Nigel Gordon

This is a story which I am really enjoying and I just can't wait to see where it is going. Like Lugnutz I wish it was posted more than twice a week.

It seems that it was not only Kim Davis who had a private audience with the Pope in the Washington Embassy. Another were a gay couple: http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2015/10/Screen_Shot_2015_10_02_at_1.24.27_PM/lead_large.jpg?1443806943

I can assure you the Devil has better taste!

All I can say is "Congratulations and Best Wishes Tom."

It is clearly established in common law from the 16th century that if a conscientious objector cannot reconcile his or her legal duties under the office they hold with the beliefs they hold, then they must step down from the office. As this piece of common law predates the Declaration of Independence, it holds just as much in the States as it does in the UK. Failure to step down amounts to malfeasance in public office.

A couple of points. First the meeting was not secret, it was private, there is a difference. It was listed on the list of the Popes engagements for that date as one of a number of private audiences. Second, as Cole pointed out what the Pope has said is that everybody has the right to conscientious objection - this does not mean she has the right to break the law of the land. The papal position, so far as it has been made clear, is that if a person finds that their duty in a specific role is contrary to their conscience then they have right absent themselves from that role. They do not have the right to act in a manner which stops others from undertaking that role.

I think Chris has just about said it all. A great story well told, can't wait to see more.

​I came across this story originally on Nifty, at the time it impressed me and it is a story I have gone back to time and time again. Now it is here and I am glad to see it, for in my opinion it is one of the best pieces of writing around. A remarkable story very well told by a gifted author. Read it, you'll enjoy it, you can find it here: http://www.awesomedude.com/nicholas-hall/the-last-house-on-the-left/the-last-house-on-the-left.htm

Think carefully about what the Pope actually said, not the interpretation that others are putting on it: Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right, This is not a new position on his part, it is one that he has expressed before. Every person has a right to refuse to take a course of action if taking that course of action is against their conscience. However, what they cannot do is to prevent somebody else exercising their right. So, if you are a public official and you find some action that is required of you as a public official is contrary to your personal belief, then you cannot be forced to carry out that action, you must be allowed to step down or step aside from the position, so that others can carry out the duty that is required. The legal framework in which you operate must give you that option. What the conscientious objector needs to understand is that there may be a cost to their objection and they must be prepared to pay the price for it. What they cannot do is enforce their conscience upon others by acting in a manner that prevents others from exercising their rights, all you can do is protest against it. The women who was jailed was not jailed for her conscientious objection, she was jailed for contempt of court. She had every right to refuse to take part in the issue of marriage licences to gays, if this was against her conscience. Her belief may be misguided but if it is her belief then she has the right to live by it. What she does not have the right to do is force the consequences of that belief onto others in a manner which violates their rights. When she found that she was faced with a situation where she could not do her job without breaching her personal beliefs her correct course of action should have be to resign and let somebody else take over the job who had no such problems.

Colinian, I can assure you that the protagonist did win, the story is mostly autobiographical, the events in it did happen. The only changes I made were to merge a couple of characters into one, partially to make the sequence of events easier to follow, partially to avoid embarrassing a third party. As a fifteen year old I had ambitions to become a doctor, but they were unrealistic, even the course of studies I was enrolled in at the College of Commerce could not have got me there. At the time I lost a lot but over the years I probably gained more than I lost. The most important thing though was I came to understand that if you believe in something you have to be prepared to fight for it, no matter what the personal cost might be. Remember Niemöller's words, "First they came for ..." If you do not stand up and fight for what is right one day you will find that they will walk over you.

What I want to know is how have they managed to obtain exclusive rights to a drug that is 69 years old? Even with standard extensions the original patent on the drug must be long expired. I think this one area where one of the generic drug makers in India should step in.

Came across this Anti Bullying Video, it is too big to upload here so I have provided a link to a copy in my drop box. Will keep the file there until the 31st December 2015 so you can download it if you want to see it. https://www.dropbox.com/s/pupgybdd6cb8n5v/AntiBullying.mp4?dl=0

One reason is the cost of getting an ISBN number in many cases. If you want to get an ISBN number in your own right in the UK you are looking at an initial layout of £144. That gives you a publisher prefix and ten numbers, it is then £342 for each block of 100 numbers that you take. For most self-publishers that is too much of an upfront outlay.

Unfortunately too much counselling that is being offered to the public in one form or another is coming from parties who are using it as a vehicle to promote religious ideas. This is not happening only in the USA but also in within the EU.

As a member of the original Liberal Party here in the UK, I find it very strange and somewhat confusing that a party that calls itself Liberal can be conservative and right wing.

Unfortunately some people in the Vatican are already suggesting that, though I think it has more to do with his clamp downs on their scams that his religious views.

Nicholas is now an author on AD but I first came across him on Nifty and it was his short stories which captured me. Browsing through an old reading list I came across this one, which in my opinion is one of Nicholas's best and some very good writing, which is well worth reading. You can find it here: http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/beginnings/last-house-on-the-left.html

Google is a great asset to authors.

I have just re-read this and if anything it was better second time around. Would recommend it to anyone. I am very grateful to Chris for this story, if only because it introduced me to the music of Einaudi. Thank you Chris.

I will not say that this is one of the best of Chris's stories, because it is not, it is clear at times that he is finding his feet in what for him is a new genre. However, despite that, it is a good story, well plotted and well told and of a quality that is much higher than a lot of the same genre writing you find in airport bookshops. 'No Reason to Kill' marks a departure in style and genre for Chris. It is a story I would recommend readers to read. I hope we see more of Chris writing in this genre in the future, this story shows he has great promise at it.

And I promise to be waiting with anticipation to read it is when it ready. Leopard Spots has been a great story, I can't wait to see book 3 of the saga.

I am surprised that there is not already a topic on this, and it there is and I have missed it my apologies, I did to a search for it but the forum search engine will not accept 'The Rip' as a search term so I had to search on Mark Peters and only his Baxter Boys showed up. This is a story I have really enjoyed, it has been well told with a set of strong characters. My congratulations to Mark on a good story well told and I cannot wait to see more of his writing. You can find 'The Rip' here: http://www.awesomedude.com/mark_peters/the-rip/index.htm

So far this story has more than lived up to its expectations and I am really enjoying it. Can't wait to see what comes next.

I notice that he specifically states he is being attacked for being a 'black gay man'. Being a member of one group that is subject to discrimination is bad enough, being a member of two is a real downer. The fact that a gay man is a murderer should not be a surprise. Gay people are no different from other people, so the chances that we may end up killing somebody is probably the same for any other section of society. On that basis probably about one in twenty of murderers are gay. However, there is a lot of evidence that shows people who are sidelined or excluded from mainstream society are more likely to resort to violence. This is true no matter whether they are black, gay, Native American, poor white South African, or any other minority group. ​One cannot condone Bryce Williams actions, what one can do is try to understand what lead to them and then work damned hard to ensure that such circumstances do not arise again. One thing which needs to be addressed in the rejection of homosexuality amongst large sections the the black community who insist that being queer is a 'white mans thing' and that you 'can't be black and gay'. As long as discrimination exists it will result in violence.

No Bruin, demons are not that sadistic!