JamesSavik

Yikes!

There are ways of presenting these topics without being sensationalistic. A character can be a victim of rape, incest or child abuse off camera and you can work with the effect. In fact, we probably should pay more attention to recovery than we do. All three of those acts can cause all sorts of psychological and relationship problems in their victims and create opportunities for great drama. The act itself has little to do with sexuality. Rape, incest and child abuse are all crimes of power (or powerlessness). It's not erotic, it's psychotic. It's a very sick thing and no exploration of the act itself can be anything but sick if it is honestly done. -*-*-*-*- Tom & Bob - a mini story Tom meets Bob at the county fair and they have a hot, steamy one night stand. Some months later they discover that they are in the same floor of the same dorm at State University. Tom pursues Bob who is happy to have sex but isn't into relationships. In fact Bob is having sex all over the place. Tom wants Bob but can't understand his promiscuity and is probably his only friend. Bob gets into trouble with his promiscuity (he gets the clap) and as part of his treatment, the doc suggests counseling. There Bob discovers that he has been the victim of childhood sexual abuse, he has repressed the trauma and needs a lot of counseling to get his head together. Yada, yada and of course yada. Tom stands by his man and they live happily ever after. ___________________________ OK: does this story need to be censored? Could this story be a positive thing that is more about recovery than depravity? IMHO there are things in this story that as adults we can be in denial of but that's not going to make it go away and... it may bite you. HARD.

< RAWR!

That's why I'm not on Nifty. I don't want my work to sit beside "inter-generational" or tender tales of a lonely cowboy and his horse. I don't want to be associated with that. I don't bomb Nifty with nasty emails or make a big ruckus. In fact I'm pro-Nifty. Nifty has its rules and standards and that's fine. However, I have been known to push the limits with things that I've written. I've taken some heat for it. In the past, I've written about drugs and their use in the gay community. A lot of people didn't see the value in that. In a collaborative project we fought like cats and dogs over whether drugs should be a part of the plot line. In another one of my stories, I explored the cruising culture. Some people reacted to these stories like I had released classified material and committed treason against the big gay orthodoxy. This may point to our motives for writing. Some people like to write for fun. Others may see it as a outlet. I know that I've written stuff for both of those reasons. However- when I take on a topic like this, my motive is to say- this is out there and think about it. I'm not a social crusader and I don't play one on TV but If I can carry a positive message, raise an issue or make people think I consider it a win. To answer your question: No- I don't think we should censor ourselves to make the gay community look clean and pure as the fresh fallen snow. That dog won't hunt. We can and should shine the bright light of day into the dark alleys and corners of our community. Self-flagellation is not required but a little introspection couldn't hurt.

My knee jerk reaction to the question is no. 1st amendment, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, etc. All that stuff is to the American, the holy of holies. However- when viewed objectively, we censor ourselves all the time. Does this make me look fat? Are you going to fall into that trap? There's also the matter of the law. While molestation, rape, incest and bestiality happen, such stories aren't generally appreciated and may actually involve questions and lawyers and judges. While this site does not censor us, it does set limits. So far, I've had no problems with those limits. The topics that are limited are things that just don't interest me to explore.

Duke Ellington- Caravan

An idea from the peanut gallery: One of the things that I've tried is to use text to speech software. It allows me to hear what I've written. From there I can edit the text based on how it sounds. I think it's easier to spot some errors when you actually hear the spoken word. It also helps to make dialogue more natural.

I vanish during my busy season at work. It runs from April to September. This summer was crazy busy.

FROM: National Command Authority TO: All Commands RE: CASE BLACK THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN HIT WITH A CATASTROPHIC BIO-TERRORIST ATTACK OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN. CASE BLACK HAS BEEN DECLARED. FOLLOW PROTOCOLS: SILENT WINTER, VIOLET PYRAMID, SIERRA HARVEST. DECRYPT ORDERS AND ACTIVATE CASE BLACK IMMEDIATELY. ALERT STATUS TO DEFCON 2. SNAP COUNT IS IN EFFECT.

In the Colts-Broncos game the over and under had got to be a 100 points.

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Coincidence? I think not.

Revelations Parliament Station Jeff Mason and Marion Scott filed into Parliament Station's Bean Stalk. The space elevator car was big and could easily move a hundred people from high orbit to the planet surface in a matter of a few minutes. The waiting crowd was not large, so only a quarter of the seats were taken. A disembodied voice directed bored travelers to take their seats, secure their belongings and fasten their safety harness. Jeff followed Marion to an empty row of

Growing up in 70s Mississippi I've seen a lot of shit. I didn't mean to be. In fact I was mortified to be outed on my 13th birthday by a Mormon religious fanatic scoutmaster that discovered some of the boys in his troop were fooling around and no sodomites were welcome in his troop. This is another story- an old story I've told until I'm sick of it. It's not really the point. It's what happened afterwards. The first reaction was violence. People who I had been cool with for years decided that it would be a good idea to punch me. It wasn't a very good idea because I punched back- hard. Before long I was punching first just in case. You might say I was punch drunk. I was in trouble fighting before the first bell of the first day of 7th grade. This was somewhat made better my a football coach to sort of took me under his wing. He had played linebacker in college and for a while in the pros. I got him for home room and he sort of looked after me. Back then every grade had 3 groups: I started out in group 1. A students, high achievers and such. Group 2 were average and Group 3... well thanks for playing. I was in group 4. It was more or less the 70s version of special ed. The Coach knew what he was doing. I taught that class as much as he did. There were kids in that class that couldn't read because nobody ever bothered to take the time to teach them. There were kids in that class that were small and immature for their age. There were a few that were very, very slow. It was good for me and them but I missed a lot not being in a regular group. I ended up protecting a lot of those kids from bullying and harassment because I knew just how it felt. I won some hearts and minds that year. It helped later on. The second reaction was abandonment. Kids that I had known for years, some I had been close to, were just suddenly gone. It played really ugly games with my head. I wouldn't treat a rabid dog that way. I'd shoot the poor bastard to end his suffering. I tried out a lot of things for a while and settled on that psycho crazy kid that will fight anybody because he just doesn't care. It was kind of a self defense thing. The more desperate the fight I got in, the dirtier I fought it. If I couldn't win, I'd at least make it hurt like hell. I took some rather severe beatings that way but nobody came back for seconds. Fighting and football were a way I could let some of the anger out. And I was one very, very fucking angry kid. I didn't understand. I thought hey it's Ok. It'll get better, I'll out last the bullshit but the bullshit never seemed to stop. The more bullshit that came my way, and believe me, there was plenty, the meaner and angrier I got. It gave me a power of a sort. I would get in a sort of berserk rage. I would get so high on adrenalin that I didn't really feel pain and I was a big strong kid to start with. The third reaction was balkanization. The meaning of that is sort of like its meaning in diplomacy. To balkanize a country, you cut it off from it's allies. People that I did try to make friends with were harassed because of it. What do you want with that big queer? He must give great head because that's all they are good for. The middle school bully logic probably hasn't changed much over the years. The fourth reaction was instant enemies. There were people that, upon learning that I was gay, would immediately decide that I was some sort of enemy and declare war. If they couldn't beat my ass (that was always the first choice), harassment was next. Then causing whatever trouble that they could think of to cause for me. The really nasty ones were always behind my back. Some I didn't even know by name. They just decided that I was there for them to hate and they were obliged to mess with me in any way they could. The fifth reaction was trying to save my soul. Some of the same people that were tormenting me were trying to save my soul. Don't you know that you make Jesus sad? For a while I listened to them but it was obvious that they didn't have the first clue about what they were talking about. To them homosexuality was like a nasty hobby. If I just decide to give it up that everything would be groovy and Jesus wouldn't be sad anymore. It didn't take long for it to get on my nerves. Of course I was Satan's own spawn when I politely asked them to give it a rest and then I was obviously possessed when I told them in explicit detail where to stuff their bible. The sixth reaction was exile. There was no place for me in polite society. The nice cliques of kids in middle and high school: I didn't fit in any of them. They didn't want me and I didn't want them. The only people I could really connect with were fellow outcasts. Gay- not so much. Back them people were so far in the closets they were finding Christmas presents for future generation. The other outcasts were druggies, thugs, and other assorted petty criminals. Others were poor kids from single parent households. Kids with divorced parents that were "disturbed". Kids whose parents were junkies and lived with their grandparents. It might sound corny but we were no shit Outsiders (to borrow a phrase from Hinton). Anyway... It's late and I had been meaning to answer this thread. The information is dated of course. The country isn't like this anymore thank God. Or at least, I hope it isn't.

You can buy all sorts of BBQ sauce at your local Kroger and lot's of it is pretty good. Most of it is pretty generic but I've yet to find any based on mustard or vinegar outside of a good BBQ house. If you are up for a culinary adventure try this one on for size: Carolina Style BBQ Sauce Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup Yellow Mustard (French's or Heinze) 1/2 cup Brown Sugar 3/4 cup cider vinegar 3/4 cup beer (dark is best) 1 TBS Chili powder 1TEA black pepper 1TEA white pepper 1/2 TEA cayenne pepper 1 1/2 TEA Worcestershire Sauce 2 TBS Butter 1 1/2 TEA liquid smoke 1 TEA Louisiana Style hot sauce Directions: 1. In a heavy non-reactive sauce pan, stir together the mustard, brown sugar, vinegar and beer. Season with chili powder, black, white and cayenne pepper. Whisk together and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Don't boil or you will scorch the sugar. 2. Mix in the Worcestershire, butter, and liquid smoke. Simmer for another 15 or 20 minutes. Season to taste with hot sauce. 3. Store in a Mason jar. Refrigerate overnight after cooling to allow flavors to mix. The sauce has a spicy, tart taste that works well on pulled pork, brisket, chicken or sausage.

If there's anything creepier than spiders, this cat doesn't want to know about it.

When one of these things reaches a certain temperature, all of the gas locked in as ice sublimates. That means it goes from solid to gas instantly- very energetically. *BOOM* The #1 big cost is the launch vehicle. Depending on the size and weight of the bird, this can be very expensive. There is currently quite a lot of international competition to sell launch vehicles like the European Ariane 5, the Chinese Long March, and American Titan and Delta rockets. CTO (Cost to Orbit) is something that all the great powers are working on because the winner in that race will be able to write their own ticket. For a relatively big satellite (500kg), you are going to spend 40-120million. The more you spend, the greater the reliability. The cost of the satellite itself depends on how they are fitted out. Simple communications sats can be as cheap as 10s of millions of dollars. The bigger, more complex and the higher the orbit increases the cost. The most expensive of satellites are the special ones like the Hubble and the Spitzer. They cost more because each one is a custom job. You don't bang them out by the dozen. Some of the most expensive science birds can range up into hundreds of millions. The last cost associated with satellites is ground support. This varies with the type and mission of the satellites but they can be considerable. If you have one that takes 24/7 attention of engineers, scientists and analyst. NASA and the NSA have quite a lot of experience with mission profiles of this type.

You spoil your readers rotten and make the rest of us look bad! I think we need to take up a collection and send you on a cruise. OK, OK... a cruise with free wi-fi.

We really don't want to tossing around nukes in space unless there is no other way. In the case of an asteroid, we would turn a large, dangerous falling object into many radioactive falling objects. That's better, but not by much.

I can't stand reddit. It is impossible to become established there. It doesn't matter how you post there. Unless you are part of the clique, you will be ignored.

As a writer and reader of sci-fi, I enjoy exploring new worlds and meeting new species. One of the most brilliant creations I've met is the Spinxian Treecat in David Weber's Honor-verse. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorverse ). The treecat is, of course, a fictional creation. Since we write fiction, I believe that it is noteworthy when it is done well. Weber's treecats are plausible. They occupy an important ecological niche and are consistent with the rest of the planets fauna. They are interesting and have an intelligence of a sort. Weber's creation has grown and has become the star of other books. Stephanie Harrington and her tree cat Lionheart Treecats are NOT pets. Occasionally, for reasons of their own, a treecat will bond with a human. They will stay with that human for the duration of that humans life. This is a sacrifice for the cats which usually live much longer than humans but die when their bonded human dies. They are also mysteriously telepathic. More on the Treecat http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Treecat Two books from Weber and Lindskold Treecat Trilogy. Questions to consider: What can we learn from Weber's TreeCat? Can we as writers ever hope to create something which gains a life of its own? Consider other fictional races and creatures like Wookies, Ewoks. What can we learn from these creations?

The way school administrators have been over reacting and acting with no common sense, I'm surprised the kid's family wasn't arrested, the kid charged with possession of alcohol and put in foster care.