Frustration

I already voted, but can't help feeling like it makes no difference, when we continue to have so many school shootings and bad news from Israel. Plus, Boko Haram are apparently not going to release the girls after all, and have in fact kidnapped more. What a horrible universe we live in.

Darn

I'm disappointed that NBC cancelled their midseason show Mission Control before it aired. I was looking forward to the reunion of Phil and Lem from Better Off Ted. Too bad.

I heard that Portia de Rossi is a recurring character on Scandal this year, but I've never watched the show before. I'm afraid I won't be able to follow along if I try to start now. But I heard that she'll be playing an RNC chairman, which is funny given how Lindsay Bluth ended up running for office as a Republican.

On the CW, I heard that they're making a TV series based on the Illusionist movie. I never saw the movie myself, but it does seem that the CW is on a trend with magic-themed shows, given their summer series Masters of Illusion and Penn & Teller.

Ups and Downs

Sigh. Early voting starts Monday, but the Voter ID law is back in effect. Too late to change it now I guess. So frustrating.

But at least the Supreme Court blocked parts of the anti-abortion law this week, so clinics can remain open. And there's more marriage equality rulings today.

I also read news that Boko Haram would release the kidnapped girls. That's something at least.

Cristela

This ABC sitcom was actually incredibly funny, and very polished, like it had been airing for years. I hope that all the episodes will be as great as the pilot was. Also I didn't know that Cristela would be set in Dallas until I saw the city skyline, and heard the obligatory references to the Dallas Cowboys. The show could be a live-action King of the Hill, but set in the city rather than in the fictional small town of Arlen. I look forward to more, and hope the show helps people outside of Texas to stop looking down on our state and telling us to secede. No, we don't all conform to the worst stereotypes about Texas; we are a diverse people and more cosmopolitan in the urban areas. There's hope for us, especially in the upcoming election.

I also watched the British movie Pride, not to be confused with an earlier movie of the same name about the coach of an African-American swim team. The British movie is a period drama set in the 1980s about both gay rights and union solidarity. It's quite funny and inspiring, though there are also sad references to the emerging AIDs crisis at the time. Good performances from the cast, and I especially loved to see how strong and genuine the personal friendships became.

Good Surprises

Wow, the Texas voter ID law has been struck down, in time to block it for the November election. That's great news. The ID law was in force during the primaries in the spring, but I'm glad that it's gone now. It was the most restrictive voter ID law in the country.

On TV, I'm glad to hear that Blackish got a full season order. It's quite funny, and the actress who plays Zoey also plays one of the President's daughters on The First Family, with a very similar name. She always seems to play the cool teen daughter. I wonder if The First Family is still being made. All I ever see are repeats of the same dozen or so episodes. I thought more were ordered for syndication. Anyway, Cristela is premiering Friday night, and I hope that will be good too.

Waiting is the Hardest Part

I'm rather stunned that the Supreme Court decided not to hear any same-sex marriage cases. It's good for the gay couples who are now able to marry, but it still leaves a lot of states to continue going slowly through the lower courts. So there's not going to be any federal ruling on marriage equality yet.

I heard that the Obama administration tried to criticize Israel's illegal settlements recently, but Netanyahu won't be shamed into stopping. In fact he tries to shame Washington, and act like "how dare you to speak to us that way?" I don't understand why the US puts up with this arrogance and belligerence. Israel will never listen, until the US imposes some kind of concrete punishment, like cutting off their funding. Why is that never on the table? Palestinians are trying to appeal to the UN now, but it's likely that the US will just veto them again. Why not teach Israel a lesson and vote with the rest of the world for once? I'm so sick of this impasse.