lazy crocs

A lovely ride on the F train this morning was tainted when I looked down and saw these women wearing these fucking shoes. They're Croc ballerina flats. I did not know Croc had created these monstrosities...

Like, supa lazy.

News Flash: Iraq has gay people!

Well, actually, they're all getting killed. And no one cares.

Really though, that was the first thought I had when I saw this article on the New York Times. I didn't think there weren't gays in Iraq; I don't think I had ever entertained the concept. Actually, I don't think I've ever used homosexuality and Iraq in the same sentence. Oil and water, peanut butter and dill pickles.

It's remarkable that there are Iraqi gays going out to bars, gathering in cafes, walking in the streets with makeup on, wearing their hair long...whatever their methods of expression, it's touching to see these men and women slowly coming out of the woodwork.

But the Iraqi response has been devastating. Possibly 25 total boys and men have been murdered in the past two months alone, on suspicion of homosexuality. The police have only acknowledged six. And no arrests have been made.

Information provided by police and the officials remains as inconsistent as ever. According to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shiite head honcho, gays should be "'punished, in fact, killed.' He added, 'The people should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.'" But another official claims that clerics are, in no way, encouraging anti-gay attacks. Which, once again, reflects the biggest obstacle in the Middle East: they don't want to let us in.

Regardless of official policy, the news I found absolutely horrifying is that the murderers are not just members of Shiite/Sunni death squads, they're often family members. So I guess the thought process goes something like this: my son shames the family by being gay, let's murder him and then never claim his body; let us forget his existence completely.

It's unbelievable and painful to realize this kind of blind, blatant hatred still exists. That, in some cultures, murder is a method of resolution for a community. The last line, a quotation from a young gay Iraqi, broke my heart--

“I don’t care about the militias anymore, because they’re going to kill me anyway — today, tomorrow or the day after...I hate my community and my relatives. If they had their way, the result would be one gunshot.”

To all those men and women, it looks like Iraq is changing, if very slowly. I hope, with all my heart, you can hold on long enough for that day. Respect.

So much respect.

Obamarama

Damn. Obama just doesn't take a break, does he?

At last, at last.

Ahaha, the Beatrice Inn has been shut down and Paul Sevigny--brother of mini-Satan herself, Chloe--owes the City $23,000. I was at Beatrice just a few weeks ago and, my God, I guess recession hit them pretty hard...All the trashy bitches were getting in. Maybe they waited 15 minutes, but they got in. So much for the hipster joint's trademark quasi-exclusivity.

I particularly enjoy the last line. "...[I]t's a tragedy for the entire City of New York, which relies heavily on the Beatrice to each night safely stow away some 125 of its most fucking annoying citizens, so the rest of us don't have to deal with them." Funnily enough, all 125 of them are snorting lines of despair while reading Gawker, right now.

But let's face it. Ain' nobody wants that bitch on these streets.



footnote:
...I'm not sure why I despise Chloe so much. I liked her in American Psycho...Oh. Right. That's the only decent movie she's made and she's spent the rest of her career being a pretty obnoxious faux hipster twat who posed for Uniqlo.