There have been about 30 contests promoted on this site since I came here. I joined in June 2007 and I had never written a story in my life!

Many of Maddy's blogs IMHO don't get the attention they deserve, maybe because they are about bits of Britain that the majority of readers and adherents to this site are American or Canadian and their interests are understandably closer to home.

But Maddy's latest blog (as of 22 November) draws attention to the plight of those who might fall through the cracks in our society and are ignored, even when it comes to charitable causes. I could have appended this to her blog but thought it could get a bit more attention if posted as a stand-alone, particularly at this time of year.

This is a new video released by Australian singer Troye Sivan

https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/10/13/troye-sivan-drag-musi...

Have you ever seen a better cross-dressed performance?

I occasionally check "My Stories" to see if anyone has been masochistic enough to read one or at least registered a hit or very rarely a new comment. I don't claim they have any literary value but obviously they have a sentimental value for me. I sometimes think of something that might improve what I wrote and today was one of those days.

However I was surprised to find that the text of each story that I checked had vanished. All the comments seem to have survived but the story itself has disappeared. Please, Admin people, can you restore them?

The "Right" is always accusing those of us who are not of their persuasion of using "cancel culture" to silence criticism.

Isn't it strange that the Republican "law makers" in Montana have banned Zooey Zephyr from participating in legislative debates because she criticised moves to introduce restrictive laws to prevent TG treatments for juveniles. She is an elected representative to the legislature. It just happens that she is transgender.

It seems that Republicans cannot abide anybody objecting to their Nazi objectives.

I am not American, but does not the preamble to your Constitution guarantee, among other things, the right to the pursuit of happiness to all citizens?

This being the case, how can a section of your political classes deny that right to another section of your citizenry?

Why hasn't someone lodged a case to protest this abrogation of rights to the Supreme Court?

Here in Australia we are in the middle of a general election campaign (federal) which corresponds to the presidential campaigns in the USA and the general elections in the UK.

Brothers In Arms. A hymn for the people of Ukraine:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ykZc5E6UEE

I recommend that you watch a heartwarming movie called "Everybody's Talking About Jamie".

It centres around a 16-year-old schoolboy who wants to be a drag-queen and his adventures on the way to achieving his ambition.

In all the hoo-hah about transgender individuals playing sports in their chosen gender the focus has only been on male-to-female. Nobody has ever mentioned female-to-male. There is evidently no perception of a problem if a born female athlete (for instance) plays American football or runs in male races.

Here is a very brief list of sports where size and strength make no difference. Please feel free to add any sport you like to this very brief list. Or challenge this list.

There seems to be a misconception that some Dr. Seuss books have been banned and that the US Government is responsible.

THIS IS NOT TRUE.

The books are not banned and it has nothing to do with the US Government despite attempts to make it appear so by some so-called conservative politicians.

The books in question are still available but the family company that controls the publishing has decided that in today's society some of the characterisations may appear racist and so they have decided not to sell any more of those particular books.

Most of you will not have known Alison Mary, although she had several dear friends here. She was an 87-year-old who passed away today. Although she was not an author here she would post many supportive comments to stories in days past.

Don't cry:

Try this link;

https://youtu.be/DPDPzbLFeP4

Just be careful what you drink.

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

https://youtu.be/WG48Ftsr3OI

A day late but green forever.

How do I get rid of it?

I don't know if this will help anyone except as a cautionary tale and maybe a warning to frequently check your bank accounts.

I came back from holiday a little more than a week ago and went to the ATM to withdraw some pocket money, only to be told that my account was now invalid, so I went into the branch and asked what was going on. The nice lady at the Help desk took my card and called up my details on the computer. She turned the screen towards me and I immediately saw that I had been hacked and robbed.

Eric Bogle - The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a song written by Scottish-born
Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971. The song describes war as futile
and ...

Since the latest site upgrade my Thumbs Up button has disappeared. Obviously it hasn't for others, as the stories I've been reading have been accumulating Kudoses like crazy.

Is there a simple solution? Or is it just me?

To wish our lovely space puppy, Laika, an Extra-Special Very Happy Brthday. Inter-National Date Lines mess up my timing a little, but she was born on the Ides Of March, which is tomorrow by my calendar.

It is fantastic to see her gracing our site again, with suitably appropriate mermaids.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RONNI

I saw today that someone had left a new comment on Episode 173 of EAFOAB, so, out of curiosity, I called up the whole string of comments and found a very lively, witty, and erudite exchange about discussions and quotations from such luminaries as Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, et al... and even Elvis.