JamesSavik

Best I've EVER found. Great mileage and durability. Controls friction, keeps down heat and wear on parts. Cost a little more but its worth it.

If they got hold of a real submarine, they could unload it offshore and never even have to bother entering territorial waters. The Navy or the Coasties couldn't go after it for fear of attacking a Chinese or Russian boat operating in international waters. One sub with a full load of coke could easily pay for itself.

I am happiest with gay characters and settings where gay isn't an issue and the character is just another one of the guys. I'm no so sure that homosexuality needs or even could be promoted. Either you have a taste for the wild thang or you don't. I like the idea of a setting where gay isn't an issue and characters can go about their life without having to worry about homophobic neighbors, bosses or cops. In fact, I would like to live there.

Since I quit drinking, I can't imagine any case that would end with me doing Karaoke

Task Force Hammerhead 1st Carrier Division Fleet Carrier Saratoga Two Weeks out of Epsilon Indi The stress of two weeks navigating the great fleet through the galactic halo was taking its toll on Danny. They had managed to make great time. They had made a little over forty-five thousand light years in a series of long jumps and had managed to do it without losing a single ship. Even Admiral Bassett was impressed and had sent his compliments to the whole navigation staff. Behind them the great glow of the Magellanic Clouds were receding in the distance. Ahead was the forbidding black void of intergalactic space with the vast spread of the Milky Ways spiral arms beneath. Few human eyes had ever seen the galaxy from this vantage point. Thankfully Admiral Bassett had ordered the fleet to stand down for replenishment. Even now the big war ships of the fleet were filling their fuel bunkers from the tankers attached to the fleet. There was no rest for the wicked. It was just the break that Admiral Tanaka was looking for so his pilots and deck crews on the carriers could run exercises. Now that the big task force had nothing but clear space ahead of it, the jumps would only get longer and the calculations more complex. Even with the great staff, banks of state of the art computers and all the coffee that he could drink, it was a heavy burden to bear. Hundreds of ships, thousands of men and billions of Alliance citizens lives were riding on the success or failure of the fleet. It had to get through. It had to win. Though it had not been stated Danny surmised that this fleet were lost, it would take years to replace it and decades to replace the personnel. With the stand down order in place, Danny ordered a trio of junior officers to stand watch and keep an eye on things. He took a couple of glances around the big, spacious flag bridge of the carrier and went off duty. As he wandered off to the officers mess, Tom appeared at his elbow. Danny said, "Being the CAGs deputy, I figured you were about to get busy." Tom said, "Even a CAG has got to eat." The pair made their way through the cafeteria line and ended up quietly having a meal. As Danny looked around the room he could tell that everyone was exhausted. Tom asked, "You as beat as you look?" Danny simply nodded. "These jump evolutions are murder. All we have time to do is get a fix on our new position, and then plot the next jump. We're making great time but most of us are dead on our feet." Tom said, "Same here. We've had our pilots in simulators constantly. The engineers and deck crews have been going balls to the wall. Everybody is dragging ass." Danny said, "I just need some time in my rack." Tom said, "Me too. Hey, you asked me once about the enemy." "Yeah." "Do you still want to know?" "Of course." Tom said, "Finish up. I've finally got something that I can show you." When they finished eating, Danny followed Tom to his office in the Air Ops suite. Saratoga's Air Wing were nicknamed the Diamondbacks after a fast and mean snake from old Earth. On the main bulkhead was a stylized rattlesnake wrapped around a royal flush in diamonds. Tom and Danny passed dozens of pilots and deck crewmen in their rainbow-colored vests that announced their department. Red for ordnance, White for safety, Blue for avionics, Gold for propulsion and so on. When the arrived, Tom closed the door and took a data crystal out of locked drawer in his desk. He put it in a reader and switched on a holographic display over his desktop. Tom narrated the images that were appearing: "Five years ago when the enemy first appeared there were only a few models. They did not use missiles or fighters at all and had relatively short-ranged fusion based weapons. These are the eight models that appeared over Pacifica." Eight strange-looking boxy shaped ships appeared in the display. They were all rendered to scale with the smallest just larger than a fighter up to big ugly titan sized monster that was a couple of kilometers long. They all had code names for flying creatures: Yellow Jacket, Wasp, Hornet, up to largest a Pterodactyl. Tom clicked the control and two new beasts appeared. "After a few months of getting clobbered by our missiles and fighters, these bastards appeared." The two new types were labeled Drone-A and Archer. "The Drone-A was the enemies first answer to our fighters. There have been more since and every generation gets more capable. Our pilots can generally take them out at ratios up to four to one. They can fly and fight but they can't handle a good pilot with instincts." "The Archer is a little slice of hell. It's a frigate sized ship that's completely sold out as a missile platform. It has jump capability and can carry twelve anti-ship missiles so a swarm of these things can be deadly. What the enemy likes to do with Archers is set ambushes. They'll park in a strategic position like on the outskirts of a system and just wait until you are inside their engagement envelope." Tom went on to show the enemy had fielded at least thirty-two new models over the course of the war. Those that performed well appeared in increasing numbers. The ones that did not were destroyed and not replaced. When Tom finished the presentation, he asked, "From what you have seen, what does that tell you about our enemy." Danny said, "He's smart. He's adapting his available technology to the battlefield. I hesitate to say that he's evolving but from what I just saw that's exactly what it looks like." Tom said, "It's funny you should use that particular word. It's the same word the scientests and line officers have been using about the enemy. He is evolving and getting more dangerous with every new generation of weapon system that he fields. That's why we're here. From what we've seen of this enemy, the clock is ticking. Either we handle him now or in a few years, we won't be able to handle him at all."

LOL- that sounds like some of my redneck friends that say I'm not really queer except at deer camp. All they are doing is rationalizing away the social baggage that comes with the labels of gay or bi. Sexuality is a continium. It's not really black and white. It's best illustrated by the chart created by the sex researcher Kinsey: People that are completely homo or hetero sexual are rare. Most people seem to fit somewhere in between. Here's a few links that discuss it in more detail: http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b54/jamessavik/kinsey_scale2_001.jpg[/img]"]Kinsey Institute Kinsey Scale at Wikipedia Hope this helps and totally understand how hard it is to use smartphones and type. Especially with auto-incorrect.

As a gay man in the bible belt, this is no big surprise to me. Many men seeking men don't identify as gay for a number of reasons. The most common is they are not attracted to men that are effeminate- which is their definition of "gay". Of course I can't tell you how many good ole boys are only gay when they are drunk.

It's the lies that get repeated so often that they are considered a truth that must be shattered completely.

No purer display of homophobia is possible. I addressed this weirdness in my anthology story the Place In Between.

Cia- you are right. Most trolls are just simply attention seeking asses. It is also why it is so difficult to do well. IF you do it RIGHT, you aren't being a jerk. Trolling as it is done now is just simply rude. The function of acting as a Gad Fly is just annoying to the smug and no way rude or gross. It challenges preconceived ideas and prods you to prove your argument. The troll just tells you that you are ugly and your mother dresses you funny- not that you are.

I would like to live in Australia but I can't. I would have to stay in a kennel.

< sweet

Fighting the urge to go outside and howl.

< LULZ In any community of like minded people, there is a serious problem: they are LIKE-MINDED. Discussions invariably reach the same conclusions, the facts are all agreed upon and rarely challenged. The danger involved is that such a once dynamic community faces a serious danger of becoming static. Anyone who has a dissenting view is an idiot. Dissent itself is discouraged and shunned. The truth becomes lost somewhere in the sickly sweet goo of good intentions called political correctness and we talk in codes where words like men, honor and truth are replaced by people, customs and beliefs. That which is special loses its uniqueness because we find new, non-threatening, homogenized, sanitized language because we might inadvertently offend someone. Well- you know what? SOME PEOPLE NEED TO BE OFFENDED. SOME PEOPLE ARE EXTRAVAGANTLY, EMBARRASSINGLY AND EGREGIOUSLY FULL OF SHIT. TO ALLOW THEM TO SPREAD THEIR POISON UNCHECKED AND UNCHALLENGED FOR FEAR OF OFFENDING THEM IS COWARDICE. This is where we need a gadfly. A small buzzing creature that finds a weak place in your arguments and lies and stings the living shit out of you. Granted: for some people being a troll is just an excuse for poor manners and bad behavior. Trolling done right, as a Socratic gadfly to sting the consciousness and prod the psyche to see beyond the conventional wisdom, we need that sting. We need that bite. We need to know that there are horizons and truths beyond the end of our nose and the edge of our sweet, gentle village. There is a wide, wild world out there filled with things that challenge and even threaten us. To ignore it is a mortal peril of stagnation. Not every gadfly's objective is to get you to see the other side. When it is however, it's a good idea to think first and then tell him he's crazy.

Are you KIDDING? I live in Mississippi. Where would I go? Detroit?

Sighs. Even evil Beasts miss nephy.

Wait, whut? Sighs. Our Prince from the kingdom by the Sea. I'll miss you. The tubes of the internets are a wonderful thing. You can always find your way back to us. If so motivated. There's so many dill-weeds out there that truly deserve it, we are constantly busy trolling the trolls. I am one of the oldest of the old-fags. I was hacking things for lutz as far back as the early eighties. Moot's creation didn't come along until 2003. Many of the guys involved with it are too hard-core to hold a job. That's why I was always such a stickler for the first rule of anonymous is don't talk about anonymous. Coming up in the business I've always seen the need for a wildcard like anonymous. Governments are big, fat, sloppy things that end up serving the wealthy and need for someone like anonymous to come along and spill their beans is a necessity. I saw shit when I worked for the state of Mississippi that made me furious but I was bound by the Official Secrets Act to keep my f-ing mount shut. I was honest, they knew it and when I had seen too much they tried to break me. That was their mistake. I'm unbreakable. Anyway- I just gave you and everybody else a clue on one of my upcoming stories. Keep in touch and I'll let you be a beta reader. YOU are 1 in a million kid. Take care of yourself. jamessavik@gmail.com

Jovian- I'm not too thrilled with some of my countrymen after seeing that. If I see any of that junk, I will bitch-slap it down in your honor. James

That's dreadful. I'm going to have to listen to Metallica all night just to get the crud out my ears.

Yes they are cute but I'm afraid I could never sleep with an EMO boy. They look so delicate that I'm sure that I would break him.

I've been in these relationships before and can tell you that their success or failure depends primarily on the motives of the parties involved. Older Partner- If the older partner just wants a hot young thing, then it's probably NOT going to work. If sex is the primary driver in the relationship, the older partner is usually at a serious disadvantage. An older persons body is simply NOT that sexually attractive to a younger partner. Pure lust relationships are going to be short and probably NOT so sweet. The other side of the coin: the older partner that treats the younger partner like a little brother, acts as a mentor, helps the younger partner navigate life and respects them will go much further. It doesn't even have to be a sexual relationship. In fact, I wish that ALL of our younger members had someone like that in their life that could simply be a trusted friend or mentor. These sorts of relationships are good, strengthen both parties and become life long affiliations. Younger Partner- very few guys in their twenties are looking at 40 and 50 year olds as potential partners. They can, and often do, use sex to get what they want like money, jobs, etc. This is actually a dangerous place to be. If you are messing with the wrong guy, you could end up having an unfortunate accident. When sex is used as a weapon to coerce or entice, the feelings can run hot and violent. It is a cruel thing to do and it can seriously backfire on you. The other side of the coin: if you allow yourself to get to know a few older men, your intuition will tell you about who they are and what they are about. If they want to rush you to the bed, they aren't the sort that you want to know. If they respect you as a person, treat you with deference and you feel that they have your best interests at heart, then it is a friendship you want to keep. Many gay men, espically older gay men, feel a void in their life from not having children. They tend to make up for it by building a family of choice. As many of us are often estranged from our own families, this can be a great benefit for all concerned. If you are lucky enough to become a part of this family of choice, it will make you infinity stronger and bless you in ways that are not at all obvious. ___________________________________________ PS- please keep in mind that there are many levels of relationships and intimacy. You can have a relationship with your banker but it doesn't necessairly mean that you are sleeping with him.

Happy Birthday Jamie! I hope that all is well and that you are in for the best year ever.

US Department of Zombie Removal We're everywhere for your convenience.

Despite widespread rumors, there are NO radiation zombies. Stay calm and remember that there are NO radiation zombies. If there were any radiation zombies, you would be notified by the Emergency Broadcast Network. If you happen to see any radiation zombies, please call the Department of Homoland Security at: phone: 888 OHH-SHIT fax: 888 WER-FUKD web: www.deptofzombieremoval.gov ________________________________________________________

I think that the answer that I'm looking for is depth. There are numerous elements that make for good writing- characters, their development, setting, plot, writing craft and so on. It is the rich mixture of all these elements that make a story a world in itself. In my writing, I spend a lot of time placing and setting the story. Setting the stage, setting the time and showing where the story fits and grounding the characters. I try to create a little world unto itself. If it works, I put you in a place that lets you feel the story. If I can do that as a writer, I think we all win.