vwl

It will be interesting to note if the U.S. Justice Department will come down on these taxi drivers as it did on the bakery out west. Oh, well. Let them eat cake.

Roughly 25 Muslim drivers dispatched to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport are refusing to drive cabs adorned with advertising for the region’s upcoming Gay Games, citing religious reasons. Two of the three companies operating at Ohio’s largest airport were informed by the drivers — one-third of the airport’s total fleet — last week that they will no longer participate in the airport’s dedicated taxicab program. The companies, Ace and Yellow Taxi Cab, were told by the drivers that their decision was based on religious reasons, airport spokeswoman Jacqueline Mayo told FoxNews.com.

There is a significant difference, as I understand it, between what is libel and slander in Great Britain and the United States, with the First Amendment and the Supreme Court interpretations of it.

A nice, well done short film:

An infinite number of cats will finish your novel for you.

Carmina Burana in another nice production:

You do the flashing, and I'll keep an eye out for the police.

For fans of flash mob youtubes and Ode to Joy, this is probably the best -- from Barcelona. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUDOU31skx0#t=25

Not the best production, but wonderfully symbolic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ6SAwPD-ss

The invoice is in the mail as well. Ships passing in the night.

This is likely a true story http://www.tickld.com/x/thisiskyle and is very sweet. I recall a GA or AD (or other) story with essentially the same theme, except the student was gay.

Having completed the story, which is filled with South Africanisms, I wish that I had realized there was a fine glossary at its end. I relied on Bing for the South African slang but didn't need to. It is enjoyable to see a well written, well plotted and well edited story such as this.

To me, the State should not be in the business of recognizing any kind of "marriage". They should only do civil unions, leaving marriages to the churches of whatever persuasion, including a number that have no problem with gay marriage. All the legal rights should be embodied in the civil-union documents and legislation. All the 'Till death do us part', vows. and such should be in the marriage consecration ceremonies. To me, gay marriage is the second, lesser solution as to how to people of the same sex are treated by the State, but it may be all we have.

Then, there's Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series -- part of which was used in the film Master and Commander -- which is 18 full length novels, with storyline after storyline succeeding each other. Each novel is essentially self-contained, though the protagonists live through the entire series. The series is not like a detective series in which the protagonist moves from mystery to mystery. Rather, it lies between a single novel, which would have been enormous, and a mystery series. The characters in O'Brian's work grow/evolve through the 18 books.

A new chapter (self-contained) of this fine series has been posted. http://www.nifty.org//nifty/gay/relationships/two-distinct-divisions/two-distinct-divisions-14.html

This youtube video argues for broad free-speech rights, ending with the story of Frank Kameny, one of the icons of the gay movement.

I don't think Cole and I are really that far apart on the issue. The problem, I see, as that many new writers don't know the rules first and so don't know how to break them creatively. Too often in this arena, run-on sentences just result from lack of knowledge of grammar, word usage and punctuation rather than conscious breaking of the rules. I suspect that e.e. cummings and James Joyce first wrote in standard forms and then broke away, just as Picasso's first works were more representational -- in the impressionist sense -- before his foray into cubism and abstract art. We need to encourage young and first-time writers, but writing in accordance with writing standards is what most of them need to learn -- through our beta and editing process.

No rules, true. But if a story is to be communicated to another human being, there are rules.

I think the original was punctuated correctly. The quoted part acts as the noun of the sentence. "Bullshit" was what he said demonstrates the same. It does look odd, however. How about: ...driving, and then he said, "school together." or ...driving, Then, he said: "School together."

I am addicted to the detective novels of Jeffrey Deaver. The detective, Lincoln Rhyme, is quadraplegic, so he sends his minions out to do his legwork, much as Nero Wolfe had his Archie Goodwin, but the brainwork is done by Lincoln Rhyme. These are the most intricately plotted stories that I have read. Start with the first one, Bone Collector, because that introduces all the characters. I second Cole Parker's Lee Child recommendation for his Jack Reacher novels. In the gay-story genre, Horatio Nimier's stories are well done. They are at GA. Porterville at Nifty, which I recommended in First Alert, is now complete. The writing is so-so, but the plot is well constructed, with lots of twists. The protagonists of the previous three recommendations aren't detectives, but they are solving mysteries worthy of detective novels.

Openly gay speed skater wins Olympic Gold Medal http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/02/09/gold-for-speedskater-is-first-openly-gay-athlete-to-medal-in-sochi/

Another chapter of this intricately plotted story is posted: http://www.nifty.org//nifty/gay/adult-friends/porterville/porterville-29

A near-final chapter of this fine story is posted: http://www.nifty.org//nifty/gay/college/joe-college/joe-college-26

As an editor of this fine story, I want to see it opened for comment and discussion.

I find it easy to condemn, but the reality of a tragedy is often different from what one expects: http://www.jesseryanloskarnslastmessage.com/333880300