DesDownunder

I think that should be: Des, the anti-Boehner I look in the mirror these days and immediately my boner thinks it has already fulfilled its function.

Scepticism is so healthy. Question everything!

First, know thyself, To thy own self be true. To know that you do not know is the highest wisdom. Truth is beauty and beauty is truth, That is all you can know and all that you need to know, except for, The greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. Which = Love is all you need, because love is the only sane and satisfactory reason for existence.

It's difficult to frost a dog turd if the turd is anal vomit, but your right, it's still a dog's turd.

I'm providing the cast with refreshments, etc., during the filming breaks.

Beautifully made short film. Deserved all its awards. I put it up on my Facebook page, I wonder if it will get taken down.

I think at least one "Little Billy" would have asked permission to go the toilet.

The fact is, these two committed murderers, are indicative of damaged psyches if not being mentally indisposed. This is not to say that culprits become victims after they are tried and sentenced; they are already victims of whatever circumstances lead to their murderous acts. We have laws to punish murderers, that in itself does not make them victims (except where the punishment is cruel and unusual (vindictive). In many cases the victim of a crime and the perpetrator of that crime are indeed both victims of circumstances. This is not to say they shouldn't be punished or held in contempt of society's laws, but they can and often are, victims of their own misdeeds, and what worse punishment is there than to realise every day of the remainder of your life that your own damaged self has caused the death of another human being. In different ways, both victim and culprit of a crime are damaged. This does not mean that we should ignore either of them being damaged, just that we can see the damages and lament their horrors. The problem here is how we understand and use the term, damaged. For instance, taking the least likely case for sympathy for a criminal who shows no sense of remorse, it can be said that he is morally damaged beyond measure, but damaged he certainly is. The victim of a crime is damaged by the act of the culprit. The culprit's damage is not so easily discerned and is why we have courts to administer justice; to adjudicate circumstances and disputes. How does this affect the (same sex) marriage of two criminal murderers to each other whilst in jail? In the above case of marriage, I don't know the answer to that, but I expect that it is a strong case for debate both in the courts and the public arenas of crime, punishment and morality.

The corollary to this is, of course, that the Left is never right on anything. It is sadly, not always the truth, but I'd rather have a Left that wasn't always correct, than a Right which is always conservative. Politically speaking the understanding of the philosophy behind the duality of left and right is psychologically misconstrued to the point where the rule of law is corrupted for the benefit of the rich and powerful.

for Bruin and another for Chris Now I better go and get some extra rooms built onto the house.

We both are.

Bruin, I have no intent to short-change anyone. I think mentioning that, "I don't know how it ends, yet." may have misled you into thinking the mystery was my impending demise. I didn't intend that, I was just playing with words, mystery and my story, and that story continues. Neither the finite nor the infinite worry me, but maybe eternity encourages too much procrastination. I'll let you know when I write my epitaph. In the mean time I thought I might write some notes for my reincarnation. It would make his life so much easier, don't you think? Edit: The doctor tells me I have many years left.

Delightful, but it's the twist at the end that I just adore.

Aww shucks, Chris, now I'm blushing at your kind words. Thank you. But please remember you're pretty much a sage of wisdom and the indomitable human spirit, yourself.

I must say that I feel glad to be as old as I am. I don't know if I could cope with being in a modern family, whether it be same sex parents or different sex parents. There's the horror, right there. I was raised by a single mum, Dad got himself divorced when I was 2 years old, so all I knew was my loving mom...and her sister...and their mother, my grandmother. I guess I had three moms. I also had two step-dads, not that they were anything other than mom's husbands. They're all, moms and Dads, dead. I never had an invisible friend. I didn't need one, I thought I had been dumped on planet Earth by my real parents for some reason I would never be able to discover. So I was alone, and a loner, a lonely child whose existence would only be justified by my alien parents rescuing me from this absurd planet. It seems unlikely that is going to happen; I'm so old now, they wouldn't want me. Thank the stars for my lover. He means the world to me...as does our child, the cat. I wonder if there is a story in any of this. I don't know how it ends, yet. Perhaps that is what is meant by the word, mystery, it's actually my story.

My post turned into a Flash Fiction

So true, James.

I think it comes down to the interpretation of the reader. e.g. the following sentence without any punctuation: "He helped his uncle Jack off the horse." Will the App insert some punctuation and then judge it to warrant alteration or omission? Whilst this example is dependant on "jack" being a name or a verb, there is still a chance for the App to misconstrue the intention...and it does so because we have not yet developed artificial intelligence that can recognise irony or intentional humour. Consider then, the punctuation signifying the emphasis for irony/humour. "He helped his Uncle Jack, off the horse." or "He helped his uncle jack-off the horse." Now, this might not be the best of examples, but shift our investigation to George Orwell's book 1984 with its "Newspeak" (see note at end) and imagine how the major point of the book could be misrepresented by substitution of some of the words. Clock Work Orange's droog-speech is another example where the author's words just cannot be changed and keep the writer's meaning and artistic integrity, intact. The point here is that no App, and few individuals (with perhaps, the exception of a good editor) can interpret an author's intentional choice of words. This is the real affront to an author, that their words are altered to change the meaning, if not the interaction of the reading experience. Consider the alteration to Lennon's song, Imagine. *Cee Lo Green upset John Lennon fans on Saturday night by performing a soulful version of the songwriter's classic "Imagine" with the lyrics changed from "nothing to kill or die for / and no religion too" to "nothing to kill or die for / and all religion's true." According to some fans, Green changed the meaning of the song by switching out the line. "The whole point of that lyric is that religion causes harm," *Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/cee-lo-green-outrages-john-lennon-fans-by-changing-lyrics-to-imagine-20120102#ixzz3Ve97GIaQ Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook The situation changes however, when we consider the performance of a stage play where actors alter emphasis and occasionally, words and phrases for effect, but that's really, another discussion. Although if Shakespeare were alive he might not quite understand a Nazi version of Richard III. As for protection of the pre-pubescent child from porn or other sexual articles, I am reminded of the conversation between a father and his son: Father (to his son): Johnny, I want to talk to you about sex. Johnny (in reply to his father): Sure Dad, what did you want to know? Note: Newspeak is the fictional language in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, written by George Orwell. It is a controlled language created by the totalitarian state as a tool to limit freedom of thought, and concepts that pose a threat to the regime such as freedom, self-expression, individuality, and peace. This, for me is the real danger of the App.

Welcome James, it's good to know you enjoy our stories.

OK, if you say so Colin.

What more could I want?

Those wishing to have their masculinity certified to Aussie standards should form a queue at my back door.

Looking at the photos of the various right wing fanatics, I find it possible to believe that evolution has somehow activated an ugly gene affecting both body and mind. Of course it could also be that such ugliness is derived not genetically, but through psychological misadventure in the form of early childhood indoctrination to accept ignorance as a virtue. I think it is obvious that all that stands between secular government and a theocracy is the First Amendment, and that must be protected above any other law of man or god. If we do not protect it, we may well be mandated to observe myths and superstitious as the replacement for scientific inquiry; for sanity and even the pursuit of happiness in recognising the reality of love itself, in our lives.

Makes my neurons weak at the synapses

Rather than a bullet, I think the more appropriate penalty would be for him to print and deliver copies, to every anti-gay organisation, of Hilary Clinton's address on "Gay rights are human rights" to the UN when she was Secretary of State. When he has done that, he should do it all over again until every bigot understands its message. Yeah, it's a life long sentence.