C James

Hi, Jo! As the unofficial, self-appointed welcome wagon, let me say Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the first post! Hmmm... Brian could be VP! I've often wondered how a married couple would work as President and VP.. I also wonder if it's closer than we think? Hillary Clinton looks like she will run in 2008... So, I wonder if Bill Clinton might be her running mate if she wins the nomination? Before anyone blasts me with the 22nd amendment, take a close look at the wording: "Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once." Bill Clinton therefor cannot run for President, but I see nothing to prohibit him from running for vice president. The operative language for the qualifications for vice president is in the 12th amendment "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." OK, my theory is this: Bill Clinton, per the 22nd amendment, is ineligible to be elected president, but is not ineligible to be president, and hence could be Vice-president (and also President by succession if need be). Therefor, could he be his Wife's running mate in 2008? THAT would be very interesting indeed, from both a political and legal perspective. Finally, was anyone else sweating during Davey and Brian's drive in the rain? I was expecting disaster... I keep seeing impending doom everywhere, perhaps because things have gone so well overall in recent chapters (except for Jeremy's death). Actually, except for Jeremy, I don't think anyone has even died in recent chapters!??! Yes, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.. I thought I was just paranoid... Well, I am paranoid, but sometimes being paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you! :wacko: Surely dear, sweet LBTW wouldn't do such a thing? (remember Chapter 11!) I know what you mean though... Even if he survives, it's hell for both patient and family. Actually, the cake made sense to me, in a way. The ear-ring, from a Doctor's point of view especially, is a much, much more serious issue, and is likely long-term. A cake isn't. I too love all the detail in the story. It's really great!!!

I loved this chapter!!! I was expecting slightly more significance and repercussions to Connor's dream, and was glad that so far, things seem to be going well. I loved the bit about Dominic writing his phone number in the dirt! I'll bet I wasn't the only one to catch the arid reference? And now Connor is off to Las Vegas for an Elton John concert!! That should be interesting!!! I was rather concerned regarding Toby.. That not feeling well sounds rather ominous, especially as the symptoms sound rather like the onset of certain leukaemias. Thanks for a great chapter, LB & Kitty!

It's been a while since I've read DOT, so I'll have to go back and check. However, you raise an interesting issue! Sunni and Shia certainly do in many cases have issues with one another. It's not a good analogy, but the best I can come up with is Protestant and Catholic in situations such as Northern Ireland. The religious issue was a huge part of why the Gulf states backed Saddam in the Iran-Iraq war. They feared Iranian hegemony even more than Iraqi hegemony. There are only two nations with a Shia majority, Iran and Iraq, but Saddam's ruling party (B'aath) was Sunni. However, there have indeed been instances of co-operation between Iran and Sunni extremists. Look for example at the level of co-operation between Al Qaeda and Hezbollah. (The former is Sunni, the latter Shiite, and run by Iran). I don't see a new Caliphate forming any time soon, but there are occasionally degrees of cooperation between Shiite and Sunni, though IMHO, as you say, animosity is far more common.

This is one of my favorite chapters! I loved the way it was written! Even someone unfamiliar with California politics could follow it, yet the detail was IMHO superb! One huge point I'd like to make: THANK YOU DK for the part where the huge similarities between the anti-miscegenation (anti-interracial marriage) crowd and the anti-gay crowd are pointed out! That's long been a favorite topic of mine. I'll get into a more detailed discussion after more people have had a chance to read it, but for now, just wanted to say thanks! Oh, and Demitz, I think that you are right about Davey's father! It would certainly be a great way to end this part of the story (Inauguration day?) plus it would change the timeline so that Davey Sr. would become President instead of the current president. I suspect that just might appeal to DK on many fronts, one of which is that DK is rumored to be, well, not exactly the greatest fan of the current occupant of the White House.

LittleBuddhaTW, M.A. CONGRATULATIONS!!! As for the PDF problem... What version of Acrobat are you using? Also, what version of Word? Usually, I've had good luck with printing the document from word, to the faux printer that Acrobat creates on the printer list (it's output is PDF documents). If I recall, you can tinker with the printer paramiters to get around sizing problems.

Happy Birthday Myr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course...unless it's wearing sunglasses *cough* Yep! It's a celebrity Goat... It's only Goats that don't wear sunglasses that are weird...

Ahhh! That's why it's called "artistic licence"... He changed "Eleanor's" gender while writing himself into the story!

Maybe they are evacuating, along with the rest of central Florida?

Conner! Having a goat as an avatar? That's just plain weird, dude!!!

Dan and Trebs are going to visit Florida? Uhoh... All those poor, innocent Floridians! This will probable make them long for last year, when all they had to worry about regarding unruly visitors were Wilma and Katrina. Have they started evacuating yet????

Hmmmmm... Please tell us that this has nothing to do with the outfit featured in your new avatar? On the other hand, it would certainly make an impression if you showed up dressed that way.. Good luck with the exam!

EEEK! No, I don't think DK (or the readers) would want me editing them!! I can see the lynch mob forming up to get me already!!! Besides, I've heard how unspeakably cruel DK is to you.. All that screaming emanating from Jacksonville when he sends out a new chapter, etc..

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, that's dark....but I like the thought behind it though. It would definetly be a gut wrencher (as far as Ryan goes), and of course I'd be the one yelling at my computer as I'm reading this. The trouble prediction? Definetly, I concure. I got to give props to Mr David *does the 'Hail Ceaser' sign* for such an in depth kind of story like this. Makes me think I've been subconciously waiting for a story like this since I came out. I've yelled at my computer more than a few times during SOOTB! This is definitely a very complex and deep story... Kudos, LB!!!

Did I ever return the edited chapters to you? Did I even finish them? :wacko: Ahhh! Well, no, Emoe, you never did return the chapters to me... So why don't you rectify the situation and e-mail them to me right away? (I know, I know, but it was worth a try! )

I'm glad that you seem to be doing ok regarding your landlady! Just a suggestion: Make sure you think carefully about whatever pre-move shopping you might want to, before leaving TW. I know that when I moved back from overseas, I later regretted not getting a few things. One thing on my "regrets" list was not taking lots of pictures, of everyday stuff, like the corner store.

Nah, do it democratically, and elect him while he's out of the room.... Hmmmm, would posting "phone call" be one of his duties? I've heard good things about that, and am looking forward to reading it.

I haven't seen #16 yet, so I'm free to speculate... OK, my hunch is that it does turn out to be very significant that it's Toby in the dream. What if Connor, sleeping in Ryan's bed, yells "I love you, Toby!" in his sleep, and Ryan hears him? I predict trouble!!!! BTW, what is Little Buddha's new avatar? I can't quite figure it out? Anyone??

Given all that happened in Chapter 15, especially the nightmare at the end, does anyone have any predictions as to what happens in 16?

You are very welcome.. Just please bear in mind that many of the things I wrote are subjective: Like the blind men with the elephant, others may perceive the same things quite differently, and other people may have perceptions far different from mine. There are a great many similarities in the various issues facing the US and Europe, and also the fact that what one does, often affects the other. I wish more Americans had an equivalent interest in what goes on in Europe, as in general Americans are far less informed about Europe than Europeans are about the US. My family is from the UK, so all my life I've visited Europe at least once a year. Often just the UK, but in many cases I include a few weeks in various regions of mainland Europe. It's sadly true that the misperceptions on both sides of the Atlantic are numerous. I like that provision to force a referendum on a national level! Here, most states have similar referendum (called ballot measure or initiative) systems, but there is nothing like it at the national level. You say that is in every Canton, even in the Romanish ones??? I'm very impressed! The US is far behind in that area as we only have civil marriage in some areas.

This FAQ is looking great, and I'd like to take this opertunity to say a big THANK YOU to all the Admins and others who work so hard behind the scenes to make GA such a great place!

I'd have liked that, too. I wasn't all that fond of "Teeth of the Tiger", and so far I've heard nothing about any new TC books. The Op center series that bear his name aren't written by him, but I do hold out hope for a new TC book at some point. This reminds me of when I first found the DO series, and started reading DO (which was complete by then). Once the Naval war began, and I got the the chapter with all the pictures and battle scenes, I literally said out loud "Oh my god, I've found the gay Tom Clancy!". I've been hooked ever since...

THanks for the E-fiction addition! I think that is a great feature here! One more suggestion: what about an explainer for the voting and comments feature in the archives and elsewhere? It (last time I used it) requests a log-in, and it wasn't clear that the login needs to be the e-mail address you signed up with, rather than your user name.

Will the E-fiction section be mentioned and explained? If I understand correctly, members CAN add their own stories there. I really like the FAQ so far! I especially liked the way humor was used! The definitions for Danderthals and Domaholics made me laugh out loud! I also really liked the explanation of membership types and requirements, as that has been puzzling me for a very long time.