Wednesday, September 30, 2015
STONEWALL 2015 - THE TRAVESTY
Thoughtful interview with actor praised by all for performance in film
failing at box office that "Vanity Fair called the movie "terribly
offensive, and offensively terrible," while The Times said it
"shortchanges [the] pivotal gay rights moment." Many on social media
added their thoughts using the trash can emoji to express their disdain.
I agree with the critics; it's a travesty and abomination and more
detailed comments I posted elsewhere. But the actor makes a point here
that reflects my thinking after reading the immense number of comments
on the film's FB page and the queerty web site: discussion of the events
portrayed and the status of gay and transgender's in today's society is
sorely needed.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-stonewall-jonny-beauchamp-20151001-story.html
More from the article reflecting my point of view and the poor box office: By featuring the fictional character as the main instigator of the riots — though most accepted accounts attribute that role to drag queens, street kids and transgender women of color — online backlash accused the film of erasing an already marginalized minority within the LGBT community.
An online petition calling for a boycott of the picture seems to have had an effect, with "Stonewall" pulling in only $112,414 in its first weekend. That's an average of $871 per screen of the 129 screens in its limited release, according to box-office figures."
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153476351576622&set=a.10151494463681622.450599.582911621&type=3&theater
so many comments - really it's overwhelming - on the FB page of of the new stonewall movie it was hard to find mine. they are overwhelmingly negative. seems to me the director could have been creative and not so lazy and created an original story based on the era based on original characters and who could whine. plenty but that's beside the point. you can't blame an original story for distorting history it's not meant to recreate. he found it easier to take an actual historical event - and not just any event but the most significant event in modern LGBT history and created a fictional white character because focus groups found that straight people were more comfortable seeing white guys throw bricks than black or puerto rican trans. that's not saying there weren't white people there, there were plenty. nor i am saying that the movie excludes portrayals of black and PR trans - there are plenty. the fact that the director is gay makes it worse to me and i question his integrity and self esteem. why should we care what straights think - our rights are enshrined in the Constitution not dependent on the evolution of thinking among straights. sure acceptance helps but how does it help to make gay characters so white washed and straight acting to gain acceptance among straights who will then expect real gay people to be like those portrayed in the movie and then when they meet real gay people who are not like that how does that help? it doesn't it's counterproductive and oppressive and i am disgusted. i am not telling anyone what to do this is my view. you can like, or positively comment, or wittily or creatively comment supportively or articulately present another point of view that is not negative, or you can move on.
I finally found the movie i was thinking of and remember it as being fictional yet authentic, inclusive, historic and trail blazing. Recommend Stonewall 1995 or the PBS documentary Stonewall Uprising and the documented articles accurately describe history that occurred in the life time of so many still living today, including the actual rioters and brick throwers and demonstrators so distorted by this film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114550/
Just ran across this on the film maker's own FB page where he's getting trashed worse than on the movie or queerty page; very amusing and fulfilling, and best of all, for those like me a little slow at recognizing parody when i see it - it says Parody right on the title.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3PcbgNpJIk&feature=share
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-stonewall-jonny-beauchamp-20151001-story.html
More from the article reflecting my point of view and the poor box office: By featuring the fictional character as the main instigator of the riots — though most accepted accounts attribute that role to drag queens, street kids and transgender women of color — online backlash accused the film of erasing an already marginalized minority within the LGBT community.
An online petition calling for a boycott of the picture seems to have had an effect, with "Stonewall" pulling in only $112,414 in its first weekend. That's an average of $871 per screen of the 129 screens in its limited release, according to box-office figures."
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153476351576622&set=a.10151494463681622.450599.582911621&type=3&theater
so many comments - really it's overwhelming - on the FB page of of the new stonewall movie it was hard to find mine. they are overwhelmingly negative. seems to me the director could have been creative and not so lazy and created an original story based on the era based on original characters and who could whine. plenty but that's beside the point. you can't blame an original story for distorting history it's not meant to recreate. he found it easier to take an actual historical event - and not just any event but the most significant event in modern LGBT history and created a fictional white character because focus groups found that straight people were more comfortable seeing white guys throw bricks than black or puerto rican trans. that's not saying there weren't white people there, there were plenty. nor i am saying that the movie excludes portrayals of black and PR trans - there are plenty. the fact that the director is gay makes it worse to me and i question his integrity and self esteem. why should we care what straights think - our rights are enshrined in the Constitution not dependent on the evolution of thinking among straights. sure acceptance helps but how does it help to make gay characters so white washed and straight acting to gain acceptance among straights who will then expect real gay people to be like those portrayed in the movie and then when they meet real gay people who are not like that how does that help? it doesn't it's counterproductive and oppressive and i am disgusted. i am not telling anyone what to do this is my view. you can like, or positively comment, or wittily or creatively comment supportively or articulately present another point of view that is not negative, or you can move on.
I finally found the movie i was thinking of and remember it as being fictional yet authentic, inclusive, historic and trail blazing. Recommend Stonewall 1995 or the PBS documentary Stonewall Uprising and the documented articles accurately describe history that occurred in the life time of so many still living today, including the actual rioters and brick throwers and demonstrators so distorted by this film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114550/
Just ran across this on the film maker's own FB page where he's getting trashed worse than on the movie or queerty page; very amusing and fulfilling, and best of all, for those like me a little slow at recognizing parody when i see it - it says Parody right on the title.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3PcbgNpJIk&feature=share
THOUGHTS ON LA COUNTY HEALTHCARE CONSOLIDATION/MEMORIES OF OCR ENFORCEMENT HISTORY OR LACK THEREOF
MItch is a good man who did a great job in
SF as director of the AIDS office and then SFDPH. I was shocked but
plesaed that LA hired him but for awhile he seemed to be swallowed up. I
think the reorganization makes sense, could be more efficient and allow
for better coordination. Mental health is always fighting for and
deserving of more resources; his opposition to forcibly medicate persons
with mental illness is not relevant to the re-org.
http://www.latimes.com/local/countygovernment/la-me-mitch-katz-20150929-story.html
My biggest pet peeve with LA County Health and Hospitals - lack of qualified and proficient interpreters for patients and family members with limited-English proficiency required by Federal and often but too frequently not effectively enforced by OCR, the agency I worked for. In recent years there were too many anecdotes about the lack of qualified Spanish-speaking interpreters in LA County-USC (General Hospital) a facility surrounded by perhaps the largest Latino community in the nation and a large number of Spanish speaking staff.
Just as pathetically, many doctors reported the failure of their attempt at interpretation by computer or over the internet as being woefully inadequate, and worse, inaccurate. Admittedly I was forcefully passionate on this issue from the beginning, before HIV arose, envisioning an elderly non-English speaker in a hospital unable to communicate or learn English. OCR did a lot of good on this issue in a lot of places over the years. My blog may have the description of our significant effective intervention in Phoenix with many hospitals in 2002 shortly after the LA office opened, one of OCR's most notable accomplishment.
But what has taken me 3 paragraphs to provide background for was the standoff I could never resolve near the end. Overwhelmed by HIPAA complaints without the provision of adequate additional resources to handle them, OCR rejected my pleas - and it may not surprise you to know they were sorely agitated by my never ending efforts - to open a discretionary compliance review over the issue at LA County. OCR is allowed but not required to conduct reviews, it's a tool used quite effectively over the years. But OCR is required to investigate complaints and those must be the priority when resources are limited. Meanwhile the advocates who were the source of many of the anecdotes I was hearing refused to file a complaint fearing our LEP Guidance Memorandum not strong enough, despite the fact that bringing LA County UP to meeting those standards as we had done in Phoenix would have been a massive improvement and helped so many of those limited English speakers they claim to represent. Unable to overcome this standoff or conundrum my biggest frustration.
http://www.latimes.com/local/countygovernment/la-me-mitch-katz-20150929-story.html
My biggest pet peeve with LA County Health and Hospitals - lack of qualified and proficient interpreters for patients and family members with limited-English proficiency required by Federal and often but too frequently not effectively enforced by OCR, the agency I worked for. In recent years there were too many anecdotes about the lack of qualified Spanish-speaking interpreters in LA County-USC (General Hospital) a facility surrounded by perhaps the largest Latino community in the nation and a large number of Spanish speaking staff.
Just as pathetically, many doctors reported the failure of their attempt at interpretation by computer or over the internet as being woefully inadequate, and worse, inaccurate. Admittedly I was forcefully passionate on this issue from the beginning, before HIV arose, envisioning an elderly non-English speaker in a hospital unable to communicate or learn English. OCR did a lot of good on this issue in a lot of places over the years. My blog may have the description of our significant effective intervention in Phoenix with many hospitals in 2002 shortly after the LA office opened, one of OCR's most notable accomplishment.
But what has taken me 3 paragraphs to provide background for was the standoff I could never resolve near the end. Overwhelmed by HIPAA complaints without the provision of adequate additional resources to handle them, OCR rejected my pleas - and it may not surprise you to know they were sorely agitated by my never ending efforts - to open a discretionary compliance review over the issue at LA County. OCR is allowed but not required to conduct reviews, it's a tool used quite effectively over the years. But OCR is required to investigate complaints and those must be the priority when resources are limited. Meanwhile the advocates who were the source of many of the anecdotes I was hearing refused to file a complaint fearing our LEP Guidance Memorandum not strong enough, despite the fact that bringing LA County UP to meeting those standards as we had done in Phoenix would have been a massive improvement and helped so many of those limited English speakers they claim to represent. Unable to overcome this standoff or conundrum my biggest frustration.
HILLARY AGAIN, NOT FOR THE LAST TIME
ok
and i'll put the serious one down here; i don't think this is that bad
for Hill through my usual rose colored glasses, i don't think Biden will
run but if he does it will all work out, cnn making much of her recent
comments about her experience and
willingness to compromise, to work with others, being unpopular in
today's political environment; refreshing she is not trying to appeal to
the lowest common denominator, what is needed is someone with the yes
experience and ability and the willingness to work with others to get
things done; electing ideologues on both sides or even just one side
accomplishes nothing, as in the Rs getting the biggest House majority in
decades by warped redistricting they got ideologues not interested in
accomplishing anything more than shrill appeals for extremism; i am not a
centrist or moderate but more moderates would get more stuff done for
the good of all, and that's not reinforcement for an establishment that
blocks progress and equity it's a challenge to it that too many fail to
see.. http://www.nbcnews.com/.../first-read-bad-news-gop...
and to be straightforward and possibly avoid snark but not guaranteed, enough of the contention that an obstacle to Bernie winning is the refusal to support him because he can't win; i am opposed to Bernie because i don't want him to win, I would never under any conditions vote for him I think he is incompetent and incapable of accomplishing anything, I don't agree with his approach or some of his views - gun control only one example - that is not a negative attack that is what i think, Hillary is smarter, tougher has accomplished much and will do more, and she has always worked often pro bono for social justice , reform and improvement in the lives and economic conditions of underserved people; she got childrens health insurance passed decades ago and did more before and since, bernie never did or accomplished anything before or after being elected to the senate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-facts-and-carly-fiorinas-ultraconservative-anger/2015/09/28/c29b4cec-6611-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html
The higher she rises the harder she will fall. Reminds me of that saying about no matter how much you repeat it, a lie is still a lie. Great column by a great columnist.
and to be straightforward and possibly avoid snark but not guaranteed, enough of the contention that an obstacle to Bernie winning is the refusal to support him because he can't win; i am opposed to Bernie because i don't want him to win, I would never under any conditions vote for him I think he is incompetent and incapable of accomplishing anything, I don't agree with his approach or some of his views - gun control only one example - that is not a negative attack that is what i think, Hillary is smarter, tougher has accomplished much and will do more, and she has always worked often pro bono for social justice , reform and improvement in the lives and economic conditions of underserved people; she got childrens health insurance passed decades ago and did more before and since, bernie never did or accomplished anything before or after being elected to the senate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-facts-and-carly-fiorinas-ultraconservative-anger/2015/09/28/c29b4cec-6611-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html
The higher she rises the harder she will fall. Reminds me of that saying about no matter how much you repeat it, a lie is still a lie. Great column by a great columnist.
REMINISCES OF FAMILY
Reversing the pattern, some posts from FB, to be expanded or not later.
CHICAGO = My reminiscence of a wonderful week there will have to wait; better to search my blog because I think I wrote about it before. My first speaking engagement outside the Region here little did I know would lead to so much controversy and be just the start of my own nationwide tour swelling my head like a mini-diva for a good cause speaking on behalf of the office on HIV-related and other forms of discrimination prohibited by Federal law, just being allowed to appear and speak publicly a victory after a long fought internal struggle in the office. Hometown of my Italian mother, 2 generations from Naples. Friendliest people and gay bars anywhere (outside a small town).. Gorgeous tulips in bloom everywhere, recently found my photos I need to organize and collate digitally at last. And to prove you can't tell this B no, an uneventful sojourn on the L to the far south side to Mom's old neighborhood, something and Wood? I'll look it up, Mother told me not to go, the sweet Polish couple at the tourist store who used to live nearby told me not to go, everyone of every color at OCR told me not to go, of course i went, 2 stops from downtown no other white people on the train, had to bite my grin off my face from the discreet looks saying when that crazy white boy getting off the train. So finally past more housing projects I have ever seen, an old neighborhood of big houses and wide streets appears and I get to my stop. Her house was blocks away, the blocks were long, like LA no one was walking. So i stood on the platform took some photos, Mom recognized the billboard and corner store (or so she said) I declared victory and waited for the next train back downtown without leaving the platform. Mission accomplished. It was a wonderful week.
Mom graduated Harper High School, 6520 S. Wood St. Chicago, that's what i wanted to document in family blog post, lived south of there Marquette sounds familiar, got it somewhere want to document below, Grandma pushing vegetable cart through Italian neighborhood in the 1920s; we all immigrants except the native indigenous, although not all of us arrived willingly, we all here now.
Sometimes a partial victory just as good, same feeling when in kindergarten catechism after months of pestering, i wore them down and they said sure nonCatholics might be able to go to heaven if they really good, but they would have to go to purgatory first. My first civil rights victory. Much older, hearing Mom whisper to Dad you gotta say something did you hear what he said the way he talks to me - how many times i told him the same thing in reverse - and Dad's reply -same as it was to me = you 2 work it out I'm not getting involved you 2 exactly alike. A little validation goes a long way and I'll back off satisfied. Longer versions of those anecdotes elsewhere. Hadn't planned on writing about family again, but pleased I am finding a less negative perspective again.
50, well i was going to post an anecdote but first it wasn't 50 years ago, or 40 just to make that clear but sometime ago, on one of my first visits home during a break from attending UC Berkeley, I had been picketing Safeway during the grape boycott. I opened the fridge, the first thing one does when visiting, and I found a shelf full of grapes. I immediately disposed of them of course. The next day, while sensing mom in the next room, I opened the fridge - and found twice as many grapes as the day before. Closing the door I heard the well timed clicking of her heels entering the kitchen. As she opened the back door to go to her car she turned and said, and if those are gone when I return I'll get even more. Fearful of being blamed for ruining the boycott when the union discovered Mom's store the source of skyrocketing sales, I acknowledged defeat and never disposed of or ate another grape again. Never mess with an Italian mama - her kitchen is her kingdom!
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0927-delano-strike-20150927-story.html
And now for my father's side of the family, and a remembrance of Aunt Nelly and so much more, to be expanded perhaps, or more likely not reading back i see that was way more than enough or intended. Likes permitted, questions likely not to be answered. You'll see what i mean when you get there but this indicates I reviewed and edited this. My Dad's favorite sister and the only one he didn't stop talking to after the others shunned my Catholic mother in a post wedding visit to his hometown Saginaw. His father was Welsh but his mother French Canadian Indian and Catholic who ran a "boarding house". I think there was an earlier wife who died and was mother to some siblings. Whatever my Dad the only one who converted from Methodist to Catholic apparently before meeting my Italian mother. Nelly loved antiques, owned a shop, and gardening. I noted below her and Uncle Bunny's notorious RV trips. Didn't see them much have lots of cousins I don't know from the other siblings. Nelly and Bunny had 2 sons, one is a Buddhist i think or is he Hindu explored every religion who knows where he is last i heard Sedona, Johnny an avid businessman in Idaho owns laundry, flooring who knows what else, you get the picture total opposites. But what I am trying to get to is Nelly's visit to CA and her and my Dad's visit to me in SF. After WWII he (Bunny) was stationed at Presidio in SF and they had a duplex apt in what is now the Haight. I lived in the Haight and loved it, shared an apt overlooking GG Park with he who brought me to see Diana in Tahoe; one April we marveled at snow falling over the park. Then my own solo apt. Well after visiting the Dahlia garden in GG Park which she went gaga over, for good reason, we had to drive by to see the place. Ok. Well then we had to stop in front. OK. Then I noticed her hand on the door handle and me and Dad exchanged furious glances. Yep before we could move she was out the door "I'll just knock and see if anyone's home." Nelly was a little firecracker and you didn't mess with Nelly. OMG this was the Haight and it wasn't all peace and flowers at the time. The door opens slightly, but not enough to see who answered, In goes Nelly and the door shuts behind her. OMG We jumped out of the car and tried to wait before knocking. But soon the door opened and we were invited in. Turned out to be a retired social worker from Alameda County (Oakland) who had just returned from a long dreamed of vacation in Africa. Lots of mementos and we saw the yard where my cousins played as infants. My Dad visited and stayed there after high school. He would take walks to smoke cigs to GG Park and downtown and the rest I may never blog about. Suffice it to say when I came out to my mother, at her urging, and she kept urging me to tell my father, who I wasn't comfortable with at the time, she said, "haven't you ever heard of latent" i didn't think she even knew what the word meant and was forever speechless on the subject. But over the years circumstances reminded me of that from time to time. Eventually he met and married my Mom whose family had relocated from Chicago. His friend at the office was dating Mom's cousin so she went along to a company picnic - hell it was the whole weekend - to Catalina Island. All the guys went gaga over my beautiful mother. She never drank, hated it, family reasons. The others present recounted at a reunion a few years ago by the end of one evening my mother had a dozen drinks all untouched lined up in front of her and my Dad eventually passed out on the lawn. Well i recovered nicely i think from the tawdry fork in the road not taken. The END
CHICAGO = My reminiscence of a wonderful week there will have to wait; better to search my blog because I think I wrote about it before. My first speaking engagement outside the Region here little did I know would lead to so much controversy and be just the start of my own nationwide tour swelling my head like a mini-diva for a good cause speaking on behalf of the office on HIV-related and other forms of discrimination prohibited by Federal law, just being allowed to appear and speak publicly a victory after a long fought internal struggle in the office. Hometown of my Italian mother, 2 generations from Naples. Friendliest people and gay bars anywhere (outside a small town).. Gorgeous tulips in bloom everywhere, recently found my photos I need to organize and collate digitally at last. And to prove you can't tell this B no, an uneventful sojourn on the L to the far south side to Mom's old neighborhood, something and Wood? I'll look it up, Mother told me not to go, the sweet Polish couple at the tourist store who used to live nearby told me not to go, everyone of every color at OCR told me not to go, of course i went, 2 stops from downtown no other white people on the train, had to bite my grin off my face from the discreet looks saying when that crazy white boy getting off the train. So finally past more housing projects I have ever seen, an old neighborhood of big houses and wide streets appears and I get to my stop. Her house was blocks away, the blocks were long, like LA no one was walking. So i stood on the platform took some photos, Mom recognized the billboard and corner store (or so she said) I declared victory and waited for the next train back downtown without leaving the platform. Mission accomplished. It was a wonderful week.
Mom graduated Harper High School, 6520 S. Wood St. Chicago, that's what i wanted to document in family blog post, lived south of there Marquette sounds familiar, got it somewhere want to document below, Grandma pushing vegetable cart through Italian neighborhood in the 1920s; we all immigrants except the native indigenous, although not all of us arrived willingly, we all here now.
Sometimes a partial victory just as good, same feeling when in kindergarten catechism after months of pestering, i wore them down and they said sure nonCatholics might be able to go to heaven if they really good, but they would have to go to purgatory first. My first civil rights victory. Much older, hearing Mom whisper to Dad you gotta say something did you hear what he said the way he talks to me - how many times i told him the same thing in reverse - and Dad's reply -same as it was to me = you 2 work it out I'm not getting involved you 2 exactly alike. A little validation goes a long way and I'll back off satisfied. Longer versions of those anecdotes elsewhere. Hadn't planned on writing about family again, but pleased I am finding a less negative perspective again.
50, well i was going to post an anecdote but first it wasn't 50 years ago, or 40 just to make that clear but sometime ago, on one of my first visits home during a break from attending UC Berkeley, I had been picketing Safeway during the grape boycott. I opened the fridge, the first thing one does when visiting, and I found a shelf full of grapes. I immediately disposed of them of course. The next day, while sensing mom in the next room, I opened the fridge - and found twice as many grapes as the day before. Closing the door I heard the well timed clicking of her heels entering the kitchen. As she opened the back door to go to her car she turned and said, and if those are gone when I return I'll get even more. Fearful of being blamed for ruining the boycott when the union discovered Mom's store the source of skyrocketing sales, I acknowledged defeat and never disposed of or ate another grape again. Never mess with an Italian mama - her kitchen is her kingdom!
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0927-delano-strike-20150927-story.html
And now for my father's side of the family, and a remembrance of Aunt Nelly and so much more, to be expanded perhaps, or more likely not reading back i see that was way more than enough or intended. Likes permitted, questions likely not to be answered. You'll see what i mean when you get there but this indicates I reviewed and edited this. My Dad's favorite sister and the only one he didn't stop talking to after the others shunned my Catholic mother in a post wedding visit to his hometown Saginaw. His father was Welsh but his mother French Canadian Indian and Catholic who ran a "boarding house". I think there was an earlier wife who died and was mother to some siblings. Whatever my Dad the only one who converted from Methodist to Catholic apparently before meeting my Italian mother. Nelly loved antiques, owned a shop, and gardening. I noted below her and Uncle Bunny's notorious RV trips. Didn't see them much have lots of cousins I don't know from the other siblings. Nelly and Bunny had 2 sons, one is a Buddhist i think or is he Hindu explored every religion who knows where he is last i heard Sedona, Johnny an avid businessman in Idaho owns laundry, flooring who knows what else, you get the picture total opposites. But what I am trying to get to is Nelly's visit to CA and her and my Dad's visit to me in SF. After WWII he (Bunny) was stationed at Presidio in SF and they had a duplex apt in what is now the Haight. I lived in the Haight and loved it, shared an apt overlooking GG Park with he who brought me to see Diana in Tahoe; one April we marveled at snow falling over the park. Then my own solo apt. Well after visiting the Dahlia garden in GG Park which she went gaga over, for good reason, we had to drive by to see the place. Ok. Well then we had to stop in front. OK. Then I noticed her hand on the door handle and me and Dad exchanged furious glances. Yep before we could move she was out the door "I'll just knock and see if anyone's home." Nelly was a little firecracker and you didn't mess with Nelly. OMG this was the Haight and it wasn't all peace and flowers at the time. The door opens slightly, but not enough to see who answered, In goes Nelly and the door shuts behind her. OMG We jumped out of the car and tried to wait before knocking. But soon the door opened and we were invited in. Turned out to be a retired social worker from Alameda County (Oakland) who had just returned from a long dreamed of vacation in Africa. Lots of mementos and we saw the yard where my cousins played as infants. My Dad visited and stayed there after high school. He would take walks to smoke cigs to GG Park and downtown and the rest I may never blog about. Suffice it to say when I came out to my mother, at her urging, and she kept urging me to tell my father, who I wasn't comfortable with at the time, she said, "haven't you ever heard of latent" i didn't think she even knew what the word meant and was forever speechless on the subject. But over the years circumstances reminded me of that from time to time. Eventually he met and married my Mom whose family had relocated from Chicago. His friend at the office was dating Mom's cousin so she went along to a company picnic - hell it was the whole weekend - to Catalina Island. All the guys went gaga over my beautiful mother. She never drank, hated it, family reasons. The others present recounted at a reunion a few years ago by the end of one evening my mother had a dozen drinks all untouched lined up in front of her and my Dad eventually passed out on the lawn. Well i recovered nicely i think from the tawdry fork in the road not taken. The END
FACEBOOK PAGE POLICY AND WHY I WRITE, PERHAPS NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME, EXPANDED VERSION
The dichotomy of FB, so frustrating at times, yet through FB one can find so many talented artists creative and fun people from all over the world if you look for the good; lately I seem finally better at finding the good.
Not sure how long it will last but i now have a record 72 persons on my page; and it's been at least a week since someone quit me or had to leave. smile emoticon Getting better at articulating my purpose here. I have a lot of time and there's are more self-destructive ways i could and have spent my time. I like to write I like to take photos I post way way way too much. I love Diana Ross, most music other than opera or country, cabaret and jazz especially, in drag or not, i especially like to plug those creative artists without celebrity status or film or recording contracts, community based artists. I am perhaps way too passionate about social justice issues and politics. I used to like to debate or argue but i no longer find pleasure in that. Everyone has enough stress unless you like being challenged your FB should not cause stress. I have learned the hard way by suffering the effects of my occasionally volcanic temperament rudely displayed on others' pages.
After way too many years of being edited by my former government employer, I especially value that this page is mine all mine my rules; talk about a control freak this space is what I have control over. If you ignore a post, I can deduce you felt anywhere from indifferent to disgust or anywhere in between. I like to see likes so if you like something like it. I really don't want to read on MY page what YOU don't like. In return, I will not express negativity on your page.
As well, I will not object to negative posts on your page. So please don't object to my occasional or frequent rants on my page. Feel free to bash Diana Ross or Hillary Clinton on your page without a peep from me. And don't be surprised to find ranting on my page from the serious to the trivial. I am not trying to tell you how to manage your page; but only I decide how to manage mine.
A few things that are sure to make me go volcanic will be criticisms of Diana or Hillary on MY page alone. I am also beyond these petty celebrity fan feuds; someone likes this one not that. And it's way past time folks stopped dishing Florence, Mary, or Diana - they were young, life happens they didn't hate each other neither should we. Nothing wrong with preferring one over another, they are all different and so are we. Not to say there wasn't tension from time to time or still to this day but that's for them to work out. And yes I'll confess to my share of dishing, but then it is MY page.
Finally, I have been musing about the opposite - someone's on your page, or you are on theirs - and you're just not into it anymore, you can't stand to see one more post on Diana or Hillary or I think your page is boring. I still like to have people because what they do is fascinating or worthwhile or important and i like to maintain awareness even if I don't post or like something.
But I am thinking of creating something that says, I like you but I don't like your FB page and i have way too many news feeds. Here's my email if you want to stay in touch. No hard feelings, no leaving in a huff, etc. I am not trying to have the most people; I would like to have people who wish to be here and find something of value, interest, or humor.
So remember when i said i like to write? See how long this is? Well for the newbies i will post a link to my blog and you'll really see what too much is.
But as i like long form more than short form, I am really trying to transition to the blog and post links on my FB page to new blog posts. First i need to fix or replace my computer but i can do that soon. My C drive shrunk, no one knows why. I cannot view any videos you post or listen to music you post. But I have all my stuff on an external drive so I can access that just fine. Little trouble accessing the internet. I will make one more attempt now that I am about to have completed resolving some financial issues for which I needed internet access but once that is done I am getting professional assistance to erase and restore my drives to factory settings then reinstall programs.
Eventually I hope to have a state of the art fully loaded laptop so I can create post and write from anywhere inside or outside my house or gardens instead of cooped up in this hot stuffy home office. So from the most important to the most trivial i can conclude this and get some air before I return refreshed and less sticky.
And thank you all for being here. Each of you is here because I find you interesting. I hope i don't disappoint you.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
REFLECTIONS AND MUSINGS ON MUSICAL FAVORITES AND MY CURRENT PLAYLIST
A
lifelong passionate lover of music - you can credit Mom's affinity for
every Italian male vocalist growing up - rare is an album, or CD, that I
would play i order. An exception is Thelma Houston's "Sunshower" (1976)
written by Jimmy Webb prior to her taking the disco world to storm.
Marvin Gaye, including but not limited to "What's Going On" comes to
mind as well and I am sure there are others that fail to come to mind at
this very moment.
Needless to say, in the LP area I
would make cassette tapes from albums in my preferred order and with
varying artists suiting my whims of the moment. The CD era allowed the
same but soon I wasn't bothering with cassettes, disappointed at the
technical quality and a 5 CD changer allowing me to set a program of
songs from 5 CDs at a time and I can't remember the maximum number of
songs allowed. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8MRbvv3f_9VK1wnqwKk4Kg/playlists
a presitigious award at a vocal competition, then succumbed to a fatal illness
Diana Ross - well I asked but NO ONE requested my current list
GeeJayDeluxe and GJ2K1 remixes of Diana, some Supremes, some mashups, since i discovered him every one of my many Diana lists includes his work from his remixes of Promise, Symphony, For Once, Mr. Sandman I proudly segue to
Billie Holiday blasphemous electronic remixes by varied mixers followed by some old favs from the dancing days
I Can't Get No Sleep - India
I Like MW Shanice
Beautiful People - Barbara Tucker
Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Saint Etienne
Blackalicious - Make You Feel That Way and Day One
Sounds of Blackness - Optimistic
SYLVESTER - he lives on you tube, in my collection, in the recent musical "Mighty Real"
Dolores Peterson electronic On My Mind
Leelah James
Chelo
Prince - some of his recent recordings ingenious and topical
Madonna - love her latest
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Lopez
Mary J. Blige - love some of her recent release
Angie Martinez
Ricky Martin, some old favs, mostly latest release just nominated for several Latin Grammys
Enrique Iglesias - old and new, i can't help it
Romeo Santos - love his voice and his new gay friendly release promoting acceptance
Prince Royce - my favorite of the newbiesWednesday, September 23, 2015
I AM ME
Go deep in circles
To find it in me
Rain falls around to my beginnings
So many riddles of my identity
I know all the answers of who I'm supposed to be
I am me
Good or bad
I am myself
I'm no carbon copy of no one else
Right or wrong
I will stand up like a tree
Happy or sad
Good or bad
I am me
I am me
Following a move
Set up by some others
I would lose myself
And become another
Should I fail
And come to my ruin
Or if I succeed
It would be, be my doing
I'm me
Good or bad
I am myself
I'm no carbon copy of no one else
Right or wrong
I will stand up like a tree
Happy or sad
Good or bad
I am me
I am me
Different images
So many people see
Not knowing themselves
They are unique
To copy may be flattery
I understand
I can be a better me
Than anyone else
I am me
Good or bad
I am myself
I'm no carbon copy of no one else
Right or wrong
I will stand up like a tree
Happy or sad
Good or bad
I am me
I am me
I am me
written by Diana Ross/Freddie Gorman/Janie Bradford for
Silk Electric, 1982, and appearing on Voice of Love, 1996
TRANSGENDER BENEFITS/MEDICAL MARIJUANA FOR EPILEPTIC TEENS
What do these issues have in common? Nothing really. But like I said before I am a reading addict and my FB page is getting full of posts of political issues across the country my FB readers may or may not be interested in. For example, reading the Lexington, KY daily paper to follow the latest unconstitutional antics of the Rowan County clerk confusing her religious beliefs with her legally required duties and I find an article on a contestant on the Voice from Harlan who was the subject of a post from a FB friend I had ignored. More relevant, my fascination with the antics of the DEM AG in PA I think fills the patience quota for FB readers on out of state politics but leads me to NJ.com where I find, in addition to Christie's foolishness and Menendez' criminality 2 unrelated but fascinating to me articles I will post in full below.
In the first one, the Mayor of Jersey City who has all but announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Governor next year has decided the city should offer health benefits for transgender employees. That is remarkable in and of itself but more so that a candidate for statewide office would obviously determine such a stance would not be a detriment to his candidacy and perhaps be a benefit.
The other story was featured on The View, a program I have tried but barely watch as I find CNN more interesting. I can barely remember to change the channel to watch Wendy Williams an hour later who is a lot more fun. This family enrolled their epileptic teenage daughter in a school for disabled children with a policy to dispense prescribed medication to students while at school. Having met all the requirements of the statewide medical marijuana law and with the mother registered as a caregiver and dispenser under the law, rather than sneaking the med into their child's lunch as others do they registered with the school but were denied all requests for alternative provision of this medication that has allowed their child relief from her symptoms and the ability to communicate for the first time. It's tragic the the obstacles still presented based on fear and myth rather than facts.
JERSEY CITY — Mayor Steve Fulop made an argument for government as an agent of social change today when he announced the city would expand health-care options for transgender workers.
Fulop, who said the transgender civil-rights movement "far, far predates Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox" — two of the community's most high-profile members — said the city's action isn't just about changing its health-care policies but about "changing minds as well."
"For most of history the fight for transgender rights has been a lonely one, and it's also been one in which government has been on the sidelines at best and even sometimes on the wrong side," he said. "That's something that must change today and Jersey City wants to be an example of that."
The mayor, who is expected to join a long list of Democrats running for governor in 2017, called transgender-focused medical care "as essential as heart bypass or cholesterol medication."
The city is the first in the state to offer medical benefits catered to transgender individuals, according to LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.
Andrea Bowen, outgoing head of Garden State Equality, and a transgender woman herself, said she hopes more cities follow Jersey City's lead. That could result in an increase in the number of doctors with knowledge of transgender medical care, she said.
"It's revolutionary, what's going on right now," she said today.
OPINION: Why Jersey City will provide transgender-related health care
More and more cities nationwide are offering their transgender workers expanded healthcare options, including gender affirmation surgery, also known as gender reassignment surgery. Jersey City joins Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
In 2012, only five of the 136 cities whose policies were reviewed by HRC for its annual Municipal Equality Index offered that kind of health care, while in 2014, 42 out of 353 cities did, according to Xavier Persad, HRC's legislative counsel.
Persad said offering these types of benefits is a low-cost way for cities to become more competitive when recruiting top officials and sends a message about equality.
"Cities have realized the value of treating their employees fairly," he said.
Today, Fulop said the changes will cost the city $100,000 to $500,000 more annually.
"Of course there is a cost," he said. "The most important thing about it, though, is the message and hopefully that this becomes common practice far beyond the borders of Jersey City."
Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
In the first one, the Mayor of Jersey City who has all but announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Governor next year has decided the city should offer health benefits for transgender employees. That is remarkable in and of itself but more so that a candidate for statewide office would obviously determine such a stance would not be a detriment to his candidacy and perhaps be a benefit.
The other story was featured on The View, a program I have tried but barely watch as I find CNN more interesting. I can barely remember to change the channel to watch Wendy Williams an hour later who is a lot more fun. This family enrolled their epileptic teenage daughter in a school for disabled children with a policy to dispense prescribed medication to students while at school. Having met all the requirements of the statewide medical marijuana law and with the mother registered as a caregiver and dispenser under the law, rather than sneaking the med into their child's lunch as others do they registered with the school but were denied all requests for alternative provision of this medication that has allowed their child relief from her symptoms and the ability to communicate for the first time. It's tragic the the obstacles still presented based on fear and myth rather than facts.
Fulop: government can change minds on transgender issues
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop
Mayor Steve Fulop announced on Sept. 22, 2015 that the city
will expand health-care options for transgender workers. Reena Rose
Sibayan | The Jersey Journal
(Jersey Journal file photo)
Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
By
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on September 22, 2015 at 4:11 PM
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on September 22, 2015 at 4:11 PM
Fulop, who said the transgender civil-rights movement "far, far predates Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox" — two of the community's most high-profile members — said the city's action isn't just about changing its health-care policies but about "changing minds as well."
"For most of history the fight for transgender rights has been a lonely one, and it's also been one in which government has been on the sidelines at best and even sometimes on the wrong side," he said. "That's something that must change today and Jersey City wants to be an example of that."
The mayor, who is expected to join a long list of Democrats running for governor in 2017, called transgender-focused medical care "as essential as heart bypass or cholesterol medication."
The city is the first in the state to offer medical benefits catered to transgender individuals, according to LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.
Andrea Bowen, outgoing head of Garden State Equality, and a transgender woman herself, said she hopes more cities follow Jersey City's lead. That could result in an increase in the number of doctors with knowledge of transgender medical care, she said.
"It's revolutionary, what's going on right now," she said today.
OPINION: Why Jersey City will provide transgender-related health care
More and more cities nationwide are offering their transgender workers expanded healthcare options, including gender affirmation surgery, also known as gender reassignment surgery. Jersey City joins Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
In 2012, only five of the 136 cities whose policies were reviewed by HRC for its annual Municipal Equality Index offered that kind of health care, while in 2014, 42 out of 353 cities did, according to Xavier Persad, HRC's legislative counsel.
Persad said offering these types of benefits is a low-cost way for cities to become more competitive when recruiting top officials and sends a message about equality.
"Cities have realized the value of treating their employees fairly," he said.
Today, Fulop said the changes will cost the city $100,000 to $500,000 more annually.
"Of course there is a cost," he said. "The most important thing about it, though, is the message and hopefully that this becomes common practice far beyond the borders of Jersey City."
Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
* * * * *
N.J. family in medical marijuana dispute with school appears on 'The View'
Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
By
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on September 21, 2015 at 2:30 PM, updated September 22, 2015 at 2:08 AM
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on September 21, 2015 at 2:30 PM, updated September 22, 2015 at 2:08 AM
TRENTON — The parents of a 16-year-old girl with
epilepsy who have sued her New Jersey school district to allow her to
consume medical marijuana oil on school grounds took their battle to daytime television Monday by appearing on ABC's "The View."
In a live interview, Lora and Roger Barbour of Maple Shade explained to co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Paula Faris how their homemade cannabis oil has succeeded in controlling their daughter Genny's seizures and even improved her speech.
Lora Barbour wept as she recalled the day in April when Genny walked up to her father and said, "I love you." It wasn't just the feelings behind the words that moved them, but their oldest daughter's ability to speak more than one word at a time. "It brought us to tears," Roger Barbour said.
RELATED: N.J. lawmakers send bill to Christie allowing students to use medical marijuana in school
The Barbours' appearance comes a week after their latest legal loss. State Administrative Law Judge John S. Kennedy denied an emergency motion seeking permission for Lora Barbour to come to The Larc School in Bellmawr every day at lunchtime to give her daughter her midday dose of oil, mixed with a soft drink. "There are no doctor's reports from (Genny Barbour's) treating physician that would establish that her lunchtime dose of marijuana is medically necessary," according to the opinion by Kennedy, who has twice ruled against the family's request this year to have the school nurse administer the dose. The judge said the Maple Shade district and the Larc school were obligated to adhere to state drug-free school laws.
"The judge got it wrong," Roger Barbour said, arguing that the state medical marijuana provides "exceptions if you have a license." His wife is Genny's registered caregiver who is legally protected from arrest from possession edible marijuana.
"It's a handicap school, and they give medicine to all of these children," Lora Barbour said. Compared to the pharmaceuticals and their potentially dangerous side effects, marijuana "is safer than any of these drugs."
The Barbours have sent Genny to school half-days since April to ensure she receives the oil four times a day as her doctor has recommended. Her seizures occur about every five days now, instead of several times a day before she started on cannabis oil, they have said.
"We even asked if we could sneak it in her lunch," Lora Barbour told the TV show hosts. "That's what most parents do."
"We went in really naïve to the school...we filled out your medication policy form. They said no," Roger Barbour said. "We are trying to advance this through the courts."
Roger Barbour, an attorney, is appealing the case in state and federal court on the grounds that his daughter is being denied her education because of her illness.
A bill passed in June by the state legislature and awaiting action by Gov. Chris Christie would require school districts to set policy allowing children who are registered with the state medical marijuana program to allow for its edible use on school grounds.
Goldberg said The View reached out to the governor's office and was told, "The governor does not comment on pending legislation. Yeah," she said in a sarcastic tone eliciting laughter from the audience.
Yale University School of Medicine Professor Sheryl Ryan, sitting in the audience next to Genny and her 13-year-old sister Marlee, said cannabis oil in this case "seems like a reasonable use." But the American Academy of Pediatrics has generally opposed medical marijuana, saying there is no science to support it.
What about the families who resorted to medical marijuana as a "desperate measure? There is your science," Goldberg replied.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey on Monday joined the Barbours public fight to press the governor to sign the edible marijuana at school bill. Referencing Christie's statement during the Republican debate last week in which he said he supported medical marijuana, the ACLU-NJ tweeted:
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
In a live interview, Lora and Roger Barbour of Maple Shade explained to co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Paula Faris how their homemade cannabis oil has succeeded in controlling their daughter Genny's seizures and even improved her speech.
Lora Barbour wept as she recalled the day in April when Genny walked up to her father and said, "I love you." It wasn't just the feelings behind the words that moved them, but their oldest daughter's ability to speak more than one word at a time. "It brought us to tears," Roger Barbour said.
RELATED: N.J. lawmakers send bill to Christie allowing students to use medical marijuana in school
The Barbours' appearance comes a week after their latest legal loss. State Administrative Law Judge John S. Kennedy denied an emergency motion seeking permission for Lora Barbour to come to The Larc School in Bellmawr every day at lunchtime to give her daughter her midday dose of oil, mixed with a soft drink. "There are no doctor's reports from (Genny Barbour's) treating physician that would establish that her lunchtime dose of marijuana is medically necessary," according to the opinion by Kennedy, who has twice ruled against the family's request this year to have the school nurse administer the dose. The judge said the Maple Shade district and the Larc school were obligated to adhere to state drug-free school laws.
"The judge got it wrong," Roger Barbour said, arguing that the state medical marijuana provides "exceptions if you have a license." His wife is Genny's registered caregiver who is legally protected from arrest from possession edible marijuana.
"It's a handicap school, and they give medicine to all of these children," Lora Barbour said. Compared to the pharmaceuticals and their potentially dangerous side effects, marijuana "is safer than any of these drugs."
The Barbours have sent Genny to school half-days since April to ensure she receives the oil four times a day as her doctor has recommended. Her seizures occur about every five days now, instead of several times a day before she started on cannabis oil, they have said.
"We even asked if we could sneak it in her lunch," Lora Barbour told the TV show hosts. "That's what most parents do."
"We went in really naïve to the school...we filled out your medication policy form. They said no," Roger Barbour said. "We are trying to advance this through the courts."
Roger Barbour, an attorney, is appealing the case in state and federal court on the grounds that his daughter is being denied her education because of her illness.
A bill passed in June by the state legislature and awaiting action by Gov. Chris Christie would require school districts to set policy allowing children who are registered with the state medical marijuana program to allow for its edible use on school grounds.
Goldberg said The View reached out to the governor's office and was told, "The governor does not comment on pending legislation. Yeah," she said in a sarcastic tone eliciting laughter from the audience.
Yale University School of Medicine Professor Sheryl Ryan, sitting in the audience next to Genny and her 13-year-old sister Marlee, said cannabis oil in this case "seems like a reasonable use." But the American Academy of Pediatrics has generally opposed medical marijuana, saying there is no science to support it.
What about the families who resorted to medical marijuana as a "desperate measure? There is your science," Goldberg replied.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey on Monday joined the Barbours public fight to press the governor to sign the edible marijuana at school bill. Referencing Christie's statement during the Republican debate last week in which he said he supported medical marijuana, the ACLU-NJ tweeted:
Good @ChrisChristie is talking the talk. Now let Genny have her meds and stay in school. http://t.co/pxDHY7ra2f pic.twitter.com/Uv05nos5Op
— ACLU of New Jersey (@ACLUNJ) September 21, 2015
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
© 2015 NJ.com. All rights reserved.
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