FreeThinker

This doesn't really have anything to do with gay themes--unless you accept George Bernard Shaw's statement that there's no such thing as a heterosexual Englishman--but I thought it was fun. I don't normally go in for displays of patriotism and nationalism-- mine or anyone else's--but since I'm descended from Englishmen and Scots, I'll give in on this one occasion. I found this delightful video on Youtube. Damn, the British really do good patriotism. (Interestingly, when I Googled that quote to make certain I was correct in attributing it to Shaw, only one result came up and it was a posting from Awesome Dude!)

From a New Yorker profile of Donald Trump: Fox News and Rush Limbaugh have spent the last two decades stoking white, working class anger toward anyone who is different, who is "other," and now they face the monster they encouraged.

From The New Yorker, an interesting article about the psychological aspects of writer's block. http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/how-to-beat-writers-block?intcid=mod-latest

The one thing that always rings a bell in my head when I read it is the term "different to." British English is different to American English, while American English is different from or different than British English. The OED says different to predates the other two usages and that during the Sixteenth Century, different against was also used. Some authorities feel that because one writes differ from, the related different from is preferable to different to. Because I am an Anglophile, I would prefer to use the British versions of such things, though I don't want to seem pretentious to American readers, but I can't bring myself to write different to. It just doesn't sound right!

A very cool anti-bullying video. Redheads are bullied, too. https://youtu.be/jL9CSuKfeoM

Does this mean mean we have to add yet another letter to LGBTQI for "gender neutral" or is that covered by transgender? Or is that another shade of transgender, like Queer and Gay? And what does the "I" stand for? "They" actually may be more appropriate in describing me than just "he" as I have been often told that I have multiple personalities-- jackass, bitch, naughty person, etc.

I can't believe it's been nine years since it came out. It is definitely one of Cole's best and I nominate it for a Pick from the Past.

Well, there you go. I wish I would have had the balls to do that. Excellent story. And I love the history lesson.

The "dark" side of the moon is the wrong term. It's the far side. Because the moon rotates at the same rate that it orbits the earth, it keeps one face toward the earth at all times. However, just as sunlight moves across the face of the near side, so too does it move across the far side. The correct term is the "far side." (It was still a good album, even if it was misnamed). Also, the Chinese will use an orbiting mother craft to relay data back and forth between earth and the landing craft.

Re: the question, why Islam and why now, I think the reason is because we don't want to condemn an entire group for the actions of a few. Just as I wouldn't call ALL Texans idiots because Ted Cruz is a Texan or ALL Christians murderers because some abortion opponents murder, or all police corrupt or racist because a small minority are, or all Republicans racists because their frontrunner is one, so, too, would I not call all Muslims murderers because of the actions of some. It is to avoid punishing or abusing the innocent that we oppose profiling or stereotyping. I would hope that would be progress. However, in times of stress, it is common for people to get defensive of their fears and try to justify their tendencies to see "others" as an enemy. Demagogues like Trump, George Wallace, Joseph McCarthy, Oswald Mosley, and Huey Long always take advantage of that and their followers become even more adamant when questioned about their actions. What Trump and many of his supporters fail to understand is that this is precisely how ISIL wants us to react. They WANT the apocalyptic war with the West and they want us to overreact, to abandon the principles that make American society so free and strong. To be honest, I doubt Trump is capable of understanding that or of even caring. As a malignant sociopathic narcissist, he is concerned only with building the adoration of his followers for him and he doesn't give a damn how he does it or how much harm it causes.

Opus for President! Now if we can get Opus to fight the younger generation's insistence on using "fail" as a noun and young females' belligerent insistence on speaking with Vocal Fry, I will follow him to the gates of Hell! I think Berkeley Breathed reads The New Yorker.

Do you leave two spaces after a period or one? In the ancient days of typewriters, we were taught to hit the space bar twice after a period. With computers, we only hit it once. According to the New Yorker, that's how you can tell a writer's age. (I've never had a period, so I never had to hit the space bar after mine). http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/comma-queen-space-the-final-frontier?intcid=mod-latest

I saw Hanson perform at Mayfest, an arts festival in Tulsa, before they were discovered at SXSW in Austin. It's a shame they became typecast as bubblegum because of MMMbop. They have worked with a number of greats, including Carol King and Leon Russel. I once heard them perform with Leon. They are incredibly talented and if people could get past the MMMbop thing, they'd find they produce great music. They also do an amazing amount of charitable work for Africa. They are good guys.

Everyone's favorite diver is off the market now. http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/oct/01/tom-daley-announces-engagement-to-filmmaker-dustin-lance-black

This is what happens when large segments of society are guided by mysticism, superstition, and wishful thinking rather than by logic, reason, and empirical data. Will we forever be controlled by the Bronze Age mythology of an insignificant tribe of goat-herders in the Middle Eastern desert?

I saw both of these a few years ago when researching Dance of the Wicked Boys. These are excellent. There are actually dozens of wonderful videos of young dancers on Youtube. For a long time in American schools, boys trained in the same classes as girls. It was only until recently that most schools began separate programs for the early years, recognizing that boys have different physical needs in training and giving them more athletic-type training to use up the extra energy boys have and to overcome the stigma for young boys. Later, of course, it is necessary, especially in partner classes, for the males to train with females.

The kid can bust a move! He has a future in dance.

The last few chapters show that Cole is now the master of the gay coming-of-age western suspense thriller! Or maybe he just created the genre!

Beautiful and moving. The ending got to me. The way the boy deals with his pain is amazing. People need to watch this. Thank you for the link, Nigel.

I've been curious about one point. What happens to the virgins after the martyrs have their way with them?

Check out this video featuring Romeo for Burberry produced last year. Romeo is a talented dancer as well and lots of critics raved about his performance. I'm not a fan of David Beckham's tattoos but, with parents like David and Posh, it would hard for Romeo not to be good-looking and talented!

If you enjoy ballet, and even if you don't but you appreciate achievement and hard work, the Australian danseur Harrison Lee will amaze you. Here are two videos of him dancing, first at the age of twelve in an astonishingly physical and, yet, graceful performance. The second is his winning performance at the 2015 Prix de Lausanne, the pinnacle for a young danseur. If you've read Dance of the Wicked Boys, Harrison Lee was Jeremy's age in the first video and Rafael's age in the second. I understand he now trains with the Royal Ballet in London.

It's OK. James. I really was intemperate and should have phrased it ,much more politely. I understand your feelings on the matter.

Actually, Larkin, I believe James was responding to my post, for which I have privately apologized for becoming intemperate when I promised not to.