2011 UH Cougar Watch-11th Ranked Cougars Facing SMU

The detractors of the University of Houston's unbeaten march to BCS buster status have pointed to their schedule and made the charge 'they haven't played anybody'.  

Hey, UH opened up with a Pac-12 school in UCLA and beat them.  Not our fault they underachieved and you BCS big boys are 'scurred' to schedule us.

In 2009 we started 3-0, knocked off a Number 5 ranked Oklahoma State team which had Dez Bryant in their lineup along with Brandon Weeden, Texas Tech at the Rob and the SEC's Mississippi State in Starkville during their homecoming.week.

The Oklahoma State and Texas Tech games were on national television, and that doesn't get you many invites by the BCS big boys to put you on their schedules when you are a non-AQ conference school quite capable of walking out of their stadiums with a check and a televised win as well.

As a matter of fact Nebraska canceled a home and home series with the Coogs after we beat Oklahoma State   

And as much burnt orange hateraid flows from Austin and the Longhorn Elementary faithful aimed at UH, their beloved Horns will not schedule us in either football or basketball. 


So with the ESPN College GameDay bus in town, Case Keenum finally getting some well deserved Heisman love and the college football media spotlight finally focused on Cullen Blvd, the 10-0 Cougars get an opponent upgrade in the SMU Mustangs.        

UH knocked them off in Dallas last year 45-20 but the stakes are much higher in this year's tilt for UH.  The Cougars are not only seeking to remain unbeaten in their last regular season home game at the Rob and atop the C-USA West Division, but get a step closer to playing in the December 3 C-USA Championship Game and a possible BCS bowl berth.

But they'll have to handle their business against SMU first.    Eat 'em up!

Beckham Calls For End To Racism In Soccer

I'll be rooting against David Beckham and his LA Galaxy teammates when they play my Houston Dynamo in the MLS title game on Sunday but he definitely gets a thumbs up from me for speaking up and speaking out about the long festering problem of racism in international soccer.

'The beautiful game' as it's called has a ugly side in terms of the virulent racism that rears its head in matches.  In some European nations they make monkey sounds or throw bananas at players of African descent.

Even some of the superstar players aren't above using the N-word during a match multiple times to taunt players and it ain't a new problem. 

I remember reading a December 1978 EBONY magazine story about Erwin Kostedde, a German soccer star who was the first African descended player and superstar in the Bundesliga.   The article chronicled his search for his American GI father and there was a paragraph in it that referenced the crowds shouting at him 'Du fauler Neger" (Lazy n----r) when he had the ball taken from him during a match.

A firestorm of criticism has erupted in Britain after FIFA president Sepp Blatter made comments during an interview broadcast on CNN in which he minimized the racism in international soccer and said it should be settled with a handshake.   It also comes as Britain's Premier League is investigating charges that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and Chelsea defender John Terry racially abused black players during league games.

Asked if he thought there was racism on the pitch, Blatter told CNN: 'I would deny it. There is no racism, there is maybe one of the players towards another, he has a word or a gesture which is not the correct one, but also the one who is affected by that.  

'He should say that this is a game. We are in a game, and at the end of the game, we shake hands, and this can happen, because we have worked so hard against racism and discrimination.  I think the whole world is aware of the efforts we are making against racism and discrimination. And on the field of play sometimes you say something that is not very correct, but then at the end of the game, the game is over and you have the next game where you can behave better."

Um Sepp, if racism isn't a problem in football, why are you still running commercials during World Cup and international friendly matches for the Say No To Racism campaign?

The 75 year old Blatter was just reelected to another four year term amidst a corruption scandal and there were calls for his resignation as FIFA president with even British prime minister David Cameron putting him on blast.

He tried to calm the firestorm by appearing in a photo op with Tokyo Sexwale, the South African government minister and anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned at Robben Island, and it only poured gasoline on the controversy.  

But Beckham had this to say when asked about it.
“I think the comments were appalling for a lot of people,” he said. “I don’t think those comments were very good for this game.”   Beckham didn’t call on Blatter to step down from the FIFA presidency as others have.but was adamant about ending racism in soccer.

“I have no power with who goes or who stays within FIFA and I don’t wish to have that,” he said. “But there obviously is and has been racism throughout soccer and in life. I do think especially being around the England team and being around the FA, the FA do a lot of work with kicking racism out of the game.

“I think they have made huge strides in the last 10-15 years. But it’s still there, and it can’t just be swept under the carpet and it can’t just be dealt with just a handshake. … It’s not how racism should be treated. We need to work hard to keep it out of the game and keep it out of life in general.”

Amen Becks.  And good luck in any match you play except when it's against the Dynamo or international ones against Team USA. 

Shut Up Fool Awards-Miss Amazing Philippine Beauties 2011 Edition

This is Finals night for the 9th annual Miss Amazing Philippine Beauties in Manila.   One of the 25 contestants on the stage at the Manila Film Center will walk away with the title, crown and prizes.

Speaking of prizes, time to decide who walks away with being declared this week's winner of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool! Award.  

As usual we have a bumper crop of fools to choose from and we'll start with our group nominations for the GOP and Faux News.  NBA Commissioner David Stern, Michael Jordan, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain,  Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Rep Eric Cantor (R-VA), Dan Savage, Gloria Cain, and Rick Perry.   

For this week's winner I didn't even have to leave the borders of the Lone Star State    It's Lauren Pierce, the former president of the University of Texas College Republicans and secretary (for now) of the Texas College Republicans.  She seems to think it's conservafunny to tweet about assassinating the POTUS mere hours after someone was arrested for taking shots at the White House second floor living quarters.

"Y'all as tempting as it may be, don't shoot Obama. We need him to go down in history as the WORST president we've EVER had! #2012."

Y'all conservafools wish, Lauren.  The failed former Rangers owner living in that Prestonwood cul-de sac in Dallas has that 'Worst POTUS Ever' title on lockdown.   And I wonder if she's related to the previous occupant of the White House since Pierce is the maiden name of GW Bush's mommy?

It says on their website that the College Republican at Texas has been representing conservative values and principles at the University of Texas at Austin since 1950.

Nice to note that the next generation of GOP leadership in the Lone Star State is just as hateful, vanillacentric privileged and ignorantly clueless in representing those conservafool values as the current adult sized versions of Proven Conservative Leadership.

But we'll probably be seeing Ms Pierce in a future Texas GOP election primary or on Fox Noise soon..

Lauren Pierce, shut up fool!

TDOR: Never Forget The Transpeople Who Died

November 20 and the observance of another Transgender Day of Remembrance event will be here before we know it.   Once again we'll be lighting candles and reading the names of the people who lost their lives in the twelve month period between the 2010 event and the one we're having this year.

The TDOR's not only are to memorialize the people we lost, they are for the transpeople who are living.

They are not supposed to be happy-happy joy-joy.   It is a memorial service, not a party or an opportunity to fundraise for your Gay, Inc organizations coffers.   

It is designed so that we never forget the over 400 people who have died as a result of anti-transgender violence. 

70% of the people on the Remembering Our Dead list are persons of color and as you peruse the names of the departed ones we are memorializing this year that pattern sadly continues.

We hope and pray as a worldwide trans community that the inevitable march of human rights for transpeople, facts based scientific knowledge about us, information about our lives, more of us feeling comfortable in our bodies and living our everyday lives will result in the lessening of anti-trans violence directed at us.

But until that day happens, we'll continue to gather at places around the world along with our family, friends and allies.  We'll laugh, cry, sing, pray, and resolve to never forget the transpeople who died..

Congratulations* Massachusetts

The unjust Massachusetts Trans Rights Bill without public accommodations language passed the Massachusetts Legislature Wednesday.  If the bill is signed by Gov. Deval Patrick it will take effect on July 1, 2012.

It's being hailed as a victory for 'equality' and 'fairness' by Gay, Inc.orgs and their apologists.  

Normally when a trans rights bill on a statewide or any level passes I'm ecstatic about it.

But not in this case.  


So why am I not a happy camper about this?  My less than enthusiastic attitude surrounding this bill stems largely from the public accommodations language that was cut out of it.   The other 15 statewide trans rights bills have that vital public accommodations language in it.  

You can bet when GL activists in Massachusetts passed a bill 22 years ago for themselves they damned sure didn't cut the PA language out of it.that covers Rep. Barney Frank, Rachel Maddow and every other GLB person in the commonwealth. . 


Ahem, from the Massachusetts State Legislature website, Section 92A:  

No owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or employee of any place of public accommodation, resort or amusement shall, directly or indirectly, by himself or another, publish, issue, circulate, distribute or display, or cause to be published, issued, circulated, distributed or displayed, in any way, any advertisement, circular, folder, book, pamphlet, written or painted or printed notice or sign, of any kind or description, intended to discriminate against or actually discriminating against persons of any religious sect, creed, class, race, color, denomination, sex, sexual orientation, which shall not include persons whose sexual orientation involves minor children as the sex object, nationality, or because of deafness or blindness, or any physical or mental disability, in the full enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges offered to the general public by such places of public accommodation, resort or amusement.

A place of public accommodation, resort or amusement within the meaning hereof shall be defined as and shall be deemed to include any place, whether licensed or unlicensed, which is open to and accepts or solicits the patronage of the general public and, without limiting the generality of this definition, whether or not it be (1) an inn, tavern, hotel, shelter, roadhouse, motel, trailer camp or resort for transient or permanent guests or patrons seeking housing or lodging, food, drink, entertainment, health, recreation or rest; (2) a carrier, conveyance or elevator for the transportation of persons, whether operated on land, water or in the air, and the stations, terminals and facilities appurtenant thereto; (3) a gas station, garage, retail store or establishment, including those dispensing personal services; (4) a restaurant, bar or eating place, where food, beverages, confections or their derivatives are sold for consumption on or off the premises; (5) a rest room, barber shop, beauty parlor, bathhouse, seashore facilities or swimming pool, except such rest room, bathhouse or seashore facility as may be segregated on the basis of sex; (6) a boardwalk or other public highway; (7) an auditorium, theatre, music hall, meeting place or hall, including the common halls of buildings; (8) a place of public amusement, recreation, sport, exercise or entertainment; (9) a public library, museum or planetarium; or (10) a hospital, dispensary or clinic operating for profit; provided, however, that with regard to the prohibition on sex discrimination, this section shall not apply to a place of exercise for the exclusive use of persons of the same sex which is a bona fide fitness facility established for the sole purpose of promoting and maintaining physical and mental health through physical exercise and instruction, if such facility does not receive funds from a government source, nor to any corporation or entity authorized, created or chartered by federal law for the express purpose of promoting the health, social, educational vocational, and character development of a single sex; provided, further, that with regard to the prohibition of sex discrimination, those establishments which rent rooms on a temporary or permanent basis for the exclusive use of persons of the same sex shall not be considered places of public accommodation and shall not apply to any other part of such an establishment.

Any person who shall violate any provision of this section, or who shall aid in or incite, cause or bring about, in whole or in part, such a violation shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both.

MTPC claims they will push for the missing in civil rights action PA language in 2013, but you had Democratic supermajorities in the Massachusetts House and Senate and a Democratic governor willing to sign a bill in 2011. You should have done so this year with an election looming in 2012 .  But you caved.  

So congratulations* Massachusetts on your no prize winning hollow trans rights victory.  

The truth hurts doesn't it?  This is a bad bill without the public accommodations language in it.  Even the sponsor of it is bothered about it like I am.

From the Rainbow Times:

The measure, however, does not include protections for public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants, restrooms, locker rooms, public buildings and transit, including subway and bus lines.  That omission bothers a lead sponsor of the bill, Representative Carl M. Sciortino, Jr. (D-Medford). But he said, the bill is a step forward  “It makes sure that people who have faced violence and discrimination have legal remedy.”

Yeah, right.  This is moldy civil rights bread that was just given to the Massachusetts trans community. 

Now the Gay, Inc peeps and their trans apologists are attempting to spin the lie that this moldy bread tastes better than the hot,.fresh garlic-buttered civil rights loaf we watched GL activists bake and stuff in their mouths along with the crumbs from it  

This trans rights bill damned sure isn't the equivalent of the one the Massachusetts GL community passed for themselves 22 years ago and they better not even part their lips to try and say it is.   But some people in the Massachusetts trans community are chomping on that moldy civil rights bread you just handed them and proclaiming it's the best they've ever ate as the rest of us in other parts of the country shake our heads.

The question is, without the PA language, what legal remedies will a discriminated against Massachusetts trans person have under the unjust state law if that anti-trans discrimination occurs in a hotel, restaurant, public building, transit, restroom or locker room setting?  


I have the sinking feeling that the trans people who will discover the answer to that question and bear the brunt of that anti-trans PA based discrimination will disproportionately be non-white ones.
.