Bondwriter

Yeah, this sure must be a hard time to go through. Tons of digital hugs.

I hope your prediction is right. They would thus avoid a potential nuclear war, foil a terrorist plot, and make the death of an innocent marsupial worth the utter damage it is. I suspect it is likely to happen. And they would go to Jerry's next fund raiser, and that's how the two plots would end up connected. The more I think about it, the more I agree with your prediction.

The "yeses" are closing in. The PM system must be brimming with heavy campaigning to rally people to the cause of proving "No" voters wrong. And CJ got a denial buddy. Not very good for the chances of recovery. But blaming it on a computer mistake is a favorite of mine too. They're not too good at addition and subtraction, after all.

Yes, indeed. I actually linked to the Wiki page. Though I've heard recently that most of what's said about him is not true, it is overall a rather likable character. I've always seen him as a 13th century hippie. He also has a big advantage for a saint, this of not dying in utter suffering, being burnt, chopped off or beheaded.

Happy Birthday, BeaStKid! The custom Bday cake: The regular one:

It's my saint's day!

The funny thing is that people in France know more about US' penal procedures than France's, thanks to TV series. Actually, I think I fall under this category too. Another thing I didn't write about is the trivialization of police brutality. Though in a fiction you always (well, almost) side for the law enforcement when they beat the crap out of a suspect so they can save a life, or convict a slimy bastard, well, reality is not fiction. And you expect law enforcement to behave according to laws. It's called Staking My Claim, if this might be of any interest to you. And it's a blatant theft of intellectual property I pulled on an uninspired day. It seems some people create more interesting romance than I can.

Vladimir... Dimitri... This is quite confusing. Even to you, as Graeme pointed out. I have a hunch Vladimir is not going to grow very old. I only noticed the second time around; I agree with Graeme on dialogs being the illusion of speech. Maybe a phrase more colloquial than 'promiscuous' would have done the trick. Well, this works the way it is anyway.

What we've done in democracies for ages: write letters through Amnesty International, petition to our representatives and the local embassies, and vote for the candidates whom you deem the most able to handle the situation and a possible conflict when time comes. I personally have lost on the last point ever since I voted in presidential elections, but I'll keep on going to the polls and fighting the dimwit who was elected last May through my vote and the other democratic ways. These are also keeping informed, trying to get news from various points of views and discussing it whenever possible. As long as the people I talk to are willing to listen to what I say and are willing to be pragmatic and see facts, that are often more complicated than what appears. After a while, with any bigot, you're better off giving up. In my time, I quit discussing with royalists, far-right wingers, Born Again Christians, Islamic fundamentalists and trotskyites.

I was quite upset as a teenager when I was told about how comics/ movies/ RPGs had a bad influence on "youth". I also hated being made part of a group just on view of my age. I've always believed "people", like in a vast majority of people, were grown up enough to see the difference between fiction and reality. But as of late, I've started wondering about the influence of fiction, TV series in particular, on how "people" actually see the world. A few months back, I was at one of my music friends' place; we were converting a barn into a room to practice, so we were in cement and concrete since morning. One of my friends' kids, aged 9, was supposed to go to a friend's birthday party, in the village, about 500 meters away, 400 of which are not on a road used by cars. Having grown up in the countryside, I was most amazed they had to give him a ride. When I looked puzzled I was replied "You know, with what goes on nowadays..." I'm not absolutely sure the number of dangerous perverts is much higher than when I was a kid. And these friends have crossed the US twice on bikes, Central America, Australia from North to South, Mongolia... So they're not exactly the kind to be afraid of everything. But I noticed quite a bit that some people, who watched lots of TV, saw the world as these series showed it to them. A world full of killers that cannot be suspected, of extremely twisted kidnappers, of brutal death waiting around the corner. Though one cannot deny that these ghastly acts take place, one cannot live in fear of them happening. All over the presidential campaign we went through last spring, and since then, it seems this paranoid view of the world has completely pervaded the public debate. Our new president promises a new law every time something happens (big French legal fetish), when enforcing those existing is practically almost impossible. I don't know if I searched well enough, but I really wonder if some serious research was undertaken on this topic. Popular fiction is less than 200 years old, and it really started spreading around in the late 19th century. Serials, through radio or TV (outside the printed medium) are three generations old at the most. So we live a lot in fiction; I enjoy this a lot, and I'm a big CSI fan, and I love Law & Order and the spin-offs. But does it have an influence on me? And on others? OK, this was the "I've been thinking about this for a while minute". On other fronts: we record with the band this weekend. One song is GA related, the demo is available in the appropriate forum (yeah, you'll have to search, but as I post very little, it shouldn't be too hard) I got a new job for the next two months. I work outside of home, which is nice in a way: I've got colleagues, a schedule, motivation from a team, possible business trips ... I'm afraid that this, and some family issues that are going on at the moment, will make my proofreading activities a bit more difficult, so for the 5 or 6 authors who entrust me with their stories, I won't be as reactive as I've been. But I won't give up, it's too much fun and honor doing this. So that's all for now folks, though having long days in the office could actually get me back in the mood for writing in the evening...

It sems you didn't read my post. If at some point a military intervention is needed, I won't cry over Islamic soldiers falling under bombs. I do remember history. I won't give in the other cheek, as I won't follow blindly people who are so eager to spend tax-payers money in hopeless wars that are not planned in any sensible way that would make them worthwhile, since they're meant to promote good VS. evil. I also know the US record of foreign intervention since WWII. And my country's for that matter. They're not too brilliant.

As you said, it's a rock band. We still don't know who their audience is, so there are numerous examples of gay rock stars, though usually this is known later on in their career. But David Bowie/ Iggy Pop, Freddie Mercury, Rob Halford, Michael Stipes... It seems it doesn't hurt a career nowadays.

Following the links you offered, I got to read several testimonies of gay men in Iran. Of course, their situation is far from being fun. It didn't read as they were systematically hunted or murdered, though of course they belong to a minority that is oppressed. As are any people who enjoy life, arts, freedom, etc. As for genocidal activities: here is the legal definition, found in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG). Article 2 of the CPPCG defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group." So, deliberate murder. Breaks of basic Human Rights. Not genocide. But I agree with 97a, and you didn't reply to this: this is a 2-year-old news. Should we then all wholeheartedly agree that the next set of bombings is meant to defend our "race"?

It seems more likely that Helen knows about the guys' limo ride rather than Jon and Eric outing Chase and Brandon, who got to kiss at last (I was really waiting for them being interrupted, so in a sense, I was surprised ) The Vestal Virgins could come into play later on, but as long as they don't have pics, can it hurt the reputation of the band? I'm wondering about why no one commented about Dimitri's infatuation with kangaroos. This was rather cute (and funny). One other thing: does Jon and Eric's "promiscuous" conversation ring OK? It flowed fine as I read the first time, but in hindsight, I think they use a very proper language, especially in the state they're in.

Happy Birthday!

I feel quite ill at ease with the "I don't see why you don't agree" rhetoric. YES, the Iranian government is actively trampling on human rights. In one of the articles that was linked from the cartoon, I read the following.

These are newly created "traditions", pushed by a handful of ruthless round number figure fetishists; the fact that you're reminded by CJ himself should be quite informative. What matters most, Lashrac, is that you keep on lurking in a free world, and keep on enjoying LTMP. Do not fall prey to the Sirens of high-volume posting. :wacko:

Jan, this poll was created by a kind soul who wanted to offer CJ an opportunity to come out clean and confess his post-whoring, as the Frosty One would say. (But he hasn't been around much lately.) There's no trick question to corner the Herdians and make them look worse.

Polls and voting seem to be done in a rather fair manner. E.g. this poll, showing no one believes CJ is a lurker, but him and three of his blindly devoted followers.

Yeah, the BeaStKid wasn't fast enough to close the poll...

I'm a Caprican. I'm a proud one. I'm very extremely well paid to zeta-read CJ's stories. Except when some people manage to find mistakes we had not caught. Which has been way too often lately, because of the ever-widening fan base.

What can I say? This type of humor should be banned on the ground that it is in very bad taste. Next thing you know, you'll have kids running around promoting homosexuality if we let this type of silliness pass.

Indeed, but not in this thread. Maybe this time, he will see the light. If you guys accuse him of being in denial, you're no help, for he won't get an opportunity to come out clean at last.

Personally, I would also have the not under 21 rule for driving a motor vehicle, voting, having a bank account, having sex, expressing political opinions... We should have large alliances between corporations and church or government-run institutions for young people, in which they would study and be used as free labor to contribute to the welfare of nations, rather than indulge in dumb entertainment, crass promiscuous behavior or any other loathsome and laughable attitudes.

I don't know how warmly the Herd would welcome you, but the Herd of Capricans open their arms wide to any new fan, so welcome to the club.