Helen Traubel Sings "Autumn Leaves"

The Russian Vodka Boycott Is On!

Dan Savage:

"If you drink a Russian Vodka like Stoli, Russian Standard, or any of the other brands listed above, switch to another brand from another country, or even a local brand from a local distillery. Stoli is the iconic Russian Vodka and it's returning to Russian ownership in 2014. Other brands like Russian Standard should also be boycotted. Do not drink Russian vodka. Do not buy Russian vodka. Ask your bartender at your favorite bar—gay or otherwise—to DUMP STOLI and DUMP RUSSIAN VODKA."

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/#ixzz2a4KWnUWt

Always Interested In What You're Doing

...unless he is napping, of course.

Garden Delights

Some colorful gladiolas that I have in pots on the deck.

Dan's Paintings To Be Exhibited At Pines Biennial

We're Havin' A Heat Wave

Loki and Bradley relaxing in our air conditioned house.

Getting Away With Murder

SPLC President Richard Cohen:

Can we respect the jury verdict and still conclude that Zimmerman got away with killing Trayvon? I think so, even if we buy Zimmerman's story that Trayvon attacked him at some point. After all, who was responsible for initiating the tragic chain of events? Who was following whom? Who was carrying a gun? Who ignored the police urging that he stay in his car? Who thought that the other was one of "them," someone about to get a away with something?

The Two Americas

Travon Martin's killer is acquitted...a vigilante kills black kid and walks...we use drones to kill hundreds of children overseas, we start wars of choice, we spy on everyone everywhere, corporations are people, our elections are won by corporate funded candidates...and on and on....And then there are the two Americas...one made up of mostly white, mostly older, mostly rural, mostly not highly educated, mostly not very sophisticated, mostly Republican, mostly religious and mostly conservative. The other America is our hope, young and multi-ethnic, city dwellers or want to be, not fooled by religion, liberal, and hopefully they will be educated unless the Republicans succeed in gutting funding for schools. Time is on their side.

"Goodbye Old Girl" from Damn Yankees

Sleeping Occupy, Non-Violence, Sleeping America

One wonders what it will take to wake up the American people. We now know that we Americans have resorted to torture, we are responsible for war crimes, and we have a government that has trashed some of the most important rights that we say we hold dear. Where is the outrage? Instead of rage at these revelations we have what? Very little of any reaction from the bulk of the population. Just business as usual with, for example, even one of our most "progressive" politicians, Senator Al Franken, defending the NSA spying on everyone everywhere. Are we so stupid as a people that we can't see what is happening to us? It would appear so. The great corporate-governmental plan to keep us stupid is working. No wonder education funding is reduced and teachers are attacked. Keep 'em dumb and they will never be a real threat. We are not Turkey or Brazil. As bad as some of us think things are here, our masses are lulled into submission. By the time the various Occupy's were evicted, participants had dwindled from the early large crowds to a fraction of the numbers we started with. We were worn down and waited out until it was easy to stamp us out. Would early on street warfare have made a difference? We'll never know, but such spontaneous tactics didn't happen on a wide scale with Occupy. Maybe next time?

Snowden And Manning

Snowden and Manning are two men of courage challenging what this country has become: a police/security state where all three branches of government act in tandem to spy on all citizens and lie about it. Imagine, John Roberts, the right wing chief justice of the supreme court appoints all of the judges who sit on the secret court that rubber stamps all of the government agency requests to spy on everyone everywhere. Manning revealed war crimes and Snowden revealed the vast spy apparatus. They did us a favor yet were it the outrage of the citizenry? We good Americans just let it all pass on by. History will not be kind to us.

Solar Squirrel

Someone appropriated our little light up squirrel from the side of our house. This one is the replacement and it is firmly affixed to the railing.

Island Club Invasion Party (Hot Bartenders!)

Invasion 2013 Was A Blast!

Ms. Flora Fauna All Decked Out For Invasion 2013

Happy 4th Of July!

Dinner In Bay Shore, LI

MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS - SAME LOVE feat. MARY LAMBERT (OFFICIAL VIDEO)