I Knew It Would Get Bad ...

I just didn't know it would get this bad this fast.

CNN: Trump Signs Executive Order to Keep Out 'Radical Islamic Terrorists'
ProPublica: Trump Order Will Block 500,000 Legal US Immigrants From Returning Home
PBS News: Trump Ban Affects All Non-US Citizens, Including Green Card Holders
The New York Times: Trump Bars Citizens and Refugees of 7 Muslim Countries
The Observer: Global Fury as Trump's Ban on Migrants Takes Effect
Aljazeera: World Leaders Condemn Donald Trump's 'Muslim Ban'
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New York Post: Massive Protests at Airports Across US After Trump's Immigrant Ban
ABC News:  US Judge Grants Stay on Deportations Under Trump Immigration Order
CNBC: Judge Blocks US from Deporting Visa holders Detained After Trump's Refugee Order
CNBC: ACLU Mounts Legal Challenge to Trump's Refugee Ban

Photo from Women's March in London, Credit: Reuters/Neil Hall

"Love Is All Around"

TV Land paid tribute to Mary Tyler Moore by erecting this bronze statue of her famous hat toss. It has stood in downtown Minneapolis since 2002, and the internet is filled with photos of happy tourists smiling, posing, tossing their own hats alongside. The plaque reads "Who can turn the world on with her smile?"

I grew up watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show and wanted to be Mary all through my childhood ... Maybe I still wanna be Mary. She was geeky-hip. Always did the right thing, was always kind, always careful not to hurt anyone's feelings, always worked hard, never lied, she had trendy clothes, and she was independent and lived in a cozy apartment. She worked an important job, had her own money, her hair always looked nice. She wore make-up, but not too much. She was afraid, yet unafraid. She never made fun of anyone. She was thin and pretty and smart. Loyal and true. She made the whole world seem like a nice place. She was everything I wanted to be. Everything I still want to be.

I loved her theme song, too. Love Is All Around was written by a man named Sonny Curtis -- the same man who wrote I Fought the Law. I read an article where he said it took him only two hours to write Mary's theme song. He said if he had known how famous it would become, it would have taken him longer to write, because he would have been more nervous.

I miss being the little kid who was mesmerized by Mary Tyler Moore and I'm sad she's gone.

I wish her a peaceful eternity. 

Tracy Chapman

I can't seem to get enough of listening to this woman sing. She has joy and serenity on her face. And she seems to be smiling even when she's not. Her energy is simply too beautiful to describe. You have to see for yourself.

Good Riddance to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

For over 100 years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus has been transforming majestic, stunning, elegant creatures into flinching, helpless entities who balance balls on their noses, juggle bowling pins, stand on one foot, and jump through hoops for the sake of entertaining apathetic humans and lining the pockets of circus owners. Beautiful lions and elephants and bears were never meant to be captured and held in cages or be poked with sticks and zapped with stun guns while performing before crowds of noisy, cheering humans. Elephants were never supposed to wear sequined tiaras and tigers were never meant to walk on balance beams.

I say good riddance to the circus and all that it stands for. Unfortunately, all the animals they have held in captivity and bred for their own financial gain cannot be released into the wild, but, instead, will be held in animal conservation areas holding pens created by the circus until they eventually find peace and tranquility in their sad lives by dying in captivity.

There are plenty of options for animal-free circuses, people just have to seek them out. Be more responsible to the world and its creatures. I say don't ever buy a ticket to a circus with animals. (Or a zoo ... fuck zoos, too).

Look at the faces of these animals, then decide if animal entertainment is worthy of condoning.

Sad Elephants. Photot credit Bill Sikes/AP

Sad Tigers. Photo credit chensiyuan/Wikipedia

Sad bear. Photo credit Getty Images/abc news