Moral: Mind Your Own Business, May 20, 2013

I got this (Kindle) book because the advance promotions advised that it focused on Oscar Wilde. In attaining a Masters in English, much of my education centered on Victorian Literature; however, I learned very little about Oscar Wilde and his works, but knew him to be a (belatedly) well-respected English “Victorian” writer. The author’s selections and incorporation of Wilde’s quotes at the beginning of each chapter is appropriate to the entire book. Initially, the book appears to be just another another old-time “western” and the actions of the characters are depressing; but it is beautifully written, which held my interest (with all the intervening questions about where the author was going) and it was well worth it. The one surprise is: Gus and Charley (men) are the real heroes of the story, while Josie and her “gang” are the epitome of evil. Like others, who reviewed this book, after I got a couple of chapters into it, I could not put it down – it’s a keeper: it reminds us people are not always as they appear, and the actions of one or two can make a difference (for good or evil) in an ever expanding world. Beautiful work!

The dog on the left is blind. The other one, his guide.

]]> http://thepersecutionofmildreddunlap.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/pals/feed/ 53 mildreddunlap Pals http://thepersecutionofmildreddunlap.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/review-the-persecution-of-mildred-dunlap/ http://thepersecutionofmildreddunlap.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/review-the-persecution-of-mildred-dunlap/#comments Sun, 19 May 2013 00:28:38 +0000 The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap http://thepersecutionofmildreddunlap.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/review-the-persecution-of-mildred-dunlap/ Continue reading →]]>

Reblogged from My Tropical Home:

The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap by Paulette Mahurin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Note: This review first appeared on Goodreads.

The book's title intrigued me, as did the author, so I read it. Family duties kept me from finishing the book right away but when I got back to it I read it in a couple of hours. I enjoyed the book very much that I couldn't put it down till I was done.

Read more… 176 more words

Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS (pron.: /ˈtjʊərɪŋ/ TEWR-ing; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954), was a British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, giving a formalisation of the concepts of “algorithm” and “computation” with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general purpose computer.^[2][3][4] Turing is widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence.^[5]

Conviction for indecency

In January 1952, Turing started a relationship with a 19-year-old unemployed man, Arnold Murray, whom he had met outside the Regal Cinema when walking down Manchester’s Oxford Road just before Christmas and had invited to lunch. On 23 January Turing’s house was burgled. Murray told Turing that the burglar was an acquaintance of his, and Turing reported the crime to the police. During the investigation he acknowledged a sexual relationship with Murray. Homosexual acts were illegal in the United Kingdom at that time,^[87] and both were charged with gross indecency under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885.^[88] Initial committal proceedings for the trial occurred on February 27, where Turing’s solicitor “reserved his defence”. Later, convinced by the advice of his brother and other lawyers, Turing entered a plea of “guilty”, in spite of the fact that he felt no remorse or guilt for having committed criminal acts of homosexuality.^[89] The case, Regina v. Turing and Murray, was brought to trial on 31 March 1952,^[90] where Turing was convicted, and given a choice between imprisonment or probation conditional on his agreement to undergo hormonal treatment designed to reduce libido. He accepted the option of treatment via injections of stilboestrol, a synthetic oestrogen; this treatment was continued for the course of one year. The treatment rendered Turing impotent and caused gynecomastia,^[91] fulfilling in the literal sense, Turing’s prediction that “no doubt I shall emerge from it all a different man, but quite who I’ve not found out”.^[92][93] Murray was given a conditional discharge.^[94]

Turing’s conviction led to the removal of his security clearance, and barred him from continuing with his cryptographic consultancy for the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British signals intelligence agency that had evolved from GCCS in 1946. At the time, there was acute public anxiety about homosexual entrapment of spies by Soviet agents,^[95] because of the recent exposure of the first two members of the Cambridge Five, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, as KGB double agents. Turing was never accused of espionage but, in common with all who had worked at Bletchley Park, was prevented from discussing his war work by the Official Secrets Act.^[96]

Death

On 8 June 1954, Turing’s cleaner found him dead. He had died the previous day. A post-mortem examination established that the cause of death was cyanide poisoning. When his body was discovered, an apple lay half-eaten beside his bed, and although the apple was not tested for cyanide,^[97] it was speculated that this was the means by which a fatal dose was consumed. This suspicion was strengthened when his fascination with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was revealed, especially the transformation of the Queen into the Witch and the ambiguity of the poisoned apple.^[98] An inquest determined that he had committed suicide, and he was cremated at Woking Crematorium on 12 June 1954.^[99] Turing’s ashes were scattered there, just as his father’s had been.

Hodges and David Leavitt have suggested that Turing was re-enacting a scene from the 1937 Walt Disney film Snow White, his favourite fairy tale, both noting that (in Leavitt’s words) he took “an especially keen pleasure in the scene where the Wicked Queen immerses her apple in the poisonous brew”.^[100] This interpretation was supported in an article in The Guardian written by Turing’s friend, the author Alan Garner, in 2011.^[98]

Professor of Philosophy Jack Copeland has questioned various aspects of the coroner’s historical verdict, suggesting the alternative explanation of the accidental inhalation of cyanide fumes from an apparatus for gold electroplating spoons, using potassium cyanide to dissolve the gold, which Turing had set up in his tiny spare room. Copeland notes that the autopsy findings were more consistent with inhalation than with ingestion of the poison. Turing also habitually ate an apple before bed, and it was not unusual for it to be discarded half-eaten.^[101] In addition, Turing had reportedly borne his legal setbacks and hormone treatment (which had been discontinued a year previously) “with good humour” and had shown no sign of despondency prior to his death, in fact, setting down a list of tasks he intended to complete upon return to his office after the holiday weekend.^[101] At the time, Turing’s mother believed that the ingestion was accidental, caused by her son’s careless storage of laboratory chemicals. Biographer Andrew Hodges suggests that Turing may have arranged the cyanide experiment deliberately, to give his mother some plausible deniability.^[102]

Reblogged from Otrazhenie:

From Enierae and the Stars

Reblogged from jaycee68:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO MY FRIEND GHIA. To add to the present your son gave to you I am reblogging this because you've touched my heart so deeply with your honesty and authenticity. Your words here, this magnificent post that made me cry and love you more, is my offering to all mother's everywhere, whether your kids are human, fury, borrowed, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY. And, Ghia: I'm sure old Sash and my old girl Tazzie are wagging down on us as we speak. [caption id="attachment_2130" align="aligncenter" width="300"] lighting a candle for Old Sash and Old girl Tazzie
And, for all the Mother's who have graced this earth.[/caption]

Your interview is published online at OurVentura.com and will be broadcast 4x next week, starting tomorrow (Mother’s Day), on Ventura Channel 6 Cable TV.

Below is the link for anyone who wants to watch it now. Times for airing on TV in Ventura County are listed below. The interviewer, Ken McAlpine is a published author of several book and former staff writer for National Geographic Magazine.

http://ourventura.com/frontier-lesbians/2172/#more-2172

Frontier Lesbians: Hatred/Intolerance vs. Love/Friendship

Posted by: George Alger | on May 11, 2013

Posted in Ventura Arts TV | No Comments »
Tags: author, Ken McAlpine, Paulette Mahurin, writer, writing

Photo of Dumas posted on facebook, seen by family who went to the shelter and fell in love. He’s now happily with his new family in his forever home.

Garfield’s new family. Going home.

Esteban has been adopted. Great new family portrait.

Midas got loose and was brought to SPARC, many miles from where his home is. Was reunited with his family through his microchip! Thank goodness he was chipped.

The dog was lost in Ventura while owner was on vacation. She was brought to Camarillo shelter (a kill shelter) where she was spayed and microchipped. A Santa Paula resident adopted her but unfortunately through changing circumstances had to bring the dog to SPARC knowing that it would be safe as we are No Kill. We had the dog for about a week when our FB post was seen by a long lost friend of the original owner who then contacted her and she was at our center within the hour!!!Reunited here. Happy happy dance.

http://www.santapaulaarc.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QJtjqLUHYoY

What do you think?