Month: November 1999

bookmark_borderBlinkers

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Section 28 of the Local Government Act of 1986.

2A-(1) A local authority shall not:
(a) intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality.
(b) promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.
2A-(2) Nothing in subsection (1) above shall be taken to prohibit the doing of anything for the purpose of treating or preventing the spread of disease.

I thought I’d check my facts on this one, and I am disgusted at what I found. I’m not sure what scares me more, the fact that someone actually wrote this, and it got passed as law, or that there are still so many people willing to support it. But if they are narrow minded, they have every right to ensure their children are educated to the same degree.

I am lucky that my parents brought me up to be able to think for myself, even if that meant I developed views that they don’t agree with. I also realise that not everyone shares my views and beliefs, is that such a hard concept? Live and let live.

So let’s break it down (why does that sound like I’m trying to be ‘hip’?).

Part 1a. intentionally promoting homosexuality. Firstly, what happens if the local authority unintentionally promotes homosexuality?
Anyway, Presumably this statement was made to ensure there was no confusion over how homosexuality is viewed in society. After all it is an illness, a perversion and they should all be outcast…right?

Part 1b. homosexuality as a pretended family relationship. ???? I just don’t get this one. Is the government 100% happy with family life in Scotland? I would venture that a lot of homosexual couples would make much better parents than a large number of straight couples. Simply – each case should be looked at on it’s own merits. Some homosexual couples will not be suitable, in the same way that some heterosexual couples aren’t.

Part 2. spread of disease. This is insulting. Scientific evidence, and population surveys have shown that your sexuality doesn’t matter, you’re just as prone to disease if you are not careful.

The outrage, anger, and…and…well I’m not sure if I can put it into words. This issue has got me so wound up! It almost starts to cause despair – I thought the society we lived in was more advanced, but maybe that’s my fault, maybe I should open my eyes, I could say the same for others.

bookmark_borderUpbeat

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I enjoy working with computers. It may be sad, but it is true. I will quite happily sit for hours on end, tweaking a database design, updating a website, designing a skin etc etc. I don’t play games on it much. Recently though, it’s been taking over a bit. I’ve been spending more and more time on it, neglecting the important things.

At the moment I have this website, Instant Ideas (a resource for hospital radio in the UK), and the Hospital Radio Lennox website which needs drastically updated. We have a couple of databases for our CD’s and video’s and I’m planning one for MiniDisc as well. I am in the midst of creating skins for WinAmp and WindowBlinds to match the various default colour schemes that are supplied with geOShell (my latest find), and I am coordinating the documentation team for geOShell. This is just in my spare time…

Now, the database stuff isn’t a priority, neither are the skins, the website stuff needs doing once every week or so, and the documentation shouldn’t take too long. In theory. However I still sit, night after night, bashing away at the keyboard.

So far, I’ve managed to keep most of my promises – the exercise and weight thing fluctuates, so it’s time for another one. I need to be more upbeat. More lively. Do more!

The Ta’i Chi class will help, and we are going to start exploring the local pubs. We are both afraid of turning into an ‘old married couple’. Some aspects of that are nice, but it doesn’t sit well with us.

So from here on out, updates to this site will be fewer, and long term it may disappear altogether – I no longer feel the need to rant, rave, and generally bore you all with the workings of my mind, and I no longer think it benefits me. I’m not sure though, we’ll see.

Upbeat will be the way, the attitude and the manner. Fingers crossed.