HEE HEE!

PERFORMING IN LONDON 11/6!

Here's an interview!

TRANSLATING GAY HOOK-UP LINGO

OBAMA IS A DISGRACE!

Our infrastructure is crumbling, students are forced to repay student loans well into their 50s/60s while other countries offer free higher education and they are shutting off people's water in Detroit. We don't have a Surgeon General to deal with Ebola because the nominee for that post made anti-NRA remarks so Republicans are trying to block him. But we always have money for war, and Obama should return his Nobel Peace Prize in disgrace. In part, he received that Peace Prize for his supposed desire to de-nuke.

Obama in 2009: "So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. First, the United States will take concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons."

Now Obama may be preparing to spend $1 trillion on more nukes.

Democracy Now: "Since then, the United States has failed to meet its nuclear promises. In fact, a recent New York Times investigation found the United States is on pace to spend as much as $1 trillion over the next three decades to rebuild its nuclear arsenal and facilities. As of 2013, the Federation of American Scientists estimates Russia has about—a stockpile of about 8,000 nuclear warheads, while the U.S. has about 7,300."

The US has the nerve to try and police Iran and it's nukes when we lie about de-nuking and we are the only country which has attacked another with nukes. With "police" like us, who needs criminals. Obama is a joke.

HILARIOUS!

WHY?

Wow! As NYC becomes whiter and more boring, who better than a white and boring tourism ambassador like Taylor Swift to usher in more boring, mainstream types? I had a giggle the other night after my show at Mad Museum when an older gal approached me and asked for a photo. She gave her phone to my friends Billy Erb and Pia Guccione to take the pic and remarked how she lived in Amityville and hadn't been to Manhattan in 20 years. "It's so safe now!", she joyfully exclaimed. So we stole her camera and ran just to prove her wrong and spoil her trip. (I'm kidding--we just said "Run!" once she handed us the camera and pretended to ruin her trip for a second.) Look, I don't know much about Taylor Swift and I know NYC relies on tourism, but is there anyone less NYC than her? Is Cit-tay a reference from one of her songs. I find this disturbing. Then again, I find the mirror disturbing.

DOLLY PARTON CALLS ANTI-GAY CHRISTIANS "SINNERS"

And don't miss footage of Dolly at UK's Glastonbury Festival at the end of this article. She is something else!

MORE:   GAYSTARNEWS

IN SEATTLE THURSDAY NIGHT!

MORE INFO:   STRANGERTICKETS.COM

INTERVIEW WITH ROB ROTH:  t’s a beautiful day outside, as I sit perched in front of my dining room table waiting for a call from musician, promoter, DJ, and drag legend Lady Bunny. This was an interview that I felt appropriately prepared for, but I was still nervous. She is, after all, a legend. Well, as much of a legend as you can be and still be living, I suppose.

When my phone eventually rang, though, I was treated to a delightful conversation with a thoughtful, well-spoken leader of the queer community. Lady Bunny will be visiting Seattle in a few weeks for an appearance at BUMP, the long running Halloween party benefit thrown annually by Gay City Health Project. Joining her, in addition to Superthreat (Nark + Amoania), Jimi Jaxon, and the Markos Sisters, will be Seattle’s very own drag superstar BenDeLaCreme.

“I met her once,” she tells me, “and that was enough. Just kidding!”

Bunny has had a long running career, and has seen much success. One of her biggest accomplishments was the organization of Wigstock, a drag festival that ran for two decades in New York. The festival grew from the hundreds of people gathered in front of the Thompkins Square Park bandshell in 1985, to tens of thousands celebrating on the Christopher Street pier in the early 2000’s. It was a celebration of drag, music, and being gay, and it was amazing. Watching Dina Martina tear through The Devil Went Down to Georgia like a drunken tornado still cracks me up every time I watch it.

“Dina is incredible,” Bunny agrees. “She’s probably the most original drag performer that I know of working today.”

“And also, probably the prettiest in Seattle,” she kids. “She has a look that pretty much represents the Northwest in my opinion.”

Dina’s performance came a little later in Wigstock’s history, though, and was part of the 1995 documentary “Wigstock: The Movie”. The festival was far different at first.

MORE:   JETSPACESTUDIO

FRIDAY NIGHT: SPINNING AT HOTEL ZAZA IN HOUSTON.

SATURDAY: PERFORMING AT BLAKE'S IN ATLANTA!

I LOST A FEW POUNDS JUST WATCHING THIS!

PLEASE SIGN IF YOU AGREE!

ACLU: "The true monster of your worst nightmares may not be a vampire, or a zombie, or a werewolf… it may be the shiny metal object on which you’re reading this email.

New technologies are making it easier for private companies and the government to learn about everything we do – in our homes, in our cars, in stores, and within our communities. As they collect vast amounts of data about us, things are getting truly spooky!

Our privacy is being eroded and our freedoms threatened – but we are up for the fight. Are you?

Get an exclusive first look at our new video, “Invasion of the Data Snatchers,” and sign our pledge if you think our privacy laws need to catch up to advances in technology.

Our new video might make you laugh, but a future without any privacy is just scary. And privacy is not the only thing at stake when everything we say, everywhere we go, and everyone we associate with is fair game.

We have seen that surveillance – whether by government or corporations – shuts down free speech and free association, undermines a free media, and threatens the free exercise of religion.

We shouldn’t be forced to choose between new technologies and our liberty. With the proper safeguards, we can regain control over our personal information.

Check out the premiere of our new video and join us in working towards a world where our private data is ours alone.

The data snatchers are no longer science fiction. They’re closer than you think. But if we work together, we can ward them off.

Thank you for taking action,
Anthony Romero for the ACLU Action team

P.S. As you gear up for Halloween, watch “Invasion of the Data Snatchers,” share the video with your friends and family, and start a conversation about the scary realities of privacy and technology."



SIGN:   ACLU

NICE J-HUD SANDY RIVERA REMIX

And here's a great mixed set with free download, starting with a great re-working of Marvin Gaye's Heard It From The Grapevine.




NOW DANCE!

RUN, BERNIE, RUN!

BERNIE SANDERS: "The current inertia of the Democratic party is part fear, part resignation. The marching order for 2014 is “don’t rock the boat.” Hillary Clinton’s agents say they already have it locked up for 2016, so don’t make problems for her. Democrats decided to lay off heavy stuff (like big ideas) in the interest of short-term survival. They are counting on those goofy-scary right-wing Republicans to preserve the Senate majority for Democrats.
Senator Sanders provocatively proposes a different question to consider. Who are the Democrats, anyway? What does the party actually stand for?"

THENATION

EBOLA MADNESS!

This is quite funny. What's not so funny is that an election is coming up and we have to rely on these charlatans' news to evaluate which candidates will best represent us.

THIS IS GETTING REALLY RIDICULOUS!

These election emails are indicative of how insane the predicament is that we're in. Social Security is a popular program that will be solvent for decades. The elderly and disabled rely on it. But many politicians would rather have more money to spend on things we don't need or want, like wars in faraway places where we're already despised and never will be trusted even if we were doing the right thing. And I do mean IF. In order to get that extra money, the politicians would gladly swipe money from the elderly and disabled since Social Security is solvent. That would shaft the most vulnerable people in our society, and break a promise that they'd get all that money they'd paid into back one day. You're probably thinking "I'll bet it's those rotten Republicans who want to chop Social Security." Actually, no. It's both parties. Obama himself considered a cut to SS called chained CPI. The candidates to support on this are the progressive ones--like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who actually want to expand SS to keep up with rising costs of living. So here's an email from ACTBLUE asking me to give money so that we can elect candidates who will ensure that others can get the money they were promised. The campaign is called Social Security Works--because the program does work. But why would our looney, priorities-usually-wrong  government want to keep something that was working and helping people? The mind boggles. Pay to keep something good that everyone likes. Does that make sense to you? The democracy that you pay for if you actually want it to represent you and your interests occasionally.

ACTBLUE: This week, the Social Security Administration announced the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for 2014, and it’s a measly 1.7%. In fact, the last three years, COLAs have been below 2%. As the cost of food, utilities, housing and prescription drugs continue to rise, 1.7% is simply not enough to keep up. But there are still those in Washington who believe this is too generous!

The people who rely most on Social Security—the elderly, disabled and veterans—spend more on health care than the general population, and those costs have been rising rapidly. That’s why Congress needs to listen to the people and implement the more generous CPI-E, which puts the cost of living formula in line with how Social Security beneficiaries actually spend their benefits. There are bills in the Senate that will make the COLA fairer—but without electing more Social Security champions, they’ll never pass.

The only way things will ever change is if we elect U.S. Senators who will take a strong stance on expanding Social Security benefits. That’s why Social Security Works is fighting alongside Social Security champions Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren every day, ensuring that expansion is the winning issue for Democrats this fall.

If we aren’t able to push Social Security champions like Mark Begich and Bruce Braley across the finish line on Election Day, we will be back on defense in 2015, once again fighting to stop the COLA-slashing Chained CPI.

Please, support our efforts today and tell every Democratic U.S. Senate candidate that Social Security expansion is THE winning issue this November.

MORE:   ACTBLUE

LYPSINKA RETURNS!

After several years off, Lypsinka returns to the NYC stage in not one, but 3 shows! One is The Boxed Set featuring many of her classic routines. Another, The Passion Of The Crawford, Lis her lip-synch of an entire Joan Crawford interview as Joan--it's a later-in-life interview in which there is plenty of pretentious grandeur to mock for laughs. Few if anyone else I know could make this interview as delicious as Lypsinka does. And the 3rd show is John Epperson, the "man" behind Lypsinka singing songs and telling "his" tales of being Lyp's manservant or as she calls it, her "hideous maid" for decades. Starts 11/5!

TIX:  OVATIONTIX

TODAY'S WEIRD VIDEOS

Post by Mohammad Al Wakeel.

Post by Kranke Videos 18+.

Post by Bobby Shmurda.

FROM US UNCUT'S FACEBOOK PAGE

Republican Governor Mike Pence of Indiana eliminated food stamps for tens of thousands of residents, only 5 months after handing banks and corporations the largest tax cut in state history. Indiana now has the second lowest corporate tax rate in the US. Share to spread his SHAME!

THESE GAVE ME A GIGGLE

SHOUT-OUT FROM THE DEMENTED SHARON NEEDLES

Other than you, who is the spookiest queen?

I think there is one drag queen who’s even spookier than me and more representative of Halloween, and that drag queen’s name is Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. My personal idol. I only wish to be a drag queen like Elvira. She’s terrifying, she’s spooky, she’s got big tits, and she plays the worst horror movies you’ve ever seen.

Who’s the spookiest queen out of makeup?

It has to be—and she’ll agree with me—Lady Bunny. 100%. The first time I ever saw Lady Bunny out of makeup was on the set of RuPaul’s Drag U. Even though I’m a drag queen myself, and a successful entertainer who knows that there’s a man underneath every drag queen, the first time I met Bunny out of drag I was shocked. I forgot that she wasn’t real. To see her out of that was jarring and mind-blowing. There’s even a rumor that one time she was on the set of Drag U out of drag and a production assistant called the police because they thought there was a homeless person on set.

(Sharon appears this Friday and Saturday in NYC.)

MORE:   

http://www.out.com/…/sharon-needles-answers-13-burning-hall…

BUN-BUN IS IN THE NEW DOCUMENT JOURNAL MAGAZINE

Shot by Driu & Tiago, interview by hair guru Jimmy Paul. New issue on stands now!

A SWEET STORY

INVENTIVE AND POWERFUL!

Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism by FCKH8.com from FCKH8.com on Vimeo.

CLAY WOMAN APPROACHETH!

If you like your drag queens on the insane yet somehow profound side, you'll love Michael Cavadias (formerly the drag artist known as Lily Of The Valley) as the ancient sage Clay Woman. She doesn't come 'round often and the old gal is thousands of years old, so this may be your last chance before she blows!

Claywoman will be taking your questions at The Wild Project on Saturday, November 15th at 8pm.
tickets are $15 in advance here...
https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/9954751
or $20 at the door...

The Wild Project is at 195 East 3rd Street between A & B. 

a little history.... Claywoman, a 500 million year old enigma who hails from the Mirillion Galaxy, has just confirmed that she will be returning to Earth on November 15th to engage with those interested in her work. In a recent statement she had this to say about her upcoming appearance. 

"Coming to Earth Reminds me that Everything hasn't happened in exactly the same order it was advertised" 

Claywoman was developed by Michael Cavadias initially as part of The Black Lips Performance Cult in the early 90's as well as in a residency at Mabou Mines. A mock documentary and accompanying performance, directed by Rob Roth and titled "The Mystery of Claywoman” were created in 2008. The documentary stars the likes of Debbie Harry, Justin Vivian Bond, Amy Poehler, and Alan Cumming among many others. Various incarnations of "The Mystery of Claywoman" showed at Deitch Projects, The New Museum, Abrons Art Center, The Meltdown Festival, The Howl Festival, and opening for Antony and the Johnsons at Town Hall.

For the past 2 years Claywoman has been doing more intimate and interactive performances at venues ranging from THE HOLE, to the infamous House of Collection and is produced by downtown producer and performer Eric Schmalenberger. 

Tickets $15 advance at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/9954751

$20 at the door

Produced by - Eric Schmalenberger
Written by and Claywoman - Michael Cavadias
Claywoman's Makeup - Ruthie Weems
Poster Art - Chris Tucci

SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SENTIMENT!

HELLO!

THIS REMINDS ME OF MY DAD

He is a character and in his 40s, he took to knitting. It runs in our family, which is mostly from North Carolina. His mom was an expert at tatting, that insane procedure where you hand-stitch together lace. LACE! She would make whole bedspreads out of it, which could take a year. Even as her eyesight deteriorated. She loved busy work-the idea of never remaining idle cuz that's the devil's workshop. She passed it down to my sister as well. It's very beautiful and only done in white, as far as I know. Anyhoo, my dad would knit ski caps and send them to a very poor African village. He really went to town and must have exported hundreds of his creations. The problem? He has zero sense of style or color and while I'm partially color-blind, his designs clashed even to me! So I always giggled that there was some tribe in Africa whose attributes would be listed as "skilled in fishing, performs regular rituals and wears the butt-ugliest hats ever known to man!"

I'M JUDGING!

MUST SEE TV!

Amazing insight into our new war in Iraq/Syria that you won't get from any news with ads. I really hope you will watch this video and see what news without corporate sponsors, including those who profit from war, is discussing. A few key tidbits:

Joe Biden claims that the conflict will be "a helluva long fight" if we're to best ISIS. In the same speech, he admits that ISIS poses no immediate threat to the US. But I'm glad that good ol' Joe can make us feel better about the fight using working class expressions like "helluva". That's the narrative they paint for us--Obama is the professorial elite prone to bouts of (gasp!) that awful diplomacy which prevents the US from jumping into another senseless war. Whoops! I meant "keeping the US strong."

So Obama and his crummy DOJ have changed the definition of "imminent" in imminent threat and in so doing, they continue the devilish work of George W. Bush. Hillary will be more of a hawk than Obama. And the enemy in this new war is unclear--like who is this new threat from the Khorasan group, which suddenly materialized when the US government needed to pull another threat out of a hat. The beheadings bugged us, but we still weren't sold on going back to war. So they eased us back into war with a new enemy--but with the same people we've been fighting for decades in Iraq. The real threat to the American people of endless, unpaid for wars is coming from it's government from both major political parties--not from ISIS or Khorasan.

JEREMY SCAHILL: "Well, you know, first of all, it’s sort of like the terrorist flavor of the month that we’re dealing with here. You know, first we had al-Qaeda as this huge global threat. Then it was ISIS. And then the Khorasan group was produced. And the thing is, almost no one in Syria had ever heard of the Khorasan group. In fact, my understanding is that it was a term that was sort of used in the U.S. intelligence community and actually isn’t the name of the people that they claim to be attacking.

And what the entire policy boils down to is that the Obama administration has, in a very Orwellian way, changed the definition of commonly understood terms—primarily, the term "imminent." They were saying that the Khorasan group represented an imminent threat to the United States. But we know from a leaked white paper, that was put out in advance of John Brennan’s confirmation to be the CIA director, that the Justice Department actually has officially changed the definition of the word "imminent" so that it does not need to involve an immediate threat against the United States, that it could be a perception that maybe one day these individuals could possibly attempt to plot—not even carry out—a terrorist attack against the United States. That flimsy justification has been used now to expand this war from Iraq to Syria, potentially beyond.

You know, the Obama administration, in engaging in this policy, is continuing a Bush administration outcome of the decision to invade Iraq. So, what am I saying here? What I’m saying is that the United States, through its policies, created the very threat that it claims to be fighting now, and in continuing this policy, what President Obama is doing is embracing the very lies that made the Cheney-Bush Iraq War possible. And in the process, he’s creating yet another generation of people in the Islamic world who are going to grow up in a society where they believe that their religion is being targeted, where they believe that the United States is a gratuitous enemy. And so, this is sort of an epic formula for blowback."

"If you actually look at who benefits from this war, beyond entities like ISIS, because they do benefit from this—every time we kill civilians in drone strikes, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula becomes stronger, in the sense that they have a greater propaganda movement that they can roll out—the war industry. You know, Lockheed Martin is making a killing off of the killing, every Tomahawk cruise missile that’s launched. You know, the next generation of drone aircraft is going to be coming out. They’re working on jet-propelled drones that are going to be able to stay in the air for a very long time. The war industry is in its twilight right now, under Mr. Transformative Presidency Barack Obama. His administration has been an incredibly great friend to the war industry. And outside of some small groups of loony bins that are in Syria and Iraq, the war industry is the greatest beneficiary of this policy."

"You know, the age that we’re living in now, where there’s this war on journalists abroad by every possible force, and then this war at home, where journalists are being surveilled—their sources are being threatened with prosecution under the Espionage Act—the Obama administration is in league with some of the most ruthless violators of human rights in the world in a campaign against the press."

AMY GOODMAN: President Obama, the current president—possible presidential contenders, for example, are Hillary Clinton. You wrote Dirty Wars while she was secretary of state. What about her position on this?

JEREMY SCAHILL: I mean, Hillary Clinton is—I actually think, is more hawkish than Barack Obama, and Barack Obama has emerged as a pretty significant hawk in terms of his policies. He can talk all he wants about, you know, how he wants to change and reset relationships around the world; this has been a total militarized presidency. Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of state, acted as though she was also sort of secretary of defense. And her State Department was deeply involved with plotting covert action around the world, using the State Department as cover for CIA operations. And, you know, the Clintons, Bill and Hillary Clinton, are two of the most fierce projectors of the politics of the American empire, and they also have very close relationships with some of the most nefarious characters from the Bush family. So, you know, those two families together, the Bushes and the Clintons, it’s almost like a monarchy in this country. I mean, Jeb Bush very well may run. I mean, it’s unclear what—you know, George W. Bush said the other day that he’s putting pressure on his brother to try to run for president. But, you know, Hillary Clinton is a fierce neoliberal who believes in backing up the so-called "hidden hand of the free market" with merciless, iron-fisted military policies.

SOUR PUSS!

BUN-BUN INTERVIEWED ON FEAST OF FUN

If you have a couple spare hours....

FOF #2065 – Lady Bunny on the Changing Face of Gay Culture

Over the past decade, the Internet and smart-phones have changed our world by helping us document the most powerful moments of our lives. It’s been so successful that many argue the real party is online, while nightclubs where LGBT culture once flourished is hurting.

Today we’re talking to drag mother, Wigstock founder, Dean of Drag and political pundit Lady Bunnyabout the changing face of gay culture and how the internet changed our ability to connect with each other in person and live in the moment.

MORE:   FEASTOFFUN

BEFORE YOU PANIC ABOUT THE DEADLY EBOLA OUTBREAK...

POOP FOR SALE!

Since I'm in Boston....would anyone like to take me out for a really large meal? I can pay you back.

How you could get paid to POO: Collection bank pays $40 a sample to use in fight against superbugs

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2795420/would-money-poo-collection-bank-pays-40-sample-use-fight-against-superbugs.html#ixzz3GOxQGSh6
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2795420/would-money-poo-collection-bank-pays-40-sample-use-fight-against-superbugs.html?ito=social-facebook

SUCH A CRAZY ILLUSTRATION STYLE!

I don't care for twitter, but Laugh-In's Ruth Buzzi is a joy to follow. This is today's post. Young 'ins may not get this reference to one of her genius characters from the late 1960s.

FRENCH PROTEST GIANT XMAS SCULPTURE THAT LOOKS LIKE A BUTT PLUG

So silly! How could this be a butt plug and not a Christmas tree? It's green! A butt plug wouldn't be green unless you had gonorrhea and pulled it out of your butt covered with green slime. Um, I've heard.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/10/17/giant-inflatable-christmas-tree-faces-protests-because-it-looks-like-a-sex-toy/

PLEASE MAKE HER STOP!

THIS IS MUCH WATCH TV.

BLISTERING RESPONSE FROM NURSES' UNION TO WHITE HOUSE. They've been warning for a month to better prepare hospitals for Ebola.

ROSEANN DEMORO: "The status quo that's in place is indefensible. This is one of the most lucrative industries in the United States. This is a billion dollar industry. We have a pharmaceutical industry that's essentially sacrificing cures for profits. In the last 5 years they've made $600 billion in profits and they didn't work on a cure for Ebola because it wasn't profitable enough? The priorities of our country are outrageous. There is something fundamentally wrong with the direction of health care in this country. Not one more nurse should be sacrificed at this altar of profit. The bipartisan collusion of basically not taking care of this country and it's infrastructure for health care is unconscionable. Both parties are responsible."

GOOD MORNING!

LOVE IT!

Post by TattooModelSearch.com.

RELIGION IS THE ENEMY OF GAYS. NEVER FALL FOR THEIR CRAP.

From Seattle's SLOG BLOG:

Everyone Keeps Falling for the Catholic Church's Good Cop/Bad Cop Routine

Paul Constant: "Pope Francis has demonstrated a tendency toward the classic good cop/bad cop routine over the first months of his papacy. First, Francis says something that comes across as genuinely humane, causing the media to go wild for him. Then, a few days later, the Church walks the statement back, which typically gets a whole lot less coverage. This has happened again and again since Francis has become Pope.

Yesterday the good cop struck again, with a statement acknowledging that gay Christians have "gifts to offer." The statement also seemed to halfway accept cohabitation outside of marriage. The press went berserk! Hooray for Good Pope Francis and his kinder, gentler, more open Catholic Church! Except now that the world is basking in the afterglow of that statement, the Church is quietly backing away from it, telling CNN that the media-reported friendliness toward gays and unmarried couples is "not what we're saying at all." The Church said the statement was a "working document," even as other bishops around the world said that the people praised in the report were "irredeemable," calling it a "betrayal" that ignores Scripture."

MORE:

THESTRANGER

WHAT A LITTLE BITCH!

EXACTLY!

RUN, BERNIE RUN!

VOX.COM: Sanders argued that his positions — critical of the wealthy and corporate power, supportive of campaign finance reform, skeptical of trade deregulation and cutting social services — had the support of most Americans. But, he said, more than half of the public remained politically apathetic. "60 percent of the American people are not likely to vote in the coming election," he said. "You think you can bring around change with that dynamic? You can have the best human being in the world in the White House fighting all the right fights, and he or she will fail."

In other words, America is uninvolved to deserve a qualified leader who could change USA's downward spiral. To have that, we'd actually have to turn off the television and figure out which politicians represent what. Bernie Sanders represents what many of us do want, but the few of us who vote based on ludicrous notions like which candidate we'd like to have a beer with or which candidate could represent a dynasty like the Kennedy or Bush or (hopefully not) Clinton dynasties. These are more important to us than actual policies that a candidate represents. And this is why we'll probably never wake up enough to elect a candidate who many of us actually agree on.

Many Americans vote based on who they think will win--as if it's a sports game. And many gays base their votes on vague notions, unrooted in fact, about how certain candidates have sympathy for their causes. Or even how candidates look. I'll never forget being picked up from the airport to do a benefit in Texas. This hispanic gay male actually hinted that he like the idea of Paul Ryan in the White House because he was hot. Most probably won't think Bernie Sanders is too sexy. But look at porn if you want hot. Look to Bernie if you'd like to see a man try to get this country back on track. None of the candidates are even announced yet--including him. But few are even mentioning this country's problems, much less planning on how to solve them.

MORE:   VOX.COM

UPCOMING 70S GLAMOUR BOOK LOOKS TERRIFIC!

VIEW:    SEVENTIESGLAMOUR.COM

OK.....

RUPAUL RECOMMENDS....

Check out my new tune, Lately.  My fave mixes are #1 by Grove Addix and #4 by Nick Marshall.

TRAGEDY IN DETROIT

We've always got money for war.....but back at home? I never thought I'd see a day where this the US would sink to this level. This is obscene.

"A judge overseeing Detroit’s bankruptcy recently ruled the city can continue shutting off water to residents who have fallen behind on payments after a judge concluded there is no "enforceable right" to water. The city began cutting off water to thousands of households several months ago, prompting protests from residents and the United Nations. Today, some 350 to 400 customers reportedly continue to lose water service daily in Detroit, where poverty rate is approximately 40 percent, and people have seen their water bills increase by 119 percent within the last decade. Most of the residents are African-American. Two-thirds of those impacted by the water shutoffs involve families with children."

JUST BECAUSE I LOVE TO SPREAD CHEER!

"And worse, the new FEMA maps reveal that almost 400,000 New Yorkers are living on the hundred-year floodplain. More people in New York than in any other U.S. city, including New Orleans, are living with the prospect of high water encroaching on their lives."

"This means that it is a good time to ask some important questions. How did the largest city in the United States wind up in this perilous situation? What has been done to address the prospect of climate change and its impact on flooding in the city? And finally, what is the likelihood of tackling these issues during what is being fashioned as a new political era in New York, under a mayor who speaks of a “tale of two cities”? Does Bill de Blasio have any real intention of intelligently confronting the environmental future of New York, much less addressing the stakes involved in climate change for the city’s poor and dispossessed?"

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/…/can-new-york-city-survive-…

1ST US CASUALTY IN THE WAR

A lot of you like to say that you support the troops a couple times a year. Like on Veteran's Day and Memorial Day. It sounds good. You support the troops. I am glad that able-bodied men and women can protect us, or be sent to help out with the Ebola crisis. That's very noble. But what does "I support the troops" mean? Blindly approving of any mission they're sent on, or having a genuine concern for their well-being?

The first US soldier has died in this new war the US has started. The one where we said there will be no boots on the ground, but I guess since this marine was in an airplane, he wasn't technically on the ground. If you support the troops, are you not aware that we've just "ended" a quagmire of two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Are you not aware that the troops' deployments in the last decade were so brutal that our military is deeply battle-scarred? That they will need physical and mental therapy as they struggle with PTSD--and that they often have scandalously long waits for care? That many vets become homeless because war is that unhinging to the psyche?

There will be more deaths of American soldiers. So if you support the troops, shouldn't you support their safety and question what the hell Obama is getting us into? If you simply support any mission the troops are sent on after George W. Bush tricked us into attacking Iraq, you're asleep. Those soldiers weren't protecting the US, since Iraq never attacked us, never had WMDs and never had a thing to do with 9/11.  All of the generals say that it's uncertain how long this new conflict will last. Can you honestly say that you even know what we're doing in Iraq and Syria, or do those 1,000 tribal factions start to blur together so you begin to rely on the same news sources which have misrepresented wars to explain the situation? Supporting the troops is taking the time to figure out why we are putting young men and women in harm's way. Especially after our presidents have lied about why we went to war in the past. And especially since the country just rejoiced that Obama sort of got out of the messes George W. Bush started in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The mess is starting again. US troops were used by Bush to create the chaos that led to the rise of ISIS. Unless ISIS is attacking the US--and I don't mean beheading a journalist or two--supporting the troops means staying out of wars you can't win. And if the US, which spends more on defense than most other countries combined, can't win a war--we don't want to win a war. We want constant military engagements. Republicans want it and sadly, Obama is proving that Democrats want it too, with an even more hawkish Hillary waiting in the wings.

MORE:   CNN

NOW THEY WANT ENTHUSIASM AND DONATIONS?

Just got an email from Credo, a democratic Superpac who is concerned that: "If the election were held today, we (Democrats) would lose the Senate. So we need to donate ASAP. Here's why:

CREDO: "If the election were held today, we would lose the Senate.That’s what the polls say. And what you need to understand about the polls is that they will be right -- unless we make them wrong. Right now, CREDO SuperPAC organizers and volunteers are firing on all cylinders to turn out progressives who the pollsters don’t think will show up on November 4th. We can hold the wall -- we have to -- but we’re running out of time to overcome Republicans' slight lead. We need you now. Now it’s up to us to make sure we can deliver in these last few weeks."

Here's my problem with this. Americans are so badly burned that they are't enthused to go out and vote for Democrats. Probably not for Republicans, either. Neither party is serving them. Progressives, who this email is appealing to, are horrified that Obama is now a war-starting hawk and that his presumed successor, Hillary, is positioning himself as more hawkish than him. It's called the death of the Democratic party. What's the difference between the two parties? Not much. Of course, I think Republican are worse. But if both parties bring you war, both parties favor the rich and give tax breaks to them and huge corporations--where is the essential difference? Who, besides dark horses Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are even addressing income inequality, much less coming up with solutions? This email from Credo mentions how important a donation is and getting dems elected to ensure abortion rights. Well, guess what? The ability to obtain abortions has disappeared in many areas like a huge swath of South Texas--even though it is technically legal, abortion providers can't gain access to certain hospitals. Where was the Democratic outcry when these laws were passed? Yet we hear their outcry over abortion pound and clear when campaign money is needed. Just as Democrats lead GLBT folks along with promises when they need $ and don't deliver. Instead, they have "an epiphany" like Obama had which translated to nothing except to make us think that he and the Democrats are on our side. I'm glad there's some semblance of church and state in this country, but it's too bad that the president's epiphany (i.e. carefully crafted talking point) didn't immediately become law. The only politicians who are on our side are the ones who need a vote. Once they get it, they switch sides and resume representing the corporations who elected them.

The bottom line is: Obama has disappointed many Democrats. Democrats in the famously "do-nothing" Congress act very swiftly when they need to allocate billions to the Pentagon or to Israel's defense fund. But protecting unions? Preserving unemployment benefits? Taking care of the people after they've fought in wars? Protecting eroding voters' rights which prevent seniors, minorities and students from voting? If you want us to get enthused that we turn out in record numbers and donate money to guarantee your success, THEN TRY DOING WHAT WE THE PEOPLE WANT WHEN YOU GOT ELECTED THE FIRST TIME! And for those of you with the constant shrug of defeat who say "Well, they're better than the Republicans," what you are really saying is that the USA doesn't deserve a party which represents most of America. We have two choices and one is awful, the other is bad. I reject the idea of having two bad choices. Don't you think you deserve better? Ya pay taxes, don't ya?

RE-POST! WHAT A TIME CAPSULE!

A GREAT IDEA, BUT....

Wouldn't this be an amazing thing for Obama to do?

NATION OF CHANGE: Wouldn't it be grand if the President called for a National Address, walked out into the East Room, stood at the podium, and said:

"My fellow Americans,

The recent diagnosis of an American in Texas with ebola has sparked a lot of news stories, wild speculation, and questions all over the country. Our doctors and scientists are doing great work in not only making sure that anything is contained, but that you have all the information. However, with so many sources of information the media is drawing from--the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, doctors at the various hospitals, and so on, it becomes important to have a national figure to help coordinate all of this and to present it to you with as little confusion as possible.

That job belongs to the Surgeon General of the United States.

However, currently there is no one in that position because Republicans in Congress, spurred on by the National Rifle Association, have refused to confirm my nominee for the position.  Now, more than ever, it is important we have this voice in place for the safety and security of all Americans.

Therefore, using the power granted to me under Article II of the Constitution, I am immediately recalling Congress to vote and immediately confirm my nominee to the post of Surgeon General. And they will stay in session until a Surgeon General is confirmed.

Thank you, and may God bless America."

Drops mic and walks off

Wouldn't that be amazing? But it would also be hypocritical, because it would suggest that Obama or any other president actually wants to protect us. I mean, the fool he appointed to the FDA to protect us from food and drugs, Michael Taylor, was a Monsanto chief, the firm which actively poisons most of our food. Some protection. And Susan Rice, who Obama appointed as National Security advisor, has a 6 figure investment in the Keystone pipeline that is making environmentalists shriek. Go down the list of Obama appointees. CIA director John Brennan is known as the "torture guy", crafted Obama's drone campaign and is a proven liar who was just caught lying about spying on Senate staffers who were investigating allegations of torture. John Kerry replaced Hillary as Secretary of State. When running for president, this fool presented himself as a peacenik who spoke out against Vietnam, and then turned hawk to try and whip us up into a war in Syria, which thankfully the American people rejected. While the rest of us struggle in a downward economy, many of the president's appointees and cabinet come from big finance and big oil. So Obama's record of appointing the wrong people with conflicting interests doesn't give me much hope that he'll take the advice of Nation Of Change and belittle Republicans, the NRA and Congress in general to address something as serious as a deathly epidemic. You see, that would be actual leadership.

I'M IN BUENOS AIRES!

I've always said I'll go where the music takes me." Perhaps that's not the soundest plan for one's entire life, but so far it has taken me to many places, people and unforgettable moments I've enjoyed immensely. It's also taken me to the hospital a time or two! But tonight, it's taking me to Buenos Aires, where I'll dj--inside a roller rink inside a museum! How nuts is that? Woohoo! Loving life! See? You caught me in a rare, non-bitter moment so I had to post something that wasn't a gripe.

MICHAEL MOORE PUTS IT IN PERSPECTIVE

"Our health insurance companies have killed more Americans than ISIS will EVER dream of killing. When I made "Sicko" I asked people to send me their health care horror stories, the stories about friends and family who died because they couldn't afford the help they needed. I received over 25,000 emails and it took my staff and I over a month to read every single one of them. By the end, we were simply crushed with sadness. It was like we were a witness to a mass murder, and the serial killers were the insurance companies, the corporate chain hospitals, the pharmaceutical companies and the health care lobby.

Always remember -- those in power are in a continual game of keeping us distracted with scary "terrorists" so that we never focus on the REAL terrorists who wear suits and wave the flag."

STOP & FRISK TARGETING GAYS, TOO

NY TIMES: "Port Authority police officers have arrested more than 60 people this year in the bus terminal on public lewdness charges, a sevenfold increase over the same period last year. Most of those arrested were accused of masturbating in the second-floor bathroom. According to court records, they were observed by plainclothes officers, who were often standing next to them at an adjacent urinal."

"The Legal Aid Society argues that the police are overzealously enforcing laws against lewdness and exposure and, as a result, are arresting innocent men.

In a motion filed in August, a Legal Aid lawyer argued that the Port Authority’s interpretation of the law seemed to criminalize the use of public urinals.

“Surely, the use of a urinal in a public bathroom requires that man expose his unclothed penis,” wrote the lawyer, Caroline Glickler. The motion also noted that the urinals in question “are separated by partitions designed to enhance privacy” and the fact that her client, Cornell Holden, was standing at a urinal “indicates an attempt to have privacy.”

Mr. Holden, a 28-year-old baker, said he noticed that a bald man at the urinal next to him — who he later learned was a plainclothes police officer — was looking at him. A privacy divider, as well as a duffel bag slung over Mr. Holden’s shoulder, separated them.

“While I’m using the bathroom, he stepped back and kind of looks at me and then walks off,” Mr. Holden recalled. As he left, two officers approached him, asking what he had just been doing. “I said: ‘Nothing. I was using the bathroom,’ ” Mr. Holden said. “They pulled me aside, asked for my ID and then put handcuffs on me.”

Captain Fitzpatrick, the police commander, said that in cases where an arrest is made, officers have witnessed an act of public lewdness.

Continue reading the main story
“They are not sidling up to somebody, trying to sneak a peek and misrepresenting what the person is doing,” the captain said. “There is no mistaking their behavior.”

In Mr. Holden’s case, the plainclothes officer, Michael Opromalla, filed an affidavit accusing Mr. Holden of rubbing himself in a manner “consistent with masturbation.”

“I was able to see the defendant do so while I was standing inside the public bathroom in a urinal adjacent to the urinal at which the defendant was standing,” the officer continued.

“I wasn’t committing a lewd act,” Mr. Holden said of his arrest, on May 12. “I was peeing in the beginning, but I was shaking off when the guy stepped back and looked at me.”

Mr. Holden said he wondered whether he had been targeted because the officer had assumed he was gay.

“I wore a leather jacket, fitted clothes. I guess that fits the description of a homosexual male,” he said. “I was like, O.K., although I’m gay, I wasn’t doing anything.”

Held at a police station inside the bus terminal, Mr. Holden said he overheard a police officer refer to the bald plainclothes officer as “the gay whisperer.”

Another man, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Miguel, said that while he urinated he also noticed a man, who he later learned was a police officer, watching him.

“You know how when you have a feeling someone is looking at you?” Miguel, 43, said of the episode, on July 9. “So I look over and see someone is smiling at me. It was like a smirk.” He described the man as stocky and wearing blue shorts.

Miguel said he “paid it no mind,” washed his hands and left the men’s room. Walking toward his bus to New Jersey, he was arrested. The officer kept saying, “Oh, you know what you did,” when Miguel asked why he had been arrested.

Miguel said he was not sure whether he had been targeted. “Anyone who would have gone next to that man, who would have stood in that particular urinal, would have gotten the rap that I got,” he said.

But Miguel wondered whether his appearance played a role. “The way I was dressed that day — shorts, tank top, I was with my gym bag — I wasn’t dressed in a way that someone would pay attention to me in a respectful way,” he said.

A third man, a 38-year-old Mexican immigrant who works in a supermarket, shared a similar account of his arrest on May 30. He said that while he was urinating, the man next to him gave him a look, smiled and left.

The man, who requested anonymity because he was embarrassed and wanted to put the ordeal behind him, agreed to a deal in which the charges would be dropped if he stayed out of trouble for six months.

Asked about the current crop of cases, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a statement that prosecutors have “offered the Legal Aid Society the opportunity to bring in any defendants who claim that they were arrested improperly to speak with us. They declined to do so. If they do, we will investigate their claims.” But Tina Luongo, a Legal Aid lawyer, said many of the men felt humiliated “and don’t want to be brought into law enforcement to be asked very personal questions.”

Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
In the past, there has been some evidence that Port Authority officers patrolling the men’s room have arrested innocent people.

One lawsuit emerged from a 2003 arrest of a 64-year-old man who said he had been struggling to urinate when officers accused him of masturbating. Two months before the arrest, the man had had surgery for prostate cancer, leaving him mostly incontinent and probably unable to get an erection, according to a doctor’s letter. The suit has since been dropped."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/nyregion/lawyers-challenge-lewdness-arrests-at-port-authority-bus-terminal.html?_r=1

R.I.P GEOFFREY HOLDER

Here he speaks about meeting Josephine Baker.

NEW HALLOWE'EN SONG FROM ELVIRA

SKITS!

I wrote this next one with Dwayne Milan starring Sugga Pie Koko, when we all worked at Hot Mess. The general consensus was that it was too filthy to show. Women especially are horrified by it.

DOES PELOSI HAVE THE BALLS?

The possibly illegal war that Nobel "Peace" prize-winning president Barack Obama has started in Iraq and Syria could be stopped by Nancy Pelosi, according to this article. She could choose to object to the fact that Obama is bypassing congressional approval to start a war using murky precedents--including one that Bush used that Obama claimed he disagreed with. Well, she could if Congress weren't on a two month vacation with the nation at war. And If Congress weren't such wimps that they're actually waiting to see how the war effort goes before weighing in on either side. And of course, even though there are both democrats and republicans against this new war, many democrats will just tow the party line and go along with Obama. And why not? No one is talking about a new war we're in. It's the same old good cop/bad cop story: Obama promisest limited strikes and no boots on the ground while a barrage of generals say we'll need boots on the ground and that this will be a long military effort. There is a reason that the last 4 US presidents has started war in Iraq. It isn't beheadings or Saddam Hussein. It's oil. Tell the soldiers who you are sending to die that they will lay down their lives to support oil interests to make the super-rich even richer.

HUFFPO: "The president claims that, despite the provisions of the War Powers Act, his continuing attacks on ISIS have an alternative foundation. On his view, President Bush did all the necessary work a decade ago when he convinced Congress to approve his wars against Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Obama asserts that the language of the Bush-era authorizations is sufficiently broad to support his new war against the Islamic State.

This legal claim has been vigorously criticized by constitutional scholars across the political spectrum. But neither the Justice Department nor the White House Counsel has backed up Obama's bare assertion with a serious legal opinion.

On November 7th, however, members of the armed forces will have the right to test the president's claims in court. Since they have a personal interest in determining whether they are fighting an illegal war, they will satisfy the traditional test for legal standing -- forcing the Administration to stop stonewalling and engage in sustained legal argument in defense of its much-criticized positions."

MORE:   HUFFPO

NEW BILL WOULD FORCE CONGRESS TO FLY COACH!

I'm all for it! But this is from May...

WASHINGTON (WLS) --

Members of Congress fly across the country continually for business, but a new bill would keep them from spending taxpayer money on first-class seats.

MORE:   ABC

COVER GIRL!

In this Huffpo interview, they asked me about technology's effect on clubbing. Here's part of my response:

If you’re on a phone in a club, you’ve lost the plot on how to party. Rather than bring some magic of your own, the idea is for everyone to document everything with devices and then use them to suck the life out of the party and zap it over to the real party -- which is online. You’re only as good as the number of your Twitter followers or likes these days! But this is a reflection of a soulless world where even Obama and Lady Gaga buy Twitter followers. The hottest and biggest club is now online and, sadly, it’s a popularity contest rather than an actual party. I remember when Johnny Dynell and Chi Chi Valente stopped doing their Tuesday night bash Jackie 60. They told me they were going to have a “virtual party” online with their website. I sneered “I can’t drink a v(rtual drink and I can’t suck a virtual d(ck, so I have no use for a virtual party.” Turns out that their online site the Motherboards was a precursor of Facebook.

MORE:   HUFFPO

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING ABOUT NORWEGIAN DRAG IN 1992...

NIGERIAN ISLAM MILITANTS ARE BEHEADING AND THE COUNTRY HAS OIL

So why aren't we attacking them yet?

NBC: While much of the world has been focused on the brutal reign of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the forces of Boko Haram have been racking up victories in northern Nigeria and violently imposing an equally harsh version of Islamic law on approximately 3 million civilians – including beheadings, forced marriages and the forced induction of children into its military forces.

MORE:   NBC

THIS HAIRDO MADE MY DAY!

CRAZY SKIT!

Post by Javier Fabara.

HMMMMM....

DO YOU THINK NANCY PELOSI HAS THE BALLS--OR THE DESIRE?

The possibly illegal war that Nobel "Peace" prize-winning president Barack Obama has started in Iraq and Syria could be stopped by Nancy Pelosi, according to this article. She could choose to object to the fact that Obama is bypassing congressional approval to start a war using murky precedents--including one that Bush used that Obama claimed he disagreed with.. Well, she could if Congress weren't on a two month vacation with the nation at war. And If Congress weren't such wimps that they're actually waiting to see how the war effort goes before weighing in on either side. And of course, even though there are both democrats and republicans against this new war, many democrats will just tow the party line and go along with Obama. And why not? No one is talking about a new war we're in. It's the same old good cop/bad cop story: Obama promisest limited strikes and no boots on the ground while a barrage of generals say we'll need boots on the ground and that this will be a long military effort. There is a reason that the last 4 US presidents has started war in Iraq. It isn't beheadings or Saddam Hussein. It's oil. Tell the soldiers who you are sending to die that they will lay down their lives to support oil interests to make the super-rich even richer.

HUFFPO: "The president claims that, despite the provisions of the War Powers Act, his continuing attacks on ISIS have an alternative foundation. On his view, President Bush did all the necessary work a decade ago when he convinced Congress to approve his wars against Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Obama asserts that the language of the Bush-era authorizations is sufficiently broad to support his new war against the Islamic State.

This legal claim has been vigorously criticized by constitutional scholars across the political spectrum. But neither the Justice Department nor the White House Counsel has backed up Obama's bare assertion with a serious legal opinion.

On November 7th, however, members of the armed forces will have the right to test the president's claims in court. Since they have a personal interest in determining whether they are fighting an illegal war, they will satisfy the traditional test for legal standing -- forcing the Administration to stop stonewalling and engage in sustained legal argument in defense of its much-criticized positions."

MORE::   HUFFPO