FreeThinker

I don't know what to say beyond expressing my love and compassion for this poor child and my contempt for and disgust with the kind of thinking that leads to these kinds of heinous and horrifying acts. Of course, there are those who follow he who spoke of love who will simply put their hands over their ears and refuse to hear about where their thinking leads. They will claim that they aren't like that. But then, beating disobedient children-- not just spanking, but beating children--is a new fad among conservative "Christians", so this shouldn't come as a surprise. How sad and how infuriating. Extreme punishments for not conforming are more and more common among the religious right and it may be time to publicly shame these people. Not just the people, but the "preachers" and "ministers" who gin them up and egg them on. Do conservative Christians have no shame? Oh, I forgot. They're forgiven. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/07/zachary-dutro-boggess-letter_n_5106891.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

This video comes from an article on Huff Post with eleven fun facts about twins. I thought it was so cute, a 3-D video of twins interacting in the uterus. One appears to be dancing, though the video is on a loop and I'm sure that's why it appears that way. http://gifovea.tumblr.com/post/48051623359 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/24/twin-facts_n_4959012.html

This boy has an amazing voice--and he's cute, And the harpist ain't bad either.

Check out this freaking awesome video from the helmet cam of a man jumping off the top of One World Trade Center! It takes a minute or two before he does, but stick around. It's the coolest video.The actual jump occurs at 2:40 in the video.

I'm not sure things are going to continue to get better for GLBT people though. A number of Republicans and religious conservatives here in America are praising Vladimir Putin for his anti-gay politics and suggesting we enact similar measures here in the US. I think it will become fashionable in the right wing to resume gay-bashing, just as its becoming more fashionable on Fox News and other right-wing outlets to make more overtly racist comments as well. The more the right wing compartmentalizes and refuses to find news or commentary from any source other than in the right-wing bubble, the easier it is for them to devolve back to their Neanderthal thinking from the past.

I was trying to think of a tie-in for the title of this post with "Don't Fear The Reaper" but my imagination is failing me this evening. Nonetheless, I have read an interesting article on Salon.com (yes, I am an unashamed, unrepentent liberal) that basically says to writers, "Stop thinking you're owed readers. you have to earn them." (I hear John Houseman in the background). It is discussing creative writing programs in the United States- including the famous Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa- and the belief that these programs take creative and idosyncratic writers and turn them into bland, vanilla cookies. The author of the story disagrees and says the problem with writers is that we expect everyone will want to read our work simply because we wrote it. If creative writing programs have a problem, it's that the workshop in which all the students critique each other's work is the only time that anyone aside from the editor will pay any attention to the work. If we want readers, we have to make our work interesting. This has come at a moment for me when comments from a reader of my Wicked Boys story were forwarded to me. My first reaction, and apparently that of other writers, judging from comments I've read here, is to blame the reader for not being smart enough to understand what I'm trying to do, when in reality it's my fault for not being clear enough. Rather than being irritated that someone has pointed out a flaw in my writing, I should be thrilled that someone actually took the time to read my work AND to comment on it, whether negatively or positively. This is not to say all negative criticism is valid, but that we should be grateful for the readers' input- which was my take from the article, though it discusses much more. http://www.salon.com/2014/03/12/no_one_cares_about_your_novel_so_writers_dont_be_boring/

It might not be a bad idea to make Daylight Savings Time a year-round thing. With the incidence of seasonal depression so high in the winter and because the sun sets so early November through January, particularly the further north you go--or south May throiugh July in Aussieland, the nights last longer, perhaps this would be a way of combating the winter blues. I like having extra sunlight in the evening. It seems counter-intuitive to me to have DST in the summer, when the sun is already setting later. You need the light more in winter. Of course, the kids would be going to school before sunrise, which is unpleasant and possibly unsafe.

The sponsor of the Oklahoma bill has withdrawn it to be rewritten so as to avoid the "spectacle" (his word) that occured in Arizona. I think the primary reason Brewer vetoed the bill in Arizona is because of pressure from the business community. Money speaks louder than Jesus to most Republicans, perhaps too in Oklahoma. It will be interesting to see how the Republicans here stand up to the business community. American Airlines is one of Oklahoma's largest employers, with a major data center and their primary maintenance base here. Google also has a significant presense here with two large facilities, Both were significant opponents to the bill in Arizona. Of course, Republicans are able to finesse their way around the whole "its easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" thing so I'm sure they can rationalize it.

Arizona Governor Jan Bewer has vetoed the Arizona bill that allows discrimination against GLBT people based on religious beliefs! She bowed to pressure from the business community. After the Kansas Senate killed a similar bill there, I hope Geogia, Oklahoma, and other states will rethink their hate bills, as well!

A zircon discovered in the Jack Hills range in Australia has been dated to 4.375 billion years ago, give or take six million years (or 6,000 years ago if you believe the creationists), the oldest object discovered on earth. Here's the fascinating article in Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/24/earth-oldest-rock-crystal-study_n_4846410.html

Britain has been a good friend of America- along with Canada and Australia- and we can always rely on them. If the American isolationists (mostly Republican) from 1939-41 had not opposed President Roosevelt's support for Britain, the war in Europe could have ended much sooner. It wasn't fair that Britain alone stood before Hitler for so long.

Well, season four is over and I have to ask, "Why is the only gay character the villian?" I can't imagine Julian Fellows is straight, so why would he make the one gay character in the entire show a schmuck?

Good point and I wasn't really America-bashing, but simply saying it was a lot easier for America to dominate the world economy back then. Nor do I wish to take away from the achievements of the previous generation. Yes, they did survive horrendous hardships and they did fight and win a noble war. But, to be constantly regaled with how we didn't measure up to them was quite frustrating and unfair.

I recently read an opinion piece by some economist who said the primary reason for the explosive prosperity of the fifties and sixties enjoyed by the United States was due to the fact that ours was the only economy that wasn't destroyed in The War, so it was all just picking the low-hanging fruit. We couldn't have not been number one even if we tried. Once Europe and Japan were rebuilt- with help from the US, they could compete with us. Now, the rest of the world is earning its place and Americans don't understand why we aren't the top dog anymore. Well, its basically because there was no one to compete with in the fifties. We were the only game in town. I just wish I had thought of this when I was a kid and was regaled over and over with "kids today..."

I readily admit that this is tacky, tasteless, and offensive and I don't mean to make light of what has been a dreadful scandal with countless victims.... however...

I grew up in the Kansas and Oklahoma of the sixties and seventies, a member of the first generation born after The Depression and The War. In my family, there was only one war--The War, and Korea and Vietnam were always looked upon as secondary conflicts to what my parents' and grandparents' generations knew. As any child growing up in this area, and probably anywhere else in America, and who came of age in the sixties and seventies, the lives and achievements- and mere survival- of The Greatest Generation always hung over us like a shadow, or a sword of Damocles. Growing up in the prosperity of the post-war years, we could never measure up to our parents and grandparents. We couldn't. We didn't survive the worst depression in American history and we didn't defeat the twin evils of European and Japanese Facism. Yeah, the Soviet Empire fell apart, but more from its own entropy and rotten core than from Ronald Reagan's "heroic" demand the Mr Gorbachev tear down that wall. We Boomers could never live up to The Greatest Generation and we were told this every day as we grew up. August: Osage County addresses this very issue, a generation of Oklahomans who survived the Dust Bowl, the Depression, and The War and can't understand their children and grandchildren. Based on the play by Oklahoma native Tracy Letts, the movie stars Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, representing the two generations in their struggle for emotional superiority-or survival. It's a terrific movie and this article from Salon is a brilliant description of the struggle described in the play and movie. It's a struggle I lived with and experienced on my own as I was constantly told that I would never have survived what my parents and grandparents endured in the 30's and 40's. At the risk of sounding like The Greatest Generation, Gen-X and the Millenials don't understand the prosperity and struggle we Boomers experienced. There isn't the vast generational chasm between Boomers and Gen-X and the Millenials as there was between the Boomers and The Greatest Generation. It wasn't our fault that we didn't have a depression to survive. Or does that sound whiny? The Meryl Streep character would think so--or my grandmother. http://www.salon.com/2014/02/21/generational_warfare_on_the_big_screen_raising_millennials_and_fighting_with_mom_in_osage_county/

Another gem from Cole. From the very beginning you want to just hug the protagonist and let him know that everything will be all right. Cole describes the fear and confusion of the protagonist with realism and vanquishes the antagonist with a satisfying "take that!", all the while showing that the world doesn't completely suck and that there really are good and decent people in the world, as he does in all his stories. A sweet story than tugged at my heart.

Thank you, Hoskins! I have recently discovered, much to my dismay, that Toshiba laptops cannot be dropped kicked and retain their ability to drive one insane with Windows 8. So, with the death of my computer, I bought a reconditioned Dell that is four years old and works better and faster than my Toshiba- and uses Windows 7, praise be to whatever. However, I refuse to pay Microsoft a yearly fee to use Word, as I did before. I have gone back to Libre Office, a new fork from Open Office, which I used in the past, I found in the past that I had formatting issues when sending my Open Office docs to my editor, who used Word 2003. As I test, I saved a file in .doc format rather than the native .odt format and my editor reported no formatting issues. It is possible the new versions of Libre Office have overcome the compatibility issues of older versions of Open Office. So, if you don't want to pay for a new version of Word, the free download of Libre Office might be a good option, I prefer Libre Office because it is open source and Open Office has now been taken over by Oracle. Boo.

As Ganymede? How appropriate! Though Vlad isn't exactly a beautiful youth anymore!

Friday night in the US and I am watching delayed coverage of the opening ceremonies from Sochi. The light show, particularly during the part about Russian history and the Imperial period--the sailing ship and the projected map of St. Petersburg, was spectacular. I've enjoyed, too, the emphasis on Russia's maginificent heritage of ballet. However, London did it better.

I think there is a part of many of us who feel we aren't worthy of the praise or success we achieve. This is a major element of the story I am writing. Many people who are high achievers, who are extraordinarily creative and talented, feel they aren't enough, they aren't good enough. They aren't getting that approval they need. No matter how good they are, they feel its not enough to overcome the negative messages they received when they were younger and they search for something to add to the success, something to give them that certain, undefinable extra they seek. For some, its sex. For other's, its chemicals. The list of talented, creative people who succumb is endless.... Cory Monteith and Philip Seymour Hoffman are just the latest. River Phoenix and Brad Renfro back to Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison and further back to Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds.... There's a poignant line at the end of The Boys in the Band made more meaningful by the context in which it was uttered. "Why can't we just learn to love ourselves?"

Arrgh. Rafael would speak Castillian, since his father was from Spain, but the friend he's speaking to would be from Cuba, Oh, well. I will give up on the added atmosphere to the scene.

I have some dialogue I am writing that I would like translated into Spanish and to suggest perhaps a better way to phrase it. I don't trust Google Translate or Babelfish. It's just a few lines in my new story, nothing important, but it adds to the atmosphere in this particular scene. Thank you. For some reason I can't remember, I took Russian in High School forty years ago instead of a more practical language, such as Spanish!

I think everyone becomes desensitized to their particular brand of severe weather. I work in a hotel and every spring, I can tell who is from Oklahoma and who isn't because when the local TV stations come on with their nightly tornado warnings, Okies casually glance at the radar, check where the tornado is,yawn, and go on with their cross-burnings, while the out-of-staters are gathered in panic before the TV's in the lobby. Then again, a couple of years ago, when the Super Bowl was played in Arlington TX and one of the teams was from Green Bay, we had a caravan of Packer fans stop at my hotel on their way down to Dallas. Unfortunately, that was the week Tulsa was hit with 23 inches of snow, the most in our recorded history. We have snow plows, but nothing to deal with something of that magnitude. Of course, when the cheeseheads had to spend their weekend watching the Super Bowl in our lobby instead of in the stadium in Dallas, they were cursing Oklahoma (which I do on an hourly basis) because they get that sort of storm every other weekend and couldn't understand why we weren't clearing the freeways. A couple of years ago, we had a 5.6 magnitude earthquake in Oklahoma (yeah, Koch Brothers- fracking doesn't cause earthquakes hardy har har) and we were freaking out while my friends in California say that when that happens, they look around and ask, "Did you just feel something?"

I'm proud of you Paul for standing up for what's right! The country needs rabble-rousers to fight for justice! Good job! Also, I was just being flippant in my comment. I live in Oklahoma, so when I get to make fun of someone else, I jump at the chance!