Everytime I see some working man in a pickup truck with a Bush bumper sticker, I want to yell at him "do you really believe that Bush and the Repuglicans give a shit about you?" So far, I haven't gotten up the nerve to do that.

Case in point is a recent move in the Democratic controlled Senate and House to introduce pro-labor legislation. They are talking about legislation that would make it easier to organize a workplace, stiffen penalites for union busting, establish more union rights for federal employees, etc. Of course, the White House is threatening to veto any such legislation.

Remember how Bush couldn't find his veto pen to save his life back in the day? It seems like he can only find it when the legislation is something that will help the average working stiff. Earlier this year he vetoed a war funding bill that included a minimum wage hike as a rider because the bill also included a deadline for getting out of Iraq.

I think the biggest hypocrisy of them all is hearing how Repuglicans are bitching that Democrats are merely paying back their supporters, like organized labor. Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas said, "What we see going on is directly related to the partisanship of a political party winning power and paying back the union bosses for their support all these years." I swear to God, I wanted to hurl when I read that quote. Hey Pete, ever heard of Halliburton??????

I can't understand why any American in the bottom 90% of income would support the GOP. They don't give a shit about the average American. All they care about is big business. Repuglicans are real good at scaring people on many fronts. One of them is "redistribution of wealth." They scare the average American into thinking that the Democratic Party is all about taking money away from the middle class and giving it to the poor. What they don't realize is there is already redistribution of wealth in this country, only it's going the other way. They are taking our money and redistributing it to the most wealthy.

I'm in a very bad mood today

This story from Buzzflash just blew me away. Actually it's in two parts.

First of all, the administration has doubled the number of government officials who receive Secret Service protection. All kinds of folks, like the Chief of Staff, who used to have to fend for themselves, are now under the protection of the Secret Service.

But the kicker of this is that the Secret Service is planning to use 103 full-time agents to protect Bush after he leaves office in 2009!!!!!!

How many bodyguards does one village idiot need????? 103 seems a bit excessive. Especially considering that he isn't providing proper body armour to our troops in Iraq.

How many people has this guy pissed off? Oh yeah, that's right. You, me, most of the country, and the entire rest of the population of Earth.

Well the Memorial Day weekend is officially over :(

I hate to see it go. The weekend was generally uneventful. It rained a lot and I slept a lot. It was nice and relaxing.

Went down to the Montrose last night and I was shocked at the crowds. I knew it would be a bigger than normal Sunday night, but I totally unanticipated what I found. I think the bars down there unanticipated it as well. There was a line all the way down the street to get in the Mine, JR's and South Beach. The Ripcord was packed and they only had two bartenders. Those poor guys were really working up a sweat. Even Katz's had a line to get in, and they don't usually get that crowded until after the bars close. Of course, they had whole sections of the restaurant blocked off, so I'm sure they just didn't have enough staff.

I ended the weekend on a good note. Had a bootie call out in Baytown. It was pretty hot. And it was in Baytown, a first for me. That's where my family is from. Grandparents, mom, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It was on the same street as my aunt's and uncle's old home. One of my cousins still lives in the house. He's the same age as me and turned into a big old bear too. I spent many a childhood summer playing in their yard with him and my other cousins.

And now I've had a little something something down the street. It felt deliciously wicked.

I was taking a nap this afternoon and had the weirdest dream. I dreamed I was at the Lone Star for beer bust, and this Houston couple I know was there. They've been wanting to have a three way with me, and I'm down with that. Anyway, we were at the Lone Star and they stripped me naked in the middle of the bar, and they had me down on the floor, and one of them was blowing me while the other one was fucking my mouth with his cock. We drew a crowd. Then all of a sudden a bunch of church ladies in frilly hats walked in, something like this:

Now normally in San Francisco, if you see church ladies in frilly hats, they aren't necessarily ladies. But in this case, they were the real deal. So anyway, I got up off the floor and walked up to one of them and said, "Excuse me, I think you may be in the wrong place." And she said, "No we've been wanting to come to the Lone Star for years." Then I woke up. It was very odd.

It's been an uneventful weekend here in Houston. I was thinking about going to Chicago for Bearpride this weekend, but I just couldn't bear the thought of getting on another plane. Plus they were holding it at the Millennium Knickerbocker, not exactly a cheap place. Like $250 a night.

My friend Randy wanted me to come up and he said I could stay at his place. But he lives way out on the north side of Chicago at the border with Evanston. And that means a half hour subway ride down to the loop. So I decided against it.

I found out this guy I used to know is the head of the Chicago bear club now. He was just a kid when I knew him, almost 20 years ago in Toledo. Of course, I was a kid at the time too. Makes me feel my age.

A new Gallup Poll shows that almost 1 in 3 adult Americans believes the Bible is to be taken literally word for word. That's kind of scary to think that, in the 21st century, so many citizens of the most powerful nation in the world are Christian fundamentalists. No wonder the rest of the world fears us.

1 in 5 believes the Bible is nothing more than an ancient book of "fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man." A large majority believes the Bible is inspired by God but should not be taken literally.

My own personal view on the Bible falls somewhere between "inspired by God but not to be taken literally" and "nothing more than a collection of fables, legends, etc." Ironically, it was my Theological education in college that turned me from a true believer to a sceptic.

When I went off to college, I believed that the stories in the Bible like Noah and Egypt and the plagues, etc. actually happened. I also believed the Gospels were historical accounts of the life of Jesus. What I learned was something quite different.

I remember sitting in my New Testament class and being told, for the first time, that the Gospels were not actually written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as I had always believed. Rather, they were a compilation of different writings from different authors, put together almost 100 years after Christ. Well, that was a real eye-opener. If the Gospels are not eyewitness accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, how can we say they are literally true? They're just heresay and wouldn't be admissible in court.

And then there was the story of Gilgamesh, an ancient Babylonian account of a guy who was warned of an impending great flood, and who built a boat to save himself. Sound familiar? It's obvious that the Israelites merely incorporated Gilgamesh into their own cultural history while they were captive in Babylon.
Not to mention the fact that there is absolutely no scientific evidence of a worldwide flood killing everyone within the last 6,000 years.

If one interprets the Bible literally, there are hundreds of contradictions that one must account for. Where did Mrs. Cain come from? If Adam and Eve were literally the first humans, and Cain and Able were their offspring, how could Cain have found a wife from the land of Nod?

Neither the Apostles Creed, nor the Nicene Creed, two of the litmus tests of early Christianity, mention anything about literal belief in the scriptures. The early church fathers tended to interpret the scriptures as allegory, and looked for the deeper meanings hidden in the writings. We would do much better as a society to follow their example.

So Congress has finally passed a minimum wage hike, the first in almost a decade. While any increase is welcome, it is still too little, too late. The lowest paid Americans have been going downhill financially for years, along with most of the rest of us.

The new minimum wage will be raised gradually from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour by the summer of 2009. On the surface, this seems like a generous increase, but keep in mind that the minimum wage would be almost $10 an hour today if it had been adjusted for inflation since the 1960's. This chart from the Economic Policy Institute shows that the "real" value of the minimum wage is 30% below that of 1968 and 24% below that of 1979.
No one expects a minimum wage earner to live a life a luxury, BUT we should have a standard in this country that allows the lowest paid workers to pay for the basic necessities of life, which one can't do at $5.15 an hour.

Why should I care about the minimum wage? Well, for two reasons. There is the humanist, compassionate reason first of all. To paraphrase Gandhi, the greatness of a society is measured by how it treats the least of its members. And the fact that our nation, the richest in the world, has a minimum wage that doesn't even keep up with inflation is despicable.

My second reason is self-interest. The minimum wage is the floor, and it affects the wages of all of us. It's kind of hard to keep skilled workers at $10 an hour when one can get the same flipping burgers at McDonald's.

The "trickle down" theory of Reaganomics, which George H.W. Bush called "voodoo economics" before he sold his soul to be Vice President, is a sham. At its' core is the belief that putting more money in the hands of the wealthy will eventually trickle down to the rest of us through increased investment, job creation, etc. That is total bullshit. When you put more money in the hands of the wealthy, all they do is create more wealth for themselves by investing in things like the stock market. Since 1980 the GDP has grown by two thirds, but the wages of most American workers has gone down when considering inflation. But not the top 10%! Their income has increased by 25% over the same period.

Here's an idea: put more money in the hands of the rest of us, and that will eventually trickle up to the most wealthy. If people on the lower end have more money in their pockets, they will spend it, and that will help business grow, and that in turn will put more money in the pockets of the wealthy. John F. Kennedy referred to it as "a rising tide lifts all boats."

Santa Fe tried this when they passed their "living wage" law, which immediately increased the minimum wage paid in the city and pegged future increases to cost of living increases. The current Santa Fe minimum wage is $9.50, and it will be increased to $10.50 in January 2008. From then on, it will increase based upon increases in the consumer price index.

Oh, how the Santa Fe business community fought this law. They claimed businesses would go broke because they couldn't afford to pay their workers. They claimed Santa Fe would become a ghost town with nothing but shuttered storefronts. But guess what? Business has actually flourished in Santa Fe since the law was passed. All those people who work at Walmart can actually afford to buy shit. And that's lifting the economy for everyone.

Now there's a great idea that I would like to see instituted all around the country.

Well, gas has now reached $3.00 a gallon in Houston, something that has never happened before as far as I know. The stations in my Oak Forest neighborhood are selling gas for $3.05 to $3.09 a gallon. It's higher in some parts of the city and lower in others.

According to the GAO, the increased gas prices have taken $20 BILLION away from consumers. That's $146 for every passenger vehicle on the road. That's $20,000,000,000 not being spent elsewhere, which can't be good for the economy.

Unfortunately, gasoline is one of those things not affected so much by Adam Smith's invisible hand of the marketplace. People HAVE to buy gas to get to work, etc. In most cities we don't have a lot of options. It's the car or nothing. In other countries, where good mass transit is the norm, we would have the option of taking a train to work.

The reason given for the increased gas prices is not the usual middle east tension. This time it's lowered refinery capacity. The oil companies have taken a bunch of refineries offline for "maintenance" or switching over to different blends of gasoline. Go figure. They choose to do that during the run up to the season for the highest demand for gasoline???????

Something is rotten in the state of Texas.

Well I really wasn't going to spend any more time on Jerry Falwell. I said what I had to say when he died. So he's had his 15 minutes on my blog. BUT, this is just so crazy I had to comment.

The crazy preacher from Topeka, Fred Phelps, was planning to picket Falwell's funeral today. I purposefully avoided any news coverage of same, so I don't know if he actually carried out his threat or not.

Apparently Falwell wasn't anti-gay enough for Phelps' taste. According to his website godhatesamerica.org, he was going to picket the funeral for these and other offenses:

1. Falwell was a true Calvinistic Baptist when he was a young preacher in Springfield, Missouri, and sold his soul to Free-Willism (Arminianism) for lucre.

me -- a cornerstone of Calvinism is predestination: Jesus only died for a select few, chosen by God before they were even born, while the rest of us were condemned to Hell before we were even born.

2. Falwell bitterly and viciously attacked WBC because of WBC's faithful Bible preaching -- thereby committing the unpardonable sin -- otherwise known as the sin against the Holy Ghost.

me -- it's the ultimate in hubris to equate yourself with God

3. Falwell warmly praised Christ-rejecting Jews, pedophile-condoning Catholics, money-grubbing compromisers, practicing fags like Mel White, and backsliders like Billy Graham and Robert Schuler, etc. All for lucre -- making him guilty of their sins.

You know, this guy is so crazy he's pretty much a joke worldwide. And he's an embarrassment in Kansas, not exactly a bastion of free-thinking. I wonder where he gets his money? His entire congregation consists of about 30 people, and they are all his relatives. Who is supporting this asshole?

And by the way, I can't be the only person who believes Fred Phelps looks like that creepy preacher from Poltergeist.

My Numerology Reading

I've been in an occult-ish mood lately. I had a numerology reading done. Some of it is on target. A lot of it is off the mark. But here it is for your reading enjoyment.

Your Life Path Is 5

You are about freedom, independence and the right to follow where your heart and gut-instincts lead you in life.

You are an inquisitive soul with many questions that can only be answered through travel, exploration and experiencing a variety of life situations. For this reason you are likely to relocate to various cities or countries during your life.

You are best suited to freelance work or being your own boss as stuffy offices and rigid routines are deadly to your imagination and soul.

You are a great lover of human nature as well as one of it's greatest observers, which is why you would make a good archaeologist, historian, writer, journalist, reporter or artist.

You are great at dealing with people and also do well in any "front line" occupation. For instance many crisis workers, emergency care workers and leaders of self- groups are fives.

You need a job that allows you to meet a lot of people as well as brings you a variety of interesting experiences.

You also have quite a spiritual bent to your personality that may send you on many personal vision quests. It is not unusual for a 5 to also belong to many different religions during his or her life or suddenly in mid-life to drop everything in pursuit of a life-style that is the complete opposite of the former one.

One of your challenges is learning how to not waste time. Your perception of time is somewhat distorted which is why you are often late to meetings or sometimes unable to meet deadlines. Novelties and new ideas also easily distract you so sometimes it is difficult for you to choose a career or lifestyle and stick with it. As a result, others may also find you indecisive and frustrating to deal with.

Another challenge that you face on your life path is being overly irresponsible. Many 5's have a habit of taking off when the going gets rough. You tend be quite casual about your relationships and have a great deal of trouble managing any type of emotional crisis. You may even experience panic at the idea of commitment, as you don't like the idea of being responsible to another person.

If you are unable to physically escape circumstances that you can't emotionally handle or don't like, you are also prone to escaping through substance abuse. This is part of the unpleasant self-indulgent trait that is part of many number 5 personalities.

Finding one focus and sticking with it is definitely your biggest life challenge. Most 5's are multi- talented but they never stay in one place long enough for one of their projects to grow and blossom. Seeing things through to completion is the best way to make sure that you don't suffer poverty or bitterness in your later years.

One of your greatest talents is the ability to communicate, either verbally or through the written word. Your expansive observations of life plus your ability to see all points of view makes you an excellent teacher. Most 5's end up teaching at one point in their life so others can benefit from the rich tapestry of their life experience.

You are also a daring spirit that has a love of adventure. You are usually very physically fit and enjoy good health for your entire life if you stay away from overindulging in drink and food.

Your Expression Number is 7. Your Potential Natural Talents and Abilities

You are a secret rebel and a loner preferring the company of your brilliant thoughts and fantastic daydreams to the company of other people. You are incredibly spiritually sophisticated and this creates an odd air of detachment to your personality.

You tend to express yourself in a very blunt manner to others simply because you are not a big believer in wasting time with niceties.

You tend to not express yourself well through your facial expressions or body language although you can be quite eloquent with words. You do not say much but when you do say something it is usually acutely observant or very enlightening.

To you the ultimate expression of your higher self lies within the mysteries of science, nature and the occult. Most number 7s tend to be interested in all three topics. Many are mathematicians, naturalists, anthropologists, historians or priests. The virtues of solitude appeal to you most as it allows you the peace and acres of time that you need to investigate your favorite subjects. Even if you have never gone to school you probably have the equivalent of a PhD in some kind of esoteric or scientific subject.

An important part of your self-expression is the ability to be able to pass this knowledge onto a willing enthusiast or student one day. You are also likely to choose a romantic partner that shares your intellectual passions. As you are so quirky it takes a very special person indeed to understand your complex body language and need for a lot of personal space. Usually when you do find a partner that understands you, you are so grateful, that you become loyal for life.

Although you make a great teacher, you do not necessarily make a good parent. This is because a child's curiosity often competes with your own child like need to be inquisitive and live in a fantasy world. You are very logical and in terms of your personal tastes, believe that beauty is a matter of form following function. You are also a perfectionist so much of what you own will probably be the very best or state of the art. You should be well able to afford this as your deeply analytical and logical mind also often lends you a talent for investing money.

Although you like owning the best on the market you are not the type to show off. You tend to hide your wealth from others as well as you hide your other secrets. This is partly an attempt on your part to see if an individual likes you for you.

You are very uncomfortable with expressions of emotion and often avoid "feeling your feelings." Many of you may equate relationships with the idea of pain or as an element that could potentially throw you off your balance or de-focus you from your "real work." Sometimes your emotions are manifested through illness as you have a tendency to stash all of your feelings, especially the painful ones such as resentment, to the back of your subconscious where they fester for years. You are also prone to obsession if you let your feelings somehow become the focus of your life. The challenge of some number sevens is to distinguish the difference between how they feel about a situation and the reality of it.

Your reverence for the mysteries of the universe makes you an adamant seeker of truth. Your search for an ideal society or a spiritual epiphany makes you more vulnerable than other numbers to the influences of cults or religious leaders.

I had the strangest dream last night. Somewhat disturbing, yet somewhat comforting. It was one of those dreams that follow me into my waking hours. Maybe you've never had that kind of dream, but when I get them, I wake up in the mood evoked by the dream. And those feelings usually follow me through the day. Far too few times, I've awaken smiling, or even laughing, and the levity from the dream brightened my day. Far too many times, I've awaken saddened by the dream. Sometimes I've even found myself crying when I wake up. And that sadness sets the mood for the day. Most of the time, I awaken with no special feeling one way or the other.

So my dream last night was both disturbing, and made me feel angry, but also comforting. I awoke in a very contemplative mood, and have pretty much remained that way all day.

I started thinking about dreams, and what they really mean. I went to several online dream interpretation sites, and got several different meanings for the dream. Everything from unresolved issues with a former relationship to some cosmic soul searching stuff that I didn't understand. Hell, for all I know, it could have been the fajitas and margaritas I had last night.

My dreams are usually mundane. And when i say mundane, I don't mean uneventful. But they are usually framed in real-life settings. I never have those wild dreams I hear others talk about. The one where your friend suddenly sprouts wings and flies away. Or your mother turns into a parrot or something. I wish I did have those dreams. It would be like an acid trip without the repercussions.

Who knows what dreams really are? The scientist would say they're random flashes of neuron energy released in your sleep. The psychologist would say you're subconsciously dealing with life's issues. The occultist would subscribe to some deeper metaphysical meaning. I would probably agree with the scientist and the psychologist. Dreams are probably precipitated by neurons firing, but once that happens, the dream is your subconscious dealing with unresolved issues.

But, who's to say the occultist isn't right? I've had dreams that turned out to be premonitions. Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and occupied Rome because of a dream. And his wife, Calpurnia, reportedly dreamed of his assassination. Constantine converted to Christianity and established it as the official religion of the Roman Empire after a dream. Lincoln reportedly dreamed of his assassination, but took it as a good omen. And maybe Martin Luther King dreamed of his own death. His "I've Been To The Mountaintop" speech certainly sounds prophetic.

I doubt we'll ever really know, because how can you examine a dream? What physical evidence could you look for? So I guess we'll always wonder about our elusive dreams. The realist in me says that dreams are nothing more than physical and psychological manifestations, while the romantic in me believes they have some deep cosmic significance.

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected,
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed.
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadows form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

--William Shakespeare

Bearwatch 8

Just got back from Bearwatch 8 in Galveston. It was a pretty fun weekend. Bearwatch is a lot smaller than the IBR's and the TBRU's of the world. It gives it a more friendly, less hectic feel. Typically with these things, they run you all over town going to different bars and events. But Bearwatch is mostly a beach/pool type event. So it's a lot less draining than the other events.

The theme was "white trash weekend," so on Friday I broke my "never shop at Walmart" rule because I needed some white trash clothes. I picked up a couple of appropriate t-shirts to go along with the camo shorts a friend gave me.

Here's a pic of me in my Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt.


Friday night was a typical bar night at the Undercurrent. Pretty big crowd. I think a lot of guys came down from Houston just to hang out at the bar Friday night. Then went their own ways Saturday.

Saturday was beach day. I didn't go to sleep until 5 o'clock Saturday morning, so I was late getting to the beach. They had a nice setup with tents, etc. It was kind of funny watching the breeders walk by our area. Of course there were the obligatory beach games. And several times butts and cocks were exposed. The water actually looked fairly clean, which is unusual for Galveston. So I went in the water. I haven't been in the water in Galveston since something like 1968.

Then it was back to the hotel for dinner and the evening pool party. I got pretty wasted on margaritas and crashed around 11PM. I knew it was time to go to my room when I was talking to a friend and dozed off with my head on his shoulder. Woke up about 11 this morning and packed and headed back to Houston.

This year's Bearwatch didn't have the same sleaze factor as I had heard from year's past. It's probably because we were in a nice hotel. Previous Bearwatch's have always been held at the Sandpiper, which is just one step up from one of those rent by the hour hotels. So things were a little more subdued than I expected. And I heard some complaints from Bearwatch veterans about that. But, one has to make choices in this world, and I suppose it's better to have a little less sleaze and a clean bed to sleep in than the opposite.

Bush Says Fuck You To The Military

This is one of those things that won't get covered in the mainstream press. I actually found this story in "Stars And Stripes" of all places.

The House is preparing to pass the defense spending legislation for 2008, but the White House is opposing certain parts of the legislation that benefit the military.

One of the issues is the 2008 pay increase. The White House proposed a 3% increase, while the House wants a 3.5% increase. Boy, that extra .5% is going to really kill the country, especially when you consider the lowest enlisted pay runs about $15,000 a year.

The White House also wants the ability to increase medical care fees for retired military personnel, and the House doesn't.

This is just another example of what a fucking hypocrite Dubya is. He claims to be a war president, but he does everything in his power to step on the little guy in the military.
Let's not forget the fact that he used his daddy's influence to stay out of Vietnam, and didn't even fulfill his responsibilities to the Texas Air National Guard. Can you say "AWOL."

Of course, it shouldn't surprise anyone who looks at his record. I learned a long time ago that whatever Dubya espouses in public, expect the exact opposite in reality.

back to Houston.......

Well it's time to head home after another great trip to the bay area. I always feel a little bittersweet when I leave. I always have such a great time here and feel very much at home. But Houston's home as well. It's almost like having two lovers. One is romantic, old world, and a little on the wild side. The other is brash and modern and can be on the wild side.

I always seem to go away from San Francisco with a new friend. And this trip is no exception. You know who you are, and YES YOU ARE the most adorable guy in town :).

But, it's back home now. This weekend I will be sitting on the beach in Galveston with a couple of hot chasers (hopefully). It's Bearwatch. My first. And I'm looking forward to having a good time.

Farewell Jericho :(

CBS canceled one of my favorite shows yesterday. Jericho was one of those weekly "must see" shows for me. It's about the residents of a small western Kansas town who survive a nuclear attack on the United States.

The show was really getting good too. The last couple of episodes involved a war between Jericho and a neighboring town. Imagine city-states in 21st century America. Sparta and Athens in the middle of Kansas.

I'm sure we'll now see more junk like America's Top (fill in the blank) or yet another reality piece of crap. Maybe a reality show about Paris Hilton's stay in jail.

One Down........

So Jerry Falwell is dead. I feel a little conflicted right now, because when someone dies you're supposed to be magnanimous and charitable and gloss over their shortcomings. But I can't do that. The man was a pig. He was evil. He was the furthest thing from a true Christian.

Read the words of Jerry Falwell:

God hates homosexuality

Fred Phelps does not give the religious right a bad name (see above)

[Vice President Gore] recently praised the lesbian actress who plays 'Ellen' on ABC Television...I believe he may even put children, young people, and adults in danger by his public endorsement of deviant homosexual behavior...Our elected leaders are attempting to glorify and legitimize perversion.

Someone must not be afraid to say, 'moral perversion is wrong.' If we do not act now, homosexuals will 'own' America!...If you and I do not speak up now, this homosexual steamroller will literally crush all decent men, women, and children who get in its way...and our nation will pay a terrible price!

AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.

Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan in America.

But I don't believe anyone begins a homosexual.

Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions.

God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.

Homosexuality is Satan's diabolical attack upon the family that will not only have a corrupting influence upon our next generation, but it will also bring down the wrath of God upon America.

I believe that global warming is a myth. And so, therefore, I have no conscience problems at all and I'm going to buy a Suburban next time.

I do not believe we can blame genetics for adultery, homosexuality, dishonesty and other character flaws.

If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being.

The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.

We will see a breakdown of the family and family values if we decide to approve same-sex marriage, and if we decide to establish homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle with all the benefits that go with equating it with the heterosexual lifestyle.

I am such a strong admirer and supporter of George W. Bush that if he suggested eliminating the income tax or doubling it, I would vote yes on first blush.

Jerry Falwell was a hateful, evil person. He claimed to be a Christian, but violated one of the two commandments of Jesus: love your neighbor as yourself. I feel no pity for the man. The world is good to be rid of him.

It is a gorgeous day here in San Francisco. Sunny and 65 in the city. Almost 70 over here in the East Bay. It's funny how 65 in San Francisco feels great, but back in Texas I would be bundled up and bitching about how cold it is.

I had to go into the city this morning to take someone home. Then I went to the bear Starbucks in the Castro. On the way this drag queen complimented me on my shirt. I was wearing my Southern Decadence t-shirt. On the front it has a drawing of a pig smoking a blunt. It seems to be quite popular here in San Francisco. Can't imagine why LOL.

This afternoon it's back to the city to go to the beer bust at the Lone Star.

Note To World: I'm Not Just Into Young Chasers!!

I don't know why everyone thinks I'm only into young chasers......

[18:44] FreddyBear: happy birthday
[18:58] xxxxx: hi fred, and thanks for the BD wishes... how you doing?
[18:59] FreddyBear: im good
[18:59] FreddyBear: about to go out
[18:59] FreddyBear: after ugly betty
[18:59] xxxxx: thats in 1 minute! haev a drink for me too
[19:00] FreddyBear: no it's on at 8 here
[19:00] xxxxx: i dont watch so i dont know, but have fun...
[19:01] FreddyBear: done anything special today?
[19:01] xxxxx: worked..., at least i had a vehicle with A/C
[19:01] xxxxx: you?
[19:02] FreddyBear: i worked
[19:02] xxxxx: (i have a date later with a 22-yr-old)
[19:02] FreddyBear: yum
[19:02] FreddyBear: same one from the other night?
[19:02] xxxxx: yep
[19:02] xxxxx: i feel kinda guilty
[19:02] xxxxx: i am older than his dad!
[19:02] FreddyBear: so?
[19:02] FreddyBear: i almost had a date with a daddybear but he canceled
[19:03] xxxxx: you, with a daddybear?!
[19:03] FreddyBear: yeah why?
[19:03] xxxxx: he have money? '-)
[19:03] FreddyBear: i doubt it
[19:03] FreddyBear: he's in school
[19:03] FreddyBear: i dont know we haven't discussed his income
[19:03] FreddyBear: he's cute
[19:04] FreddyBear: in an older guy daddy bear kind of way
[19:04] xxxxx: thats counts for a lot--cuteness
[19:04] FreddyBear: why does it surprise you
[19:04] xxxxx: coz i thought you only went for younger
[19:04] FreddyBear: everyone thinks that
[19:04] FreddyBear: not true
[19:05] FreddyBear: well mostly not true
[19:05] xxxxx: ok, i will make a note

i just flew in from houston and boy are my arms tired

Well that was not a nice flight yesterday. For two hours after we took off from Houston it was nothing but some of the worst turbulence I've ever flown through. I kept looking out the window and seeing nothing but clouds forever and ever. I'm guessing Texas is going to have a couple of days of murky weather based on what we flew through yesterday.
I have always hated the people who do not understand what "fasten seat belts" means. And there were plenty of them on the flight. Up and down, back to the restroom, getting shit out of the overhead bins. But yesterday I became one of those people. The odds of my having to pee increase dramatically when the fasten seat belt sign goes on. And that's what happened yesterday. I kept waiting for the turbulence to die down, but it kept going on. Finally, after two hours, I couldn't hold it anymore. So I waited for a lull and sneaked back to the lavatory. Fortunately, I was in the back row so I didn't have to walk down the length of the plane and get the tsk tsk look from my fellow passengers. Anyway it all worked out. The lull turned out to be permanent and the fasten seat belt sign went off.

So the captain did something very interesting on the flight yesterday. As we were approaching San Francisco, Air Traffic Control wanted us to go in a holding pattern because traffic was backed up at SFO. Well, the captain decided to take us on a site seeing tour instead to kill the time. He flew up to Yosemite National Park and flew through the canyons and valleys. It was very beautiful. He obviously knew his shit about Yosemite because he would give all the details of everything we were looking at. We hit all the waterfalls and major mountain peaks in the park. It was kind of odd but very awe inspiring to be flying below the mountains. We couldn't have been that high up.
It was quite a nice diversion. The pilot mentioned that this is his favorite spot in the world, and it was obvious. I couldn't help but wonder what anyone on the ground must have been thinking to see this passenger airliner aimlessly wandering through the valleys of Yosemite. Banking left and right so both sides of the plane could see the sites.

It was absolutely gorgeous when I arrived at SFO. Not a cloud in the sky. 84 degrees. Very atypical weather for San Francisco. More like southern California weather. But I enjoyed it immensely. I think the rest of the week is supposed to be in the low to mid 70's. A little cooler than I like, but definitely nice weather for San Francisco.

Arriving in San Francisco blew away the blue funk I had been in for a couple of days. I always feel so at home here. Like I belong. But I can't stand the weather, and I certainly don't like the high housing prices here. But if I could have more weather like I had yesterday, I would definitely try to make a move to San Francisco happen.

sigh part two :(

Today would have been my anniversary. Four years ago today I made love, for the first time, to the guy I thought I would spend my life with. Two years ago today, I was standing in a wedding chapel in Toronto's City Hall exchanging vows. Oh we were the toast of the town that day. On Church Street everyone wanted to meet the two Texans who had come all the way to Toronto to get legally married.

But it didn't work out. Our relationship started unraveling over the summer of that year. We limped along for another year and a few months. Neither one of us wanting to give up on the dream that was born May 7, 2005. What started with such promise on a bright, sunny, beautiful day in Toronto, ended in a gas station parking lot in Austin.

The last couple of years were shitty years for couples. With few exceptions, almost every couple we knew broke up. Some of whom, I thought, were in very strong relationships. But we kept chugging along, while couple after couple fell to the side of the road. Some people started calling us the "power couple" and maybe we believed that ourselves.

The last few months have been a roller coaster ride of emotions for me. I've been everywhere from hurt to hopeful followed by anger and rage. It's not easy letting go of someone you love. And sometimes I wanted to stab the next person who told me "you just have to get over him." People who think that love can be turned on and off like a light bulb have obviously never been in love themselves.

A couple of months ago, during one of my rage periods, I was trying to figure out how to commemorate today. I came up with several bitter ideas. The front runner was to throw my wedding ring off the Golden Gate Bridge. That would have been such high drama, so Hollywood. So befitting a queen with a broken heart.

But, the day has come and almost gone, and all I found myself doing was listening to sappy music by the likes of Jewel and Sarah McLachlan and feeling very very sad.

sigh :(

I've been in kind of a sad mood this weekend. Just one of those melancholia that come out of nowhere and settle in for a visit.

It started Friday night. I slept most of the day Saturday, and then picked up with the blues again today. I was trying to catch up on my tv today, and it seemed like everything I watched was sad and hit too close to home.

I really went nuts when I stepped on the scales this morning and discovered I had gained about 4 pounds. This was particularly unnerving because I spent all last week eating fucking yogurt and granola and fruit and salad. No sweets. None at all last week. And what was my reward? I gained 4 pounds. I've been very nervous about weight gain since I quit smoking about 3 months ago. So far, I've been able to hold off the weight gain to just a couple of pounds. But then this week I exploded with a four pound gain.

The one bright spot was when I was flirted with at the dog park yesterday. This guy and I exchanged looks in the park. Then I climbed up on a hill and lay down in the grass while Buster played. He came up to me and asked to join me. He sat down in the grass next to me and pretended to read his textbook while he talked with me. We talked about our dogs. He laughed at my cutesy comments. I was lying on my back staring at the clouds, and commented on how I needed to do that more often. He offered to keep an eye on Buster, and me, if I dozed off next to him. There was something odd but reassuring and sexy about the comment. The wind caught my shirt and blew it up. As I was pulling it back down he commented on how thick I was, like a tree, and very hairy. "This guy is flirting with me," I thought. And I needed that. His name was Gary. We lay there in the grass talking for 3 hours, until it got dark. And then I had to leave. I could tell he was waiting for me to ask for his number. But I didn't. I was too timid. So as we were leaving he rubbed my back and said he hoped to see me again. I should have asked for his number.

Well that didn't take long......

I believe it was just yesterday that I was commenting on Rudy Giuliani's bid for the Repuglican nomination. I stated my belief that he would sell his soul and back away from his progressive ideals to get the nomination. Well, the for sale sign is on the lawn.

I just read that Rudy came out against a civil union law recently passed in New Hampshire because "this law states that same sex civil unions are the equivalent of marriage and also recognizes civil unions from other states. This goes too far and Mayor Giuliani cannot support it."

Since when Judy? Uh I mean Rudy? You have stated time and again, publicly, that you favor civil unions. You told Bill O'Reilly you supported civil unions because they address the discrimination that exists in marriage laws. And you signed New York City's domestic partnership law in 1998.

This is just another lying sack of shit Repuglican who will sell his soul to the devil to try and win the nomination.

I went on a date last night. An honest to God date, with dinner and a movie, the whole thing. My friend Chris just moved here from San Francisco. We've been trying to go out for a couple of weeks, but both our jobs kept interfering. So last night we finally took the plunge.

We went downtown to the Angelika to see Disturbia. He bought popcorn and a candy bar. I've been trying to lose weight so I bought a bag of dried fruit. YUCK. That was nasty. But, I was proud of myself that I didn't cave and get something less healthy.

I really enjoyed the movie. It went back and forth from lighthearted to very intense. Shia LeBeouf is one of my new favorite hotties.

I remember seeing him the first time in I Robot where he played a street tough wannabe, and then again in Constantine where he played an exorcist wannabe. He plays this high school kid who starts out the movie as a good boy, and then loses he way and gets into trouble as the result of a family tragedy. But, in the end, he redeems himself and all is well.

What really freaked me out was seeing David Morse play the bad guy. I haven't followed his career that much, but I'm used to seeing him as the good guy in things like St Elsewhere and Contact, where he played Jodie Foster's kind and gentle dad. Well, kind and gentle he was not in Disturbia. He made my skin crawl.

The movie is not gory at all. It's more of a psychological thriller than anything else, and that's always the best kind.

Fuck You John McCain

Alright you Log Cabin Reguglicans, here's something else for you to ignore about your party, because, after all, you queens are not "one issue" voters.

According to the Advocate, John McCain told a gay rights group that gay soldiers "represent an intolerable risk to national security." Here's a piece of the story:

In an April 16 letter to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, McCain said, "I believe polarization of personnel and breakdown of unit effectiveness is too high a price to pay for well-intentioned but misguided efforts to elevate the interests of a minority of homosexual service members above those of their units.

"Most importantly, the national security of the United States, not to mention the lives of our men and women in uniform, are put at grave risk by policies detrimental to the good order and discipline which so distinguish America's armed services."

Fuck you John McCain. Talk to the Israelis about how having gay people serve in the military affects national security. Didn't they just do a big poll of the military last year about gay troops? And didn't something like 3/4 of those surveyed say they didn't give a shit if gay people served in the military?

The thing that really grinds my ass (pun intended) about the whole gays in the military thing is that every argument against it was used to support segregation in the military 50 years ago. Harry Truman had the balls to wipe segregation in the military out with the stroke of a pen. And guess what? The sky didn't fall. The sun came out the next day. And the military got over it. It will be the same way when the gay ban is eliminated, which is inevitable.

Now back to you Log Cabin Repuglicans. How can you support a party that hates you? We're not talking benign neglect here. We're talking outright hatred. I just don't get it. You queens say you aren't "one issue voters" but your freedoms, your rights, should be the ONLY ISSUE you're concerned about. How can you support a party that treats you like second class citizens at best???????

The sad part is with Repuglicans, you don't really know what they think. Because to be successful as a Repuglican, one has to sell one's soul. Maybe John McCain doesn't really believe that. Maybe he's just saying that to appeal to those whack job fundies who seem to control the Repuglicans.

Of course, if you don't like McCain, there's always Rudy

He seems like an acceptable Repuglican on the surface. He's pro-choice, He's pro-gay rights. But the problem is, THERE ARE NO ACCEPTABLE REPUGLICANS. Because if you support one, you support them all.

There is no way in hell Rudy will remain pro-choice and pro- gay rights publicly. He can't win the nomination if he does. He will sell his soul, mark my words.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

This guy is so fucking sexy. Yum. You know, when he was younger, I thought he was really goofy looking and didn't really like him. But OMG he has turned from the ugly duckling into one hot babe.

Man, I last saw him in Zodiac, and he had this "I'm really sexy but too naive and nice to know it" thing going on.



OMG I wanted to shoot all over the theatre screen. Jake can put his shoes under my bed anytime.

The best sign for me romantically is.................

I took one of those silly online tests. This one was to determine what astrological sign is best for me as a partner. And the answer is Sagittarius. Anyone know any hot Sagittarian guys out there? Here's the report.

Sagittarius, the Archer (November 23 to December 21): This intellectual and independent partner is just your type. Initially, a Sagittarius may catch your eye with their knack for witty conversation and flirtation. But as you get to know them better, you're even more likely to be drawn to your Sagittarian's adventurousness and unhesitating willingness to take the risks necessary to keep life fun and free. People born under this sign are typically both enjoyable to be around and interesting to talk with. Be aware that Sagittarians do have a tendency to become restless at times. However, this sense of adventure will help keep things exciting in your relationship. In the bedroom, you'll likely find that the Archer is sexually creative and will keep you happily engaged. This is simply a natural extension of the Sagittarian nature. Overall, they want to get the most out of life and are always on the lookout for exciting new adventures.

Although Sagittarius is your strongest Zodiac Match, your responses indicate there are a number of other astrological signs that you're highly compatible with.

And of course to find out the rest of the story, all I have to do is pay $12.95 to receive the complete report.

One thing I did find interesting is that I took this exact same test almost a year ago, June 2006 to be exact. Much has changed in that year for me. I'm looking at things a lot differently than I did a year ago. Nevertheless, I got the exact same answer as last year.

I suppose that's more about my personality than about any astrological bs. But it's fun to do anyway.

Driver in highway collapse had criminal record

I just love our criminal justice system. It is so fucked up. But even more fucked up is the way we treat people after they have "served their debt to society."

Case in point is this situation we had in San Francisco this past weekend. A fellow was driving a big rig loaded with gasoline. He was heading westbound on the I-80 and was attempting to go southbound on the I-880. Apparently he was driving too fast and didn't make the curve. The subsequent crash created a spectacular fireball, and the fire melted the supports of the I-580, which then fell down on top of the I-880.

Spectacular news story. Pain in the ass for me because that's how I go to work when I'm in San Francisco. Fortunately no one was killed. Only the driver was injured but he walked away from the accident. It happened at something like 3:30 AM on Sunday.

So here we are a couple of days later. The media has had time to dig into this guy's background, looking for the inevitable dirt. ET VOILA! We now know this guy has a criminal record. It's all over the news. Let's smear this guy's name and face everywhere. How dare he drive a truck with a criminal record?

But here's the point. His criminal record is from like 10 years ago first of all. It had NOTHING to do with the accident. And there is no law saying someone can't get a commercial driver's license with the kind of background he had. And, oh by the way, the Homeland Security people had to clear him because he was going to be driving trucks with hazardous materials. They obviously didn't think it was a problem.

So how is this news? His criminal record had absolutely NOTHING to do with the events on Sunday morning. But, by God, we're going to drag his name through the mud because its sensational, and that sells newspapers and gets ratings.

Which brings me to another point. No one in the criminal justice system ever "pays their debt to society." They keep paying and paying and paying all their lives. How easy is it for an ex con to get a decent paying job so he can support himself and his family? Not very easy. Because that criminal record hounds an ex con for the rest of his fucking life. There are some states that don't allow ex cons to vote. So even though they've paid their debt to society, let's strip them of their constitutional rights.

Now before you label me a criminal coddling liberal, consider this. Imagine how your life would be if you screwed up, learned your lesson, served your time, and then found yourself in a position where you had no options but working at McDonald's, even though you had paid your debt to society? Wouldn't be very pretty would it?

Some people are just trash. There's nothing you can do to keep them out of trouble. But I suspect that a fair number of these repeat offenders find themselves in that position because the system sets them up to fail.

for I was in prison and you visited me -- matthew 25:16

I've often complained about the growing income disparity between the "haves" and the rest of us, which seems to be getting worse and worse each year. Repuglicans love to bitch about "income redistribution" which is their way of saying "Democrats will take your middle class money away and give it to poor people." Well, there is income redistribution going on in our country right now. Only it's the other way around. The 95% of us who aren't "haves" are having our income redistributed to the 5% of us who are "haves."

Don't believe me? According to the World Bank, the United States has the highest disparity between the top 20% and the bottom 20% of ANY INDUSTRIALIZED NATION IN THE WORLD. According to the World Bank, the richest 20% of Americans control 46.5% of the wealth. The poorest 20% only controls 5.2%. If you narrow it down the richest/poorest 10%, the haves control 30% of the wealth and the have nots control only 1.8% of it.

In the 1950's a typical corporate CEO would earn somewhere around 15-20 times more than the typical corporate employee. Today, that CEO is making HUNDREDS of times more. Something is terribly, terribly wrong in this country, and its called GREED. Those people at the top can't get enough. And it can only come from somewhere. US. How many yachts do you need? How many houses do you need? How much money is enough?

What I don't understand is this. Logically, it's in the best interest of the wealthy to not have these huge disparities. Income disparity is one of the biggest seeds of revolution. And, on a more practical note, our whole economy is based on having a thriving middle class to buy all this shit. If everyone is selling hamburgers at McDonald's, how will anyone afford buying those computers we don't make anymore? But then, greed doesn't think logically.

What set me off today was I read an article in a trade magazine about what corporate execs in my industry make. One of them, pretty well known, made $35,000,000 last year. And the article said most of that money was in the form of stock options. Well I find that strange since his company's stock went down 47% last year. And the company has never turned a profit. But he made 35 million in stock options.

Stock options are not supposed to work that way. They are supposed to be an incentive to work harder and make the stock go up. If you're not familiar with them here's how they are supposed to work. When someone is awarded stock options, it means they have the option to buy a certain number of shares at a predetermined price. That price is usually the price of the stock in effect that day. So, it is in the best interest of the person to do everything they can to make sure the stock goes up. Because if it doesn't, the options are worthless.

But that's not how it works for the big cheeses. They are given options with a strike price considerably below the current price. So they're options are automatically worth something whether the stock price goes up or down. And of course, they get millions of these options.

It's just another example of how our society is geared to making sure the rich get richer and the rest of us sink.