No More “Age Verification” Free Video Embedding…

….	Date: March 23, 2017 I’ve stopped using the embedding code, that sidesteps the YouTube age verification. Potentially, you’ve noticed that a lot of the embedded videos from YouTube are all giving a playback error? For years, I’ve used the embedding code that is supposed to let anyone watch a video outright, without worrying about logging into YouTube to verify their age…This was done as a courtesy to my visitors. As always…YouTube has recently made changes to their website…and from the looks of it, they’ve disabled this method of embedding…whether intentional, or not. This means for me, that I have already dropped the usage of it…To be honest, it was annoying having to deal with a few things about it, anyway…I’m glad to be done with it. But, now a ton of embedded videos won’t play on this blog…Fortunately, this is why I’ve always included a direct link to the YouTube video page…So, there should be no real issue…Just click on the link…Watch it on YouTube. All the best… – Steve	….

Views from the Vault…

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….	Date: August 1, 2010 This is a new template, for a new “sub-blog”… This will be the home, of old writings I’ve done over the years… Potentially, some of what will show up here, may be over a decade old…though, I may be unable to date it, precisely. This is really a glimpse into the past…and some of my viewpoints have evolved, considerably…I may discuss this, as such issues arise. While I am on the issue, I want to just say one thing about all the content I’ve written and lost, over the years… In my very early days, I saved nothing… Within a year, I’d started experimenting with, and developing, websites…[“Steve-D’s Home Page” on GoPlay, “Steve-D’s Faith and Reflections” on FreeYellow, “Steve-D’s Midnight Zone” on Talk City, “The Midnight Archives”, Etc.]. I saved quite a lot of my writing, from that point onward…because I was going to ad some of it to a website. Tragically, I did not own a computer in those days, and my only option for saving such content, was to copy and paste it into a private, online service, that could save it for me…I chose my eudoramail account…which worked great, until they switched the software they were running on…This screwed up many of these files, and even made some irretrievable. I was literally sickened, and heartbroken, over five or six, specific articles, that were lost in this manner…and would love to have them, today. …But, I still do have, a good bit of content from that time era…Not nearly as much as I’d like [and a wider range in scope, would have been nice, also]…but…there are still a lot of really good bits, in there. Some of these might seem a bit jumbled…Some of them are contrary to my present viewpoints…A lot of them, are direct responses to specific people [at BoyChat, ClosEncounters, and other forums]… I hope people will find this to be an interesting journey into the past…and, maybe, it will revive some old discussions on relevant issues.	….
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A Bad Diagnosis Can Destroy Your Life…

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….	Date: January 14, 2009 …BoyChat Link… …BoyChat Link… I wrote this in response to a BoyChat post, but opted not to post it there. Sometimes, you just feel as though what you have written, is to much like bursting in and stealing center stage… — A bad diagnosis can destroy your life… …as can no diagnosis, at all. Hello confusedbl… You are also talking about something that is the cornerstone of my life, for about half of my years alive. It probably qualifies as being half the foundation, by now…or more. I’ve spent so many years fighting with the government, over a phantom illness I could not actually “prove” existed, or “prove” was connected to my military service…that I don’t even want to deal with it anymore. Yet, it is still here and has been with me for almost two decades…(I honestly thought I’d be dead by now). My symptoms have been all over the place, but include most of what you have mentioned and more…some of them are truly horrible, and have an awful impact upon your life…especially long term. People do look at you as a failure in life. All the while, they do not even comprehend what you have to cope with and work through, on a daily basis. You’re expected to perform at the same level as everyone else, or higher if you are supposed to be “in your prime”…yet it is so much more of a struggle for you, just to even show up at all. What gets under my skin, is those people who ask, “What is wrong with you?”, seemingly sincerely…just to turn around with a retort, “You look okay to me”, after you’ve tried to explain… At points in time like those, you realise just how alone in the world you actually are…there is only empathy, amongst those who have seen and experienced the same thing(s), up close or personally…so much of the rest of society seem to detached to comprehend…It’s not part of “their” life, so they just don’t understand it…and often don’t think it is real. …or, you get put on a public trial of opinion, as to whether or not you are just a freeloader, trying to exploit the system…you’re reduced to potentially a criminal, “taking away funds and services, from the truly ill who actually need it” (the lowest of the low lives)…You get those looks, and the smirks on people’s faces, when you try to talk about it seriously…and what’s worse, is that you are self conscious of how it all does look, and understand how it will be judged…You don’t honestly “want” anything to do with that. You just want people to shut up and go away…You don’t want to talk about it at all, anymore. It’s all just one great bit, flaming ball of shit flung into the middle of your life…which nearly anyone would be ill equipped, at even knowing what to do about it. No diagnosis is hell, because it leaves the root problem unaddressed…while leaving the doctors to shoot in the dark, and treat you for things which are not the problem. I’ve been through this, and have been on drugs for it…because they thought it was all psychological (it is not). I fought that for a very long time, but relented, because it was the only course of action they were offering to me…After a few years, I lied…said I was “feeling better”, and walked away from it completely disillusioned… I am going to be like this, in this altered state of living, until I am dead…and it is probably going to get worse. The weeks and months of chronic, non-stop pain (sometimes it is horrible pain and real suffering), the overwhelming fatigue (where you just need to sleep all the time, and you’re growing physically weaker), the never ending brain fog (which makes it difficult to speak, or think things through), the regularity of being left with a “blank” mind (where you were on your way to do something, but suddenly cannot remember what)…and a grocery list of other things, which impact my life… There are so many days, when you just want to lay down and die…and nobody else understands why… They just want to kick you for being an “underachiever”, and relentlessly press you, to get more out of you. I’m at the point in my life, where I know that if things continue on like this much longer, I’ll probably drop over dead on the job… …and I desperately want to be acknowledged as 100% disabled, so I can get out of this incredible stress before it drives me into psychosis or dementia…(which I fear may have already started)… This world is a terrible place, for those who have to bare the burden of a serious disability. At this point in time, I’ve appealed my disability grade (though I don’t expect it to change)…and I understand, they are finally paying for PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)…I think I am going to go after that…I think it is B.S., but it is the only way to get compensation. I’ve gotten nothing but a handful of peanuts, for a life shattered by this (and the way sexual minorities are mistreated by this country, as well). Don’t cry for me…and I’m not trying to hijack this thread… I’m just saying, there are some of us who know this subject, inside and out. You are certainly not alone. The future looks very, very grim from my standpoint…	….
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All or Nothing…

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….	Date: May 28, 2007 CSA (child sex abuse) “experts”, politicians, and special interest lobby groups, are well experienced at pitting separate distinct groups (usually minorities, who often don’t have the resources to fight back) against one another…as though, the situation is all black or white. …as though, one (or several) only exists at the absolute peril of the other (or several others)… Not only does this tend to successfully deflect the public attention away from legitimate arguments against what these people stand for (or, everything they do in the name of what they stand for), it also dishonestly bolsters their own viewpoint, and propagates an abusive atmosphere, towards several, distinct and benign minorities. This is a basic practice, of manufacturing the illusion of villain minorities, in order to fill the requirements of “proving”, that their ideology, and proposed practices, are “justified”. Is there such a thing, as a “villain minority”?…perhaps… Does this make all minorities labeled as such, actual “villains”?…no… …but, in today’s world, does this even matter, anymore, to most people? I remember the occasion, when this really became clear to me. It was amidst dialog with a person, who considers herself a child advocate (CA), and a CSA activist. I mean no disrespect in pointing this out, but, it is almost amazing how many “CAs” will go to such prolonged extents, to completely avoid addressing certain issues (which they, nearly always, either deny, or pretend do not exist), when confronted by factual accounts, from people who do not fit into the “CAs” own ideology, of “how things are supposed to be”. In fact, a lot of us human beings, out here, inflict serious cracks, into the foundation of many of these “CA/CSA” activists’ arguments…just by the mere fact that we exist, and can attest, that their ideas and intentions have holes in them…and, have directly abusive elements to them. To this persons credit, however, after some time resisting acknowledging the inevitable truth, it was finally conceded that, yes, I had an honest and sincere point, when I brought up the fact that not all adult/minor sexual relationships are abusive in nature, nor are they all with negative consequences…Indeed, many have greatly positive effects on all participants. It is not that the “CA/CSA” activists do not understand this (perhaps some do not, but, I believe that most do). It is that, they believe they have license to press on, at the peril of benign and good minorities, and without accountability for the harm they are causing….because, their “bottom line” intentions “outweigh” the severity of whatever damage they have caused to others. …It’s “the greater good” theory… “Yes, Mr. Diamond, what you say may be honest and true, and yes, these types of benign minorities likely do exist, but, the perceived well being of our defenseless, little children, make each and every one of your arguments ‘null and void’, when pitted against the better interests of our defenseless, little children”. One of the most underhanded, and best assured, ways of gaining condemnation against anything, is psychologically pitting it against the best interests of “defenseless, little children”. When you can successfully create the perception that “defenseless, little children” are being hurt (or done injustice) by something, you have just politically crippled, whatever group, movement, thing, issue, etc, you’ve aimed this at. The targets’ best interests, have now been effectively turned into a political, sacrificial lamb.	….
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I Wonder…

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….	Date: March 31, 2001 …BoyChat Crosspost… …BoyChat Crosspost… I Wonder… I wonder about so many things, and the questions and thoughts, and feelings it brings… …and I wondered if I might take the time, to tell you just what’s on my mind?.. I wonder, do you feel my words? I wonder, is this so absurd? I wonder, is this all in vain? I wonder, don’t you know my name? I wonder, could you take the time? I wonder, is love yours and mine? I wonder, where you are tonight… I wonder, what will happen…and what just might… I wonder, do you think of me? I wonder, just what do you see? I wonder, when you’re all alone… I wonder, can you sense my tone? I wonder, is your mind so free? I wonder, do you dream of me? I wonder, can you take my hand? I wonder, do you understand? I wonder, what you think and play. I wonder, how are you today? I wonder, when we next shall meet… I wonder, why you’re such a treat… I wonder, why am I so blessed? I wonder, is this all in jest? I wonder, when I call your name… I wonder, do you feel the same?… I wonder, why I wonder so much… I wonder, why we’ve never touched… I wonder, why it’s so hard to face… I wonder, why we don’t embrace… I wonder…I wonder…and I wonder yet more… Sometimes I think of little more. …and you have made my life so full… …I guess you’re just that wonderful… The following is an alternative…or, an out take, because I thought it too strange, having two paragraphs both ending with the word “same”. I kept it, likely because I wanted to reword it, and fit it in later…Yet, it seems perfectly worded, as is. If I included it today, I’d likely trade it with the paragraph it is conflicting with. I wonder, if the sky fell down… I wonder, if all life was drown… I wonder, if all things turned grey… I wonder, would it be the same?	….
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