Color Of Change Petition For GOP To Rebuke Bigotry And Tea Klux Klan

TransGriot Note: This is a petition from Color Of Change addressed to the Republican Party to get them to ride herd on their Tea Klux Klan surrogates and chill out on their condoning of racism as a political tactic.

Good luck with getting the GOP to drop the drive to become the Southern National Socialist White People's Party, but thought it needed to be posted to the blog.

****
Dear friends,

It's time to hold the Republican Party accountable.

You've probably heard about Tea Party members shouting "Nigger!" at Black Congressmen during a protest in Washington, D.C. last weekend. One of the protesters spat on Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver, while another called openly gay Representative Barney Frank a "faggot" as the laughing crowd imitated his lisp.[1]

But Saturday was just the most recent example of the intolerance and hate coming from right-wing extremists this past year. At times it's been instigated by Republican leaders. When not, it's usually condoned and seen as part of a strategy to score politically. Either way, it's completely unacceptable and has to stop.

It's time to confront Republican leadership and force them to take responsibility for the atmosphere they've helped create. Please join me in signing ColorOfChange's petition confronting Republican leaders about hate and fear-mongering in their party, and ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/hate/?id=2195-602167

We're calling on RNC Chair Michael Steele, House Minority Leader John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to publicly do two simple things:

- Unequivocally condemn bigotry and hate among their supporters, and make clear that those who embrace it have no place in their party.

- Make clear that they will not tolerate fear-mongering and coded appeals to racism from officials in the Republican party, at any level.

Republican leaders publicly denounced Saturday's ugly scene, but they failed to acknowledge that this is only the latest incident in a pattern of violent rhetoric, racially charged imagery, and paranoid conspiracy theories at Tea Party rallies.[2] Many Tea Partiers aren't simply about dissent -- they use fear and hatred to assault the very legitimacy of our elected leaders. It's the worst America has to offer. Despite this, Republican leaders court the Tea Party movement while methodically supporting, exacerbating and exploiting their fear and anger for cynical political ends.[3] This is nothing less than a betrayal of American values, and it's up to us to force the Republicans to stop aiding and abetting this enterprise:

http://www.colorofchange.org/hate/?id=2195-602167

The Tea Party movement has been marked by racially inflammatory and violent outbursts since its inception a year ago. GOP leaders are trying to pass off this weekend's assaults on Congressmen Lewis, Cleaver, Clyburn and Frank as isolated incidents. But when so-called "isolated incidents" crop up again and again, a pattern starts to emerge. The examples are numerous.



At rallies held to protest tax day last year, Tea Partiers carried signs that announced "Obama's Plan: White Slavery," "The American Taxpayers are the Jews for Obama's Oven," and "Guns Tomorrow!"[4] The Republican National Committee had endorsed the rallies, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele encouraged Tea Partiers to send a "virtual tea bag" to President Obama and Democratic Congressional leadership.[5] After reports of the fear-mongering signs surfaced, Steele did nothing to distance his party from the lunatic fringe. He has even gone so far as to say that if he didn't have his current position, he'd be "out there with the tea partiers."[6]

The Tea Party's venomous rhetoric picked up steam over the summer, when angry mobs flooded town hall meetings legislators had organized as sites for rational, civil debate on health care reform. After one meeting in Atlanta, a swastika was painted on the office of Congressman David Scott (D-GA), who had also received a flier addressed to "nigga David Scott."[7] Some protesters showed up at town hall meetings carrying guns, including at least one man who was armed at an event where the President was speaking.[8] Again, Republicans responded to these tactics with silence, doing nothing to denounce them.

Our country deserves better than this. No matter what party one supports, we should all take strong action to support civil, honest, and respectful public debate. Please join me in calling on Republican leaders to denounce racist rhetoric and fear-mongering, and reject it from their party. And when you do, please ask your family and friends to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/hate/?id=2195-602167

Thanks.

References

1. http://huff.to/atRmru
2. http://huff.to/9Sgf3S
3. http://huff.to/c4ZOH4
4. See Reference 2
5. http://huff.to/3nzZE
6. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31177.html
7. http://bit.ly/8YInIb
8. http://bit.ly/LV1wb

Aargh..Frustrating Travel Day

I've had an enjoyable day and a half in Oneonta, NY hanging out with Dr. Lobdell, her students and various faculty members on campus while doing my Trans 101 presentation. But now it's time to say goodbye and head back to Da Ville.

I'm up and hitting the road with Dr. Lobdell at 9 AM to make the enjoyable 60 mile run west on I-88 back to Binghamton. I have an 11:00 AM EDT US Airways flight to catch that will start my journey back to Louisville and get me back here by 2:30 PM.

Or so I thought.

It rained off and on in the Oneonta area Monday along with most of the northeastern US. Little did I suspect it would cause a chain of events that would snowball into a frustrating travel day for moi.

The first clue this might be a trying travel day was arriving at a fog shrouded Edwin Link Airport around 10:10 AM. It was starting to lift from the runways, but I discovered at the check in desk that the fog had delayed my aircraft which was coming from Philadelphia.

Dr. Lobdell offered to stay, but I told her I'd be okay and sent her on her way back to Oneonta after thanking her for everything she'd and everyone else had done to facilitate my successful on campus presentation.

After clearing TSA security and losing my 4 oz. container of cocoa butter, I settled into the lobby area and awaited the arrival of our delayed airplane which was an 11:15 AM ETA.

At 11:15 we not only didn't have a plane at the gate, we find out thanks to a gate announcement that it returned to Philadelphia and canceled there. That set off a stampede for the ticket counter and I ended up tenth in line. I'm also kicking myself at this point because I'd left my cell phone in Louisville.

I'm already mentally going through my options as I await my turn. I know there's only one more flight to Philly from Binghamton and it's going to be grossly overbooked. There are only two other carriers that fly out of that airport and not only are they booked solid, one of them is weight restricted.

By the time I get to the counter I find out I've been rerouted to get to Louisville through Washington National. However, to get to Washington National, I have to catch a flight out of Syracuse first, which is 60 miles north on I-81.

The flight doesn't leave Syracuse until 3:10 PM, so the US Airways personnel call a cab to get me there. I have plenty of time to make the connection after enduring a white knuckle cab ride in a misty rain that increases in intensity as we get closer to Syracuse.

I arrive in Syracuse and have to clear TSA security again, then wait one and a half hours for my bird to arrive from Washington.

After a bumpy 52 minute flight I arrive at DCA and have to sit for another two hours because my flight to Da Ville doesn't leave until 7:40 PM. Since this is the first time I've been to Washington National since 2000, I decided to do some exploring and see what was in the food court.

That's when I discovered there was a Five Guys in the terminal and made a beeline for it. After ordering a bacon cheeseburger and fries from the friendly Ethiopian descended sister working the register, I now know after receiving that greasy brown paper bag containing my food why President Obama and everybody in DC raves about the place.

Five Guys food rocks.

Chowing down on Five Guys along with that wide ranging conversation I had with Dr, Lobdell this morning was the only righteous thing that was happening for me.

The buzzard's luck struck again after we boarded the flight. While waiting to take off a plane several spots in front of us broke down and had to be offloaded and pushed to the maintenance pad. It caused a traffic jam that delayed our takeoff 20 minutes.

I had planned to catch the TARC from the airport home and as I nervously perused the schedule discovered the bus I needed to catch in order to connect downtown was leaving the airport at 9:46 PM. We were originally scheduled to get to Louisville at 9:30 PM, but that would now take a minor miracle and the pilots exceeding Mach numbers to pull into the arrival gate at that time.

As I feared we pulled into the gate at 9:45 PM, and by the time I got off the plane and sprinted for the airport exit it was 9:50 PM, which meant that the bus was already headed off airport grounds and speeding northward towards downtown.

Next bus wasn't leaving until 11:11 PM. I decided to see if the US Airways counter was open so I could get them to spring for the cab ride home since I was now seven hours past the time I was originally supposed to get back to Da Ville.

I discovered that the counter had been closed since 7 PM.

I ride the next bus downtown anticipating that I'll be able to get a cab at the stand near 4th Street Live, but that didn't pan out either.

By this time I'm so thoroughly frustrated I just start walking home from downtown. That took another hour and I finally walk into the house at 1:05 AM.

But at least I got my exercise in, but not the way I planned it.

Let's just hope my upcoming trip to the ATL goes a bit more smoothly.

Moni's Speaking At SUNY-Oneonta

At this moment the TransGriot is conducting her African American Trans 101 presentation in the Morris Conference Center - Le Cafe.

I'd like to thank Dr. Bambi Lobdell, the Women's and Gender Studies Department at SUNY-Oneonta, an all the people who made it possible for me to be up there today to discuss trans issues from an African descended perspective.

It will run until 9 PM EDT.

Hangin' At SUNY-Oneonta

Well good people, finally made it to the SUNY-Oneonta campus after my flight through Philly, a two hour layover, and an enjoyable one hour drive from Binghamton, NY and dinner with Dr. Bambi Lobdell.

I'm coming to you live from the Milne Library on campus now and about to head to one of Dr. Lobdell's classes to talk about a few issues.

Will chat about that experience later. But for now gotta head over there.

Leaving On A Jet Plane...To SUNY-Oneonta

After a busy Saturday in the Ville that started for me at 8 AM EDT and ended at the Fairness/ ACLU of Kentucky dinner that evening, the TransGriot is once again boarding a flight headed northeast to New York via Philadelphia. This time I'm headed to upstate New York instead of Long Island like I was back in November.

I'm actually traveling to Binghamton, NY, the closest airport to the SUNY-Oneonta campus for my presentation on the campus tomorrow night at 7 PM.

I'm looking forward to finally meeting Dr. Lobdell after months of e-mails and phone conversations and all the SUNY-Oneonta students on campus as well.

I'm planning an interesting, entertaining and informative Trans 101 discussion from a chocolate flavored viewpoint. Of course I'll be leaving plenty of time for questions and answers afterward.

If I can get to a computer while I'm up there, will tell you what's going on during my latest road trip. (No peeps, still haven't purchased a laptop yet)

See you in a few hours, Red Dragons!

Teen Arrested In NJ Wal-Mart PA Incident

It didn't take long to find the perp in last Sunday's racial PA incident at a New Jersey Wal-Mart. The suspect is a 16 year old boy who was arrested Friday in Atlantic County on bias intimidation and harassment charges.

The teen was released to the custody of his parents and is from Atlantic County, NJ according to deputy police chief John Dalesandro of the Washington Township Police Department.

Wal-Mart officials condemned the incident, saying the behavior was "unacceptable."

Authorities haven't determined as of yet whether the 'all Black must leave' announcement was ad-libbed or premeditated. They are investigating a second youth who accompanied the arrested teen to the store.

Going To Dinner

I'm heading out the door to go to dinner...At the Muhammad Ali Center

Will be hanging out with politicos and progressive Louisville once again at the Fairness ACLU of Kentucky dinner.

Should be a lot of fun and an interesting night watching the various candidates working the room and searching for support in a very tight and crowded mayoral primary on the Democratic side.

And there will probably be a lot of people crowded around whoever is watching the UK-Wake Forest NCAA game as well.

Hey, this is still basketball country!

If anything interesting transpires, you know I'll post about it.

Teabaggers Hate On Man With Parkinson's At Protest

This infuriating video is one reason why I have little to zero tolerance for teabaggers and conservafools in general.

All I can say about the heartless fools mocking this man with Parkinson's disease is that when the karmic wheel comes around, I'd hate to be you.

This is the true face of the GOP, the Tea Klux Klan and the conservative movement.

Did it make you angry seeing that? Good!

Now channel that anger into positive action to preserve our majority. Our best revenge for this gentleman is to get busy registering voters and planning to bumrush the polling places in November.

You can bet that these wastes of DNA who disrespected this man will damned sure be there to vote GOP as soon as the polls open. We need to working even harder to give these people an electoral beatdown they'll never forget.

Shut Up Fool! Awards-Showing Some Love To My Coogs Edition

It's March Madness, and while the Democrats scramble to get the votes necessary to pass health care legislation, the 2010 NCAA Men's and Women's tournaments get underway along with the NIT and WNIT.

My Coogs are playing Maryland later. Unfortunately my Lady Coogs season is over after dropping a tough game in Lubbock last night to the Texas Tech Lady Raiders 80-77 in their WNIT opener.

But congrats to both the Cougar men and women B-ballers. We UH alums and H-town are so proud of you.

And now, since it's Friday, let's continue the basketball theme and see who will exhibit championship level ignorance and stupidity to win this week's Shut Up Fool! Award.

As I mentioned, the health care debate is going on and this week's winner got it for attacking an 11 year old child who lost his mother due to lack of health care.

Marcelus Owens mother Tiffany died in June 2007 of pulmonary hypertension. It's a rare condition described as high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs that can lead to heart failure. It has no cure, but is treatable with consistent medical care that can cost up to $100,000 a year.

Owens was an assistant manager at a fast food restaurant when she became sick in September 2006. As she became sicker, she missed work and was eventually fired, leaving her without health insurance. She was treated twice in an emergency room and died at age 27 after a week of unconsciousness. His grandmother Gina Owens has custody of Marcelas and his two younger sisters.

His story has been championed by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) as more prima facie evidence as to why we need health care reformj now in this country.

But as usual the conservafools, led by Limbaugh and Beck went on the attack and the SUF winner got it for piling on.

Michelle Malkin wins for attacking 11 year old Marcelus Owens.

Malkin called him "one of Obama's youngest lobbyists" who has been "goaded by a left-wing activist grandmother," promoted by Murray and has become a regular on the "pro-Obamacare circuit."

Malkin also suggested there were other programs that could have helped Tiffany Owens , adding, "It's not clear that additional doctors' visits in the subsequent months would have prevented her death."

Gee Michelle, didn't know you were a medical doctor as well as a batshit crazy bully.

Michelle Malkin, shut the hell up fool!

Confessions Of A Chocoholic

I have an addition I'm not ever going to get treated for.

I'm addicted to chocolate.

Be it light, dark, white, whatever, the TransGriot like any estrogen based lifeform loves her some chocolate.

I have inhaled entire bags of Hershey's Kisses in two hours or less. Chocolate bars are not safe anywhere around me and neither are plain M&M's.

That love of chocolate extends to chocolate cake, chocolate cheesecake or any cheesecake with chocolate swirled in it, chocolate ice cream and chocolate shakes.

Hmm, just talking about chocolate is making me fiend for it.

And on that note, it's time to go get some. Have a feeling I'll be consuming mass quantities of it tonight.

Moni's Coming To The ATL

Next week will be a busy one for the TransGriot. I not only have the upcoming event at SUNY-Oneonta, I've been invited to participate in a discussion at the 2010 National Black Herstory Conference in Atlanta as well.

The National Black Herstory Task Force, Inc. is an award winning nonprofit providing vehicles to chronicle and celebrate the lives of women of African descent and their alliances world wide.

As was expressed to me in the ongoing conversations I've had with Mozella Galloway, President and Co-Founder of the National Black Herstory Task Force, women of African descent includes transwomen as well.

I'm honored and proud to be taking part in this March 26 discussion. It will another opportunity to discuss trans issues in front of an audience composed primarily of African descended people.

The event is free and runs from 2-8 PM EDT on the Emory University campus.

The theme for this 13th Annual conference is “Empowering Our Communities: Self-Determined, Unified, Resourceful and Educated”. My panel discussion on 'The Basics of Gender Identity and Expression' will take place in the Whitehead Biomedical Auditorium.

The address is 615 Michael Street in the ATL, so if you wish to say hello to the TransGriot, this will be your chance to do so.

Looking forward to seeing you ATL peeps there.

Call Speaker Pelosi-Respectfully Demand Vote On ENDA

As you read this, activists are sitting in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices in San Francisco and Washington DC refusing to move until a vote happens on ENDA or they are arrested.

To support those activists engaged in civil disobedience tactics, can you call Speaker Pelosi's office right now and demand that ENDA (HR 3017) come to the floor for a vote?

ENDA is important because studies show that LGBT workers endure high unemployment, underemployment and harassment. We have to lie and hide in order to get and keep a job. In 30 states across America, there is no law against firing someone based on his or her sexual orientation, and the same is true in 38 states for gender identity.

Just several hours ago I posted a story about a New York group documenting trans hiring discrimination.

Here's the number to Speaker Pelosi's DC office: 202-225-4965

Let's get this party started on ENDA.

No Trans Need Apply

If you're wondering why I and other trans people spend a lot of time griping about ENDA not moving toward becoming law as expeditiously as possible, this latest story out of New York is evidence why.

A group called Make the Road New York filed a complaint with the NY State Attorney General's office after testing 24 New York City retailers for discrimination.

The group sent a trans and cis person to each one of the targeted retailers to apply for jobs with matching resumes. The resumes matched in respects of age, race, and work experience.

42 percent net rate of discrimination for transgender job applicants... [and] 49 percent of transgender workers surveyed reported that they have never been offered a job in the time that they have lived openly as transgender."

J. Crew was singled out for blatantly violating the New York City Human Rights Law. According to Make The Road NY spokesperson Irene Tung, one of the transgender employment testers, Julian Brolaski, applied at the 5th Avenue J. Crew store and "was treated brusquely, told to fill out an application and was never called.

His testing partner, Leigh Cambre, who entered the store a few minutes later, described a very different experience, 'I filled out an application, was interviewed on the spot and offered a job soon after.'

A separate pair of testers also documented a similar situation.

You can click on the chart to see the distressing results.

Another Racial Incident At A Wal-Mart

I've never been a big fan of Wal-Mart due to some problematic racial and gender discrimination incidents in its recent past.

Black customers have complained of being treated unfairly at Wal-Mart stores or had jacked-up stuff happen to them there.

Sonya Matthews was shopping in a Georgia Wal-Mart with her irritable two year old daughter Paige when Roger Stevens walked up to her and slapped her child four to five times.

In another ugly incident that took place in a Kennett, MO Wal-Mart store, honor student Heather Ellis faced 15 years in prison for allegedly cutting in line until a plea deal was struck. It got so bad at one point the Klan stuck their pointy hoods in the mess and threatened Ellis' family.

The company faced lawsuits alleging that women were passed over in favor of men for pay raises and promotions.

In February 2009, Wal-mart paid $17.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in its hiring of truck drivers.

It's currently facing a lawsuit filed in May 2009 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Latino/a employees that claims that employees at a Sam's Club subsidiary in California were subjected to a hostile work environment.

The suit alleges managers failed to stop repeated verbal harassment, including the use of derogatory words, against Latino/a descended employees.

But the latest one involves a Washington Township, New Jersey Wal-Mart in which a male voice came on the store PA system shortly before 7 PM EDT on Sunday and calmly announced, '"Attention, Wal-mart customers: All black people, leave the store now."

Shoppers in the store at the time reported a manager quickly got on the public-address system and apologized for the remark, but the damage was already done as customers expressed their anger to store management.

"I want to know why such statements are being made, because it flies in the face of what we teach our children about tolerance for all," said Sheila Ellington, who was in the store at the time with her friend Patricia Covington. "If this was meant to be a prank, there's only one person laughing, and it's not either one of us."

"We are just as appalled by this incident as our customers," Wal-Mart said in a statement. "Whoever did this is just wrong and acted in an inappropriate manner. Clearly, this is completely unacceptable to us and to our customers."

It's still unclear at this time whether it was a rogue shopper or an employee who was responsible for the comment and the store security tapes are being reviewed to find out the answer to that question.

But one thing that's clear is Wal-Mart has another racial PR headache on its hands.

Moni's 2010 Women's B-Ball Brackets

I'm going to show the women b-ballers some love as always and continue a TransGriot tradition for the third consecutive year in selecting an NCAA women's tournament bracket.

The UConn women's basketball juggernaut has won 72 consecutive games since they were last beaten in the semifinals of the 2008 NCAA tournament in Tampa by Stanford.

They are only six wins away from becoming the first women's team to complete back to back unbeaten NCAA title runs.

Will UConn be crowned the undefeated queens of NCAA women's basketball in San Antonio? Will there be another Tennessee vs Connecticut hatefest in this tournament? Or will someone pull off the upset for the ages?

I've correctly picked the women's final four teams twice and the eventual champion once in 2008 and 2009. Even though I saw most of their games last year and they had a phenomenal player in Angel McCoughtry, I did miss on Louisville playing in the title game against UConn when I picked Oklahoma.

Let's see if I can make it three for three in picking the NCAA women's Final Four teams that will eventually make it to San Antonio.


Dayton Region

1st Round
Connecticut, Temple, Virginia, Iowa State, St. John's, Florida State, Middle Tennessee, Ohio State

Sweet 16
Connecticut, Iowa State, Florida State, Ohio State

Elite 8
Connecticut, Ohio State

Dayton Region Champion
Connecticut

Memphis Region

1st Round
Tennessee, TCU, Georgetown, Baylor, Texas, W. Virginia, LSU, Duke

Sweet 16
Tennessee, Baylor, W. Virginia, Duke

Elite 8
Tennessee, Duke

Memphis Region Champion
Tennessee

Sacramento Region

1st Round
Stanford, Rutgers, Georgia, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, Xavier, North Carolina, Texas A&M

Sweet 16
Stanford, Georgia, Xavier, Texas A&M

Elite 8
Stanford, Texas A&M

Sacramento Region Champion
Stanford

Kansas City Region

1st Round
Nebraska, UCLA, Michigan State, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Notre Dame

Sweet 16
Nebraska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Notre Dame

Elite 8
Nebraska, Notre Dame

Kansas City Region Champion
Notre Dame


Final Four Teams
Connecticut, Tennessee, Stanford, Notre Dame


Championship Game
Connecticut, Stanford

2010 NCAA Champ
Connecticut

I Don't Have Anything To Be Ashamed Of...But You Do

One of the battles we transwomen constantly wage in order to be our authentic selves is the war against shame and guilt.

A portion of it is an internal struggle we wage in terms of getting over the negative programming of our youth and young adulthood. Another portion of the shame and guilt we battle is from society and people pimping a failed political philosophy.

And most maddening is the shame and guilt coming from the one institution that should be the most supportive of our struggle, the church.

Well, news flash for all you people peddling shame and guilt on one level or another. I don't have anything as a transperson to be ashamed of.

But you do.

All you gay and straight folks who are fighting trans civil rights need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All you people who are hating on me and my transsisters because we go the extra mile to be the best people we can be while being true to our authentic selves need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All you people who have actively participated in visiting violence upon transpeople need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All of you 'religious' people who quote Bible verses out of context and are trying to spin them into an anti-transgender religious doctrine where none exists need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All of you people who claim that I'm not part of the African American community because I transitioned need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

All of you gay and lesbian people who claim we are not part of the GLBT/SGL community need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

And all of you politicians who are working hard to keep transpeople from becoming contributing members of society just so that you can stay in elective office need to be ashamed of yourselves, not me.

It has been a long, hard pothole filled road to get to this point in my life where I love this Phenomenal Transwoman.

I stand tall in the morphed body I inhabit. I express my pride and joy in loving the reflection that stares back at me in the mirror. I revel in the life journey as an estrogen based lifeform and say 'bless them' to the 'christian' people that curse me.

I don't have anything to be ashamed of, but you do.

Application Period Open For Williams Institute Small Grants Program

The Williams Institute advances sexual orientation law and public policy through rigorous, independent research and scholarship, and disseminates it to judges, legislators, policymakers, media and the public. A national think tank at UCLA Law, the Williams Institute produces high quality research with real-world relevance.

The Williams Institute’s Small Research Grants Program is designed to encourage new empirical research focused on the LGBT population. Applicants from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including social sciences like economics, sociology, demography, social psychology, law, and public policy are encouraged to apply.

This initiative is designed to foster sound empirical analyses focused on the LGBT population; and to develop a better understanding of the need for and impact of public policies that affect the LGBT population. Advanced-level graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply. Similarly, more senior scholars interested in expanding their research agenda to include LGBT-related issues are welcome.

Application deadline is April 15, 2010 with the awards being announced by April 30, 2010.

More information about the grants are available here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St Patrick's Day TransGriot readers!

Louisville has a sizable Irish descended population that dates back to the 19th Century. And yes, as Skip Gates' DNA proves, there are some African descended peeps walking around that do have some Irish heritage.

The Irish and Irish for the day will be gathering at all the local Irish-themed restaurants, pubs on Bardstown Road and Fourth Street Live.

I may have to bounce out later and hit Molly Malone's for their fish and chips and Bailey's cheesecake if I can even get in the place today.

So Happy St. Patrick's Day! Make sure you have a designated driver if you decide to partake of mass quantities of green beer and other Irish spirits.

In Africa, A Step Backward On Human Rights

TransGriot Note: From a March 12 op-ed in the Washington Post

by Desmond Tutu

Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity -- or because of their sexual orientation. Nor should anyone be excluded from health care on any of these grounds. In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. We knew this was wrong. Thankfully, the world supported us in our struggle for freedom and dignity.

It is time to stand up against another wrong.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people are part of so many families. They are part of the human family. They are part of God's family. And of course they are part of the African family. But a wave of hate is spreading across my beloved continent. People are again being denied their fundamental rights and freedoms. Men have been falsely charged and imprisoned in Senegal, and health services for these men and their community have suffered. In Malawi, men have been jailed and humiliated for expressing their partnerships with other men. Just this month, mobs in Mtwapa Township, Kenya, attacked men they suspected of being gay. Kenyan religious leaders, I am ashamed to say, threatened an HIV clinic there for providing counseling services to all members of that community, because the clerics wanted gay men excluded.

Uganda's parliament is debating legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment, and more discriminatory legislation has been debated in Rwanda and Burundi.

These are terrible backward steps for human rights in Africa.

Our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters across Africa are living in fear.

And they are living in hiding -- away from care, away from the protection the state should offer to every citizen and away from health care in the AIDS era, when all of us, especially Africans, need access to essential HIV services. That this pandering to intolerance is being done by politicians looking for scapegoats for their failures is not surprising. But it is a great wrong. An even larger offense is that it is being done in the name of God. Show me where Christ said "Love thy fellow man, except for the gay ones." Gay people, too, are made in my God's image. I would never worship a homophobic God.

"But they are sinners," I can hear the preachers and politicians say. "They are choosing a life of sin for which they must be punished." My scientist and medical friends have shared with me a reality that so many gay people have confirmed, I now know it in my heart to be true. No one chooses to be gay. Sexual orientation, like skin color, is another feature of our diversity as a human family. Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? Does God love his dark- or his light-skinned children less? The brave more than the timid? And does any of us know the mind of God so well that we can decide for him who is included, and who is excluded, from the circle of his love?

The wave of hate must stop. Politicians who profit from exploiting this hate, from fanning it, must not be tempted by this easy way to profit from fear and misunderstanding. And my fellow clerics, of all faiths, must stand up for the principles of universal dignity and fellowship. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice


The writer is archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Moni's 2010 NCAA Men's B-Ball Bracket

Well, peeps. I'm still on Clouds 9-10 and 11 along with other University of Houston alumni about the Cougars making the NCAA tournament field for the first time in 18 years.

I shed a tear for North Carolina and UCLA not making the tournament for the first time since 1966.

Psyche.

While we didn't get assigned to the South regional, UH is in the Midwest and have a tough opening round assignment with Maryland.

While I'm hoping my boys go a long way, gotta put sentimentality aside and put on the tournament prognosticator hat.

Unlike President Obama, I didn't pick North Carolina last year to win it but on my 2009 bracket I did have them in my Final Four.

You can peruse my 2007 and 2008 brackets as we see if I can improve on last year's results.

Play In Game
Winthrop

Midwest Region

1st Round
Kansas, UNLV, Michigan State, Maryland, Tennessee, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Ohio State

Sweet 16
Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown, Ohio State

Elite 8
Kansas, Ohio State

Midwest Champion
Kansas

West Region

1st Round
Syracuse, Gonzaga, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Xavier, Pittsburgh, Florida, Kansas State

Sweet 16
Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, Kansas State

Elite 8
Syracuse, Kansas State

West Champion
Syracuse


East Regional

1st Round
Kentucky, Texas, Temple, Marquette, New Mexico, Missouri, West Virginia

Sweet 16
Kentucky, Temple, Marquette, West Virginia

Elite 8
Kentucky, West Virginia

East Champion
Kentucky

South Regional

1st Round
Duke, Louisville, Texas A&M, Siena, Notre Dame, Baylor, Richmond, Villanova

Sweet 16
Louisville, Texas A&M, Baylor, Villanova

Elite 8
Texas A&M, Villanova

South Champion
Villanova


Final Four Teams
Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Villanova

Championship Game
Kansas, Kentucky

2010 NCAA Champion
Kansas