Lucky

I had to Google it: The simple theory of the apathist: Perhaps there is a god, or gods, or goddesses, or higher powers. Perhaps not. It's irrelevant. You do the most good you can with what you have. If you get help from somewhere else, that's just icing on the cake.

Hope this pic lasts, I don't want to have to take it again.

The mysteries of the Orient have long attracted westerners. Today the Weekend Market in Bangkok, which is the last place where I saw our fellow poster kjun, is partially underwater, resulting in many fewer merchants and customers at what is otherwise a fantastic Bangkok weekend excursion. Flood waters continue to threaten central Bangkok. In Beijing, smog is overwhelming the city. Masks do little other than cover the faces of the cute guys. Both cities have long faced these problems, but even with all of the money now flowing to them as the Asian economy rises,the problems are no better, and probably worse than ever. Flooding leads to mosquitoes and mold. Smog leads to dirty buildings and dirty lungs. What's an intrigued Westerner to do? Probably nothing. The rising Asian economies will have to find ways to clean their own houses, then lend us some more money so we can afford to buy their goods. In the meantime, plans to visit are on hold. A decline in the tourist industry does not help, but what's a westerner to do?

The New York Times today reports that a 26 year old Florida man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for having pornographic images of children on his computer. This is a longer sentence than if he had actually molested a child, or even children. Yet two Pennsylvania judges who were convicted in a kickback scam of actually sentencing juveniles to a privately run prison in return for bribes received sentences of only 28 and 17.5 years in prison. In many cases the juveniles would have received no sentence at all, but for the judges' need for money. They directly hurt children's lives, as well as breached their public trust. Prison sentencing disparities have increased as conservative legislators and judges have increased penalties for various crimes. Often the prisons receive no extra funding,leading to our now common gross overpopulation of prisons. In tight economic crimes, taxpayers cannot handle the funding needed to provide humane prisons. Of course, humane prisons are not what some people want. Corrupt prison guards can act without worry that they will be caught or even punished if caught. Life in prison for many is a nightmare, well beyond any reasonable punishment for the crime convicted for which they were convicted. The worst example are these high security prisons such as we have in California's Pelican Bay. There, and at other federal prisons, inmates are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day, and on their short exercise release do not come into contact with any other prisoners. Can you imagine spending 23 hours a day in a windowless room...for years? Naturally some will say that the prisoners deserve what they get. Prison is for punishment, after all. But our own legal principles require us to use punishment that is not cruel or inhumane. The sentence should be just for the crime commited. We seem to have gotten far from that. At a minimum, we need to provide prison facilities that are not overcrowded, that use well-trained guards who see their functions in a professional manner, that provide decent meals, that protect the prisoners from predators, and provide humane living conditions that include access to other inmates for conversation and relaxation, as well as plenty of access to fresh air and materials such as libraries and other opportunities for self-advancement. This has been a Lucky editorial. Nothing is expected to change as a result, but it felt good to vent.

No, they are hoping to get Lucky!

I hope that lurkerspeaks is benefiting from this information- he has not said. I wrote him privately, then afterward thought how easy it is to advise someone else, but when it is me it is not so easy. As was posted, my mom died earlier this year, but she had lived a full life and was ready to go. Still a loss for me, but perhaps not so hard as losing your mother at a younger age.

It has been Christmas at Costco since September.

Why I know that boy and he is only 16! Now we can go after Bing. Or, should I say, Bingo! (j/k- I don't know him, but I'd like to, assuming he is over 18!)

The Muslim majority in the southeast Asian nation of Malaysia has just put a stop to the Gay Pride celebrations planned for this weekend, despite letting it "fly under the radar" for the last few years. A deputy minister led the charge, saying that it ran counter to Muslim traditions in Malaysia. Malaysia Muslims Stop Gay Pride We know that it was the Mormons and the Catholics who pushed Prop 8 in California to stop gay marriage. The Russians in Moscow also stopped Gay Pride proceedings, but what religion are they?

Seems like Dancing With the Stars has lost viewership here, same as across the country. I only tune in for Derek.

More for the statistically minded: The main page holds 27 unpinned threads. 6 of them have 0 responses and 4 have just 1. The thread that is most responded to is the one on why you hired your first escort. So, about 40% of posted threads get no response to speak of, but personal stories involving sex- well, they are a hit! So, once upon a time I went out with this statistics major. All night long he kept giving me the odds that we would end up in bed. He figured them for my place,then his place, or, of course, not at all. I remember those stats to this day. It was 100% all night that we would go back for sex. It was always 100% at his place yet also 100% at my place. We were roommates, after all!

More previews from the upcoming Glee season are out, including the pic of the hot new gay character who makes a play for Blaine. I found it at towleroad.com: Gaily Gleeful

Over at kennethinthe212.com, I see in a picture that I didn't get the job I applied for:

Too strenuous for the eyes does not mean too scintillating for the brain. Sure, I may have to work harder, but I do get through them. Besides, why punish everyone else for my eyes?

Most parents probably don't think to filter Google, but take a look at Google Images for "large penis." It's both exciting and gross. They have a crucified Jesus with a huge penis hanging down. How did that escape the Santorum folks? Here's one of the search results that mommies might like...daddies too, for that matter:

On my first visit to Rio I was at Roger's sauna. A boy who spoke English was chatting me up, and since English was just what I needed, I could only gawk when a very cute boyish guy with a huge dick flashed me as he dried off. His smile was just as inviting, but I didn't want to be rude to my guy. Sad to say, I went with him for a lackluster first time in Rio, and never saw the other guy again.

"Experts" weigh in on the inability of the NYPD to police itself: Who Ya Gonna Call?

Hmmm...let us know if you're going to die. That's what I keep telling God, let me know when I am going to die. He just laughs. And who knew God was from Kentucky? Or, maybe you would like this one:

In my time I have been around many judges, and they all seem to see themselves as fascinating people. We were expected to gather around and be all ears when they spoke, especially laughing at their jokes. Judges, after all, are lawyers, and lawyers are never as interesting as they think they are. But twice when I was upgraded on a cross country flight I got to sit next to Stanford professors. The conversations I had with them were truly fascinating. They, too, are used to having students gather at their feet, and surely the students must laugh at their jokes. But is an advantage for professors that they are well-educated and specialists in their fields, whilst judges are often hacks. So, while it is true that the professors did more talking than I did, I didn't mind at all. They have learned how to speak as teachers, and knowing that I was a lawyer seemed to give them the opportunity to be less magisterial and more collegial, something I didn't see much as a student. There was a professor posting at Hooboy's site for a while, and I did meet him and found him just as fascinating. But I think he tired of us after a while. Now I know that one can be fascinated with people who have accomplished something. We saw last week the admiration for Steve Jobs, but I couldn't get past all of the personality flaws he had. Maybe if I knew these professors on a more personal level I might be less fascinated. But, for a few hours...

Gee, cursor, did you read the thread? It was a commentary on how folks can get to the top here without actually being here that much. Not a very tough competition, is it? As the thread went along, it was pointed out that quantity isn't so important as quality. Again, kind of burns your idea that it is a "another competition." Hey, that's it. We could have a burning competition...

But, truthfully, I like the lonely highway in fall...

Did you say fall photos?

A picture says a thousand words- and no need for spacing!

So Satan did us gays a favor while leaving straights to their Idi Amin's and Adolf Hitlers. All those roving straight men just don't know what Satan could have done for them.

Greece has backed off of plans to hold a referendum on the Euro deal. Still and all, it indicates lots of troubles ahead.