Former Member

Educated people tend to be more openminded. Of course, some people are ‘educated’ by people with an extreme bias, usually religious, but occasionally political. Part of the educational process should be spent questioning what you ‘know’ and why you believe what you do. We are often taught generalizations and ‘truths’ that aren’t necessarily proven. There are observational biases due to upbringing and education which cause observed variations are sometimes ignored. There are sampling biases, especially in medicine and healthcare, because volunteers were primarily middle- and upper-class, young, white, and male. Not everyone is as educated as they think and not all those who think they are uneducated are. ;–)

Emancipation seems like a good bet for Elias. The fact that none of the guys have been California residents for more than a few weeks or months works against them adopting Elias. The fact that three of them are ex-cops (who left voluntarily without even the slightest scandal) would have been favorable factors otherwise. The fact that Elias has a potential income source, albeit too low to live on, is a bonus! It gives him a purpose, a way to take a fun hobby and turn it into income. But it’s difficult to earn a living wage on crafts, for most people it’s a supplemental income at best. Consignment relieves Elias from needing to market his products and Gary’s store likely greatly increases the likelihood that potential customers will see his products. ;–)

…and there’s your answer! ;–)

I’d love to see something similar in California Blue & Gold, racing between the Bay Area, Sacramento, and San Diego, luring passengers out of environmentally disastrous jet planes. ;–)

In a shocking upcoming chapter, it is revealed that pale, redheaded Jeremy has African-American ancestors. His DNA results also reveal bits of Native American and East Asian ancestry. The big mystery is why Henry Louis Gates Jr chose the obscure social worker from the forgotten, ‘upper left corner’ of California to appear on PBS's Finding Your Roots. ;–)

And that’s why people keep moving here to California even though our cost of living is so ridiculously high! ;–)

Even if I set up a tree in my studio apartment, that would not be topping the tree!

@akuhata, you might want to check out the Topic on this series: Of course, it’s better to have read the other books in the W.A.R. series first because there are a few spoilers, mostly guesses as to the direction the story would be taking… If you haven’t read the other books yet, they focus on Billy (William Aaron Roberts, in other words, W.A.R.). ;–)

I noticed this 8.5” tree topper on Amazon: Naturally, you can also get other Dr Who ornaments including Tardises, Daleks, and several of the Doctors. Alternative tree toppers include a Tardis or a Star Wars Death Star. ;–)

Andre’s going to take over writing the story? ;–)

Happy Birthday, Northie! I’m eagerly looking forward to the return of your two great series in the upcoming year. ;–) I knew if I kept looking (while searching for an appropriate existing Topic to post an image I found), I’d find a birthday greeting from the past that was coming up!

I think we both know the answer to that question! ;–)

Even as adults, many people use visual cues to profile others. Some people vote for candidates based on ethnic or religious ties as opposed to policy positions or voting records. Some discriminate based on clothing and appearance: worn-out and threadbare vs designer labels. Some disregard those who use street vernacular in favor of those who sound more educated. When I was homeless, I wore old, but clean and well-made clothing which was still in good condition. I was able to shower daily and didn’t reek. I had most of my things in storage, so I didn’t need to carry them around with me everywhere. While I don’t have a college degree, my vocabulary is large and I sound educated because my college-educated parents spoke proper English to us while I was growing up. I was not perceived as homeless, so I didn’t face the subtle distain and not-so-subtle disrespect that many of my friends had to deal with.

I only meant to point out that many Gay men know about Bratislava because of porn. I’m sure there are unscrupulous porn producers on the extremes of the business who might do such a thing, but that could happen in any country.

Most abusers are known to the abused. Family member, family friend, religious leader, scout leader, etc. Relatively few are strangers. We do children a disservice by focusing on stranger danger. Besides, young children don’t really understand who’s a stranger and who isn’t. We just met, but he gave me candy. He told me his (fake) name. He’s not a stranger anymore, right? There are many situations where the victim has been blamed or not believed. It’s not just ’she was asking for it with the way she dressed!’ ‘A priest would never do such a thing, that’s blasphemous!’ ‘Your cousin is married, why would he want to touch you?’ ‘You misunderstood why the doctor needs to do that to you!’ ‘My boss makes me uncomfortable when he wants to do that, but I need the job.’ #Me Too. Sometimes age isn’t the factor in an uneven power dynamic. Abusers don’t always limit their abuse to children. The abuser is the one who should be ashamed.

In 1989, Czechoslovakia became democratic. In 1993, the country peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Porn was one of the first new industries that moved into the newly liberalized region. Young men were attracted by the seemingly large amounts of cash they were offered for ‘modeling’ and ‘performing.’ Most Gay or bisexual man (and a bunch of women and ‘straight’ men) who came of age in the early Nineties or later are familiar with Bratislava, Slovakia as being one of the locations where Bel Ami has offices (along with Prague, Czech Republic). There are many young Czech and Slovakian men who use noms de porn, quite often attempting to seem British, American, Scandinavian, or Italian rather than Slavic – in a few cases, the choices are unintentionally humorous (and their mild subterfuge is obvious as soon as they start speaking). You can tell Mike is very young! ;–)

This chapter has so much more poignancy with the background you’ve honored us by sharing.

Fortunately, we won’t need to be relying on ‘Ranger Rick’ and the Park Service. Hopefully, the Crescent City PD and/or the Del Norte Sheriff detectives and the Del Norte County Prosecutors will be able to get the child molester locked up for a very long time. But it’s likely that he won’t survive to be released, his fellow inmates will soon enough discover his sordid history…

Our discussion in the Comments of the last chapter seems to have mirrored what occurred in this chapter… ;–)

I think there’d be a huge crowd of us gathered to hurl nasty insults and sarcastic barbs at that slimy child molester! I’m not sure about you, but that’s my deadliest weapon. It’s kind of a trademark LGBTQ+ tactic especially effective when wielded by rioting Drag Queens and Transgender folk. I noticed that Hiouchi and the rest of Del Norte County was spared in the most recent PG&E power shutdown…

Just because I recognized the pun doesn’t mean I would have come up with it. My favorite humor is more reliant on intentional misinterpretation, especially when repeated over time. (ie I annoy my friends tremendously.) ;–)

Your pun just came to me when I wrote that second Comment (soul/sole [of the boot]). ;–)

Is this the first of a series of shorts featuring the various clients of The Boot? ‘Lost Soul – JJ’? ‘Lost Soul – Bill’?

I believe that the US government thinks it’s offering complete support, but because the VA (Veterans Affairs, formerly Veterans Administration) is a separate agency from the military, things don’t flow smoothly. There has also been a scandal over the long wait times for care – long enough that patients die before they ever receive assistance! Part of it is inefficiency, part of it is underfunding, and part of it is due to the patients refusing to seek help (due to a specific genetic health condition: they’re male!). In any case, hundreds of thousands of Vets and other ex-military personnel end up on the streets. Privatizing the VA might help with certain areas, but it will end up meaning less money goes to actually helping the patients. Profit doesn’t magically appear out of nowhere – that’s a fairytale only the foolish believe. Top-down management inefficiency is obvious in the notorious military penchant for hurry up and wait.

There was – I linked to the Wikipedia page if anyone is curious. I was pondering a sandman, but he’d have to be built horizontal – and the tide washes them away twice a day, much faster than snow usually melts. Or you might be suggesting I build a Data, but I’m no Noonien Soong and our technology isn’t anywhere near that advanced. Besides Data's coloring is kind of off. I’d prefer a blond or red head, maybe a Seventies surfer/skateboarder-type… ;–) I’m not good with words, so I’ll leave writing one in a story to my favorite authors who can get even someone as literal as I am to imagine an entire world with what they type! ;–)