DesDownunder

Another advantage to being atheist...No after life...No pregnant hands.

We had to have our beloved cat of 17 years put down due to kidney failure. He had lived with us from kittenhood just after we first started to live together. He was as much a part of our lives as we were to each other. I remember, on that fateful day, we took him to the vet who advised us that if it was his cat he would have him put down, so we agreed, very reluctantly. The vet told us we didn't have to wait, but in a moment of solidarity born of love and affection we insisted that we remain with him whilst the vet administered the drug. We smoothed and spoke lovingly to our feline companion and he began to purr as the drug first removed his pain and then induced his final sleep. As we paid the vet's fee, I said to the receptionist, "That must be the worst part of your job." She replied, "It is when people care as much as you two do." We drove home in a silence of tears. He may have been only a cat to some people, but to us he was a friend who shared his life with us. When we arrived home we took our friends body, wrapped in a towel and buried him in the back yard of our home. We would never forget him. Such is the price of learning that animals also love.

I thought that the parents had gone to set up their new lives and house, and that was all I needed as the story was about Tony's situation and environment in his school and with his "twin." The parents were busy.

Great collection. I loved the last loving moments of the dog.

BREAKING: Bill Shorten MP and Tanya Plibersek has just announced that he will move a private member’s bill in the House of Representatives to make marriage equality a reality. SHARE the good news. Bill Shorten MP I have given notice that I will move a Private Member’s Bill in the House of Representatives on Monday which will finally bring about marriage equality in Australia. It’s time for our laws to reflect the values of modern Australia and to include everyone as equals. All MPs should have a free vote on this matter. Let’s make marriage equality a reality. The Greens also have a bill they want to present to Parliament.

South Australia was not a penal colony, the other states were. South Australians used to be a bit snobbish about that. As for earthquakes and tectonic shifts, we haven't had any of those for sometime. That is probably due to our Prime Minister stalling on marriage equality. (yes I'm being sarcastic.) We are a multicultural society (of primates), so if Europe wants to invite us it's okay with us. Our entry, Guy Sebastian is from South Australia, but he was born in Klang, Malaysia. Guy didn't win but he did place Australia at Number 5, which is great.

It seems that the outcome of the other question on the Irish referendum, to reduce the age of candidacy for the President of Ireland from 35 to 21, has not met with the same degree of publicity as the same-sex marriage question. Perhaps somewhat remarkable is the fact the two questions attracted opposite votes. This shows that at least the two questions were given intelligent consideration by the voters. As to why there have been few reports on the presidential candidates age question, we could perhaps surmise that everyone is too busy planning their weddings.

Whew, Cole, that's such a relief. I'd hate to think of myself as threatening to you, you cute man, you.

In Australia our polls show around 70% of the people favour marriage equality, but some of our politicians from both sides are still thinking it is 1885. Of course we do have full de facto equality with our heterosexual siblings, including many protections of anti-discrimination laws and policies. It's not everything but better than nothing. The Irish vote in conjunction with the new UK laws for equality should help us, but there is still a number of politicians who are against progress. My own local state politician is one of them and he is left-wing. Tony Abbott, the Australian Prime Minister is totally oblivious to the marriage equality issue. Watch him here: Is it any wonder that he is regarded as the Village Idiot?

Irishman, Oscar Wilde, may now rest in peace, for no more does all the world mock or put people in the pillory for uttering "The love that dare not speak its name." Indeed, today the people of the homeland of Oscar Wilde, have voted to recognise that such lovers may now marry each other. Today their love no longer whispers its name but shouts it from the altar of their love, in marriage to each other and celebrated by the Irish people. May the rest of the world soon join them in their wisdom of acknowledging equality. Oscar would surely have approved.

I finished reading this delightful story when this tune popped into my head. Not really anything to do with the story, but I think it makes a nice background.

Such a delightful, imaginative story. I really liked it.

I've had bosses who were like that.

I'm an admirer of the late Christopher Hitchens. His many videos of his debates and interviews are an entertainment in themselves, but I have to mention the title of his book, God is Not Great -(How religion poisons everything.) The fundies hate that title.

I guess we got different views on the movie.

I took it that the son resisted the lessons of the father until he died. The son did not see the love that the father had for him, or the examples he tried to show his son of how giving becomes more than having, but the boy did not see his father's example as an inspiration. Sometimes, compassion has to be learned the hard way.

Inspires my faith in the universality of human love, and goodness.

Nope, the Australian references above are not something I have ever heard in all my years here.

It appears, to an outsider, that the power of cognition is circumsised at birth in many Texans. I wouldn't mind betting that they perform the circumcisions at a Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

Firstly, I have to point out that the dog on the bed doesn't seem to care if the boy is gay or not. Secondly, the pre-puberty times in which I grew up had constrained my ability to recognise all the signs of my sexuality from my self-awareness. I don't find this boy's attention span is scatter-brained or ADD. Compared to my own memories of that age, he seems remarkably coherent with a strong sense of inquiry and willingness to question his self-image. Thirdly, given my own utter inability to recognise my same sex attraction until I started puberty, I remember thinking that I would just do it with boys until I met a girl. I guess that was what set me off to thinking that my thoughts on the matter were somewhat obscure, if not bizarre. So I see something similar in this lad, but at an earlier age than me, and happily less fettered with the social indoctrinations and familial concealments which I had to battle. In addition, he seems to be totally devoid of stereotypical mannerisms that some people expect gay males to have from their birth-date. It seems to me that he has the chance to discover what is right for him. Fourth, If I remember correctly, my own travels through my teens were through a minefield of misguided expectations, of unbelievable dangers and the discoveries of questions that no one else seemed to ask. This led me to investigate philosophy, psychology and ultimately an intuitive questioning of life itself. I know now that Socrates meant for youth to awaken to the questions and seek answers without being coerced into irrational opinions. I have thought that our treatment by societies, past and present, gave rise to us asking such questions about our sexuality, which led to further question of everything. Moreover, I wondered what would happen to the rebellion of gay youth if we did indeed find our sexuality, accepted. Of course the answer to that, I think, is that questioning sexuality does indeed open the doors to our self-awareness, and awareness in general. If we all discover it as a natural exercise of our consciousness then no matter what your sexuality, we humans may well find it leads to a more fulfilling and rewarding life experience; not just for ourselves, but for the whole species. So finally, (hooray) I have great hope for this lad and expect his enquiring mind will expand with much fulfilment.

Give a dog a home with a place to sleep, feed it, and it thinks you are god, Do the same for a cat and it thinks it is god.

I was amazed at the Justices' seeming lack of knowledge on the question of ancient same sex marriages. I'll just leave this here for your perusal: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/50-weirdest-and-coolest-facts-lgbti-history200215

Ah yes, the voice of reason is always the devil's work. As the late Christopher Hitchens said, "Religion poisons everything."

Not to ignore the rioting and looting in Baltimore, but from the audio files of yesterday's SCOTUS hearing on same sex marriage, it is obvious that the justices are well aware of reactions turning, if not violent, then at least disruptive over any decision that they make over marriage equality. Taking the astute analysis and comments in this thread of the Baltimore situation, it is not difficult to expand the concerns to include either of the two major interests in the result of the SCOTUS marriage decision, reacting with violence. Would we see Christians or LGBT persons running riot, looting and burning? We can only say that it's possible, especially when you consider that several individuals have called for civil disobedience and the death penalty for homosexuality; whilst LGBT individuals have stated with much concern and rage that they are not going back into the closet because someone has traded their regard for the human right to marry the person they love, merely to satisfy Christian beliefs. The fact that the justices, by their questioning, have shown concern over the outcome of the ruling, whatever it may be, may well mean that they are searching for a ruling that will end in pleasing no one, leaving the Constitution and its Amendments tattered and torn, burning in the streets of the nation. Still, it is early in the process, and the justices may well only be seeking to be seen as aware of the ramifications of their deliberations. However, it is of concern that there is more than a hint of religion influencing the marriage arguments, replacing the civil status of the marriage contract with a poor understanding of the history of marriage over the centuries from tribal ceremonies to public celebrations. To pair with the person who consents and reciprocates your love is what is being claimed as a civic contract, an individual right, and a path to pursuing happiness without being told that it is a sin against a god's religious laws. When so-called, "religious freedom laws" are used as an excuse to discriminate in order to limit equal participation in the benefits of secular society we risk retaliation to what some, quite correctly in my opinion, would see as the true violation of individual human rights. To return to the burning and looting subject of this thread, it is only to be hoped that cooler, more informed heads will prevail. However, if we lack the education, the reasoning and rational introspection to understand the nature of the freedoms that the secular Constitution provides for us, then we will likely lose those Enlightenment freedoms to the whims, constrictions and persecutions of a tyrannical theocracy for a profit by the looting of the most valuable First Amendment to the Constitution. There is much more than simple rulings to be realised here, and considerably more work to be done if the human species is to survive beyond outmoded social and limiting, tribal taboos.

I'd have preferred a parliamentary democracy, but at least they avoided calling it a Queendom. James, we would be pleased to grant you assylum, or asylum if that is all you want. Cole, you can be sure that despite the current LNP government with all its conservative drongos in power, Australia is still a fun place to be. I honestly wouldn't want to live anywhere else on this planet. As for other planets, it's a shame that Uranus is so far from the Sun. My anus is also far from anyone's son these days. (Has any noticed that Uranus is now being pronounced "yoor - ah - nus" instead of the olde Aussie pronunciation of, "your - anus")