there was no nipple in that there picture! You pervy!

Ed- Cool :) I always value your opinion. Whether you agree with me or not. That is Deadpan.

my problem with euthanasia is abuse. I have no doubt a lot of elderly and disabled who can not speak would be done away with if euthanasia was legal. Heck it’s bad enough now when it’s illegal. not so much from deliberate killing but death from not getting proper medical treatment or if somebody is not able to feed themselves by starvation and dehydration.

I do agree with your points about our sexuality, as well. My feelings are much the same.

ok that link above is to a really pretty picture Hugh and I finished today

Its totally safe for everyone. No nudity or anything at all

Its called: The Conversation
and it actually shows a bit of our spiritual side

enjoy
smarty hotties out

Hugh and I worked on this today

totally safe for everyone.. no nudity or sexuality whatsoever. Shows our spiritual side even, if you can believe we have one!! ;)

Its called: The Conversation

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/3006399445_43725dbb24_o.jpg

now for something completely different…

I think choice, in all its forms should always be honored

I know Hugh wants to die on his own terms. There is a point where he would not want to be kept alive anymore. We’ve discussed this quite a bit. That is, and will always be his choice. He knows my feelings on the matter, and he would never ever ever give up. He considers my feelings totally in his choice. But the choice of his death, if he has that choice, is his.

To really oversimplify this: any heterosexual person is allowed to state their sexual desires to another human being as long as it is not said by 1 person in power to their subordinate in a tone of if you don’t do this you will be fired/demoted/or whatever else.

I would imagine if your sexual desires were of any “deviant” nature (as in homosexual), you would simply want that same right.

So the statement:
‘Wow that guy has the nicest ass I’ve ever seen’
should be allowed to be spoken by any male or female human. I thnk that is all truly all they really want.
I think everyone just wants to be able to express their sexuality with the same freedom as everyone else.

I understand what you are getting at- why would they want that? Yes, we humans are obsessed with sex and it is everywhere in our society. But there is nothing wrong with sex. We treat it as this horrible thing.
Sex is the most awesome, beautiful, wonderful expression of love we can experience. Sex with the person you love is something that cannot be replicated in any other relationship. No amount of lust can replicate it.
We are mammals, we are sexual beings. It is in our nature, it is what God intended us to do- to marry and continue our species.
I think our use of sex in advertising, our reduction of sex into this vile horrible thing is our own doing. It is our feeling that sex is wrong and dirty that created that. There is nothing wrong with sex.
I think our sexuality is a beautiful thing that should be honored and cherished. This is why I photograph sexuality so much. I think it is awesome. And beautiful.

If we taught our children that their sexuality was not a dirty, bad thing. That it is a beautiful natural human expression of love. That it also feels really good. That it isnt something to buy from someone, or steal from someone, or force onto any one. If we could talk about it freely and openly as a society.. I bet we would eliminate a lot of the horrible things we see done today with sex.

Hope you had a Happy Van Day, Guy!

On another note, there was another controversial bill that actually PASSED, and I still don’t get why… Here in Washington we’re now the second state to allow doctor assisted suicide. I voted against it, but to clarify, here’s why and in order of importance:

1) According to the bill you have to be confirmed by two doctors to have conclusively less than six months left to live. First, really, how likely is it your going to get two doctors to agree on that… People get diagnosed with having six months left to live all the time and they survive. And second, really, how many people is this going to affect.
2) The administrative cost. According to the bill 18 million dollars would be allocated to making sure the law isn’t abused. Frankly lets just not have the law and spend that money on infrastructure or tracking sex offenders or something usefull.
3) Putting myself in that position of having six months to live. I wasn’t there but Joe popped into my head on this one. Even if I was suffering intollerably, I’d want to hold on to every last moment of life I had left. And add to that the selfishness of taking away that time from your friends and family, people who love you and want to hold on to you for as long as they can. With this in mind I can’t imagine a scenario in which suicide would be acceptable.
4) It was said that Oregon had this law and that insurance companies were denying chemo treatment to cancer patients because doctor assisted suicide was available. Thats completely unnacceptable. Here in Spokane we’ve got one of the most advanced cancer treatment facilities for children in the world, and I can’t imagine what would happen to it in this case.

And I’ll just throw in that my religous beliefs in no way affected my position on it because frankly, I don’t know where my religion stands on it as the bill was worded.

But it doesn’t matter, Washington is now a legal state for doctor assisted suicide. This is just one of a number of reasons I sometimes regret being a democrat.

http://twitpic.com/k8c5

Sadly being morally correct or having facts on your side never helps in politics. However demonstrating that you could walk the tight rope between two extremes and gain favor from both sides shows leadership and statesmanship.

The fact that Obama was able to still inspire the black vote while not turning off the white vote demonstrated his potential to be an effective leader even before he got the office.

I want to find a way not to turn off middle America so gays can enjoy full and equal protection. This will require sacrifice and politicking.

*whip crack*

Let me take a shot at this. *If* you care about winning over the idiotic, insulated ignorant closed mind, then you DO have to tone it down a bit.

But – who says you have to win them over? This theory is interesting when applied to the election. Apparently, those same narrow-minded yokels had their minds pried open enough to consider voting for a black dude.

Hope you had a Happy Guy Day, Van!

Night Pan.

big drum roll

Codiene

I can live the rest of my years without hearing JOe the Plumber ever ever again

Throw a hot naked chic in a scifi flick and the lewd comments even here on Deadpan fly around like crazy.

How often in a day do you hear heterosexuals discussing who they want to sleep with and when the last time they had sex was?

I dont see a difference. The horrible comments Ive had to endure over my lifetime from heterosexual men when I was just walking down the street to work versus going to a parade and watching 2 men rub themselves all over each other?
I dont know.. which is worse? The gay men are doing it at a parade in which they have designated as a parade in whiich they will show their sexuality. The hetero men are dong it to a married woman who is minding her own business.

BUT! Yes I do agree it would be nice if it wasnt an issue at all. If we could all just be who we are and not have to endure labels of any kind.

Ok. Im off line for the rest of tonght
I leave it to the rest of you to discuss or ignore :)

either way goodnight!

For example -
“That’s Joe the plumber … he’s gay.”
as opposed to
“That’s Joe the gay guy. He’s a plumber.”

I have gay acquaintances that don’t introduce themselves as “gay”. It’s not that they are hiding it, It is just that they see themselves as actors, professionals,or athletes who also happen to be gay … not the other way around. “Gay” is not who they are it is just part of who they are.

Mayhaps this is what trucker was getting at ?

Well EssBee already said it it seems :)

Well I can’t speak for EssBee, but from my point of view: I disagree with what you said because you are telling people to blend in, and be more like everyone else to fit in. What kind of advice is that?

Thats like telling women to hide their breasts to look more male, and black people to lighten their skin. Black people wear loud flamboyant colors, would you ask them to tone it down?

I dont know. But I just dont think they should be quiet about it. They should scream as loud as possible.

I am queer. I am not interested in making myself palatable to people who can only understand what looks/sounds/acts exactly like them. In my opinion, that is like asking a person of color to be whiter, or a woman to be male-er because it would just make someone more comfortable.

Homophobia runs on the belief that boy-girl, buttoned up, just-like-you behavior is the only real behavior.

I wrote my Master’s thesis on this topic, so could go on and on and on . . . somebody stop me.

/dykey feminist rant

Hell, I have been wrong before that is the fun learning. :-)

Essbee, which part do you disagree with? I’ve often entered into these conversations only to have people stop talking suddenly without wanting to exchange ideas.

http://tinyurl.com/5orhn3

If you have to ask if it’s too early…it probably is.

When you hate your job, the best part of the working day is when the shift ends.

‘http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4110707.stm‘

My advice:

1. Shine on but don’t blind, tone down Gay pride parades. Trust me I’m a very open-minded guy. Images of men riding penis floats wearing ass chaps don’t help the movement as much as Rachel Maddow does.

2. Don’t shout I’m right next to you, the majority of people understand that they’re homosexuals in this world. You don’t have to shout at the top of your lungs or scream at us. I know coming out for individuals is a traumatic experience. Sadly, most people already knew you were gay years ago. (Folks take these with a tongue-in-cheek)

3. Highlight the non-flamboyant, Ian McKellen, Rachel Maddow, and Ellen Degeneres do far more for the gay population than 10,000 Rue Pauls. They are also more like the majority of gay people I know. Simply being out but not outspoken does wonders for making people realize how silly prejudice is.

I think this is sage advice coming from somebody who cares on the outside looking in. I’m sure somebody will think these comments are inflammatory, and that’s their right. I know many people are actually doing these things but remember change takes time. Your time will come. :-)

Along those lines – Today I removed the Obama sticker from my car and fixed the flag stand in my front yard so that I could once again fly my American flag.

Why?
The choice has been made. Now it is time to stop being “us” and start being “we”.

This is really a good time for the Republican Party as a whole. They finally got the painful experience of losing massively. This is a lesson a took the Democratic Party 8 years to learn. You can’t simply rehash the same idea. McCain should have distance himself from the established losing Republican Party. Even though their seats are gone the Republicans are still around. They could take this opportunity to reform the party around some principal core ideas.

1. Highlight individual wasteful projects that do not served any useful purpose.

2. Minimize the rhetoric of the theocracy, it’s no longer helping them.

3. Demonstrate a willingness to work with Obama, giving them an opportunity to steal any ideas they can.

4. Reject the Bush doctrine.

I know these are pie-in-the-sky proposals but reforming the party image isn’t just necessary but could actually benefit the country as a whole. If the Republican Party really was for responsible and responsive streamlined government we wouldn’t have giant corporate bailouts and never-ending wars.