Tiger

So here's what's going on. Apparently, the f**king morons who come up with curriculum plans for the entire state of Texas basically want to throw away basic facts and replace it all with revisionist history and junk science. Education should not have a political sway, but the damn Republicans in Texas want to ruin education for every single child in Texas for the next ten years and it f**king pisses me off. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html

That song definitely makes me want to rip someone's clothes for sure, James. I have a few more that tend to make me feel frisky. Buttons by PCD (And no, not because of the ladies in the vid... it's the song itself. It's downright steamy.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_0JywrfPuY Closer by NIN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVgBuwM9zcQ

This song is quite suggestive. Every time I hear it I want to rip a man's clothes off, and well, you get the picture. It's called "Pony" by Ginuwine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpKnhW5kf34

I see that no one has started this one, so I figured I might as well. Poor Micah. That mother of his is pure evil. She is trying to destroy him as far as I can see. He still loves Corey very much. *sigh* Christian bigots make me want to scream. I'm sure others feel the same way.

It's definitely a good short story. If you read Mark's series, you definitely won't be disappointed either.

Fantasy is fun to write, but don't forget that it can be darker than fairy tales.

What I mean is that if someone's first post here, that means that Mark popped their cherry.

All it takes is a first post.

Hmmmm... I still go with The Land Whore. Stefan was so much fun in that one. I think Bloodlines is second followed by Be Rad.

Honestly, I have not read Furlough. Perhaps I should now. I loved how this one ended. There was definitely a bit of misdirection. I thought Gabriel was going to jump. I'm glad Jack caught him in time. I can imagine their life together would indeed be a difficult one. That was almost 100 years ago. A lot has changed since then. Great story, Mark!

It probably would, but at the same time even some on the left would side with the conservatives. There's a lot of people who hate pedophiles. I'm certainly not someone who hates, but I used to dislike them, which was really closed minded of me, and it was based upon bad experiences in my life. I'm not saying that you shouldn't post it in The Soapbox, but I am saying that I won't, not because I don't think it's a good topic to debate, but because I'm afraid that the discourse will reach a level in which the admins and moderators will have to monitor it constantly and remove posts and eventually remove the entire thread when the bickering does not stop. Then again, they might just jerk it some time soon after it appears.

Happy birthday!

Chapter 3 is posted.

I'm glad I could help.

I agree with Sharon. It's very true that sports tend to have a lot of homophobia, and I really liked Lyle's attitude. He was in it to win it, and he wasn't about to let anything take him away from his dreams.

Come to think of it, some more chapters of Hello Stupid would be very nice. Still, what I want is more WT for right now. I love that story.

Duncan, for future reference, to the right of the "Reply" button is another button that says "Multi quote". If you select "Multi quote" for everyone you wish to reply to, and then click "Add Reply" at the bottom of the page, you can reply to multiple posters at once. If I remember correctly, the limit is five.

That's a great response, Billy. Ephebophilia is different from pedophilia, but that wasn't what my blog entry was about. Ephebophilia is quite common even according to most experts, but again, acting upon it is unlawful and certainly inappropriate. The reason for the disclaimer about keeping comments civil is based upon the fact that many are severely biased about the topic in general. And Chase, I am not sure posting this in The Soapbox would be a good idea. There's too much risk. It's a very touchy subject. If you wish to discuss it in The Soapbox, I suggest that you contact an administrator or moderator first so that they can tell you whether or not this article can be discussed there. There's a lot more leeway in blogs, and I'm not quite sure if it's appropriate on the forums.

I'm not, nor will I ever be, promiscuous. As far as Cody from DnCW, he obviously has problems. Some (not all) people who are promiscuous have some kind of personal issues. They still are, however, responsible for their own actions. I'm not one to judge. This is just based on people I've known in my life who have led sexually promiscuous lives. They often seek sex much in the same way as a drug addict seeks drugs. They want to numb themselves. There are also people with commitment issues. Still others just really like sex a lot. Promiscuity is not something we should judge people for though UNLESS it interferes with their lives and the lives around them. If you're a mother of four young children and you neglect your kids while you've got lots of different partners coming in and out of your bedroom, there's a problem.

I have been thinking about an article. The article covers a very controversial subject. Years ago, Richard Green was involved in the movement to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. I'm sure just about everyone on GA would agree with him on that and thank him for his efforts. Still, there is another sexuality that is very much frowned upon, definitely more so than homosexuality. It is a sexuality that if acted upon is, in my view, one of the most egregious crimes a person can commit. It is insidious and callous to do this. It can shatter lives forever. But what if you do not act upon it? Is it a mental disorder? I once thought so, but lately I've had to re-evaluate my opinion. What am I talking about? I'm talking about pedophilia. Personally, I am NOT a pedophile, and I definitely despise anyone who acts on such a proclivity. But there are many who do not act upon it, and while it is certainly not good to be a pedophile, I do not think it is a mental illness anymore than being gay is, which is not at all. Why have I come to this conclusion? Well, let's just say I've befriended someone that happens to be a pedophile. I don't like that he's a pedophile, but I accept it and accept him as a person. This doesn't mean there hasn't been a few arguments along the way. Recently we talked about whether or not it was a mental illness. Part of me has it ingrained that pedophilia is mental illness, but I decided to find out what experts might say about it. I came across this article. In it, he mentions three discourses: legal, moral, and medical. He argues that while it is illegal to act on such attractions as well as immoral, but it is not a medical (specifically psychological) illness. I can see where he's coming from, but it all honesty, I disagree with it at one point. I think someone who acts on the attraction is mentally ill. You'd have to be completely deranged to hurt an innocent child. But if you can sperate your attraction from acting upon it and understand that it is wrong and why it is wrong and would never want to hurt a child like that, then the person is not mentally ill. As for anyone who might disagree about acting upon it, let me combat your sentiments right now. It is perfectly acceptable to have sex with another adult, someone who happens to be a peer and is capable of understanding every aspect of the act and is mentally capable of handling and having a completely positive and fulfilling reaction to it. Children are NOT our peers. Therefore, they cannot consent to sexual acts, and adults are not to coerce them, threaten, or outright rape them at any time for any reason. At least one of three actions is required in order to have sex with a child, and it is also immoral to do any of those three things to another adult in order to have sexual relations with the adult. Forcing someone into sex through coercion, threats, or just outright violating the person's body is a crime and rightfully so. Whenever, you have consensual sex with another adult, it is an implied or verbal contract with that person, a person who is of free will to enter into it. That's how one would describe consensual sex versus non-consensual sex. Minors are not allowed to be parties to contracts with one exception, which is certain money transfers like signing checks or exchanging money for certain goods and services, and there is usually a requirement that a parent's name is on the account. No other exceptions, as far as I know, are made for minors when it pertains to contracts. Why am I bringing up consent? An agreement is said to be, "An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law." The key word is agreement. And because sexual consent is an agreement by definition, it is synonymous with contract. Contracts and consent have something else in common. The basis for anti-rape laws is actually in property law, and most contracts involve property. At the time is was more of a sexist thing where men had their wives as a piece of property. Of course, now it is clear, at least in western society, that one's own body is considered one's own property, and if you violate this property in any way, you have committed a crime against the said person. With a child, the ownership is normally the parents'. However, children are also protected by law from sexual (and other types of) abuse by a parent, so in a way, the child's possession of his or her own body, trumps that of a parent in at least this aspect. Conclusion- I have made two main points in this blog entry. 1) While anyone who acts upon sexual attraction to children is certainly not in his or her right mind, someone who has the attraction and does not act upon it with the knowledge that it would be wrong to do so and why is not clinically insane. 2) Contract and property law is the basis for which rape of any kind is criminal offense and why children are not considered competent to enter into any type of legal agreement or contract due to an inability to fully understand the consequences of their actions. I'd also like to add, that my understanding of the legal system is basic, and these thoughts are based upon limited knowledge. Others are much more capable of explaining these laws and their reasons for existence. Also, my knowledge of psychology is limited. Note: I've left comments enabled for now, but please keep the comments civil. Otherwise, I'll feel the need to lock them. I understand that it's a difficult subject for many, and let me also remind everyone that I have been abused too. I have also went through the pain of having a close family member going to prison for acting on such inclinations, and it was the most painful experience of my life. As an added disclaimer, if you are struggling with it, please contact Dr. Fred Berlin of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. Acting on your feelings is a violation of state and (in some cases) federal law. Such actions can destroy children's lives along with that of their families' and your own.

Congratulations on the award, Jamie! You really deserve it. TSOI is among my favorite stories anywhere! Everyone owes it to themselves to read this wonderful story!

Thanks Jamie! Coming from a fantastic author like yourself those are wonderful compliments. I chose a fairly modern setting (2002), because it felt right. This means there can be run-ins with actual political figures, and I like having that kind of flexibility while I also have this magical world. Texas was my chosen backdrop, because it's a beautiful state with lots of open space, so I figure it's a good place to hide a magical world. There will be more chapters to come. I have several more completely ready and a few others that are either with my editor or my final beta reader. And indeed I do have a wonderful editor. He's been with me since the beginning even when there's been changes in the beta readers of my team, and I am very happy with my new beta readers as well. They make a world of difference in helping me refine my stories. Again, thanks for the comments, Jamie.

That looks like a glitch. I'm sure Joe will get around to fixing it. The actual chapter is there though.

The first link is to the website you want people to go to. The second is the image that links to said website. [url=http://www.google.com/][img=http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif][/url] The first link you see in the code will direct you to the home page of Google, as in what you see if you type in www.google.com with http:// at the beginning. That's not an image. If you wanted to embed (or insert) the link to Google in an image, you would add www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif again with http:// at the end of the code in between the IMG and /IMG surrounded with these []. The Image take starts with [img] and ends with [/img] I have never found BB Code confusing, but I can see why some people might. It's like an alternative version of HTML that's mainly for forums if that makes sense. You can go to this site and find out more. Pretty much any alteration or special addition to your posts is in BB Code.

Which ever one is a figure skater is probably a homo. I forget which one. Nothing wrong with that though... I love figure skating.