Go Germany. Go!

German athletes will wear the above rainbow-hued uniforms at the Sochi Olympics, but officials insist the design is not intended as a commentary on Russia's anti-gay laws.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation insists that the design was finalized "before the Russian protests had even begun."

Please continue reading on Joe.M.God. Germany Unveils Rainbow Olympic Outfits (url)

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I love it and it will look great against the snow too! I can see actually President Vladimir "Little Father" Putin choking on his own vomit when he see's this!

Almost All the Best Asses

This is a amazing picture by the SecondLife master-photographer Kent Laurent (neé Hutchinson). All the greatest asses of Second Life are assembled, well with the obvious exception of one...

"Queue Pool Model" by Kent Hutchinson 

You can see more of Kent's amazing photography on his Flickr page

From Children and Fools...

There is a Swedish saying that goes, "From children and fools you get to hear the truth". I thought of it when I was reading about the United States federal government shutdown today and came across a quote from Michele Bachmann in an interview with World Net Daily (via Joe.My.God.) 

The federal shutdown was brought about by the Republicans in the House of Representatives. Michele Bachmann is an American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district.

The whole shutdown of the federal government of the greatest democracy in the world is extremely bewildering and totally offsetting for most of us not from the United States. We cannot imagine anyone going to these lengths, and to do so repeatedly is surely not helpful for the image of the United States abroad. 

Today I atleast, thanks to Ms. Bachmann, got an inkling of why the House Republicans were prepared to go so far.

“I think the reason is because President Obama can’t wait to get Americans addicted to the crack cocaine of dependency on more government health care. Because, once they enroll millions of more individual Americans it will be virtually impossible for us to pull these benefits back from people.”

The fact that American Republicans are afraid that the American public will get used to a universal. affordable, efficient and decent health care system, that all the other civilized and democratic countries in the world already offer their citizens, is scary and makes one (i.e. me) wonder why anyone in the world would vote for such people.

An Invitation From The Gay Archipelago

Hello! My name is Garth Raleigh and I am the Lead of the Gay Archipelago in Second Life (fondly referred to as the GA). I'm writing to you today to extend an invitation to YOU to JOIN in the planning and operation of the upcoming LGBT Winter Festival in Second life!

The GA is widely considered to be the leader in the LGBT Community in this virtual platform and, as in past years we're getting set to present the SL Community with a major festival which will be enjoyed by thousands of people - from all over the real world and all over Second Life!

There'll be fun and entertainment for each and every taste; music, shopping; exhibits - and well......whatever YOUR ideas are can become reality. This IS Second Life, after all. ㋡

Like people? Like to make new friends? Enjoy learning new skills? Community-minded? Have talents that you would like to lend to the LGBT Community in Second Life? OR.......Not sure, but you like to be involved somehow?

✩ THIS INVITATION IS FOR YOU!! ✩

I will be hosting an informal 'organizational' gathering this weekend (SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2013 - 12:00pm NOON) at the GA Clubhouse on the GA Coronal Region.

I'm inviting you to come and join the Festival Team Group in one of several areas. Here's a brief summary for you to consider where we have openings:

    ◆  PUBLICITY/PUBLIC RELATIONS & PROMOTION

        ◆  EVENTS PLANNING / MANAGEMENT

            ◆  BUILDINGS & GROUNDS

                ◆  MARKETFAIR MANAGEMENT/OPERATIONS

                    ◆  FESTIVAL SPONSORSHIP COORDINATION

                    

                        ◆  FESTIVAL SIM MANAGEMENT/SECURITY

HOW DO YOU GET INVOLVED? Contact me (or Othon Weiland, GA Publicity Lead) directly with an IM or a notecard and let us know you wish to join in with the creation of this wonderful & traditional event for the LGBT Community - the largest and ONLY LGBT Celebration of its kind in SL.

After we hear from you, we'll make sure you have a nice chair to relax in while we talk, laugh and brainstorm together as a group (we'll pass you the LM too).

Can't make the meeting planned? No worries - there will be more. You are always welcome. Stay in touch!

Be safe. Be Proud!

Garth Raleigh
Lead, Gay Archipelago

Othon Weiland
GA Publicity Lead

Lazy Sunday

The laird rests while his guardian angels Butch and Guyke watch

Rest and recreation is essential for a man like The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls and sovereign ruler of The Commonwealth of Southern Enchantment with Outer Territories and UN Protectorates.

Noblesse oblige, so between his laden social calendar, his lairdly duties and his investigative blogging (or being a general busybody as some call it when he doesn't report as they would wish he reported) take a heavy toll on even a strong man.

Yesterday an opportunity for some rest opened up, as the board meeting of Second Pride was not unduly prolonged, although some unsuccessful attempts were made.

The present board of Second Pride (with the exception of Tylo Mabelion), from left
to right Jagger Naughton, Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck, Damian Tar, Gaius Tripsa,
Karl Kalchek, interim build director Jak Calcutt and Hotboy Lockjaw.

The board announced that it had received two applications for the vacant positions as Treasurer and Build Director. It was decided that the candidate statements would be posted on the Second Pride website for membership review and that the board would later vote on the issue at a public meeting on Wednesday night October 2, 2013, at 6PM SLT.

The candidate statements are already posted here: Second Pride; Board Candidate Statements (url).

Although I will not spoil your fun when going there to check out the applicants, I must say that I welcome them both. The two would, in my not so humble opinion, be a tremendous asset for the Second Pride Board in its future work.

From Judas to All His Friends

Judas (a.k.a. Atreyu or Craig Jules, a loved child has many names as the saying goes in Sweden) made me and his other friends this beautiful music video as a friendship gift. I am now sharing it with you all.

The music is Boyce Avenue's cover of "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts.

The Barilla Boycott (Updated)

Poor Guido Barilla, he has had a hell of a long weekend due to his big mouth and airing his thoughtless bigotry.

One would think that chairpersons of large International companies had staffers to coach them and guide them at every step, especially when meeting the media, but somehow it is refreshing to sometimes actually hear one of them speak his honest opinion, even if it is to the detriment of his family and their business.

The guardian.com.uk has this brilliant summary of how it all started going sour for poor Guido on Thursday:

Guido Barilla, who controls the fourth-generation Barilla Group family business with his two brothers, sparked outrage among activists, consumers and some politicians when he said he would not consider using a gay family to advertise Barilla pasta.

"For us the concept of the sacred family remains one of the basic values of the company," he told Italian radio on Wednesday evening. "I would not do it but not out of a lack of respect for homosexuals who have the right to do what they want without bothering others … [but] I don't see things like they do and I think the family that we speak to is a classic family."

Asked what effect he thought his attitude would have on gay consumers of pasta, Barilla said: "Well, if they like our pasta and our message they will eat it; if they don't like it and they don't like what we say they will … eat another."

In response, Aurelio Mancuso, chairman of Equality Italia, accused Barilla of being deliberately provocative. "Accepting the invitation of Barilla's owner to not eat his pasta, we are launching a boycott campaign against all his products," he added.

Although poor Guido, his family and the company have since worked tirelessly trying to rectify his faux pas with a written statement and a video of poor Guido being forced to read the statement (both posted prominently on the company website), these attempts however don't have the same honest ring to them as when he spoke from his heart. They therefore fail miserably in convincing anyone.

Bock in SecondLife recommends all its readers (gays and straight allies) to follow the recommendation of poor Guido Barilla himself and refrain from purchasing any products belonging to that particular group of bigoted misogynists and homophobes. I am joining the Barilla boycott and will certainly not be forcing my pink money on products from a company that doesn't accept me and my kind. The thing I will miss most due to this decision is actually not the pasta, but my preferred "knäckebröd" (the Swedish hard-rye crisp bread) from Wasa.

The brands in the Barilla Group are
Barilla,
Mulino Bianco,
Voiello,
Pavesi,
Academia Barilla,
Wasa,
Harry’s (France and Russia),
Misko (Greece), 

Filiz (Turkey),
Yemina and 

Vesta (Mexico)
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Update September 30, 2013
Josh Rimer, a Canadian YouTube Marketer, has made a parody of poor Guido's insincere apology. My thanks to Anonymous for informing me about it in the comments to this post.