An Impromptu Christmas Dinner

´Twas the day before, the day before, the day before, the day before Christmas (that would be Saturday December 21, 2013, for those who have difficulty with counting) that the picture below was taken.

Butch, Guyke, Tomais, I and Dej at the table in Tom's kitchen.

My men and I had started talking about when we were going to celebrate the holiday together before we each went off to spend some time with our first life families and/or friends, but had not decided on a date yet.

I was hailed by Dej when I logged into my SecondLife earlier than usual on Saturday. My brother was in an exceptionally jolly mood and invited me to come over to hear him play some music on the grand piano he has in his conservatory. I happily accepted the invitation.

After a while of we were joined by the topic of Dej's and my conversation, my lover Tomais.

At first Tom took a seat in the window, demurely listening as Dej and I continued playing duets on the piano, but then Dej  remembered that there was a third pose on the piano so he joined us there.

Tom got bolder as we kept on chatting away on Skype and changed to more daring outfits, cheered on by Dej and me.

Somewhere at this point we were joined by first Guyke and soon afterwards Butch and decided to go somewhere where we could all sit and talk comfortably. We first tried my kitchen table, but as I could not provide sustenance we moved on to Tom's kitchen where the table could provide us with a complete traditional Christmas dinner.

We sat there and talked together for hours and hours, all of us in high spirits and enjoying each others company to the fullest. 

When Butch had to leave us to set up his set at Q Lounge, the remaining four of us continued talking away and relaxing in Tom's sitting room, where we were served coffee, before joining Butch at his set.

Some hours later I noticed that Tom was getting a tired, he had been suffering from a bad cold for a few days and had had problems sleeping properly due to congestion. I decided to send Tom to bed and tucked him in properly.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that this had been a magical and wonderful day, one of the top five marvelous days in my entire SecondLife existence.

Oh, I almost forgot, we actually also had sort of a Christmas miracle. Dej and Guyke, who in the past have had some difficulty getting along, didn't even bicker at each other once. The two have instead since then joined forces to instruct Tom and me on how to go about things, sticking their noses into matters that are none of their concerns. The only reason I accept and forgive them for this is that they are family and that is what families do - as I know well having done so on more than one occasion when it comes to both their lives.

Bock in SecondLife and I, it's editor in chief, 

wishes all of you and your families in first and SecondLife 

an equally wonderful and magical Christmas holiday 

and we hope to see you all safely back with us soon!

Hero of the Day 2013-12-23 (Updated)

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby (43) had been on the bench just six months when he was assigned Kitchen v. Herbert in March.

Shelby’s decision in the case Friday made same-sex marriage legal in Utah by finding the state same-sex marriage ban (that was voted into the state constitution by 66% of Utahns in 2004) is unconstitutional.

Shelby graduated from Utah State University in 1994 and the University of Virginia School of Law in 1998. He is married to his college sweetheart and has two children.

Before becoming a judge Shelby was a law clerk for U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Greene and spent eight years in the Utah Army National Guard. He worked at the Salt Lake City law firms of Snow, Christensen & Martineau and Burbidge Mitchell & Gross. He was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama in November 2011 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 22, 2012. 

Today Shelby denied the state's governors motion to stay the decision. 

BREAKING NEWS: Motion DENIED! Same-sex marriages continue in #Utah. @fox13now #Amendment3 #utpol
— Ben Winslow (@BenWinslow) 23 december 2013

Judge Shelby made it clear that any clerks who refuse to do their job by issuing licenses will be in contempt of court. #utpol
— Seth Anderson (@jsethanderson) 23 december 2013

We can expect the Utah governor to appeal the decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, they have done so twice already in anticipation of this ruling and have been kicked out of the appeals court both times.
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UPDATE 2013-12-24
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the state's request for an emergency stay on Judge Richard Shelby's ruling. The appeals court said in its short ruling that a decision to put gay marriage on hold was not warranted, but said it put the case on the fast track for a full appeal of the ruling.

The denial means that Judge Robert Shelby's ruling to strike down Utah’s ban on same-sex couples marrying will remain in place during the appeal of the case, if it is not struck down by a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court to which Utah officials could appeal. Interim requests of the type that would be filed in this situation would go to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who oversees such requests from the 10th Circuit. She could either decide the matter on her own or refer the matter to the whole court for consideration.

URGENT: #Utah AG's Office confirms to @fox13now it will ask U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor for an emergency stay. #Amendment3 #utpol
— Ben Winslow (@BenWinslow) 25 december 2013

Your Wakeup Call 2

(via Mikedacook Dinzeo on Facebook)

How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk

I blame it on my brother Dej!

Try the New York Times quiz yourself! (Tipped by Joe Jervis@J.M.G.)

Breaking: Polls Close on Which Ass is Better

The poll on "Which Ass is Better" has now closed.

The voters have spoken, the votes have been tallied and the results are in.

24 approved votes were cast.
15 voters (62.5%) prefered Bock's Ass 2.0,
8 voters (33.3%) prefered Bock's Ass 1.0 and
1 voter (4.2%) didn't notice any difference.

Asked for a comment on the results of the poll the Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls, Sovereign Ruler of the Commonwealth of Southern Enchantment Region and Outer Territories and finally UN appointed Protector of the Solace Island and Mount Whitney sims in SecondLife, responded with a smirk and said: "Dammit, there is no way of pleasing them! Did you see that one blind geezer didn't even notice a difference? I don't know why I even bothered. From now on I am simply going to please myself and bugger them if they don't like it."

Fact vs. Fiction

I saw this on someones timeline on Facebook yesterday, but cannot remember whose.

The humble carpenter Jesus of Nazareth and his teachings have been completely distorted throughout history, especially for political purposes.

Jesus has been turned into a fictional character by those who most adamantly purport that he was the son of the almighty deity and claim to follow his teachings to the letter, the fundamentalist "born-again" Christian sects and their politicized branches.

Preachers of these sects and politicians of the Conservative and Christian Democratic parties all over the world and the Tea Party movement in the United States have through the ages used Jesus as a vessel to further all their bigoted and discriminatory inclinations and putrid purposes.

It is refreshing to sometimes remember the carpenter as he actually was, according to the testimonials in the New Testament. It is, however, sad that I as an atheist should need to remind the "true-believers" of the facts about their deity. They have utterly misused the man and his teachings.

If it were not for Christians I would most likely be a follower myself, but of the man not the deity

India: Government Asks For Court Review

Through Joe Jervis at J.M.G. I see that the BBC News website (url to full article)  today has this encouraging news.

"The Indian government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking it to review its decision to reinstate a 153-year-old law that criminalises homosexuality.

The government asked the court to review its order saying it believed it "violated the principle of equality".  There has been outrage over the ruling seen as a huge blow to gay rights. There have been street protests and many activists and even government ministers have criticised it. The Supreme Court order on 11 December overturned a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court ruling which had decriminalised gay sex.

In its ruling, the Delhi High Court had described Section 377 - the colonial-era law which says a same-sex relationship is an "unnatural offence" and punishable by a 10-year jail term - as discriminatory and said gay sex between consenting adults should not be treated as a crime.
But the Supreme Court said it was up to parliament to change the law and the courts did not have the mandate to rule on it.

"The government has filed the review petition on Section 377 in the Supreme Court today. Let's hope the right to personal choices is preserved," Law Minister Kapil Sibal tweeted on Friday.

In its petition filed in the Supreme Court, the government says "the position of the central government on this issue has been that the Delhi High Court verdict... is correct".

The Supreme Court's earlier order was widely criticised in India. The president of the ruling Congress party Sonia Gandhi described it as "an archaic, unjust law" and Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the ruling had taken India "back to 1860".

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Let's maintain our support for our Indian brothers and sisters up and keep hoping that something good comes out of this.