Pope Francis aligns himself with an Anti-Gay Hate Group

By now, just about everybody with any interest knows this.  That's right, Kim and the Pope had a little meet and greet.  At first the Vatican was a little shy about the subject, but now they admit the meeting took place, however they're not talking about it.  Of course, they don't need to because Kim is... well, actually, it's the Liberty Council that's doing most of the talking, filling the media with quotes from Kim.  In fact the Liberty Council is waiting for pictures taken of Kim and the Pope.  Don't worry, we'll all see them plastered on T-shirts at their next Hate Rally, each bearing that smashing new slogan of hate:  Stay Strong!  Of course, they not only hate, they have no problem with lying.  It took them a while before they admitted this picture was horse shit an honest mistake.  One can only wonder if this is what convinced the Pope a secret meeting with Kim was important.

I can only wonder why no one told him how much hate the Liberty Council sponsors towards the LGBT community.  They are not just against Marriage Equality, that's just the tip of the iceberg to them.  If it were up to them we would have no rights what so ever.  They are, to use the Pope's own terminology, totally consumed with ideological Christianity.   In other words, they cherry pick those things they want to believe, those things they love, and those things they hate.  By having that few minute conversation with her, he aligned himself with them because she is one of theirs.  I'm surprised she wasn't wired to record the conversation... oh, maybe she was.  Wouldn't that be a joke on the Pope?  Or maybe it was her husband who was wearing the wire, since Kim evidently gave the Holy Father a hug.

Roland Emmerich hits a brick wall

Stonewall opened in 112 (?) theaters last weekend, not one of which was in Harrisburg.  Not that I had planned on going to see it... too much bad press.  What I find surprising is that there were those out there who hoped for something better.  Evidently no one took the time to look at his track record.  His forte is smashingly good special effect sequences... and that's about it.  "Independence Day" was a remake of the film version of "War of the Worlds," and it made him a lot of money, the fact that an alien species, who've been harvesting planets throughout the galaxy, could be beaten with a 20th century computer virus is... well... preposterous.  But that's how Roland's mind works.  Then there's that great scene in "The Day After Tomorrow" where a young (and still Otterish) Jake Gyllenhaal, knowing things are going to get really, really cold, decides the best way to keep warm is to burn books.  Sure, they're in the New York Public Library, and there are lots of books around them, but there are also large wooden tables, and wooden chairs, and wooden bookcases.  The fact that burning wood does give off more BTU's then burning paper was totally ignored and they burned books.

Then there was "Godzilla," in which a very, very large raptor / alien was cast in the lead.  And don't forget that little thing Roland called "2012" in which we got to see his updated version of Noah's ark.

Knowing all of this, why would anyone have expected "Stonewall" to be anything more than it is?  When it comes to logic?  When it comes to serious expose?  All Roland can do is hit a brick wall.  Sad to say, but I don't think he actually cares much about what's on the other side, because hitting that brick wall as fast as he can is what's important to him.

Immigration Flummax

Just saw an article in the NYT about immigrants coming into the US and wasn't surprised at all.  Just about every local and state governments, as well as our National leaders, jumped on board the Spanish train and published everything in both English and Spanish.  Retailers jumped into the mix too.  Now, according to the Pew Institute it looks as though the Spanish speakers are lagging behind.  It seems to be the Asians, (Chinese and Indians) who are immigrating in much larger numbers.  Oops.  Does this mean we're going to have to change all of those signs?

Boehner 'let's loose the hounds' kind of...

John Boehner is quitting his job.  His last day will be at the end of October - scary because the only thing he's managed to do while in the position is keep rabid Tea Partiers at bay... well, sort of.  However er, they don't want to be kept at bay.  They want to attack, attack, attack no matter how terrible it makes them look.  They want to shut down the government as often as they can in order to prove to themselves how powerful they are, without the least bit of consideration of the damage they're doing.  They headlines are interesting, most of them alluding to this fact.
However, I did see this little thing, about this little investigation going on which might also factor into his resignation.  Of course, he's not the only politician who's had problems with campaign financing.  You would think they'd know by now that money is like drugs, and the best thing to do is just say 'no.'  Oh, wait, that's right, I'm speaking about a Republican here.  Anyway, we'll have to wait and see if this pans out.

Personally, I've always thought he was a little too smarmy, even for a politician... sort of like 'old school' scum.
Of course, maybe it's true that he's quitting as a result of pressure from the Far Right.  If that's is the case it couldn't have happened at a worst time for them.  They have a clown parade of wanna be presidents, and they're going to replace Boehner with a Speaker who's going to 'let loose the hounds.'  Looks like we'll have another Democrat in the White House in 2016.

Big Seig - Steve vs Kim

Today is Big Seig's birthday.  He's a nine month old Boxer... who's still growing.  He's called Big Seig because he's approaching 100 lbs... and he's still growing, and he's not fat, he's all muscle.  He's also a big, big baby.  I have a lot of pictures of him, but the one which gives you the best idea of how big he is was taken a month ago, when he was eight months old.

That's Big Seig with my 82 year old mom. Anyway, today's his birthday.  To celebrate, he and Lillian D'aubert, my female Boxer, shared a piece of white cake with butter cream icing.  Normally, they don't get people food, only on birthdays.

On a lighter note, I saw that Kim Davis was given a little soap box on Fox News last evening - didn't watch it.  I did read she said something to the effect that she wouldn't issue a marriage license to her own child if he was gay, and I thought, holy crap, if she had a gay child she'd be beating the gay out of him in Jesus' name when ever possible.  That's what crazy, religious fanatics do.

What I did watch was Steven Amell in Arrow on Netflix.  I like the show because it's definitely not PG rated.  And, on top of that, he's not bad looking.

Though I have a funny feeling that in the real world he's a bit on the petite side, even though they say he's over 6 feet tall.  Now be honest, who would you really rather look at?  Steve or Kim?

Will Kim Davis' gay friends bite her in the ass?

Well, the Kim Davis story keeps getting more and more absurd.  I saw this in Towleroad, which is really rather funny.  Let's be honest, her whole shtick has gone from preposterous to ludicrous.  There are times when the things which pop out of her mouth make me think she might be pre-menopausal and dealing millions and millions of misfiring neurotransmitters... but then I come to my senses and realize that she's just nuts.  She says she doesn't want to quit her $80,000 a year job because she's good at it... except she's failing to do her job.  In fact, she wants the Kentucky legislature to alter her job description so she has even less to do.  One suspects the $80,000 is the real reason she doesn't want to quit it.
Then there's the crying jag she gets into if someone suggests God doesn't love her....  My brother is a Methodist minister.  He, his wife, and their five kids are very devout.  Were I to tell them that for some odd reason God didn't love them, they'd look at me oddly, so sure are they in their faith.  The same with Bill, one of my associates, who's borderline Krazy Kristian.  Not one would shed a tear because they are 'believers.'  Kim Davis, however, seems to get all blubbery and opts for the crocodile tears.  Raging hormones have that effect, or so I'm told.

   And then there are the gay friends, the ones who wanted a wedding license.  Where have they been all of this time?  Why didn't they stand beside her?  Why aren't they cheering her on?  If they don't come forward soon, people are going to start believing she's a lying sack of shit.  This woman wants to be a martyr, still no one's beaned her on the head with a rock yet, not that I think it would do any good.  What she is doing it trying to hide her bigotry behind religion, which makes her nothing more then a dirty hypocrite.  My friend Betsy, also very religious, says Kim Davis gives Christianity a bad name.  Unless her legal team can shake some gay friends out of her friendship tree soon, I suspect she'll lose her job when the Kentucky Legislature reconvenes.

The Bilingual Paradox

I think Donald Trump is a horse's ass, but that doesn't mean he isn't amusing.  Thanks to him a majority of the American people now know that a large majority of the Republican base hate illegal aliens.  To be more precise, they hate Spanish speaking illegal aliens.  They want to kick them all out and build a wall.  Hhhmmm.  However, the Republican base also likes Big Business because Big Business donates lots and lots of money to their causes.  In fact, Republicans, in general, love Big Business almost as much as they hate illegal aliens, which is where the bilingual paradox occurs.  You see one of the largest groups of Big Business is retail.  Retail Corporations (and they are corporations) earn billions and billions of dollars every year, and these Retail Corporations tend to funnel a portion of those billions to the political party which they feel is going to give them the best deal, oh, and retail is very, very pro-bilingual.  Walk into any Walmart, or Target, or Lowe's, or Home Depot and you're going to see two languages... English and Spanish.

And everybody knows that the vast majority of those illegal aliens (who, according to Trump are Latino) have taken the time to become proficient in English before crossing the boarder illegally. Oops, well, that last sentence is probably not true, most of them can't speak English.  Do you think any Retail Corporation cares how people get to this country?  All they really care about is the money those people are going to spend, which is why they make it so easy.  This is a bit of a thorny issue for the Republicans, you see, becauseif by some odd chance Donald Trump were to get elected president, and if he were to ship out all of the millions of illegal aliens, retail sales would slump, which would effect the global stock market.  Think of all the jobs that would be lost.  Republicans can't have their cake and eat it too, which is why there's a bit of a paradox. 

The Flo-Glo Paradox

Everybody has seen road workers wearing those very bright fluorescent yellow and green colors and not  because they want to make a fashion statement but rather for safety's sake.  They just don't want to get hit by a moving vehicle, hence my decision to call it Flo-Glo, they keep the traffic flowing all the while glowing.  You know what I mean, this stuff.

Anyway, there seem to be quite a number of people out there who've decided to take these colors and turn them into a fashion statement... a T-shirt fashion statement.  Now, I have absolutely no problem seeing men wearing T-shirts; it's a comfortable piece of clothing.  I wear them, usually not out in public, but around the house.  Back when my job kept me office bound, I wore them daily under my dress shirts.  Some people can actually wear them out in public and look damn good.  My friend Larry, back when he spent a lot of time at the gym, often wore T-shirts when he went out, and always one size too small.

Unfortunately not everybody is like Larry.  And these colors are very bright.  They're like little magnets that even the most steely-eyed person is drawn to, which is why there's a paradox.  What was initially meant to be a color to provide safety while keeping traffic flowing, is now being worn by many who either don't know better or who simply don't care.  I'm talking about guys with girth.  When it's a size XXL and it's still a size too small, you shouldn't be wearing it... anywhere.  Here's an example:  This past Tuesday I had some guy come up to the paint desk and he had at least 2 inches of drop-age. For those who don't know, drop-age happens when you're belly sags below the hemline of your shirt,  You know what I'm talking about... belly skin, sometimes really hairy belly skin.  Anyway, this guy comes up and orders a 5 gallon bucket of  Glidden, Semi-gloss, Antique White and I can barely hear what he's saying because he's got about 2 inches of drop-age resting on the edge of the paint desk... and, of course, he's wearing a Flo-Glo T-shirt, and, of course, I can barely hear what he's saying because my mind is screaming in horror.  Since I'm not allowed to lift 5 gallon buckets until October, I handed the order off to one of my associates.  Later she came up to me and said "why would anyone wear that shirt with that much fat hanging out."  And, my response was to shrug and admit that it was a paradox to me.   

When debates are futile

I didn't watch the RNC Debate last night because I don't have cable.  I could have watched it over the Internet had I wanted to, but, to be honest, I just didn't want to.  I did catch some of the clips this morning in articles which attempt to define the winners and losers.  The one clip I saw which explains everything about this debate cycle was the one where Trump lectured Jeb on his brother.  You know the one I'm talking about, where Trump said "W" is the reason we have Obama, and that the last 3 months of his presidency were so terrible even Lincoln couldn't have been elected.  Truer words were never spoken... and from Donald Trump, of all people.

So bad was the damage done by George W. this country may go another 8 years before it elects another Republican President.  Which is why those debaters standing on the stage last evening were pretty much wasting their time.  It was, so I've read, the most watched debate in quite a number of years, but more so, I suspect for its entertainment value than it's political content.  Donald Trump is an entertainer.  He is outlandish and, for the most part, and extremely wealthy buffoon.  His comments on immigration, and women, and scaffolding around the Capitol Building, and just about everything else, reflect the short comings of the Republican Party.  The GOP is more likely to hit its nadir rather then get a president elected in 2016.  I can think of better things to do to waste my time then listen to 11 people attempt to prove themselves a winner by tossing out one-liners just to please the crowd. 

 

I Got the Polling Blues

I was sitting here at the computer looking at the results of the Republican polls, and I realized that the later in 2015 we get, the more important they are since primary season is just a few months away.  Yes sir, primary polling is right around the corner.  This is the time when candidates are supposed to begin to slowly surge ahead of the wannabe front-runners, like Trump.  When I hear and read what he's been saying I'm reminded of a Tea Party candidate on steroids or Sarah Palin dealing with uninhibited PMS.  Carson is surging as well... well, he's going to go no where.  What he really needs to do is spend an afternoon reading all of those racist tweets the GOP base fired off when Obama won his second term. He needs to understand that no matter how popular his message is, in the end they're going to vote for the white guy.  And then there's Ted Cruz, who's turned into Donald Trumps number booklicker... need I say more.  If Jeb Bush really wants to win the nomination he's got to do more then just sit there like a baked potato waiting to be dolloped with sour cream and butter.

And then there's Huckabee who's gotten older and fatter since the first time he ran for president.  If you check out the Real Clear Politics polling website above you'll see he started off as an almost front runner but has been on the slow slide ever since.  I suspect he thought his involvement with Kim Davis would give him a boost in the ratings.  Haha, his numbers indicate his moment of grandstanding actually hurt him, except for all of the Krazy Kristians out there, you know who I'm talking about, the minority group who don't understand just how big a minority group they really are?  A while back someone foolish dubbed them the 'silent majority.'  Well, in actuality, they're anything but silent.  Perhaps if he pulled out his banjo and played a few bars of "I Got the Polling Blues," it might help.

On one of the polls I looked at I saw that Chris Christie polled 1% which was lower the the 2% None of the Above received.  Boy, that must be disheartening.

Review Time

That's right, it's Review Time, and I've 6 that need to be written.  I hate writing reviews, especially for associates who's performance is... lacking, mostly because I need to put a positive spin their lack of capabilities.
One of them is a fifty-something woman who, by profession, is a painter.  Houses, you know?  And she thinks she's perfection, and she isn't.  Every time she mentions her "profession" to customers I cringe, conflict of interest, you know?  She's been warned about it, but... you know, once a professional always a professional.  This "professional" cost me over $320 in markdowns this past weekend, and $190 the week before.  Oh, and even though she's living with a man who is a little younger then she, that doesn't stop her from trolling younger, male customers.  And she a professional, you know?  And she's already be warned about giving out her phone number... for jobs, that is, painting jobs.

Then there's the retired gentleman who was hired because he's bilingual, Spanish and English.  He has health issues, he claims, which require him to have minor surgeries over holidays, like Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July.  You know, those busy times of the year when we run paint sales and everybody has to work?  He spends a lot of time in the aisles, not helping customers, just fluffing things up.  You know, making them pretty?  Sometimes he disappears.  Sometimes he actually mixes paint... very, very slowly.  He's a part-time associate so he doesn't work a regular schedule.  Four weeks ago, after being off for three days, he came back to work claiming to have pulled a muscle in his back the last day he'd worked.  A few days later he told one of my associates he was going to stop working as soon as he could get disability.  Last week he came to work wearing a back brace.  I don't think he will be working for us much longer.

Fatties and their scooters

I always like to scan through the news headlines first thing in the morning just to see what catches my eye.  One of the first things I saw was two of the founding members of the Hypocritical Society of America, Huckabee and Davis, standing together for a picture... well, enough said on that subject.

Something else that caught my eye was an article on walking, how the Surgeon General says we all need to walk more.  Six months ago, when I was on the verge of undergoing major back surgery, I'd asked my Orthopedic Specialist what kind of physical therapy I'd have during my recovery stage.  He told me what I needed to do was 'walk.'  That's it, nothing more.  Rather then wait until after the operation, I started walking right away, first with a walker, then with a cane, and finally without a cane.  Amazingly, all of those bulging and herniated discs fell back into place and my major surgery was totally unnecessary.  My 82 year old mother says it was Jesus... nah, it was walking.  Instead of laying around on my ass taking meds for the pain, I got up and walked.
Which brings me to one of my major pet peeves, fat people who ride around on one of these little scooters rather walk - laziness, you know?

Now there are people who really do need to rely on one of these to get around, I know, I work in retail.  I see them driving by the paint desk with their portable oxygen bottles, and their braces and their casts.  But I also see the fatties.  You know who I'm talking about, those people who pinch themselves in between the arm rests.

My favorite fatty story is of the woman in my local Giant supermarket.  She was trying to maneuver her way around a corner wing-stack of tissues and got herself stuck.  As I approached her, she began to sob "I just can't take this anymore, I can't take this anymore."  Then I got a look at what was in her cart and the first thing I saw was two large packages of Oreo cookies.  And there was more, Cheez-itz and a can of spray cheese, and potato chips, and a package of Fig Newtons, and... her entire basket was filled with garbage food, nothing nutritious there.  Instead of giving her a hand, I walked by her thinking, she needs to get out of that cart and do it herself, and after that she needs to put that garbage back on the shelf and buy herself some food. But I know that didn't happen because a couple minutes later I saw her scooting her way down the ice cream aisle.

I think that what the Surgeon General really needs to do, rather then put out articles on walking that fatties are never, ever going to read, is to create "Kick a Fatty out a Scooter Day."  This would allow those of us who walk regularly, to go up to a fatty in a scooter and, with out fear of repercussion, tell him/her to get off his ass and walk.  Of course that will never happen.  We might hurt their feelings and they might have to eat another half-gallon of cookie dough ice cream.

Tool Time with Kim Davis

So, let me get this correct, Kim Davis is a wannabe martyr, who doesn't really want to be a martyr?  Didn't anyone ever tell her how much martyrs suffer?  Didn't she know they sometimes spend years in prison?  Did she ever hear of Nelson Mendela?  Does she know he's very famous martyr?  Did she ever hear of Joan of Arc or that she very, very famous religious martyr who was burned at the stake for her faith?  Would Kim Davis be willing to be burned at the stake?  And though her legal team did get her out of jail, did she ever stop to consider they'd raise much, much more money if she were... well, to be succinct, burned at the stake?  Does she know it would probably help their cause financially if she were to... well, suffer more?  Did she even consider that using a 'get out of jail' free card is going to diminish her martyrdom?  Or does she really only want to be thought of as a faux martyr?  Could it be that her legal team may have other plans?  Do they see her as a tool?

Was she really excited to find out she was going to be visited by both Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz?  Does she know they're both running for president?  Did she consider they might believe visiting her would garner more support from the likes of her ilk?  Would that make her their tool?  Did she ever stop to consider they might use her as a tool to coalesce the support of a minority Christian group which will never help them win an election?  Of course, one has to ponder as to whether Kim Davis, in her widest, conservatively Christian dreams, even considers herself a tool?
And, on top of that, one does have to wonder if, at this stage of her tool career, if she has handlers?  Do they pick her wardrobe for her?  Tell her when she's to wear her hair up or down?
And now that she's out of jail, is all of that freedom going to go to her head?  Maybe not, because she just might be as happy as a pig in shit just to be a tool.

Kim Davis, phony martyr

I felt I should write something down about Kim Davis since she is the faux celebrity of the hour and in the midst of her 15 minutes of fame, so to speak.  First of all, she's a very flawed Christian.  Too many people out there believe claiming to be a Christian makes you one, it doesn't.  When she had her little epiphany three years ago, did Davis join some Evangelical Mega-Church?  Nope, nor did she find favor with the Presbyterians, or the Lutherans, or the Methodists.  The Baptists had nothing they could offer her.  In fact, it seems all Churches with a set doctrine were pretty much off limits.  Davis chose to be an Apostolic Christian, one of 13,000 (give or take a few) who strictly follow the King James version of the Bible.  The Apostolic Church has 'lay' people, but no one is really in charge.  This type of Christianity allows Davis to cherry-pick want she wants to believe; she can be as hypocritical as she wants and still claim to be a Christian.

In fact, the Apostolic Church website provides little information about the Church itself.  From what I've read, they are very much against divorce, of course, three times divorced Davis has repented for all of her past sins.  In her book she's fine and dandy.  Since her conversion however, she has issued many marriage licenses to straight couples and there's little evidence she put much effort into querying those men and women in regards to their marital status.  Even though divorce is very high on the list of sins for the Apostolic Church, she seems to have had very little interest as to whether those applying for licenses to were on their first, second, or like herself, their fourth marriage.  This is a prime example of her cherry-picking.  Shouldn't she have preached the evils of divorce, rather than simply sign the license?  This is why she's flawed; why she's so phony.

This morning I read that her legal team is appealing her sentence, trying to get her out of jail.  Obviously, she's not only a flawed Christian, she's a phony martyr as well.