Weekly Book Recommendation

Homer’s the Iliad.  The Trojan war started by a pansy boy named Paris that is both incompetent and a coward, and a woman named Helen.  A prime example of how easily a single woman can destroy a country and the kind of doomed romance, and “tragic” story that gets repeated in literature and life.

The lessons are all there for everyone to see, if only you look.

The paragon of male virtue in the story is Hector, Paris’ brother, on the side of the Trojans, brave yet peace-loving, bold and thoughtful, a good and loyal son, father, husband.

What happens to him in the war?  He dies of course and he dies knowing what fate awaits his son and wife.  His son is thrown from the walls and killed and his wife is taken as a concubine by a Greek.  She becomes a sex slave.

What of Helen though?  The woman that destroyed the lives of so many people?  She goes back to Menelaus her first husband.  She gets a pass for her bad behavior.

Menelaus, the ultimate beta cuckold cannot kill her because of her beauty.

There are other stories by other authors that have different fates for her, including, of all things, ascending to Olympus and there was a cult that worshiped her as a goddess.

What did she do, other destroy those around her and get away with it?  She was beautiful.  That’s it.

There in one woman, in the oldest story in western civilization, is the revelation that for simple beauty a woman gets worshiped and a pass for her bad behavior, while the noblest of men dies, his son is slain and his wife carried into slavery.

This attitude, which prevails today, is what truly undoes civilizations.  It explains the white knighting of the pedestalizers, of Calvin, and the virulent female supremacist movement of feminism.  Female beauty messes even with the thinking of people in the MRA.

Helen is not a paragon of beauty, she is the paragon of doom.

If civilization is to survive, if the MRAs are to succeed, this attitude must be controlled or overcome.  If it cannot, then female beauty, despite the pleasure it gives men, may be the most destructive force ever.

Weekend movie – Women’s ideal fantasy edition

This movie was brought up somewhere this week, and I decided it was a good one to throw in for a recommendation.  Not because it shows masculine behavior, but instead because it’s in the vein of a female fantasy, a la the Twilight movies.

Starring Cary Grant and Doris day, That Touch of Mink from 1962.

You get the idea.  A man with options is ensnared by lovely pristine Doris Day.  A guy with money decides he wants to settle down with a average looking girl and provide endless material gifts to her.

Interestingly, Cary Grant has another women’s fantasy movie from a previous era titled People Will Talk from 1951.  Not a good movie.  The gist is that Grant is a doctor who falls in love with a unmarried pregnant woman and marries her to save her reputation.  I put it up there in contrast to with That Touch of Mink and Twilight in case you’re interested in seeing how these fantasies have changed and how much they are still the same.

Are you unemployed?

Here’s a humorous clip going over some of the machinations the BLS uses in their calculations of the unemployment rate.

The other thing to keep in mind regarding the unemployment rate is that the way it’s calculated is completely different than it was during the great depression.  In short, during the depression, if you were of employable age and without a job, you were considered unemployed regardless of if you were a discouraged worker or a teenager.

I do have to pose the question.   If the US economy really came out of recession in the third quarter 2009, then why are sales tax and income tax receipts still declining?  As I’ve said before the consumer is 70% of our economy.  No consumer spending, no real economic growth.

Nobody expects the Scientific Iquisition, Part I

With all the revelations about the University of East Anglia Climactic Research Unit and their subversion of the peer review process, the scientific method, hiding/losing the source data, and the suppression of dissent, I thought I’d start a series looking at historical incidents of (loosely) similar types of behavior.  This blog is primarily a game/MRA venue, so do not fret, we’ll be getting back to that content shortly.  The positive thing to keep in mind  is that the process of science eventually proves these individuals were correct or mostly correct.  The negative, well, typically careers were destroyed and sometimes lives were lost.

My reason for starting this series is that our modern dumbed down society has been structured to accept the pronouncements of Science and Scientists without any critical thought or skepticism.  Scientists are human beings with the same petty empire building, often with a lack of social skills,  and many with a blind faith in their ideology.

How many of you have heard of Ignaz Semmelweis?  My guess is not many.  We all should know of Louis Pasteur’s and his germ theory of disease.  Even Joseph Lister is remembered for his promotion of sterile surgery and the use of carbolic acid as a disinfectant.  Before either of these two men was Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis.  Semmelweis was born in Buda, in the Kingdom of Hungary of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1818.  In 1837, Dr. Semmelweis went to Vienna to study law but ended up changing his studies to medicine.  In 1846, Dr. Semmelweis was appointed as an assistant to one of the medical professors at the First Obstetrical Clinic of the Vienna General Hospital.

At this particular teaching hospital there were two wards.  One where medical students would examine and deliver babies, and one where mid-wives would examine and deliver babies.  Many of the women coming to the clinics begged to be admitted to the mid-wives ward because it was commonly know that there was a higher mortality rate in the first ward with the medical students.

A disease know as puerperal fever, also known as childbed fever, was killing off mothers at a rate of 10%-30% in the first ward, but in the second ward with the mid-wives the rate was closer to 2%.  Semmelweis set out to discover why the difference existed.

Now in this particular era, doctors believed in the miasma theory of disease, ie the belief that bad air/ poisonous vapor caused diseases.  They also still believed in the four humors and dyscrasia theory of the make up and working of the human body.  The four humors theory was a hold over from Hippocrates’ time, ie 5th/4th centure BCE (amazing how little medical science progressed in 2200+ years).  Doctors believed that each incidence of disease was unique to each individual patient.

Semmelweis examined the differences between the two wards.  He determined that it couldn’t be over crowding of the ward because more women went to the mid-wives ward than the doctors ward.  It couldn’t be the techniques used in the wards as those were essentially similar.  Religious practices?  Nope, same.  Climate?  Obviously not.  The only difference he could come up with was the people who worked in the ward.  The doctoral students typically would come to the ward after performing autopsies on patients that had died the previous day.  Semmelweis believed there were cadaverous particles still on the hands of the students and that this was spreading puerperal fever.  His solution was for the students to wash their hands in chlorinated lime (essentially bleach) in order to remove the cadaverous particles.  The result?  Incidents of puerperal fever declined to levels below that of the midwives ward.

How did the medical community take his pronouncements?  For the most part they appear to have been rejected.  Not wholesale, as some hospitals did incorporate his procedures.  Many Doctors did not like the implication that their hands were unclean as they saw themselves as gentlemen.  Semmelweis was dismissed from Vienna due to what appears to be some combination of professional jealousy, Semmelweis’ social incompetence, and an revolutionary uprising in Hungary.  It wasn’t until approximately 20 years later, and roughly 2 years after Semmelweis’ death that Joseph Lister started to experiment with disinfecting wounds,   and surgical instruments applying Louis Pasteur’s recommendations to control the spread of disease.

Here are the sources for this post.  one. two. three. four. five. six.

For Your Amusement

First something economic, well now that I think about it both things are economic.  Lets talk delusions.

First an article from a guy that should not have the job he does.  With such insightful commentary as “The depression never came and the money kept rolling in, albeit at lower levels.”

Let’s stop and think.  The recent return of growth to the economy was spurred by two things:  the new home buyer’s tax credit and the cash for clunkers program.  Take those things away and you have negative growth.  Add in that we are still shedding jobs,”albeit” at a lower rate and I don’t see anything that convinces me that we’re not in the “beginning stages” of the Next Depression.

This toon thinks that all the money corporate america is holding on to is going to lead them on a spending spree in the near future that will spur growth.

Right.

Until we actually make a turn around, that is not going to happen.  If I had piles of cash, I would hold on to it too to make sure I weather the coming storm, which is what they’re doing.

I don’t have a fancy business degree, but even I can see that this guy is a train wreck, unless of course his job is really about propaganda to keep people happy and confident while the collapse occurs, in which case, he’s still over paid.

What amazes me is that people listen to this guy.  It must be the Bernanke factor, the more stupid you are on an epic scale, the more people admire you.

Ok, now on to a more amusing economic discussion regarding whether women would stay with a cheater “for money.”

65% of women say they would leave a cheating spouse.

This we know if not true because we understand the dark hearts of women.  They don’t leave their men when they’re cheating and they don’t generally leave them because they are abusive.  When do women leave their husbands?  When they think they can do better.

A cheating husband provides an emotional rollercoaster for them and women prefer the rollercoaster to the placid lake ride of respectable love in the canoe.

What is interesting is that they are coming right out and saying that how much money the man has makes a difference, even if they want to deny it.  If there wasn’t a cold calculation going on by women, there wouldn’t even be a discussion.

Can you imagine men having this discussion?  Of course not.

The thing speaks for itself.

Mangan’s is back up!

Go here.

Wedding of the Damned Postscript

For the wedding of the damned, go here.  For all of the build up for the Bachelor Party go here.  For the second night of lameness go here. For the day I abandoned Dead man walking go here.  For the end of the four days of misery go here.  For the fallout, go here and finally the prelude to the end is here.

Now that’s all out of the way and you are up to speed on the events involving DMW and TAW.  I will provide the follow up, that speaks more of the end of Western Civilization than can be conveyed in mere mortal words.

I received in the mail a thank you post card from the unhappy couple.  “Thanks for attending our wedding” went crisp red lettering on the glossing photo mat card.  The letters danced around three pictures of the bride.

That’s it.  No personal note.

The women that attended and gave a gift were offended because they got the same thing.

I laughed.

I just brought a box of Wyoming air to the wedding.

Criminal intent or terminally stupid?

You be the judge.  A 22 year old woman tapes 3-4 minutes of the new Twilight movie during the course of her sister’s birthday party (I’m assuming it’s obviously at the theater).  Theater staff see her, call the police and have her arrested.  She spends two days in jail before having a bond hearing.  She’s released on her own recognizance.  Now she’s facing 3 years in prison.

A sentence that would be just, but not fair.  Or they could drop the charges in which case one could say that two days in jail is fair but not just.  Will they or won’t they drop the charges?

Disparity

I am taking a martial arts class regularly.  I am not a black belt, I have a way to go.

One of the things the sensei has his students do is “body strengthening.”

What this translates into is getting hit.  Repeatedly, without body armor.

Well, I say without body armor, this is not entirely true, it is without body armor for the men.  The women wear body armor.  I have noticed in general sparring that the low ranks wear armor usually and the black belts don’t.

At least the male black belts don’t.  The female black belts do.  Supposedly someone of my rank shouldn’t be able to touch a black belt.

So the class is divided up into two groups: male and female.  This makes a certain amount of sense if there is contact, to divide people up male and female because of all the sexual harassment hysteria any male contact with a female’s upper body is verboten.

In addition to this though, the women wear body armor when facing each other.  The men do not.  When I say men, I mean anyone from the eighth grade up.  There are several eight grade youths in the class.  They take the hits without armor just like the rest of us.

So we are paired up.  I spend most of my time paired with a black belt.  The hits are not full on blows, but they are enough to sting, especially repeatedly, and they are given back and forth.  You give as you get (which provides some restraint in clocking people).

There are a couple male black belts, other than the instructor.  One could knock me into next week, the second is young, he too could kick my ass, but I suspect not nearly as badly.   Several of the eight graders out rank me.

I exchange blows and have sparred with them as well.  I can say this about the eight graders.  I know simply because of mass and strength and probably will power, despite ranking me, in an actual fight they would lose.

I also know that in the next three or four years if they are still doing the martial arts regularly that even if I catch them in rank, the odds will favor them in a fight.  They will be at their top physical condition, or close to it.

Which is going to be more prepared to handle a fight?  The ones that wear armor during the conditioning, or the ones that did not?  The answer is in the question.

There are other conditioning exercises.  One involves being in a push up position, and then alternating lift and hand and striking the floor with a fist, back and forth.

The women do this too, but they are in the “female” push up position (their knees are on the ground).  There are also other exercises that pit people against each other, including ones that deal with balance, strength, reaction times, agility.

The men are not paired up with the women.

While I agree that in a controlled setting, where points are awarded and rules are followed, women can be just as competitive as men, on the streets where there are no rules, the only advantage a woman has is either surprise, the unwillingness of the male to attack her, or the intervention of strangers.

Otherwise, the contest will go to the man.  Even the eight graders are seen as able to handle things the female black belts can’t.

My advice to women:  Get a gun and learn how to use it.  If you really want to be able to protect yourself, the martial arts is fine, but its the gun that puts you on equal footing.

Amusing take down of the ‘Twilight’ movies

So I’m a little late getting around to writing about the Twilight phenomenon.  I haven’t read the books, and I don’t plan to read them.  My LTR has read them and while she denigrates the writing, she was also quick to admit the reasons why women swoon over the character of Edward.  My LTR also doesn’t have much good to say about the character of Bella Swan (fuck could Mrs. Meyers come up with a more stupid, unoriginal name?  Granted all fuglies want to believe they are like the ugly duckling that becomes a beautiful swan, but seriously, it doesn’t generally happen).  A rare admission from the LTR and she refuses to see the relation between the portrayal of Edward and Game.  Who am I to disabuse her of her pretty lies?

Last week I ran across this post on The Best Article Every Day blog by John Scott Lewinski (Monica?  Cigar?  That just popped into my mind as I wrote this) titled Top 20 Unfortunate Lessons Girls Learn From Twilight.

1. If a boy is aloof, stand-offish, ignores you or is just plain rude, it is because he is secretly in love with you — and you are the point of his existence.

Well, whatever get’s the gina tingling.  John’s right, it doesn’t mean a guy is secretly in love with a girl.  It may mean he wants to bang though.  Guys who are aloof, stand-offish, or ignore a girl are also unlikely and/or unwilling to commit long term and would be foolish to be exclusive to one woman, let alone a girl like Bella Swan.

2. Secrets are good — especially life-threatening ones.

What woman doesn’t have secrets?  Heck, what man worth his salt doesn’t have secrets?

3. It’s OK for a potential romantic interest to be dimwitted, violent and vengeful — as long as he has great abs.

I think we’re going off the rails a little bit here.  Girls like the high testosterone guys.  Since there is a direct link between high T and lower intelligence and violence, I doubt it would matter if the guy has great abs.  The girls will still be attracted like moths to a flame.

4. If a boy tells you to stay away from him because he is dangerous and may even kill you, he must be the love of your life. You should stay with him since he will keep you safe forever.

Telling a girl to stay away because he’s dangerous and may even kill you is a sure fire way to attract the girls.  Talleyrand will vouch for me on this.  He tells his girls straight up that he is evil and will hurt them.  They are attracted to the danger.  They all think that they are the ones to calm the savage beast.  It never works.

OK, I’m going to skip over a few of the bulleted points as this seems to be getting repetitive.

8. Boys who leave you always come back.

9. Because they come back, you should hold out, waiting for them for months, even when completely acceptable and less-abusive alternative males present themselves.

See, this is what happens when I man writes a piece from a ‘nice guy’ perspective.  In our current sexual dystopia, nice guys are by definition unacceptable even if they are less-abusive.

11. Even though you have no intention of dating an alternative male who expresses interest in you, it is fine to string the young man along for months. Also, you should use him to fix things for you. Maybe he’ll even buy you something.

Whoops, we just described half the human race.  I haven’t met a girl yet who wouldn’t use a guy exactly as described in that sentence.

15. Men can be changed for the better if you sacrifice everything you are and devote yourself to their need for change.

Once again, I have yet to meet a woman who doesn’t set out to change their man from the moment they get them in a committed relationship.  It’s gotta be in their genes.  Then, after the guy has changed, he’s no longer the man they fell in love with and they feel perfectly justified in stomping his guts out (figuratively speaking).

16. Young women should make no effort to improve their social skills or emotional state. Instead, they should seek out potential mates that share their morose deficiencies and emotional illnesses.

As RooshV said, just about all women are mentally ill.  I thought all women by dint of their sex have perfect social skills and are in touch with their emotions.  Men, of course, being the neanderthals we are have poor social skills and are closed off emotionally.  Well, there you have it.  The last four bulleted points just rip on Stephanie Meyer and/or this turd of a movie.  Go and read the whole thing if you’re interested.