I wanted to save and read the fic 'The Amadeus Effect' by Neena but the version on fanfiction.net is edited to make it less graphic. Does anyone know a link to the full NC-17 version?

Admittedly this is a mistake Jonathan Sacks made quite a while ago. The trial has been won in the first instance, then lost on appeal and now it's being put foward again and the BHA have now intervened in favour of the prosecution.

A child was rejected entry into the Jewish Free School (JFS). The child's father is Jewish and the mother converted to Judaism. As such, the child has a Jewish mother and is eligible. The mother is a practicing Jew and the whole family attend synagogue so there is no reason to dismiss on the grounds of religious observance. Nevertheless, the Chief Rabbi ruled that the mother did not truly count as Jewish because she converted via a Masorti synagogue. Jonathan Sacks apparently doesn't count Masorti conversions and thus by the same reckoning the child does not count as Jewish either. The obsession over the place where the mother converted rather than both her and her son's religious conviction makes this a clear case of selection based on racial rather than religious grounds.

Thankfully other British rabbis are less daft: Accord Chair, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain declared: “This is a defining moment. For too long state-funded faith schools have had a free hand to discriminate. This will be a big first step towards creating faith schools that serve the community around them, not just themselves.”

I finally leave you with this rather awesome video of Andrew Copson from the BHA speaking in opposition to multi-millionaire philanthropist, Benjamin Perl, who is highly regarded in Orthodox circles and funds many Jewish state schools. (Perl has said in the past that he is on the "cutting-edge of fighting assimilation" i.e. he does not wish to allow the children of 'assimilated Jews' into Orthodox institutions.)

I don't care if it's intended to be a mindless smutfic. I don't care if the original canon doesn't have even a vague mention of anything remotely sexual. Nor do I care if it's an original character who did it. This character was a member of a set of characters famous for being good guys and following strict codes of honour despite suffering from beserk rages. These characters kill their defeated enemies, or on occasion let them go if they're sure they won't pose a future danger. They don't rape them!

Note to self: writing.com is a bad place to look for fanfic. Also must rethink friend's insistence that I should try writing porn to show people how it's done, because even if I do blush at writing so much as a kiss scene, I couldn't possibly do any worse than 90% of fandom.

EDIT due to mixed up english words. Please feel free to point out other mistakes to me ;).

( Eggies )

Ninja clicking!

Hi all. In case anyone is interested, I've finally released the latest Trilogy chapter. Thanks everyone for waiting, and for pretending patience. ;)

Trilogy 9 - Temet Nosce
Summary: Adriann, Talen, and Jalen visit Earth during the winter holidays. Naturally, all sorts of interesting mischief happens.
Note: Because I love my vampires.

Part A (59 p, 20,000 wds)
Part B (147 p, 53,000 wds)

Thanks to Tejas and Pepi for the betas. You're wonderful. :)

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Duncan/Tessa (implied)
Length: ~5000
Author on LJ: not known
Author Website: Christina_K's FFN Profile
Why this must be read: Fics about Methos and Tessa are rare - or at least I've not found them. This is a sweet and heartwarming fic about a friendship between Tessa and Methos. With short scenes spread over time, Christina_K develops a plausible relationship between them.

( A small snippet )

Can be read here: Fly Away Home

When your fic features Lois Lane as a domestic housewife that cooks breakfast for her husband and watches the kids all day, I become very alarmed, and hit the back button. I don't care if your fic is set in a continuity I'm not as familiar with, I'm pretty sure that Stepford!Lois is OOC everywhere.

ETA: Unless it is supposed to be creepy and other characters treat it as such, of course.

They are starting up the vote. But I think the Democrats are doing a filibuster unamimous consent for such and such to delay the vote.

This is getting lulzy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/healthcare-debate-explode_n_339043.html?nsup (video and twitter feed)

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN_wm.aspx

http://www.cnn.com/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
got any other links to hear/watch the debate?

via floating_to_sea
btw, here is a list of the House Democrats who will be voting no:

Here's my colleague JAllen's list with assists from O'Connor and Mahtesian :

Frank Kratovil
John Adler
Parker Griffith
Artur Davis
Bobby Bright
Bart Gordon
Jim Marshall
Mike Ross
Gene Taylor
Charlie Melancon
Travis Childers
Ike Skelton
Colin Peterson
Walt Minnick
Michael McMahon
Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin
Dan Boren
Suzanne Kosmas

Updated: John Tanner

Update2: Harry Teague

Update3: Larry Kissell
Jim Matheson
Eric Massa


WTF ARTUR :(

Dear Supporter of Marijuana Law Reform,

The measure, HR 2943, an "Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults," would eliminate federal penalties for the personal possession of up to 100 grams (three and one-half ounces) of cannabis and for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce of pot - making the prosecutions of these offenses strictly a state matter.
Passage of this act would:

* Give states the option to explore legal alternatives to tax and regulate the adult use and distribution of cannabis free from federal interference.

* Provide state lawmakers the choice to maintain their current penalties for minor marijuana offenses/or eliminate them completely.

Under federal law, defendants found guilty of possessing small amounts of cannabis for their own personal use face up to one year imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.

HR 2943 is now before both the House Judiciary Committee, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Please write your representative today and tell them to stop wasting federal resources targeting and prosecuting marijuana offenders. Click on the link below to send a letter to your congressman (pre-written also available): http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=13568661
-
NORML would like to thank Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, along with co-sponsors Ron Paul (R-TX); Maurice Hinchey (D-NY); Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), for reintroducing legislation to limit the federal government's authority to arrest and prosecute minor marijuana offenders.

With an average of 6000 new supporters joining the NORML cause per week, it is clear that this MOVEMENT has serious momentum. It is time to energize, organize, and LEGALIZE!

Tell Your Representative to Support H.R. 2943!

Stay Free and Keep Fighting,
Sabrina
Sabrina Fendrick
NORML/NORML Foundation
www.norml.org

Fuck, now I gotta be glad that Ron Paul is my Rep... Damnit.

Compromise Reached On Health Care Bill: Anti-Abortion Amendment To Be Given Floor Vote

As the House of Representatives inches toward a final vote on comprehensive health care reform this weekend -- the most dramatic domestic policy debate in several generations, a reorganization of a sixth of the economy - the only thing the parties can talk about is abortion and immigration.

"It tells you something about our country," remarked one distressed member of Congress, who didn't want to be named speaking ill of this fine land.

What it tells isn't pretty: The ranks of the uninsured are steadily being filled, with the number approaching 50 million. Health care costs are rising at a rate several times that of inflation, eating into the take-home income of the majority of the American people and threatening to break the federal budget in less than a decade.

Yet the talk is of abortion and immigration.

All day on Friday, House leaders struggled to reconcile the pro-life and pro-choice wings of the Democratic Party. Over the last several weeks, the pro-choice bloc, consisting of nearly 200 Democrats, had gradually come to terms with an amendment authored by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.).

The intent of the amendment was to keep the debate about health care rather than abortion and it would make clear that - as is current law - no federal funds would be used for abortion. "Our hope was that we could continue the current ban on federal funding for abortion so the issue wouldn't bog down the overall health reform legislation," wrote Capps at the time.

That wasn't enough for pro-life Democrats. On November 3, Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) offered a more conservative compromise, one that restricted abortion in a bunch of extra ways and would require one private plan in the exchange not to cover abortion.

The divorce from reality had been filed by this point, considering that most insurance plans -- even using pro-life numbers -- do not cover abortion.
( Read more )


Democrat Gives Up Single-Payer Measure to Back Party Leaders

Representative Anthony D. Weiner, Democrat of New York, a fierce champion in Congress of a single-payer health system that would be fully run by the government, said Friday that he had agreed not to insist on a vote on that issue, in an effort to help Democratic leaders pass their plan.

Previously, Mr. Weiner had obtained a commitment from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow a vote on a proposal to create a single-payer system like the one used by Canada and many countries in Europe, including England, France and Spain.

Single-payer supporters form a large bloc among liberal Democrats, although there has not been enough broader backing to make the idea politically viable. So Mr. Weiner’s proposal would almost certainly have been defeated, although it would have enabled those liberal Democrats to demonstrate their continuing support for a single-payer system.

But as House Democratic leaders struggle to round up the votes they need to pass their health care legislation, Mr. Weiner said in an interview that it was clear that forcing a vote on the single-payer issue would be counterproductive and could endanger support for the bill at a critical juncture.

Mr. Weiner’s decision to sacrifice the measure also signaled that Democratic leaders may be struggling even harder behind the scenes than they have acknowledged to win votes for the health care legislation. Another sign was a decision to postpone a visit by President Obama to Capitol Hill until Saturday, allowing his personal appeal to have maximum impact on lawmakers as close to the actual vote as possible.
( Read more )