The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
Pictures of Lay’s family over for the Labor Day weekend. We had loads of fun swimming, and making giant bubbles out of a soap solution. Bubbles are a favorite thing with the nieces, and giant bubbles just secured my place as favorite uncle for a while longer.
Read moreApparently Terry Jones (I refuse to use the Reverend honorific for a person like this) of the Dove World Center in Gainesville has flown to New York, and won’t be burning in Quran’s. In the process, he finally got his 15 minutes of fame for he and the loser that is his Associate Paster, and created even more division in America…but hey, he managed to get what he wanted…attention.
Read moreEarlier this week I was sent one of those emails where you check the stuff you’ve done, then send it to a bunch of friends. One of the questions was, “Have you ever seen something so beautiful it took your breath away?” I answered yes. I’ve seen it a couple of times, but in this case, I have to say it is absolute frightening idiocy that takes away my breath. People who have no discernible contact with any version of reality known to most of us, believe they have the answers to what ails America. People who are told what to think by the corporate astro-turfers, and believe a crackpot Mormon convert is the second coming. And they want to take America back…back to where…a happier time. What does that mean?
Read morePerhaps one of the biggest loons in the anti-equality campaign if former Executive Director (now Board Chairperson) of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), Maggie Gallagher. Maggie had a child out-of-wedlock, has been married twice, and despite basically making herself the self-proclaimed world champion of traditional marriage, has never been seen at any event with an actual husband or any of her children. What a sad and small person she is. It would be easy to feel sorry for her, but she’s made it her mission in life to foment hate against loving, committed gay couples, so she gets what she deserves. In this case, a well deserved cartooning is in order. Poor Maggie, hate and bigotry, even against Gay people, just becomes harder and harder to justify, but at least she makes a good living at it.
Read moreSunday evening the BBC, on their Proms show, celebrated the 80th birthday of Stephen Sondheim. There are several good videos of performances from the show, and while Send in The Clowns isn’t one of my favorite Sondheim songs, it is Judy Dench, and I just don’t know anyone with more class. And below is the very funny take on Everybody Ought To Have A Maid.
Read moreThis is a CNN Video of Ted Olson discussing the ruling by Judge Walker today in the Constitutional Challenge to California’s Proposition 8. As you’ve probably now heard, Judge Walked declared Proposition 8 Unconstitutional, and basically said if failed on strict scrutiny and on a rational basis argument.
Read moreOK, I admit I’d not given much thought to the Democratic Primary for 11th Congressional District. I’m not overly impressed with Cathy Castor, but she’s generally socially progressive, so I expected to vote for her. I frankly didn’t even know she had an opponent. That changed tonight, and Tim Curtis has earned my vote.
Read moreTwo teenaged children conceived by artificial insemination get the notion to seek out their birth father and introduce him into the family life that their two mothers have built for them. Once the donor is found, the household will never be the same, as family ties are defined, re-defined, and then re-re-defined. This was an excellent movie which I highly recommend with some caveats.
Read moreJust incredible is about all I can say. Gainesville’s Dove World Church, made famous last year for its “No Homo Mayor” campaign, is planning to burn Korans on September 11th. According to this “Christian Pastor,” it’s OK to burn a Koran because it’s not the Christian holy book, but can you imagine the tantrum and outrage that would follow if a Muslim group planned the same thing for the Bible.
Read moreOkay, maybe it’s a little sappy, but it was a great book, and I teared up at a few parts when I read it all these years ago, but it is uplifting music. This is the song from when Johnathon finally figures out the trick for flying as he wants. Who wouldn’t want to soar with him.
Read moreI was messing around on YouTube the other day. Don’t ask why, but I happened to think about Johnathan Livingston Seagull. As you might imagine, the music all on YouTube. I haven’t thought about this for so many years, and can’t imagine what brought it to my mind, but I do still enjoy it. So over the next few weeks, I’ll post one every once in a while.
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