Archive for April, 2008
Cult Week
Saturday, April 26th, 2008They’re all the same, cults, I mean. At the foundation, it’s about money. The methods are exclusionary, paranoid and totalitarian. Agent Bedhead has a post about a couple escapees from Scientology, one the niece of cult leader David Miscavage. It’s interesting watching.
Here’s the thing: no one currently in a cult believes they are in a cult. They are brainwashed. It is impossible to have a rational conversation with cultists because they are irrational. You have to be irrational (not stupid, mind you, because many, if not most of those enticed by cults are very intelligent–the “secret” or “special” knowledge is what is so appealing) to embrace the beliefs. Each cult has it’s own brand of crazy. For Scientologists it’s thetans (can you say Satan, with a lithp?). For other groups it’s something else just left of weird. It can’t be too crazy, just unique enough to make the believer feel special.
But the beliefs piece ignores what cults are really about and that’s money. Having a vast following of dedicated believers has its perks–usually big houses, big private jets, big buildings, big lifestyles. Big is expensive and followers paying through the nose fund the leaders. And it is all justified because if more people believe, more people will be saved so it’s very important to Send. Your. Money. Now!
Der Commissar
Friday, April 25th, 2008More on the Canadian Human Rights garbage. Mark Steyn says:
I don’t have as low an opinion of Canadians as Barbara Hall and Jennifer Lynch do. I don’t believe your liberty is the conditional discretionary gift of hack bureaucrats advised by Marxist theorists. You defeat bad ideas — whether Nazism, Marxism, jihadism, Steynism or Trudeaupian pseudo-”human rights” mumbo-jumbo — in the bracing air and light of day, in vigorous open debate, not in the fetid corridors of power policed by ahistorical nitwits.
You know, I feel the same way about this as I feel about the dull-witted security screeners at the airport: There is no way in hell that bureaucrats are keeping the delicate ears and sensibilities of Canadians safe any more than the totalitarian nitwits at the airport keep us safe from terrorists. And they are all just doing their job.
Meanwhile, freedom ebbs away…..
The End Is Nigh
Friday, April 25th, 2008Jeff Goldstein laments the state of the world: Amanda Marcotte wins a book deal and is on a book tour? The Apocalypse is upon us.
Hillbama
Friday, April 25th, 2008This is just disturbing on so many levels. Who says knobby Leftist MSM editors don’t have a sense of humor?
More Teenage Mothers From Polygamist Compound
Friday, April 25th, 2008Twenty-five more women under the age of 18 are baby factories in service to the polygamist FLDS cult. I mean they are mothers of children who have been taken custody by the great state of Texas. The notion of children being yanked from parents who love them is repugnant. The notion that children are being used to serve pedophiles disguised as religious leaders is also repugnant. I wonder how old these girls are and how old they were when they were “taken” as wives.
By the way, I continue to cover this topic, not because it is salacious, but because it has serious implications all the way around. This is a church-state issue. Civil liberties of all Americans are at stake here. Casting judgment on polygamy is studiously being avoided by the press (substitute Muslim polygamists anywhere you see Morman and then you’ll know why no one dares say anything). The behavior of Child Protective Services is coming to light. In short, this case touches many American sacred cows and it’s worth paying attention to them.
Girls and Sex and How What Goes Around Comes Around….
Friday, April 25th, 2008How is it that our culture is over sexed and at the same time, no one is getting laid? What is the deal? And why do people have such exciting premarital sex lives and then it comes to a screeching halt once marriage hits? Do women feel like they have “bought” the relationship with their bodies and now associate bad feelings with doing that? I wonder…..
John Hawkins has an interview with Carol Platt Liebau who wrote the book Prude: How the Sex-Obsessed Culture Damages Girls (and America, Too!)
They include regret, anxiety, shame, the inability to trust men, and trouble forming permanent committed relationships later. You know, John, it all makes sense. If you’re the kind of young woman who doesn’t understand why it’s important not just to have sex with any guy that wants you to, you’re probably going to be prone to seeing some of the less attractive sides of male behavior. If you see that over and over again…it’s going to be difficult to learn how to trust men because you’ve never gotten to see the finer or noble side of men. Of course, it’s going to be difficult to forge long term relationships later, because if you don’t trust men, then on what basis are you building when you finally find a man you’d like to spend your life with?
And this goes both ways. When men habitually treat women like objects to be used, and then decide to finally settle down, they shouldn’t be surprised that they meet up with a woman who has been treated just the way he’s treated other women. Suddenly, it bothers him, though. He loves this woman and doesn’t like the idea that other men treated her so poorly and then he has to pay the consequences. What goes around, comes around and all that…..
Quityerbitchin’…..Every Once In A While, At Least
Thursday, April 24th, 2008Oh wah! Life. Is. Not. Fair. Get used to it and be thankful it’s not.
Today, I was reminded of this simple truth when I bid farewell to my dear sister as she moves to the next phase of her life in another hemisphere on another continent and just when I was starting to like her, too. Not fair!
Today, I was reminded of this simple truth when I read Rachel Lucas’ rant about tax credits for parents when she, a responsible, single, pay-through-the-nose, employed woman is getting oppressed by the man just because she chooses to leave her womb barren. Not fair! (Kinda, read the comments. Personally, I think it’s not fair that Rachel isn’t writing me a check for actually producing progeny who will be wiping her ass in her old age, but whatever. It’s all a matter of perspective.)
Today, I was reminded about this simple truth when I read the men commenting about their wives never ever ever ever having sex or desiring it ever again. They are stuck in a sexless, seemingly hostile, relationships. Well, they’re as stuck as anyone is who lives in a country where a divorce is relatively easy to come by. Not fair!
Today, I was reminded about this simple truth when the Wall Street Journal writer Brett Arends suggested stock piling staples in the face of fierce inflation. I was still smarting from filling up my glorious gas-hog of a Suburban. It’s going to get worse. Not. Fair.
In fact, if I let myself think about it, I have a great bloody list of grievances. Life is not frigging fair! I’m sure you can do the same thing. That’s one of the allures of blogging actually. Every day, I can spend bitching about some injustice and there are plenty of them. And the stupid government and Leftists create more daily, so I have multitudinous ways to complain.
Still, most of us have it pretty damn good and need to stop once in a while and remember that. Gratitude is a great elixir for what ails us. Let’s face it. We Americans are spoiled rotten. We have more stuff than we need. We have more ways to communicate and stay in touch. I was considering this recently. I have a couple deaf friends. Not too many years ago, communicating with them would be a challenge, but now, between texting and IMing and webcams, I can stay in touch. Ditto military personnel. Ditto my friend in Australia. Ditto my sister half-way around the globe. So far away isn’t so far. That’s a huge change. Consider soldiers in WWII waiting, waiting for mail at the front. Now, soldiers can stay relatively connected. Isn’t that awesome?
Not that life is easy. Shit. We all have huge burdens that we carry. I have yet to see anyone who is spared difficulty. Right now, a friend’s son is literally pulling out his hair. He has cancer, like I told you guys before, and now, his hair is falling out. He is six. Thankfully, he thinks it’s cool to pull out chunks at a time. Another friend’s baby needs cranial surgery and the surgery has been postponed twice. And then there are the hundreds of children being ripped from their mother’s and the only life they’ve only known. This is a big deal here, locally, and service groups are at the ready to help these poor children.
Even with an unfair life, is it possible to not get everything we want and be happy? I think it is. In fact, it is my recommendation that you try to find happiness before things go well. For many years, I thought that I’d wait to get happy until certain things happened. That gave a lot of power to people and circumstances that didn’t seem to give a hot damn whether I was happy or not. So, I spent a lot of time waiting and being miserable. An interesting thing happened, though, when I decided, fuck it! I’m going to be happy whether fill-in-the-blank happens or not. For me, this was the beginning of a life change.
Now, I still bitch and complain, a lot. I mean, I don’t have to tell you this. You come here (hopefully multiple times a day) and you know this. So, I’m not trying to be all pollyannish. It’s just that, having gone through some really, really shitty times, it’s beneficial to back up and take stock and be grateful when things are pretty decent. Things could be worse.
You know, “fair” would be my kid having cancer too, right? “Fair” would be lacking food to feed my kids. If this world were fair, if life were fair, many of the great things in my life wouldn’t happen either. Fairness is overrated. It’s just better to be grateful and happy here and now, while working to fix the injustices.
And don’t worry, I’ll still be bitchin’. I just wanted to take a break for a minute and acknowledge that life is pretty good.
Polygamists Consent to DNA Testing To Get Kids Back
Thursday, April 24th, 2008I wonder what will happen with this:
A man who identified himself as Rulon said he has six children who have been taken by the state.
“I think it’s an embarrassment for the state to require this. We have broken no laws. It makes me feel like a criminal,” Rulon said as he left the Schleicher County Memorial Building in Eldorado.
About a dozen women also submitted themselves for fingerprinting, photographing and DNA testing to be compared with the children seized from the Yearning for Zion Ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
State District Judge Barbara Walther on Friday ordered all 437 children in state custody, and their parents, to submit to DNA testing so authorities could establish identities and family ties.
Well, establishing paternity and maternal age and the ages of the kids should get his kids back pronto, right? Where is the state going with this?
Mom’s Diet Can Determine Sex of the Baby?
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008Well, I’ve heard about other techniques and used them myself. Curious? Well, for a boy, have sex right at ovulation and make sure the woman has an orgasm to help the weak male spermies get to the egg. For a girl, make the baby a few days before ovulation, no orgasm (sorry ladies). I don’t know if this was how I got my boys and girl or not, but there was some intent there with the first kids. The latest kid, we just wanted one. And we got one.
So, to up your odds of the boy or girl or whatever you’d like, change your diet too. Make sure to eat your breakfast if you want a boy. Oh, and eat bananas.
Why Your Sex Drive Sucks
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008There are many reasons people have low sex drive. Guy friends find this amazing, but there are men who don’t have any sex drive either. This makes for frustration all the way around. There are solutions to low sex drive, but behavior will have to change:
- Hormone imbalance–There are many causes for hormones to be off. Low fat diets, either too much body fat (increases estrogen production) or too little body fat, sluggish thyroid function, perimenopause for women, low testosterone for men, etc. It is one of the first places a person should look for low sex drive. Daily exercise where a person works up a sweat and a diet changes can make a huge difference here.
- Medication–Blood pressure, cholesterol lowering, birth control pills, antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds and many, many other medications can kill sex drive. For those of you with blood pressure problems or cholesterol issues, know that you are trading sexual function for the luxury of eating your macaroni and cheese without stopping your heart. There are trade-offs. I’ve had a diabetic tell me with a straight face, “I’d rather die than stop drinking Coke.” Well, okay, some of you are trading your sex life for the pleasure of eating junk. Just be aware that that’s what you’re doing.
- Messed Up Priorities–Do you really have to watch Sports Center again at 11:00 p.m.? You had a window and it slammed shut with your wife’s tired eye lids. Get the kids to bed before your own bedtime. Putting kids to bed at 10 or 10:30 makes for sexual frustration. You’re just too tired to do it. Turn off the TV, the computer, the book, the phone calls, the kids, the housework, whatever, and get in bed in time to have sex.
- Body Discomfort–Or, for men, you hate your wife’s body. Rarely do men not indulge in sex because they’re ashamed of their body, but women are often ashamed of their flaws and avoid sex just so they don’t have to get naked in front of a guy. Men, you can go a long way to making your woman feel sexier. Tell her how hot she is. Touch her. Make it clear that you like her body the way it is and she’ll be more likely to give it to you. Women, get over it. He doesn’t care. He just wants it.
- You Hate Your Lover–Oh, you don’t want to admit it, but there it is. Sex requires a certain amount emotional engagement. Some men and women find themselves nearly impotent because they cannot imagine having sex with him/her. Their drive is gone. Men are as prone to psychological impotence as women, here. It’s called unresolved anger. Find a therapist and resolve it.
- Masturbation substitutes for the real deal–It’s faster. It’s easier. It’s less demanding. It can be fit in to the routine. It’s convenient for the emotionally stunted who have trouble in a mutual relationship. Whatever the issue, it’s a substitute. Maybe it’s not no sex drive, maybe it’s misapplied sex drive. If you’re in a relationship, it’s unfair to divert the attention away from your mate.
- Busy-ness–This is related to messed up priorities. A packed schedule demands rescheduling. Sex is important to the contentedness of a relationship. Put it on the schedule. The fatigue that comes from stress and running around must be dealt with for there to be enough energy to even want sex.
- Physical or mental illness–Depression kills desire….for anything. Anemia causes fatigue that interferes with any activity. There are many illnesses that cause problems with blood flow and energy. The underlying sickness needs to be dealt with first. The low sex drive is secondary.
Sex drive is a complicated thing. The most important thing to bringing it back is the desire to have it. There are many women and men who just don’t care about it, which might be fine for them. But a relationship means trusting the other person to be there for you in this way. If you’re not willing to get thing straightened around for you, how about trying to for your partner?
A healthy sex life can make life a lot more fun for everyone.
