BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL!

DUMP THE DEMS!

Interesting segment on the lunacy of Democrats. It was Democrat Mary Landrieu who brought up the bill to approve the Keystone pipeline. The bill was sponsored by her GOP Senate opponent, to whom she is losing anyway. And even if it passed, Obama would probably veto it. So the dems frittered away their last time as a majority in Senate to pursue nonsense to preserve one fool's Senate seat--which the dems had already yanked all campaign dollars from because Mary was losing in double digits. (She is pursuing a GOP agenda to the right of Obama anyway.) I was under the impression that the oil from the pipeline would create jobs in Louisiana area refineries, but maybe this money doesn't go to Louisiana. Mary is typical of the conservative, corporate democrat who has brought the party so far to the middle that they are practically  indistinguishable from republicans. If I'm not mistaken, she also either held up or threatened to hold up Obamacare if it helped with abortions. Because democrats in southern or conservative states aren't progressive at all.

Dems could have used their last moments with a majority to confirm the first black female appointment to the Dpt of Justice, since there were no real objections. So Rachel asks a very good question, highlighting how ineffective dems are. An even better question is why did Obama and dems waste the first two years of his presidency--when there was a democratic majority in both houses--to constantly reach across the aisle to the GOP party who had sworn to crush him? An ineffective, middle-of-the-road party needs to go. Even if you agree with their policies, this stunt by Mary Landrieu makes it clear that they don't even know what their doing--even when they have precious little time left.

STOP THE TPP!

Stop ignoring the damage Obama is trying to do to this country. I don't care if he raises the minimum wage or protects GLBT from discrimination in the work place, because these are merely cosmetic changes if there are no f#cking jobs to get paid more for or to be discriminated against. Because they work for. Because they work for 25 cents an hour in Vietnam, one of the countries this secret trade agreement seeks to send our jobs to. Are you still dreaming that Obama is a good guy who can't get anything done because of an obstructionist GOP Congress? Dream on! They get done what they want to get done--appropriating funds for expensive new weapons for wars the US people don't want to fight and billions every year to fund Israel's aggression.

The TPP is a trade deal created by international businesses and legislators can't even take notes on it or discuss it. And Obama is trying to fast-track it so that there is a vote with no discussion. Funny how the do-nothing Congress can fast-track things that have to do with defense and killing our jobs as NAFTA did. (The TPP has been described as NAFTA on steroids--so prepare for many more jobs to be killed.) Which a democrat Bill Clinton signed. Neither party represents American workers. Both represent war. Obama can't make up his mind about the Keystone pipeline despite his "commitment" to halting climate change, but he is dead set on killing US jobs in secret with no debate. This is who this man is and how little he cares about the average worker. And some of you are ranting about what a great president he is? Then explain the TPP. He won't even explain it. No one will discuss it publicly because there are no benefits for the American worker. And it isn't on the news.....


CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICAN'S FUTURE: They're at it again. Unelected bureaucrats are meeting behind closed doors making decisions that could cost tens of thousands of good jobs.

It’s called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We don’t know what’s in it, but we know who wrote it: corporate lobbyists and representatives of countries that include repressive regimes with no concern for labor or environmental standards.

We should have learned our lesson by now. Bad trade agreements create a race to the bottom which benefits only the multinationals. It lets them export jobs, undermine environmental standards and restrict internet freedom​.

Now they want ​"​fast-track​" ​ rules on a secretly negotiated treaty. Fast track means Congress skips the amendment process and skips to vote all before they even know what is in the treaty.

The corporate lobbyists don’t want the public to have the chance to see what’s in this deal -- and they don’t want Congress to change what they are trying to foist on America.

As Sen. Elizabeth Warren said, "they have to be secret because if the American people knew what was going on, they would be opposed."

Click here to tell Congress to vote no on "fast-track" authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

American jobs and strong environmental protections are too important to rush through another bad trade agreement.

SIGN:   TAKEACTION

VICE: "GAY MEN DECLARE TAYLOR SWIFT THE QUEEN OF POP"

Which gay men are these. I don't know any of them. Even if I wasn't bored by her formulaic, bubblegum pop, she has none of the exagerrated style of Madonna, Britney, Gaga, Liza, Bette, Diana, Whitney, Donna Summer, Grace Jones, Cher, Amy Winehouse, Dolly, Tina Turner or any other gay female icons I can think of. Or are gays now so assimilated into mainstream culture that their taste is so boring that they no longer require glamour in their pop princesses? At least Miley Cyrus is a train wreck. Nothing interesting about Taylor.

MORE:   ,a href="https://www.vice.com/read/gay-men-declare-taylor-swift-the-queen-of-pop-632">VICE.COM

ONE OF MY FAVORITE JOBS EVER!

NOWNESS: Faena 10: Skating On Marble

Lady Bunny does disco for a decade of the Buenos Aires hotel

Alan Faena is credited with the transformation of the Puerto Madero district in Buenos Aires. In 2004 he opened the doors of the Faena Hotel, propelling one of Argentina’s most ambitious real-estate projects. Today, Puerto Madero has evolved into a vibrant satellite, while the hotel has established itself as a center for radical opulence, an all-white bistro with unicorn heads aligned on the walls and a floating golden crown on the pool distilling the Faena Universe. 

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the hotel's opening, legendary New York drag artist and DJ Lady Bunny held court on the decks, becoming the beehive-haired star of Latin American director Kayhan Ozmen's Kubrick-esque vision, soundtracked by Kourosh Yaghmaei's dreamlike "Niyayesh." 

“The shiny marble floor was transformed into a skate rink”

Faena’s wife Ximena Caminos is Director and Chief Curator of the adjacent Faena Art Center, and commissioned French-Brazilian artist duo Assume Vivid Astro Focus to take over the exhibition space with the site-specific roller disco installationÁngeles Veloces Arcanos Fugaces. The hotel’s Los Molinos room was reinvented as a psychedelic, soft-focus disco utopia; the shiny marble floor was transformed into a skate rink, fueling the prevailing myth that surrounds Alan’s parties. 

In Alan’s suite the evening before, while Brazilian theater institution José Celso Martinez Corrêa improvised on the piano, Lady Bunny, with her monumental blond wig towering over Okwui Enwezor curator of Venice’s next biennial, posed for a picture next to the portrait of another prominent blond: Evita Perón. 

THE PAP!

Monique Bingham has such a gorgeous voice. I didn't know what "pap" was, but apparently it's South African for porridge. Unusual lyrics. Beautiful voice and production.

UNSETTLING!

Does this freak anyone else out? I'm not involved in any seditious activity that I could be prosecuted for, but like everyone else, I have cell phone communications that I'd like to remain private. I'm all for the government keeping us safer with this new spying technique, but I also value privacy and this new program apparently doesn't only target criminals. I haven't seen TV news in months--are they talking about planes with cellphone towers snatching our data?

A few other spying highlights from the Obama administration, which to counter Bush's secrecy and limiting access to the press, campaigned on greater transparency in the White House. I didn't know that Obama meant that he would make US citizens more transparent, not his administration.This is troubling.

1. After it was revealed that the NSA was keeping huge records of non-suspects that they attained from phone giants working with the government, there was a public outcry. This forced Obama to make a statement that the personal data would not be kept. But still collected.

2. Obama angered world leaders like Germany's Angela Merkel and Brazil's president Rousseff by spying on their personal cell phones and Rouseff's emails as well. We know spying goes on between countries, but these two countries are our allies. And if you're going to spy, at least be slick enough to not get caught. Whistleblower Edward Snowden's leaks revealed these US spy capers.

3. Obama's CIA appointee John Brennan admitted that the CIA had hacked the computers of our own Congress's Senate Intelligence Committee. After Brennan initially lied and denied the spying he authorized. Democratic Senator Mark Udall claimed he had "lost confidence in John Brennan" and requested an independent investigation of the CIA's actions which may constitute “the violation of multiple provisions of the Constitution.” The Congress and the executive branch can't seem to cooperate. Will tricking Congress help relations between the two branches and get blocked legislation through?

Spying on citizens. Spying on international allies and damaging the US's credibility and image. Spying on Congress and lying about it? I'm sure that some spying is necessary to keep us safe and we've been fairly safe. But isn't this going overboard? Especially with this new program, that we are paying for to get spied on. As technology enables more spying techniques, we have to strike a balance between the safety they provide and our freedom of privacy.

DEMOCRACYNOW.ORG: "A new report reveals the Justice Department is sweeping up data from vast swaths of the population by flying planes equipped with devices that mimic cellphone towers. According to The Wall Street Journal, the seven-year-old program, run by the U.S. Marshals Service, allows the government to trick tens of thousands of cellphones into reporting their location and identifying information over the course of a single flight. While the program is designed to target criminal suspects, it is reportedly ensnaring massive numbers of innocent Americans. The device can also interrupt calls on certain phones."

LINK:   DEMOCRACYNOW

FUNNY!

PLEASE HELP STOP THE KEYSTONE XL!

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: This Tuesday, the Senate will vote to try to undo all our efforts over the past six years to stop the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. We need your help NOW to stop the Senate from trying to undermine President Obama’s authority and forcing this horrible project through.

Senator Mary Landrieu -- who is in bed with the oil industry and fighting for her seat in a runoff election early next month -- introduced irresponsible legislation to approve the pipeline, which would carry dirty, dangerous tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

Senate Democrats, in a desperate, blatantly political move to save Senator Landrieu’s seat, are trying to sell out the environment and the interests of the American people for a giveaway to Big Oil. Now, we need you to show your Senator that if they vote for KXL, there will be consequences.

Tell your Senators: Vote NO on Keystone XL!

Two weeks ago, the Koch brothers bought themselves an election, and now Senate Democrats are trying to gift them a pipeline. Not because it’s good policy. Not because it will benefit Americans. But because it’s their last-ditch effort to support a Senator who has been terrible on the environment from Day One.

We’ve already sent a strong message to President Obama that we will not stand for transporting the most environmentally destructive oil on the planet across America’s heartland -- all so it can be exported. We’ve sent letters, made phone calls, taken to the streets, and gotten arrested -- and so far, we’ve succeeded in preventing the construction of KXL for six years.

Now, we can’t let our Senators go around President Obama and hold the planet hostage to their political whims. We have to turn up the heat on them to vote against the pipeline.

Take action now: Tell your Senators to vote NO on KXL.

The science is clear -- we must act today to reduce our carbon emissions, and we simply cannot afford to increase our reliance on even dirtier sources of fuel like tar sands. Approving KXL would light the fuse to an enormous carbon bomb that threatens our climate and our communities.

In this pivotal moment, we need you to tell your Senators you won’t stand for political theatrics over a project with no redeeming value.

SIGN HERE

LADY BUNNY AT CARNEGIE HALL?

Miss Craziness is literally performing at Carnegie Hall this evening. It's not actually the main hall, but the smaller Resnick Education wing. And it's at a gay wedding of a fun couple who also have the brilliant Martha Wash singing. I was nervous because these weddings can be very serious and at one point, I even thought I was going to have to obtain some certificate which enabled me to wed them. Honey, if this slut is blessing your wedding, you'll But then I realized that they were already legally married and this is more of a party. And the benediction and prayer is not some lofty, religious thing which I'd have to struggle through--it's this:

Facebook, Grindr, Scroff etc., help us to remember when we first met and the strong love that grew between us.

Dear RuPaul, we put their marriage into Your hands.
Now……can I get an AMEN and Sissy That Walk?

I love my job!

UM, OK...

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

SHADE!

Dionne's voice!

WHOOPS!

Obama just sent 1,500 more troops to fight ISIS--after promising there would be no boots on the ground. Now he's requesting $ 3.2 billion more to fight ISIS. People don't have water in Detroit and we're cutting food stamps. There is no $ for job creation or fixing our crumbling infrastructure. But we've always got money to bomb three countries which aren't attacking us.




Another great TYT segment with Cenk Ugyur.

SORRY, CHARLIE!

For a black man of Charlie Rangel's age to claim that he didn't know that the word "cracker" is offensive to whites is a flat-out lie. Cracker is to white people what the n-word is to blacks. And for everyone of any race who is appalled by the racist attacks on president Obama by whites, this is the same thing in reverse. Like Charlie, I disapprove of the tea party's ignorant agenda and have called them many names myself. Ignorant, selfish, obstructionist, violent, neanderthal and many other adjectives would apply without resorting to racial slurs. And I myself use the word cracker and other offensive words. But I'm not in public office and I'm not lying about it on camera.

Frankly, I think seeing two black men laughing on a "news" segment over one's use of the word cracker is disturbing and it's crystal clear proof that race-baiting doesn't only come from whites. In his attempt to back-track and apologize, Rangel even presents the ridiculous notion that he used the term thinking it was a term of "endearment." This again is an absurd lie. Then again maybe lying isn't so unusual for Rangel, since he was indicted for 11 counts of ethics violations in 2010, including this lunacy. NY Times: "Since the accusations were first raised two years ago, Mr. Rangel has acknowledged bookkeeping errors in his financial disclosure forms and has said that his failure to pay more than $60,000 in taxes on rental income from a Dominican beach house was an oversight, caused, in part, by his inability to speak Spanish." I wonder if in the statement he called spanish "spic-ish", because that's a term of endearment to latinos. Puh-lease.

WATCH:   HUFFPO

A MUST READ, IN MY OPINION

This 20-year veteran police sear gent, who happens to be black and female, makes some very interesting and powerful observations about the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. Naturally, being black and from the world of law enforcement, she has a unique perspective which I hope you'll check out in full. Here are a few key excerpts.

Cheryl Dorsey: "The problems in Ferguson, Missouri, will continue long after the grand jury's decision is announced. The tensions in the community will undoubtedly be exacerbated if the U.S. Justice Department declines to pursue civil rights violations against Officer Darren Wilson. The real problem in Ferguson is the fact that the residents are stuck with a police department that seemingly lacks ethnic diversity, appears racially insensitive and is unwilling to admit changes within are necessary. The problems of the Ferguson Police Department are cultural and systemic.

As a retired, 20-year veteran police sergeant, I reject the notion that a professional, tactically trained, gun-toting police officer would fear an unarmed teenager. Police officers receive an inordinate amount of training, first in the academy and then continued in-service training. Police officers should expect, by virtue of their occupation, that interacting with the community can at times be contentious. Police officers are expected to rely on their training and common sense if confronted with an argumentative and uncooperative citizen. Police officers are not expected to take it personally when a citizen fails to follow an order given. So for Officer Wilson to initiate a traffic stop and then immediately escalate the situation to a deadly-force incident is, in my opinion, outrageous.

Maybe it's time to require police recruit candidates to prove they are not predisposed to being fearful before they are hired and given a gun. Maybe it's time to require a police officer to prove fear if that's the stated reason for firing that gun. Maybe it's time to hold officers who violate policy and the law when they discharge that gun personally liable. Maybe it's time to no longer allow the mere utterance of "fear" by a police officer as a justification for what our sensibilities as a society recognize is unreasonable and excessive.

Officer, if you were in fear, please explain why you did not remain in the safe confines of your police car. Officer, why didn't you call for backup, wait for backup to arrive and then tell backup that you were in fear for your safety? Please, Officer, why did you kill Mike Brown? If it wasn't because of his race, then what?

And finally, sir, would your please return to the police station, turn in your badge and gun and seek employment somewhere else, because, Officer, I am in fear for my safety."

MORE: HUFFPO

PLEASE CALL IF YOU AGREE

Isn't it great that we have to beg congressional leaders not to appoint "Wall Street's Favorite Democrat", a former investment banker, to an important committee position? Isn't it great that we have to beg Democrats to be actual Democrats and at least pretend that both parties don't live to lick Wall Street's @ss? They are all skunks, but at least send a message that we're paying attention. It's very easy to ignore the people you supposedly represent when someone is dangling huge campaign contributions in your face.

Will House Dems marry Goldman Sachs?

This week, possibly in the next 48 hours, Nancy Pelosi has a big decision to make: Who will lead the House Democrats' campaign committee?

While there are a couple progressives she's considering, one other name is Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes.

In an article titled "Wall Street's Favorite Democrat," Businessweek reports:

Wall Street doesn't have many friends in Washington these days -- especially among Democrats on Capitol Hill. There is one House Democrat who's shown some sympathy for Wall Street: Jim Himes. A former Goldman Sachs (GS) investment banker ... he isn't shy about defending the industry or decrying Wall Street bashing.

Senator Elizabeth Warren was the most popular campaigner for Democrats this year because voters love her big economic populist ideas -- including Wall Street reform and accountability.

To win, more Democrats need to run on her message.

Can you call Nancy Pelosi right now and tell her Jim Himes' appointment would hurt Democratic chances in 2016?

Nancy Pelosi's Office: (202) 225-4965

MORE:   BOLDPROGRESSIVE

Thanks for being a bold progressive.

-- Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor, PCCC co-founders.

GREAT "NEW" SONG

Heard this in Chicago--home of a lot of great dance music. You may remember Duck Sauce's nutty hit Barbra Streisand a couple years ago. Funny how this is one of the best new dance new songs yet it's just an old song that's been juiced up. And they don't just sample one groove--they sample two. So it's really just a remix. What current songs have so much musicality that they're going to be sampled in a few decades because their sounds are superior to any that we can now create, with all of our technology? Shake It Off? I Don't Care (I Love It)? Anaconda? Oh wait--that's already a sample.

OBAMA'S SINISTER SIDE

Here's the secret trade agreement that Obama is trying to fast-track through Congress. Congress can't get anything done and the GOP controlling both houses have vowed to kill any of Obama's ideas on principle. But not this one. Not this secret one that would kill American jobs and that no one would support if they knew what was in it. Except for the big businesses who wrote it with the White House. Congressmen are expected to vote on it and can't even take notes on the agreement to openly discuss it. Now the other countries involved in the deal that's been called NAFTA on steroids--and NAFTA killed many US jobs--are questioning it's benefits for anyone except multi-national corporations. Australia is one of the countries possibly involved, and here's what he has to say about Obama's dastardly TPP. If Obama's a good guy who isn't bribed by big business, why is he intent on destroying American jobs? Because he is. In secret. He's not focused on immigration, gun control, climate change or any other crap he mouths off about in well-written speeches. Screwing us will be his legacy and this, his last screw,  will leave a gaping, bloody hole as we're forced to compete with workers in Vietnam making 25 cents an hour.

GUARDIAN: "Liberal senator Bill Heffernan has called for transparency in negotiations over international trade deals including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), saying Australians deserve to know the details.

“I mean, it’s all shrouded in bloody, in secrecy, I mean I would like to know what the details are,” Heffernan said.

“I’ve asked the various players and I’ve been told ‘Bill, it’s all, it’s all in ... you know, we can’t tell you because it’s all sort of commercial-in-confidence’. You know, I just think we deserve to know the details of these things.”

Russia Today: "Only when Wikileaks published a draft version of the negotiating document did critics understand how it would erode intellectual property protections, changes to environmental regulations, and curb freedom of speech.

“While the TPP is being called a trade agreement, the US already has trade agreements (with most of the) countries involved in the talks. Instead, the TPP is a major power grab by large corporations,” said Margaret Flowers, MD, former congressional fellow for Physicians for a National Health Program told the Institute for Public Accuracy. Doctors are particularly interested in the pact because it contains a threat to the availability of generic drugs.

“The text of the TPP includes 29 chapters, only five of which are about trade,” she added. “The remaining chapters are focused on changes that multinational corporations have not been able to pass in Congress, such as restrictions on internet privacy, increased patent protections, greater access to litigation and further financial deregulation.”

Flowers said the negotiations are shrouded in secrecy because the more people know about it, the more they will oppose the agreement. More than 600 corporate advisers were working with the US Trade Representative to draft the TPP, she said, “means that for more than four years some of the top corporate lawyers have been inserting phrases, paragraphs and whole sections so the agreement suits the needs of corporate power, while undermining the interests of people and planet.”

There's your guy, Obama. Actively seeking to destroy jobs and give more power to huge corporations. Yet you still post "Blame the black guy" memes. Look at the TPP and tell me he doesn't deserve blame!

MORE:   RT.COM


MORE:   THEGUARDIAN

CAZWELL & BIG DIPPER PARODY BOBBY SCHMURDA

I am not a big rap fan, but I do like comedy!

DUELING PARODIES OF ALL ABOUT THAT BASS

I adore LOCO MAMA!

Post by helloU.

KKK NOW WELCOMES BLACKS< LATINOS, JEWS AND GAYS!

No thanks! I think I'll pass on joining the new inclusive KKK. If I wanted to fraternize and pay to join a bunch of extremist, bigoted charlatans, I'd just join the Catholic church.

RT TODAY: KKK rebrand: Blacks, Hispanics, gays & Jews now welcomed by Ku Klux Klan

MORE:   RT.COM

MADE THE OUT MAG 100 WITH TWO OF MY FAVE PARTNERS IN CRIME!

OUT100: Murray Hill & Lady Bunny & Joey Arias shot by Juco for Out. I LOVE Joey's quote about FB!

"Lady Bunny (center) has been entertaining drunk people for decades, and this year saw her DJing all over the globe and staging her “one-and-a-half woman” show, Clowns Syndrome. But this queen (alter ego of Jon Marc Ingle) is also politically astute. Of the rebels at the 1969 Stonewall uprising, she says, “These misfits were so openly gay that remaining in the closet wasn’t an option. They had the balls to stand up to harassment.” (So does Bunny — they are just carefully tucked away.) Meanwhile, drag king Murray Hill (right) toured the country this year with burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese, and rehearsed for his Australian debut at the Sydney Opera House. But he still cites Bunny as a huge influence. “When I first moved to New York,” says the 20-plus-year cabaret vet, “I saw Wigstock and was blown away. What a broad!” And Joey Arias (left), part of New York’s performance art scene since the 1980s, has also racked up countless cabaret acts and appeared in films like To Wong Foo…This year, when Facebook enforced the use of “real names,” Arias voiced outrage. “When a corporation tells you that you can’t use your stage name,” he says, “that’s the new Stonewall.”

Photographed at the Stonewall Inn, New York on July 21, 2014

SEE THE REST OF THE 100!   OUT

AN EXCELLENT SPOOF ON PAPER MAG'S NEW COVER

GUTEN MORGEN

Post by Gronkh.

NIECY NASH 911

Wait--I thought that most women, particularly women of color, do not get into performing fellatio, yet they can expect cunniilingis. Niecy recommends it as a marriage saver. So cook your man's food and blow him regularly is the ticket? I wonder how feminists will feel about that?

MORE:   PLAYBOY

DIG THESE CRAZY STYLES!

VIEW MANY MORE:   BOREDPANDA

THANKS, DEBLASIO!

This is how much weed you can now carry around New York City without being arrested. http://nyp.st/1AY6wwc

YEP!

FACE THE TRUTH ABOUT WAR

NY TIMES' DANIEL P. BOLGER:   "True love of our soldiers would be proven by not sending them into harm’s way frivolously but only after a painstaking assessment, whether done in a matter of hours if we are attacked or weeks if there be time, of how putting their lives in jeopardy is necessary for the good of all Americans.

Here’s a legend that’s going around these days. In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq and toppled a dictator. We botched the follow-through, and a vicious insurgency erupted. Four years later, we surged in fresh troops, adopted improved counterinsurgency tactics and won the war. And then dithering American politicians squandered the gains. It’s a compelling story. But it’s just that — a story.

The surge in Iraq did not “win” anything. It bought time. It allowed us to kill some more bad guys and feel better about ourselves. But in the end, shackled to a corrupt, sectarian government in Baghdad and hobbled by our fellow Americans’ unwillingness to commit to a fight lasting decades, the surge just forestalled today’s stalemate. Like a handful of aspirin gobbled by a fevered patient, the surge cooled the symptoms. But the underlying disease didn’t go away. The remnants of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Sunni insurgents we battled for more than eight years simply re-emerged this year as the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

The surge legend is soothing, especially for military commanders like me. We can convince ourselves that we did our part, and a few more diplomats or civilian leaders should have done theirs. Similar myths no doubt comforted Americans who fought under the command of Robert E. Lee in the Civil War or William C. Westmoreland in Vietnam. But as a three-star general who spent four years trying to win this thing — and failing — I now know better.

MORE:   NYTIMES

ABSURD!

So he's a great president because he's been attacked? Puh-lease! Every president gets attacked--though not on the basis of race, which is unfair. But I'm so sick of people trying to claim that Obama couldn't be as effectively as h wanted because he was so strongly opposed. He was very effective in many ways that the average Americans do not want--like increasing drone strikes and drug arrests, unprecedented spying, bailing out banks, ignoring unions' rights which he'd promised to protect and keeping taxes low for the wealthy and for huge corporations. And before you squawk "The GOP opposed everything he did," both parties in Congress were democratic during his first two years--and was he ramming through a progressive agenda during that golden window? No! Though it didn't work, he was constantly reaching across the aisle to Republicans who'd sworn to block his every move. Which was a tactic rooted in sheer nonsense! Because he is a moderate Republican who drug the Democrats into the mud. I understand if you wince at the vicious attacks against him--especially those due to his race from ignorant bigots and those who exploit them, but personal attacks against him can't defend his policies. For which American lives aren't better.

PLEASE SIGN IF YOU AGREE

Obama must be applauded for his affirmation to protect the free and open internet. If he's openly committing to doing the right thing, let's encourage him. Maybe these petitions do send politicians a clear message. That'a why I signed this petition from Daily Kos--it will let him know that this is a matter we feel passionately about. You're enjoying the internet in it's current form now, aren't you? (No, Bunny--not when you start your serial posts of whines.) 

Of course, I won't even mention that Obama should be simultaneously chastised for secretly ramming through the Trans Pacific Partnership, which has devastating effects internet freedom and outsourcing already slim job opportunities. But let's support his commitment to preserve the internet as we now know and enjoy it. And hold his feet to the fire on actually preserving it and not caving to corporate interests. In one segment of his jurisdiction, anyway....

DAILY KOS: "I woke today to amazing news—President Barack Obama has joined millions of Americans and stepped forward to protect the free and open internet. Please click here to thank President Obama now.

President Obama could have easily bowed to the immense pressure exerted by Big Cable and telecom lobbyists—instead he did the right thing for the people by standing with Team Internet.

This is huge and we couldn’t have done it without you. Daily Kos readers participated in over 1.35 million emails to Congress, the White House, and the FCC. Additionally, our folks showed up at events and did grassroots lobbying in the states. This is awesome.

In no uncertain terms, President Obama has called for an open, level playing field to internet access and real net neutrality. He clearly urges the FCC to write rules that outright ban fast and slow lanes on the internet and cannot lead to sweetheart paid prioritization deals, preferred access, blocking of content. This statement makes one thing clear—all websites must be treated equally.

We are on our path to victory, and President Obama has joined the fight. Please email President Obama to thank him for his statement.

Further, he explicitly states the legal authority we’ve been pushing for—Title II of the Telecommunications Act with forbearance. We know this is the strongest legal framework. And, we know that these same cable and telecom companies operate as common carriers for other services they provide—their internet services should not be different.

"… I believe the FCC should reclassify consumer broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act — while at the same time forbearing from rate regulation and other provisions less relevant to broadband services."

This isn’t a total slam dunk—FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler could decide to go rogue and not heed the words of the President, millions of Americans, and dozens of elected officials in order to side with Team Cable—but we are in a good position to win. We've shown both President Obama and Chairman Wheeler that the internet can be allies in the face of corporate power.

We will go back to applying pressure to Chairman Wheeler tomorrow. Today, we celebrate President Barack Obama for standing with us on the right side in the fight for a free and open internet. Please click here to send the President a sincere thank you today.

Keep fighting,
Rachel Colyer"

https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/993

NEW VIDEO "CREEP" BY JINKX MONSOON

Directed Steve Willis, who also directed this!

OH LORD!

PLEASE WATCH THIS!

STOP DEFENDING OBAMA THE CROOK

Another one of Obama's joke appointees--a former cable lobbyist who Obama appointed to head the FCC. Like he appointed a former Monsanto big-wig to head the FDA, which supposedly protects our food and drugs. Obama is a joke in the pocket of corporations with no desire to serve the people of this country. He's filled the government with crooks! We'll see if Obama caves in to the pressure to fire his appointee. You wouldn't be reading this if you didn't enjoy the internet, yet looming changes to how we use the internet don't concern you. Something is disconnected here. Would you like to blame Bush for Obama's many fox-watching-the-hen-house appointments like this?

“We’re blockading Tom Wheeler’s driveway because he’s made it clear that when he goes to work, he’s not working for the public, he’s working for Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T, the companies that used to pay his salary when he was a lobbyist for the Cable industry,” said Kevin Zeese, co-director of Popular Resistance, “The future of the Internet is a life or death matter for marginalized people all over the world. We cannot in good conscience allow this corrupt official to carry on with business as usual.”

“The Internet is an essential tool in all of our lives for many reasons such as the growing citizen’s media, information sharing and access to goods and services. All people must have equal access to content without discrimination. Wealthy corporations should not get faster Internet delivery service than start-ups and citizens’ groups. ” said Margaret Flowers, MD, co-director of Popular Resistance.

Zeese added “The FCC received a record number of comments, with more than 3.7 million responding to the rulemaking proceeding on the future of the Internet; 99% of those comments favored net neutrality and reclassification. How dare Chairman Wheeler ignore the overwhelming majority of the people in favor of corporations like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T. Tom Wheeler is playing with fire. We will be escalating our protests if he continues down the path of ignoring the people. If Wheeler is unable to fulfill President Obama’s promise to protect net neutrality, then he should resign or be removed from office.”

MORE:   POPULARESISTANCE

HMMMMM...

I'm never sure about where Daily Kos is coming from. I despise it when any scandal is elevated to the level of watergate, particularly with the sad hashtag added to it. And this headline is ridiculously sensationalized--of course this story isn't more "racist" than what went down in Ferguson which involved a death and weeks of protest.

Yet it is a disturbing story. A Minneapolis mayor poses with an ex-con with this pointing finger sign. Soon, the local ABC affiliate is accusing her of using gang symbols and lining up interviews with policemen who claim that her affinity with crooks is undermining local police. This common pose is doing nothing of the sort. Are police, who are very unpopular now, trying to rebuild their image at the expense of this mayor? Whatever is happening, it's a clear demonstration of the nonsense which passes as news these days. And the phony "outrages" which get coverage while huge, fundamental issues get little to no air time.

MORE:   DAILYKOS

NEW CHER AND MADONNA DUET

NEW TUNE FROM EUROVISION WINNER CONCHITA WURST

WHAT A FOOL!

PARIS IS STILL BURNING!

The category is Bizarre Vs Catwalk and there's a cameo by the still flawless Carmen Xtravaganza.

WHAT A NUT!

LYPSINKA'S TRILOGY: A SNEAK PEAK

LYPSINKA! THE TRILOGY - Nov 5 - Jan 3, The Connelly Theater NYC from TWEED TheaterWorks on Vimeo.

PLEASE SIGN IF YOU AGREE

I signed this, but have very little faith that Obama will lead us into anything except more war and tax breaks for those who don't need it.

CREDO: In the wake of Tuesday’s electoral defeat, what happens now is going to depend a lot on what President Obama is willing to stand up and fight for.

That’s not a comforting thought. But it’s also up to us and how far we’re willing to go to pressure the president to do the right and necessary thing.

In his press conference on Wednesday, president Obama towed the line between a willingness to push forward with progressive priorities if congress was unwilling to take action, and offers to look for so-called middle ground with the extremist Republicans who will control the Senate.

We don’t know how far he’s willing to push - or what he’s willing to give up. But we know that the landscape in Washington DC just got worse. Much worse. It’s up to us to quickly pivot to the key fights we know are coming as a result of Republican control of the Senate. And to push President Obama to do everything in his power to break through the coming Republican blockade.

Tell President Obama: Here are the ten things you have to do immediately now that Tea Party Republicans control both the House and the Senate.

Here are 10 things President Obama needs to do immediately -- and 10 things that aren’t likely to happen if we don’t make him do it.

No deals on cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Strengthen the power plant carbon rule to make it your boldest action yet on climate.
Immediately suspend deportations of millions of aspiring Americans until comprehensive immigration reform can be passed.
Don’t commit ground troops to Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria.
Reject Keystone XL, and apply the climate test to all federal decision making.
Save the Internet by making Net Neutrality the law of the land.
Empower your Federal Election Commission to enforce election laws and limit money in politics.
Fill all federal judicial vacancies before the end of this Congress.
Fight back against the Republican war on women with NO compromises.
Use federal powers to end abusive, militarized and biased policing targeting African Americans and Latinos.
Tell President Obama: Here are the ten things you have to do immediately now that Tea Party Republicans control both the House and the Senate.

It's worth noting that progressive base turnout was down in this election in part because President Obama has been far too reluctant to use his executive power to deliver victories on key progressive issues from climate to immigration to economic justice.

To make matters worse, the Republicans now in control of the Senate and House will do everything in their power to advance their Tea Party agenda – including what Democrats refused to do, like getting rid of the filibuster for legislation, using reconciliation to pass bills with only 51 votes, and continuing to refuse to compromise in the face of Democrats all too willing to cave preemptively.

President Obama can no longer credibly suggest that there is a bipartisan path to progress – though his advisors may urge him to do just that. He needs to take executive action. He must refuse to cave to Republicans. He cannot waste time negotiating with bad faith partners who have no intention of compromising ever.

Tell President Obama: Here are the ten things you have to do immediately now that Tea Party Republicans control both the House and the Senate.

Thank you for everything you do to work for progressive change.

Becky Bond and Michael Kieschnick
CREDO SuperPAC

Add your name:     CREDO

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING...

SENIOR PORN! THERE'S HOPE FOR ME YET!

No models UNDER 65!

VISIT:   OMAGEIL

IF YOU BELIEVE THIS, YOU'RE CLUELESS

This meme is complete rubbish. Democrats lost because democrats like Obama have turned their backs on key principles of the democratic party. And the sheep in Congress followed suit. You don't win votes by crapping on your base. When you've been acting like a moderate Republican for 6 years, why would democrats turn out to support you after you've dragged the party into the mud?

THIS NEW EBOLA JAM IS VERY CATCHY!

QUAKERS FOR PEACE

This was forwarded to me by my mom, who is a Quaker. When are other religions going to start speaking out against the US government's constant desire for war? Or are ministers and pastors too eager for donations from hawkish conservatives or the rest of us who have been blinded by pro-war propaganda to actually preach peace? Does "THOU SHALT NOT KILL" ring a bell to any of you religious types? Or is church somewhere you just go on Sundays in a fancy hat and you don't actually understand that Jesus was the called the Prince Of Peace?

"Thirteen years of war has taken its toll. FCNL program assistants Maggie O'Donnell and Sean Langberg wrote last week: "We are a generation of war...accustomed to the misguided paradigm that sees military-first responses as appropriate and, perhaps, essential. We have forgotten that war is supposed to be the very last resort and should only come after robust national and congressional debates..."

As FCNL watches the violence in Iraq and Syria and the U.S. bombing, we long for an answer of how to stop the killing and protect the people at risk. In the past week, some of you have shared with us your belief and frustration that military action seems like the only way to stop the Islamic State militants. We do not have all the answers at FCNL, but we remain concerned that this military action—like so many before it—will not help build a world free of war and the threat of war; indeed, it is likely to lead to greater violence and endless war. This week we hear some members of Congress calling for ground troops and demands for more funds on top of the $550 billion the Pentagon will spend this year, despite the president’s promise that U.S. soldiers will not be on the ground.

Right now, your members of Congress are on the campaign trail. They are listening to what constituents have to say about endless war and they are honing their positions on a new Authorizations for the Use of Military Force and funding for this war. Please ask your congressional candidates to oppose military intervention in Iraq and Syria.

These are not easy issues, as Jim Cason points out in a new blog post. Two of our new program assistants, Maggie and Sean, have watched the U.S. at war for more than half their lives. They write: "Obama’s new war is about more than bombing and arming Iraq and Syria. It’s about where our country is and what we want our priorities to be in the future."

It’s also about the language that we use, as Matt Southworth notes. You can help shape the way Congress looks at this new intervention by asking your candidates how they would respond to the violence in Iraq and Syria.

Thank you, as always, for your work for peace.  --Dianne Randall

Sign here to tell your reps and the president to stop war:    CAPWIZ

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK....

Post by Alessandro Cordeiro.

JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT!

Post by El Circo.

RARE IN-STUDIO DONNA SUMMER FOOTAGE

Post by Giorgio Moroder.

HALLOWE'EN IN SEATTLE

MORE PICS OF BEN DEL LA CREME AND JINKX MONSOON. This creature was one of the finalists.

MORE:   ADVOCATE

SHE'S BAAAACK!

“I do not call myself a drag queen,” says John Epperson, also known as legendary performer Lypsinka.“I don’t like that term. I think of Lypsinka as a woman. [Lady] Bunny thinks of herself as a drag queen. Bunny reminds her audience that she’s a man in a dress, and I don’t do that.”

As Lypsinka, Epperson has spent decades enthralling audiences with complex soundscapes. Years before the Internet, Epperson was sampling live recordings, interviews, and sound effects for Lypsinka shows. Now Lypsinka will return to the New York stage—after a nine-year absence—for a trilogy of performances starting November 5. “The first show is called Lypsinka! The Boxed Set, which played in New York 13 and a half years ago. That one is a traditional Lypsinka show. It uses lots of sound bites from different sources and I never stop moving, and I’m alone on stage, and it’s entirely lip-synched,” explains Epperson. The second show, The Passion of the Crawford, is, obviously, a tribute to the infamous actress. “A lot of it is a recreation of an interview Crawford did in 1973.”

For the third show in the trilogy, Epperson sheds his Lypsinka character, singing and playing the piano live as himself. “I am a trained pianist. A lot of people don’t know that I can play the piano, or that I can sing,” Epperson says. “Some people don’t even know that I can talk.”

Epperson has been subverting expectations for decades as Lypsinka and since he first donned drag as a child. “It must have triggered some kind of deep thing in my fantasy life when I was a kid, because it became the thing that I did as an adult. When a kid does it, people think, ‘Isn’t that cute?’ But when a grown man does it, they can also find it shocking. And if it wasn’t shocking, they wouldn’t buy tickets.”

Lypsinka! The Boxed Set at The Connelly Theater, 220 E Fourth St (btwn Aves A/B), November 5–January 2; The Passion of the Crawford, November 8–January 3; John Epperson: Show Trash, November 11–January 3; various times; $45–$60 single show/$80–$100 two shows/$105–$125 three shows. Visit lypsinka.com for more info.

MORE:   NEXTMAGAZINE

GO, LEA DELARIA!

A real powerhouse, on and off-stage! And can sing like nobody's business.

I LOVE THESE EVERY YEAR ON JIMMY KIMMEL

 Of course, the kids are cute and crazy, but is it a little bit of sugar addiction mixed in, too?

HEE HEE!

HORRIBLE HILLARY

This guy tells it like it is. Even though his ratings were beating Anderson Cooper, MSNBC fired him when he refused to stop criticizing Obama. Here he is telling the truth about Hillary, who is less progressive than Obama. That corporate whore/hawk was on the board of Wal-Mart, for chrissakes.

Cenk Ugyur: "If you think Hillary Clinton is going to fight for a progressive agenda, you're smoking the good stuff. The woman who just told her Goldman Sachs audience that the bankers are misunderstood is going to do what -- get money out of politics, fix the banking system, do progressive economic policy? Even if you "stand with Hillary," you don't believe that.

And has anyone been more a pro-war Democrat than Hillary Clinton? That's a literal question. Her team is out there now saying they would have been more hawkish in the Middle East than Obama was. They would have gotten involved in Syria earlier. They would do even more bombing of Iraq and Syria today. Great, a pro-war Democratic candidate! That's worked out so well before.

So far there haven't been very many progressives willing to stick their head out there and say they're willing to take on Team Hillary. I understand that the Washington media is saying that she can't be beat. That's hilarious. Isn't that exactly what they said in 2008? Well, to be fair, at the time she was running a center-right, hawkish, Republican-lite campaign. Oh yeah, exactly the kind of campaign she's running now."

MORE:   HUFFPO

PLEASE SIGN IF YOU AGREE

We wonder why we get cancer. We're smearing it all over ourselves daily. With carcinogen-causing products made by companies who have the nerve to spearhead breast cancer awareness campaigns. Truly disgusting.

"Procter & Gamble, the largest personal care product company in the world, spent millions in October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, to promote products packed with cancer-causing chemicals.

Major P&G brands such as Tide, Pantene, Herbal Essence, and CoverGirl are full of carcinogens and are sold to customers without so much as a warning on the label.1 It's time to highlight P&G's role in contributing to cancer.

Procter & Gamble needs to make a real commitment to protecting its customers’ health. Click here to sign the petition.

Dozens of potentially dangerous chemicals can be found across the spectrum of P&G products. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), recognized as a carcinogen by the state of California, is one such chemical used worldwide. The US National Institutes of Health reports that BHA is "reasonably anticipated" to be a human carcinogen. By putting chemicals linked to cancer in P&G products, the corporation is running a dangerous experiment on human health.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has reviewed the scientific literature on carcinogens and found cancer-causing chemicals in Procter & Gamble products including shampoos, lotions, cosmetics, and hair dyes. The CSC cross-referenced this research with authoritative bodies, including the California Proposition 65 list of chemicals, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the National Toxicology Program (NTP).

Many of the chemicals P&G uses are banned in various places around the world. There is no reason for Procter & Gamble to put cancer-causing chemicals in its personal beauty products when safer alternatives exist.

P&G has enormous influence over the market -- when Procter and Gamble makes a move on a carcinogen, the rest of the industry moves with it. P&G plasters its products in pink (during October and beyond) to try to convince consumers that it cares about their health, and is committed to fighting a disease that affects hundreds of thousands of Americans each year.

If enough of us call out P&G’s hypocrisy, we can pressure P&G into cleaning up its act for good. Click the link below to sign the petition."

SIGN:   CREDOACTION