FreeThinker

I am not a person who normally gets emotional about sport (as Mitt Romney calls it). I started following the NBA only because Oklahoma City stole the Supersonics from Seattle and Okieland finally had a major league team of some kind. I used to attend NASL games in the late seventies when the Tulsa Roughnecks beat the New York Cosmos. But I couldn't care less about the OU Sooners or the OSU Cowboys. Yawn. I am not one of those Americans who becomes rabid and jingoistic about soccer only once every four years and for whom David Beckham (did I spell that correctly?) is the only soccer player who comes to mind. Although I do remember that some lesbians got in trouble when they took their shirts off a few years ago after winning something involving a soccer ball. If I watch a sporting event, its usually to lust over hot male bodies. I use it as a substitute for something I don't want listed on my credit card statement for the world and the NSA to see. However...I admit that I have begun to watch the World Cup, despite my disgust with the Brazilian government for spending billions on something that will result in nothing for the millions of poor people in their country. I was thrilled to see America's wins over Ghana and Portugal, though I still don't quite understand the arcane rules that let us advance after losing to Germany--and don't waste the bandwidth trying to explain it to me. I'm a ditsy queen. I will... however... be glued to my computer watching our match with those waffle-makers from Belgium and chanting "USA! USA! USA!" Belgium? Really? I mean, didn't Lichtenstein invade Belgium once?

I've been absolutely delighted by this wonderful story! And, I am grateful for the prologue and the education I've gotten from it. I am now going to Barnes and Noble online (I boycott Amazon) to search for many more of those dozens of schoolboy stories Mihangel mentions. I fell in love with the genre when I saw Tom Brown's Schooldays on PBS in 1973 when I was 15. I loved Joel's offering and now I am captivated by Mihangel's. Jan Rutter is my hero and I love Chips Carpenter.

Oh, my God! This is a scream! Of course, I'm an American and we elected George W. Bush, so perhaps we in the US shouldn't laugh, but OMG, LOL, ROFL! In Tony Abbott's words... Shit Happens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3IaKVmkXuk#t=13

Every once in a while, I come across a story that truly moves me and this is one. Cynus reminds us what it was like to be a lonely fourteen year-old who sees a smile and falls in love. He accurately describes the feelings of looking forward to the freedom of summer, overcoming your fears. Summer is more than just a season. I strongly recommend this sweet story. http://www.awesomedude.com/Cynus/summer-smiles/summer-smiles.htm

I want to see this movie. It's about a thirteen year-old kid growing up in Port Arthur, Texas and facing the problems of poverty, an alcoholic father, and The System.The picture of actor Josh Wiggins at the beginning of the article is haunting. http://www.salon.com/2014/06/12/poor_white_and_pissed_off_in_the_age_of_inequality/

I have a new favorite television program. Those of you who remember the wonderful British crime drama Inspector Morse and its spin-off Inspector Lewis will enjoy the third program in the series, Endevour, the story of Inspector Morse when he was first starting as a detective sergeant in the Oxford police during the sixties. And, naturally, if you love opera, the program is even better! Unfortunately, as many British programs are, there are only a few episodes produced for each season. I suspect this season has already been broadcast in Britain, but in the US, it can be seen Sunday nights on Masterpiece on PBS. Watch it! You will treasure it.

Well, I'm not sure about that. There is no way I would defend the radical right, but Freedom of Speech in the United States has always been one of our fundamental laws. I hate what the right wing are saying, but I don't want to use the force of law or the government to stop them from saying it. What I want is reason and sanity to prevail, even in the Republican Party. What I want is for those more moderate and intelligent voices in the Republican Party, if there are any left, to stand up to the insanity. Perhaps that's asking too much, but I can't agree with using the government to censor things I don't agree with. I can respect people I disagree with. There are some reasonably sane Republicans on Awesome Dude (no, really! There are!) and I have no problem disagreeing with them. However, this new wave of crazy that's sweeping across the South in the US is frightening. I want conservatives to turn off Fox News for a while and look at the Frankenstein's monster that Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh, and Glen Beck have created. I want reason and sanity to prevail before the Tea Partiers and their brothers and sisters in the misnamed "Patriot" movement start their armed insurrection against the rest of us and start throwing rocks at me--or shooting me.

Scott Esk, a Republican running for the State House of Representatives from Moore, previously known for having been destroyed twice by tornadoes, has declared on Facebook that Oklahoma should institute Biblical law, should arrest Federal officials who seek to implement the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), refuse to comply with regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Food and Drug Administration because he believes the agencies are unconstitutional, and that God decreed that gay people should be put to death by stoning. There's even more and he seems quite pleased to tell you all about it. And, this guy will probably be nominated, which in Oklahoma now is tantamount to election here as the Democratic Party is almost extinct. Is there a point at which normal, sane, rational Republicans decide that their candidates are just too damned crazy to vote for? Is there nothing these nutjobs can say that would convince moderate or regular conservatives that their party has been taken over by the insane? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/11/scott-esk-stoning-gays_n_5486678.html

I would gladly emigrate for Tom Daley! Is that what happens when you put fluoride in the water? And I love big...um, feet.

According to the current affairs quiz show Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me, on America's National Public Radio, studies show that British men's feet have grown on average two sizes over what they were forty years ago. The average size of a British man's foot is now size eleven. The MC, Peter Sagal remarked, "And you know what they used to say about foot size! Now, if you meet a man with big feet, he's probably got terrible teeth and he's vaguely pear shaped." I assume this does not apply to our British AD friends!

Absolutely brilliant! One of the best stories I have read on Awesome Dude and something that should be required reading in our schools. Nigel gives us a very valuable lesson on the need for those of us square pegs who don't fit in to round holes. I see ominous parallels between the world he describes and certain movements and ways of thinking in America today. There are none so wicked as those who ask, "Why?"

One of my favorite series of stories is Cole's Sebastian stories. Sebastian and Dylan are wonderful boys who face a number of the trials and challenges many boys face in middle school and they are blessed to have a teacher who is as dedicated and sincere as Peter Darvin. In "Friendship" Cole continues to delight us with Peter and the boys. It's a wonderful story of friendship and love and of basic human decency. I urge everyone to read the latest in the series. I'm also impressed that Matt Lauer took time off from the Today show to sit for the title picture. :-)

I don't want to give a spoiler, but remember that my stories always have a happy ending. It might be tough to get there, but it will work out. I admit that the final three chapters were, however, the most difficult for me to write. One more chapter to go.

Okay. We haven't had a good kerfuffle here at the Dude for awhile, so I think I'll pour some petrol, throw a match, and watch what happens! According to the Commie Pinko Fags at Huffington Post, some researchers at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin have determined that dog owners tend to be energetic, outgoing, and conformist, while cat owners tend to be more introverted, sensitive, and nonconformist. Dog owners like to follow rules. Cat owners don't. Oh, and cat owners are smarter. Read the whole thing here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/29/cat-people-dog-people-intelligence_n_5412245.html Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play with my pussy and watch the fur fly here. Carry on.

It has been a theme throughout my life that comments and statements I say or write get misinterpreted or are misunderstood. I have a dry, some may say nonexistent, sense of humor. I have frequently made outrageous statements with a straight face to my family and friends only to realize that, even though I'm laughing hysterically on the inside, they think I'm serious. I suppose the failure is mine for not writing clearly enough or framing my comments in ways that would let them know I am joking or being facetious. I thought my posting about Richard III was so off-the-wall and silly that it would be perfectly obvious my tongue was in my cheek. Perhaps its the same with my stories. I've gotten such a sparse response to my WIcked Boys sequel that I am sure people have misunderstood what is happening and that it appears the story is about one thing when it is about the exact opposite. It's my failure as a communicator, I suppose, either in writing or in real life, that I don't get my messages across in a clear way.

What may be the most significant meteor shower of 2014 is occurring right now. If you can't see it where you live because of clouds or, say, the sun, then go to this link and you can see the shooting stars at Space.com. Have fun. (Oh, and I'm not being facetious in this post.) http://www.space.com/25987-meteor-shower-meteor-storm-webcasts-tonight.html

Steven- I was making a lame attempt at humor. I didn't think anyone would take me seriously. Oh, well.

Greetings. I've been absent from the forum for a while, but I feel outraged and I must vent somewhere. It wasn't enough that poor King Richard III had worms, a hideous deformity, was bashed to death in the skull at the Battle of Bosworth Field. and then left to rot under a parking lot (excuse me, a car park) in downtown Leicester. Now three judges have decided to let his remains remain where he was killed rather than letting him come home as all brave soldiers should. York clearly has a stronger claim to his remains than Leicester and Her Majesty should intervene (if she is actually allowed to make any decisions anymore beyond where she lays her head at night and which brand of gin she drinks--oh wait, that was her mother). Yes, he foully and mercilessly killed his nephews after imprisoning them in the Tower of London, so he might deserve the ignominy of Leicester. I've never been to Leicester, though I understand it's a delightful place. Still, it seems cruel and disrespectful. Then again,perhaps not. No one knows where Edward V and the then Duke of York are, so perhaps Richard deserves Leicester. Of course, I'm a Yank, but I feel I have a right to butt into this argument as, according to Ancestry.com, my ninth great grandfather came to The Colonies in 1724. So there. Speaking of the Princes, one of my favorite works of art is John Everett Millais' famous "Princes in the Tower." I was attending an exhibition of work from the Royal Holloway collection when it came to the Philbrook Museum in my hometown a few years ago and was delighted to stumble upon it. Well, I didn't exactly stumble upon it-- I'm certain the docent would have escorted me out after collecting the appropriate information of where to send the bill for the damage-- but I spent probably twenty to thirty minutes sitting on a bench before it, remembering how I had fallen in love with the boys when I was fourteen. (Unfortunately, my love for the painting in 1971 was more hormonal than artistic). It's much larger than I had anticipated and I had never noticed, in all the pictures of it in books I had seen, the sinister shadow descending the stairs behind Richard, the Duke of York. I now understand the reason for the look of concern and fear on the boys' faces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Princes.jpg

Thank you very much! I am very grateful for the compliment!

This is fascinating. It is also frightening to read opinions from 1963 that are still expressed by the right-wing opposition to equality.

According to the linked article, Bloomberg News, which is a major source in the US for business news and not prone to gossip or conspiracy theories, had two sources for the story. Yes, there are lots of conspiracy theories out there on a variety of issues and there is a lot of speculation about NSA actions, but Bloomberg has built a reputation for solid news and reporting.

Why does this not surprise me? I wondered when this news first broke if my own government was behind it, all the while blaming it on Russian or Ukrainian teenagers. What I wonder most, however, is--Why are the American people not marching on Washington? Why aren't Americans, both left and right, outraged to the point of taking action against a government that can intrude into EVERY aspect of our lives now? Why aren't people demanding to know what congressmen- both Republican and Democratic- are going to do about a security apparatus that makes the old KGB look like amateurs? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/11/nsa-heartbleed_n_5134813.html?utm_hp_ref=technology

I worked as a waiter in a large hotel when I was in college (1979) and on my first day after training, a large group of guests from New York were seated in my section. I was not a drinker at the time (my vices at that age were limited to cannabis and hot guys like Rafael), and my liquor training at the hotel was not as broad as it should have been. My group ordered six "teas," and so being a good Southern boy, I brought six iced teas, much to their amusement. It would seem that when an Englishman orders tea, he wants that warm, leafy water--as Charlie's friend described it. When an American Southerner orders tea, they want iced tea. When a New Yorker orders tea-or at least these New Yorkers- they are referring to Long Island Tea, which is an obnoxious concoction of every clear liquor you can find with a splash of Coke and "sweet and sour," all of which combines into a horrid mess that leaves me-when I am stupid enough to drink it- lying in the corner and vomiting on my myself as I beg for death to relieve me of my misery. It was a particularly humiliating experience for me because as I hurried away from the table to replace their iced teas with Long Island Teas, one of the men laughed and said, "Well, you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy." Not long after that, however, we had the most delightful English couple staying at the hotel. I had nicknamed them "Nigel and Daphne", which they quite enjoyed because, by an amazing coincidence, at their last dinner at the hotel they told me those were their actual names. So, the first evening I waited on them, they ordered tea and I brought them hot tea. Irony of ironies, they actually wanted iced tea because they were curious about this American abomination of their national drink and wanted to see what it was like. I must admit that I love iced tea, though I've never put sugar in it--and certainly not Karo. I like it plain with lemon, as Cole describes. There are times when I try hot tea, but like Charlie's friend, it just tastes like warm, nasty water. It appears that my Anglophilia isn't all that strong.

Charlie McDonnell's vlogs are always entertaining, if not a little confusing to Americans occasionally. This one makes a nice point in a clever way.

Web servers using Open SSL are vulnerable to a new intrusive bug called Heartbleed. The Reuters article specifically mentions Facebook, Google, Yahoo!, and Amazon as either not affected or having taking steps to mitigate the threat. Other sites or services at risk include users of the Tor network and Open VPN. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/10/us-cybersecurity-internet-bug-idUSBREA3804U20140410