Lucky

Signing up just today is AdorkableJ. I know nothing about him, except that it is an interesting name. Is he adorable? Is he an adorable dork? Both? I hope he tells us!

So those greeters at WalMart have been cast, not hired? Surely then they are cast for their white hair, just as the A&F boys are cast for their white pecs. SAG cards anyone?

It took a lot of googling, but I finally found an Asian greeter at A&E: Does he meet the right image?

A Google on the topic resulted in multiple instances of lawsuits being filed against this company for racism. "In a 2004 lawsuit González v. Abercrombie & Fitch, the company was accused of discriminating against African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and women by preferentially offering floor sales positions (called Brand Representatives or Models) and store management positions to whites and men.[65] The company agreed to a settlement of the class-action suit, which required the company to (1) pay $4 million to African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and women who applied and were not hired or worked in certain store positions, (2) revise its hiring, performance measurement, and promotion policies, (3) revise its internal complaint procedures, (4) appoint a Vice President of Diversity, (5) hire 25 recruiters to seek out minority applicants, (6) discontinue the practice of recruiting employees at primarily white fraternities and sororities, (7) include more minorities in marketing materials, (8) report to a neutral court-appointed monitor twice per year regarding its progress in those areas, and (9) report to the court once per year.[16][18] Now, of course if FourAces is right, they wouldn't have agreed to diddlysquat (sp?) But, even after the agreement above, their face is almost entirely white. Lots of good those 25 recruiters did! Here's a lighter look at A&E: Nude Clothes

I first saw these pics at towleroad.com, a gay blog. There, some commenters note the lack of color, but others ask why A&F should add any color. The latter seem unaware of laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring. How would you like to be a young man who shops at A&F, say, a young Asian man? You've got their products, but they show an ad with the Abercrombie boys and there is not an Asian face in the crowd. Hopefully, the young Asian man will quit shopping there. But no doubt A&F is telling him that he is NOT an Abercrombie boy. In our designer driven society, that is quite the putdown, at least for a young man.

Sure looks like it is going to be a White Christmas!

"no new taxes to pay for it," Staying on topic as far as the no new taxes thing, I got a flyer in the mail from some dipshit state representative. Oh, he's my state rep! He's complaining that the courts have ordered the state prisons to release prisoners due to overcrowding. He wants that stopped. But these same people don't want to pay for more prisons, or for better care, better training for better corrections officers and better parole officers, why even more of them too. Judges salaries are smaller than most experienced lawyers make. There is a whole campaign to reduce pension and health benefits for government employees. Yet when the consequence of that hits home, they just yell and scream. No practical ideas for how to solve the problem of prison overcrowding. No asking themselves why they were so gung ho to put more people in prisons. So,okay then, keep those prisons stuffed to the gills, with bad food, bad conditions, bad healthcare, lazy and corrupt guards (no, not all of them), and gangs that unite in the prison yard and carry out their membership on the streets when they get out. There are no free lunches.

Just take a look at the profile for zipperzone. There we see that zipperzone, who also has my good wishes, last signed on on November 8th. That's two weeks ago. I don't know where the zipper is in his recovery, but he may not be ready to be a daily visitor here. So, zipperzone, if you are lurking, let hitoallusa know that you are okay..if you are, that is. (One scary thought is that after not being here for so long, he may have decided that he can live without us! Horrors!)

Is this the right movie combo for you? Watch the trailer:

Thanks for the education, guys. I have learned enough right here, so I won't need to step inside!

Thanks, guys. You know how discomforting it is to have to give up a trip long-planned. In order to avoid charges for using my credit card in a foreign country, I had the bf take up the offer for a Chase Sapphire card. Their first offer was 35,000 miles to sign up. A week later they offered 50,000 miles. (That's what each Rio ticket cost!)And no foreign currency fees! We were worried that the card wouldn't arrive in time, but it came today, bittersweet it's arrival.

The bf and I spent the weekend trying to fight off a cold, but boy, did we lose the battle. We both woke up this a.m. with a horrible cold. Went to the doc, he says sinusitis and bronchitis too. So, our plans to fly to Rio this week went by the wayside. I hope those saunas stay open!

OZ, you didn't say anything about the posting contest and the trip to New York for theater that the top 3 would get. You must still be working out the details..

Of course I would choose to be gay. I have had a fascinating life and wouldn't trade it for any straight existence. I've met the most interesting people, and have had the opportunity to go to interesting places, where I met more interesting people. My siblings have the wife and kids, and I am sure they like their lives, but I think they might be secretly jealous of the fun I have when they are at home with the kids. Not only that, but I like men, and it helps to be gay when that is the case!

I'm awaiting and awaiting to respond. Soon now, okay...

See Lurkin, you are a powerful guy now that you stopped lurkin! (hint to other lurkers!!!!) BTW, Lookin, where did you get the painting of Daddy? Looks like him!

Would that I could employ this philosophy. I've always found that when I am just myself, I am shyer. But when I am in a role, such as at work, I was much more outgoing and confident. Many a cute guy walked into our office and got personal attention from me, guys I wouldn't have dare approached outside, or at a bar especially. But I am not shy being Lucky, and I hope that others too will not shy from responding to threads and starting them. I sometimes wonder if others would post more if I didn't, but my short term experiments in that direction don't usually succeed. I would have liked for someone else to have been the first to respond to this thread...but I waited awhile and it didn't happen. Should I have waited longer? Perhaps a new poster is an Abercrombie boy by day...

"Maybe just another thing I need to take the plunge and do..." I am always up for a trip to New York!

Great story with the Abercrombie boy. I admire your forwardness with him. I did once put an ad on Craigslist for someone to attend a Padres game with me. I got a nice looking straight guy. He knew his baseball and was thrilled to have such a good seat. But once the game was over, he was gone. I had said in the ad that I was gay and looking for a gay guy to go with, but he had the best response and I am glad that I picked him. And, lurker, is not Lady GaGa a diva for today's youth? Granted, she is not a Broadway star...

I wondered how Google gets away with showing porn pix on regular Google searches. Today a Wall Street Journal columnist takes a look at those long agreements we automatically click "I agree" to. What a shock it is. The WSJ is a subscription paper, both in print and online, so I will quote a couple of paragraphs here under Fair Use: "Now, according to the Amazon.com Conditions of Use, "If you visit or shop at Amazon.com, you accept these conditions." The conditions follow and follow and follow—more than 2,000 words' worth. It's even worse if you choose to do your book reading on an e-reader. Amazon advises that if you're not willing to sign an agreement running north of 2,500 words, "then you may not use the Kindle, any Reading Application, any Digital Content, or the Service." "under Google's Terms of Service you may not use the search engine or gmail or any of the company's other features if "you are not of legal age to form a binding contract with Google." Since, in most states, minors cannot enter into binding contracts, Prof. Kerr points out that "a 17-year-old who conducts a Google search in the course of researching a term paper has likely violated Google's Terms of Service." Given the proliferation of such agreements, who isn't in some trivial violation of a provision at any given moment?" Not that the feds are going to prosecute. But they could... WSJ link

But, MA, lurker is not in New York, so he doesn't have the opportunities that you do. Of course, money is not a factor to add. hehe But Lurker has been to Rio, but not to Broadway. No doubt he would love it, as MA and I do. But I have no problems attending a show alone. The bf only likes musicals, and I love the depth that a play can have. If I took a cute young guy, I might be in a hurry for the show to end! Perhaps Oz will sponsor a theater tour with the 3 guys who post the most in December!

Gay men are stereotyped to be theater lovers, particularly musicals. We are supposed to be fans of Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, and any other diva who sings. Song lyrics tumble in our heads all the time, usually in the shower. I am a gay man, but I know no song lyrics. I have no time for divas. But I love the theater. In New York recently I saw 8 shows in 6 days, not unusual for my trips. Last night we saw what was one of the best productions yet at our local amateur playhouse, The Palm Canyon Theater. They did justice to a performance of The Fantasticks. I liked it better than the show I saw in New York several years ago. A strikingly handsome young man played Matt, a devilishly sexy guy played El Gallo. A young woman with a beautiful voice made her debut as Luisa. Everything came together. All the other actors had their roles down pat and performed with distinction. So, for a theater lover who now lives far from New York, it was a night to remember! Now, if I could just find some guys here who cared about the theater. I did return to the theater forum at Daddy's just to have some fellow-travelers, but even there, I am the one starting many of the threads. At least others do post there. Here, theater news usually falls right off the stage.

Apparently America's children have not been as protected as we all thought- and hoped- they were. The LA Times today has several articles on new scandals, including one at the military school for boys, The Citadel. There it was reported: "In 2007, a teenager alleged to Citadel authorities that [camp counselor] ReVille showed porn to boys, according to the Charleston Post & Courier. CNN reports that no one touched each other during the porn-watching session but that "sexual activity" occurred." LA Times Citadel Further, a convicted child sex offender has a job casting children in movies: Casting Director Boy Scout offender: LA Times Scout Another college scandal, say SFgate.com: Syracuse Coach

I am working at it. Damn sweet tooth keeps getting in the way. The biggest thing to help though is not keeping ice cream in the house!

They may lower them, but only from Tokyo, Taipei, or Hong Kong. You've got to get to Asia on your own.