Gay News Roundup, December 1, 2013.

by Harold C. Jones

British broadcaster reveals her grandmother was disgusted by press revelation of her orientation.

“The broadcaster, who fronted much of the BBC's 2012 Olympic Games coverage, said her parents knew she was a lesbian.”

But when a national newspaper made it public she says she had to tell her grandma.

"I said 'Grandma, I need to talk to you' and she said 'Yes I should think you do'," she told presenter Kirsty Young.

"I said 'Have you seen the paper?' and she said 'Yes and I think it's disgusting.'"

"I said 'What do you mean? The invasion of my privacy or my lifestyle choice' and she said 'Both' and I didn't talk to her for about six months after that which was pretty difficult."

She was asked whether she could work at the 2014 games in Sochi with a "clear conscience."

"Absolutely," Balding replied. "Because I think it's hugely important that I do go."

Vladimir Putin has stated that gays and lesbians attending the games will ‘be made to feel welcome.’

Russia has a law prohibiting ‘gay propaganda’ directed at minors and has recently been the scene of a number of particularly gruesome killings of gays.

***

New Mexico gay minor and assailant banned from Coronado Mall after assault.

Youngster says he’s ‘used to gay slurs.’

“Why would you want to fight over that?” Cell phone video shows attack. (Huffington Post, Gay Voices.)

***

Gay grandfather killed in attack outside pub.

“Mr. Hayes lived with his male partner on a smart, modern estate at Widdrington Station, near Morpeth.”

“His partner was too upset to comment but neighbours spoke of a 'pleasant, pleasant character' who tidied their gardens in winter without even being asked.”

“A murder enquiry has been launched and two men, both aged 26 and from nearby Ellesmere Port have been arrested and bailed pending further inquiries.”

Police are discouraging speculation as to the motive of the attack, and both attackers were in the bar prior to Mr. Hayes leaving. (BulgeBull.)

***

Gay man miraculously survives freak accident. Hopes ‘God sends him a boyfriend.’

“Tom Comstock was driving his Nissan X-Terra home when he was rear-ended by the car behind him, sending a load of lumber through Comstock’s back windshield, through the steering wheel, and almost through the front windshield.” (Informationng.)

***

Gay rights fight comes to Texas despite ban. Two court challenges under way.

“Conservative activists in Texas are fighting same-sex marriage by declaring it a violation of state's rights and religious freedom. Since Republicans who control the state oppose gay marriage, the law will likely be decided in court.” (KSLA.)

Interesting how religious freedom means the right to deny to others religions freedom.

As the famous historian once said, “If they are not suffered to govern, then they must be being oppressed.”

Truer words were never spoken. The funny thing is, they are governing, but states rights do not contravene individual rights under the Constitution.

***

In some states, gay couples must now fight for the right to get divorced. If gay marriage is not legally recognized in that state, then there is logically, no divorce, in the sense that you can’t dissolve what never happened, even if the marriage was legal in the state in which it took place.

“Often, such couples in non-recognition states would have to move back to the state where they were married and establish residency in order to get divorced — an option that can be unworkable in many cases.” (Yahoo News.)

***

Bali Beach Walk honours World Aids Day.

“Join “Bali United Against HIV & AIDS” – Community Beach Walk – and show YOUR support in the fight against this terrible virus. This is an OPEN Invitation to all companies, social clubs, sporting groups, schools and individuals to participate in this important and FREE community event. the FIRST 300 registrations on the day who complete the walk, receive a FREE GIFT BAG OF GOODIES.”

***

Over the next fifty to one hundred years, let us hope that the world becomes more enlightened, to the extent that this becomes a non-issue in every community.

Progress is slow, but progress is indeed being made. For that, I think we must be grateful.

END

Wisdom.

What is the meaning?

The role of great literature in your life is vast. The trouble is that we tend to forget that part.

I’ll start off big.

Tacitus and Ammianus Marcellinus are considered among the primary sources for the historicity of Jesus Christ. They mentioned the name in nearly-contemporary works.

How does an atheist interpret the historicity of Christ? First of all, he laughs at The Buck-Naked Archaeologist, when he’s on TV and jumping all over Jerusalem, asking in that classic cable-television trope,  “Is this the hole Jesus Christ was buried in? Or is it just another freakin’ wannabe archaeologist asking dumb questions like von Daniken, and not incidentally, making a pretty good living compared to making candles?”

Why, we interpret it as evidence tending to confirm or deny the historicity of Christ.

Nothing more.

Maybe he was a real guy.

Maybe he walked around the countryside telling stories, stories with a moral hook, the sort of shit that gets in you like an intestinal parasite and never leaves, because it’s well, good. The guy was good, I’ll grant you that.

But then I never forget a good story, do I?

Maybe that really happened, in fact that’s one of my own core beliefs—Jesus was a real guy.

I happily concede the point. He probably existed.

Other than that, we as atheists invest these historical writers, way back in history, with no mystical or supernatural embellishments. We do not claim Ammianus was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write his history of the Caesars or whatever, in which Jesus and Christianity was briefly mentioned.

We do not claim that evidence for this Jesus Christ guy somehow proves the validity of his claims of supernatural authority

He was just some guy walking around telling stories with a moral point at their base, root and nerve.

Some people say we have a soul and most of us would agree we have an inner voice, which some label the conscience.

Are we just thinking to hear ourselves talk?

But isn’t that good?

And we do not invest those stories with a Heavenly, supernatural, or all-omnipotent, all-seeing entity as their cause. Some people do, and some people would—an important distinction. Because it is their natural propensity to do so.

We, as atheists, might very well simply accept the fact that Jesus may have lived and said certain things. On that level, we may believe in the authenticity of certain statements made by aforesaid Fellow.

They could be direct quotes, for all we know, even though the evidence is that it was all compiled later, that would be considered objective evidence, that I am referring to.

We believe certain fundamental moral precepts to be true in all cases, and at all times.

We call that truth—oh, you know, stuff about loving your neighbour and your enemy and all of that sort of thing.  I think without such philosophical notions, the world might tend to be a much darker place.

In that sense, morality is useful. It supplements and guides our natural human feelings.

It serves a purpose, and perhaps even a higher one than individual self-aggrandizement. Even I, am willing to go that far.

In that sense, Jesus, and guys like him, Mahomet, Buddha, whomsoever, may be said to have done their jobs.

Some of them guys did a real good job.

Some of that might be backed up by our own personal observation, our own experiences, or even just education. It might just be habit or prejudicial thinking.

But what’s important is that we are thinking.

And we are thinking in moral terms.

I can’t stress that enough, ladies and gentlemen.

***

I was just thinking about all the great books I had read in my life. That set me to thinking about all of the stuff in them.

Some would call this the ‘Infinite Intelligence.’ (Lawrence Block on Facebook for example. I just love that guy. I’m not even really sure why. Maybe Darwin can explain it.)*

All of that stuff, everything we ever read, is still inside of us, every minute of every day. As you get older it tends to accumulate.

Don’t throw it out. It might come in useful someday, if only just save a buck!

Now that’s wisdom. (Wisdom, one of the four cardinal virtues. The four Pabst Blue Ribbon beers consumed in the writing of this whatever the hell it is didn’t exactly hurt either. – ed.)

Wisdom is better than pure rhetoric, I’m not sure why.

Ask somebody else.

Anyhow, I don’t care if you use it or abuse it.

For surely it is ours to do with what we will.

As for dreams, and visions, and miracles and walking on water and all that stuff, it was allegory, it was a necessary fiction.

It was an ignorant age.

In that sense, it was still a marketplace. I suppose it’s understandable, really.

*(Oh, God, Harold. You’re in deep trouble now. – ed.)

Quick Review of Kobo's Writing Life Publishing Platform.



Kobo's publishing interface is simple and clean.



I’ve already published one story on Kobo’s Writing Life. This is my second story on Kobo, and I began at 8:03 p.m. By 8:25 the process was complete.

This included resizing the image. According to Kobo, the best image quality is 900 dpi although 300 dpi is fine. The preferred size conforms to the Kobo reader at 600 x 800, but the important thing is the 3 x 4 ratio. I resized an image that was about 2000 x 3000 to about 1000 x 1400 and we’ll see how that goes.

I also opened up the file and made some small changes while proofreading it, with the Kobo interface open while I did it. It’s a short story of about 3,700 words. That only took a few minutes. The price is set at $1.99, or as low as Kobo will allow by my reading of the terms of service.

The ISBN number is put in the box without hyphens, and I fiddled with that until I figured it out.

I haven’t even downloaded the Kobo desktop reading app. I checked it out in a Nook desktop app, and while the text looks fine, the picture is distorted a bit due to horizontal stretching. It might be a good idea to get that Kobo app and check it out in there.

Neither of the first two books has been published yet, as presumably there is some kind of vetting process for formatting, content, etc.

Other than that, Kobo reps helped me set up the payment information page, and as a Canadian author, I don’t have to worry about W8BENs and tax withholding from the U.S. government.

The whole thing has been clean and easy so far, and the interface for uploading is simple and self-explanatory. Now, getting paid is part of the job, and according to the TOS, Kobo will withhold payment until a threshold of $100.00 is met. After that, it looks like direct deposit for Canadian authors, and hopefully there will be e-mail or postal notifications as well.

Assuming the books are accepted into the catalogue, everything seemed to go very well.

A New Story Out.

Varies slightly from the one on Amazon.

I’m very pleased to announce the debut of my new short story, Whatever Happened to Davey?

Dave Corrigan is touring the Middle East and the Holy Land. Stressed by his mother’s passing and his own mid-life crisis, what happens next is right out of this world. The funny thing is, Davey’s all right with it. It might even be exactly what Davey needed. A short story.

The story is a fantasy, with absolutely no raunchy sex, although it is meant to appeal to gay males. It’s a romantic tale and has its own subtle humour. I’ve listed it at $1.99 on Amazon and the cover looks okay.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EN3B2C0