all! I'm headed to Ptown for the month of August, so I'm wrapping up my show Clowns Syndrome which has been running strong with 2 extensions and standing ovations since April. I know summer schedules are busy with vacations and such, but if you're around I'd love for you to see what I feel is my best one woman show to date. Of course there are song parodies and demented pouch lines, but I've also developed my comic voice and address a few subjects like gentrification, cell phone abuse and "Trannygate." For the first time in my life, I teamed up with a comedy writer, Beryl Mendelbaum, who is excellent at softening my rants with a punchline. So if you're around either this Tuesday July 22nd or July 29th, I would love for you to see it at La Escuelita!

Musically, it's a very diverse mix with nods to Adele, Prince, Daft Punk, Frank Sinatra, Bobbie Gentry, Dame Shirley Bassey and recently departed Frankie Knuckles. And the word is that singing-wise, I sound better than ever. Here's my favorite review:

IrishCentral.com: A downtown drag fixture for over two and a half decades, in her new show Clowns Syndrome the self professed “pig in a wig” has crafted the funniest, most engagingly thoughtful and by far the most entertaining drag show I have ever seen.

Micheal Musto called it "the funniest show in town." And we know how jaded Miss Musto is!

Hope you can make it! The ticket price is as cheap as my humor!  And it's all new material! --B

MORE INFO: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/629583

BEYOND BEWITCHING!

Post by Omar Junior.

VERY LITTLE NEWS ON DETROIT WATER SHUT-OFF

If you google Detroit, Obama and water you get a few news articles from June 28th when Detroit democrat John Conyers asked Obama for help with the looming crisis. Why are we (including the news) all giving Obama a pass for not addressing this? Because he's black? Because we'd like to imagine that well into Obama's second term, that this is a mess left over from Bush? Or Because we think Obama's heart is in the right place but the do-nothing Congress is obstructing the action he could take on behalf of poor Detroit residents? (I don't think he needs Congress to declare a health emergency.) If this article is accurate, the water shut-off affects way more people than I'd imagined.

"The shutoff of water to tens of thousands of Detroit residents is a social crime. Although the city is located by the Great Lakes—which contain one-fifth of the world’s fresh water—there is no water to drink, bathe, cook or flush away sewage for thousands of people.

Up to 150,000 households—behind on their bills by as little as two months, or $150—have been targeted. Every week, 3,000 homes, inhabited by single mothers, children, the elderly and sick, low-income and unemployed workers, are having their taps turned off.

In the 21st century, in what is supposedly the richest country in the world, a modern American city has been reduced to Third World conditions, with residents forced to carry buckets from neighbors’ homes or fire hydrants, or relying on emergency supplies of bottled water delivered by volunteers from Canada. With temperatures rising, there is a real danger of the outbreak of disease and a catastrophic public health crisis.

These conditions are an indictment of capitalism, a system that guarantees billions of dollars to banks and big corporations while depriving workers and young people of the most basic necessities of civilized life. The entire political establishment—from President Obama, Governor Rick Snyder and Mayor Mike Duggan, to the City Council, the trade unions and the media—are guilty of a premeditated crime, which everyone knows will lead to devastation and even death.

City officials are slandering the victims of this cruel and inhuman policy as shirkers who refuse to pay their water bills. Detroit’s water prices have gone up 119 percent over the last decade and are now twice the national average. If nearly half of the population is unable to pay their bills, it is only a measure of the social disaster in Detroit."

This article goes on to denounce even the local democrat who asked Obama for help. And several of the petitions forwarded yesterday:

"Phony opponents of the water shutoffs such as US Congressman John Conyers and groups tied to the Democratic Party like Moratorium Now, the Greens and the Detroit Water Brigade, have claimed the Obama administration can be pressured to protect workers.

This is a lie. Everything Obama has done since taking office—from bank bailouts, attacks on auto workers and slashing food stamps and unemployment benefits, to waging new wars and organizing police state spying on the population—has only accelerated the social counterrevolution against working people.

While Obama handed trillions to Wall Street, the president has refused to bail out Detroit, and attorneys for his Justice Department intervened on behalf of Orr to block lawsuits by retirees. Far from defending workers, the Obama administration is using the Detroit bankruptcy to launch a nationwide attack on public workers and their pensions.

Many of the groups around the Democratic Party say the water cutoffs are a “racist” attack carried out by white Republican politicians like Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. This is aimed at concealing the class interests behind the bankruptcy and bolstering illusions in black Democratic Party politicians like Conyers and Obama.
Earlier this month, Governor Snyder appointed an emergency manager in Lincoln Park, a downriver Detroit suburb with a majority white population that has been ravaged by the economic crisis. This only underscores the fact that the capitalist system is attacking the entire working class in the US and around the world and that this can be stopped only by uniting all workers—black, white, native born and immigrant.

The provision of water, electricity and other utilities and the guarantee of decent-paying and secure jobs, health care, housing and education are social rights over which there can be no compromise. Access to water must be freely available to everyone. All shutoffs must be immediately stopped, and those whose water has been turned off must have access to this basic necessity restored immediately."

Many of you will probably be skeptical of any website with Socialist in it's name. You should be skeptical of everything. But is a capitalist system providing water to all Americans? I hope you all agree that "Access to water must be freely available to everyone." Or you die. Is that the America that you want? It's the one you've got.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/07/15/wate-j15.html

LITTLE SHOW STOPPERS!

Everything about this screams fun. And I can't believe that the drumming on a tin can and chanting by a child on the sidewalk has more spirit and sophistication than a lot of music we hear in clubs nowadays. I hope whoever filmed this at least tipped them well. Is this Brazil?

SUCH A SCREAM!

Post by Andre Brown.

GRRRRRR...

While I despise hashtags, this make an excellent point. I wonder how mush less the offshore holdings or the deficit would be if corporations actually paid taxes like us little people do. I wonder how many Fortune 500 companies pay any taxes at all? Some huge corporations make zillions and pay $0 in taxes. I know that GE, which owns MSNBC, was paying about 1/5th of it's taxes a few years ago. Maybe that's why MSNBC can't bring itself to broadcast the biggest news story: neither party represents working people. Both parties jump through hoops to satisfy the wealthy and corporations which have bought them off with campaign contributions. So if income inequality matters to you, you'll get none of that from either major party. Not Hillary and not even Elizabeth Warren. The government, which is supposed to represent us, is actually our oppressor.

I don't know how bad things have to get for you to realize that you're being oppressed by those you are tricked into electing, but it would seem like more people whose dreams have been smashed and who now just pray for solvency would be ready to snap. But we're so distracted by things we obsess about for a moment--Nigerian girls missing or Syrian children being gassed--that we never can focus on how badly most of us are doing. With no signs of improvement.

NOW I'M HORRIFIED!

We were horrified by the footage of injured and dying kids in Syria who’d been gassed—so horrified that the Obama administration tried to attack Syria despite the whole country’s weariness of war.

We were horrified by kids getting shot at Sandy Hook but we can’t get any legislation passed to limit magazine sizes—not even to a smaller magazines which would prevent massacres like the ones in our schools, movie theaters and military bases.

We are horrified by the plight of immigrant children from Central America fleeing violence, murder and rape that they face in their own countries.

We are horrified by sex trafficking of children and child pornography.

We are horrified when Obama kills innocent US citizens in their teens with drone strikes in Yemen. And kills children in Pakistan.

We are horrified by the conditions of sweat shops that children endure in many countries as we wear the clothes made in the sweat shops.

Many of us are horrified by abortion which terminates children before they are even children.

But we aren’t too concerned about the kids in Detroit whose water has been shut off and are being told to “drink til it hurts.”

Did your news not show this? Do you consider yourself a Christian? Are you struggling so hard that someone else's nightmare seems petty to you? I am truly reaching to understand why the news that people don’t have water in the US isn’t causing more of a stir. It’s summer. It’s hot. You get thirsty. And you drink some water. Unless the government has shut yours off, as it has for many families unable to pay for it after an increase in water rates in a bankrupt city.

Obama was asked for help weeks ago but is too busy trying to secure $3.7 billion to insure that the refugees from Central America are looked after. Can you please sign this petition which asks him to declare Detroit a public health emergency? If you care more about who was let go from The View than kids without water in the summer, maybe you are what’s wrong with this country. You’re well-versed in bullsh(t and generally claim to be horrified when children are endangered in any of the above ways, yet you probably won’t sign a petition to help children in Detroit get water.

SIGN:   TURNTHEWATERON

I THINK I SAW BIANCA DEL RIO

GOOD CLEAN FUN!

Post by James Ellis.

THE ONLINE DATING EXPERIENCES OF AN OLD WHORE

For the first time in quite awhile, yesterday I put an ad on Craig's List yesterday. And I was surprised by the large number of responses. I guess some guys still find me sexy--in 15 year old photos. Of someone else much prettier. Which have been heavily photoshopped. I like guys of all ages, but I've never been one to specifically seek out younger guys. I've generally preferred older gents.The only problem is that at my age, if they're older than me, they probably want to skype me from their damn nursing homes. And I'm not getting in my award-winning Trolly Parton/Barbara Been Eden/Sally Struthers/Crusty Springfield drag so some old geezer can diddle his limp noodle underneath hospital gown during a horribly lit cam show.

So you end up dealing with a younger bunch because they're the ones online and they're the horniest. I had to giggle at a young guy who was trying to be all no-nonsense-impress-the-"ladies"-as-a-man-of-few-words, strong silent type. Or maybe he was just dumb--clearly he has awful taste in "women." So he was typing quick sentences like "where u live at" and when I told him Rikers Island he wrote back "me too." KIDDING! We asked if that was near the 1 train and I felt my street credibility returning as I typed the response to a 19 year old "straight-identified" black guy:

"Near the 1, 2, 3, A, C, E.
Come give some of that d(ck to me.

Did I forget to tell you that I was a rapper, son?"

Didn't hear back from that one, but with an inbox full of potential new boyfriends...

Then a young latin stallion was texting me romantic sonnets. Trying to keep it current--LOL--I aked him in a text with granny tranny resding glasses on- if he was going to Talk Dirty 2 Me like Jason Derulo. He responded that he was going to make me beg for his c@ck while IT WAS IN my throat. Now that is creative! Had he heard my excellent Terry Schiavo impersonation somewhere before? We all know I've got a big mouth, but I'm not sure I can suck and talk at the same time. Then I remembered--of course I can! I do it every week onstage at la Escuelita in my dynamite 1&1/2 wo-man show called Clowns Syndrome. It's every Tuesday at 8. Wait! That means tonight! Is it that the dirt cheap ($19.95 + 1 drink minimum) drag review from Time Out NY's # drag queen of NYC? The one which Michael Musto called "the funniest town? The one with only three Tuesdays left in July before it must close? IT SURE IS! Please visit LadyBunnyTix.com for more info/tix.

SO SILLY AND FUN!

"TIGER MANDINGO"

You meet someone on a dating site/app and they tell you they are "clean"--ie free from disease. And you believe them? You believe them because you think they look healthy when HIV can have a decade long incubation period during which there are no physical symptoms? There's an easy way to prevent the spread of HIV. Condoms. You are responsible for protecting your own @ss and what goes into it. Men can often be pigs and men are liars--especially when horny. If you protect yourself, there's no need to blame anyone else.

How College Wrestling Star “Tiger Mandingo” Became An HIV Scapegoat

“Everyone wanted a piece of him, until he had HIV.”

MORE:   BUZZFEED

CONDIMENTS???

Post by Ryan Lawless.

THIS IS A TREAT!

Post by CRYPTIK.

THE GMO CANDIDATE

Hillary supports GMOs while she's taking their bribes. But at home, the CLintons, the George W. Bush's and the Romneys won't eat them. But they'll push them on the American people if these foods' manufacturers pay them enough. Just one more of many reasons to distrust her.

LOVE TS MADISON!

Post by Madison Hinton.

CURSED!

GO, JOAN, RIVERS!

I like the comment which asks why CNN anchors can't ask such hard-hitting questions of politicians. They rarely hold their feet to the fire when interviewing the people who make the laws under which we live. But a hilarious comedian? Yeah, let's take her to task because offensive jokes really impact people's lives so much. May I remind you that CNN apologized for not asking harder questions of the Bush administration in the lead up to the Iraq war? Which is backfiring on us now and we're going back in?



MORE:   DAILYCALLER.COM

RAVERS DANCE TO BENNY HILL!

Post by David Schneider.

JUST GORGEOUS!

Post by Sharlyn Sawyer.

HMMMMM...

This puzzled me when I saw it on 5th Avenue a few days before NYC's gay pride day. It reads "A fashion model turned role model when she came out as a proud transgender woman. Together with Marriott, she's showing the world how love travels." You can find out more on their website. I'm glad that trans issues are so buzzworthy that trans people are being encouraged to come out and applauded on bus stops by Marriott. But why is Marriott supporting trans issues? Because it's in the news and the chain can look trendy and sympathetic by weighing in on it? Marriott is run by mormon money. In the bedside tables, they often have the Book Of Mormon next to the Bible. Mormons spent a fortune of their money, plenty of it from Marriott, to kill Prop 8 which would have allowed gay marriage in California. So I find it a little difficult to believe that suddenly they are supportive of transsexuals. Are they just using the trans community to make their chain look less hateful after they were called out on helping to kill gay marriage in CA and denying gay rights any chance they get? Did the Marriott and mormons suddenly have a change of heart? I don't think they have a heart.

It's great that they spread awareness about transsexuals in this ad campaign. But when you get a friendly vibe from them and patronize their chain, know what they are doing with that money. I don't think it's supporting equal rights for transsexuals, gays, lesbians, bisexual or anyone else mormons view as sinful perverts. I'm often mystified when I travel to perform at a gay club and they put me up in a Marriott. The long-running AIDS benefit Night Of 1,000 Gowns is held at the Marriott Marquis. Should the GLBT community stop handing our sworn enemies the money to buy political influence that they use against us? Are national gay organizations providing us with lists of who we shouldn't patronize, or are they too busy trying to get their events sponsored by these corporations to care?

GRRRRR!

Has anyone else noticed a dramatic change in how many ads are placed on every site--almost overnight? I'm getting MacSmart ads on weather.com, popping up on an online shoe store where the ads actually block the shoes they're trying to sell unless you close them, and even on my real email's inbox page--where they've added sound. Many of the Macsmart ads have added sound as well--frequently sounds which mimic iPhone sounds like the alarm or the one which indicates you have a voicemail. I guess we weren't noticing the subtler ads without sound, so now we get bombarded. But when you're trying to shop online or browse a site and you hear alarm sounds, it does grab your attention. Not in a good way. I normally think "Crap! What did I forget to do?" or "How did I miss that call--is my ringer off again?" And stop shopping or browsing to investigate. I don't expect services like hotmail or Facebook to be free of ads, but the really clueless thing is that the aggressive advertisers must not have that much profile info about me--or they wouldn't target me with ads for meeting asian girls or sports. Has anyone else noticed this in the last few days?

OK, maybe I shouldn't open up about this--but there's yet another disturbing trend. For the past two weeks, regardless of which city I'm in, I've woken up next to a series of homeless men who address me as "my little c#m guzzler." Anybody notice either of these two trends?

LOVE THIS! ON CAROL BURNETT 1973!

Post by Shabba Doo.

COOK-OUT WITH DARIENNE LAKE!

MEMORIES!

A mad moment with Dan Mathews of PETA. Here we are on the Spanish Steps in Rome--I'm guessing mid-90s. Earlier that day, we'd gone to the Vatican and they let us in with all the other tourists. Since my arms were covered and my dress was long, I met the dress code. But the officials caught on after tourists inside asked us to pose for pics and we had to skeedaddle. A man in a garbage truck jumped out in the courtyard to hump me briefly. I guess I was trying to recreate one of those greco-roman towering curly hairstyles. I'd say it turned out more like Mess-alina.

!!!

Post by Bryan Baas.

GRRRRR....

There's been a war going on against women's abortion rights for my entire life. And I'm not young. Most of my friends probably support a woman's right to choose as I do. But let's not even sweet talk this issue by calling it "a woman's right to choose." Let's call it what it is--killing an embryo that a woman, for whatever reason, does not want to grow inside her. How the hell are you going to tell someone what to do with her own body? Don't like abortions--don't get one! What is the objection? How on earth could you dream that based your interpretation of the Bible, which was written before abortions were possible, that you have the right to dictate what someone else does with their bodies because you choose to believe in one particular book of fairy tales? I don't care how strongly you believe it, if this country truly prizes the separation of church and state, religious objections to abortion should be discussed in church, not in any legislature. Do you want antiquated Christian beliefs to dictate what you can do? Gays--do YOU? Then go ahead and hang yourselves. Be very careful before you legislate religion. The faith-based community needs to catch up with the fact-based community.

You know that Republicans got into Congress in the last mid-terms with the slogan of job, jobs jobs. Got into office and immediately introduced tons of anti-abortion bills. They are the do-nothing Congress which can't pass any legislation, but all the Republicans and some Democrats are laser-focused on passing new abortion restrictions. The GOP cares about nothing but money. They don't give a crap about abortion rights. They just know that backward fundamentalists will vote for them if they promise to ban abortion--which might as well be banned now since so many clinics have closed down that it's tough to get one. Don't you remember that the evangelicals were so betrayed that George W. Bush didn't act on any of his promises to them that they had to re-group to see if they really want to support the GOP after all? Maybe you don't remember that. But do you remember that besides abortion, what other "sinful" folks do fundamentalists despise the most? Gays. Now I know this is crazy--but maybe gays should stand with women who want the right to have abortions? That just might be a blow to religious nuts who oppress gays as well. Discredit our oppressors--ummm, that might mean our freedom. Without the Bible and it's numerous interpretations to hide behind, these sanctimonious simpletons would be forced to admit that they're just full of hate. They don't just want to ban abortions. They want to place women under a man's thumb. And do lord knows what to gays if they had their way.