Category: Steve

Since I'm ranting anyway: Conventions

Whence comes this custom of, “If you will agree to be our guest, you may bring a companion at a special discounted rate.”  What the hell?  Now even Readercon is doing it; I had thought better of Readercon.

This should be part of a longer rant on how to treat guests and guests of honor, which I may get to someday, but for now, this business irritates me.

In general, as Conventions have become more diversified, they have been forced to invite more guests of honor for the same number of members.  It is more or less expected now that there will be a writer, a fan, an artist, a filker, a gamer, a media guest, a science guest, and maybe one or two more.  As a result, what is being offered the guests has generally dropped (with a few notable exceptions).  It is been increasingly common in the last ten or fifteen years for a convention to say, “I’m sorry, but we cannot pay transportation for a companion for you.”  As an Old Time Fhan, this is a little annoying, but it is also understandable.

But to invite someone who is NOT a guest of honor (that is, someone just being offered of free membership), and then not even offer THAT to a companion, well, there are several ways to interpret that and none of them are good.

1. We don’t actually care about you; we care about money.

2. Our financial condition is so desperate that there is a 50-50 chance you’ll show up to find the whole convention has been cancelled.

3. We’re idiots.

Are there other interpretations I’m missing?

Rant: Obama, Reverend Warren, and my friends list

Apparently a number of my friends are hurt, puzzled, angered, offended, or some combination because known gay-bashing Reverend Richard Warren was asked by Obama to give the inuagural invocation.

I don’t know whether to be hurt, puzzled, angered, offended, or some combination by how they’re reacting.

Some of Obama’s appointments include: Ken Salazar for Secretary of the Interior.  He’s a supporter of the Iraq War.  He is a supporter of offshore oil drilling.  He backed continued tax breaks for Exxon-Mobile.  He is generally considered to the right of every Democrat except Lieberman.

Tom Vilsack is Secretary of Agriculture.  His credentials include backing everything that helps major agribusiness corporations at the expense of individual farmers–in particular, favoring ethanol subsidies for major corporations, which has the added bonus of driving up food prices.

The Secretary of Education is Arne Duncan, a proponent of the hated “No Child Left Behind” act, and a booster of privatizing schools, breaking teachers unions, and shutting down “underperforming” schools in low-income areas.

For Defense Secretary we have Robert Gates, the first Pentagon chief in US history to be retained in office when a new party took the White House.  The person leading the charge against personal freedom on behalf of the most hated president in recent history is being retained in office so he can–change, and become someone different?  I doubt it.  A supporter of the Surge, of continuing the Iraq war, and someone who has repeatedly refused to commit to withdrawing troops.  The national security team has been praised by Dick Chaney.  What does that tell us?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who voted for the Iraq War and against gay marriage.

And then there are his financial appointments: a Who’s Who of Goldman-Sachs.

So then: Obama’s agenda, judging from his appointments, seems to be: Continue the attacks on education, drive food prices up while destroying the small farmer, continue the war, continue the attacks on our personal freedom, and continue raping the environment so long as it is in the interest of Wall Street.

And now, NOW, you are upset because a gay-basher is saying a prayer at the inauguration?

Look: if you want to include that in the long list of either What We Can Expect From Obama, or How Obama Betrayed Me, then fine.  But to single out that one item, it feels like I’m being told, “I don’t mind if you take away my freedom, continue invading and torturing around the world, destroy the lives of individuals and the environment so the rich can stay rich, but don’t you DARE mess with the right of affectional preference!”

Someone has priorities screwed up and I don’t think it’s me.