Tuesday, June 30, 2015

A Wander Around Taskin Square and Galata Tower

Galata Tower and the Genovese area
In Istanbul on our second day, we hired a local guide, Faruk, who took us around the "new town" and Taksim Square.
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Select to expand and see the Soviet fighters on the right.
Faruk showed us a lot of very cool things.  Including the the statue of Ataturk who overthrew the Ottomans AND pushed the French and British out after World War I.  On the statue below you can see Ataturk leading the people into Istanbul.   You will also see some Soviet Generals behind him.  This is to commemorate the Russians helping drive out the British and French after the war.
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Ed and Faruk.  You can see the different spigots behind Ed's hand.  These were connected to pipes in the old days.
Taksim Square itself is named after the high point in the city, where the water was divided into the city pipes.  You can see Eddie and Faruk at the station where the water taps were turned on for each city section.
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The style of the buildings in this area.

One of the passageways, with (now empty) apartments abvoe.
There was a fire in the area in 1865 or so, and the entire are was rebuilt at once.  It is very "European" of the day.  There are a lot of these big buildings, with indoor passages (like mini-streets).  The passages were lined with shops and above where apartments.  The buildings and stores are still there, but the apartments are no longer used as such.  Some are storage, some are offices and many are just empty.
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For a distance view, see top picture.

The Galata Tower itself was built in 1348.  Actually, rebuilt, the first one burned down, so the Genoese built this of stone.  This part of the city was occupied by the non-muslims of Istanbul.  There are Greek, Catholic, Armenian and Russian churches throughout the old town.  A census was done when the Ottomans took over the city, and the percentages of various ethnic people in this part of town was preserved.  So this area was also where the embassies where - and most are still consulates.


Finally, Eddie and I had dinner on a roof int he old town, near our hotel.  The view over the Asian part of the city was great.
That is Asia behind him (Anatolia)
And 8,500 years of history is everywhere, these are the Byzantine walls of Constantinople right below us, where the road winds through.  They are over 1,000 years old, and just hanging out.
Just some 1,000 year old ruins.  Ain't no big thing.

Salon (and Others?) Miss The Big Picture by focussing on the Wrong Thing:

I love Salon (salon.com).  I find them, normally, the voice of liberal reason.  However they, like all of us, allow themselves to sucked into the wrong argument sometimes.  Today is a huge one of those days.
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You see, today I am going to agree with Ross Douthat.  (I will wait while you recover from that statement).


You see Ross, in today's Opinion piece, tries to move past Gay Marriage (Thank God!) and onto the good things about religion.  Sure, he makes some silly assertions early, but to me he is trying to paper over a conflict, while allow some face-saving to the evangelicals.  Fine.
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But, the big thing, the important thing, is that he gently tries to move the religious back into, what many of us believe the great thing about religion is, charity and community.  Look at this snippet from the NYT Times Op Ed - Salon misses the point itby being so annoyed by what came earlier.
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Put aside a culture war that has alienated large parts of three generations from any consideration of religion or belief. Put aside an effort that has been a communications disaster, reducing a rich, complex and beautiful faith into a public obsession with sex. Put aside a culture war that, at least over the near term, you are destined to lose.
Consider a different culture war, one just as central to your faith and far more powerful in its persuasive witness.
We live in a society plagued by formlessness and radical flux, in which bonds, social structures and commitments are strained and frayed. Millions of kids live in stressed and fluid living arrangements. Many communities have suffered a loss of social capital. Many young people grow up in a sexual and social environment rendered barbaric because there are no common norms. Many adults hunger for meaning and goodness, but lack a spiritual vocabulary to think things through.
Social conservatives could be the people who help reweave the sinews of society. They already subscribe to a faith built on selfless love. They can serve as examples of commitment. They are equipped with a vocabulary to distinguish right from wrong, what dignifies and what demeans. They already, but in private, tithe to the poor and nurture the lonely.
The defining face of social conservatism could be this: Those are the people who go into underprivileged areas and form organizations to help nurture stable families. Those are the people who build community institutions in places where they are sparse. Those are the people who can help us think about how economic joblessness and spiritual poverty reinforce each other. Those are the people who converse with us about the transcendent in everyday life.
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My only addition to this would be a simple one, invite your community - gay, straight, white, brown.  We are on board with this given and generous form of Christianity.  Many left the church because it turned into a lighthouse of hate, not compassion.  Give those people a reason to embrace it again.

Monday, June 29, 2015

While We Are Busy Arguing if Dylan Roof was Crazy or Racist -> His Work Goes On....

Dylan Roof, the young man that sat with AME Church Worshippers for 45 minutes of Bible Study before killing 9 people (and leaving one alive to spread fear), has succeeded in a way that we seem to be ignoring.  Perhaps it made sense at first, but know maybe we should acknowledge it.

Jon Oliver Explains It To CNN

Just watch the first 4 minutes.  Jon Oliver is hilarious at CNN's expense.
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Justice Scalia dissented from the Marriage ruling...

To no one's surprise Justice Scalia dissented from the Marriage ruling.  As has become custom, he read his blistering dissent from the bench.  His dissents have, over time, moved from unusual and precedent setting to disdainful, bitter and caustically offensive towards his colleagues.
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Rather than quote it, including the nincompoopery about asking the nearest hippie for advice on spirituality, I shall differ to my good friend Steve Timinskas ....
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I'm Back: With Much Too Say - But first these pictures from Istanbul Day 1

I really do love Istanbul.  It is a great and beautiful city.  The people are wonderful.  Yes the government is a little heavy handed, but they just lost an elections, and it doesn't seem to be heading towards a coup or anything.
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Given that, here are some pictures from Istanbul day 1.  And, oddly, we arrived on the first day of Ramadan!  There was a massive free feast the first night to break the day long fast.  Ramadan, which occurs on the lunar month, is particularly bad in summer.  The last meal before sunup was at 3:45AM.  Observent fasting Muslims were not suppose to eat or drink again until 8:44PM!  That is a lot of time in the heat of the day.
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Anyway, here are some day 1 highlights.
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The New Mosque with the faithful doing the ritual washing of the feet.

The Interior of the New Mosque.

Some detail on the side walls and an alcove of the New Mosque

This is the Grand Bazaar - and the Scooter Pose

My Eddie, looking extra handsome outside Hagia Sofia

This is the Mother-in-Law Mosque from the tour bus

The Blue Mosque - after the meal of Ramadan's First night.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Back in NYC

We got back in one piece. Our bag wasn't so lucky. We'll see what's missing. 

Amazing Ruling

Gay marriage is legal now. Everywhere in the USA. I am happy, thrilled and married. 
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And I want call out a little those that helped make this possible. It was not just us gays, but our friends and family that accepted us. It was the gays that fought (and died) of AIDS that forced the families to see our existence. And those families that, once seeing our existence did NOT turn away, that said being gay is not WHO you are, simply another facet of the person we accept and we live. 
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I cannot believe so much has changed since I was young. I cannot believe my mom said, in 1977, "Be true to who you are."  Or Zela comforted me with her evangelical church friends  when Mark died. And I have friends that share out
Or that I am so blessed as to have Ed as a partner and husband. And in laws that love and accept me. 
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And that I have friends that share my joy, not fear our marriage.  
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I can't believe where I am today. So thank you all. Especially spaghetti, my husband. 


Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Sadly, I am Gone for a Week Plus and Cannot Keep Track of the Klown Car

Well, posting for a week plus will consist of pictures from Istanbul, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia, so there will be a break from Clown Car info...
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Let me give a quick run down before I go.  So quick you have to goggle links, I don't have time...
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(From Top Left, clockwise)
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Jeb!  That's right bitches.  He's not Jeb Bush for 2016, he's just Jeb!  Like Cher or Madonna only with !emphasis!  And, in Spanish editions (honest) with the upside down exclamation point.  He finally "decided" he was running for President this week.  His announcement has generated the enthusiasm you would expect from the third Bush in an immediate family - since the last one was SOOO great.
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Chris Christie played in a NY / NJ benefit baseball game.  Perhaps a mistake.
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Rick Santorum came out last week to say that IF the Supreme Court rules in favor of Same Sex Marriage this month (as is expected), people should just ignore it because the Court has no enforcement mechanism.  Which indicates a rather hazy understanding of the Federal Government.
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Ben Carsen.  You haven't heard much about him because; his campaign manager left (to start a PAC for him), his deputy campaign manager left (to start a farm) and his counsel left (to go on Safari). He is still spouting nonsense and (wait for it) leads the field 11% to Jeb! at 9%.  Although still behind Undecided at 20%
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Bobby Jindal is crazy as a loon.  Louisiana's budget is falling apart, but he has signed the no new taxes pledge, so he is twisting himself into a pretzel to keep his pledge (Esquire has a great article on it).  Meantime, the legislature won't pass enough we hate the gays laws (you know, because of tourism) so he has passed them by executive degree, prompting New Orleans to take out ads in gay publications around the country saying (essentially) "Don't Listen to Our Governor, we still love the Gays".  And advertising for gay honeymoons in New Orleans.
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Lindsey Graham, John McCain's Butt Boy, is running around advocating bombing everyone who isn't American and maybe some that are.  He has also said that, if elected, maybe we could have a rotating first lady (he is suspiciously not married).
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Scott Walker (actually) defended requiring women to have trans-vaginal ultrasound before an abortion by saying that it was "fun".  And "...everyone of my friends, the first baby pictures they have are the ultrasound.  They love it."  Apparently not understanding that woman who decides to terminate their pregnancy are not looking for a "fun ultrasound" experience.  ASIDE: I think every legislator should be required to have that ultrasound wand shoved up his ass before being allowed to tell women to have it done.
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Carly Fioriano is not making mistakes on the campaign trail lately.  Except, you know, being a woman in the Republican Party.  Her competence (and boobies) has all be removed her from contention.
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Rick Perry's magic glasses are not giving him the gravitas he craves.
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Ted Cruz has been so out of the news that the only big news about him was fake.  A satirical website said that "Ted Cruz blames Indian Rain Dances for Texas Flooding."  It is a tribute to Ted's craziness that his team had to release a statement saying that wasn't true (after checking with Ted because, well, you know...).
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The Donald announced he was running for President.  AND he has a secret plan to defeat ISIS if he is elected.  And no, he will not share it before then.  Jon Stewart has yet to confirm if he will actually stay on as host - waiting until The Donald submits the paperwork.  So far we have only his word, which phantom condo owners in Florida, Baja California and Panama will tell you is not a fungible commodity.  (And no, they didn't get their deposits back).
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Rand Paul showed he was a NEW Republican the other day discussing safety.  He was talking about safety and said "Every man's home is his castle.  Actually every man and wife's home is their castle."  Trying to be inclusive of women, but then failing pretty badly.
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And in the center square George Pataki.  A cross between Paul Lynde and Alice.  (A reference to Hollywood Squares and the opening of The Brady Bunch, and if you missed that, you are too young.)

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Some Amazing Visual Effects from Visual Artists

If you want to see all the 2015 finalists, go HERE.  But these 3 are the top and are amazing.  I got them from Salon, but you can see below.
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Another Reason I Love Bernie

There are some things that bug me and get under my skin.  Bebe Netanyahu's speech to a lapdog Congress designed purely to embarrass the Democratic President was one of them.  And the Democratic response to it - which amounted to humping Bebe's leg while hoping for a pat on the head - disgusted me.
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I have informed both the Democratic Senate fund raising committee and Democratic House fund raising committee of this as I stopped contributing.
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And then there is Bernie... (LINK)
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Earlier this week, NPR host Diane Rehm bizarrely asked Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is competing for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, whether he is an Israeli-American dual citizen (he isn’t). What was less noticed was the dialogue between Rehm and Sanders afterward, where they discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sanders went on to explain his views on Netanyahu:
REHM: Tell me your feeling about whether there should be a two-state solution should Palestine be given statehood?
SANDERS: Absolutely. What you have in that part of the world is an unspeakable tragedy. And it seems like it’s never-ending and it seems like it every year gets worse and worse and more killing and more bombings and everything else. And again, Diane, if I had the magical solution to that problem I would be in the president’s office today giving it. I don’t have it. But clearly the goals are two-fold: number one the Palestinian people, in my view, deserve a state of their own, they deserve an economy of their own, they deserve economic support from the people of this country. And Israel needs to be able to live in security without terrorist attacks. Those are the goals of I think any sensible foreign policy in that region.
REHM: How do you believe President Obama’s relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu has affected our relationship with Israel?
SANDERS: Well, I gotta tell you, I am not a great fan of President Netanyahu I did not attend the speech that he gave before the joint session of Congress. I think it was opportunistic. I think he was using it as part of his campaign for re-election. I think he was being used or did use the Republicans to go behind the President’s back. And I think in that region sadly on both sides I don’t think we have the kind of leadership that we need. And so you know I think the President is trying to do the best that he can in enormously difficult circumstances.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Lynn and Ed: Really?

Most Deadly Animal in Africa...  I think not!
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This is Proof?

This is proof?
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No, this is proof.
Raccoon on alligator, not proof.  Bachelorette Cage Match, proof.

Well, that baby might grow up to be Hitler!

Oye.
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The 700 Club is a Christian Broadcast stalwart, with (according to them) over 360 million viewers per year around the world.  And Pat Robertson, televangelist extrodinaire, is the host.  Usually he explains all the bad in the world as a result of the Gays (Hurricane Katrina) or the Lesbians (9/11) or the atheists (Hurricane Sandy).
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But in a  bit of Q&A he explained why a woman's baby might die at 3 years old, after a long and painful illness.  Because God knows that baby might be the next Hitler (or Stalin).  You see, a viewer wrote in and said her co-worked was struggling with her child's death and ask the woman why God would let him die so painfully.  The woman asked Pat.  I am hoping she does not return to the woman to console her with the words, God knows your baby was going to be Hitler.
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Which also begs the question, why didn't God know Hitler was going the be Hitler?  If God is busy smiting toddlers as future dictators, how did he miss the actual Hitler and Stalin?  I mean I get how he missed Mao (since Mao's parents were heathens), but how did those two get through?  No answers in the 90 second clip below.
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Does Anyone Else Get This Ad via Facebook?



I love this bad boy.  I suppose I am served this because I like modular homes, and have recently being looking at National Parks.  But this is SO CUTE!!!
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I can just imagine while any the hours on a lake reading, while Ed drums his fingers and annoyingly says things like, "Great, I can't even hike from here."  "I am not peeing in the lake."  "What do you mean we are out of gas, then row our asses back to the car."
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Ed, "But there is a perfectly fine hotel just past those trees!"

This is how we (liberals and conservatives) screw it all up..

Even on things we should agree on, we americans have become programmed to see things in Left vs. Right, Republican vs. Democrat, Liberal vs. Conservative terms.  And it is stupid.
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Take this opinion piece today.
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In case you don't know, you soon will; Jeb Bush wrote a book that ... well. I'll let the author explain:
Last week, Jeb Bush was asked to answer for a passage from his book from two decades ago, “Profiles in Character,” in a chapter titled “The Restoration of Shame,” in which he blamed the “irresponsible conduct” of births to unmarried women on a flagging sense of community ridicule and shaming.
The author then goes on to explain how single motherhood in other countries doesn't negatively effect the child at all.  In fact how the US, through shaming and social policies, make the children's lives must worse. Blah blah blah.
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But here is the crux of how our (Americans) determination to make everything line up left vs. right does a massive disservice to people. MASSIVE.
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Jeb Bush's point is NOT shaming people.  It is his means to -> lower single parent hood.  Which is he means to -> improving the life of a child.
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Charles Blow's point is NOT  to promote single parent hood.  But how government  action can -> improve the life of the child.
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And while these are two different methods do improve the life of a child - they do NOT have to be antagonistic.  We, as Americans, can BOTH support a loving home with two parents to help a child develop AND, at the same time, encourage governmental programs that would benefit children no matter what type of home they are coming from.  The point of  their arguments is to do what is best for the child - but it gets lost in noise.
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And I say we can do both because, in the past, we have done both.  We have supported good schools, after (and pre-school) programs that help children, while still encouraging two parent families.  I am a great example of that.  My parents were divorced, and my school (in Gardena, but in the LA School district - so this wasn't a small rich school) had programs after school and in the summer that I participated in while my mom worked.  As for encouraging two parent homes, that public pressure was pretty intense.  I give a huge amount of credit to my mother for being able to stand up to that pressure to leave my father - who was a terrible husband (a fine dad to me, but a terrible husband).
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The thing to not lose sight of is that both authors care about the kids here.  Jeb Bush's POINT is not to shame people (although that is his suggested method).  And Charles' POINT is not to become Iceland in America (although that is his suggested method).  We need to see people's motives, not just their methods and we would get along better.

Edward Petherbridge as (Lord Peter Whimsey)

Petherbridge as Lord Peter Whimsey
I went to see "A Perfect Mind" the other day (review out tomorrow) with Edward Petherbridge, a famous British actor.
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By "famous", of course, I mean famous in England.  I mean he is a big-ass deal there.  He originated the role of Gildenstern in Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead - a famous Tom Stoppard play.  He worked with Laurence Olivier's company in the 1960s (Sir Larry is merciless parodied in the show I saw).  And he is famous for his Shakespeare roles.
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And yet.
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Most Americans if they know him at all, know him as the fussy Lord Peter Whimsey from British TV.  I sat in a small theater off-Broadway and reviewed a man who has had sell-out shows in the West End and at the Globe.
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Fame is an odd beast.
In A Perfect Mind

Sunday, June 14, 2015

If Didn't Already Have an Epithet

If I didn't already have an epithet, then I would love this quote from Hotel Budapest....
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To be frank,

I think his world had vanished long before he ever entered it.

I will say,

He certainly sustained the illusion with a marvelous grace.


Excellent Ad

Something Rotten has an Excellent Post Tony Ad....
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California is a State of (my) Mind

The past is less real in California that anywhere else in the world.  Apologies to the indigenous people's, but there weren't that many of them originally.  California needed man's industrial hand to develop.
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California is where you go when you're tired of the past.  Tired of societal demands, tired of the dust bowl, tired of wearing dresses or ties, tired of being told what you can or cannot grow up to be.  Tired of being the you that family, friends and strangers from up the block tell you to become.
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I was lucky.  I was born there, as was my mother (my father was 2 years old when he was brought to LA).
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My grandparents came to California to be different people than they were in Kentucky, Illinois, Utah and Holland.  I have visited most of where they came from, and I can say with absolute certainty that they would not have fit it back home.
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Zela didn't bloom until she was out of a mid-west mindset that labeled her as the fat, plain looking care-taker daughter.  HAM didn't shine until he bought a motorcycle and left working the Mississippi barges to those people who's limits were defined by riverbanks.  Donna is a loud, headstrong woman who never would have made it as a docile Mormon wife.  And Quinn was a personality so large I don't think Holland could have supported two of him.
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Some people travel to California and never leave.  They call it weather, or beauty, or the ocean. but it is really the ability to destroy your boundaries and find new ones - or none at all.  My relatives, misfits at home, flourished in the sun and surf and distance from disdainful families.
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Some of us do leave.  Natives and spiritual natives of the Golden State.  But when spiritual natives leave, they no longer respect the boundaries that were suppose to set their limits.  And us natives?  We constantly ignore the lines that society sets.  And when those limits are pointed out, usually in a breach of some decorum we were unaware of, we ask why?
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Why is that 'not done'?  Did we hurt someone's feelings?  Did we cause some harm?  Because if the answer comes back "it just isn't done", we laugh and smile and think, "By you! It just isn't done, by you.  You should see what you're missing."
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I don't know if I will ever move home again.  But I know that I'll always be that guy who doesn't respect the stupid rules.
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The Sun you can feel and the air you can taste.  Palm trees and stucco.  Home.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Rose Ware Would Die!

Rose Ware was our Real Estate Person in LA.  She helped us through 3 sales, 2 buys and numerous showings.  I love Rose.  You want to see a good website, you look at hers, http://www.hollywoodhillshomes.com/ .
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And one thing you will see, is that pictures are critical.  She gives you a whole check list before she takes pictures, which basically boils down to clean up and declutter.
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Having spent a while on the East Coast, clearly no one gives this advice to their clients here.
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Clean...
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At least close the drawers!  Making the bed wouldn't hurt.
Declutter....
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The Best Warning against my desire to "collect" crap.

Yay! It's Not Just Us

So there is a new law in North Carolina.  The legislature override the veto of the governor to pass it.  So it must be important, right? (LINK)
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On Thursday, the state’s general assembly overrode an earlier gubernatorial veto of Senate Bill 2, meaning that civil magistrates can now refuse to perform not only same-sex marriages if they say that doing so violates their religious beliefs, but any union of which they disapprove on religious grounds.
The interesting news is that they passed the law so that civil employees don't have to do their job and marry gay people.   But they couldn't say that exactly.  So now civil magistrates - yes people hired to perform a job, do not have marry anyone they don't approve of (religiously).  So if they don't want to do second marriages, they don't have to (Catholics - go find another place).  Or if they think Muslims or Jews are heathens, they don't have to marry them.  Or if someone has tattoos they don't have to marry them either (the Bible forbids tattoos in the same book as it forbids gay sex).
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Now, of course, all that is bullshit.  They really just think Homos are icky.  But at least they had to pretend, which I suppose is a step forward.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Full Retard?

Obama-Hatred can be taught for years and years as a master class in creating, then attacking straw-man arguments, attributing any number of items you don't like to your opponent and demagoguery.  It often comes out of the blue.  As in today's example.
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I have a google alert for FATCA.  FATCA stands for the Foreign Account Taxation and Compliance Act.  It is something that the US is forcing in order to collect taxes on its citizens no matter where they live.  And yes, we are, essentially, the only country that does this.  For example, Tennis Player Tommy Hass is German, but lived in the United States to train.  He paid US taxes not German taxes.  Novak Djokocvic is from Serbia, but "lives" in Monaco - since Monaco doesn't have income tax.  He pays no Monaco OR Serbian taxes.
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The US has decided that too many people were hiding income overseas and taxes weren't being paid, so we make people pay taxes where-ever their money is earned.  This has lead to a lot of compliance issues with other countries and complicated laws (and more than a few consulting dollars for me).  It has also lead to more people renouncing their citizen than ever and some foreign banks not giving accounts to Americans - but again.  This are relatively minor things.
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Many people hate it.  Some people come unhinged.  Look at this article / web site below:
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Wow!  What a headline.  "FATC goes full-retard as Mr. Obama extorts The Vatican." That Obama is a douche, right?  Well, actually the law was passed by (you guess it) Congress and signed by George W. Bush.  That Obama had noting to do with it.  Classic example of Obama Derangement Syndrome.
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You get the picture.
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But I do want to call out that headline as the perfect anti-Obama headline.
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"FATCA goes full-retard.."  That is perfect.  It grabs your attention. If people are offended, they will be offended by the "full-retard" comment and he doesn't have to address the (lies that are the) substance of the headline and article.  And by casting "FATCA" as a current problem, it puts the blame on the current government.  Well done.
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"...Mr. Obama ..." Not "President Obama".  This reinforces that a man in doing this out of spite, not the fact that our government is working as proscribed.  It is an IRS thing and President Obama has nothing to do with implementation unless it breaks.
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"...Obama extorts The Vatican."  This plays on the narrative that President Obama doesn't like religion and there is a War on Christians.  Great line.  It is untrue.  The Vatican operates as a governmental entity and the FATCA agreement is between governments.  In fact, our IRS (not Mr. Obama) is treating the Holy See as a government per their request.
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All in all, Goebbels couldn't have written a better headline for this.
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How would it be written if you didn't HATE Obama?  Like this:

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Some Trends That Should Stop. Right Now!

1. The Manbun.

If Colin Farrell and Chris Hemsworth can't pull off the manbun, you certainly cannot.
Perhaps you don't live somewhere the ridiculous manbun has made a mark.  I wish I could say the same.  New York is home to the tragic hipster manbun.  And while Chris Hemsworth makes is look acceptable (not great), he would look better without it.  And he is the 2015 sexiest man alive.  If you are not that the sexiest man alive, it will just look asinine on you.
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2. The Beard (are we past peak-beard yet?)
Jake looks a little teen wolf here, right (Jason Bateman version, not MTV).  The guy on the right is a photographer who shaved off half of his beard for a shoot.
I am over beards.  Not all facial hair, per say, but beards.  Scruff is fine (although every man with scruff should have to have a make out session with another man with scruff so you realize how uncomfortable it is 2 minutes after thinking... "Wow, that's hot!").  But beards, aren't we down with beards yet? 
Brad Becks and You.  Seriously, if they can't you can't.
And don't get me started on unkempt beards.  Look at the picture above.  If Brad Pitt and David Beckham look crappy in an unkempt beard, what do you think you look like with a neck beard?  A beard is not an excuse to abandon grooming altogether.
Even Chris can't pull off neck beard.
Finally, look at this example. This is Chris Pine - facial blessed - in various states of neck growth.  Short answer, scruff is best here.
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3. The Drop Crotch Pants
Yes, this really is a thing.

When Justin Bieber brings on a fad, and adult male would be well pressed to ignore it.  Drop Crotch Pants, for those of you that aren't aware, are built so they look like your pants are hanging off your ass, but you wear a shirt over them so no one knows that go up to your waist.  So this is one horrible fad (drop crotch) masquerading as a different horrible trend (lowering your pants so everyone sees your ass / underwear).  Ug.  Stop.

Heading to Istanbul and Croatia soon!

So Eddie and I are heading to Croatia with a bunch of friends soon.  Yes, you may be subjected to a number of pictures of the seaside from Croatia and Montenegro, plus my favorite city of Mostar, Bosnia.
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We will be starting with a day and a half in Istanbul to get our European sleep cycle right.  Istanbul is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  The one thing we did not  get to last time was to go to an old fashioned Hamam - a Turkish Steam Bath place.  This time we will go tothe most famous and some say most beautiful of them all, the Cagaloglu Hama.  I hear it is pretty expensive and a little touristy, but look a the picture below.  Of course it is touristy - it is gorgeous.


I cannot wait.  We will probably also to a Bosporus Tour by Boat and dinner in the  Galata Tower District.  That is supposedly one of Istanbul's most "international" districts.  We will see.