An open letter to Anita Sarkeesian #gamergate
Sarkessian with some of the video games used to research Tropes vs Women in Video Games. “Anita Sarkeesian + Research Materials” by Anita Sarkesian is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Note: I have chosen to include the “gamergate” hashtag with this post. Am I using it correctly? I don’t really know. I don’t have a friggin’ clue. I am not a gamegate scholar. I don’t have the time or inclination. I don’t really care if I’m using it improperly. That’s not what this post is about. IMHO a lot of people are trying to control, define and co-opt the term based on their own bias, point of view and/or agendas. I’m not taking sides in any gamergate wars. Any offense you perceive as you read the following is your own. –Ed.
Dear Ms. Sarkeesian,
May I call you Anita? I hope so. If not, that’s okay, too. Either way, no offense is intended.
I’ll be honest. I look up to you. I think you are a true modern day hero. When I say “hero” I mean that in the grandest sense of the word. You rock.
Wikipedia says that “[a] hero (masculine) or heroine (feminine) refers to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good of all humanity.” Two different words for “hero” based on gender? Isn’t that part of the problem? Whatever. Either way, I believe a “hero” is you.
Continue reading →
Goldman got Sachs
I’d be remiss in my duties as Chief Bellyacher if I failed to address the recent stylish resignation of former Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith.
I will not be remiss in my duties!
With one letter, Mr. Smith achieved hero cult status here in the Abyss and came within a hair’s breadth of dethroning Rob Corddry as being “chiseled from the clay of the Gods.” (Don’t worry, though. Corddry weathered the storm.)
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Sophie Scholl
Sophie Scholl as depicted on a German postage stamp. Credit: Wikipedia.
Sophie Scholl was hero who opposed the Nazi Third Reich during the Second World War.
Sophie was born May 9, 1921, in Forchtenberg, Germany. Her older brother Hans was a member of an organization known as White Rose, which consisted of students from the University of Munich and advocated peaceful and intellectual resistance to Nazi oppression and tyranny.
On February 18, 1943, Sophie was arrested along with her brother Hans at the University of Munich. The Scholls had come to the university with a suitcase containing White Rose leaflets. (The leaflet was sixth in a series written and distributed by the group. The full text of the translated leaflet is at the bottom of this post.)
While students attended classes, Sophie and her brother dropped stacks of the leaflets in hallways for students to find as they exited lecture rooms.
On their way out of the university, they noticed there were still some leaflets remaining in the suitcase. They decided to hurry back and distribute them. They proceeded up the stairs to the top floor near the atrium, where Sophie dramatically flung the leaflets into the air. Continue reading →
Shouts from the Abyss 
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