Zombie

This 1970s men's knitwear catalogue atrocity

Can't see flying drones happening - apart from airspace control issues the terrorist threat is just too great. Never mind who pays up when the things crash into people and buildings... In UK the Royal Mail was sold off in October and shares are up 80% because it's so profitable. Basically taxpayers were screwed So I don't see household deliveries stopping anytime soon. Besides, how would that work anyway - not everyone is / wants / can be online and government needs to be able to contact citizens directly for tax, courts, voter registration, census forms and other stuff. And I like getting letters and cards

Heheh, treat 'em mean and keep 'em keen - always leave 'em wanting more Seriously, Addy, a very proficient piece of writing which neatly counterpoints narrative and dialogue, opening up the characters and story together with Maya's italicised thought bubbles cleverly getting us inside her head. Well done

Oops, missed this. I'm a "Christian" by culture only, not belief, but I like the ritual and tradition. It gives a comforting and reassuring structure to the end of the year. From earliest memories Christmas Eve has been the beginning of Christmas - kicking off in the afternoon, listening to the live broadcast of A Festival of Nine Carols on the radio, with the boy treble singing unaccompanied the opening lines to Once In Royal David's City before the rest of the choir of King's College Cambridge join in - probably while I'm wrapping up presents... or preparing the sprouts Much later I wander off to the local church to ring the bells with the other bellringers for half an hour before the Midnight Eucharist, then back a few hours later on Christmas Day morning to ring for the Carols at the Crib service. Then it's helping prepare the Christmas Day lunch at my Mum's or sister's, opening presents, then eating too much lunch and pulling crackers, clearing up the pans and dishes , phone calls, going for a walk, getting back to watch The Queen's Speech, then maybe playing some games, then the Traditional Watching Of TV Then bed .

asamvav111 posted this depressing news item today http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-25329065 India's top court has upheld a law which criminalises gay sex, in a ruling seen as a major blow to gay rights. The Supreme Court ruling reverses a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court order which had decriminalised homosexual acts. The court said it was up to parliament to legislate on the issue. According to Section 377, a 153-year-old colonial-era law, a same-sex relationship is an "unnatural offence" and punishable by a 10-year jail term. Several political, social and religious groups had petitioned the Supreme Court to have the law reinstated in the wake of the 2009 court ruling. Correspondents say although the law has rarely - if ever - been used to prosecute anyone for consensual sex, it has often been used by the police to harass homosexuals. Also, in deeply conservative India, homosexuality is a taboo and many people still regard same-sex relationships as illegitimate. The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says some politicians have spoken out against the court decision - but many believe it is going to be difficult for them to take on the anti-gay lobby. A 153-year-old colonial law describes a same-sex relationship as an "unnatural offence" 'Black day' "It is up to parliament to legislate on this issue," Justice GS Singhvi, the head of the two-judge Supreme Court bench, said in Wednesday's ruling, which came on his last day before retiring. "The legislature must consider deleting this provision (Section 377) from law as per the recommendations of the attorney general," he added. India's Law Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters the government would respect the ruling but did not say whether there were plans to amend the law. Correspondents say any new legislation is unlikely soon - general elections are due next year. Gay rights activists have described Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling as "disappointing" and said they would approach the court to review its decision. "Such a decision was totally unexpected from the top court. It is a black day," Arvind Narrain, a lawyer for the Alternative Law Forum gay rights group, told reporters. "We are very angry about this regressive decision of the court," he said. "This decision is a body-blow to people's rights to equality, privacy and dignity," G Ananthapadmanabhan of Amnesty International India said in a statement. "It is hard not to feel let down by this judgement, which has taken India back several years in its commitment to protect basic rights," he added. However, the ruling has been welcomed by religious groups, particularly leaders of India's Muslim and Christian communities, who had challenged the Delhi High Court order. Many Many religious and political groups had opposed decriminalisation of gay sex "The Supreme Court has upheld the century-old traditions of India, the court is not suppressing any citizen, instead it is understanding the beliefs and values of the large majority of the country," Zafaryab Jilani, member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, told BBC Hindi. In its 2009 ruling, the Delhi High Court had described Section 377 as discriminatory and said gay sex between consenting adults should not be treated as a crime. The ruling was widely and visibly welcomed by India's gay community, which said the judgement would help protect them from harassment and persecution. Analysis - by Geeta Pandey BBC News, Delhi The Supreme Court ruling has come as a huge surprise for activists who have described it as "retrograde" and say this is "a black day" for gay rights in India. They have campaigned for years for acceptance in India's deeply conservative society and many have vowed to carry on the fight for "their constitutional right". Nobody expected the Supreme Court, often seen as a last recourse for citizens faced with an unresponsive government, to reverse an order many had hailed as a landmark. As Justice GS Singhvi announced the order, activists and members of the gay and lesbian community present outside the court began crying and hugging each other. Some asked if after the court ruling, they had become criminals. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am deeply ashamed to say my country is to blame for imposing this terrible law under British Rule of India. This law has nothing to do with India's traditions but everything to do with Victorian obsessions about sex - a poisonous obsession that was exported across the World, and in many countries - including the US - this still prevails. This outdated, imposed and irrelevant law is as relevant to India as the court saying India should once again be a British colony. Ridiculous and very very sad. But we are seeing progress being turned back in an alarming number of countries: Russia, India, Nigeria - the list is deeply worrying. And at the root of it all seems to be religion. We need to remember that "progress" can be a two way street There is a real problem with words like "democracy" and also "terrorism" - these words are being used more and more to justify repressive measures against minorities. People often mistake democracy for the "will of the majority". But it isn't. At least not in a plural, healthy and culturally diverse society. Because "will of the majority" inevitably leads to tyranny of minorities. All of them. Because all societies have lots and lots and lots of minorities. And everyone falls into one or more minorities at some time or other. So next time "the majority" could be coming for "you". People need to be reminded of that

another quiet, uneventful week chez Jo Ann...

Kinsey's data showed sexuality is a continuum. Infinitely variable, like a slider. Not only this, it showed that the slider can move around over time. So sexuality is not necessarily fixed. And subsequent work has, as you say, built on Kinsey showing, amongst other things, that sexuality is about much more than just hetero / homosexuality. So my gripe is with those who have strong views on human sexuality but ignore all this work by grabbing for labels. Each of us has our own unique sexuality and when people lazily use the tired old cliched labels to slap on anyone and everyone, when Kinsey and subsequent work has produced significant and credible evidence to disprove this, it just irritates me. So why do I self-identify as gay? Probably two reasons: to atone for the ridiculous time it took me to accept I was not straight and because that's how I feel ... most of the time Just occasionally I see or meet a female and think, hmm, maybe just maybe my slider could move too Kinsey's data came from lengthy interviews with individual subjects. Subjects were asked not just about their activities - or behaviour as you say - but also about their hetero / homosexual thoughts and feelings. So it was both.

It's Christmas panic-buying season once again, with only 17 shopping days left, and pressure is cranking up to get something - anything! - for the little ones, so this is maybe a good time to give another warning about the dangers of dolls. It's all too easy to get suckered in by the cute packaging, the TV ads and attractively discounted prices - but remember, these dolls could be EVIL Here's a shocking clip from a popular reality TV programme showing what can happen when evil dolls get into the home and start attacking people...

Um not wanting to pick nits, but shouldn't that be "I got me some boy-breaking to do over here"? :funny:

He made the World a better place. He truly was an impressive human being.

Well, one thing I think we can all agree on - on the Kinsey Scale Tom is not a zero

Not sure what you mean by "didn't prove anything". If you mean scientific proof, well I'm not sure that human behaviour is capable of scientific "proof" since people are creatures of feelings and emotion, not logic and rationality What Kinsey did do was obtain data based on self-evaluation which showed [i.e. based on the evidence he obtained and analysed] that the previous assumption [not based on material evidence] that sexual orientation was either definitely heterosexual or homosexual was incorrect. The data he gathered concerned a variety of activities including, but not limited to, fantasies, thoughts, dreams, emotional feelings, behaviours, social preferences, lifestyle and frequency of sexual activity and so on. The data also showed that people's sexual orientation changes over the course of their lives, contradicting previous assumptions that sexual orientation is fixed and challenging traditional notions of sexuality being one-dimensional. His biggest achievement was analysing all this data and finding a method to display it in terms of a more understandable scale from 0 to 6, instead of the continuum which the data actually showed. Since Kinsey, a lot more work has been done to develop different scales and to show sexuality is not just about orientation but other issues like gender identity and so on, but the various further studies that have been done all support Kinsey's findings. So for 60 years we have had clear evidence that shoving people into pigeonholes of gay straight bi-sexual or whatever is irrational and contradicts the evidence, and those who continue to do so merely show their ignorance

Interesting boyfriend choice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Lance_Black Interesting age difference too. Tom Daley was famously close to his Dad who gave him devoted practical and emotional support throughout Tom's life and who sadly died before the 2012 Olympics. His death must have left a huge Dad-sized gap in his life so perhaps it's no surprise that he would be attracted to a guy old enough to be his Dad. As he said "I just feel safe. And it just really does feel right." *is shocked and disturbed that has been clicking on all the tabloid links for latest gossip... :funny:*

Not at all. Uh, uh Absolutely not. No sirreee Bob :funny:

Yikes, is this some identical twin / clone fetish thing going on...

Kinsey was here in the 1940s and 1950s. His work showed that human sexuality is a continuum, not defined categories. He made it simpler for people to understand by creating a scale - the Kinsey Scale. And that data and his findings have been around now for over 60 years! This really is "old news" yet, several generations later, many people still insist on categorising and pigeonholing everyone. Presumably it helps them cope with a complicated world - if they can slap a label on everything they don't have to think about it any more. Job done.

Wherever he is on the scale he's in Team Rainbow

Addiction - drugs or alcohol - can afflict anyone: dumb or intelligent, mean or kind, poor or wealthy. Like they said, hope he makes a good recovery. But even if he does he's still going to need serious help - heroin is the worst

Poor addy. Or should I say poor addy's characters - the course of gay love never did run smooth... Short story writing is a particular skill, not least how to end them, and you certainly have it.

Regenerations... Doctor Who first explained that the Doctor had a 12 regeneration limit in the classic Tom Baker serial "The Deadly Assassin." While Matt Smith was the Eleventh Doctor, he was only on his tenth regeneration. But now that John Hurt has been introduced into the mix, the Eleventh Doctor is now technically on his twelfth incarnation — which would make his transformation into Peter Capaldi's Doctor the thirteenth and final one (so to speak). Here's what Moffat had to say about the matter at the Doctor Who 50th Celebration, including why Matt Smith is still "The Eleventh Doctor" regardless of John Hurt: "He has no more ever called himself the 11th Doctor than he would call himself Matt Smith. The Doctor doesn't know off the top of his head [what number he is]. If you worry about such things, and I do, then I specifically said John Hurt's Doctor doesn't use the title. [Matt Smith's Doctor] is in his 12th body but he's the 11th Doctor, however there is no such character as the 11th Doctor - he's just The Doctor, that's what he calls himself. The numbering doesn't matter, except for those lists that you and I have been making for many years. So I've given you the option of not counting John Hurt numerically - he's the War Doctor." That makes a lot of sense, and keeps people from having to renumber the Doctors in their heads. However, The Mirror has stated a new rumor — take it with as large a grain of salt as you'd like — that in the upcoming Christmas special, Matt Smith will reveal he's actually the thirteenth and technically final incarnation of the Doctor. Now, there's not going to be another secret incarnation of the Doctor that appears (well, probably), but instead this is because of the David Tennant episode "The Journey's End," where the Time Lord used one of his regenerations to save himself. That, including John Hurt, would indeed make the switch from Tennant to Smith the 12th and final regeneration. Here's everything The Mirror has to say about the Christmas special and the reveal (again, grain of salt): "Doctor Who will face the end of a 50 year story in the Christmas special – when Time Lord Matt Smith reveals he is actually the 13th and 'final' Doctor. Actor Matt, 31, has long thought to have been the Eleventh Doctor on the hit BBC sci-fi show, which can only regenerate 12 times according to the show's folklore. Fans have worried for years that the show will have to end once the 13th Doctor dies. But on December 25, current theories among millions of fans will be exterminated once and for all when Matt says in a dramatic speech he is the 13th Doctor and adds: "I'm dying and there is nothing I can do about it." On Saturday night at the end of the show's 50th anniversary special, all the Doctors lined up, including John Hurt who was previously not thought to count. David Tennant's Time Lord also used up an extra regeneration to save himself in an episode called Journey's End. A show source explained: "There have been two David Tennant Doctor Whos technically and with John Hurt playing another Doctor in the film, it basically means he can't regenerate again. "The riddle of the regeneration problem, something fans have talked about for decades, will be faced head on at Christmas. There is going to be another huge cliffhanger and somehow Peter Capaldi has to join and the series has to continue." I trust that's all clear... :funny: http://io9.com/doctor-whos-regeneration-history-may-be-more-insane-th-1471410501/@bricken

I can name one province - Hebei Province. I know it cos there's a beautiful and amazing single-span road bridge there built around 600 AD, still in daily use

The Brit view... The American view... http://alphadesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/europe-according-to-the-united-states-of-america.png See, easy peasy :funny:

sorry I missed the day Addy but here's a deelicious and fresh birthday treat which I just know you're gonna love

Although I self identify as gay I don't believe in labels - I believe in the Kinsey Scale

John Cleese in Doctor Who! Classic scene from "City of Death" in the Tom Baker era with art critic John Cleese praising the TARDIS "exhibit" ... I love the faintest beginnings of a corpsing smirk at the end