Earlier this week I wrote about a marquee being erected in Eaton Square. On Wednesday I discovered that one of the events for London Fashion Week was being held in that marquee. Coacher were everywhere with the “London Fashion Week” logo on the side. Presumably people are ferried from catwalk to catwalk.

Today there is no trace of the marquee at all. Sic transit gloria mundi…

I just received a phone call from the brother involved, and he apologised for the joke he told. I wasn’t fishing for an apology when I emailed the senior brethren to mention it, but one of them took it upon himself to call the brother involved, give him my mobile number, and encourage him to apologise.

commented that he wasn’t as offended as I was at the joke. I think that the reason I was offended was indeed the fact that the stereotypical gay man was only important as the butt of the joke. Yes, many of us like to suck dick. However, reducing me and the likes of me to a mere fellatio-machine doesn’t make me feel very good. This is also true of misogynistic jokes.

After-dinner humour is enormously difficult to do without offense, but it can be done, and successful after-dinner speakers and toastmasters know how to make people laugh without offending them gratuitously.

So, we are on the square again, thank TGAOTU.

As many of you know, I am a Freemason. Last night we had a meeting at which we passed a brother to the second degree (details not important to this journal entry).

After each meeting we have dinner, which is accompanied by toasts. There is traditionally a toast to guests (if any), and we had three guests last night. The brother who gave the toast ended with a joke that was homophobic.

I am out to most of the lodge, but not all–mainly because, like straight men, I don’t need to advertise my sexuality to all and sundry nor do I want people to assume one thing or another. I just don’t mention it unless it comes up in conversation.

At the last meeting, another brother made a homophobic remark in my presence, which made me quite annoyed. So there is an institutional problem.

My dilemma is: what to do?

I don’t want to make a public statement to everyone declaring my sexuality. For one thing, as additional brothers join, I’d have to do it all over again and I don’t want to have to come out every time someone is initiated: “Hi, Brother So-and-So, I’m Brother Chris, the gay Freemason.” And, of course, it’s not practical to come out to each guest every meeting: that would just be silly.

On the other hand, I’m tired of having to sit at a dinner and listen to someone tell homophobic jokes or make homophobic remarks.

Here’s the joke, by the way, just for your “delectation”:

A man came into a bar carrying a small alligator under his arm. He said to the bartender: “I’ll bet you a drink that I can put my manhood in this alligator’s mouth and he won’t harm it.” The bartender said, “Sure, go ahead.” The man took out his willy, put it in the alligator’s mouth, and its jaws closed very very gently onto it. The man took a beer bottle and hit the alligator on the head, at which it slowly opened its mouth and released the man’s willy. The bartender said, “Wow! That’s something! What’ll you drink?”

The man repeated this several times, putting his willy in the alligator’s mouth, then hitting the alligator’s head with a beer bottle to make him release it. He won some free liquor out of it. As the evening was drawing on, a gay man in the bar came over and said to the alligator’s proud owner: “Can I try that?” The man said, “Sure.” The gay man said, “Please, promise me you won’t hit me on the head with the beer bottle.”

My inclination is to email some of the past masters who are aware of my sexuality and ask their advice on how best to handle this. The man who told the joke is the Worshipful Master’s brother-in-law (on top of everything else). I do hope that I can come to some way to keep on the square and on the level, and ensure that humour at Lodge dinners is funny but not hurtful.

By the way, as most dinners are stag, the opportunity for misogynistic jokes always presents itself, and I’d be unhappy about those as well.

I’ll keep everyone posted on this one.

Update: See the following entry for the resolution to the dilemma, happily.

For the graphic designers, 1950’s enthusiasts, and fontheads amongst you, this website is for you. Beware, though; you may suddenly get a craving to grab a burger and shake at the local hangout and then catch a drive-in movie with your main squeeze in a dark corner of the lot.

“…some people really love being able to be in a place that doesn’t snicker when they claim to be poets.”

I wish we were all in places where people didn’t snicker at us for any reason at all. Thanks for a bright start to my day.

I can’t say I agree with all this person’s choices, but there are interesting before and after pictures of logos that were either improved or flushed down the loo. See them all here

…it’s coming up in two days, so be forewarned.

Many happy returns of the day.

My mother, when asked whether she could cook something special for one or another of the family, would respond: “What do you think this is, a hotel?”

Well, this couple have decided that, indeed, their home is a hotel.

On CNN.com, I saw:

My first thought was “So they’re sending seals into space? Something to do with juggling beachballs in zero-G? And why are they leaking, and from where?”

Yesterday (September 18) was the first anniversary of my job at the Indian outsourcing consultancy. Those who have been reading for a while will remember my joy at finally being employed again.

Well, my joy was relatively short-lived. Only now is there a great likelihood of my actually going on-site to do some work. I have spent 1/55th (that’s about 1.8%) of my life doing almost absolutely nothing.

I haven’t been successful in the three different efforts I’ve made to change jobs.

It’s depressing.

I shall comfort myself with thinking that something better is just around the corner.

This article shows that when you’re in a chatroom, you should be careful to whom you talk and even more careful of whom you meet.

Last year I printed a link to Beloit College’s Mindset List, 2010 edition. Here’s the 2011 edition, hot off the presses.

I have now figured out why people don’t look me in the eye when we pass on the pavement. They’re looking at my bow tie. As a woman passed me this morning, she looked at my face, then her eyes dropped down to my neck and stayed there. I now know what buxom ladies complain about.

The pet suitcase season is in full swing. I had to dodge three or four this morning. Why can’t people gauge where they are when carrying or pulling large suitcases?

A huge marquee is being erected in the south portion of Eaton Square Gardens. There are even posh portable toilets at the west end of it.

A while back a Christian lady who worked for BA was dismissed for refusing to remove a cross which hung from a chain around her neck. Now another religious lady, this time a Hindu, has been dismissed from a catering company based at Heathrow Airport for refusing to remove her nose stud. This is allegedly on health and safety grounds.

I wonder whether these geniuses in HR and management ever read the newspapers, listen to the radio news, or watch TV news.

I’m also wondering how this lady’s nose stud could possibly contaminate the food with which she works. Enquiring minds, in this case, definitely do not want to know.

Friday was uneventful. HWMBO had to go to a stag party for one of his co-workers, and he wasn’t due home until after 11 pm. No news of Friday then, except that he did return and hadn’t overindulged. His other co-workers stayed out until 5 am Saturday, in true British style.

Saturday was the first day of the Thames Festival weekend, and we decided to go to lunch at Southwark Bridge. The bridge itself was turned into a kind of funfair, with stalls selling various types of food, some entertainment on the upriver side, and tables to eat. Part of it was covered with sand and part was covered with artificial turf. HWMBO had a seafood noodle dish that he said was just average, and I had a beefburger with cheese (

I suppose that the squeamish might want to skip this one, as it’s a nightmare to think about, but this guy is lucky to be alive.

…for being the most clued-in guys at their school. They’ll go far.

I suppose that two might be better than one; however, when you go for the third perhaps it is best to stop.

Update: It does remind one of the limerick about Mr. Locke:

There was a young fellow named Locke
Who was blessed with a two-headed cock.
When he fondled the thing,
It would rise up and sing
An antiphonal chorus by Bach.

The assignment with the big investment bank has come through; the official word will be in on Monday, according to the client manager. The first move in this project will be a trip to New York for me. The tentative schedule is 24-28 September, Monday through Friday, with possible arrival on 23rd September and departure on 28th.

So, New York lj friends, you going to be around that week? Anyone want to suggest a restaurant for dinner (no fish, please, but vegetarian or carnivorous is OK for me)? I would love to meet y’all.

Comment on this entry and we can get cracking.

I stripped out all the HTML because it was ugly. Here’s the list that it gave me:

1. Communications Specialist
2. Professor
3. Public Policy Analyst
4. Database Developer
5. Video Game Developer
6. Personal Financial Planner
7. Business Systems Analyst
8. Computer Programmer
9. Lobbyist
10. Multimedia Developer
11. Political Aide
12. Librarian
13. ESL Teacher
14. Webmaster
15. Computer Trainer
16. Foreign Language Instructor
17. Computer Network Specialist
18. Desktop Publisher
19. Researcher
20. Web Developer
21. Office Manager
22. Technical Writer
23. Administrative Assistant
24. Market Research Analyst
25. Stenographer
26. Mediator
27. Economist
28. Historian
29. Criminologist
30. Website Designer
31. Health Records Professional
32. Editor
33. Human Resources Specialist
34. Archivist
35. GIS Specialist
36. Casting Director
37. Addictions Counselor
38. Research Analyst (Financial)
39. Corporate Trainer
40. Activist

I note with sadness that Software Tester isn’t there, and that “Lobbyist” is at number 9. Luckily, this is just a meme and not Real Life!

…and many happy returns of the day!

I went to my fifth class last night. The leader was a bit down, for personal reasons, but the class itself was perky and very lively, as usual. He gave me lots of praise, saying that I had improved markedly since I started.

Of course, this makes me feel good, but, more importantly, I think it has changed my health a bit for the better. My feet feel better, I think I’ve lost some weight, and I feel perkier. There are some pains involved (especially a few days after the class) but that’s to be expected in this quickly-elderly body of mine.

I will continue to go on Wednesdays, and try to get to the Saturday classes once or twice a month. Continuous updates as appropriate.

When I’m in the Victoria office, I usually walk to Victoria Place for lunch (jacket potato). Today’s walk was not without interest.

First, after getting some cash, I walked down Chester Street towards Victoria. A woman, about 35 years old, stick-thin, was locking her front door while her (driver/butler?) was loading a suitcase into her car. A woman of a certain age was walking by, and I heard this exchange:

Woman of a Certain Age (WCA): Good morning, dear. Are you going any place nice?
Stick-thin woman: St. Tropez.
WCA: Oh, that’s lovely.

I was out of earshot by this time, but this is the neighbourhood in which I work.

At Eaton Gardens, there was a drunk sitting on the ground leaning on the fence, bottle at the ready and a puddle of pee a few feet away. Again, this is my work neighbourhood.

At Chester Square, the police guard at Margaret Thatcher’s pad was pacing with his rifle. What a job, guarding Margaret Thatcher, Milk-Snatcher. This week’s If… comic in thegrauniad G2 resurrects the old battleaxe and it’s quite funny.

Yet again, I had to dodge multiple unfortunates with pet suitcases, none of whom had the foggiest idea of their location or destination.

Victoria Place has plasma screens all over. A few weeks ago, they had annoying little blurbs every 30 seconds or so extolling the virtues of eating there if you’re hungry, drinking there if you’re thirsty, and the like. All these have disappeared. In their place has appeared innumerable music videos. Blurgh. The jacket potato with cottage cheese and chives was exceptionally good this noon–why, I can’t tell you. The potato skin wasn’t dry and burnt, but moist and lovely.

On the way back I passed a nursery school on Eccleston Street. The teachers/minders/keepers/guards were herding the little dears into the school before turning the darlings over to their childminders for the afternoon. Each child had an electric blue uniform with a white straw boater hat on top. It looked like some surreal midget Swiss Guard troop were going into the school.

London adventures.

…Marriage is a Biblical institution, according to this website. Be sure to click on “Home” to see the list of brides. I do hope this is a spoof…

Matt calls his buddy Marty the horse rancher, and says he’s sending a friend over to look at a horse.

Marty asks “How will I recognize him?”

That’s easy, he’s a midget with a speech impediment.”

So, the midget shows up, and Marty asks him if he’s looking for a male or female horse. “A female horth.”

So he shows him a prized filly. “Nith lookin horth. Can I thee her eyeth?”

Marty picks up the midget and he gives the horse’s eyes the once over. “Nith eyeth, can I thee her earzth”?

So he pick s the little fella up again, and shows him the horse’s ears. “Nith earzth, can I see her mouf?”

The rancher is gettin’ pretty ticked off by now, but he picks him up again and shows him the horse’s mouth. “Nice mouf, can I see her twat?”

Furious at this point, the rancher grabs him under his arms and rams the midget’s head as far as he can up the horse’s twat, pulls him out and slams him on the ground.

The midget gets up, sputtering and coughing. “Perhapth I should rephwase that; Can I thee her wun awound a widdle bit?”

A wonderful bird is the Yex!
It’s got one big head on two necks.
It sees all around it–
Many things that astound it–
And numerous things that perplex.

First two lines from here, last three lines from my Red Brain.

…this T-shirt is called “Spoilt”, for good reason.

Your Brain is Red

Of all the brain types, yours is the most impulsive. If you think it, you do it. And you can get the bug to pursue almost any passion. Your thoughts are big and bold. Your mind has no inhibitions. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about love, your dreams, and distant places.

I always thought they were grey…

St. Paul said that it is better to marry than to burn with desire. Would that this couple had paid him heed.

…is here. Watch with caution: don’t be drinking any coffee while watching.

I am a member in an email forum of Singapore lesbian and gay people and their friends. Recently there was a question posed there: are companies pro-gay or anti-gay. Rather than post a very lengthy reply there, I thought I’d post it in my blog and refer people there if they were interested.

I think that corporations are probably neither anti-gay or pro-gay. They are pro-profit. What this means in practice is that corporations will take positions on a range of issues that best advance their profits.

Reasons for being pro-gay are:

— Creative staff members who are gay feel supported and continue to work for the company;
— Customers who are gay feel that the company is in tune with their own feelings and aspirations and support the company with their custom.

The corollary to this is that companies who wish to hire and retain people want to exist in environments where the greatest range of people feel supported and empowered. A place where a whole wodge of people (often very creative) do not feel supported and empowered is not a place where such companies wish to do business.

Now, translating that to companies actively lobbying for changes in places where they do business is difficult. In my time here in the United Kingdom, the age of consent has been lowered; the laws around public and private sexual activity have been regularised, made consistent, and applied fairly; discrimination in provision of services has been made illegal; and civil partnerships for same-sex partners have been made legal. I have not seen any public lobbying by corporations on any of these issues except for the provision of services, and that was mostly by religious and religiously-oriented small businesses that wanted to continue to discriminate, along with religious denominations who felt it was discriminatory to force them to provide services such as adoption to same-sex couples.

Large organisations crave a consistent and predictable legal and political climate in which to do business. As far as sexual conduct or orientation is concerned, as long as it is legal and does not intrude into the workplace, corporations are normally neutral toward it. More upset in the workplace has come from male executives bonking their way through the typing pool, rather than from gay relationships or sexual activity–this is natural, seeing as most people are straight. There is more publicity from the gay relationship in the work environment situation (viz Lord Browne, former Chairman of BP, having to resign because he lied about his relationship with his male lover who had been a rentboy–but most of this was about his fibbing on the subject, rather than his liking men) mostly because of its "shock value" to many straight people and thus the media wanting to sell newspapers talk it up.

I see Singapore’s government as wanting to attract business to the Southeast Asian area in general and Singapore in particular. Their attitude of keeping laws (377a) in force, but not actively enforcing them, is consistent with that. Their position is that as long as everyone stays in the closet, Singapore is a good place for everyone, including gays, to do business.

Businesses who are tempted to locate in Singapore and which have policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation may have some difficulties there. Those which give benefits to same-sex partners may find that they cannot do that in Singapore. Companies that pay for relocation of spouses when an employee is transferred will find that more difficult in the case of same-sex spouses, as there is no provision in Singapore law for a same-sex partner to come in and live there as a spouse of someone with a work permit. Other countries in the area may find that they can exploit this by making it easier for such spouses to accompany transferred employees (I would think Thailand is the most likely to do this in the area) and thus siphon some businesses away from Singapore.

The flurry of worldwide publicity around IndigNation will probably have given them some pause. The publicity has exposed the soft underbelly of the government’s position in that, while they prohibited various events, these events went on anyway. So the government gathered publicity that was, at the very least, embarrassing and at worst unfavourable, and yet did not succeed in effectively stopping any of the events. Companies that wish to set up or continue operations in Singapore may wonder whether they can transfer their current lesbian and gay employees there and retain them.

The current publicity around the RI teacher’s coming out is somewhat confined to Singapore and those of us who follow Singapore news from afar. However, if he is forced to resign or is sacked, (God forbid this!) then it will be likely to engender some unease in the worldwide academic community. The recent actions of the University of NSW and Warwick University in withdrawing from operations in Singapore will be reinforced and confirmed.

I suppose "Watch this space!" is a good motto to go on with. Alex, miak, and many other brave souls are slowly but surely changing Singapore from within.

I assumed that +Tom Butler, my bishop, would be talking about 9/11. However, he talked about the Madeleine McCann case. I was a bit stumped.

So tonight, at the end of the Business Committee meeting, I asked him why Madeleine and not 9/11. He said, “Well, I wrote one on 9/11, but at 5 to midnight yesterday I got a call from the producer saying that they hadn’t done a Thought on Madeleine and, as it’s hot news at the moment, I had to talk about that.” You can read it here, and I was very touched by it. But I think the producer made a bad call.

+Tom offered to send me the original 9/11 Thought, and I think I’ll take him up on that.

Got a call from the recruiter today. She said that technically my skills were right, and the first three people who interviewed me liked me, but they didn’t think that the team personality and my personality were compatible.

OMGWTF??

I got along well with the Production Manager, the HR Manager, and the COO. After two hours of second interview, they brought on a guy named Francisco who was a bit out of sorts (perhaps he’d gotten out of the wrong side of the bed that day) and I suspect that he (he’s their webmaster, ferfuxake! Not even in my line of work!) somehow influenced their decision.

The recruiter didn’t help by then telling me what a difficult place that is for them to get anyone into…they had one guy who was interviewed by 8 people, then was offered a job and turned it down. The company (she said) was a bit immature, trying to become a big company but using small-company methods and not succeeding. It’s not a good idea to run down the company that you sent me to twice to interview.

Anyway, have gotten to the second recruiter and he has sent my CV along to a law firm who is looking for a QA manager. Oh, well, back to square one.

Those of you who are of the praying persuasion, please spare me one. Thanks!

…it’s surreal! Watch it while you can.

You may remember this link, which led to a blog telling of a courageous Singapore teacher’s coming out to his students and colleagues. The Singapore Ministry of Education and the school have forced Mr. Fong to take down his blog. You can read about it here (and the blog entry is on page 2 of the link).

I have discovered that I am only two degress of separation from Mr. Fong, as he was the first boyfriend of an acquaintance of mine in Singapore.

…but the children in this video are lucky: they just ride to school. Thanks to for the heads-up.

This morning’s radio brought the news that the EU has given up on insisting that the United Kingdom give up Imperial measures. Previously, the EU had required that all measures in the UK should be metricised by 2010. Now, the industry commissioner has said that the “great British pint, of milk or beer or cider” as well as the mile and the pound and ounce, will no longer have to be jettisoned, and all decisions about their future will be left up to the British government.

Two-edged sword here. Already British industries that export are likely to use metric measures predominantly, as their principal markets use them. However, there have been “metric martyrs” here, who have been prosecuted for selling bananas by the pound rather than the kilo. If the British government relaxes the rules put forth so far, it will seen as though it is caving in to the anti-Europeans among us. If it does not, then the great unwashed here will say that the government is not taking advantage of the opportunity to emphasize our Britishness.

Make hay by the pound or kilo while the sun shines (as it is doing right at this moment here in London).

Dame Anita Roddick has died of a massive stroke; she was the founder of The Body Shop, a mecca for non-animal-tested cosmetics for many years. I admired her courage in the face of having contracted hepatitis C through a blood transfusion, and think that the Body Shop products that I use (deodorant, in a pump-aerosol bottle, and after-shave balm) are first-rate, and the fact that they are ethically produced without being tested on animals is a plus.

Thought for the Day this morning was not on 9/11; it was on the Madeleine McCann continuing story, and my bishop, Tom Butler, gave it. Unfortunately, the announcer introduced him as “the Reverend Tom Butler” rather than as “the Right Reverend”, and this, for some unknown reason, galls me. I get very exercised over news reporters and announcers who do not get such minutiae correct. If they can’t get the small things right, what about the great ones? Bishop Butler told a story that was told to him by a vicar when Butler was a curate years ago. The vicar had taken his parish on an outing to the ocean, and a little girl was lost while on the outing and the coach had to return without her. The girl was never found. He compared this with the Madeleine McCann story, and prepares us for the eventuality that Madeleine’s fate may never be known.

After my usual jacket potato, I ambled into Boots and bought various things, then dropped into Body Shop for deodorant and shave balm. The minion showed me some sort of vanity case, and said, “If you spend

…comes from Atlanta, where a slave^Wminion of McDonald’s isn’t lovin’ it, as she is charged with oversalting the meat. Unfortunately for her, the customer was a peace officer.

It seems that that confection greatly prized by Singaporeans and many people in other places may be under threat as Krispy Kreme struggles to restructure. If they don’t get their act together soon, they may never reach Singapore.

Friday evening we decided to meet in central London and go out to dinner. I told HWMBO that anything (except fish) was OK with me, and we decided after much toing-and-froing that a burger restaurant, Hamburger Union, in Soho, was our destination. What a disappointment. Since the last time we were there, the burgers have become smaller and less tasty and the buns are much less appetising. We shared one salad and one portion of fries. Probably too much information, I suppose, but if you are in London and want a burger, Ultimate Burger is much better than Hamburger Union, in our considered opinion.

On Saturday we decided to go to Tate Modern for the Helio Oiticica exhibition. Luckily, we had already seen the Dali exhibition, because Sunday was its last day and it was absolutely mobbed to the gills. As members we would still have jumped the queue, but who wants to see an exhibit along with 1000 tourists who like nothing better than rubbernecking.

I wasn’t very impressed with the Oiticica, I fear. After exhibits, HWMBO and I give it points out of 10, and he gave it 5-1/2, but I was closer to 4. First, I’d never heard of him. Second he was fond of colour (so am I), but he was very monochromatic in each work, with only one or two at most colours represented.

We ended up at Starbucks, and then walked home. Nice to be within walking distance of so much in London.

On Sunday I attended St. Matthew’s. The Rector has decided not to talk to me unless it’s absolutely unavoidable. In one way, this is good as I don’t have to put up with his inanities. In another way, it puts me in a tight spot as tensions run high. I suspect that he has twigged that I spoke with the Archdeacon. I don’t know who has spilled the beans, certainly not the Archdeacon. In any case, we are at a stand-off. I’ve asked not to be put on the rota for altar duty more than once every two months. When I asked the churchwarden in charge of the rota to do this, she said, “There are only three of you so what can I do?” I told her, “Find some people who get along with Neil (the Rector) to train to be on the altar.” She laughed out loud and said, “Where would I find people like that?” We are all cynical and, I fear, will remain so until the leadership situation is sorted out.

Sunday evening I went to the commissioning of the new Area Dean, Andrew Dodd, at St. Mary’s Newington. It’s the old “cardinal” parish of the Elephant and Castle, from which most of St. Matthew’s was split in the 19th Century. Their building was destroyed by our German friends during World War II with the exception of the bell tower, which still stands in front of the 1950’s unfortunateness that is their current church building.

The interior is very spare, with a high altar and baldachino with, more to the point, a tabernacle suspended from the top of the baldachino by a cord. When it is required, the tabernacle is lowered by an acolyte so that the priest can access the sacrament. Outwardly, it looks like a crown with a curtain attached to the bottom of it. I must say that it’s one of the more garish church furnishings it’s been my fate to see. They really need to ditch it and attach a tabernacle to the side wall of the sanctuary.

The service was Evening Prayer with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. I think it’s the first time in 40 years that I’ve attended a Benediction, and with the exception of the fact that the Archdeacon wore no cope, only a humeral veil, and Tantum Ergo and O Salutaris Hostia were sung in English rather than Latin, it was exactly the same as the Roman version. One hundred years ago, a vicar could have been jailed for conducting Benediction; how things have changed!

In any case, I read the second lesson, attired in suit with a nice blue bow tie. Many other attendees complimented me on it, and women in particular seem taken with it. However, afterwards, when I encountered St. Matthew’s Rector in the congregation, he said not “Hello”, but “Does it spin around?” I should have said, “Yes, and it seems to attract women, too. Why don’t you try it?” but I didn’t think of that until this morning, sadly.

It’s difficult to be gay and out of the closet in Singapore–all the more so if you are a secondary school teacher. This man, Otto Fong, has done just that in his new blog. It’s syndicated at if you want to add it. Wotta guy!

Oh, and look at the comments: his students love him too.

There is nothing like a mother’s love, as this monkey knows.

When I was a kid, the library was where you went to borrow books and look up things in big reference books. Nowadays, people use it for many different things.

He has 499 days left in office, plus a few hours (as of this writing).

I have been using LochJournal for posting to my LJ for donkey’s years now. The difficulty came when I changed my screen resolution and realised that the front window of LochJournal had a major but in it: it can’t be resized. Thus, the right hand side of the window is cut off, with no scroll bar or Maximise button to use to see what’s over there. The window also gets a bit weird-looking when the screen resolution is changed.

So I’m currently trying Semagic, which is another front-end editor for LJ. So far, it seems to work OK, and I suppose that I will just change. I have considered moving to blogging from my web page, but will need to consider exactly how to do that–I’ve not tried it and the LJ instructions aren’t the clearest.

Update: I forgot to say, you can add tags at the same time as you post, although the tag list you get is a drop-down that only shows the first letter of a tag unless there is only one existing tag with that letter, thus it’s hard to scroll through and select a previous tag unless you’re very familiar with your tags. In addition, you can edit the last entry through the Semagic front end. Neither of these things is possible with LochJournal.

Lately it’s become clear that those who were born in the 1950’s have come centre stage in the world, and are bound to dominate politics for the next ten or fifteen years.

I discovered that General Petraeus, who is going to be reporting on how well the Surge in Iraq is faring, was born one day before me. The profiles of businesspeople and politicians in the newspapers more and more often list people who were born in the 1950’s.

I feel glad that, at last, those who were born in my decade are coming into their own in politics and the highest ranks of business.

However, as I race wildly on toward the age of 55 (in November), I’m constantly aware of approaching infirmity and worse. Oh well, I suppose the alternative is worse.

There have been rants lately in some places saying that it’s hypocritical for gay men or lesbians to tap-dance on Sen. Craig’s political grave (couldn’t resist). Let me try to explain why I don’t believe it is.

The basis of the contract between constituents and their representatives is trust. We elect people whom we then trust to be honest and act in all our interests. Now we know that in fact most representatives are slaves of the special interests and only pay lip service to their constituents when this conflicts with their obligations to the big money people who help them get re-elected. However, being consistent and honest in one’s private life and one’s public life is all-important. If, for example, a senator who has large investments in oil and gas development then votes for legislation that would increase his or her own investment worth, this is not honest and creates a conflict. In practice, nowadays representatives put investments in a blind trust and only get income from it, without knowing what investments his or her trustees have chosen.

Senator Craig voted consistently for legislation that limited lesbian and gay rights. At the same time, he was (according to reports) tap-tap-tapping at the stall doors of many public conveniences. Now the question as to why he denies he’s gay (“men-who-have-sex-with-men” or MSMs often do) is not something I’d care to get into. But it shows a disconnection between the Senator and the truth. In one fundamental area of his life, he does not perceive activities that his family, friends, and the general public would see as homosexual acts to be so. The cognitive dissonance, the interior conflict between what he does and how he votes and what he believes, creates quite a bit of stress and tension, I am certain. On a personal level, this is not conducive to mental balance. On a political level, reasoned debate goes out the window when people do not vote as they act. The religious corollary to this is the Church of England priest who preaches faithfulness within marriage but who is also having an affair with the verger, or the Ted Haggard who preaches against sodomites but who happily pokes his butt in the air for his rentboys to plow.

I suggest that this cognitive dissonance, rather than his MSMness or homosexuality, is what disqualifies him for office.

The question of entrapment is also an interesting one. Did Senator McWidestance commit a crime in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport? No, he did not. Was the policeman justified in charging him with a crime, judging from what he did? No, he was not. Did the end justify the means? Well, a senator who has difficulties with his own psychological makeup and who votes against his own interests certainly needs to consider his or her position, and that’s exactly what he did.

I believe that Sen. Craig voted to convict Bill Clinton of impeachment for lying about his sexual activities with Monica Lewinsky. Is it stretching a point if we were to say that that is exactly what Sen. Craig has been doing for years? Why would President Clinton (on the one hand) be a criminal for doing something that Sen. Craig is doing (lying about his sexual activities)?

So, even though Sen. McWidestance did not commit a crime (in my opinion) in Minneapolis, his entire mode of life and his conduct bring into question his fitness for office. The other two closeted senators of whom I’m aware (both of whom are Republicans), one of whom is in high office in the Senate, will do all they can to ensure that Sen. McWidestance holds to his previous intention and resigns, since his continued presence in public life will threaten to shed light on their own unsavoury activities.

As the Republicans have more seats to defend in 2008 than the Democrats do, it’s likely that some of them will lose and the current precarious Democratic control of the Senate will become less so.

Oh, and if a Democratic politician were to be exposed as a closeted gay man or lesbian but his/her voting record were consonant with his/her sexuality, I would be quite a bit less likely to think that s/he should resign. No cognitive dissonance! However, if s/he voted as the homophobes do, out with him/her! And the only openly-gay Republican in the House of Representatives has a good voting record on lesbian and gay issues and I have no problem with him (other than the fact that he should really be a Democrat).

The consequence of the closet is death to the soul, and sometimes the end of a political career.