Praying + Preying: Roy Moore and Rian Rodriguez

I stopped watching the morning news a long time ago because it put me in a foul mood watching a lot of current events go down.  In fact, I got up one morning and started unhooking the bedroom television in a fit of rage.  I couldn't take it off the arm so I had to wait for Robby to do that and he did so quickly knowing I was fed up with the ridiculous noise squawking from the damn thing every morning.

I went for almost a year without a television in the bedroom.

When Hulu Live TV started, we got rid of cable finally (we had to get it again at the level where The Robinator could watch his games because he realized he didn't want to live without his beloved Ravens) but on the day "This Is Us" returned, we realized that Hulu Live TV didn't show NBC Live and there was a scramble to get a television up and running with an antennae where I could watch.

I drove that word train all around the track to basically say...we have a television in our bedroom again and I have been slowly adding morning news, ON OCCASION, back into my diet.

This morning was one of them.

I watched a segment of Roy Moore, Republican Senate candidate who molested 14 and 15 year old girls so much so that a local mall BANNED HIM FROM THE DAMN MALL FOR SEXUALLY HARASSING KIDS.  He was giving a speech in a Baptist church last night.  He was standing at the pulpit and out of his mouth came words like "protecting our conservative values" and "God wants..." blah, blah, blah...

Moore walked up to the pulpit with a bible in his hand.  He opened the bible and started speaking. He spoke of his soul being tried and the soul of the nation being tried.  He praised that dude in our White House and he called upon his work as "God's work."  He disparaged gays, etc.  He spoke to applause.  A church filled with applause.  The pastor of the church got up and said that it is ILLEGAL to interrupt a worship service and that hecklers would be turned over to the police who were waiting outside.  Moore leaned HEAVILY on the Christians in the church.  Christians he considers, JUST.LIKE.HIM.

To me, he represented evil.  Pure, sick evil.  Holding the bible.  Quoting scripture.  Standing at the pulpit of a Baptist church PRAYING. Knowing he'd PREYED upon those girls.

Oh.

That church is DIRTY for that.  Dirty, dirty, dirty.

The very next segment showed a nationwide manhunt, which started in Florida, for 27-year-old, Rian Rodriguez who appears to be traveling with 17-year-old Caitland Friscina.  There is footage of him in a pawn shop in NC and they think they are headed to Canada.  Authorities are asking Rodriguez to turn himself in and the pundits are expecting Rodriguez to be caught within the week.  

You know...cuz he's not running for Senate.

And his last name is Rodriguez.

He won't be invited to speak at the church house.

SIP:  They might shoot his azz...

Queue the music folks! "O'er the laaaaaaand of the freeeeeeeeeeee and the hoooooooome of the braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave!"

Hurricane Maria victims NEED OUR HELP!

I've been reading to see how we can help and this article has a lot of really great suggestions:   How You Can Help Hurricane Victims in Puerto Rico 

I mean...it's a shame how this has happened.  They really missed the boat on this one and the more you read, the angrier you get.  

Hurricane Maria pushes Puerto Rico's struggling hospitals to crisis point

By the numbers: More than half of Puerto Rico still without drinking water

One Day in the Life of Battered Puerto Rico

And the latest...

President Trump dedicates golf trophy to hurricane victims, Puerto Rico

I mean...there are seriously just NO.WORDS for this level of incompetence that is currently our government.  They aren't by the people nor for the people.  Just...no.

Oh well, share that link.  I pretty much have nothing to say nice.

People Need to Quit

My week started out with back-to-back weird interactions with people.  

On Sunday, I had to go to Walmart.  Yeah...I know...already crazy.  Walmart.  And on a Sunday.  Crazy talk.

The homeless guy who is always by the car wash in front of the Walmart was standing there with his sign.  I rolled my window down and asked him did he need anything out of Walmart.  He said some food would be nice.  

Cool.

I got him some food from the deli and a couple of pre-made salads because everything in the deli was fried and I'm old school and believe meals should come with veggies of some sort which are NOT fried.

When I walked out of Walmart, he was standing across the row from my truck and told me that the police had made him move.  

Cool.

I handed him the bag with his food and told him that I'd thrown in some salads too.  He thanked me and said something about not having veggies in a while.  Then?

He hopped in the truck he had been standing next to and drove off while I stood there and watched him drive off.

Now, I know homeless people and people with immediate needs sometimes have vehicles but I was just so startled because I have honestly never seen someone who'd been standing on the road with a sign asking for help, drive off into the sunset after someone had given them something.

It was odd.

On Monday, I had to have a plumber come out to do some work.  The gentleman was extremely nice.  Good people.  He invited us to his church and kept trying to get me to change my mind about coming.  We kept talking and got on politics.  He mentioned the new laws in South Carolina and Mississippi about "religious freedom" and transgender bathroom use.  He shared that there was a gay couple in his church that everyone loved who were just great people and he hoped they didn't feel some kinda way thinking that everyone in their church supported the law.  Then he said the law in SC was something he supported, however, because...

Him:  I don't want some grown man in the bathroom with my 9-year-old daughter.

Me:  How would she know?  Is she looking under the stall divider?  Remember, women don't use urinals, we have doors that we can lock.  Also, the woman is NOT a man, she has been reassigned as a woman and, if your daughter HAD looked up under her skirt under the stall she would see the same software.  

Him:  I just don't want it to happen.  I mean,  they could do something to girls in the bathroom.

Me:  Or they could be so terrified that they are going to have to deal with some crazy mess just because they were in public and had to use the bathroom that they used the bathroom so fast you didn't even notice them.  Did you ever read the book "Middlesex?"  What about the people who were born with a little bit of this and a little bit of that and their parents, with guidance from their doctor, took action to assign a gender and, unbeknownst to them, assigned the wrong gender just trying to make their baby "normal?"  Do you think that poor child deserves to be persecuted for the rest of their life?  I mean...ya think that's how God wants you to handle it?

Him:  Well, I don't know about all that.  I just know how I feel.

SIP:  *sigh*

Such a simplistic view of a very real problem in the lives of some is cringe worthy.  To me.  As many defects as people end up having...yeah...okay.

Dude left so fast he forgot his utility knife.  I put it under the sink in the bathroom because I'm not in the mood to see him again.  

I’m a Transgender Man in North Carolina. Here’s What the Bathroom Law Means For Me.

I'm actually still feeling some kinda way.  I never remember anything about using the bathroom in public because my focus is on getting in and out of there with minimal time with major hand washing. Do people hang out in public bathrooms and that's how it comes to be that this is such a major issue?  Are transgender people in South Carolina holding sit-ins in the bathrooms naked from waist down?  

I should have asked him could I still come to his church if I was transgender huh?

The MIGHT.BE homeless guy did end up making me laugh cuz really...had you seen me in the parking lot watching him drive off...it was Seth MacFarland movie funny.  I was just standing there like, *BLINK,BLINK,BLINK*

Eh...I guess.

Have you had any interesting run-ins with strangers recently?  

We all have privilege. Might be time to check yours.

Privilege is a word that has been turned into a hot button topic.  As soon as some folks hear it...they get defensive and shut down.  They are no longer listening or, better yet, FEELING the impact of the conversation...they are planning what they are going to say next.  And, we should all know that moment you stop listening, when it isn't a contentious discussion, you effectively become THE ASSHOLE.

On a particularly hot day, I noticed a young woman walking across a bridge with an all black Chick-Fil-A uniform on and a visor.  That heat was beaming on her.  I pulled over and asked her if she'd like a ride.  Grateful, she hopped in and I took her to her home.  On the ride there, we made polite conversation and she shared with me that she'd went away to college, got pregnant, returned home and had to move out when her mother passed and her sister got married.  So...as a young single mother, she had a lot of choices to make.  She has a friend who lives in the same apartment complex who doesn't work and looks after the kids of about 5 people she knows.  No where near a daycare situation, but a safe place for the children to be when their parents were at work.  Everyone basically gives the woman what they can when they can.  COMMUNITY.  I drove into the complex and my passenger thanked me.  I asked her when she had to go back to work and she said in three hours to her second job.  If she couldn't find a ride from her neighbor who she could give $5 to for a ride (sometimes he wasn't home) she'd have to leave the house in two hours so she could walk there.  

I drove home feeling some kinda way.

My husband has the most supportive parents in the entire world.  When he was growing up, had he said he wanted to be an astronaut, I have no doubt they would have sent him to space camp, driven back and forth from Cape Canaveral and gotten him involved in anything they heard of in order to make that happen.  They drove him back and forth to college with the truck filled with dorm room and later, apartment furnishings.  When he graduated, they drove back and forth multiple times to help move him into his new apartments.  They packed and unpacked.  Got him settled in right nice.  His mother sent care packages (she has all his life), they talked regularly and passed along sage advice to their child when he was at a crossroad for whatever reason.  They never attempted to change his mind or his path.  They supported him and loved him throughout life and still do.  SUPPORT.

I was talking to a friend's mother about how poor they were when they were growing up.  She went on and on about how her mother had to save up for potatoes with the eyes to plant come planing time.  She spoke of how her mother would harvest and dry seeds from the vegetables she grew every season so that she had seeds for next planting season.  The process was a long and tedious one and, it took a lot of patience and planning to get right every.single.year.  The kids were in charge of tilling the soil, they had to help plant, water with buckets, and pick the greens and veggies.  This took a couple of hours worth of attention daily.  They also had to get the eggs the chickens hatched, milk the cow, catch and clean fish during the Lenten season so they had fish for Friday dinner.  The fish would be fried and all the neighbors would come over with fish to fry and extra veggies from their week's harvest or some baked good.  LIFE SKILLS.

I, like many women my age, have LOTS of shoes.  I don't like walking around in my bare feet even in the house.  When I get out of the shower or bath, I dry my feet first and slide them into my slippers.  My bathroom floors are clean, mind you, I was simply raised to always wear shoes.  I hate to not wear shoes even to the beach where walking in shoes makes it harder to do.  LOL!  It just seems wrong to me not not wear shoes.  And I don't wear many closed shoes without socks.  I don't like my feet to sweat.  I hate that (EARMUFFS) moist feeling between my toes.  Just...ew.  I have weird issues with socks.  Can't stand the seam to be anywhere other than on top of my toes and, if I feel them...I can't wear them so, even if they are brand new...if I feel the line, they must be thrown away.  I never think about donating them because I think to myself that socks are REALLY personal articles of clothing and then...I read that homeless people need socks more than anything because nobody ever donates socks.  And...they often go without shoes that are in good shape because good walking shoes very rarely get donated.  Folks mostly donate walking shoes they've walked in.  A lot. But a blessing is a blessing right?  Old shoes or no shoes?  BLESSED.

Growing up, I went through a period of time where I didn't have the protection of my father in my home.  He'd beat the shit out of my mother, yet again, and, once he'd been released from his overnight stay in jail, my mother had picked us up and taken us to stay with a relative.  The relative lived with a sick fuck who subtly tried to molest me not knowing that I was already hip to that game and had decided it would never be something that happened to me again.  I reminded him that my father would most likely kill his azz if he touched me and I told my father.  Oh...and I let him know that I'd tell my daddy the SECOND I got him on the phone.  I knew my father loved me.  PROTECTED.  I knew he'd fuck someone up for messing with me.  And he'd enjoy doing it and probably get off.  Small town justice.  I've never been raped and many women who have been, were never molested growing up.

Someone I love can't afford to pay for their healthcare insurance so they had to go to one of the few free clinics in their area for medical attention.  They left the clinic before being seen because the clinic was closing soon and there were still 45 people ahead of them.  The person missed a day of work to go to the clinic.  If they don't work, they don't get paid so that's a very real and direct reaction to their action that hit them when their next check came.  They work for $8 an hour.   They caught a bus for $2 to get back home and still had to walk for about 20 minutes from the bus stop.

The young lady I gave a ride to was privileged because she was blessed enough to become a mother.  She did not have the privilege of always having transportation.

I have always been privileged enough to have a car but not privileged in that I became a mother.

My husband has always been privileged to have unconditional parental love and support but not privileged in becoming a parent who'd do the same.

My friend's mother's family was poor but privileged to be landowners in a community of people who looked like and understood them.  

I am privileged in that I've never gone without any type of clothing or shoes that I needed.  

I was abused as a child but I was also privileged enough to know my father loved and protected me from others.

Health insurance has never been a question for me.  I am privileged.

In areas I know I'm privileged, I refuse to be ridiculous enough to think that others have the same opportunities and/or experiences.  I understand that life isn't the same for everyone.  I understand that, a lot of times, the choices or LACK OF choices of our direct ancestors, still matters a lot in who we are and will become.

I understand this and recognize this because I'm not an asshole.  

Recognizing the areas you are PRIVILEGED is how you learn to have EMPATHY.  

Even for the most narcissistic of all.

Breaking Down the Keystone XL Pipeline: Who, What, When, Where & Why?

Yesterday, President Obama vetoed the Keystone XL Pipeline which would have funneled in over 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada to Texas (using a bunch of already in place connections along the way).  The pipeline extension is literally just that.  A 36 inch diameter line of pipe that would be placed in trenches to extend into Canada.  We trust Canada so we'd rather get oil from them than from other countries right now.  You know...cuz that pesky Middle East oil can come with a bunch of headaches.

Now...this pipeline is simply an extension that TransCanada wants to build for a cost of about $8 billion dollars.  They need to put down 875 more miles of pipeline to connect from Canada to Nebraska, to an existing pipeline that opened sometime last winter.  TransCanada couldn't just build it without our permission because it crosses out borders and that's some international security kinda stuff that needs to be dealt with and monitored properly.

President Obama hasn't used his veto power in over 4 years (he's only used his veto power twice before).  This Keystone pipeline has been on the table for 6 years.

Republicans and oil companies say it will create more than 40,000 jobs.  True.  For as long as it takes to dig the trench, lay the pipe (pun alert), and cover it up.  That will take about a year or two so those "jobs" will be temporary.  Once the pipe is fitted...nothing more needs to be done.  Just monitoring every now and then to make sure there aren't leaks.  Because we all know that oil companies sometimes screw up when it comes to spilling oil.  (Insert eyeroll here.)

There is also a big hoopla over the way Canada extracts this oil making it much "dirtier" (oil sands) than the crude oil our refineries are used to turning into gas and whatnot.  Environmentalists say that much more greenhouse gases are released when refining Canada's oil sands.  And well...think what you want...greenhouse gases are not natural to our environment and consistently wreck havoc on our planet.  That's just a fact, Jack.  Science doesn't lie even if you pay a bunch of people a whole lot of money to keep that information quiet.  Nobody is disputing the fact that Canada's oil sands are corrosive (because it's "dirty") and that has environmentalists worried because if there is a spill of corrosive oil up and through the Midwest...well...ain't nobody got time for that as the clean up would be major levels of epic.

Enter the Koch brothers.

The Koch brothers, in my opinion, are the Scrooge McDuck's of America.  Well, they own Koch Industries, which is the largest foreign leaseholders of the areas in Canada where the oil will be extracted.  So yeah...we'd be doing them a big, big, HUGE favor by allowing this pipeline to be built so they can transport their oil to refineries on the Gulf Coast.  Folks are arguing over how much money they stand to make off this...but the end result is the same...they will make money.  You can argue that it's the American way or you can see it for what it is, more of the haves continuing to make way for more haves and giving us a bone or two by way of temporary jobs which will go away once they get what they want done and the real money starts rolling in.  

SAYONARA!  Oh...and um...we're not hiring.  

So now Republicans need to get over 2/3rds of Congress to vote in favor of the Keystone pipeline extension in order to override President Obama's veto.  Totally doubt that happens.  Totally.

Does this mean the oil will not be transported?  Please.  You know these people with money make a way.  LOL!  They have entire train rail lines dedicated to transporting oil but they say the risk of accident with the trains is far greater than the pipeline.

Oil is going to be transported no matter what.  

It's the American way.

---

Okay...again...yall know I do this to break things down for my brother when he asks me specific questions.  I try to be as brief and as clear as possible.  I don't get all in-depth cuz um...I'm not an expert.  There are lots of factors I didn't put here because well, yall know when you're setting up counterattacks you just toss all kinds of everything out there in order to confuse folks.  I read most of it and decided to pick and choose what I thought were the most important factors to break down.  If you have additional information or think something I chose to not point out is relevant...please share.  The floor, as always, is open.  Unless you're a jerk and well...then your mic will be cut off.  Simple.  - Monnie