Disqus - Friends of NiteStar

Re: Finale 2007 Announced: Intel-Native, Parts Linking, Video Scoring, Sibelius Leapfrog Continues

Derek Williams — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 11:45:07 -0000

I agree with all the above - the first scoring program I used was the then cutting edge Apple Mac program Professional Composer by Mark of the Unicorn quickly replaced by the very powerful but soon orphaned Composer&#039s Mosaic which actually had integrated Parts/Score from the outset. Long after Finale surpassed it, and Sibelius was announced, I continued to use Mosaic and to this day regret its abandonement, especially since my huge library of scores won&#039t work under MacOS X. Finale I always find way too hard and slow to use - having to go drill down to another mode for almost every different action and forever looking up the admittedly excellent documentation is way too complex for me - so for the time being, I use Sibelius 4.1 and love it.

Derek Williams,

Ph.D. student, Edinburgh University.

Re: Ashton Kutcher's gay shock

Derek Williams — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:04:18 -0000

Nice! Not only is Ashton the hottest boy on film, he is obviously also a really decent human being. What a winning combination.

Re: Ashton Kutcher's gay shock

Derek Williams — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:04:18 -0000

Nice! Not only is Ashton the hottest boy on film, he is obviously also a really decent human being. What a winning combination.

Re: Vaucluse Licensed Post Office - AusWiki

Derek Williams — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:06:10 -0000

The phone number listed above for Vaucluse Post Office is wrong. It should be 02 9388 8987

Re: Skinny Jeans Are Unhealthy For Men To Wear…They Hug The Nuts To Tight!!!!

Derek Williams — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:49:13 -0000

I disagree - they look hot provided the guy has a good bod and a decent package. Never had any problem with them either on me or other mates, gay or straight. Best worn with G-String (Thong) to emphasise bulge.

Re: One Ugly Kiss

Derek Williams — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:10:34 -0000

The kiss looks a bit awkward to me, but I still think it's hot.

Re: Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Core i7) Review - A Review of the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Core i7)

Derek Williams — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:33:13 -0000

@ontheotherhand - I hate to be a pedant, but I see this error everywhere. There's no apostrophe required for "its" when used as possessive pronoun. "It's" sole use is as an abbreviation for "it is" or "it has", e.g. "it is mine" = "it's mine", and "it has been a while" = "it's been a while". If used for ownership, just like "his" and "my", possessive pronouns which take no apostrophe (i.e. you never say "hi's book"), neither does "its". The dog was licking its paws, not it is paws or it has paws, just its paws.

Re: Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Core i7) Review - A Review of the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Core i7)

Derek Williams — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:02:39 -0000

@Edward McShane. Agreed, and while we're about it, let's throw in "this criteria", "this phenomena" for good measure. Whatever happened to the singular versions, "criterion" and "phenomenon"? Then there is, "the reason is because," and other solecisms.

Oh well!

Re: Christian right leader George Rekers takes vacation with "rent boy"

Derek Williams — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:18:00 -0000

In one way I am glad Wreckers has been exposed as an out-and-out fraud, and in another I am disgusted that such a lying reptile could be gay, as it brings discredit upon me and other gay people. Even if he had to stay in the closet for legitimate reasons, and they're getting fewer by the hour, there was never any justification for the retaliatory wrecking of the lives of others who never did one bad thing to him.

Re: Christian right leader George Rekers takes vacation with "rent boy"

Derek Williams — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:22:00 -0000

yup there are plenty of examples where the biggest homphobes turn out to have been doing all their anti-gay rhetoric to make sure no-one would find out they were gay themselves, a practice usually formed at high school where they were surrounded by anti-gay bullying and violence. Understandable in such a context, but no less sickening. Another example is Roy Ashburn, anti-gay senator who recently came out.

Re: Priest in the dog house for delivering Pooch-arist

Derek Williams — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:51:36 -0000

Don't worry, uncloseted gays don't get it either in the Catholic church.

Re: http://www.signonsandiego.com/photos/2010/jul/25/201638/

Derek Williams — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:56:29 -0000

Yikes!

Re: Celebration as Prop. 8 Overturned

Derek Williams — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:11:14 -0000

There is no doubt that LGBT rights we have already gained could never have made it into legislature without the overwhelming support given by the heterosexual majority, responding to our appeals for human compassion, justice and fair play.

The veil of ignorance and prejudice was lifted by strong individuals of high moral character, who never gave up.

While there is not universal support even in the gay and lesbian communities for gay marriage, few would want to deny this to people who seek it. Marriage has formalised the love and mutual commitment of countless heterosexual couples, and poll results on the subject now make it clear that increasing numbers do not wish to deny this to others wishing the same lawful acknowledgment for their relationships.

The granting of universal access to marriage and all that it connotes does not in any way threaten heterosexual marriage. Heterosexual marriage will be as strong as ever, no matter whether we have gay marriage or not.

Re: Deace: Gay-marriage ban in Iowa is dead

Derek Williams — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:16:41 -0000

I downloaded and read every word of the Walker's 136 page judgement. I'd encourage any other poster to this column to do likewise before jumping to conclusions. Some public commentators are implying that Judge Walker made his judgement solely out of self interest, in accordance with an apparently conspiratorially agreed gay agenda to trivialise, undermine and ultimately destroy heterosexual marriage followed of course by civilisation as we know it. This colourful allegation does not withstand close scrutiny.

Gay senator Roy Ashburn voted down every single gay rights bill but was homosexual the whole time. He stated he was voting the way his constituents expected him to vote, even though it was undermining his own civil rights in the process. George Rekers, US psychologist and founder of NARTH has worked against homosexuals his whole life, despite taking at least one gay sex worker from rentboy dot com on a steamy holiday with him.

Comparably, black judges don't automatically acquit all black defendants in criminal cases or routinely convict whites, nor do female judges always acquit women accused of crimes and convict only men. It is part of a judge's job to look at evidential fact. However I am sure that very many people are going to make the same accusation of bias implicitly evident in a few postings here, so again, i can only recommend looking at the document first, and then coming back with any proof of bias on the basis of the judge's self interest.

Hard to see though how his self interest could in any way be readily served by shafting his own career with blatant partisanship. This line of reasoning also calls into question whether a heterosexual or religious judge could therefore impartially rule on the very same issue.

This specious argument does remind me, despite how far we've come, how much further there is to go, and and makes me wonder whether the day will ever come when folks won't always assume every homosexual person to be entirely incapable of ethical behaviour, or of ever working for the public good.

I was conceived and brought up by heterosexual parents in the company of heterosexual siblings in an openly heterosexual society. I was educated at a religious private school, which taught me all about loving heterosexual marriage. Without exception, dramaturgical portrayals of relationships to which I was exposed were heterosexual.   Notwithstanding this, I still managed to turn out entirely homosexual, which, given the above circumstances, could be said to be surprising. Gay was not an easy thing to be in the 1960's, when I could have been imprisoned, merely for having this positive interaction with another human being. Yet my life was made rewarding and fulfilling by the love and unstinting support of friends, colleagues, and most of all, my family who never once treated me any less favourably because my passion was for a person of the same gender as my own.

There is also no doubt that the public perception of a great many cogent issues of public interest has been profoundly changed by individual activism and education, such as Aneurin Bevan's founding of the NHS in the UK, Florence Nightingale's championing of the high nursing standards we enjoy today, the enactment of women's suffrage, emancipation of slaves in the USA, and the outspoken advocacy of Harvey Milk. In all these cases public opinion changed, because it was ultimately seen to be right. The veil of ignorance and prejudice was lifted by strong individuals of high moral character, who never gave up.  

The granting of universal access to marriage and all that it connotes does not in any way threaten heterosexual marriage. The various heterosexual marriages of my family will be as strong as ever, no matter whether I have a gay marriage or not.

Re: California Gay Marriage Ban Continues

Derek Williams — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:04:09 -0000

This has been criticised by many, not just proponents of Proposition 8, as 'undemocratic', however the role of this court was not to assess or to respond to the will of the people. It was charged solely with determining whether this Proposition should ever have been brought before the People in the first place, on the grounds that it breached the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution by denying a select minority the right to marry a person of their choice. This same Amendment was successfully invoked to overturn anti-miscegenation laws preventing blacks and whites from intermarrying.

Direct Democracy, in other words Anarchy, would succeed only if the population were all sufficiently well educated and in possession of all the facts. This is why governments are allowed to get on with the job once they have convinced the electorate of their competency and probity to do the job. Handing 100% of the power over to the people means you wouldn't need government at all.

Speaking for myself, I elect politicians into high office to act not only in the interests of the majority, but also in my best interests. If I am not happy, I can lobby for change, vote differently next time, or stand for public office myself.

I think the present system serves the interests of the majority better than some might realise. Trampling over minorities doesn't serve the country in the long run. As we have already seen to our great cost, terrorism can be practised by surprising small numbers of people with devastating consequences for comparatively large numbers of people.

Re: Federal Appeals Court Blocks Gay Marriages: What Happens Next? | The Atlantic Wire

Derek Williams — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:36:00 -0000

How do you know this is true? Lots of things have been written down and later proven to have been false. Anyway, not all religious people believe as you do. Many Christian churches now welcome openly gay and lesbian parishioners, and there are an increasing number of openly gay clergy.

Your self righteous, sneering and contemptuous manner would certainly put off anyone thinking of taking up your version of religious belief, because they would thus be faced with the terrible prosepct of spending eternity in your company.

Grow a heart and grow a brain.

Re: Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians

Derek Williams — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 08:06:23 -0000

According to a Google and WIki search I did just now, there are 38000 different denominations of Christianity. So I hardly think that the commentators quoted here could possibly be speaking on behalf of anyone except their own particular religious sect.

While comments regarding passion, moral commitment and so on are to be welcomed, these are by no means the exclusive preserve of Christianity and are even practised by Atheists.

There is also marked disagreement over matters such as Homosexuality, Birth Control and Abortion, to the extent that favouring one doesn't necessarily connote favouring the others. Some religions allow polygamy, while others have openly gay pastors, bishops and members of their congregations. Yet if asked, all of these adherents would tell you that they're devout Christians.

By and large, people are free to believe what they want to believe but should in my view, refrain trying to force it on others, who also have their own right to freedom of belief or non-belief.

Re: Senior Tories pile pressure on Hague over 'foolishness'

Derek Williams — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:59:07 -0000

A person in high office having a sexual relationship outside of marriage is definitely inappropriate, although how much of our business it is is open to question in my view. However this scandal isn't about that, it's about the fact that it is another man, hence the media's and by inference the public's prurient obsession.

Once again, someone has got to 'clear their name' from a 'gay slur'. This can only compound difficulties faced by gay youth when their sexuality is still portrayed as scandalous and is perceived at large as a slur from which they will have to defend themselves forever and a day in the free press.

And for straight men? It's apparently unwise to be seen in public being friendly with another man and it seems that there is no way you can share a hotel room with anyone without sex automatically being assumed to have occurred.

To make sure no misinterpretations occur, are people now going to have to walk at least three metres apart from their colleague, avoid looking him in the eye, never smile and if you must have a handshake, ensure it is bone breakingly brutal and lasts no more than 1/10th of a second? A friendly 90mph punch with closed fist right on the solar plexus and liberal homophobic remarks should help avoid the career ending gay slur.

No-one would ever suspect a putatively violent homophobic person who keeps on saying he is not gay of being gay now, would they?

Re: William Hague: How on earth did he get in this mess?

Derek Williams — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:54:25 -0000

From the comments in this article it's clear that it's still considered an unrecoverable disgrace to be gay in public life, and perhaps in any life at all.

No wonder Hague is bending over backwards to make sure no-one thinks he is homosexual. It's quite clear that this is a major issue for the powers that be, becaue they're saying it is.

Of course there are a few homosexuals around the place who are dishonest, untrustworthy and generally not nice people, but I don't think for one moment it's just homosexuals who fall into this category and by no means all homosexuals. And since when did being heterosexual automatically make anyone the embodiment of perfection?

It is utterly baffling to me as a homosexual man myself, how such humiliation can be dealt to someone for the simple act of showing a positive interaction with another human being, and that this is considered so terrible they have to be hounded out of public office. Proof is not required, just the mere thought they might be homosexual is enough to take someone out of circulation. What is the point of all the public investment in nurturing and educating people, encouraging them to go for the dream career, only to tell them after they did everything that was expected of them, "sorry this job is only for heterosexuals"?

You'd get more respect if you had axe-murdered your mother.

I honestly can't understand why people go into politics. As soon as someone in the media takes a dislike to you, you're branded a homosexual and then that's the end of you.

Re: William Hague: How on earth did he get in this mess?

Derek Williams — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:30:26 -0000

Friends don't necessarily share rooms just to save money, but simply because they're friends. It doesn't have to follow that they're sleeping in the same bed, however even if they are, that doesn't automatically connote sex. And for what reason should this result in disqualification from membership of the human race?

There's not one scrap of hard evidence proving Hague was in fragrante delicto with Myers, other than a bit of wishful thinking on the part of some hitherto obscure bloggist that got turned into a scandal overnight. As for "not having a girlfriend", unless he was walking around with a boyfriend, that means absolutely nothing. It's not always that easy to find a compatible partner at the best of times for people of either sexual orientation.

At various times in my life I have shared a room, and just as often a bed with a straight friend because we were friends. There was no sex, but there was a lot of in depth conversation and loads of laughs. Period. I may well be openly gay but my friend was just as openly straight, to such an extent that unlike some in the press, he has had not a scintilla of difficulty distinguishing friendship from sex.

The problem here is not with the perfectly natural practice of friends being entirely comfortable in each other's company anywhere, anytime. The real issue is with the fact that some in the press have inflamed such a prurient obsession with it.

Whether it be friendship or romance, an emotional relationship is not something that should require a public defence by its participants.

Re: The sex scandal of Pastor Eddie Long shows how stressful it is, running a megachurch

Derek Williams — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:48:49 -0000

Speechless. Yet another case of an anti-homosexual zealot doing it with blokes himself, like Roy Burns (US anti-gay senator who eventually outed himself as gay) and George Rekers (anti-gay religious campaigner caught holidaying with a male sex worker). No smoke without fire.

These preachers send young gays to self inflicted deaths with the self hatred they invoke, and sometimes to death or grievous bodily harm at the hands of others doing “God’s work”.

Of course these allegations against Long are just that, and have yet to be tested legally, moreover there is no pedophile component involved. It could be that Long is a victim of opportunistic accusation by down and out youths with an eye on the victim’s compensation money, or a cash settlement such as happened in the Michael Jackson scandal. However with all this accumulating evidence, I am more and more coming to the view that practically all homophobia connotes closet homosexuality in some way. Truly straight men are too busy chasing girls to worry about what gays are up to.

Long’s sermons promoting personal wealth definitely conflict with Christ’s unmistakable statement, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven.” Maybe Long keeps a small camel and a large needle as workarounds. That said, I think he is right to encourage impoverished blacks to improve their lot in life, just a shame about all the other freakin’ baggage.

Whether or not he is homosexual, now is the time to repudiate every homophobic sentence he ever wrote or uttered, for the good of all humanity, gay and straight.

Re: Update: Bishop in alleged gay sex scandal to step down

Derek Williams — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:59:44 -0000

Speechless. Yet another case of an anti-homosexual zealot doing it with blokes himself, like Roy Ashburn (US anti-gay senator who eventually outed himself as gay) and George Rekers (anti-gay religious campaigner caught holidaying with a male sex worker). No smoke without fire.

These preachers send young gays to self inflicted deaths with the self hatred they invoke, and sometimes to death or grievous bodily harm at the hands of gaybashers doing “God’s work”.

Whether or not he is homosexual, now is the time to repudiate every homophobic sentence he ever wrote or uttered, for the good of all humanity, gay and straight.

Re: Bishop Eddie Long accuser arrested for New Birth church theft

Derek Williams — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:20:24 -0000

These preachers send young gays to self inflicted deaths with the self hatred they invoke, and sometimes to death or grievous bodily harm at the hands of gaybashers doing “God’s work”.

Whether or not he is homosexual, now is the time to repudiate every homophobic sentence he ever wrote or uttered, for the good of all humanity, gay and straight.

Re: Is Dick Dorm Legit Reality Porn?

Derek Williams — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:17:35 -0000

OK - well I must say I came to this page after Googling to see whether DickDorm and HAzeHim were real. These videos were the first in years that I had bothered to watch all the way through, this time in amazement as much as for gratification.

The dorms and gyms look so utterly authentic (exactly like dorms I have lived in) and the guys so convincingly naiive, I was nearly fooled, only Googling to verify. I agree with the majority of posters that it's next to impossible to imagine something like this going on on this scale without it reaching the attention of the mainstream media and scandalising the colleges. Having said that, where in all fuck do they manage to get so many guys? In one 'pledging' scene, there was a dining room packed full with guys all yelling "suck cock" while banging their fists on the table.

I have heard tales of initiations that occur in all male institutions like the army, and in my teens participated in some group stuff with a few mates, all straight.

Gay for pay is definitely huge though, check out Kurt Wild and his offsider's interview on the Tyra Banks Show (YouTube).

I don't think a guy appearing in HH and DD then in professional porn necessarily rules out authenticity because one of the fratboys may have enjoyed his amateur filming experience so much he may have gone on to do it for a career. Also, it's possible that the studio may send around a few professionals to help a group of fratboys who have decided they'd like to make a porn video together.

The overwhelming number of regular looking guys in gay porn all over the place to me is a dream come true and is beyond staggering. When I was a kid, sadly we had nothing like this.

Personally I say full marks to these companies for having a go at putting on something a bit different, that caters for people's fantasies, giving huge enjoyment, and of course providing gainful employment to tens maybe even hundreds of thouands of actors.

I must say I am quite disappointed at seeing so many vehemently negative comments from people critical of this attempt to be innovative and basically to give pleasure to gay/bi guys, and yes, an increasing number of straight women too AND some straight men believe it or not like to watch gay porn yet they are not gay. I have met some personally.

I think younger people are becoming a lot less fucked up about sexuality nowadays, so it's not entirely beyond the realms of possibility that videos like this may well start to be real, maybe some are being submitted already. When starting a new business, such as a chat room, it's usual to put in professionals to kick things off and after a while, it starts running under its own steam. I suspect that's what they're hoping will happen with this formula.

Re: Indiana teen’s suicide thought to be result of anti-gay bullying

Derek Williams — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:03:53 -0000

The kids who bullied Billy Lucas wanted him to die, and now they got what they wanted. No doubt they are all absolutely satisfied with the result and given the success of their enterprise thus far, they will now be emboldened to try it again on other gay kids, or straight kids who seem gay to them in some way.

Incitement to kill is a crime, but is this a crime to incite murder if the murder you wish to take place is of someone else by themself? As a priority, measures should be being taken to find out how many other gay kids these children told to kill themselves. If incitement to suicide is a crime, then without question, those responsible should be charged with the offence.

A lot of people posting on hate sites like YouTube are saying that all gay people should kill themselves and this no doubt impacts on gay teenagers using YouTube and other bully sites.

It is reassuring to note however that while YouTube and its ilk are swamped by hate and violence, the thumbs ups and thumbs downs indicate that the majority are not in support of all gay teens taking their own lives as you might otherwise believe from reading the reams of anti-homosexual rhetoric, most of it coming from self-proclaimed Christians.

While I am sure that Christians as a rule deplore bullying, violence and suicide, sadly the message given out at some of the more evangelical sects run by profiteering hucksters is at the very root cause of holier-than-thou grandstanding ultimately leading to youth gangs feeling justified in attacking defenceless kids half their size.

Gay kids can only take so much before they come to the conclusion that they have no future, if all it holds for them is universal hate and violence from their home, their peers, their school and their church. To such children, death is a merciful release.

May they rest in peace