DesDownunder

I've hidden your coat, so you have to stay.

Apart from the affront in a) and b) to the Constitution's 1st Amendment (establishment of religion clause), item c) has the near impossible task of removing any and all references to sodomy from the Internet and any book, magazine, or article already in circulation. However it must be admitted that the penalty of $1,000,000 per offence would not only solve California's financial woes but solve world famine as well, if the resulting fines were distributed globally. It is item g) however that causes significant head scratching. As the bill outlaws sodomistic (sodomistic?) propaganda of any kind, then item g)'s clause: "The text (of the bill) shall be prominently posted in every public school classroom," makes the bill itself an act of transgression against itself. Furthermore the proponents of the bill, including the submitting attorney (Matt McLaughlin) must be held in contempt of the law and fined $1,000,000 per display in classrooms, banished for life or confined to a correctional facility for multiples of 10 years , again, per offence. I submit that this makes the bill subject to its own penalties for promotion of sodomistic propaganda, and thus the author and legislative sponsors would be subject to the penalties, if the bill passed, which of course, it can't without becoming the aforementioned sodomistic propaganda outlawed by the bill itself. In my opinion, the bill should be sealed and filed under the "Do-daddy-tap" provisions of the inadmissible ludicrous laws by loopy luddites, Leviticus division.

Unbearable sadness...so unnecessary.

Lug, I suppose that one wants to go to the Dark side.

I'm sure we can arrange spillages of wholesome fluids.

And don't forget to help wash the affected person.

Let me add to the pleasantries and thank you, Jeff, for your feedback, which is much appreciated. I think there is a whole discussion to be had and examined on human sexuality being fluid and how our cultures have sought to limit the natural human desire to pleasure each other. The lack of homophobia you mention is a strong indication that we have a lot to learn about our natural expressions of affection which our cultures have condemned if not crucified. Thanks Jeff.

I was surprised to find no gay characters, but by the time I realised that, I was already hooked by this heart-warming story. Well done. At the local supermarket near me, I approached one of the staff to ask where the tissues had been moved to. He had his back to me, and it wasn't until he turned that he saw I was asking him a question. He produced a pen and a pad and gave them to me whilst he pointed to his ears. Thankfully I realised he had a hearing problem. I also noticed that he was one of the most stunningly beautiful young men I have ever seen. I wrote "Tissues?" on his pad and he wrote back, "Aisle 16." I thanked him and he smiled at me which made me very light-headed. As I left the store I stopped to tell the manager how impressed I was with the young man's work, and the policy of the store for hiring him. The manager thanked me and said he wished a few more customers were so appreciative. I don't know what happened, but I never saw the young man or the manager again and can only hope the lad was merely doing work experience, and that the manager moved to another store. Life's tough enough, and as a lover of music in my life, I'm always deeply moved by the thought of those who cannot hear. Again, thanks for a really wonderful story.

Yes, I too am suddenly getting post notifications after many years. How cool is that?

Thanks Cole, I thought it was relevant to the discussion, especially for those who hadn't read it before, but I am very pleased you found it worth rereading.

57 years ago for me, here in Australia, most boys who attended an all boys high school (most common) were indeed most common, with each other. The experiences affected us differently. I was amazed at the way the teachers ignored the natural investigations of the boys into each others' progress in puberty. In one summer it seemed that many boys were busy discovering what each other had between their legs, followed by a winter where sexual appetites hibernated waiting for a spring that would burst into new explorations. There can be no doubt about the guilt and shame that religion forced upon the boys who were silently, and confusedly confronted by their lustful desires. Some hid in closets, some were unaware of their desires and others explored every opportunity to discover a fluid exchange of their puberty. There were absolutely no academic explanations or discussions about what we were experiencing. The closest we could get was a short lesson on how flowers were pollinated. I wouldn't be surprised if some of us had expected to find that our penises would turn into a stamen and attract bees. Despite the Victorian prudery covering up anything relating to sex, some information did slowly seep from those kids whose parents actually knew about intercourse. Girls were approached, and it is no exaggeration to report that many a newly wed would look at their spouse and ask, "You want to put what, where?" You see it wasn't just gay people who were in the closet. Many straight people, parents included, had a closet of their own and they hid in them to protect themselves and their children from talking about the flowers and the bees. (The birds had taken flight, or more likely, fright.) The restrictions on actually talking about sex robbed at least three generations of the joy of sex, of love-making, and talking about it, regardless of sexuality. Censorship of books and movies added to this aspect of denying our cultures healthy sexual relationships. It would take until the middle of the sixties for several stage productions to challenge these restrictions on sexual discussion. The most shocking, the most eye-opening, and the most liberating at that time, was the song Sodomy, from the musical HAIR. Tied to the liberation for women was The Pill. At last women were free to enjoy sex without unwanted children. HAIR also challenged many of the taboos about organised religion and sex. Even the closet doors were unlocked. Legal homosexual relationships were an after-thought, but nevertheless, a welcome and needed one. However, it should not surprise any of us, who lived through those years, or the effect of those times, that there are still many who feel the oppression to submit to those old taboos. The Internet awaits with an abundance of information, some good, some not. Here is a version of HAIR's Sodomy song with its sacrilegious introduction. I apologise for the quality of the video, but it's the only one I can find with the aforementioned sacrilegious intro; an intro that was missing from the movie. For those of you who have not read it, here is a link to my short story Definitions, in which the trip to the library is taken from my own experience at the age of 14, of accepting my homosexuality.

It is also available on YouTube (at the moment) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdvUAfUW404

For the secularists amongst us. The Last Amendment Let’s be very clear. When it comes, the Last Amendment will be the one that removes the protection of all the other amendments, and “We the People,” will be equal only in obedience to laws passed by a congregation of crucified concepts hallowed as moral memes. Compassionate ideals of human rights soon become the lost wisdom of the Age of Reason. Enlightenment slain fades from the dreams of Mankind, to be replaced by the nightmares of fascist theocracies. Yet we continue to sleep while the assassins preach, and if we awaken, we weep in misery for the loss of sanity and love, in our lives.

I loved the story, but Cole excels himself with the evocation of the scenes at the mill. The painting came alive for me as if it was hanging on the wall by my computer. Marvellous!

We just watched the movie Pride. I must tell you it is a wonderful film full of accurate details of the era. I can say that because I heard about them at the time here in Adelaide when we were living through similar cultural traumas and experiences. I find that even now, some 24 hours after we watched it that I'm still feeling a plethora of emotions over the characters, the situations and the horror of the losses we all suffer. Inspiring and uplifting and sobering, this is really a film not to be missed. I suppose you could say it is a Welsh/UK version of Milk, but really that doesn't give either Milk or Pride their full justice.

Q: Why do cats and dogs lick there own dicks? A: Because they can!

I read once where a length of 7-1/4 inches was deemed necessary to practice autofelatio successfully. I suspect this depends on the build and the flexibility of the individual. Most of my experience has me reaching the conclusion that 99% of men have an adequate length to satisfy their partner/s even if they fall short of the above inches. Oh, and yes, there is such a thing as being too big, but I don't have to worry about that.

According to the article at the link the boys were 14 and 15 at the time the kiss was filmed. It is perhaps the remains of old prejudices that the sight of two teenage boys kissing in a TV video is worrying to some members of today's cultures in America (and probably Australia, and definitely in Russia.) Exposing the affection between young adults of this age as natural, wholesome and part of growing up may be confronting for some people, but does not warrant being treated as if it does not or should not happen. Maybe if our political leaders had learned to embrace their childhood feelings of empathy for others, then there would be less threat to the survival of the human species. Certainly, authors here, and elsewhere have written stories depicting such affection without judgement, save to allay fears of self harm.

I'd be more inclined to point the finger at a psychosis, inspired by, at least in part, a distorted sense of reality that may well be derived from childhood experiences of indoctrination. The resulting neurosis could be influenced by a number of different religions including those of Abrahamic origins. I would certainly think that examination and institutionalisation with a view for psychiatric evaluation would not be out of place. What disturbs me more is that treating the mental aberration of reality is seen by some, as a persecution of the right for freedom of expression.

Their's a high probability, in my opinion, that it isn't real, but if it is then I fear the outcome will be less than conducive to the claim that our species is intelligent.

And me too. That's the second of your recent posts, James, that seems to cry out to be recognised as the basis for a song, or a video of images with recitation of your poem.

Leonard Nimoy created a Spock who was special star stuff. He melded logical thought and love into the minds of all who watched him.

Sigh! So many people forget that we had a sexual revolution back in the 60s. Remember HAIR and its famous masturbation song? As a gay man I met many (straight?) guys in their 20s who admitted that those days of unisex and sexual freedom influenced their desire to find out what a same sex encounter was like. We even had a joke and a bumper sticker which read, "Have a Close Encounter of the Same Kind." In an ideal world it wouldn't matter if you liked the same sex all the time or only some of the time, or not at all. What matters is that each of us is free to love those who consent to love us in return. That's the greatest thing you will ever learn.

Okay, so let's see what we find when we Google our names, in addition to the story by Pertinax, from Behind the Name dot com DESMOND GENDER: Masculine USAGE: English, Irish PRONOUNCED: DEZ-mənd [key] Meaning & History From an Irish surname which was derived from Deasmhumhain meaning "South Munster", originally indicating a person who came from that region in Ireland. Notice the Z sound for Des, which is the way my family, friends and I have always pronounced it. I drew a blank on DownUnder as a name. I'm not surprised. As for the Munster bit, I'm sure my mom would have agreed with that on some days, at least. I, of course, have always looked south to see my munster. I better stop there, before I upset the Codey's World rules.

This subject is extremely important. It's not that religion alone is at fault in worshipping ignorance as a virtue. Ignorance breeds ignorance until it is aborted in favour of reality, facts and scientific knowledge. The astrophysicists such as Michio Kaku, Stephen Hawking, Neil deGrasse Tyson all go to some length to explain how scientific investigation and education have provided us with the wonders of understanding the universe, the technology of computers and the internet; not to mention all the conveniences of the modern world. Google their names in YouTube and select a few of their interviews and debates on video. Sixty years ago I often heard the disclaiming voices of those who maintained that the young were being taught things they would never need to know. That statement was wrong then and it is wrong now. Being able to adapt to the modern world, to the latest technology, is humankind's hope for the future and it is dependent on enlightening education in the spirit of scientific investigation. I have never stopped learning, changing my opinion, or being staggered by the beauty of the cosmos. There is now, no need to assign magic as an answer to the mysteries of the universe, as our cave dweller ancestors did. We now know sufficient to simply acknowledge that we don't know everything, but we are on an odyssey of learning that may well give us the means to survive and discover more, every day that we live. Those who ignore education in favour of extending their ignorance are indeed one of our biggest, if not the biggest, threat to our survival.