Yep, I'm with you. In Scotland, especially after the handgun ban, ANY shooting (even if no one dies) is headline news / leading story. Yeah, we have assaults and stuff and a bit of a problem with knives (we get stabby sometimes). But those result in less fatalities, because it's just harder to kill someone without a…

Starship Troopers is amazing!

I know right! Everyone here's so f**king rational and secular.

Yes, but I would argue that if it results in a more accepting society then it's a useful trope.

And I do wonder if the mixed-raced thing has a part to play in people's sympathies. In the UK it's not a big deal, but America, well...? I'm sorry to have to say it, but America did have that whole Cheeros ad fiasco....

Ooooo! Nice call back.

Cheers!

All the trainers I've ever had have been like 'push yourself as far as you can go, but if you need to stop, stop'. And these people did triathlons. I DO know someone who went from morbidly obese to normal size in a very short period of time. Like months. He ended up in hospital in intensive care. His body just went…

Throwing up normal? Errrr........no. That is not the type of behavior I've ever seen encouraged at any of the gyms or classes I've gone to. And they were hardcore classes.

And he doesn't love them in a patronizing way. He really seems able to imagine what it would be like to wake up and discover you're a woman (and be okay with that).

I know right. It made me very sad. Here's hoping he's learnt from this.

Rose Madder is brilliant. I don't know how King describes himself, but I'd find it hard to believe that the man that wrote that didn't think of himself as a feminist.

I just listened to the audiobook and it's brilliant. He really seems to have a weird insight into the horrible, ugly side of being a teenage girl. I think the reason his books often doesn't translate onto the screen in because much of them rely on the characters internal monologue.

I'm okay with his apology. I've read shitloads of his books and he's one of the few writers with whom I honestly don't care if the main character is a man or a woman, because his characterization is so often genderless. While at the same time he doesn't avoid issues of gender violence.

A special message from the Scottish Government following the successful passage of Scotland's equal marriage legislation.

It's Time - Scotland's equal marriage video from the Equality Network

Really?

Hurrah! Well done the Scottish parliament!

Do you hear the people sing.............