...cause the vandals stole the handle.

A group of graffiti artists (BlakCollectiv), led by Kalkidan Assefa, created an impressive, and legal, mural during Ottawa's Pride Week honoring transgender women of color who had been murdered during the past year.

On Wednesday night an unknown person or group who were offended by the memorial spray painted over much of the mural and added these sentiments:

RACIST BULLS--T

ALL COLORS MATTER

ALL LIVES/NO DOUBLE STANDARD/YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Piedmont bluesman Amos "Bumble Bee Slim" Easton. Enjoy!

"Terrors Reign, The Streets of Chicago Given Over to Howling Mobs of Thieves and Cutthroats."
-Chicago Times headline, 1877

Ironic. Yesterday I wrote an essay about some enlightened parents. Today, I am horrified by some parental behavior.

Shivy is not currently using a last name. He probably did use when when he was a student at Cal Berkeley. But it is common in India for people to use only one name.

Anyway Shivy was born in India but has lived in the US since he was three.Thus he had an Indian passport and a green card. Emphasis on the "had."

Shivy's family has made a habit out of traveling to India to visit with family during the summer. They did so again this year, but had to trick Shivy into joining them. They told him his grandmother was very ill.

What started this whole thing seems to be that Shivy cut his hair. This freaked out his mother and caused a huge argument.

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago bluesman J.B. Lenoir. Enjoy!

On June 24, 1982, four bank examiners from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City walked into the rear of a small shopping mall in Oklahoma City.
This unlikely location marks the start of a series of events that nearly brought us to the brink of a global economic collapse and a second Great Depression.

Liv Hnilicka is a Minneapolis waitress. She shared a story on Facebook on Sunday that has gone viral.

This afternoon I was at my waitressing job on a beautiful early fall afternoon. Two parents and their young daughter came in; the tall burly dad adorably scratching his back on the door as they walked in. As I was filling the water station, he came up to me and said, "My daughter just asked if you were a boy or a girl. I didn't want to speak for you so would you like to talk to her?" I nervously said yes and walked to their table. "Hi, I like your hair ribbon," I said. "I heard you asked if I was a boy or girl. I think the important thing to remember is that everyone can be anything they want to be in this world. And it's also important to try to be the best selves we can be for our family and friends. And even to strangers. So to answer your question, I was told that I was a boy when I was little and now I live my adult life as a girl. It sounds complicated but it's actually pretty simple. Do you have any questions for me?" She looked at me smiling and simply said, "Nope!"

I walked away from the table feeling really good about parents intentionally engaging their children about possibly difficult topics. And showing that giving people the power to voice their truths in this complicated world is beautiful and healing.

Way to go, mom and dads out there making space for transfolks/gnc people like me. ❤

(Also I made this post public in case you want to share it with parents you may know.)

--Liv Hnilicka

General Austin's testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week about the condition of our War against ISIS was so bad that at least one Senator wondered if he was pulling her leg.

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features "The Philosopher of Soul," Johnnie Taylor. Enjoy!

Now that Pope Francis is on American soil (question: Is the Popemobile considered baggage?), we can turn our attention to the exploding heads on the right (both Vatican and American, from all indications, over the guest list for tomorrow's White House visit.

To put everything in proper context, we should note that there are about 15,000 names on that guest list, so it's not like any one of them is going to spend significant time alone with Francis...or even get close to him, let alone speak to him.

But that's not stopping folks like Mike Huckabee from tweeting:

Classless decision by @POTUS to transform @Pontifex visit into a politicized cattle call is an insult to millions of Catholics.

The man who has asserted that he would have been a pervert if transgender people around when he was young, is especially concerned about the invitations to Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, transgender activist Mateo Williamson, and former Nun on the Bus, Sister Simone Campbell.

My attention, of course, is on Mateo Williamson, a former leader of the transgender caucus within Dignity USA.

The Vatican’s disapproval of my presence at the ceremony speaks to the necessity for continued dialogue between transgender Catholics and the church hierarchy.

This is really not so much of a political statement as it is the reality that there are so many LGBT Catholics and family members of LGBT people who would really benefit from this message coming from the White House.

--Williamson