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NickolasJames8

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Blog Entries posted by NickolasJames8

  1. NickolasJames8
    Warning...Garphic Image Below:
     
    I think it's ridiculous that the President of Iran has the nerve to say that the holocaust never happened, and I think the fact that the so called conference he's holding on it has been attended by the likes of David Duke, the Republican scumbag that used to run around with that Democratic scumbag Robert Byrd in the KKK says a lot about the legitimacy of his claims.
    Well, being who I am, I have to say something. The fact that the President of the US, Kofi Annan and his replacement at the sham organization called the UN, and almost all of the nations that sit on the human rights commission at the UN haven't said a word to denounce this idiot is shameful. Will George Bush, Nancy Pelosi or anyone please stand up for what's right??? I doubt it. So, in response to the sicko leader of Iran who has said he wants to wipe Isreal off the map, I'd like to provide some proof.....don't look if you can't handle images of death and atrocities on a massive scale.
    If you do look, please remember that this same horror is unfolding at this very moment in Darfur, and we can do something about it.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

  2. NickolasJames8

    Tension

    By NickolasJames8,

    Well I can say that midnight tonight finished off the crappiest week I've had in a long time. I guess it was going ok, but on Tuesday night my boyfriend woke up and tried to get up to go to the bathroom and couldn't feel his legs. He fell out of his bed and luckily his parents heard him. To make a long story short, they had to call an ambulance for him and he went to the hospital.
    Taylors a pretty big guy. He's almost 6 feet and he weighs over 160, so it was hard for his dad to get him back in his bed while they were waiting for rescue to come. Anyway his fever had gotten so high that he almost died, and that was because he had an infection that his body was fighting to kill that no one knew about the night before when we all thought he just had a cold. He's lucky to be living and we were lucky not to lose him. The thought of him dying makes my knees weak. I have a lot to praise God for.
    So I went to bed the other night thinking about what would have happened if I would have lost him. I thought about my mom again, and how my dad lost her when he was 16 and she was 15, and how I could have had to live with the same heartache. Then I thought about how Taylor and I have been fighting lately. Not just arguments, either. I mean all out fighting, with choking and slapping and hair pulling and threats and crap we don't need to be doing to each other.
    That made me think about watching my dad and stepmom fight when I was little. They would be screaming in each others faces and she would start hitting him, and he would always hit her back. Now I know some people think it's ok for a man to hit a woman in self defense, but I think it's unexcusable. A man can walk away if he chooses to, and my dad chose not to walk away. There were times when I watched him slap her for cussing at him and for saying things to make him mad.
    Then I started to think about what he was like toward my mom. I don't know for sure everything, but I know for sure that at one point he broke her arm after I was born because she stabbed him with a knife. I have to wonder if she didn't stab him out of self defense or not, because given the way he treated my stepmom, it would make sense.
    So now I'm mad at my dad, and he doesn't know why. Or maybe he does know but he wants me to tell him why. The problem there is that if I do, I know he'll just tell me that it's none of my business, and that what happened between him and my mom was between them and that I'm out of line. I swear I want to punch him in the nose when he tells me that kind of stuff. If he mistreated my mom I think I have a right to confront him since she can't do that anymore.
    Anyway, sorry for the depressing post. I just needed to get this stuff off of my chest. BTW, for people who know who the author Rick S. is, does anyone know how to find his stuff?? He was on Codeys World but was removed over some dumbness and now they're saying they were wrong, but he hasn't been reinstated yet.
  3. NickolasJames8

    I'm ranked 4th

    By NickolasJames8,

    I just googled What's The Difference Between Me and You, and found out that my story is the forth result that pops up!!! ok, big deal, right Well, I think it's pretty neat that something I wrote and posted to the internet comes in just behind Dr. Dre's lyrics to the song with the same title....that means that somewhere, someone's googling the lyrics for that song and while they're looking at the results of their search, they're seeing a link to my story yay!!
    So anyway, I'm officially two chapters ahead on Bodega Bay. I sent 21 in, as I said in my last entry, but it hasn't been posted yet. When it goes up, i'll give everyone who reads it time to digest the chapter before I post 22, and in the meanwhile, I'll pound out 24. When I'm done with that one, I'll post 23 and work on 25, and so on....
    Well, just wanted to share the google thing with everyone. I'm home sick, and I'm bored, so I'm writing and googling crap at the same time to fill the time. I'm definitely going back to school tomorrow :pickaxe:
  4. NickolasJames8

    It's That Time

    By NickolasJames8,

    Ok, so it's officially December, and I'm super excited....in case you haven't looked at the content blocks to your right, I'm in the Christmas spirit. We're gonna go shopping tomorrow and I have my Christmas money already so it's just a matter of looking for the right thing to get each person on my list.
    Well, I sent in chapter 21 of Bodega Bay the other night but it hasn't been posted yet, but there's a very good reason for that. I'm more than happy to wait for the chapter to go up while Rob gets married...I feel soooo excited for him. I hope him and Robin live happily ever after together and that someday, we can overcome the homophobia that poisons our society so that we can have legally recognized marriages here in the US. Well, either that, or they stop legally recognizing straight marriage as well.....either one will do for me Anyway, I'm kinda glad I have to wait for 21 to go up, because it's giving me the time I want to get a couple chapters ahead :pickaxe: The November winners of the Nickolas James Excellence Awards are listed, too, and the Second Annual Nickolas James Awards will be presented at the end of this month..the committee and the judges are in place, and now they're going through the list of the monthly winners to nominate the candidates for the yearly awards. I was pretty surprised at the response I got to my newest short story, The Christmas Letter. I know it didn't have a gay theme, but I don't think every story I write has to be gay themed....I guess in a way I didn't give it much consideration, but once it was finished, I was a little concerned that it might be an issue for some people. Luckily for me, though, it wasn't :ranger:
    Well, I guess that's it for me.....everyone have a blessed weekend and an even more blessed Christmas Season
     
    Kisses
    Nick
  5. NickolasJames8
    Ok, so i got to see it again Last weekend we were in Jacksonville when my cousin and I saw Borat so this weekend, we took Taylor to Sandbridge to see it...all I can say is HOLY CRAP!! It was still just as funny the second time as it was the first, and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD.
    Im actually getting somewhere with Bodega Bay. I have about a third of a chapter done, so it wont be long now. I think I just needed some time to recharge my batteries and think about what I wanted to do as far as my stories...believe it or not, I'm already looking past the ones I'm working on right now and considering something huge for Spring 2007. I refuse to give myself a timetable to finish Staking My Claim or Bodega Bay, but at the same time, I know exactly where these two stories are headed, and I'm having a good time taking the longest way I can to get them there
    I've been in a bit of a funk lately, and it hasn't made a lot of sense to me. When I'm at school or if I'm at home working on something like cleaning the garage out or feeding my dog I get inspired to work on a chapter, but as soon as I'm in front of my PC, I feel like I'm out of ideas. It's the dumbest thing in the world to me, because I've honestly never dealt with this. The other day at school I was tempted to get my notebook out and start writing as fast as i could so I could copy it when I got home...at the very least I could have it for reference, I guess :|
    So anyway, the next chapter of Bodega Bay is definitely coming this week Please be patient and I prmoise to make it worth the wait
  6. NickolasJames8
    There's no easy way for me to say this, so I guess I just need to be honest and come right out with it..........
     
    I haven't written anything in seven days. I feel like I've cheated my readers and myself and even the administration here at GA because I made a commitment to update regularly but honestly I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to just sit down and collect my thoughts long enough to be able to focus on anything but school and crap that's happening at home.
    To make things worse, I think I have a stalker.....well, not really a stalker, but a disgruntled former fan. He sent me a really crazy email telling me how many lives I was messing with and some other weirdo crap that made me blink and shake my head. Personally I think some people need to get real lives and stop living on the forums because it's obvious that this guy doesn't get out enough.
    Florida was ok, I guess......my cousin James and I hung out by ourselves most of the time, and we went to see Borat, the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. The only question it left me with at the end was, how many gypsies can you kill with a Hummer???..lol. If you haven't seen it, you most likely won't get it. So I recomend that you go see it, and right away
    We also saw The Santa Clause 3, The Escape Clause. It was great, too. I think I love the holidays more than any other time of the year because it's like I can feel the season all around me...there's no other season that compares in my book
    So anyway, I'll have lot's of time this weekend to write, and I plan on spending at least one full day locked up in my room writing. I'm not too sure which story I plan to work on...maybe it'll be more than one, or maybe it'll be two chapters of the same story. :pickaxe: We'll have to wait and see. In the meanwhile, sorry for the delay, and while you're waiting, go read the latest chapter of The Other Side Of Me.
  7. NickolasJames8

    Once upon a Time

    By NickolasJames8,

    Once upon a time there was a site....it was a quaint little site with high quality stories and high quality authors. This site was run by one woman, and she worked hard to make it a site everyone could enjoy. There was no forum, and no blogs, but there were beautiful pages and nice layouts. It was obvious that the owner of the site cared greatly for her authors and her readers.
    One of the best aspects of her site was the lack of any political discussion. There was none to be found, and life was harmonious amongst the authors and the readers. One day, though, the owner was watching MSNBC and saw an anchorman giving a commentary. She loved what the anchorman had to say, and she wanted to emulate this man. She didn't worry about the fact that he was the anchorman of a show about politics, and that this was his field of expertise.....she wanted to have the same effect on others as the anchorman had on her. So she added a political forum to her site, and things fell apart. An author decided he didn't want his stories posted at her site anylonger, and in an act of spite and pure rage, she mass emailed parts of an email he sent to her when he asked to be withdrawn from her site.
    When she was advised in private by another that she was making a huge mistake and that she shouldn't have shared a private exchange with others, she became enraged and told the adviser that he should consider leaving her site as well. She was determined to be as influencial as that anchorman she saw on MSNBC.
    What she failed to realize was that she was already that influencial. She had an audience, respect, and a message that people felt comfortable hearing. What she was seeking was already under her nose, but she was looking so hard for it in other places, she missed it. Instead of continuing down the path toward greatness that she was on, she took a sharp left turn and now her site is no longer seen in the prestigious light it once was.
    The lesson.....when you find success, build on it, but remember what made you the success you were. Too many times in life, we seek the things we already have, but we're too blind to know that it's been there the whole time.
     
    BTW, the special site in my special story is NOT www.gayauthors.org
  8. NickolasJames8

    Random Chatter

    By NickolasJames8,

    Well the Anthology was a smash, and I'm not too surprised...there's a lot of great talent here, and hopefully they'll get the notice they deserve soon enough, especially Camy, Greame, Dark Shadow and Birdsofafeather.....to me they're the three best efiction writers we have, and it's almost and injustice that they aren't moved up to Shared Hosted. Cjames is really good too, and the more he writes, I'm sure the better he'll get.
    So anyway I went to CRVboy and posted a reply on the politics forum, since it's obvious that no one else seems to participate in it, and I was attacked right away...the funny thing is, I didn't address anyone....I just addressed an article that was posted, and all of the sudden, I was accused of not wanting to live in the US and of thinking that other countries are better...so anyway, now I can see why only one person posts in that forum. I think he hates competition, so he just attacks everyone who comes along. It seems like he hates to be challenged on his views, so I kindly told him that I wasnt addressing him, and that most of his posts were mindless. I'm sure he'll love that
    The forum over at CRVboy is pretty much dead anyway...it kinda makes me wonder why it's even there. I mean, compared to the forum we have here, it's a ghost town. Codey's forum over at Codeysworld.com. Also, I joined the AwesomeDude forums, and then I checked out AwesomeDude Radio, and low and behold, a certain author we all know and love was singing a song with his group I won't say who it was *coughs* Camy! *coughs* but I think it was neat to hear him singing....for an old geezer of 99 he sure gets around. I also heard a certain Moderator from this site doing a promo So after I didn't recognize any of the songs, I sent Dude a few files of something decent (2pac, Al Stewart and Journey) and I promised him I'd find something else to send along so people can actually hear songs they LIKE..lol....j/k Dude.
    I've been watching the news about the elections, and I have to wonder if the Democrats really have it as tied up as they think they do....something tells me that they're celebrating a little too soon. They really ought to be paying attention to what the republicans are doing right now, because if they aren't careful, they're going to be wondering on November 8th what went wrong. I think there's more repub voters who'll be going to vote than the dems are counting on, but we'll see.....at this point, I really think it's a mute point. The democraps, the repukes....is there really a choice there?? The only things the reups have over the dems is that they aren't sissy la la's when it comes to defense, and the only thing the dems have going for them is that they havent been screwing things up for the last 12 years in congress. Well, we'll see
  9. NickolasJames8

    Two Hero's

    By NickolasJames8,

    The occasion of this photograph was a Veterans Day Commemoration at Dallas City Hall on 11 November 2004. The veteran pictured is Houston James, a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the Marine is Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr., a member of an ordnance-disposal team who lost his left hand, one leg, and an eye while defusing a bomb in Iraq in July 2003.
  10. NickolasJames8

    Ultra gay

    By NickolasJames8,

    Here's what happens to me in real life(read: Away from the internet)................
     
     
    My alarm goes off at 5:10 in the morning and I use my fist to find the snooze button so I dont have to open my eyes....this also helps me gain some measure of revenge with the alarm clock for interupting my sleep.
     
    I stand in front of the mirror and look at myself for about a minute and try to think about whatever it is I plan to do next. Once I come to grips with the fact that I don't have enough time to go back to bed, I bitterly curl the left side of my upper lip and start to exfoliate.
     
    Once I've exfoliated, I start the shower, but before I get in, I walk back out to the hallway and get a towel and a wash cloth. Usually, as I'm doing this, I stub my toe in the door jam of the closet, or if I'm on a roll, the bathroom door catches it first, then I do it again in the closet.
     
    Now that I'm really cranky, I hang my towel and strip my boxers off so I can get in the shower. Once I'm in, I usually lean against the shower wall and sleep while the water pours off my back. Once I start to wake up again, I give my hair a tea tree treatment and I scrub twice from head to toe.
     
    As soon as I get out, I get a mouthful of listerine and swish it around while I dry off and go to my room to find my outfit for the day. Once I have my boxers and a shirt on, I give my crotch a shot of baby powder, then I put my pants on.
     
    Now that I'm almost fully dressed, I head back down the hall to the bathroom where I spit the listerine out and brush my teeth. Once I've brushed, I floss, then I brush again, then I rinse one more time with listerine. Once my mouth is burning from the minty freshness of the germ fighting powers of Listerine, I spit it out and do my hair. This is normally a twenty minute process but sometimes it can take longer, depending on how queenish my mood is.
     
    Now that my hair is done, I'm at a crossroad.....I can either use a Qtip in my ears and call it a morning, or I can use the Qtip in my ears, then, use it to style my eyelashes. Again, it depends on my queen meter.
     
    Once I'm good to go in the mirror, I get my sock and shoes on, then I put my belt on. Now, I have a theory about shoes and belts.....they're riddled with germs. Once I've put them on, it's time to go back down the hall to wash my hands.
     
    At this point I can find myself either at my desk checking out the forums and seeing who's on to chat, or at my desk finishing the homework I didn't finish the night before......if I do the latter, it has to be done with the utmost secretcy or I can find myself grounded for not getting it done the night before.
     
    Now, here's where I used to be able to say that I down a redbull and eat some grits....now I'm not allowed to have Redbull anymore and instead of grits I have a bowl of cheerios or some other whole grain cereal. While I eat my dad goes through my backpack for whatever reason. I still havent figured out what it is he thinks he'll find, but since I have nothing to hide, it doesnt really bug me. While he digs through my stuff, I always call Taylor and we talk until it's time for us to leave.
     
    Once we're out the door, it's wartime. Sometimes I can get him to let me drive to my school, but usually, he bitches about time and traffic and bullies his way into the drivers seat. In retaliation, I hit the seek button on the stereo and drive him nuts. Just when we find station we like, I change it just to be annoying
     
    Once I get to school my fag hag Christine gives me my Redbull. I down it like a beer and we're off for our day of scholastic nourishment.
     
    After school a few things can happen.....I can get a ride from someone(not often), my stepmom might pick me up, or more likely than not, I ride the bus home. When I get home I go straight to the fridge and find something to eat, then I start my homework. This is where it gets interesting, because usually, Taylor comes over and he wants all of my attention. I can't always give it to him because not only am I wrapped up in my homework, but his too, and while Im doing that, about 10 different people typically IM me throughout the evening.
     
    I walk with Taylor back to his house at 10 and it always hurts to leave. During the summer we dont have to be apart. We hang out non stop all day and night. If it didnt rain, we usually slept in my back yard(or his...he has a pool, we dont )
     
    When I get home I have to start my homework again, but i have to do it while Im on the phone with Taylor and usually we're chatting on AOL too. Add to that the fact that I have a ton of other people wanting some of my time, and it gets a little hectic.
     
    While all of this is happening, I still have to update my stories. That means writing the chapters, getting them off to my editor and my beta readers, then thinking of the most outrageous questions I can possibly ask them about the chapter they just read. If it's a new month, I have to review the recomendations that I get from the NJ Excellence committee and send everything back to them for final voting.
     
    The point in all of this??? If you're a regular reader of one of my stories and I'm not updating as often as you'd like, please be patient. I'm working on it
  11. NickolasJames8

    Constitutional

    By NickolasJames8,

    I wanted to share this piece with everyone....it's a story by a former congressman about the Constitution, a document that the Republicrats in Washington DC and all of their foolish supporters seem to know nothing about. Read on........
     
     
    One day in the House of Representatives a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose:
     
    "Mr. Speaker--I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living, if there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has not the power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member on this floor knows it.
     
    We have the right as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I ever heard that the government was in arrears to him.
     
    "Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks."
     
    He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as, no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received but few votes, and, of course, was lost.
     
    Later, when asked by a friend why he had opposed the appropriation, Crockett gave this explanation:
     
    "Several years ago I was one evening standing on the steps of the Capitol with some members of Congress, when our attention was attracted by a great light over in Georgetown. It was evidently a large fire. We jumped into a hack and drove over as fast as we could. In spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many families made houseless, and besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes they had on. The weather was very cold, and when I saw so many children suffering, I felt that something ought to be done for them. The next morning a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done.
     
    "The next summer, when it began to be time to think about election, I concluded I would take a scout around among the boys of my district. I had no opposition there but, as the election was some time off, I did not know what might turn up. When riding one day in a part of my district in which I was more of a stranger than any other, I saw a man in a field plowing and coming toward the road. I gauged my gait so that we should meet as he came up, I spoke to the man. He replied politely, but as I thought, rather coldly.
     
    "I began: 'Well friend, I am one of those unfortunate beings called candidates and---
     
    "Yes I know you; you are Colonel Crockett. I have seen you once before, and voted for you the last time you were elected. I suppose you are out electioneering now, but you had better not waste your time or mine, I shall not vote for you again."
     
    "This was a sockdolger...I begged him tell me what was the matter.
     
    "Well Colonel, it is hardly worthwhile to waste time or words upon it. I do not see how it can be mended, but you gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. In either case you are not the man to represent me. But I beg your pardon for expressing it that way. I did not intend to avail myself of the privilege of the constituent to speak plainly to a candidate for the purpose of insulting you or wounding you.'
     
    "I intend by it only to say that your understanding of the constitution is very different from mine; and I will say to you what but for my rudeness, I should not have said, that I believe you to be honest.
     
    But an understanding of the constitution different from mine I cannot overlook, because the Constitution, to be worth anything, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions. The man who wields power and misinterprets it is the more dangerous the honest he is.'
     
    " 'I admit the truth of all you say, but there must be some mistake. Though I live in the backwoods and seldom go from home, I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings of Congress. My papers say you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some sufferers by fire in Georgetown. Is that true?
     
    "Well my friend; I may as well own up. You have got me there. But certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country like ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering women and children, particularly with a full and overflowing treasury, and I am sure, if you had been there, you would have done just the same as I did.'
     
    "It is not the amount, Colonel, that I complain of; it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the Treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. But that has nothing with the question. The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue by a tariff, which reaches every man in the country, no matter how poor he may be, and the poorer he is the more he pays in proportion to his means.
     
    What is worse, it presses upon him without his knowledge where the weight centers, for there is not a man in the United States who can ever guess how much he pays to the government. So you see, that while you are contributing to relieve one, you are drawing it from thousands who are even worse off than he.
     
    If you had the right to give anything, the amount was simply a matter of discretion with you, and you had as much right to give $20,000,000 as $20,000. If you have the right to give at all; and as the Constitution neither defines charity nor stipulates the amount, you are at liberty to give to any and everything which you may believe, or profess to believe, is a charity and to any amount you may think proper. You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and favoritism, on the one hand, and for robbing the people on the other. 'No, Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity.'
     
    "'Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose. If twice as many houses had been burned in this country as in Georgetown, neither you nor any other member of Congress would have Thought of appropriating a dollar for our relief. There are about two hundred and forty members of Congress. If they had shown their sympathy for the sufferers by contributing each one week's pay, it would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of wealthy men around Washington who could have given $20,000 without depriving themselves of even a luxury of life.'
     
    "The congressmen chose to keep their own money, which, if reports be true, some of them spend not very creditably; and the people about Washington, no doubt, applauded you for relieving them from necessity of giving what was not yours to give. The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution.'
     
    "'So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the people. I have no doubt you acted honestly, but that does not make it any better, except as far as you are personally concerned, and you see that I cannot vote for you.'
     
    "I tell you I felt streaked. I saw if I should have opposition, and this man should go to talking and in that district I was a gone fawn-skin. I could not answer him, and the fact is, I was so fully convinced that he was right, I did not want to. But I must satisfy him, and I said to him:
     
    "Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when you said I had not sense enough to understand the Constitution. I intended to be guided by it, and thought I had studied it fully. I have heard many speeches in Congress about the powers of Congress, but what you have said here at your plow has got more hard, sound sense in it than all the fine speeches I ever heard. If I had ever taken the view of it that you have, I would have put my head into the fire before I would have given that vote; and if you will forgive me and vote for me again, if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law I wish I may be shot.'
     
    "He laughingly replied; 'Yes, Colonel, you have sworn to that once before, but I will trust you again upon one condition. You are convinced that your vote was wrong. Your acknowledgment of it will do more good than beating you for it. If, as you go around the district, you will tell people about this vote, and that you are satisfied it was wrong, I will not only vote for you, but will do what I can to keep down opposition, and perhaps, I may exert some little influence in that way.'
     
    "If I don't, said I, 'I wish I may be shot; and to convince you that I am in earnest in what I say I will come back this way in a week or ten days, and if you will get up a gathering of people, I will make a speech to them. Get up a barbecue, and I will pay for it.'
     
    "No, Colonel, we are not rich people in this section but we have plenty of provisions to contribute for a barbecue, and some to spare for those who have none. The push of crops will be over in a few days, and we can then afford a day for a barbecue. 'This Thursday; I will see to getting it up on Saturday week. Come to my house on Friday, and we will go together, and I promise you a very respectable crowd to see and hear you.
     
    "'Well I will be here. But one thing more before I say good-bye. I must know your name."
     
    "'My name is Bunce.'
     
    "'Not Horatio Bunce?'
     
    "'Yes
     
    "'Well, Mr. Bunce, I never saw you before, though you say you have seen me, but I know you very well. I am glad I have met you, and very proud that I may hope to have you for my friend.'
     
    "It was one of the luckiest hits of my life that I met him. He mingled but little with the public, but was widely known for his remarkable intelligence, and for a heart brim-full and running over with kindness and benevolence, which showed themselves not only in words but in acts. He was the oracle of the whole country around him, and his fame had extended far beyond the circle of his immediate acquaintance. Though I had never met him, before, I had heard much of him, and but for this meeting it is very likely I should have had opposition, and had been beaten. One thing is very certain, no man could now stand up in that district under such a vote.
     
    "At the appointed time I was at his house, having told our conversation to every crowd I had met, and to every man I stayed all night with, and I found that it gave the people an interest and confidence in me stronger than I had ever seen manifested before.
     
    "Though I was considerably fatigued when I reached his house, and, under ordinary circumstances, should have gone early to bed, I kept him up until midnight talking about the principles and affairs of government, and got more real, true knowledge of them than I had got all my life before."
     
    "I have known and seen much of him since, for I respect him - no, that is not the word - I reverence and love him more than any living man, and I go to see him two or three times every year; and I will tell you, sir, if every one who professes to be a Christian lived and acted and enjoyed it as he does, the religion of Christ would take the world by storm.
     
    "But to return to my story. The next morning we went to the barbecue and, to my surprise, found about a thousand men there. I met a good many whom I had not known before, and they and my friend introduced me around until I had got pretty well acquainted - at least, they all knew me.
     
    "In due time notice was given that I would speak to them. They gathered up around a stand that had been erected. I opened my speech by saying:
     
    "Fellow-citizens - I present myself before you today feeling like a new man. My eyes have lately been opened to truths which ignorance or prejudice or both, had heretofore hidden from my view. I feel that I can today offer you the ability to render you more valuable service than I have ever been able to render before. I am here today more for the purpose of acknowledging my error than to seek your votes. That I should make this acknowledgment is due to myself as well as to you. Whether you will vote for me is a matter for your consideration only."
     
    "I went on to tell them about the fire and my vote for the appropriation and then told them why I was satisfied it was wrong. I closed by saying:
     
    "And now, fellow-citizens, it remains only for me to tell you that the most of the speech you have listened to with so much interest was simply a repetition of the arguments by which your neighbor, Mr. Bunce, convinced me of my error.
     
    "It is the best speech I ever made in my life, but he is entitled to the credit for it. And now I hope he is satisfied with his convert and that he will get up here and tell you so.'
     
    "He came up to the stand and said:
     
    "Fellow-citizens - it affords me great pleasure to comply with the request of Colonel Crockett. I have always considered him a thoroughly honest man, and I am satisfied that he will faithfully perform all that he has promised you today.'
     
    "He went down, and there went up from that crowd such a shout for Davy Crockett as his name never called forth before.'
     
    "I am not much given to tears, but I was taken with a choking then and felt some big drops rolling down my cheeks. And I tell you now that the remembrance of those few words spoken by such a man, and the honest, hearty shout they produced, is worth more to me than all the honors I have received and all the reputation I have ever made, or ever shall make, as a member of Congress.'
     
    "Now, sir," concluded Crockett, "you know why I made that speech yesterday. "There is one thing which I will call your attention, "you remember that I proposed to give a week's pay. There are in that House many very wealthy men - men who think nothing of spending a week's pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of those same men made beautiful speeches upon the great debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased--a debt which could not be paid by money--and the insignificance and worthlessness of money, particularly so insignificant a sum as $20,000 when weighed against the honor of the nation. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it."
  12. NickolasJames8
    I'm wondering if there's some kind of law against parent's forcing kids to follow their goofy diet fads.....my dad and stepmom have a habit of following the latest diet fad, no matter what it is, and sometimes, I have to take a stand. Let me explain.......
     
    About 3 years ago, my dad watched a show about Americans with diabetes who don't even know they have it. From that one show, he determined that we were all borderline diabetic and we needed to cut as much sugar from our diets as we could, so he stopped buying sweets. That didn't really go away, either. Our refridgerator and cupboards have been filled with sugar free everything, including cookies, pudding, hot coco mix and other crap that I've been forced to adapt to.
    At some point last year, my parents went on an organic food kick. I guess that wasn't too bad, but I had to draw the line at organic ice cream....there's something about the combination of organic and dairy anything that doesn't sit right with me. Still, I stuck it out and in the end, the organic crap they were buying faded away.
    Sometime in the spring, our house was invaded by olive oil, fresh vegetables and bags of various nuts. My parents planted pots of herbs and bought weird kinds of meats like lamb, goat and rabbit. Personally, I love lamb, goat and rabbit, but my stepmom cant stand goat or rabbit. In time, the rabbit and goat were gone, replaced by fish, which we still have at least 3 times a week.
    Yesterday, we went shopping, and as my parents strolled down the aisles, they read labels and I wondered what was next. What followed was a low fat, high fiber, whole grain and lean protien onslaught. Instead of cheetohs, we have triscuits. Instead of onion dip, we have avacado dip with fresh tomatos. Instead of pudding cups, we have fresh pineapple. Instead of coco pebbles, they bought some crap called Great Grains.
    I wanted hamburgers for dinner last night, but instead, they made squash and boneless, skinless chicken breast. So in protest, I ate 3 bowls of the last box of coco pebbles. I got up this morning wanting grits, and I wound up with a choice of Great Grains or a plate of eggs and fresh sliced tomato. Even worse, my toast, made with 21 gram of whole grain bread, didn't even have butter on it.
    So, it's time for me to settle in for another fad diet. I'll endure, though, and wait patiently for my folks to lose interest. In the meanwhile, though, I think I'll be eating dinner elsewhere for a while.
  13. NickolasJames8
    Religion: Christian students launch fund to help gay youth Posted by: gayteens on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 12:43 PM
     
    The controversial divide between religion and sexuality may shrink, but certainly not the dreams of students who have launched a major campaign supporting gay Christian youth and young adults in Canada.
     
     
    The Student Christian Movement of Canada (SCM), a national network of campus groups, is launching a "Queer and Christian Without Contradiction" campaign after winning a major grant this summer. The four-year national campaign aims to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in and out of the churches.
    Communion with God, they say, need not be a closeted affair.
     
    Members of the student-led movement, which brings together students from many denominations and even other faiths, expressed their excitement about the grant of 100,000 US dollars.
     
    "So many people assume that, on the issue of homosexuality, youth will have to choose between dogmatic traditions and our very identities," said 25-year old David Ball, a former youth and overseas worker who attends an Anglican church in Winnipeg and has been part of SCM for three years.
     
    "But this just isn't the case.
     
    "Faith is about liberation, not about oppression. We shouldn't have to choose between our faith and our freedom to be who we are. Hopefully, more youth in Canada can see that we can be both queer and Christian - without contradiction."
     
    Others in the 85-year old student-led movement said the Queer Youth Fund grant will help bring progressive Christians into the mainstream, and also help challenge other forms of oppression, including racism, classism and militarism, which they argue are connected.
     
    "Exciting times ahead for the Student Christian Movement, not to mention for queers and their allies in the churches," said Sheilagh McGlynn, one of two national coordinators for the movement. "Not only are we the first Canadian group to win this award - we're also the first Christians.
     
    "It's a huge step forward for all of us. Many youth today are seeking spiritual roots in an unjust world, they want to make a difference, but they often hear judgement from organized religion. We hope to offer a place to them, where they can be themselves."
     
    The SCM, founded in 1921, has a history of taking the lead in challenging both church and society - for instance, on the ordination of women, and through liberation theologies which believe Jesus' message to be about freedom from oppression and injustice.
     
    Often facing controversy for its understandings of the Gospel, the SCM hopes that both Christians and those who do not profess a Christian faith will benefit from the education, leadership training, and visibility of the "Queer and Christian" campaign.
     
    As it celebrates its 85th anniversary, the movement is launching the campaign this semester with a call-out for queer youth to submit art and Bible studies to promote the project.
     
    The Queer Youth Fund grant is awarded annually by the U.S.-based Liberty Hill Foundation. It is the first time a Christian, or Canadian, organization has won the award.
     
     
     
    Just wanted to post this for everyone to read.....please give your support in the form of a letter to Christian and Gay Rights leaders, or get active to promote this kind of unity.
  14. NickolasJames8
    In the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, there's a disturbing new trend in Washington DC among both Democrats and Republicans......outing gay Republicans....now the repukes are doing this because they want to save themselves from losing the elections in November, which is something they dont have to worry about. No one wants the Democraps in power because we'll be invaded in short order by the islamo facists who want to kill us and the Democraps are going to be weak, as always, and most likely surrender and allow Americans to be murdered. They'll justify it by saying that we have to have "understanding" and that we need to offer the terrorists a chance to "express themseves" by killing Americans.
    Anyway, I'm not shocked at all by the repukes wanting to out gays and appeal to their crazy base of homophobes and abortion doctor killers. Unfortuantely, I'm also not shocked my the democraps, who are now sending out a list of gay republican lawmakers and their staff members.
    The reason why, you ask?? Because they want to destroy peoples lives for being republicans.....there's no other reason. They can score political points and at the same time, punish gays who dont see things their way by outing them before they're ready to be out. Some people might never want to come out, and it's a private decision that no breeder has the right to make for them. It just further proves my point that the democraps are every bit as homophobic and crooked as the repukes, and that they're desperate to get into power so they can hand over our sovergnty to the UN and start peace talks with Osama Bin Laden.
    Unfortuantely the lives they're ruining are going to be irrepairable. I wonder how many men and women will be rejected by their loved ones, or haw many will commit suicide rather than face being outed by these hateful scumbags who beg the gay community for votes everytime there's an election.
    In my opinion, it makes them no better than Fred Phelps and his family of demons, who plan to protest at the funerals of five innocent little girls who were murdered by some asshole who was taking revenge for something that happened in his life that they had nothing to do with. Maybe instead of focusing their energy toward outing closeted republicans, the democrats could be working to block these idiots from deepening the pain of these familes who are already suffering an unspeakable sorrow.
    Instead, no one's even paying attention to that, because they're more wrapped up in gaining political points. I wonder how many political points they would score if they actually acted to protect this community from the new pain they're about to suffer.
  15. NickolasJames8
    Democrat Scandals
     
     
     
    William Jefferson Clinton- Impeached by the House of Representatives over allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice, but acquitted by the Senate. Scandals include Whitewater - Travelgate Gennifer Flowersgate - Filegate - Vince Fostergate - Whitewater Billing Recordsgate - Paula Jonesgate- Lincoln Bedroomgate - Donations from Convicted Drug and Weapons Dealersgate - Lippogate - Chinagate - The Lewinsky Affair - Perjury and Jobs for Lewinskygate - Kathleen Willeygate - Web Hubbell Prison Phone Callgate - Selling Military Technology to the Chinesegate - Jaunita Broaddrick Gate - Lootergate - Pardongate
     
    Edward Moore Kennedy - Democrat - U. S. Senator from Massachusetts. Pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, after his car plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.
     
    Barney Frank - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1981 to present. Admitted to having paid Stephen L. Gobie, a male prostitute, for sex and subsequently hiring Gobie as his personal assistant. Gobie used the congressman's Washington apartment for prostitution. A move to expel Frank from the House of Representatives failed and a motion to censure him failed.
     
    DNC - The Federal Election Commission imposed $719,000 in fines against participants in the 1996 Democratic Party fundraising scandals involving contributions from China, Korea and other foreign sources. The Federal Election Commission said it decided to drop cases against contributors of more than $3 million in illegal DNC contributions because the respondents left the country or the corporations are defunct.
     
    Sandy Berger - Democrat - National Security Advisor during the Clinton Administration. Berger became the focus of a criminal investigation after removing highly classified terrorism documents and handwritten notes from the National Archives during preparations for the Sept. 11 commission hearings.
     
    Robert Torricelli - Democrat - Withdrew from the 2002 Senate race with less than 30 days before the election because of controversy over personal gifts he took from a major campaign donor and questions about campaign donations from 1996.
     
    James McGreevey - Democrat - New Jersey Governor . Admitted to having a gay affair. Resigned after allegations of sexual harassment, rumors of being blackmailed on top of fundraising investigations and indictments.
     
    Jesse Jackson - Democrat - Democratic candidate for President. Admitted to having an extramarital affair and fathering a illegitimate child.
     
    Gary Condit - Democrat - US Democratic Congressman from California. Condit had an affair with an intern. Condit, covered up the affair and lied to police after she went missing. No charges were ever filed against Condit. Her remains were discovered in a Washington DC park..
     
    Sowande Ajumoke Omokunde - Democrat - the son of newly elected U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, was booked on charges of criminal damage to property for allegedly slashing tires on 20 vans and cars rented by the Republican Party for use in Election Day voter turnout efforts.
     
    Daniel David Rostenkowski - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1959 to 1995. Indicted on 17 felony charges- pleaded guilty to two counts of misuse of public funds and sentenced to seventeen months in federal prison.
     
    Melvin Jay Reynolds - U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1993 to 1995. Convicted on sexual misconduct and obstruction of justice charges and sentenced to five years in prison.
     
    Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Michigan from 1955 to 1980. Convicted on eleven counts of mail fraud and filing false payroll forms- sentenced to three years in prison.
     
    George Rogers - Democrat - Massachusetts State House of Representatives from 1965 to 1970. M000ember of Massachusetts State Senate from 1975 to 1978. Convicted of bribery in 1978 and sentenced to two years in prison.
     
    Don Siegelman - Democrat Governor Alabama - indicted in a bid-rigging scheme involving a maternity-care program. The charges accused Siegelman and his former chief of staff of helping Tuscaloosa physician Phillip Bobo rig bids. Siegelman was accused of moving $550,000 from the state education budget to the State Fire College in Tuscaloosa so Bobo could use the money to pay off a competitor for a state contract for maternity care.
     
    John Murtha, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania. Implicated in the Abscam sting, in which FBI agents impersonating Arab businessmen offered bribes to political figures; Murtha was cited as an unindicted co-conspirator
     
    Gerry Eastman Studds - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1973 to 1997. The first openly gay member of Congress. Censured by the House of Representatives for having sexual relations with a teenage House page.
     
    James C. Green - Democrat - North Carolina State House of Representatives from 1961 to 1977. Charged with accepting a bribe from an undercover FBI agent, but was acquitted. Convicted of tax evasion in 1997.
     
    Frederick Richmond - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New York from 1975 to 1982. Arrested in Washington, D.C., in 1978 for soliciting sex from a minor and from an undercover police officer - pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Also - charged with tax evasion, marijuana possession, and improper payments to a federal employee - pleaded guilty.
     
    Raymond Lederer - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1977 to 1981. Implicated in the Abscam sting - convicted of bribery and sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000.
     
    Harrison Arlington Williams, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1959 to 1970. Implicated in the Abscam sting. Allegedly accepted an 18% interest in a titanium mine. Convicted of nine counts of bribery, conspiracy, receiving an unlawful gratuity, conflict of interest, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Sentenced to three years in prison and fined $50,000.
     
    Frank Thompson, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New Jersey from 1955 to 1980. Implicated in the Abscam sting, convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges. Sentenced to three years in prison
     
    Michael Joseph Myers - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1976 to 1980. Implicated in the Abscam sting - convicted of bribery and conspiracy; sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000; expelled from the House of Representatives on October 2, 1980.
     
    John Michael Murphy - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New York from 1963 to 1981. Implicated in the Abscam sting. Convicted of conspiracy, conflict of interest, and accepting an illegal gratuity. Sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000.
     
    John Wilson Jenrette, Jr - Democrat - U.S. Representative from South Carolina from 1975 to 1980. Implicated in the Abscam sting. Convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges and sentenced to prison
     
    Neil Goldschmidt - Democrat - Oregon governor. Admitted to having an illegal sexual relationship with a 14-year-old teenager while he was serving as Mayor of Portland.
     
    Alcee Lamar Hastings - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Florida. Impeached and removed from office as federal judge in 1989 over bribery charges.
     
    Marion Barry - Democrat - mayor of Washington, D.C., from 1979 to 1991 and again from 1995 to 1999. Convicted of cocaine possession after being caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine. Sentenced to six months in prison.
     
    Mario Biaggi - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New York from 1969 to 1988. Indicted on federal charges that he had accepted bribes in return for influence on federal contracts.Convicted of obstructing justice and accepting illegal gratuities. Tried in 1988 on federal racketeering charges and convicted on 15 felony counts.
     
    Lee Alexander - Democrat - Mayor of Syracuse, N.Y. from 1970 to 1985. Was indicted over a $1.5 million kickback scandal. Pleaded guilty to racketeering and tax evasion charges. Served six years in prison.
     
    Bill Campbell - Democrat - Mayor of Atlanta. Indicted and charged with fraud over claims he accepted improper payments from contractors seeking city contracts.
     
    Frank Ballance - Democrat - Congressman North Carolina. Pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering related to mishandling of money by his charitable foundation.
     
    Hazel O'Leary - Democrat - Secretary of Energy during the Clinton Administration - O'leary took trips all over the world as Secretary with as many 50 staff members and at times rented a plane, which was used by Madonna during her concert tours.
     
    Lafayette Thomas - Democrat - Candidate for Tennessee State House of Representatives in 1954. Sheriff of Davidson County, from 1972 to 1990. Indicted in federal court on 54 counts of abusing his power as sheriff. Pleaded guilty to theft and mail fraud; sentenced to five years in prison.
     
    Mary Rose Oakar - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1977 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of funneling $16,000 through fake donors.
     
    David Giles - Democrat - candidate for U.S. Representative from Washington in 1986 and 1990. Convicted in June 2000 of child rape.
     
    Gary Siplin - Democrat state senator Florida- found guilty of third-degree grand theft of $5,000 or more, a felony, and using services of employees for his candidacy.
     
    Edward Mezvinsky - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Iowa from 1973 to 1977. Indicted on 56 federal fraud charges.
     
    Lena Swanson - Democrat - Member of Washington State Senate in 1997. Pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting unlawful payments from veterans and former prisoners of war.
     
    Abraham J. Hirschfeld - Democrat - candidate in Democratic primary for U.S. Senator from New York in 1974 and 1976. Offered Paula Jones $1 million to drop her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton. Convicted in 2000 of trying to hire a hit man to kill his business partner.
     
    Henry Cisneros - Democrat - U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of lying to the FBI.
     
    James A. Traficant Jr. - Member of House of Representatives from Ohio. Expelled from Congress after being convicted of corruption charges. Sentenced today to eight years in prison for accepting bribes and kickbacks.
     
    John Doug Hays - Democrat - member of Kentucky State Senate from 1980 to 1982 Found guilty of mail fraud for submitting false campaign reports stemming from an unsuccessful run for judge. He was sentenced to six months in prison to be followed by six months of home confinement and three years of probation.
     
    Henry J. Cianfrani - Democrat - Pennsylvania State Senate from 1967 to 1976. Convicted on federal charges of racketeering and mail fraud for padding his Senate payroll. Sentenced to five years in federal prison.
     
    David Hall - Democrat - Governor of Oklahoma from 1971 to 1975. Indicted on extortion and conspiracy charges. Convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.
     
    John A. Celona - Democrat - A former state senator was charged with the three counts of mail fraud. Federal prosecutors accused him of defrauding the state and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from CVS Corp. and others while serving in the legislature. Celona has agreed to plead guilty to taking money from the CVS pharmacy chain and other companies that had interest in legislation. Under the deal, Celona agreed to cooperate with investigators. He faces up to five years in federal prison on each of the three counts and a $250,000 fine
     
    Allan Turner Howe - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Utah from 1975 to 1977. Arrested for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute.
     
    Jerry Cosentino - Democrat - Illinois State Treasurer. Pleaded guilty to bank fraud - fined $5,000 and sentenced to nine months home confinement.
     
    Joseph Waggonner Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1961 to 19 79. Arrested in Washington, D.C. for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute
     
    Albert G. Bustamante - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Texas from 1985 to 1993. Convicted in 1993 on racketeering and bribery charges and sentenced to prison.
     
    Lawrence Jack Smith - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Florida from 1983 to 1993. Sentenced to three months in federal prison for tax evasion.
     
    David Lee Walters - Democrat - Governor of Oklahoma from 1991 to 1995. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor election law violation.
     
    James Guy Tucker, Jr. - Democrat - Governor of Arkansas from 1992 to 1996. Resigned in July 1996 after conviction on federal fraud charges as part of the Whitewater investigation.
     
    Walter Rayford Tucker - Democrat - Mayor of Compton, California from 1991 to 1992; U.S. Representative from California from 1993 to 1995. Sentenced to 27 months in prison for extortion and tax evasion.
     
    William McCuen - Democrat - Secretary of State of Arkansas from 1985 to 1995. Admitted accepting kickbacks from two supporters he gave jobs, and not paying taxes on the money. Admitted to conspiring with a political consultant to split $53,560 embezzled from the state in a sham transaction. He was indicted on corruption charges. Pleaded guilty to felony counts tax evasion and accepting a kickback. Sentenced to 17 years in prison.
     
    Walter Fauntroy - Democrat - Delegate to U.S. Congress from the District of Columbia from 1971 to 1991. Charged in federal court with making false statements on financial disclosure forms. Pleaded guilty to one felony count and sentenced to probation.
     
    Carroll Hubbard, Jr. - Democrat - Kentucky State Senate from 1968 to 1975 and U.S. Representative from Kentucky from 1975 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Federal Elections Commission and to theft of government property; sentenced to three years in prison.
     
    Joseph Kolter - Democrat - member of Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1969 to 1982 and U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1983 to 1993. Indicted by a Federal grand jury on five felony charges of embezzlement at the U.S. House post office. Pleaded guilty.
     
    Webster Hubbell - Democrat - Chief Justice of Arkansas State Supreme Court in 1983. Pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud and tax evasion charges - sentenced to 21 months in prison.
     
    Nicholas Mavroules - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud and accepting gratuities while in office.
     
    Carl Christopher Perkins - Democrat - Kentucky State House of Representatives from 1981 to 1984 and U.S. Representative from Kentucky from 1985 to 1993. Pleaded guilty to bank fraud in connection with the House banking scandal. Perkins wrote overdrafts totaling about $300,000. Pleaded guilty to charges of filing false statements with the Federal Election Commission and false financial disclosure reports. Sentenced to 21 months in prison.
     
    Richard Hanna - Democrat - U.S. Representative from California from 1963 to 1974. Received payments of about $200,000 from a Korean businessman in what became known as the "Koreagate" influence buying scandal. Pleaded guilty and sentenced to federal prison.
     
    Angelo Errichetti - Democrat - New Jersey State Senator was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $40,000 for his involvement in Abscam.
     
    Daniel Baugh Brewster - Democrat - U.S. Senator from Maryland. Indicted on charges of accepting illegal gratuity while in Senate.
     
    Thomas Joseph Dodd - Democrat - U.S. Senator from Connecticut. Censured by the Senate for financial improprieties, having diverted $116,000 in campaign and testimonial funds to his own use
     
    Edward Fretwell Prichard, Jr. - Democrat - Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Kentucky. Convicted of vote fraud in federal court in connection with ballot-box stuffing. Served five months in prison.
     
    Jerry Springer - Democrat - Resigned from Cincinnati City Council in 1974 after admitting to paying a prostitute with a personal check, which was found in a police raid on a massage parlor.
     
    Guy Hamilton Jones, Sr. - Democrat -Arkansas State Senate. Convicted on federal tax charges and expelled from the Arkansas Senate.
     
    Daniel Flood - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1945 to 1947, 1949 to 1953 and 1955 to 1980. Pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge involving payoffs and sentenced to probation.
     
    Otto Kerner, Jr - Democrat - Governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968. While serving as Governor, he and another official made a gain of over $300,000 in a stock deal. Convicted on 17 counts of bribery, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges. Sentenced to three years in federal prison and fined $50,000.
     
    George Crockett, Jr. - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Michigan. Served four months in federal prison for contempt of court following his defense of a Communist leader on trial for advocating the overthrow of the government.
     
    Cornelius Edward Gallagher - Democrat - U.S. Representative from New Jersey from 1959 to 1973. Indicted on federal charges of income tax evasion, conspiracy, and perjury
     
    Mark B. Jimenez - Democrat fundraiser - sentenced to 27 months in prison on charges of tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit election financing offenses.
     
    Bobby Lee Rush - Democrat - U.S. Representative from Illinois. As a Black Panther, spent six months in prison on a weapons charge.
     
    Bolley ''Bo'' Johnson - Democrat - Former Florida House Speaker - received a two-year term for tax evasion.
     
    Roger L. Green - Democrat - Brooklyn Democrat Assemblyman. Pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for accepting travel reimbursement for trips he did not pay for and was sentenced to fines and probation.
     
    Gloria Davis - Democrat - Bronx assemblywoman. Pleaded guilty to second-degree bribe-taking.
     

  16. NickolasJames8
    Last night I got an IM from someone I know who is pretty much against all republicans no matter what the issue is. Usually, I am too, but I think they're right when it comes to defending the US from terrorism. Well anyway, she IM's me about some lunatic named Kieth Olberman, who has some show no one watches on MSNBC. He goes off on the president whenever he has a chance, but intellegent people pay him no mind because he's a loser.
    Anyway, I hate Bush for his politics. I hate that he wants to give old people prescription drugs and that he says he wants to ban gay marriage even though he's never actually tried. I also hate him because he called the US a democracy, and it isn't. The US is a republic, and only morons and people who don't understand our system of government don't know that.
    So anyway, Bush pretty much sucks, but he's right when it comes to the war on terror. People who say we shouldnt be in Iraq are fooling themselves. We're in a war against terror, and Saddam Hussein was financing terrorism by paying Palestinian suicide bombers' familes 25000 dollars for them to go into Isreal and blow themselves up. I just wish Bush would have said that was the reason we went. Instead, he said we were going for the WMD's, which Saddam had, but was able to smuggle to Syria before we invaded.
    Bush is also right that we have a responsibility to get information from terrorists we capture, no matter what we have to do to them. If it comes down to the life of my dad, my stepmom , my boyfriend and the rest of my family or a terrorist not being tortured, you're damn ass right I'm going to pick my family. People who think it's more important to be nice and sensitive to terrorists who want to murder us all for not believing in their sick idea's is a moron, and I'm not sorry to say it.
    So anyway, my friend is a little mad at me right now because I told her how I felt, and she thinks I'm wrong. I think she's wrong, and I wonder how she could feel that way when she has a husband and kids of her own that the terrorists would love to kill. I guess it just goes to show that when you're dealing with a weak party like the democrats, nothing should shock me.
  17. NickolasJames8
    Warning...graphic anger and description of death ahead.
     
     
    As more details come out about the school shooting in Pensylvania, my heart breaks more and more. This guy went to a school and lined up innocent little girls and shot them execution style I don't really know what emotion suits my mood right now, so I'm going to sum it up like this..........
     
    I hope the bastard is burning in Hell right now.
     
    As a Christian, I know I should set a better example, but I'm human, and I can't help how I feel. This guy was selfish, and he was evil. There's no other word to describe him. He didn't just end the lives of those innocent little girls, he ruined their families lives and the lives of everyone in his family too. How are they supposed to face people who know he's related to them??? What about his own kids?? They'll always have that with them, no matter what happens in their lives.
    I wont even start on the families of those poor kids he murdered. I think about how scared they must have been as he was shooting them one by one and my blood boils and I start to feel sick to my stomach. Today, a girl in english was saying that we should try to understand that he was a victim in this too, and that he lost his life. I told her straight up that she was a dumbass, and that if he wanted to kill himself, he could have done it without terrorizing and murdering others. Basically, I know I went off on her but I couldn't believe that she would say something like that. This isnt a time for understanding, this is a time to mourn. I dont think there's any amount of explanation that will make me understand why he did this, and even though none of them are kin to me, I still feel like sobbing for each and every one of them. I also feel like spitting on the killers dead body.
     
    Sorry for the graphic nature of this post.
  18. NickolasJames8
    I've done a lotof thinking about what happened last night on my blog, and after chatting with Kitty for hours about the conflict I had, what led up to it, and how i'm looked at by others, I've decided to reintroduce myself to everyone.
     
    First of all, my name is Nick, and I might be the most hated member in the history of Gayauthors.org. The reason why, you ask? I can't say for sure, but I think I have a really good idea, so here goes....
     
    There seems to be this perception about me that somehow I judge people who are different. I think the opposite is true. I've been on this site for over a year now, and I've had friends and lost friends, and one thing always comes out in every conflict I've been involved in.....I have it so good. That somehow, I live a protected life and that my family doesn't have problems, and I always end up being hated on by people who don't have it as good as people think I have it.
    My first run in was with a poster who identified themselves only as "guest" They called me spoiled, arrogant, self centered and even said that my dad belonged in prison. Well, later I found out that "guest" was actually someone I considered a friend, and that the person hated my guts. When that happened, I was shocked and hurt, but I moved on.
    I actually didn't have another run in for a while. I made some friends on this site, and one in particular that I really cared about and to this day I still wonder how he's doing. We would go to chat together and it always seemed like people were on his case to change and to conform..someone even told him that he needed to be more like Kurt. I thought that was rude, and he told me that it bugged him. All I could do for him was tell him not to change and that he was a great person already.
    Then one night he wasn't in the chatroom, and somehow we were all talking about Columbine.....the way I remember it, someone tried to talk me into believing that the kids and teacher who were murdered that day were somehow guilty of inaction, and the next thing I knew, we were debating bullying....well, to make a long story short, I spoke my mind, the way I always have in the past. I knew I had made some people mad at me, including a couple of the GAC's that were in there who were supposed to be moderating and not taking sides. So I left that night.
    Later that week, I was back in their with my friend, and a debate broke out about a girl who was beaten by her dad on camera. Someone, and I wont say who, said that it was okay for men to hit women. I said it wasnt, and the next thing I know, the people who I had ticked off earlier in the week, including one of the GAC's, all teamed up on me and tried to paint me as a sexist.
    Anyway, to make a long story short, I let them get the better of me that night, and the next day, I ended up losing the friendship of someone I thought would always be my friend. It hurt, but I kept my chin up and I moved on. I knew that the others were gloating about it, but I figured that at some point they had moved on.
    So then last night, almost 6 months after that incident, I posted something in my blog that was fairly random. It wasn't a personal attack on anyone in particular, but someohow it got twisted, and an angry ghost from my past came back to haunt me.
    What makes me mad is that the person seemed most angry about the fact that I'm a "preppy" and he called me some pretty mean names, and I responded by telling him exactly what I thought of him and his friends in chat. I lashed out in a moment of anger, and I'm pissed at myself for that. I should have been mature enough to let it go, but I wasn't.
    The thing that gets me, though, is that I seem to always be under attack for being a noncomformist. It's like I'm being blasted for being different from people who claim that they don't comform to what society and their parents want them to be. So, I'm going to break this down one time for everyone, and then I'm not going to revisit this topic.......
     
    1. I have my own opinions. They aren't the same as yours, most likely, because they're mine. If they offend you, then you can probably imagine how I feel when I read your opinions. The difference is, I don't thnk less of you for having an opinion of your own, and I don't get mad when you express your opinion. Am I allowed the same courtesy?
     
    2. If I have something to say about someone, no matter who it is, I'll say it. I won't talk behind your back, and I won't start rumors about you. If I think you suck, I'm going to say I think you suck, and then I'm going to say why. I'd rather be honest with you than be a snake in the grass. When I was pissed at Joe and Kitty I said I was pissed at Joe and Kitty, and then I moved on. I didn't sit back in the chatroom and talk shit behind their and Myr's backs like some people like to do. I say what I have to say and deal with the consequences.
     
    3. I don't live in a perfect world and I don't have a perfect life. I have a lot of stress, just like everyone else here. I fight with my dad, and I struggle with my school work, and I get sick and I get worried and I bleed and I have friends that are always on my mind and people I try hard to please, just like everyone else here. Maybe I don't live in your situation, but you don't live in mine either. There's no way for anyone to understand what goes on in my life, just like I can't understand what happens in yours.
     
    4. Coming out of the closet wasn't easy for me, and I'm sure it won't be easy for you either. I knew I was gay before I could even say what gay meant, and I know a lot of people here went through the same thing. I was scared to death when I came out to my dad, and then at school too. Being out wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do in the sixth grade, and it wasn't a walk in the park. So before you assume that I have it so good, think twice about it.
     
    5. I know what it's like to be poor. Before we moved to Virginia, I used to have to go with my dad on his route truck because there was no way he could afford a baby sitter for me, and he worked from early in the morning to late at night, and a lot of nights, I went to bed in his truck and woke up in the morning not knowing how I got to my bed. I'm not sorry my dad worked a little harder to get us out of poverty, and I hope your family never has to struggle, and if they do, then I hope you make it out.
     
    6. I don't judge other people all the time. Let's be 100% honest here.....everyone judges people sometimes. I know it's true because it's human nature. But I don't walk around and point fingers and make assumptions about other people's lives. Now, if I think something someone's doing is stupid, I'll say so. But then I'm judging the act, not the person. I think smokers are below average intellegence, but that's not judging them. That's saying that I've worked out in my head that they deliberately poison themselves even though they know it's going to kill them one day. So, that's what I think. Does that mean I would wish them harm? No way.
     
    Anyway, those are just a few things I thought it was important to talk about, because after talking to Kitty and just knowing what has been said to me and even about me in the past, it's obvious that some people don't like me because of who they think I am...so, go to my custom tag right above the pope's picture today and read what it says. Then maybe, just maybe, you won't hate me so much
  19. NickolasJames8

    What makes me proud

    By NickolasJames8,

    Well, 9/11 came and went and there were all kinds of shows on TV about that day, and even one about the events leading up to it. I guess to me 9/11 represents something to be proud of. On that day when almost 3000 people lost their lives in the worst attack on our soil, we came together as a nation and for a little while, we weren't democrats and republicans. We were Americans.
    All of that seems to be gone now. In it's place, we have a country so divided that you can't talk about what happened on 9/11 without hearing somebody talk about politics. Mainly, it's coming from the democrats who want people to forget about that day. It's also coming from republicans who hope to take advantage of the democrat's weakness on national defense. Personally, I think it's all tacky.
    The most dsgusting thing I think I've heard all week is how people in New York need to move on and stop being "wusses." That people die everyday and that 9/11 was just another day when people died. Someone actually did post that on a forum, and I can give you the link to that forum if you don't believe me. I mean, it's one thing to want people to forget about 9/11 because that's the only way your party can win. But it's another to call the families of the 9/11 victims names because you're so upset with them for not letting that day be forgotten.
    Well, I'm never going to forget 9/11. I'll never forget the long line of cars in front of my school and panicking because I wasn't sure who was going to come pick me up, or if my dad was okay, or if we were going to be attacked some more. I'll also never forget seeing the headlines on the front page the next day. Pictures of people jumping from the WTC to escape the flames, and the hole in the pentagon. Or the courage of the people who fought back against the hijackers on flight 93.
    I'm proud of my country, I'm proud of my president, and I'm proud of our military. I'm glad we're in Iraq, and if we're still there in 2009, I'm going to do everything I can to go and serve the country I love. I'm proud that we took out a sponser of terrorism like Saddam Hussien. I'm proud that we made it possible for Iraqi's and Afghani's to vote for the first time in history. I'm proud that we're allies with Isreal, and I'm proud that on 9/11, we lowered the flag in our front yard to half staff to honor the memory of everyone who lost their lives on a day that no one should ever forget.
  20. NickolasJames8

    Sorting it out

    By NickolasJames8,

    Ok, so the first week of school is over and shockingly enough, I haven't got any major catastophic events to write about. The work seems pretty simple (so far) and it's kinda nice not to be at the bottom of the food chain anymore. Last year wasn't so bad, as far as being a freshman went, but it's nice to be able to say I'm a sophomore.
    I had a good talk with my dad yesterday on the way home from the doctors office. I had an appointment at 11 and had to leave school at 9:30, and on the way back, we talked about his attitude towards me and mine toward him. He told me that he knows how mad I am at him for not letting me get out and do stuff like he used to, but that he wants me to know that it's because he's not taking a chance with my heart.
    A couple of weeks ago, I got cleared from the cardiologist to do whatever I wanted as long as it wasn't too strenuous(sp), but then last thursday, I woke up in the middle of the night and my heart was racing fast and I couldn't breathe. My dad freaked out and rushed me to the emergency room and it turned out to be nothing. But because of the fact that I have a little hole in my heart, they ran a grip of tests to be sure before they sent me home.
    Well since then my dads been on the war path. He wont let me drink Red Bull, he wont let me go out and do anything(including a party I was supposed to go to last night) and he wont leave me alone. He wakes me up at ungodly hours of the night to make sure I'm sleeping okay and he's basically been driving me crazy.
    At the same time, while he's busy bugging the crap out of me about my heart, he's stressing me out about school. He wants to make sure I have all of my hw done and that I'm not staying up too late. He said that if he see's me doing my hw in the morning even one time this year he's going to break my computer
    So needless to say, we haven't had a civilized conversation in a while. That's why it was kinda nice to actually hear him say what's on his mind without also hearing, "If I catch you doing this, I'm taking your permit away," or "If you don't stay inside, I'll ground you from your computer." Basically, it feels like he's threatening to punish me if my heart doesn't get better. I know he's not really doing that, but that's how it feels.
    Of course, having said that, he also caught me trying to sneak out last night to the party I was supposed to meet my bf at, and I got stuck here at home. He didn't ground me or take away my computer though. He just made me stay home, which was his plan from the get go. Then I had to call my bf and tell him why he's dating a total loser who can't go out and do anything. Then, being the sweetheart that he is, my bf ditches the party and walks all the way here to see me so I'm not just stuck here by myself.
    So then this morningI get up and I check my email, and I couldn't believe it. I had one of the sweetest emails from someone who asked me if he could use one of my poems to take to his bf's grave with flowers and balloons. I can't believe my writing has that kind of effect on someone, and it really makes me stop to think about how lucky I am that some of the people who read my stuff found me. I know a lot of people write to thank me, but I think I should be thanking them.
    Boxerdude, Xiao_Chun and Afriendlyface are awesome for having links to my stuff in their sigi's, too. I really owe them a lot for the support they've given me, and I promise to make it worth it. You're all awesome, and I couldn't ask for better friends on GA than you guys
    So anyway, I worked a little on Chapter 32 of What's the difference, but then I went back to bed and had a crazy dream, then I woke up and here I am Ok, back to writing now
     
     
    Kisses
    Nick
  21. NickolasJames8
    The following is a list of people who, one way or another, helped me get to a thousand posts here at Gay Authors. If I wasn't fighting with you in the soapbox about Hurricane Katrina, I was saying something irritating on an author forum somewhere to make your blood boil or make you say, "I agree" Or maybe you said, WTF???
    A lot of the people listed here are dont post here anymore, but maybe they still come by to read the forums and the blogs, and if they do, thanks. I couldn't have done it without you :2hands:
    Shout Outs in no particular order
    Mark Arbour
    Snow Dog
    Rockntj
    Afriendlyface
    Cjames
    Boxerdude
    Kel
    Domluka
    "guest"
    Kurt
    Camy
    rekop1
    Rhawes
    Drew
    Empathy
    Talonrider
    Jamessavick
    Rknapp
    All LRITE's
    All SRITE's
    All LGAITE's
    If I forgot you, please forgive me. I did this all by memory
  22. NickolasJames8
    :Authors Note::::::: I realize that this isn't the original post....however, I decided that the point I was trying to make was taken by everyone loud and clear, and there's no sense in leaving my past rant in place. I'm not sorry that I posted it here, but I don't see the need to keep it up. I made my opinions known, and everyone's had the chance to read what I said and to form their own opinion.
    I love this site and I always will. I would never do anything to take away from the purpose of it, and if I ever come to the point where I feel like I don't like it anymore, I'll leave before I do anything to cause it harm. I don't think my rant was harmful at all. I felt like I had a responsibility to speak up not just for myself and others in my position, but for the authors who are coming up behind us. If anything, my rant made people think, and that's always a good thing.
  23. NickolasJames8
    I've experienced a moment of pure and total bliss......I won't get into the details, but I can finally say that I decided to take the opportunity to do something for myself and stop the cycle of stress that came with a really bad decision. (sigh of relief) I would just like to say right now that if there's any author out there who needs some help whether it's with editing or just someone to look at their work and get an honest review or some advice, I'm always willing to help. It's true that I'm not on the Writers Support Subcommittee anymore, but I don't have to belong to a committee to help. They're doing something great for GA, but I think that I can still help out anyone who needs the help in my own way. So don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it
     
    I just sent off chapter seven of Bodega bay to my editor, The Great Talonrider!!!! and I should have it back shortly. He really does a lot for me, and I think sometimes I don't show him how much I really appreciate everything he has done and that he's still doing.
     
    Anyway, I've just been relaxing this week and not getting myself too stressed out about school. I get a little depressed because my bf and I go to different schools and we wont get to see eachother all day like before, but at least I don't have a job after school anymore so we can see eachother when we get home Also, he'll get his licence a month and a week before me, so he can come get me after school and drive me home until I get mine(well, if he ever learns how to drive like a normal person and not like someone who's having a siezure).
     
    I guess I just want to say thanks to everyone who's been PMing me and emailing me about Bodega bay. In the last week I got over 140 emails about it and that means a lot to me. If I havent replied yet it's because I'm still sorting through the emails and trying to answer them in the order I got them in. I can't even begin to tell you how good it makes me feel when I get emails like that, and I promise to keep writing and to keep the story moving for everyone.
     
    I did have one flame though, and it was a flame about What's the difference between me and you? I just told him that if he didnt like it so much, how come he kept emailing me about it?(he sent me 4 emails) Finally I just started ignoring him because it was obvious that he either liked the story or he enjoyed reading stories he hates.....either way i thought it was kinda wierd :wacko:
     
    So anyway, kisses everyone and take care
     
     
     
    Nick
  24. NickolasJames8
    My thought of the day.............
    At least I can be who I am here on my blog.
     
     
    I've had a really rough last few days. I'm not going to lie about it. I found out that a problem that I thought was over and done with is still around, and it's been bugging me. So I took today and just spent it thinking about things. Schools about to start and I really don't want to have the same hard time I had last year when I was up until 2 in the morning doing my homework, so I decided to finally give in and let my dad have his way......I'm quitting my job.
    Also, I found out that I'm not going to be cleared to wrestle before Sept 5, so I'm going to miss this season. In a way though, I'm not too bothered by it. I mean, if God wanted me to wrestle this year, I would have passed my physical. I look at it like this....Not being cleared to wrestle was His way of getting me the medical attention I needed for my problem, which the cardiologist says isn't that big of a deal, but to be safe, he thinks I shouldn't play any sports for the time being. I'm also gonna get a note saying I can't do any physical activities this year for PE, so chances are I'll have to be a TA or something.
    I guess what I'm getting at is this...if you don't see me posting as much on the forums, don't be too suprised. I have a lot to think about, including my writing schedule. I've already set a goal of one chapter a week per story, which = 2 chapters a week worth of writing. So I'll be extra busy with that and with school. I think I'll have a pretty full plate.
    I'm not serving on the writers support sub committee anymore, either, but that doesn't mean I'm not here to help. If anyone needs any kind of help with their writing or with getting noticed, you can always come to me and I'm happy to help. I just don't think it's fair to be on that committee if I can't commit to doing that and writing and school.....one of those things is going to suffer, and that's not an option with school or with my writing.
    Anyway, it's like 2 in the morning and I'm ready to go crash, so I'm out.
  25. NickolasJames8

    Giving back

    By NickolasJames8,

    I've decided to do something. I talked about it with quite a few people on this site and on other sites, and everyone agreed that it was a good idea, so here it is........
     
     
    Im going to change Nick's Story Page. It's been a good site for me, and I've had a lot of exposure because of it. It get's hundreds of hits a day, and I think it can serve a greater good now......
     
     
    From now on, Nick's Story Page belongs to new writers who are making an effort to improve and get noticed. I'm going to put some rules in place about having stories posted there, like being an active member of GA, and having your stories posted on e-fiction. Also, your work has to be edited, and I would like for writers to take advantage of some of the programs that are going to be rolled out soon by the
    If you're trying to get noticed, people come from all kinds of sites to Nick's Story Page , so you'd have great exposure and most likely a lot of readers. What I'm planning to do is to take down my individual story links and just post a link back to my main page. I also plan to leave the links that I have posted on the site for GA, CRVboy, RCWP and The Talon House. If you're a writer and intersted in having your writing or poems posted at Nick's Story Page, pm me or email me at nicksstorypage@gmail.com
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