So, I have a question…
Yesterday, President Obama named Jeremy Bernard, a gay man, as the White House Social Secretary. Bernard is the first male White House Social Secretary in history, apparently.
On Facebook, one of my older gay acquaintances posts that he “sees this as a positive step.” A mutual friend comments to the effect of well, of course! If she ever were in a position to need a social secretary, of course she would never hire anyone other than a gay man. To which the original poster, a gay man (who was in the closet for a large portion of his life), replied: “lol. It is logical, isn’t it? Who else can be such a great party planner.” (The comment thread then deteriorated into snobby comments attacking a nationally prominent leader of the “family values” crowd who is originally from our area, suggesting he would never attend a White House party now that a gay man was social secretary.)
Isn’t that rather stereotypical? And is the appointment of a gay man to such a stereotypically “gay” job really that great of an advancement for gay rights? Wouldn’t it be more impressive to appoint a gay man as, say, a campaign manager, rather than a job which has historically been filled by a woman?
I’m just puzzled by people who, if questioned, would certainly say that they want to end outdated stereotypes against gay men, and yet themselves perpetuate some of those very same stereotypes.
Rather than…
…clutter up Amba’s fine blog with my nonsense, I may put another Game post or two up over at my place, Fluffy Stuffin! Everyone here is always welcome…check out the Fred and Ginger posts!
Freedom Quantified?
There’s no practical and honest way to organize society around the notion of freedom. The majority has to use other sorts of language to bring the outliers toward the average. Criminals are “punished” or “incarcerated.” The rich are taxed at higher rates under the absurd notion of “giving back” something they didn’t actually “take” in the first place, assuming their activities stimulated the economy and created wealth where there had been none. (Hedge fund billionaires are obvious exceptions.)
It seems to me that envy, not freedom, or even selfishness, is the organizing principle of society. And maybe that’s the only way it can work.
(Dilbert creator Scott Adams)
Job Fair
Only the already employed need apply:
Some companies have even gone as far as posting signs, stating you must have a job just to fill out an application.
Wealth in America
(Via Mother Jones)
Many other interesting charts at the link. (Click on the graphic for larger image)
A Man’s Best Friend
(NOT photo-shopped! Full story at Los Angeles Times)
While I’m at it, this may be worth a gander:
One more for Mighty Pollo….
Yes, I do have a lot of odd ball games…
like this one. PanzerZug, the game of blowing up Nazi trains! Now, “Panzer” means tank, and there aren’t a lot of tanks here…but “Panzer” , as a term, is the Viagra of WWII game ad copy.
(If you seek to impersonate Heinz Guderian for greater than 4 hours, please consult your doctor!)
Indulge an old Gamer, willya?
Here we have my quickly taken video of my old Traveler role playing material….forgive the fuzzy video, I still need to tweak my camera a bit. If I can fix it, I will repost!
Ambiance 