Monday, March 31, 2008

Islam is World's Largest Religion

Dress accordingly.

Happy Monday!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Are Trannies the New Gays?


My GOD it's hard to be special these days. Just when you thought it was enough to be every straight girl's dream date and the envy/secret crush of hetero men, gay men now have to account for the goings-on of the tranny community. Intersex, middlesex, sussex and mangina - oh my!

There was once a time when being gay was kind of cool, outre even. Thanks to Bravo, Sex and the City, and some activism, revealing one's homosexuality, in many circles, is like telling everyone your blood type is O negative. Who the hell cares, right?

Well, just when you thought there was a lull in unnecessary sexual banter at the office, gay men and their female coworkers have something new to talk about besides said gay's sexploits at the gym: trannies. Specifically, men who can have babies.

Call me stupid, a racist, a homophobe, and damn sexy, but I am DISGUSTED by the story of Thomas Beatie, a FTM (female-to-male) tranny in Oregon who is preggers.

Why can't people leave well enough alone? I am so on board with people wanting to live their best life and do them, but do you have to gross everyone else out in the process?


The Advocate
is calling Beatie's story a Labor of Love, I call it regressing the gay rights debate to the whole "is it a choice?" issue. If you can't choose your gender or sexual orientation, can you choose the benefits of gender that suit your whims when you feel like having a baby and sporting a beard?

You can't have a Big Mac AND a Whopper; and so it goes with gender. If you're gonna be a man you can't go using your birth-given vagina when it suits you while trying to out-macho born-men every other day of your life.

Of course, the bigger issue here is the comeback of the tranny from the shadows of the Meat Packing District to the forefront of pop culture. Everything is tranny this, tranny that. In fact, 2008 is gearing up to be the year of the tranny. Which is fine, because the gays could use a respite from being the arbiters of all things sex and style for a few months.

Just don't come crawling back to us when you've had your fill of mangina.

Happy Anniversary, Mimi!


I've been in love with Mariah Carey since I was 15. So on this, her anniversary (as she is known to call her birthday), I want to wish the Divine Miss Mimi continued success, happiness and an 18th, 19th, 20th hit single off her new album.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Barack Obama is the Antichrist


Sorry for the lag in posts; I was traveling for work for a few days and managed to fall ill upon my return. So I spent all of last week in a Nyquil-induced haze, too useless to think of anything witty to say about the world's state of affairs.

But I'm back.

While I slipped in and out of consciousness last week it seems the filler story for segments on Jesus and the fifth anniversary of the second invasion of Iraq were the incendiary comments made by Barack Obama's pastor, Jeremy Wright.

And it seems, for the most part, that stupid Democrats don't really care if Barack Hussein Obama went to school at a madrassa or if he is part of a radical, anti-white church that advocates the destruction of America. Homeboy is still leading the delegate count and attention-starved politicos like Bill Richardson are all but too happy to bask in the glow of the Obama movement.

But the Wright debacle marks a milestone in the election and in our history: faced with the most damning of affiliations, Barack Obama presses on relatively unscathed in the polls. People are ready for change, and they don't care if Idi Amin or Louis Farrakhan takes over the White House, they just want "different." They want an "outsider" to come in and lobby for the little guy. And they'll put up with anything just to catapult their candidate to power, and to make right centuries of racial discord.

So Barack is an angel of peace and reconciliation? I say he's the Antichrist. With his slick, analgesic prose he's all but won the popular vote, his America-hating wife, minister,and Muslim roots notwithstanding.

The Antichrist's most revealing characteristic is his way with words and his unique ability to galvanize people under a banner of peace, unity...change. People will turn against reason and hoist this figure to power in spite of reason. With words and little substance, Barack has dumbed the election down and reduced the Democratic party to a bunch of smiling, Kool-Aid drinking Change-ists.

Kudos to him, woe for America. Or at least the Dems, because McCain still leads Barack and Hillary in the elections and y'all know that if push comes to shove I'm either sitting the election out or I'll vote Republican.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Scaredy Cats

Straight or gay, men don't want to be fat, bald or poor. It's what keeps up at night, shaking under the sheets and biting our nails.

According to Men's Health, baldness, obesity, poverty, having a sissy son and not being able to get it up are men's biggest fears.

I'll take the first three, with a shot of Propecia and some serious cardio. And while I don't see myself in the gutter, I do fear that James and I will be priced out of Chelsea and we'll have to move to back to the hood where I grew up at. As Green-Acres-meets-227 as that that would be, it is something I think about during especially trying times at work or when I read about this upcoming recession.

But my biggest fear, aside from losing James or my family, is fast forwarding ten years into the future and finding myself in front of this laptop with nothing but a gut, a cheeseburger and a surly disposition between me and the keyboard. A little bit of that "where the hell is all of this going" panic has set in as my tenth high school reunion approaches, but I placate that with a vigorous workout and a short checklist of achievement: travel, sanity, relationship, financial independence, still know where i and e belong after c.

So as the next ten years approach, I'll just put a little more umph into my game, cut haters off at the pass, and hope for the best. And James, I know we've discussed this before, but you'll still love me if I turn into Homer Simpson, right?

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Monsters and Black People


If the worst the two contendors for the Democratic Party's Presidential nomination can do is call each other lucky and monsters, via their supporters and staffers, then set your snooze alarm for November and just vote for whoever emerges from this PTA-cupcake-sale-election and toss a coin to see who you'll vote for.

Over the weekend Barack's team called Hillary a monster (though she's been called worse and STILL won the Texas and Ohio primaries...) and now one of Hillary's backers, Geraldine Ferraro, has entered the fray. From the Boston Globe:

Ferraro, who backs Hillary Clinton and is raising money for her, was excoriated yesterday by Barack Obama's campaign for suggesting that he wouldn't be a contender if he were a white man or a woman of any color. "He happens to be very lucky who he is," she told a newspaper in California last week. The country, she said, is "caught up in the concept" of the first African-American president.

I couldn't agree more with Ferraro's statement and of course, that makes me a racist, a homophobe and a tranny.(It's the word of the week, bear with me)

Though, I distinctly recall Barack playing up his good fortune at being born in America, of being the product of a unique moment in history where someone of his unique background can even dream of becoming President of the United States during the Texas and Ohio primaries. Click here for the speech he delivered in San Antonio during the Texas primary and scroll to 11:06.

He's lucky when he wants to be just as he's wont to get pissy and offended.

Still, not enough drama for me here. Barack needs to get his people in order and stop them from name-calling and stop them from going to foreign countries to talk down his campaign rhetoric on free trade. In short, they need to get ready for prime time, tighten their foreign policy and stop with the feigned umbrage over a mere statement of fact.

And will someone please dig up a sex tape or pit their opponent in some tranny prostitution ring? Otherwise let's just please spare everyone this slap fighting and nominate Hillary.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Women



Sometimes it's hard to be a woman, givin' all your love to just one man. You'll have bad times, he'll have good times, doin' things that you don't understand.

Tammy Wynette, how right you are.

In a political scandal that is sure to thaw what's left of winter, New York governor Elliot Spitzer has been accused of soliciting hookers to the tune of up to $5,500 an hour. Eek.

And while everyone is weighing in on the governor's political future, I'm struck, yet again, by the sight of a politico's wife having to mug for the cameras while her man admits to givin out a side of penis to everything and anything that moves except her.

It's got to be painful, nerve-wracking, humilliating - but is it worth it? While the cameras are rolling and the men are boo-hooing daliances with the intern, the cop in the bathroom, the former Israeli-aid or a hooker, are the first ladies bemoaning a marriage gone bad or are they countin' Benjamins and planning a spectacular Waiting to Exhale episode of tie-cutting, car-burning mayhem?

I would love it if James pissed me off enough so that I could burn a car, his clothes and then tell the cops "I'm sorry, officer. I was just burning some trash."

For real, though, I don't understand why these caught-with-their-pants-down men have to drag their wives out for a public caning. The way I see it, these dudes got themselves into the mess by themselves and likewise they should see their way out of it by themselves.

But what do I know? I'm neither a woman, nor part of a powerful political marriage. So hats off to Hillary, Dina, Silda, and Suzanne -- they stand by their men, mug for the cameras in spite of the shame, and (I hope) plan a very lucrative revenge.

Sing it Tammy:

Monday, March 10, 2008

Crisis in Colombia Averted; Por Ahora

Call me a cynic, but the photo to the left doesn't pull at my heartstrings and make me hopeful about the future of Latin America. As long as Hugo Chavez is in the picture, we all have lots to worry about.

Following the Colombian government's decision to send troops past the Ecuadorian border last week to raid a camp set up the FARC rebel group, Venezuela's dictator used the situation to cry foul and ignite fears of Yankee imperialism in the region. Ecuador and Venezuela immediately halted diplomatic relations with Colombia, and Chavez threatened to bring Colombia's economy to its knees. After a crippling military assualt, of course.

Politics being the wishy-washy affair that they are in Latin America, war was conveniently averted this past Friday thanks to an agreement signed in the Dominican Republic between Colombia, Ecuador and Veneuzela. Colombia apologized for violating its neighbor's sovereignty, Venezuela beamed for yet another photo opp.

A collective sigh of relief is drowning out concerns over the influence that Hugo Chavez is wielding in the affairs of one of Latin America's strongest democracies. And it's not just the obvious headline-ready stuff that Chavez is trying to snatch from the administration of Alvaro Uribe either. Aside from hostage negotiations with the FARC, Chavez' government has not been able to counter claims that it supports the rebel group with arms and money.

Support for the FARC by Venezuela, friend of Cuba and Iran, has given the group new vigor. The U.S. and Europe's insatiable demand for cocaine have also kept terrorism in Colombia alive and well.

For now, however, the enemy seems to be playing nice. One day Chavez is ordering troops to the borders with Colombia, the next he's hugging their president and flying to Havana with a rogue Colombian senator to talk about hostage negotiations.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: Chavez' "ability" to "reason" with the terrorists only speaks to his role as one of the group's financiers and moral supporters. For that reason, upon the release of all of the FARC hostages, he should be tried for war crimes and executed. And I suspect that is going to be the course of action Colombia is going to pursue.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Change You Can Believe In

Regardless of your opinion of Hillary Clinton we must all admit this: homegirl is a survivor. And it's that sort of tenacity and 11-th hour galvanizing of the public to break through rhetoric an effect real change that we should want in the White House next January.

Hillary was supposed to skulk away into obscurity after last night but sure enough, the voters in Texas and Ohio thought otherwise. And that's a great thing.

Now, for the sake of the Democratic party - a party I am still deeply disappointed in for their flavor-of-the-month tactics - I hope that Obama will concede defeat and support Hillary's nomination. Let's undo a White House victory by pitting two great Dems against each other for the sake of winning in PA. It's not fair to the party or the people of this country.

And Obama shouldn't skulk away into obscurity either: He called for change and America responded. The GOP is nominating a moderate Republican who most Americans find palatable and a far cry from the fundamentalist Christians the party has put forth in the past few years. The Dems were placing their bets on a black man and a woman for the nation's highest office. So, fait accompli, Barack. His campaign is a watershed moment for the Dems and our nation's history. Years from now we'll look back at American politics at the turn of the century and we'll look at the Dems pre and post Barack Obama. We've certainly changed since 2004 when most of us first heard of the Illinois senator, and I'd say we're all the better because of it.

That places a huge burden on Hillary. Americans are making an intelligent choice by supporting her, but her next battle is for our hearts. Not that she isn't up for the challenge, though. After all, by now it's clear there's nothing homegirl can't do.

Monday, March 03, 2008

You Don't Matter

I'd love to send a memo to the gays on Team Obama saying "you idiots don't matter." But then I'd have to send the same memo to the Log Cabin Republicans and the folks on Team Clinton.

Here's a newsflash for my fellow gays: We're just a talk point for Washington, not an action item.

And to be honest, that's fine by me. I don't expect for the next POTUS to place my community's agenda at the top of her to-do list. Having to end the war in Iraq and saving our economy should keep her busy for four years -- and that should be enough for all Americans.

Yes, we had to get vocal post-Stonewall, in the days of Harvey Milk and in the midst of the AIDS crisis. But in the early 90s the spirit of grunge and hope catapulted the gays into normalcy and it's been a dizzying ascent to the top of the pop culture food chain ever since.

In spite of W's attempted assault on gay rights, his rhetoric came down to sticks and stones nonsense. That's because most Americans don't really care about the gays -- if anything, I hate more gay people than the average Christian fundamentalist, but that comes from firsthand experience, not homespun bigotry.

Still, for my benefit, I would recommend that Hillary tack gay marriage on to an article protecting the Second Ammendment. You know, the one that gives us the right to bear arms? Slip it in with no fanfare and you'll see how quickly everyone is going to drop this family values nonsense. And then everyone will leave the gays alone.

Or kill us.

This post needs some work...

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Not Being Pro-Israel Does Not Mean You're an Anti-Semite

...but then again, what would French thinker and finger-pointer Henri Bernard Levy (left)talk about at the 92nd Street Y this week?

Levy, according to New York Magazine, is in town to talk about anti-semitism as the 60th anniversary of the formation of the state of Israel draws near. In an interview with the magazine, Levy talks about his concerns over the rise of anti-semitism:

What caused you to turn to explicitly discussing anti-Semitism?
Its return. And a relatively new rhetoric. Anti-Semitism, to pass under the radar, to become again undetectable, to be in a position to operate without being accused of being anti-Semitism, must draw from three sources: anti-Zionism, the denial of the Holocaust, and victim competition. It must articulate the following discourse: “The Jews are a detestable people who, firstly, invented and exaggerated their own martyring”—which is denial of the Holocaust; secondly, “They overshadowed, in doing so, the martyring of other people”—which is victim competition; and, thirdly, “They accomplished this crime because they are obsessed with the defense of an assassin state”—which is anti-Zionism.


While holocaust-denial is indeed worrisome and there is no doubt that many people still harbor anti-semitic feelings, to throw the Israel factor into the equation is a bit unfair. Chiefly because as a (mostly) liberal American I'm uncomfortable with the violent entitlement of the Zionist movement. I've long equated the Zionist movement with the descendants of the Algonquin indians coming to my door saying that Manhattan was their land long ago and that, New York real estate being the mess that it is today, $24 for this island was a rip off and I have to give them my Chelsea studio as payback. No dice.

So it goes, in my mind, with Israel. Understanding, of course, that the Jews have suffered at the hands of empires throughout history, the fact remains that the Palestinians in 1948 shouldn't have born the brunt of millenia of abuse. The takeover of the region wasn't a friendly affair and its consequences are felt the world over in the jihadist movement. In fact, the latter half of the 20th century was marked by violence stemming from the Zionist movement - to say otherwise is reckless, not anti-Semitic. Long before the official Gulf wars we were in battle with the Middle East - the massacre at the Munich Olympic games in '72, the Iran student uprising, the hostage situation in Beirut, the hijacking of airliners - all because of the West's myopic, pro-Israel view. In failing to care about the suffering of the others - those pesky Palestinians - we've suffered their deaths and humiliation hundred-fold in spectacular terrorist attacks whose prevention have come to form America's national identity. Today, America is Israel's paranoid BFF.

So do I think that the Jewish people are entitled to a country? No, I think all people should be allowed to live and work and thrive wherever they choose so long as they integrate peacefully into the local landscape while retaining their customs and faith. Does that make me pro-Iran or pro-Chavez? Absolutely not. Nor does it make me a neo-Nazi, it just makes me anti-violence.

Monday, February 25, 2008

J'Adore Marion Cotillard

For me, the highlight of last night's Oscar ceremony was watching Marion Cotillard win the statue for her role as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose.

I'm an unabashed francophile and many, many a time have I looped Edith Piaf's music on days when things didn't go my way. Sunday mornings at home usually include a tribute to the little sparrow as well. I've even made the pilgrimage to her tomb at Pere Lachaise cemetery. See?



So, in honor of the French, and La Mome Piaf (the little sparrow), here's a clip of Edith Piaf singing my favorite of all her songs, L'Hymne a L'Amour, the Hymn to Love. She composed this after the death of her lover, the boxer Marcel Cerdan, in the 50s. Not trying to bring down your Monday, it's just a good song.



Felicitations, Marion!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Bitch Is the New Black



Tina Fey's brilliant and hilarious recap of the Obama/Clinton race aside, I'm going to be real here: If the Dems decide to get cute and nominate Barack Obama then I am going to vote for John McCain. I've voted Republican in the past and I'll do it again.

Enough is enough. If this Clinton-bashing gets to the point where we nominate a nobody senator who really fumbled in yesterday's CNN/Univision debates, then I'm going to go with the party that is lock-stock-and-barrel committed to bringing this country back from the brink of implosion. And I certainly won't support a two-faced party that has taken sadistic pleasure in elevating the Clintons only to tear them down at every moment.

Take note, Barack: The Dems made those JFK references when Bill was running in '92, the Clintons were all up in the clam chowder in Hyannis and now look at the mess they're in.

The lack of perspective and historical deference in the Barack movement is chipping away at the values of the Democratic party. We're the party that stands up for the little guy and makes Washington work for him. Barack can't do that. The GOP is watering at the mouth, waiting for the Dems to hang themselves with this wack candidate.

We still have time to make the right decision and usher our party to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I'm talking to you, Texas and Ohio.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

So, Who Wants Change?


Not me. I've seen the Democratic party change from a model of visionary social responsibility to a bunch of bitchy girls in the final stages of cheerleader squad try-outs. Which is why I want to encourage my fellow Americans in Texas and Ohio to think very carefully before casting a vote for a Dem candidate in their state's primaries. Ask yourselves: do I want a friend or do I want a President?

I know the Clintons have made mistakes in the past, but that's no reason to un-invite them to the slumber party. Sure, there was Don't Ask, Don't Tell, there was the unfortunate handling of the Rwanda genocide, there was NAFTA, there was the war in Iraq. But when did the Dems' golden couple stop being the Hope of America and turn into Adolf and Eva?

Stop for a minute and realize that this spectacle makes the Dems look like a bunch of teenie bopper cry babies who are ready to flick off the candidate they once defended so vigorously -- remember Monica-gate? Remember how we all stood by Hillary and applauded her steely resolve to save her marriage and her own political career? Remember how we cried foul because our beloved Bill was being railroaded by a right wing conspiracy? Why, ten years later, are the Dems pointing at the Clintons as the harbingers of evil? When did Bill and Hillary turn into George and Dick?

Ever the well-oiled-machine, the Republicans have found their candidate. Despite the chatter of a few disgruntled pay-for-hate "conservatives" on the Fox News Channel - cuz even Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and Michelle Malkin are getting tired of bashing Hillary so they've moved on to John McCain - the GOP is on board with McCain's candidacy.

Take a lesson, Dems. The GOP gave us a personality candidate back in 2000 and we're still paying for it. Not that many Americans want to have a beer with W anymore.

The GOP locks into step and promotes a candidate six months before their convention. Meanwhile, us Dems are pitting two exceptional candidates -- who will have to work together once someone is elected, by the way -- against each other. And then you're really in for change - that sweeping Democrat victory from last year will be undone with our bickering and contention and the GOP will once again take over the House and Senate and, Hillary and Obama aside, we'll have to cowtow to right wing policies yet again.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Not Giving Up on Hillary

Team Obama scored its tenth consecutive primary win last night after sweeping through the Wisonsin and Hawaii polls; for those of us watching from the sidelines, its tempting to tow the party line and say "fine, we'll vote for whatever Dem wins the primaries."

But, as Madonna, I mean, Evita, (supposedly) said: "bad moments come but they go, that doesn't mean we should give up our dream, don't you forget what I've been through and yet I'm still standing." So, yes, Barack is scoring big wins, but let's not forget that we've seen a "defeated" Hillary before. And she always bounces back.

I understand Americans want a movement they can belong to. That's super. But if its a revolution they want, then I hope they're ready to ride out the foibles of untested leadership (and please, spare me the JFK references). I'm sticking with Hillary.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

My Trip to Colombia



I was going to write a long post about going to Colombia two weeks ago to make things right with my grandma (she wasn't eager to join PFLAG when I came out a few years ago); I was going to talk about the importance of forgiveness and getting over oneself; instead, I decided to put my shots and video clips in a music video.

It's set to Mika's "Love Today," an appropriate title for the lesson I learned on this trip. I'd never have thought to use it, but my little cousins down in Cali are pretty hip and played this track on loop during my stay.

So, as you awake from the stupor of a three day weekend remember to love today.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

I'm Not Worth the Fuss


The dude on the left is a Christian blogger and sometimes boxer who has an ax to grind with the gays. J. Matt Barber has outlined the gay community's plan of attack for corrupting America in a column titled "Unmasking the Gay Agenda" today for Catholic Online; the plan, according to Barber, is for gays to use their influence and affluence to normalize their "deviant" sexual behavior and "indoctrinate" Americans into accepting gays' "sin."

With meticulous detail, Barber outlines steps the gays have taken to legalize pedophilia (Note to Catholics: stay away from the P word when making a case for moral uprightness, k?), homosexualize Jesus and sell AIDS as just a cold.

Clearly, Barber hasn't met my theatre group - not only can we not agree on which Dem to support, we can't even agree on where to go to dinner post-show. But I guess there are more militant, demagogue queers out there that pick up the slack.

What Barber has met, however, is a lack of support for his obsession with countering "the gay agenda." He was fired from his job at Allstate Insurance in 2005 for blogging his anti-gay beliefs (on his own time, though how his affiliation with the gay-friendly insurance company came to light is uncertain, he says he didn't divulge that info on his bio). Now, as a blogger myself, I think it's unfair for a corporation to fire someone for writing about their personal beliefs on their own time. Unless they're blogging about how they're going to blow up the office in 90 days or something of that life-threatening-nature, I still believe in freedom of speech, even for fundamentalist Christians.

Barber isn't really saying anything new, and in fact, I'm encouraged by his slander. As the Extreme Right loses its Talibanic grip on Americans, it's only fitting for them to resort to scare tactics: visions of children being snatched from the nuclear family by lecherous gays, only to die of the gay plague -- err, AIDS.

But Barber is right about one thing: We gays are indeed on a mission to legitimize our place in society. Yes, we're vocal in our nation's political discourse, we support artists who show us love, and we are going to continue to fight for fair treatment - at work, at school, wherever. We're part of this country, too, and we're proud of that.

As for indoctrination and "Everyman" tactics, whereby gays try to sell themselves as just the fun-loving folks next door. Well, I'm guilty of that, too. I just got back from Colombia where I went to make peace with my grandma and other members of my family who I thought weren't down with the whole gay relative thing. After they saw that Davicito hadn't really changed at all -- well, the mentioned that I looked bigger, thanks NYHRC -- we spent an amazing week together. In the end, grandma even apologized, saying she was sorry if in her ignorance she ever made me feel as if I wasn't loved. Coming from a stalwart Christian like her, that's all the comeuppance I need.

Sadly, not everyone is going to have this sort of revelation. While Barber's column smacks more of paranoia than hate, let's not forget how easy it is to turn panic into mayhem. Grr, I'm guilty of another one of Barber's charges - equating Christianity with hatred. The Crusades? Inquisition? Slavery? Holocaust? To associate the Church with these events in history would be, oh yeah, true.

So I'm gonna keep an eye on Barber, all the while doing what I always do every night, Pinky, try and take over the world.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Are You a Racist? Or Just an American?

Just got the March issue of Men's Health in the mail, and after skipping past the hetero-sex tips, I came across an interesting survey about race relations.

Says the magazine: "Odds are you're a bit of a racist - at least according to a Northwestern University study. Researchers found that 93 percent of participants harbored some degree of racial bias."

The survey of 1,229 men found that 46 percent men think race relations are a serious issue in this country, while 50 percent of men believe we will never achieve racial equality.

Barack's victory this past weekend be damned, America is still a pretty racist country. And I suspect that many whites who are on the Barack train are just trying to make ammends for their own innate racism, reciting verbatim Team Obama's mantra of "we need new thinking and change we can believe in." Yawn.

I think that racism is a European American concept. I was just in Latin America where I had to explain to my family what the term mixed-race meant. Sure, people down there are aware of color -- they even joke about it, we have songs about beautiful indian women and black men with big lips -- but people in this part of the world are considered Latinos first.

My mom always flips the channel when Mariah Carey gives her sob story of being a bi-racial gazillionaire. And rightly so. My grandmother is black and my grandfather was a white man. Which is why my mom once asked "Davicito, que es bi-racial?" She didn't understand that that's how she could label herself.

In Latin America, economic class trumps race. If you're of the moneyed elite - an institution that can easily be broken into through marriage, a beauty title win, a soccer championship -- you're golden. Otherwise, you're just a poor working stiff. And given the smog and pollution in most Latin American cities, y'all wind up being the same color of soot anyway.

Anyhoo, here's a shot of my mixed race family. We're like a L'Oreal commercial, right?

Monday, February 04, 2008

All Around the World: ¨NO¨ to FARC Terrorists, ¨NO¨ to Chavez

I´m on vacation in Cali, Colombia and as luck would have it, I was also in the middle of the single largest manifestation of public outrage against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). From Berlin to Buenos Aires, and in cities all across Colombia, hundreds of thousands of citizens have taken to the streets to denounce the terrorist acts of the South American rebel group.

As I´ve written on this blog before, the FARC have become the new lords of the drug trade in this country. Ask anyone in this city of 2 million people, from the well-heeled residents of the Granada district to a cab driver, and the disgust for the FARC´s tactics - bombings, civilian kidnappings, drug trafficking - is unanimous.
Also palpable here is the presence of Hugo Chavez in this discourse. Many citizens are weary of his role in the recent hostage negotiations and the fear is that an increasingly armed and rancorous Venezuela will mobilize the FARC into war against Colombia. The stakes are high and the disappointment and frustration have hit their breaking point.

So today my cousin Mayra, an 18-year-old college student with impeccable English, took me to the CAM, the political center of the city, where hundreds of thousands of CaleƱos were waving flags, singing rock anthems for peace and freedom, and walking along peacefully. No pushing, no shoving, all under the supervision of policemen on the ground and in helicopters above.

The city is at a virtual standstill, as is most of Colombia, to observe this ¨important act of civic duty.¨ Today the city´s leading daily, El Pais, called for all citizens to take part in the march. ¨This is not a political rally, it´s a humanitarian responsibility,¨was the exhortation.

So here are some of my pics from this moving and civil demostation. The most popular t-shirt of today´s movement sums up the mood in this thriving, bustling city where I´ve been having an amazing time thus far: ¨No More Kidnappings, No More Lies, No More Deaths, No More FARC.¨






Friday, February 01, 2008

Michelle Malkin & Jim McGreevey: Dying To Belong

While GCL is in Colombia making peace with grandma, James will be running some oldies but goodies for your reading pleasure.

Original Post Date: October 8, 2006

Here are two people who are single-handedly undoing the course of progress and acceptance in America:



Michelle Malkin and Jim McGreevey suck. *Pun sorta intended.


Michelle Malkin is all sorts of pissed off at the New York Times because they mentioned the fact that she's Filipina. Yes, Michelle Malkin, nee Maglalang, that tank-top wearing, caramel-skinned Conservative sell-out is crying foul after reporter Virginia Heffernan mentioned the pundit's ethnicity in an article about Malkin's attack on YouTube.

Says Malkin: I love how the always oh-so-sensitive New York Times has no problem throwing my ethnicity into an attack, when my ethnicity has nothing at all to do with the subject (the jihad vs. anti-jihad war at YouTube).

Here's why Malkin's etnicity matters:

-- Malkin has done everything in her power to whitewash herself.

-- Her psyhotic desire to belong to the "winning" team has her screaming like a banshee for a cause that undermines the very values that have allowed a woman of color to become such a visible figure in our society.

--She boasts on her blog: [I] opposed publisher [of Seattle Times] and supported successful campaign to abolish race-based affirmative action in government hiring, contracting, and college admissions.

-- Her book In Defense of Internment draws psychotic parallels between the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII and the need for similar actions with Arab Americans today.
Among other hallucinations, the book claims to expose "how both Japanese American and Arab/Muslim American leaders have united to undermine America's safety."

I would dare say that Michelle Malkin is the Jenna Jameson of the Conservative movement. Here you have a woman of color begging to have her race stripped of her while she whores off her wit and intelligence to advance the cause of the Republican party.

What a godsend she is to the white Republican establishment -- to have one of the little brown ones speak out against affirmative action and espouse the homophobic and xenophobic ideals of their party.

Kudos to Virginia Heffernan for pointing out Malkin's most egregious trespass -- that which she has perpetrated on herself and her heritage by becoming a puppet for a slowly dying cause.

***
So what's my beef with Jim McGreevey?

To hear him speak about his newfound "truth" is like watching a man possessed by Pat Buchanan and George Michael. Every utterance out of McGreevey's mouth as he promotes his new book The Confession, especially his embarassing, vomit-inducing appearance on Oprah, reveal a man still struggling with a major identity crisis.

I can't even applaud him coming out of the closet. Jim McGreevey didn't say he was gay, he revealed himself to be a depraved, co-dependant, lying son-of-a-bitch, who like Michelle Malkin was all too eager to sell his own people out just "to belong."

He told Oprah that even though he marched in Gay Pride parades, he refused to vote in favor of gay marriage out of fear that he would be outed. He went into detail about his trysts behind a Synogauge (DAYS before Rosh Hoshanna no less, OY the timing!), he said he had a penchant for anonymous sex with truck drivers, and that he met "the love of his life" in an Israeli whom he would later sleep with in his wife's bed while she was holed up in a hospital recuperating from a Cesaerian section.

WTF?!!!!

This isn't truth or liberation, this is a twisted man who is still acting out of homophobia. WHERE THE HELL ARE ROSIE AND ELLEN to distract America's attention from this wacko fag?

To make matters worse, McGreevey invited Oprah's cameras to his new home which he shares with his "life partner" of six hours (or months).

James and I were flipping out while we watched, in horror, how this idiot confirmed Middle America's worst fears about gays:

-- That we're whores
-- That we lie
-- That we ruin families
-- That we're self possessed and only out for own satisfaction

As I think about topics to write about on this blog, and as I question its effectiveness, I am thankful for the example provided to me by Michelle and Jim. Unless I speak out as a gay person of color, the only point of view this country is going to hear is that of these two self-hating loons. I can't let that happen.