Watching Too Many "Pasta Grannies" on YouTube

And I've been watching a couple of other pasta makers on the web. So decided it was again time to make pasta from scratch.

I used one egg for every100gm of all purpose flour. Made a six-egg batch. Which produced about 60 ravioli and about 3/4 lb of tagliatelle (or a reasonable facsimile from the "scraps" after making ravioli).

The ravioli went into the freezer and we had the tagliatelle for dinner with a fresh tomato sauce from my San Marzano and Roma tomatoes from the garden.

Can't take a lot of photos while doing this...but here are a few:

I Just Can't Help It: I Needed A Laugh (AT the Expense Of 45)

I guess there's been criticism about Joe Biden reading from a teleprompter. Of course these critics conveniently forget about 45's many blunders.

But we haven't forgotten.

This one makes me laugh out loud, something I really needed to do today:


And there's this:

And let's not forget Yo Semite and Thighland.

An Excerpt From "Did YouEver See A Horse Go By? A Coming Out Memoir"

/13/ Real Therapy

DR. IRVING FRANKEL TURNED out to be a slim, slightly balding, older gentleman with a warm smile, a calming demeanor, and a Ph.D., thankfully not a psychiatrist.

Dr. Frankel would stick with me for the long haul. He wouldn’t talk about his daughter’s algebra exam. He wouldn’t tell me that I was straight or gay or that I couldn’t possibly be homosexual. He wouldn’t suggest that I figure things out for myself. He wouldn’t tell me to masturbate more frequently or find a woman to date. He wouldn’t want to go to the beach with me.

Dr. Frankel would listen and talk and listen some more. Dr. Frankel would laugh. Dr. Frankel would let me suffer.

At times, therapy with Irving Frankel was like being tethered to an infinitely long piece of rope. I would wander aimlessly, lost in my thoughts amid psychic mazes, while he let out more slack. Sometimes it was frightening. That slack in the rope made me anxious and afraid that I would not find my way back unless Dr. Frankel reeled me in.

I would grope through my memories and feelings looking for words but often not verbalizing what was going on in my head, wondering if he still had hold of his end of the rope. I had to trust that he did and that he would pull me back if need be.

Often the wise doctor would remain silent, deliberately, it seemed, allowing my anxiety to grow, until my random thoughts could crystallize into words, fragments of a sentence, a complete thought. The lifeline gave me the freedom to explore and a way to get back, but I persisted in remaining inert, stuck, resisting any action or change that might threaten my safe but unsatisfying emotional balancing act.

I saw Irving about once a week for nearly four years, but, remarkably, I remember only a few conversations between us. Certainly my homosexuality was the main issue for me: how I got that way and, more importantly, how not to be what I was or, godforbid, how to be what I was. I still wasn’t sure which. ...

At some point during our first year of therapy, I discovered Edmund White’s A Boy’s Own Story in Barnes and Noble’s gay and lesbian section. It was the first gay novel I ever read; and while I could relate to it on some level, it was not a story that even remotely reflected my experience. When I finished it I gave it to Irving and asked him to read it.

It wasn’t exactly my life, but I think I wanted him to know that there were others. “See, soul searching, like me,” I said.

It was also a gesture of trust, an attempt to broach the subject of my sexuality again, perhaps at a deeper level than before. When I asked about the book some weeks later, he had it on the side table next to his chair.

“I did read some of it,” he confessed. “But, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t get very far.” He did not elaborate but handed the book to me.

With the book in my hands, I left on one of my mental excursions and Dr. Frankel let out the rope freely.

After some long minutes of silence, Irving said, “You seem far away. What’s going on?”

When I get terribly anxious, words will inevitably fail me. So does rational expression. Thoughts, feelings, anxiety spill over into irrational behavior or symbolic acting out...

So, when asked what I was thinking, I took A Boy’s Own Story with the picture of a melancholy-looking homosexual boy on the cover that Dr. Frankel had just handed to me. I looked at the book as if it were another dread disease and I tore the paperback in two, down the binding; and then tore pages out and tore the pages in half and the halves into pieces.

... I was crying, “That’s not me. It’s not me, it can’t be me!” Tears flowed down my cheeks and I repeated, “it’s not me…it’s not me.” I gasped for breath and sobbed from deep in my gut.

When my outburst subsided I got down on the floor, picked up the torn pages of Edmund White’s life, and threw them into the wastebasket.

I can’t remember if Dr. Frankel and I exchanged any words. I’m sure he said something kind to acknowledge the intimacy of the moment and, indicating that our time was up, said gently, “I’ll see you next week.”

We continued to meet through the spring and into the summer. Dr. Frankel’s therapy must have been imperceptibly chipping away at my resistance.

CURED - Trailer

As I described in my memoir, I went through therapists like Kleenex. Fortunately I didn't have electroshock or other draconian "treatments" to cure me. But now, at 72, I consider myself, if not fully cured, nicely aged.

The Saga Continues

I find myself on the verge of tears so often these days. I can't seem to watch the news or read the news without feeling overwhelmed by sadness, disappointment, disgust, or anger.

Another of the heroes of the epidemic has died of COVID19.

I am in complete awe of these brave doctors, nurses, health professionals, healthcare workers, hospital employees, clinicians and first responders and others on the front lines. I am paranoid just going to the grocery store or Costco or the pharmacy.

From Joe.My.God. Blog:
 

Gay Critical Care Doc Dies Of COVID In His Own ICU

July 29, 2020 Coronavirus, Medicine

The Huffington Post reports:

The “beloved” chief of critical care at a Baltimore hospital died Saturday of COVID-19 after caring for the facility’s “sickest patients” during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the facility. Dr. Joseph Costa, 56 — who a colleague likened to “an older brother that [staff] admired and revered” — was the intensive care unit chief at Mercy Medical Center. The hospital, confirming his death, posted about him on Facebook Sunday.
Costa worked for Mercy for 23 years and became the chief of critical care in 2005. He is survived by his husband, David Hart. The couple had been together for 28 years. “I keep thinking, ‘Now there is one less ICU doctor to care for pandemic patients in Baltimore,’” Hart told The Baltimore Sun. Hart added that Costa’s colleagues held a vigil for him as he lay dying, and that he held his husband in his arms until he passed away early Saturday morning.

Meanwhile a FORMER gay ally MADONNA is spreading misinformation and wild conspiracy theories from the discredited "doctor" Stella Immanuel. Fortunately, Twitter has deleted her linkages as per their COVID19 disinformation policy.

Wasn't Madonna once a fairly intelligent, progressive, thoughtful and reasonable person? When did she turn into a total cov-idiot? I can't help thinking of the series "True Blood" when humans would be  "turn" into vampires. And she is in a position to reach millions with her dangerous ideas.

Time to take the dog for a walk and go tend the garden.

What to Say to All Those Folks on Huntington Beach (and Elswhere)

In response to the Nay-sayers: (I can find no documentation as to the source or accuracy of the following, but it makes sense to my ears as a former health educator.)


“Chickenpox is a virus. Lots of people have had it, and probably don't think about it much once the initial illness has passed. But it stays in your body and lives there forever, and maybe when you're older, you have debilitatingly painful outbreaks of shingles. You don't just get over this virus in a few weeks, never to have another health effect. We know this because it's been around for years, and has been studied medically for years.

Herpes is also a virus. And once someone has it, it stays in your body and lives there forever, and anytime they get a little run down or stressed-out they're going to have an outbreak. Maybe every time you have a big event coming up (school pictures, job interview, big date) you're going to get a cold sore. For the rest of your life. You don't just get over it in a few weeks. We know this because it's been around for years, and been studied medically for years.

HIV is a virus. It attacks the immune system and makes the carrier far more vulnerable to other illnesses. It has a list of symptoms and negative health impacts that goes on and on. It was decades before viable treatments were developed that allowed people to live with a reasonable quality of life. Once you have it, it lives in your body forever and there is no cure. Over time, that takes a toll on the body, putting people living with HIV at greater risk for health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, bone disease, liver disease, cognitive disorders, and some types of cancer. We know this because it has been around for years, and had been studied medically for years.

Now with COVID-19, we have a novel virus that spreads rapidly and easily. The full spectrum of symptoms and health effects is only just beginning to be cataloged, much less understood. So far the symptoms may include: Fever Fatigue Coughing Pneumonia Chills/Trembling Acute respiratory distress Lung damage (potentially permanent) Loss of taste (a neurological symptom) Sore throat Headaches Difficulty breathing Mental confusion Diarrhea Nausea or vomiting Loss of appetite Strokes have also been reported in some people who have COVID-19 (even in the relatively young) Swollen eyes Blood clots Seizures Liver damage Kidney damage Rash COVID toes (weird, right?)

People testing positive for COVID-19 have been documented to be sick even after 60 days. Many people are sick for weeks, get better, and then experience a rapid and sudden flare up and get sick all over again. A man in Seattle was hospitalized for 62 days, and while well enough to be released, still has a long road of recovery ahead of him. Not to mention a $1.1 million medical bill.

Then there is MIS-C. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Children with MIS-C may have a fever and various symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling extra tired. While rare, it has caused deaths.

This disease has not been around for years. It has basically been 6 months. No one knows yet the long-term health effects, or how it may present itself years down the road for people who have been exposed. We literally *do not know* what we do not know.

For those in our society who suggest that people being cautious are cowards, for people who refuse to take even the simplest of precautions to protect themselves and those around them, I want to ask, without hyperbole and in all sincerity: How dare you? How dare you risk the lives of others so cavalierly. How dare you decide for others that they should welcome exposure as "getting it over with", when literally no one knows who will be the lucky "mild symptoms" case, and who may fall ill and die.

Because while we know that some people are more susceptible to suffering a more serious case, we also know that 20 and 30-year-olds have died, marathon runners and fitness nuts have died, children and infants have died. How dare you behave as though you know more than medical experts, when those same experts acknowledge that there is so much we don't yet know, but with what we DO know, are smart enough to be scared of how easily this is spread, and recommend baseline precautions such as: Frequent hand-washing Physical distancing Reduced social/public contact or interaction Mask wearing Covering your cough or sneeze Avoiding touching your face Sanitizing frequently touched surfaces

The more things we can all do to mitigate our risk of exposure, the better off we all are, in my opinion. Not only does it flatten the curve and allow health care providers to maintain levels of service that aren't immediately and catastrophically overwhelmed; it also reduces unnecessary suffering and deaths, and buys time for the scientific community to study the virus in order to come to a more full understanding of the breadth of its impacts in both the short and long term.

I reject the notion that it's "just a virus" and we'll all get it eventually. What a careless, lazy, heartless stance.”

ALSO:

The Guardian reports: Doctors may be missing signs of serious and potentially fatal brain disorders triggered by coronavirus, as they emerge in mildly affected or recovering patients, scientists have warned. Neurologists are on Wednesday publishing details of more than 40 UK Covid-19 patients whose complications ranged from brain inflammation and delirium to nerve damage and stroke. In some cases, the neurological problem was the patient’s first and main symptom. The cases, published in the journal Brain, revealed a rise in a life-threatening condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (Adem), as the first wave of infections swept through Britain.

Agence France-Presse reports: The research showed that none of patients diagnosed with neurological problems had COVID-19 in their cerebrospinal fluid, suggesting that the virus did not directly attack their brains. Perhaps crucially, the team found that ADEM diagnoses “not related to the severity of the respiratory COVID-19 disease”. With more than 11 million confirmed infections worldwide, COVID-19 is known to cause a variety of health complications in addition to lung infection. “Given that the disease has only been around for a matter of months, we might not yet know what long-term damage COVID-19 can cause,” said Ross Paterson from UCL’s Queen Square Institute of Neurology.

I Almost Don't Want to Post This, It Is So Disturbing

But do go to the YouTube site and read the comments...some are funny and most are reassuring.




OK, I can kind of give a pass to those being outdoors and at a distance from others, but really...the reactions to two very calm and harmless guys passing out free masks is very disturbing.

My Three Cents

ONE:
I wrote an email to CVS back in April because there were customers in the local CVS not wearing masks...and CVS is a HEALTH CARE business.

The reply was to the effect of: our employees cannot be put in the position of enforcing the requirement. So three month later they (and Walmart and Kroger, and Texas and Colorado and others) decide it's a good idea for all customers/citizens to wear masks.

But the precedent of "resistance" has already been established so now people who think it is their "right" not to wear a mask are physically assaulting others who try to enforce the requirement. So sick of this shit.

TWO:

People need to get over the erroneous notion that science and opinion are or should be put on equal footing.

The difference is that science is always self-correcting and always adding to knowledge; opinion, particularly in the case of COVID19, is not self-correcting, nor does it add to our knowledge.

In fact, some "opinions" are outright dangerous and have brought us to this "worse and worse" scenario and act very much like a virus: infecting the uninformed, the fearful, the suspicious, the ideologues.

The anti-science, conspiracy theory undercurrents that are driving much decision making in this country are not only baffling to me, but a danger to us all.

So many states are now requiring masks and distancing...after the cows have left the barn and things are spiraling out of control.

We are worse off now than we were in March and solving this will require many more months of inconvenience, sickness and death.

If only we had had a universal, country-wide, science-based response and strong leadership at the federal level we might be where most of Europe is right now - slowly, cautiously, safely opening for business. If only we (he) allowed Fauci and other medical experts to make health policy....

THREE:

Liberty, personal freedom and the constitution will count for little when you (rhetorical) or a loved one is on a respirator.

Liberty, personal freedom and the constitution are ideals that are only meaningful within the context of a society, a community, where individuals take responsibility for insuring the rights of all citizens, sometimes at the expense of one's own convenience or comfort.

We need to take care - of ourselves - and one another.

Dr. Fauci Has More Credibility Than Any in the Current Administration

The recent Op-Ed by Navarro in USA Today is not only despicable it is without any basis in fact. The Administration's efforts to discredit Fauci is either a bad strategy that will backfire big time or a major attempt at distraction and gaslighting. The directive to hospitals to report to HHS rather than to CDC is beyond troubling. I only wonder what else is happening behind the curtain.

Is It Time To Get Political Again?

I'm getting really sick of the idiot in the White House. Actually I've been sick since November 8, 2016. So here is a great ad for our times.


 And while I'm at it, here is an email I sent to Dr Anthony Fauci and a cc: to a number of his staff a few days ago, just before the idiot in the White House decided it would be a good idea to discredit the good doctor.

Urging You to Speak more forcefully
To: anthony.fauci@nih.gov Cc: hilary.marston@nih.govDr. Fauci,

Having worked as an HIV/AIDS Counselor at the Connecticut State Department of Health Services during the height of the AIDS crisis, and having survived that epidemic, I recall having a great deal of respect for you and your leadership during those times. 

I am now 72 years old and I am very concerned, not only about the possibility of my contracting COVID-19, but also the devastating effect this pandemic is having on the lives and loves of so many others. 

I sense that you have been less than forthcoming lately - as if you’ve been told to tone it down and make things (the facts) seem relatively ambiguous. We have let this get out of control and desperately need your leadership!

So, I urge you:

Please speak more forcefully and definitively about the reasons for the explosion of COVID-19 cases and please be unequivocal in your admonitions to the president, government officials and the citizenry about what each person needs to do get this horrible disease under control. 

I will look forward to your most authoritative message soon.

Sincerely,

Frank DeFrancesco

 

 

Just a few items from the garden.

The single corn stalk must have been planted by a bird...I know I didn't plant corn!

 

The tomatoes seem to be late this summer. Lots of green ones but nothing ripening even though the weather has been HOTTT.

The ground squirrel ate all the beet greens, then the Swiss chard, then the kale and most recently the green bean foliage and the parsley. I’m hoping the beets and Swiss chard and Kale will “recover” by growing some new shoots. I’ve covered what I could with bird netting and that seems to work to discourage the little devil.

The work of hungry ground squirrel

Despite the squirrel, there was a good three pounds of green (and yellow) beans today (I froze half) and some Italian frying peppers.

 

So it seemed like a good day for what I call my version of Chicken alla Cacciatore or what Leon calls “You ruined perfectly good green beans by putting them in tomato sauce” or Chicken and Peppers and Green Beans in Tomato Sauce.

I would have added mushrooms if I had some.

It’s just after 2pm and I am hungry.

 Let's not forget the flowers.

Sunflower ... I also did not plant sunflowers

Another wild sunflower

More wild flowers

Russian Sage

Alium

Roses

4 O'clocks

Day Lily

P.S. I am having an awful time with "Blogger" and not sure why. Has been going on for quite some time. Difficult to move photos; long captions will not go to next line when I hit "return"; pasting text activates "Link" puts everything in blue type and centers it. Have to remove formatting and left justify; photos don't all load and return error message...the list goes on. I have tried the "new blogger" and it looks horrible on my "reading list" - but have not tried it for composing posts. Mitchell and others seem to have no problem...every post you guys put up looks great and you seem to do it with such ease.

Satisfied

In case anyone has noticed, I've not posted much lately. The combination of being a kind of "news junkie" and the COVID19 isolation and the extreme heat of June and July here in New Mexico has left me rather drained.

One of the main reasons we moved here to Cochiti Lake was THE LAKE. Cochiti Lake, like most lakes in New Mexico is a flood control lake...the Rio Grand waters behind an Army Corp of Engineers built dam. Most are not pretty lakes compared to those in green mountain settings as they are bodies of water surrounded by rock and desert terrain. Not many a tree in sight.

But Cochiti Lake is, at least, a lake with a swimming beach and boat ramps. It was adequate for my needs. Unfortunately the lake has been closed, off limits, since March 13 in response to COVID19.

The entire lake as well as our little town, the convenience store, the golf course and Kasha Katuwe/Tent Rocks National Monument are on tribal land. All were closed indefinitely (except, of course the town where we have our homes) per order of the Cochiti tribe. So there's been no access to the lake this long, hot summer.

Lakes are OK, but I have this longing, a need almost, to return to the salt water from whence I apparently emerged some long time ago.

We were "dreaming" about maybe going to the East Coast this September (to visit family and friends and go to Cape Cod/Provincetown) or if not there, back to California to Oceana/Pismo Dunes/Avila Beach.

Because no way are we traveling through Texas, Oklahoma or any other state during the ongoing pandemic. So, with the pandemic, it looks like I will forego salt, sand and sea this time around.

I was getting very depressed and angry and irritable seemingly for no apparent reason. Well, I guess the apparent reason is the result of months of isolation and seeing the summer, maybe the entire year as kind of deletion. Beach, Ocean, Travel: delete. June, delete; July, delete; August, delete; September, delete; October?

So, the next best thing - the next closest lake to us is Abiquiu - less than a two hour drive. So Leon and I and Benni took a ride up there this morning and had what was the most relaxing day I've had in many months. We got there early enough that it wasn't too hot and being by the water was cooler by 5 to 10 degrees than inland.

I have many friends who couldn't care less for a day at the beach or lake. I could never understand their indifference.

Shedding clothing as much as is allowed (swim suits required here but a nudist area is the absolute best) and being out in the sunshine and swimming and sitting with hubby and our dog, Benni, is so freeing.

Somehow I shed obsessions, thoughts, tensions, chores and preoccupations along with the clothing.

We stayed about four and a half hours and left around 2pm, just at the hottest part of the day.

I was completely satisfied, at least for today.

Benni and the Hubby

Relaxing in my Beach Chair

Georgia O'Keefe's favorite mountain

Just A Few Items to Show You How I Feel About It

It's Been A Long, Hard Road

Torn, tattered and faded, but still out and proud! There's more road ahead...

Stay healthy, happy and proud and safe. Wear your mask!

Let's Not Forget...It is Pride Month

There won't be any parades or festivals this year, but I still need to have a little Pride this month.

So I offer some of my all time favorite music selections for your listening pleasure - if you are as old as I am these will "bring you back" to a time that, for me at least, was as exciting and joyous as I have ever experienced. (See the excerpt from my memoir below.)

























Here's an excerpt from "Did You Ever See A Horse Go By? - A Coming Out Memoir:

“Well, I’ll tell you about the first time I went to Backstreet Café down on that industrial road in the Westville section. The road was rarely used in the daytime and even less so after dark, unless you were going to the club. I hadn’t been out long and I’d only been to the Chez Est a few times—which is mostly an S&M bar, you know, which is what the guys do a lot of there.”

“I just love those Stand and Model types,” Bobby J. said, in case someone didn’t get the S&M reference.

“But Backstreet was different,” I continued. “It was the first big disco club I’d ever seen. And the location was like a secret that only we gays knew about. I remember seeing this big, plain, one story brick industrial building without any signs or bright lights. Nothing on the outside to let you know it’s a popular gay nightclub and disco on the inside.” 
...

“I was with Joel, you know, Joel Comeau, my first and only ex. After paying our five bucks and getting our hands stamped, we walked past the bouncer into the main bar and I felt like Alex in Wonderland. It was like walking through some enchanted portal into a world invisible to most earthlings... It was like Dorothy going from a black and white world to Oz, which was suddenly in Technicolor and stereophonic sound.”

Carl said, “I’ll tell you, Backstreet was nothing next to the big clubs back in the seventies, especially down in the City, and I’m not even talking about Studio 54. Sorry, Fran, go on with your story.”
...

“Well, I had nothing to compare it to,” I said. “There had to be hundreds of pulsating bodies on the dance floor and plenty of guys without shirts... The DJ was playing It’s Raining Men by The Weather Girls, which was already a classic. I think the whole building was vibrating. You could feel the thumping base of the disco music and the energy of the crowd on the dance floor. And everyone was just letting it all hang out, as we used to say, and everyone was echoing Martha Wash, ‘It’s Raining Men! Hallelujah!’”
... 

“Dancing among that crowd was such a thrill, such an exciting feeling. And knowing that we were all frickin’ gay and that there were thousands more like us in gay clubs everywhere, it was like being let out of solitary confinement. Like, for the first time in my life I could say ‘fuck you’ to all the straights in the world, whether they deserved it or not. Like there was solidarity in our numbers and we were really fucking special!”

“Yeah, Fran,” Carl kidded. “They gave that coming out party just for you.”

Bobby J. thought that Carl’s comment was a hoot and gave out an audible “hoot” for emphasis. I gave it back. “Fuck you, too, guys. It was just so great. And the feeling of being free to just let go! It was amazing. I took to being out on the dance floor like it was second nature. Shit, who needs booze or drugs, I can get high just dancing my buns off to High Energy and You Spin Me Round. Yeah, remember that one, ‘like a record baby,’ you know?”

“Yeah, Fran, like a record, you’re still spinning ’round,” Lee said with a knowing smile. We all laughed. But I couldn’t resist adding, “Well, we should be thankful we have places like Backstreet and the Chez Est. There are, no doubt, poor, disadvantaged homosexuals in rural areas of North Dakota who have never seen the inside of a gay disco.”

“Deprived homos,” Bobby J. said, “or should I say, depraved homos?” We all laughed again, even though it wasn’t that funny. Bobby J. hooted again.

Emmanuel Acho Talks to White Folk

Dear white people,
For days you’ve asked me what you can do to help. I’ve finally found an answer.

Let your guard down and listen. pic.twitter.com/74SVv8XOqp

— Emmanuel Acho (@thEMANacho) June 2, 2020

To Any LGBTQ Americans Who Would Actually VOTE for the Current Occupant of the White House

 To Anyone, especially any LGBTQ Americans who are even thinking about voting for the Republican Presidential Candidate, DT or X, as I will call him, if you have any senses, come to them. If the endless list of horrendous deeds, words and unspeakable evils he has perpetrated are yet not enough, consider that as George Will has speculated, the worse is yet to come.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/

https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracity_of_statements_by_Donald_Trump

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_on_social_media

From NBC:
No Pride Month Proclamation from this White House

And from LGBTQ NATION:

(NOTE: I have deleted the last name of the current imposter in the White House and replaced it as necessary with the letter X as I refuse to see it in print on my blog.)

Once again, President X did not issue a Pride proclamation to honor LGBTQ citizens, but that hasn’t stopped him from selling an “exclusive Make America Great Again Pride T-Shirt” on his campaign website.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, issued a thoughtful statement reflecting on the progress the community has made and promising to repeal Trump’s numerous anti-LGBTQ policies.

X’s rainbow lettered campaign shirts have been available for months.
It’s hard to understand, considering X’s constant attacks on LGBTQ equality, from banning transgender people in the military to expanding religious exemptions for employers, business owners, and even doctors who want to discriminate against LGBTQ people, to consulting anti-LGBTQ hate group leaders on policy, to attempting to change the legal definition of “sex” to erase transgender people.

“Show your support for the LGBT community and the 45th President with this exclusive Make America Great Again Pride T-Shirt,” the website advertises.

Biden, however, didn’t need to advertise support. While X neglected the standard Pride proclamation, Biden stepped up to both celebrate with us and decry X’s attacks against the community.

“We’ve made remarkable progress towards LGBTQ+ rights in the decades since, from Harvey Milk’s historic election to the first openly gay major presidential candidate,” Biden said in his statement. 

“During the Obama-Biden Administration alone, we signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law; repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell; addressed the epidemic of bullying in schools; established the advancement of LGBTQ+ equality as a foreign policy priority; and the White House beamed bright with the colors of the rainbow to mark the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision recognizing marriage equality.”

“It took hard work. It took acting up, organizing PFLAG moms, developing student activists, and a tireless persistence that HIV/AIDS be destigmatized and treated. Many paid a personal and a professional price just for being who they are — risking their jobs, livelihoods, and physical well-being. Many still do.”

“Despite our progress, much work remains.”

Biden also bluntly chastised the administration for their attacks on LGBTQ people and human rights in general.

“Donald X and Mike Pence have systematically used the power of the White House as a literal bully pulpit to undermine LGBTQ+ rights,” he said.

“They have given safe harbor to white supremacists and other forms of hate. Predictably, we’ve experienced a rise in hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people.”

“The (current) Administration has abdicated America’s global leadership on human rights and walked away from our values, repeatedly failing to speak out against the abuses of authoritarian regimes.”

“This is wrong,” Biden asserted. “We must send a clear message that hatred and bigotry have no place in America or on the world stage. As President, I will take swift action to reverse these odious policies and advance our progress toward ending discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals.”

“There are dark and challenging realities ahead that we cannot ignore. Yet, I remain optimistic because I believe in who we are as a nation. I believe in the story of this country and the LGBTQ+ community.”

INQUIRY: Does anyone have a comprehensive list of the lies, insults or outrageously STUPID comments the current president has made in the past 3+ years. If so, please let me know.

AND ONE MORE:

Insanity in the White House in Our Time of Crisis

I have not commented on the murder of George Floyd except to say when I saw the news coverage on that infamous day, tears came to my eyes. So much has already been said and my words would pale in comparison.

But I will share the words of three clergy who condemn the president's attack on peaceful protesters in front of St. John's Church in DC near the White House to obtain a "photo op" and the following day at a Catholic Basilica for another "photo op":

Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop who oversees St. John’s Episcopal Church, which Trump used as a backdrop for a photo op meant to show Americans that he was not a coward hiding in a bunker, slammed the president in an interview with the Washington Post late Monday.

Said Budde: “I am outraged. I am the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and was not given even a courtesy call, that they would be clearing [the area] with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop. Everything he has said and done is to inflame violence. We need moral leadership, and he’s done everything to divide us.”

“Holding a bible, one that declares that God is love … when everything he has said and done is to enflame violence,” Budde added. “I am beyond. We need moral leadership and he’s done everything to divide us and has just used one of the most sacred symbols of the Judeo-Christian tradition.”

Budde later tweeted: “We are followers of Jesus. In no way do we support the President’s incendiary response to a wounded, grieving nation. We stand with those seeking justice for the death of George Floyd through the sacred act of peaceful protest.”

And from a Pastor in Maine, this firsthand account from an Episcopal rector in DC:

The Rev. Gina Gerbasi is the Rector at St. John’s, Georgetown, and was at St. John’s, Lafayette Square, DC, when this all went down this evening. If you are looking for a primary source account, here it is:

"Friends, I am ok, but I am, frankly shaken. I was at St. John's, Lafayette Square most of the afternoon, with fellow clergy and laypeople - and clergy from some other denominations too. We were passing out water and snacks, and helping the patio area at St. John's, Lafayette square to be a place of respite and peace. All was well - with a few little tense moments - until about 6:15 or so. By then, I had connected with the Black Lives Matter medic team, which was headed by an EMT. Those people were AMAZING. They had been on the patio all day, and thankfully had not had to use much of the eyewash they had made. Around 6:15 or 6:30, the police started really pushing protestors off of H Street (the street between the church and Lafayette Park, and ultimately, the White House. They started using tear gas and folks were running at us for eyewashes or water or wet paper towels. At this point, Julia, one of our seminarians for next year (who is a trauma nurse) and I looked at each other in disbelief. I was coughing, her eyes were watering, and we were trying to help people as the police - in full riot gear - drove people toward us. Julia and her classmates left and I stayed with the BLM folks trying to help people. Suddenly, around 6:30, there was more tear gas, more concussion grenades, and I think I saw someone hit by a rubber bullet - he was grasping his stomach and there was a mark on his shirt. The police in their riot gear were literally walking onto the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with these metal shields, pushing people off the patio and driving them back. People were running at us as the police advanced toward us from the other side of the patio. We had to try to pick up what we could. The BLM medic folks were obviously well practiced. They picked up boxes and ran. I was so stunned I only got a few water bottles and my spray bottle of eyewash. We were literally DRIVEN OFF of the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with tear gas and concussion grenades and police in full riot gear. We were pushed back 20 feet, and then eventually - with SO MANY concussion grenades - back to K street. By the time I got back to my car, around 7, I was getting texts from people saying that Trump was outside of St. John's, Lafayette Square. I literally COULD NOT believe it. WE WERE DRIVEN OFF OF THE PATIO AT ST. JOHN'S - a place of peace and respite and medical care throughout the day - SO THAT MAN COULD HAVE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH!!! PEOPLE WERE HURT SO THAT HE COULD POSE IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH WITH A BIBLE! HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO STEP OVER THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES WE LEFT BEHIND BECAUSE WE WERE BEING TEAR GASSED!!!!
I am deeply shaken. I did not see any protestors throw anything until the tear gas and concussion grenades started, and then it was mostly water bottles. I am shaken, not so much by the taste of tear gas and the bit of a cough I still have, but by the fact that that show of force was for a PHOTO OPPORTUNITY. The patio of St. John's, Lafayette square had been HOLY GROUND today. A place of respite and laughter and water and granola bars and fruit snacks. But that man turned it into a BATTLE GROUND first, and a cheap political stunt second. I am DEEPLY OFFENDED on behalf of every protestor, every Christian, the people of St. John's, Lafayette square, every decent person there, and the BLM medics who stayed with just a single box of supplies and a backpack, even when I got too scared and had to leave. I am ok. But I am now a force to be reckoned with."

And from the Catholic Archbishop of DC:

Said Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory in a statement: “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree. Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace.”

As George Will (a stalwart conservative) stated in a recent column in the Washington Post: "Those who think our unhinged president’s recent mania about a murder two decades ago that never happened represents his moral nadir have missed the lesson of his life: There is no such thing as rock bottom. So, assume that the worst is yet to come." and "He must be removed."

I couldn't agree more.