Gary December 26th, 2009
If a woman were to tell her friends that she is the one that cooks and cleans, her friends would think that she was being horribly oppressed and they would tell her so, perhaps offering to confront her husband. Conversely if she mentions that her husband does all of that for her, her friends would say, “He really loves you”.
Women should not be embarrassed of admitting to caring for and serving their spouse and children, as their grandmothers and mothers have, and their marriages lasted longer.
Men like a woman who respects and appreciates them, cares and cooks for them, makes them feel important and on occasion even assumes the traditional role of a man, such as paying for a meal or initiating intimacy.
Women should not mar the kind act of caregiving by construing it to constitute gender privilege, weakness or subservience.
Gary November 13th, 2009
We all have strengths and weaknesses, and where we possess special powers or talents, we are supposed to use it for good, to help the weak, not to harm others.
Chivalry in medieval times called for male physical strength to be used constructively, such that women be treated better than how they were being treated at the time. Women possess greater emotional strength, and chivalry in modern society calls for this emotional strength being used for good; to protect and nourish men emotionally.
The unfortunate truth is that a large proportion of adult women today, especially in western society, seem to have a grudge against men at large. Unlike feminists, they believe they are superior to men, refer to themselves in the collective (as in “we women”), put-down men in conversations, ill-treat and attempt to dominate men in general and in relationships. It is no different than a man misusing his physical strength to beat or rape a woman. Such women are responsible for giving rise to misogynists.
If a woman were to slap a man in public, other women would likely cheer her, and men might say he asked for it. If genders were reversed, other women would be appalled and protest, likely report to the police and a chivalrous man would step in to protect the woman. Why the difference? Women have men convinced that they are always the ones at fault, which in itself is abusive, so they believe that the man deserved it, whereas women as a collective look out for each other. The sexist double standards of modern society are evidently in reverse.
Women too need to be chivalrous and step in to defend a helpless man against a vile woman, since they have the emotional strength to deal with another woman. There should be no hesitation lest it be construed as emasculating. Chivalry is charming, and as long as it comes from a good heart it is not at the mercy of how it is perceived. If it is not appreciated, it is the recipient’s loss.
Gary October 30th, 2009
I have had quite a lifestyle change since my initial post on this subject.
I now prefer walking to driving, and so the video store no longer seems nearby. I do not consider it worth the time and effort to walk two kilometres each way twice, first to rent, then return a movie.
I appreciated the value of having a car in the past week when I did not have access to one, for two days. I now reserve driving principally for essential commuting to not too far beyond walkable distances and when and where walking is difficult to impossible due to time or weather. The video store is not worth the special trip.
Renting by mail is a reasonable option if one were to get postal mail delivered and picked up at the door. I do not like to specially dress warm and walk to the mailbox on a cold day if I am not otherwise planning to go out. I also do not like the physical handling involved, of opening and shredding envelopes, washing, loading and unloading discs and ensuring these are received and returned in a timely fashion.
Physical copies, not downloads, remain the only way to get 1080p high-definition content and movies released on physical media but not available for download. Buying a physical copy, especially on DVD, is in most cases cheaper than the comparable standard definition downloadable version and serves as a backup against data loss.
I now go for convenience and download movies that are either only available for download, bargain-priced, won’t benefit too much from a higher quality copy on disc or something I want readily available jukebox-style. I get movies on disc if they are only available on disc,
are bargain DVDs, warrant getting the best available quality on Blu-ray or need to be playable on any disc player.
The lifestyle change also makes me feel the need to have fewer physical possessions grounding me, so as to be as mobile as possible I am more open to owning downloads as opposed to discs.
Gary May 2nd, 2009
There are people that (a) either take a stand based solely on merits, (b) withhold comment or opinion, or (c) side with who they benefit from.
I am dismayed to find myself alone in the first category. The nicest people I meet lack the courage to endure unpleasantness and/or are apathetic to morals, and as such form the second category. The majority of people I come across fall in the third category.
It is bad enough having to live with spineless cowards; one could forgive them for being weak, but not for being indifferent. It is much worse when the population is mainly comprised of scumbags.
I need not look far; I have had to mould my own family, instill the courage to speak out for what is just with no age bias or fear; and it is an ongoing effort. The memory of a senior family member choosing to retain an unruly paying client over retaining me at our family business just does not fade away.
People in general side with who they need or benefit from the most. It is about valuing friendship and/or an ongoing business relationship over doing the right thing, and such skewed ethics are the norm. There is no moral dilemma to speak of, it’s just business as usual.
Gary April 21st, 2009
Why must we die prematurely, by not living rich lives? Why are we being killed slowly by eco-friendly products that deprive us of the quality we deserve to have today? I care about the environment, but everything in extreme is bad. What is worse is, consumers who are being called upon to help the environment by using eco-friendly products are not the real culprits; it is the businesses with the power to corrupt governments to allow dumping of toxic waste and governments themselves wanting to protect their votes by preserving the jobs of those employed in activities detrimental to the environment.
The government still burns coal for the generation of electricity, to protect the jobs of coal miners. How could consumers possibly outdo the government in polluting the environment, no matter how much gasoline or plastic we use?
We the consumers are the worst affected, as we have to live with buying expensive items like cars, computers and such made of “highly recyclable meterials” that cannot withstand moderate temperature changes, let alone any kind of impact. The big businesses love being eco-friendly, as they can charge more by product differentiation and for products that are otherwise inferior and not durable. So you no longer can expect a Bimmer to be unscathed in a minor impact, have an iPhone that doesn’t crack from normal use or even have eyeglasses that have the anti-reflective properties and durability of yesteryears.
Then there’s guilty consumers who, like donating to a church to acquire the right to sin, buy carbon offsets to purge their guilty conscience. Perhaps even to make a statement that they care for the environment. How is a Lexus LS 600hL 5.0 litre 438 horsepower hybrid, that leaves behind a whole different eco-system and probably pollutes the environment more in manufacture, really eco-friendly? That is nothing more than making a statement about being eco-friendly, not actually being eco-friendly.
Gary December 20th, 2008
I believe that Internet bandwidth is precious. It need not be conserved as it is not likely to “run out”, but nonetheless used sensibly. It is very liberating to be always connected with no per-minute charges and seemingly unlimited data transfer allowances. It is icing on the cake to have a theoretical 10Mbps or faster connection with burst download speeds of 1MBps.
I did not grow up with all-you-can-eat Internet. I started using the Internet at the age of 25. I initially had UNIX shell account dial-up access, followed by dial-up TCP/IP access the following year. These were charged by the minute for both the phone call to dial in and Internet connection charges. One has to govern oneself in such situations.
It then naturally seems wasteful to me to use the Internet for downloading movies, or worse, renting movies and TV shows for one-time viewing. If you remember (or know) what telex is and how much it used to cost, you will appreciate the value of sending e-mail (and instant messages) at no cost per message, and thereby realize how precious bandwidth is given that legitimate e-mail takes up no appreciable bandwidth. Given the current state of the Internet, I have grown comfortable with using it for VoIP and video netcasts.
Using Internet bandwidth for renting movies routinely and as one’s primary source for TV shows still seems abusive to me. It is much more bandwidth-friendly to rent the same movie at a similar price from the video store on disc, and get better quality especially with Blu-ray disc. If you don’t have a video store nearby or don’t like getting out in the cold (except to the mailbox), renting by postal mail is much cheaper, usually $2.00 each inclusive of postage both ways on a $20.00 per month plan as you can average 10 movies per month. Buying physical copies of movies similarly gets you better quality and a backup disc, so you won’t need to buy that expensive NAS for storing all those downloaded movies. You could also inadvertently exceed your bandwidth limit and end up paying a lot more.
Gary June 7th, 2008
Jesus Christ, or any good and pure person, is more valuable to society dead than alive. If He were to be reborn, the people profiting from His name would be the first ones to want Him dead. Society would once again virtually nail Him to the cross because pure, honest and just people have no place in today’s society. Good people are social misfits because they do not pander to the the large proportion of society that has tainted values.
Gary June 7th, 2008
Society is increasingly litigious. This comes from believing that another person owes one for whatever reason, and the only way to get what is owed is to be aggressive and snatch it away from that person, rather than ask nicely. The belief itself might be unsubstantiated, let alone the unscrupulous means deployed to get what is supposedly owed.
Contrary to popular belief, a store does not owe a refund or even an exchange for merchandise that one decides to return, unless it is part of the conditions of sale. Just because a store extends a courtesy, it does not make it one’s right in the defense of which one should get obnoxious and argumentative in order to snatch what is not rightfully owed.
People are accustomed to demanding what they consider to be their right, such as their expectations of another person’s duty and obligation to them, while paying no heed to their own duties and obligations to others, because doing so would not be profitable.
So it all comes down to profit. Society has forsaken morals and humanity for profit. How can one expect to lead a fulfilled life while constantly fighting over money through disputes, claims and lawsuits and have no time to live every moment to the fullest?
Gary February 18th, 2008
I thought cleaning a $20 keyboard with a $7 can of compressed air was stupid. How smart then is paying more for batteries than the toy? It is not like a razor and blades, where the overpriced blades are tied to a specific razor. We have the choice to say “no” to toys that require 3 ‘C’ and 4 ‘D’ batteries – case in point, the Hot Wheels Acceledrome Race Track Set. Then there’s the Tyco RCs with proprietary battery packs that cost $45, beyond the $60–$100 one has paid for the toy! Makes other RC toys like the RadioShack Porsche 911 that requires 8 ‘AA’ and a 9V seem reasonable, except the ‘AA’s in the car last only a few days!
Gary April 22nd, 2007
I think most people “just don’t get it”, or feign ignorance or play dumb as an avoidance tactic. But that would make them overly clever and deceitful. So then why are most people clever and not clean?
What about being a person of your word? Promises, contracts, estimates etc. have no sanctity for most people. They consider it perfectly acceptable to go back on their word, to suit what’s convenient for them. I consider them flakes. Or are they smart in doing what’s in their best interest?
Most people expect an apology for others’ legitimate mistakes, but don’t so much as own up to their own wrong doings, let alone apologize. What’s worse is that they meekly detract from the issue and shift the focus to their “feelings being hurt” due to the confrontation, rather than admit and apologize. Why such moral weakness?
So most people are either stupid or dishonest; and don’t so much as think twice about their actions – perhaps because when a large proportion of people do the same thing, it becomes “normal”.