Coffee with a Co-Op board member, with Games in the evening

 

Right now, I would rather have the above team of clowns running our government than the clowns currently in charge.  At least President Firefly (Groucho Marx) could be a success when he fights a war against another country.  In the real world, our president can't win a war against Iran, and keeps trying to shut down any press agency critical of his mismanagement of our country, our military, and its resources.  And we're lucky that he still grudgingly follows the dictates of our court system when they rebuke him.

Today, I had only two things on my docket: Coffee with a co-op board member, and Game Night.  So, I set my alarms to wake me up early, in order to be at the coffee shop by 11.  We talked about many things, including her problems with the co-op.  (No, I won't go into them here.  And, no, I only gave her some ideas which she could look into to help resolve her problems.  I still have fiduciary duties to the co-op.) This board member knows that I'm a member of the LGBT community, and I noted that I'm seeking out a new doctor.  She said that though her doctor wasn't accepting new patients, she would ask for an exception for me.  I said that I'd like to find a doctor that I could visit as Marian, and add one more place that I can visit as Marian, and drop one more place where I'm stuck having to go as Mario.

After I returned home, I decided to take a nap and catch up on my sleep.  Although I could have done some laundry, I decided to leave this until tomorrow (in which I'll be stuck presenting as Mario.)  I must have needed the rest, as I was "out" for 2 hours and had a truly deep sleep for that time.

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6 pm came, and I ate leftovers from yesterday's lunch before driving to Yonkers.   Arriving at 7:30, I had a hard time finding a spot to park.  And then the gaming began.  It was nice to see the hostess and DS again.  Although I lost both games, it was fun.  Afterwards, I was able to talk with the hostess for a few, discussing issues that her son and I have in common.  At 10 pm, everyone was "chased" out.  That was just as well, as I needed to stop at the supermarket on the way home....

Cruising while En-Femme - Something I'd like to do again.

 

I haven't risked cruising as Marian since before our current president was elected.  His Anti-Transgender policies are meant to push us back into the closet so far, that we will never find our way out of it.  With his failure to govern effectively, competently, or predictably, his reputation has gone into the dumpster.  And if the Democratic party retakes the House of Representatives this fall, we may finally see a check and balance on this evil man's antics.

Although my first 2 cruises were in the late 1990's, I didn't start cruising again until the early 2000's with my former cruise partner (FCP).  And all of the cruises I took after that were in Marian mode, with one exception - a cruise with XGFJ.  When cruising restarted after Covid-19, my first cruise was in Marian mode.  Once I met RQS, half my cruises were taken as Mario, and the other half as Marian.  Unfortunately, the 2024 election changed things for us transwomen.

I'm lucky, when I present as Mario, the image and data on my passport matches my gender presentation. So, I have no problems dealing with US Government "Security" personnel (CBP, TSA, ICE) due to my gender presentation.  But what would happen if I present as Marian?  I don't know.

Unfortunately, due to health problems, I was unable to schedule a 5-day cruise to Bermuda in which I'd have risked traveling as Marian.  And the next cruise I'm likely to take will have me traveling as Mario again, as I'd be traveling to several Caribbean islands where being a member of the LGBT community is a crime.

So, when will I cruise as Marian again?

Assuming that the Democrats retake the House (and, hopefully, the Senate), I want to find an inexpensive New York <--> Bermuda cruise to take in the spring. Bermuda has no problems with my presentation, as I've asked people there about this before a cruise I took as Marian.  Let's hope I can do this sooner than later.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

And now for a different take on this day...

97 years ago, Al Capone engineered the consolidation of the Chicago recreational substances and services industry.  It is because of this entrepreneur that in spite of a corrupt government's interest in keeping the Windy City drier than the Sahara Desert, this man was able to make sure that no thirst on any side of "The Loop" went unquenched. 

For most people, Valentine's Day is a day where chocolates and flowers are given to women, where couples go out for fancy dinners, and where most American males have a good chance of getting satisfied. With my strange sense of humor, I focus on the Chicago mob and Prohibition.  It seems like the more the government tries to enforce moral standards, the more that they end up triggering the behaviors they are trying to stop.  

In a way, this is what will happen to the LGBTIQ community.  The more that the Orange Snowflake tries to erase us from existence, the more likely our numbers will grow underground and in the closet.  Yes, we will not be able to be our authentic selves.  But most of us will be able to keep things hidden until this wave of evil passes on.  Many of us will suffer in the meantime - needlessly.  Sadly, this is what happens on the cusp of a social collapse.  

Many of don't yet see the signs of this collapse.  Yet they are visible to those who look.  The Social Security system is woefully underfunded, and Congress is failing to act.  What will happen when tomorrow's retirees lose 25% of the money they were promised by the government upon retirement.  What if you don't need Social Security?  Well, our current political regime is intent to inflate the currency to pay our debts.  We've seen what happened to Germany in the 1920's when this was attempted.  Then, we are destroying the education system, along with government funded scientific research.  How can a country earn its keep and maintain its position in the world without being at the top of the knowledge economy?  

I'm afraid this country is making many of the same mistakes that Germany made 95 years ago.  I just wonder - what country (or region) will become the next great superpower in this world?  This is the time to start looking for that country and having a migration plan to get there - and soon.

Preparing for the dumping of the white stuff, with a touch of sadness at the end.

The above is the scene after a snowstorm we had years ago.  It doesn't look like that much compared to what we're expecting to get sometime tomorrow.  Right now, many people in my complex have moved their cars to the street, parking on the grass, with some cars having their driver's side wheels on the paved shoulder.  (It's technically illegal, but in Stormy weather, who cares?)  Yet, there's not enough off-road room for 120+ cars in our complex to be moved out of our driveways and parking lots.  So, the snowplows that will come sometime on Sunday through early Monday will have their work cut out for them.

I was mostly prepared for the storm before the weekend.  Yet, I had gone to the store a few times, picking up a few items I would need to have good, hearty meals while stuck indoors.  The last time that I saw supermarket meat counters this empty was during Covid - which just happens to be when the last major  snowstorm hit.

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And now for some sad news...

No, I am not going to mention the second ICE murder in Minnesota.  The Orange Snowflake and his demonic minions killed someone whose potential threat (a legal gun) was removed from him before they shot him.  I've had enough of our dictator wannabe for now.  Instead, I'm going to mention the loss of a minor NYC area personality - Uncle Floyd.  The best way to describe him is a 1920's vaudeville comic who took lessons from Soupy Sales, having a show on a ultra low power, ultra low budget UHF station. (Think of the UHF station from the movie UHF, and you'll get an idea of the station carrying Floyd Vivino's show.)   

Last night, I was surfing YouTube videos, and found that Uncle Floyd died the day before. Unfortunately, I lived in an area of the NYC suburbs where I could rarely receive his station's UHF signal over the air, so I missed his broadcast show.  One of his later (non-TV) performances came up on my feed, and he was funny.  (The tune he played was much like Benny Bell's "Shaving Cream", where the song's rhymes imply a "dirty word" would be used at the end of the next sentence, but replaced by something else - in Bell's case, the words "Shaving Cream".

As you can see, it's work staying sane in the USA these days.  It's even harder for us in the LGBTIQ community.  This is no longer the country I was born in to.  And I feel sad that I might have to leave, as I don't want to be among those rounded up by the Snowflake's ICE Gestapo.

Gone are the days I'd visit DC. (a short post)

 

Normally, I'd consider a short run to DC if I had nothing better to do at this time of year.  Ever since the Orange Snowflake took power, he has had nothing but hatred for the LGBT community, even trying to erase transgender history from the record.  A year ago, DC welcomed us all.  Now, I can't trust that I'd be safe, given the militarization of the nation's capital.

The above photo was taken in the Kennedy Center for the Arts.  It was a place that artists would be proud to stand on its stage.  Now, the snowflake has debased its stage and the honors it hands out.  In the name of cultural cleansing, he has taken over the Kennedy Center and is now eliminating any "Degenerate" entertainment. As a result, many artists are boycotting the center and its awards.  People like me are staying away from the Kennedy Center and DC.

The use of the National Guard to "clean up the city" by moving the homeless out of town is offensive.  What is going to be done for these people?  People who can't afford housing need shelter, something not available to them.  People who have mental health problems are not receiving treatment.  While the guard has been in DC, what has it done?  Picking up the trash, "Police Call" in military usage.  Did we need to call out the guard for that?

But what about the cases where the guard has been used to terrorize a city, as it did in LA a few weeks ago?  Can we say that the snowflake won't use the guard like Hitler used the SA, only to replace them by the SS?  DC is an unsafe place right now, and I choose to go elsewhere, where people like me are tolerably safe for now.

You'll note that I've said nothing about the new Pope.

 

I am not religious.  But if I were a regular church goer, I'd either attend services at an Episcopalian or Lutheran church. The Roman church has a bug up its collective ass about the LGBT community and treats us as sinners for recognizing who we are.  When I read the part of the Bible they use to say that Homosexuality is a sin, I find that it actually means two things: Soldiers shouldn't be hiding as civilians, and (more importantly) that only male bisexuality is forbidden.

Why is this important?

What went on in Rome in the first 2 weeks of May took the Orange Snowflake off the front page of the news.  He became a mere afterthought when the election of a new pope took place.  This is a good thing.  But what about the pope?  Right now (as I write this) the media is basking in the afterglow of this man's election to the papal throne.  To me, this doesn't mean much, as the Roman church is incapable of systemic change due to its stability through the ages.  Even if everyone knows some part of dogma is wrong, they are unable to de-emphasize it simply because things get written in stone.

Two millennia ago, Middle Eastern society was run by men.  Women were little more than baby machines to be fucked at the pleasure of males.  Today's Roman church may talk a great deal about liberation of the poor, but they do little to empower women while many other Christian denominations have included women in the power structures of their denominations. 

From what has been reported so far, this pope is not as concerned about the welfare of the LGBT community as the former pope was.  Only time will tell if this stays true.  Right now, people know very little about this pope in America, save that he was born in America and lived in Chicago at one time. Americans mistakenly think that he will have a loyalty to the United States, when his loyalty will be to the world at large.

Until we know more and see more from the new pope, I won't have much to say about him.  He could evolve to be a friend, or be one of our worst enemies.  Only time will tell.  

Now, we have proof that checks and balances no longer apply

 

This should be a short post.  As I write this, it is 3 weeks into the reign of the Orange Snowflake, and no one is stopping him.  If his party wouldn't do it, one might think that he'd listen to the courts.  But, as John Belushi might say: 

But Noooooooo!

This president is now ignoring the courts.  One can't say that this wasn't expected.  But not so soon.  The guardrails are off, and this country is heading into 4+ years of hell.  I can't say if Americans will rise up in revolt.  But I can say that ALL law abiding Americans should exercise their 2nd Amendment rights and form a "well regulated militia" (as mentioned in our constitution.  One never knows when one might need to use the powers of that right.

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Years ago, there was an uprising in the Warsaw ghetto.  Although it was short lived, and futile in one sense, the ghetto Jews kept the Nazis at bay for a good amount of time.  They practiced guerrilla warfare on their own turf.  This is the reason our founding fathers may have been thinking of when they wrote this amendment to our constitution - they didn't trust the government to act within the law, as they has just overthrown the rule of a malignant British despot.

Am I afraid?  Yes.  I never believed that our country could sit back and let someone like this take over. Sadly, we have history to tell us what could happen.  I hope that the "Pink Pistols" get a lot of new members soon, as I expect the LGB community will be next in the snowflake's crosshairs.