DesDownunder

Camy, you inspire me, I love your poem, so sensitive. And daring to show the truth we live, Driven with concern for anything, And the dizzying fascination, That leads to satisfaction. Well done.

Dogs think we're gods, but cats think we're staff.

I remember being taught to leave an extra space after a period when I was in (Australian) primary school) ages 5 to 12). However, at around grade 4 our teacher announced that the extra space was no longer needed as they were running short of spaces owing to a shortage of them after WWII. In any case we didn't have typewriters or computer keyboards in those days (1953). Some teachers were intent on maintaining a double space after a period but many of us boys, now in highschool, were seriously embarrassed talking about our teachers' periods and thought that a single space was enough for a single period. In some classes teachers moaned about the breakdown of the very fabric of society, but then they yielded and agreed to a single space. Many of the books that I bought in 1964-70 have double spaces, but as we approach the latter half of the 20th Century single spaces seem to be more frequent. As for the computer age, it seems that the shortage of spaces is matched by the shortage of periods. This will, no doubt, be blamed on The Pill. All of this makes me feel that my run-on sentences are a justified way to avoid the space arguments. As for the periods, being gay has relieved me of the need to ask my boyfriend if he is having one, or two.

I recognised that the Earth was a sphere, and not flat when I was very young, some 70 years ago. I also noted that the Christmas celebrations were a preparation for Christian indoctrination and rejected such superstitions. I should have been called Sheldon. Unfortunately, I never aspired to be a physicist, so my genius had to settle for cats and music. Einstein thought cats and music were two means of refuge from the misery of life, but there our intellects stopped being relative. If only all those conflict-oriented politicians would just take time out to stroke the cat whilst listening to music, we might find it's not impossible to have peace on Earth at last.

I recognised that the Earth was a sphere, and not flat when I was very young, some 70 years ago. I also noted that the Christmas celebrations were a preparation for Christian indoctrination and rejected such superstitions. I should have been called Sheldon. Unfortunately, I never aspired to be a physicist, so my genius had to settle for cats and music. Einstein thought cats and music were two means of refuge from the misery of life, but there our intellects stopped being relative. If only all those conflict-oriented politicians would just take time out to stroke the cat whilst listening to music, we might find it's not impossible to have peace on Earth at last.

We're here to help each other, not to profit from each other's miseries.

How wonderful, I felt like I was looking at, not only the painting, but also the model. bi_janus, you have captured more than just a description of Caravaggio's painting.

I met one of these people and after we finished our getting to know each other routine, he jumped out of bed and asked god for forgiveness as he got dressed. Never saw him again which made me truly happy.

Despair by Desmond Rutherford Stop it! Just stop it. Such bickering and immature behaviour, Belongs in the schoolyard shithole. The least you could do is install a bidet, So that your shitholes are clean, But no, you'd rather play games, With our lives, And the life of our planet. Why do good people even try, To get you crazy, power mad politicians, To seek a way to live together in harmony, Or minimally, in quiet solitude, Where love can flourish, Instead of fascism festering, In baths of communal hatred? So unnecessary, so stupid. Does no one see the inevitable, Desolation of mind and body if, We do not stop this scourge of, Racist mistrust of our fellow humans, This sickening maltreatment and mistrust, Of each other, This impending horror of the loss of all reason? Are we to suffer extinction by ignorance?

From the 1950s when I went to school, it was commonplace for teachers to bully students, and ridicule some kids they did not like for one reason or another. All students were subject to being caned or physically punished for not conforming or because the student was disruptive in class, but rarely because the student bullied other students. In hindsight, I remember that it was commonplace for masculine fathers to teach their young male children how to fight other kids. The father seemed to think that was their role in the family: teach the kid how to fight. In many families, this was done as part of the corrective beating of the wife as a lesson in how to treat a woman. If the child found that difficult, then either by example or instruction the child was taught how to become a drunken wife beater and by extension, a bully. When the "home schooled" boy came home bruised and battered the father would intensify the lessons in schoolyard combat. These lessons turned out a child with internalised bullying personality, and often a conditioned response to authority, which the teachers of those days praised as being part of a successful education. This we can look at as being part of the training that was thought necessary in a time of social unrest such as war, and survival of the strongest amongst the children. We must not forget that tribal protections of the waterhole in prehistoric times were part of our evolution. Of course, not every child had a father or teachers as I describe above, but the fear of difference or tribal conflict still influences parental and political forces in the way we raise and educate our children, and even the way we govern ourselves. If parents try to protect their children by teaching them to fight or use their newly acquired fighting skills to bully other children then we have a formula for future tragedies in both the schools and our political environments. So, the children who have been taught to defend themselves with physical violence, or verbal abuse, of another child are likely to find themselves with violent skills that they misuse, that they do not yet understand that such violence is neither necessary or appropriate. Teach a child to defend themselves without compassion, without the accompanying restrictions on bullying, and you will likely create a bully.

Thanks Cole. It's good to be back. I'd hoped to do some writing, but I got somewhat distracted with fighting for equality. Maybe I'll get inspired now that we only have to worry about keeping what we should always have had.

Thanks guys. After 45 years together, my companion and I have been wondering if either of us would make it to our marriage. Despite my illness, now recovered, it seems likely that we might just make it. Of course both of us are secular atheists so the costs involved will be only what the registry office charges us. I don't think we would even consider marriage if it cost more than $100. Our affinity for each other has remained constant. In fact you could say we're in love. Will we get married? I've done the proposing thing, (The cat yawned. I should have guessed something was up,) but the "Yes" I was expecting was replaced with, "Are you serious?" So, I guess I'll have to convince him with a spreadsheet of how much we'll be entitled to as an old married couple.

May I be the first to wish all atheists a Merry, Merry Christopher Hitchens.

May I be the first to wish all atheists a Merry, Merry Christopher Hitchens.

May I be the first to wish all atheists a Merry, Merry Christopher Hitchens.

I thought we were equal, I told him I was his sequel, Then I turned to my friend , And said, "look, in the end, We can use treacle."

I've fed the cat, and he has gone outside. He does this so he can empty his alimentary tract to make room for more food. At least that explains why he doesn't eat all his food in one go. He looked at me as he left the room and for one enchanting moment we both seemed to be aware of our common bond of love. Maybe we haven't been anthropomorphising enough this century. Gee, we might even discover that we can empathise with each other, have more in common with our consciousness instead of trying to cheat and kill each other. Yeah, cats can teach us a lot. He bites us on the ankle when he is hungry, then purrs violently. We called him psycho.

I have shared this important video to my Facebook page.

On behalf of the human race, I have apologized to our cat for fucking up the climate and screwing his chances of having kittens and destroying all the culture. These things might seem incongruous but with music gone the only things we have left are the cats. In addition, we don't know how much time we have left before one of the right wing psychopath’s gonads goads them into exchanging the fury of flames to atone for priestly sins that never existed. The cat looked at me and lay on his back, blinking his eyes closed and then open. I wonder if he will miss the Earth and all the cosmic beauty as much we should. I'm sorry kitty, we really should have loved life, loved each other, more than war.

With what is going on in the world the war may be continuing

The nondiscerning depriving the deserving

Yes it does. The arts are viewed by the right-wing cults as either a nuisance or an infringement of their agenda to control the populace. What they do not seem to appreciate is that the arts are a harbinger, a forerunner...a vanguard of excellence in thought and beneficial deed for advancement of the culture; even if at the expense of more conservative and reactionary ideologies, dogmas and doctrines. Come to think about it, it becomes obvious as to why the Right so often seeks to limit the arts, and the Left views the arts as progressive, especially when the objective is to free the mind from the Right's restrictive control. We must also include the desire to appreciate and propagate the sense of wonder and beauty that the Arts makes accessible for human enjoyment. Yeah, it's open season on the arts, education, and science.* Treating the arts as being nothing more than a business is an anathema, a curse on human artistic expression; on our aesthetics which, are so essential in all that we do as creative and innovative beings. *(It's not by accident that it is called, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.)

I would be happy to assist keeping watch on all the men to make sure they are well regulated.

Seems somehow familiar...

THE FREEDOM TO MARRY PROMOTED BY AUSTRALIAN MARRIAGE EQUALITY Date: Sun, Apr 2, 2017 4:00 PM Where: Wallis Piccadilly Cinemas 181 O'Connell Street, NORTH ADELAIDE, South Australia, 5006, Australia You are invited to the Adelaide Premier of Freedom to Marry hosted by Australian Marriage Equality