Republicans Fixation On Homophobia

A couple of days ago, there was an opinion piece in the New York Times discussing Republicans fixation on Homophobia. The article says that with words like "grooming" and "predations", Republicans are trafficking in hateful slurs. 

Some of us grew up when stereotypes about gay people were largely negative. How many of us have heard that gay men are child molesters? Lately, "grooming" has become a catchword in anti-gay politics. Someone recently pointed out that those words prey on every parent's worst fear, that all gay people see children as prey. 

Back in 1997, as the education coordinator in our county, I was asked to give an HIV/AIDS presentation to an elementary school in rural Pennsylvania. Unbeknownst to me, prior to the educational workshop the school administration contacted my employer asking if I was gay. They also requested to screen the HIV/AIDS health brochures and video I was going to present to the students. To make a long story short, they basically gutted more than half of our agency HIV/AIDS educational material before the day of the workshop. 

This is 2022. In my opinion, negative assumptions about gays are at an all time high. 

Never Take Life For Granted

It is kind of scary to realize that the subway shooting in Brooklyn today happened in the same train N & R line my family and I just rode a couple of weeks ago.

Always tell your loved ones that you love them, because things can change in the blink of an eye. Never take life for granted, tomorrow is not promised.

COVID Cases Up In Philadelphia, City Officials Will Reinstate Mask Mandate

Every time I read that the government is lifting COVID mandates, I cringe. For the past two years it has been proven time and time again that when the mandates are removed, the COVID numbers go up. 

How does anyone expects this virus to go away, when as soon as the numbers begin to normalize these people cave to pressure and start easing up sanctions?

On Monday, Philadelphia health officials will announce whether the city will reinstate its mask mandate inside of public places. The health commissioner lifted the indoor mask mandate just over a month ago, and right now, COVID-19 cases are back on the rise. 

At this pace, in my opinion, COVID may never go away. 

Invisible People

In all the years taking the subway in New York, this is the first time I got to see the cleaning crew in action.

The MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) contracted workers to help disinfect the NYC subway during the pandemic. 

It is a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. Public transportation cleaning work is usually scheduled to be done overnight. I was surprised to see a grandma cleaning the subway around midday during my visit to Coney Island last Monday. 

As I watched her to scrub away grime,  with so many young people jobless, I couldn't help thinking of why is grandma doing this work in our nation's largest transit system?

Its Ok To Say Gay. Why Does The Republican Party Oppose Gay Rights?

In a national survey, 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide last year. Many LGBTQ young people experience family rejection. School may be the only place where they feel safe to be themselves. 

So what happens when they can't go to their teachers because talking about their identities is "inappropriate" for the classroom? Or they have to worry about teachers outing them to their parents?

Conservatives were wrong on civil rights and women’s rights. Now it’s LGBTQ kids.

Copy and paste from WeAreTeachersdotcom.

And The Moral of the Story Is ....

I hate to admit, but I am in the group of people who always denigrated cell phones as a tool to take photos. Until yesterday.

Visiting NYC was not a photo excursion, but more of a way to celebrate my birthday in one of my favorite cities in the world. The top picture was taken using my cell phone at the top observatory of the Rockefeller Center (Top of the Rock). 

As has always been the case when I visit this location, most of my Nikon DSLR pictures were unusable. On my way to the exit elevator, I took four or five pictures handheld using my cell phone. The images were captured through glass windows. Glass can be one of the hardest things to take photos through.

Out of those images, I blended three pictures and created a panorama image of NYC. These cell phone images look 110% better than those taken by my digital Nikon DSLR. 

The moral of the story is, don't knock it until you've tried it. Let me humbly say that I I have learned a valuable lesson.

A Day Of Celebration

Another year has come and gone! What a difference a year makes. At this time last year I was still working at the plantation; I mean at the health center.

I turned 66 years old today, April 4th. By the time you read this, I will be on my way to pamper myself in New York City. Be advised, I am unplugging from social media until Wednesday evening.

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

These pictures are two of my favorite childhood images!