Hurrah for Catherine Specter! This week's version of the PG column Cat's Call manages to avoid being racist or sexist.  She even musters up a little "catty" rant that is mildly amusing if not actually funny.  Otherwise, it was boring as can be. I guess that's the best we can expect. 

Note that this week Cat adroitly defended her advice on premarital tweezing.  I can't wait for her to defend her advice on kowtowing to racism.    She should talk with Jane Little of Mt. Lebanon about complicit silence.

      During the Thursday evening broadcast, KDKA news stepped over the line covering a local fire.  A Trafford fire left 10 people homeless; everyone made it out alive and unharmed. 

But to get the sensational angle, David Highfield  stuck a camera in the face of one victim who was clearly distraught over the deaths of her pet cats not to mention the destruction of her entire home.  Her despair was so sad to watch and not something anyone of us viewers needed to witness directly in order to understand the magnitude of her losses.  I felt like a voyeur and it pisses me off that KDKA violated her anguish. 

Last night at 6 PM, Patrice King-Brown took a few moments to express compassion for the gentleman whose home was vandalized days after a school bus crashed into it.  That's what I like about Patrice -- she's seem cool, collected AND compassionate. 

So why couldn't David Highfield show some of the same restraint and given us some real reporting instead of a voyeuristic show?   Ick.

Last night, we went to see Crash at The Manor in Squirrel Hill.  This is one of your lesbian correspondents stating that Crash deserved the Oscar for Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain.  I loved Brokeback and believe it to be one of the best movies in my 35 years of movie watching.   But Crash resonates through America and was one of the best movies in my 35 years of movie watching.

People are creating a false racism vs homophobia dichotomy.  Both rip apart the heart of this nation of equality and justice for all.  Rather than pitting them against one another, we should take a closer look at their crossover messages. 

I walked out of Crash deeply shaken and contemplating how I identified with the white characters in the movie.  And how I as a lesbian identified with the minority characters.  And I don't have any answers this morning. 

Crash deserved the Oscar.

I'm not a fan of Catherine Specter's alleged advice column in the Post-Gazette.  In fact, I'm secretly convinced she was planted by the Mellon-Scaife contingent to subtly shift PG readers back to "when men were men and girls were girls."  Her advice has mostly been ridiculous and demeaning.

Today, however, she took herself to a new low endorsing silence in the face of overt racism for the sake of self-preservation.  The question stemmed from a renter whose landlord made racist comments about other (african American) tenants.  Her question:

Question:  I don't feel right paying money to someone with those values, but I have a lease. Can you put my mind at ease until I can move out?

Cat's Call: Stay cool, remain friendly with your neighbors, and hightail it outta there when you get the chance.

Apparently, Catty was too busy applying lip gloss to pay attention in history class.  Because guess what?  Silence is complicit endorsement.  This reader wants to feel better for not speaking out against injustice and racism.  She doesn't get a pass from me or any other reasonable person. 

Guess what Catty?  There are LAWS to protect people from racist landlords.  Including retaliation by turning off your heat.  There are resources right here in Pittsburgh that your reader could call if she felt the need ... Fair Housing Partnership which enforces fair housing laws is a good place to start.  So your argument for self-preservation is complete crap.

Catty, this woman wanted to rationalize remaining silent in the face of racism. You had the opportunity to provide a thoughtful answer to educate people on how to respond to overt racism.  You blew it by minimizing the real issue. 

In 2003, PG columnist  Tony Norman wrote this about Ms. Specter "She believes the burden of living a good life means acting generously, even when it's against her best interests."

I don't see it.

Pgh Lesbian Correspondent's Call:  Tony Norman's sabbatical cannot end soon enough. 

In the final strip from the recent gay cowboy thread, Aaron McGruder's Granddad comes to the startling revelation that he can appreciate gay-themed movies and music without turning gay himself!  GASP!  Click on strip to read it. 

Unproclaimed lesbian idol Jodie Foster will be the commencement speaker for the University of Pennsylvania's Class of 2006.  The university will bestow an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree upon Ms. Foster.

My commencement speaker was the CEO of some chemical firm that had financial investments in apartheid South Africa.   :-(

Congratulations to the Penn lesbians!

The Post-Gazette's Scott Mervis faces down Brokeback Mountain's impending dominance of the Oscars ...

With a nod to "Brokeback Mountain," the PG brings you its first-ever gay-cowboy 12-question movie quiz. Because, to no one's surprise, the genre doesn't run deep, our focus here is not on cowboy movies with gay people, but rather, with Oscar-related films with cowboys and/or gay people.

I learned new things about cowboys AND homos.  Click here for the online interactive quiz  

This is especially funny.  One of the good things about Aaron McGruder's satire is not having to add much in the way of commentary.  Click on the cartoon to read the strip.

For proof the PG's inevitable downward spiral, one need look no further than "Just Ask Cat," a misguided attempt to offer advice to Pittsburgh's lost and lovelorn. 

Would-be columnist Catherine Specter dishes out bad advice more often than Joe Grata disses Penndot.

Ms. Specter is caught up in a retro-delusion that with the right pair of pumps and a "you go girl" attitude, the average yinzerette can snare herself a good man and aspire to be like ... her?

In this week's uber dosage of the feminine mystique, Specter advises a career woman how to dress pretty for an after-work date.  Her suggestion?  "Remember, if it's done right, a little primp goes a long way."

In one of my favorite columns, Specter labeled a woman who didn't shave her legs as a "yeti" and took pains to reassure her writer that he isn't shallow  You fell for something that looked and felt one way, and now it's changed.   This inspired a missive to the PG.  

I assume the PG is angling for a Carrie Bradshawesque appeal.  Minus the wit and insight. 

Meanwhile, the well-written and thoughtful teen-directed Help Me Harlan column is relegated to the back pages of the classified section. 

Correspondent's Call:  If you want sassy advice from the PG, read LaMont Jones.  Otherwise, read the City Paper. 

Had dinner with my long-time friend Amy (27 years or so) and her adorable two-year old daughter last weekend.  She informed me that her 80ish grandmother had heard my "Lesbian Correspondent" segments on The Temporary John McIntire Show and was very pleased. 

Apparently, Grammy is a big fan of both McIntire and Lynn Cullen.  Obviously a woman of good taste.

Grammy is down with the lesbians.  She also caught my 10 second interview by WTAE on the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal last fall.  Obviously a woman plugged in.

Rock on Grammy!