Measure Twice, Cut Once

My brother is a sheet metal worker and has often used the saying, "Measure twice, but once." It is good advice for avoiding stupid ass mistakes. Speaking of stupid ass mistakes, I am very disappointed to hear about Whoopi Goldberg's omission from the Oscar montage of former hosts. Whoopi was incredibly gracious on the View, where the hosts brought up the issue.

Whoopi didn't rant and rave, she instead was quiet, teary eyed, and clearly saddened by what had happened. The View hosts went on to list all of Whoopi's firsts and near firsts - first black woman to host the show, second black woman to win an oscar, first oscar winner to host the show, etc. So how doesn't something this stupid happen? My answer is oversight.

It is hard to imagine that the Academy purposefully left out Whoopi. Wait, no its not. People can be very mean and intelligent, articulate women often bear the brunt of society's prejudices. So lets just say for the sake of argument that she was accidentally left out of the montage. Wait, this is the same industry where people make careers out of being congruency specialists, making sure everything on a movie set is identical from scene to scene. So how is it that a black woman that has hosted the academy awards multiple times in left out? It isn't. It was by design.

I do believe that things in Hollywood are often done like things in real life, by underlings. You get the lowest paid person to do the most work, then you have the boss sign off on it. It is a tried and true way of doing business in these United States, just look at our Supreme Court opinions. So I am quite certain that some underling at the Academy threw the montage together, but some boss decide Whoopi didn't need to be in there. S/he was either too lazy to go back and put Whoopi in thinking that no one would notice or that Whoopi didn't deserve to be in and no one would care. In either case, the boss was wrong.

Shame on the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. You made a bad choice and you have not even bothered to put anything on your own website to rectify it. You measured twice, cut once, and still made a stupid ass mistake.

God Bless You, Larry King

I have been hesitant to post anything about the death of eight grader Larry King, the openly gay kid in Oxnard, CA who was shot a week ago. The reason I have hesitated it because it just hurts so damn much. I was born in Oxnard, CA. Although I feel a million miles away from there, the news of this tragedy put me right back in this farm community northwest of Los Angeles.

It seems like youth today are beyond out. It seems like they have embraced the right to identify as LGBTQ. But this veil is thin and when it is pierced, it is deadly. The veil of Larry's shooter was 14 year-old Brandon McInerney.everything is okay was pierced when Larry's classmate, 14 year-old Brandon McInerney shot Larry in the head in the middle of class. After shooting Larry, Brandon stopped and looked at the class, shot Larry again as he lay on the floor, then left the classroom. Brandon, who looks like he could live next to the Cleavers, is being charged as an adult and is being held on a million dollars bail.

In this past week there have been vigils and a large march in Oxnard in rememberance of Larry. This brave kid declared that he was gay and would come to school in heels and makeup. Good for him. Good for his parents. They are the reason that the fight for gay rights will never end. It will never end because no hate crime is tolerable and hate will always exist. I just expect hate to be shoved into the deep recesses of consciousness and if a person is weak enough to let it out, there will be consequences to pay.

Larry's bravery will live on with me. It will live on with many of us. So the next time you think of being anyone else than yourself, remember the 15 year-old who gave his life to be himself. God Bless You, Larry King.

I Did Not Have Sexual Relations with THAT Woman!

Haven't we heard this before? Now its John McCain's turn to deny the allegations of an affair eight years ago. The rumor goes that annonymous former aids to McCain "were concerned" that he may have had an inappropriate relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist some years ago. The New York Times broke this news today and the timing is more than suspect.

With Mitt Romney out of the way, McCain has been free to claim the title of frontrunner for the Republican nomination. As the frontrunner, and only horse in the race, Republican voters and politicians have no one else to be on. The response from other Republicans, predicatably, has been one of solidarity. The New York Times seems to have single-handedly executed the sudden cohesion of the Republican party and their public backing of McCain. Way to go New York Times.

The New York Times, who endorsed McCain in late January, is no doubt trying to shake its liberal persona. Good job. Any paper that would stoop so low as to run a story of this nature without more facts should not be read. Any paper that would endorse a candidate, then run this editorial when there is no more competition should not be read. With the veritable plethora of media outlets, the New York Times is speeding its own demise if they believe that readers won't see through their thinly veiled attempt to influence the Presidential race. This editorial will only weaken the public's opinion of the paper. Besides, thinking that McCain still has the ability to bring his soldier to attention may well serve to bolster McCain image as an elderly, but virile candidate!

While I am not a McCain supporter, I don't agree with the airing of a candidate's eight year old dirty laundry. Particularly when that laundry belongs to two consenting adults. If the allegations are true, the affair did not take place in an airport bathroom or in the Oval Office. That means I couldn't care less. The New York Times and this country should stick to the issues that are most important in this race such as adequate health care for working class Americans, the eradication of the HIV virus, and the impending Recession that no one wants to talk about.