Opus 2022-177: Let’s Start a Rumor

I finally finished The Brothers Karamazov and found myself wondering if Dostoevsky was really a woman.  I see that happening a lot in current science fiction.  If you see an author with initials instead of a first and middle name then there is a good chance it is a female author.  But my question is based more on style than the handle.

While it is not politically correct to bring it up, women tend to be more in contact with their emotions than men.  When they write they tend to focus more on emotions and relationships.  Men will get into action and physical conflict.  Obviously there is overlap and there are exceptions.  I realized that one of the reasons I had such a hard time finishing The Brothers Karamazov was because of all the long, tedious scenes that focused on emotions and relationships.  If it had not been a classic I felt duty bound to read, I would not have finished it.  I fell into scan mode.  The reader is faced with page after page of sharing inner thoughts about love and hate and visions and temper tantrums and all kinds of things that would be at home in a mental hospital.  I found that by skimming through I missed nothing I needed to know.

About the time of this thought I came across a short clip by Andrew Klavan about women swordfighters.  In discussing a movie with a woman as protagonist he commented that women heroes were no problem as long as they were women.  He said the main character was excellent.  The conflict she was having as part of the story was well done and entertaining but then she was dropped into a spot where she had to pick up a sword.  She defeated two trained soldiers, presumably with no training herself.  At that point the movie lost him because she became a man.  The catalyst for this was a discussion of the fact that a woman could never defeat a man in a sword fight.  I will let you listen to him and see if you agree but the point was woman and men are stronger in different ways.

If I really wanted to write a doctoral dissertation on my speculation I would be forced to read all of Dostoevsky’s works to test my hypothesis.  I am getting too old to make it through such a task and I find I am not serious enough to be interested.  I will leave that to you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-060: God’s Pronouns

Why does the Bible emphasize the Fatherhood of God and not the Motherhood?  Although I understand there are a few places where a female pronoun is used the overwhelming mass is for a male figure.  Is this just cultural or is it an eternal truth?  I did a quick search for the words “father” and “God” and came up with 160 matches.  It seems that most of the matches had the words separated and the “father” was an earthly father.  There were a few exceptions though.  One stands out,

(Isa 9:6 KJV)  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

There are no apologies, watering down or compromise in that statement.

A second search for the exact phrase “God the Father” came up with twelve matches, all in the New Testament.  A typical one was,

(Gal 1:3 KJV)  Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

So the testimony of the written word is that God is a masculine not a feminine.

This seems to offend the logic of our post-modern generation of 47 genders.  Wouldn’t a trinity of Father, Mother, Son make more sense?  After all it would reflect the reality of the family.  Maybe that is why the Muslims think Mary is part of the trinity.  It seems more logical.  Ignore that they got the idea from the heretics of Egypt.  It isn’t logical to our way of thinking.  That is one of the differences between a God who made man and a god made by man.

Keep in mind that the Bible was not written to “make sense” to the average skeptic.  It was written to reflect truth.  It was written to teach truth.  It is considered “God breathed”.  That is what inspired means.  To further confuse the issue we have

(Gen 1:27 KJV)  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

For those who tend toward male chauvinism this wall is put up to be run into.  While God is distinctly male the woman is also created in His image.  This was not an issue when I was growing up and I don’t think it was an issue for the preceding 6,000 years.  It is an issue today when we have our major institutions controlled by people who hate the God of the Bible.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-140: Headlines: The New Lottery

The Miss America Pageant has decided to do away with the swim suit competition.  If they had just gone ahead and done it with no announcement I would have never known because I don’t think I have ever watched it unless my wife wanted to sometime in the past.  Long ago I found that walking through an expensive bakery was not a good idea for an overweight diabetic. 

What I think was interesting was the idea that the women in the competition should not be judged on looks.  Okay.  Then to be consistent we would need to bring out the burkas and hook up those machines that disguise your voice.  If we are really concerned about doing away with physical responses then we can expect to see further announcements. 

Of course if we are trying to level the playing field we will also need to do away with other areas that some might have an unfair advantage.  Since some people are born tone deaf we could not have any musical talent displayed.  Some people do not speak English so there could actually be no verbal responses possible if we want to be fair.  To be complete we need to do away with anything having to do with intelligence also. 

As we continue down the road of the absurd we need to consider the comments by some that we must be sensitive to those who were born male but identify as female and have not gone public.  In fact, maybe limiting the competition to just women seems to be a bit discriminatory.  It should be open to all 49 gender identifications, or whatever the current number is. 

I would suggest that the only logical future for the Miss America Pageant is to become the Ms/Mr America Lottery.  If that ever becomes a reality and the rewards are good enough I might be inclined to sign up but only if there is no age discrimination.

What a world we are living in.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-3: Why Your Wife Doesn't Understand You

Male humor gets you in trouble in a female world.

Face it.  Most women have no sense of humor, at least the women in my life.

I am not talking about locker room humor that focuses on sex.  I am talking about the kind of thing that Don Rickles was famous for and the comments the you would hear on “Celebrity Roast”.  Men who are friends can throw out all kinds of insulting remarks and understand that it is among friends.  It is often funny.

The label has morphed over the years.  We have knocked, chopped, ragged, pounded, and of course roasted.  The current term that is being used is “bagging”. 

The kids I work with don’t understand when I make disparaging remarks about myself.  They get this strange look on their face and say in wonder, “You’re bagging on yourself!”  Yes, I am.  Funny is funny and is often based on the unexpected or divergent viewpoint.  Often what I say about myself isn’t that funny.  It is a simple statement of the obvious, but it catches them off guard because I am saying it about myself.

Women will never understand.  Neither will the modern feminized version of men. 

So how many old, bald, male bloggers does it take to put down a toilet seat?  We don’t know because it has never been done.  The ladies may understand the point but might not think it is funny.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-210: DEFCON: Happy Faces

DEFCON is having an identity crisis.

At DEFCON you have a group of guys in charge of security.  They are called goons, officially.  They have red shirts and black shirts that say “Goon.”  These guys have had a hard edge that you would expect for people running security at a con full of hard drinking, rebellious nerds.

Enter diversity.

We now have female goons.  Some of them are petite and totally non-threatening.  Since I am not a violent person and only need them to answer an occasional question, I can deal with that.

Enter the consequences of diversity.  Yesterday as I was going through a check-point in the early hours of the morning there were two goons checking badges.  One was a stocky guy with a surly look who was obviously someone you did not want to meet in a dark alley.  The other was a chirpy little girl with a big smile and a cheerful, “Good morning.”  This is very ungoonish.

What is the world coming to?

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-186: Chauvinism: Why Men Run the World

Historically men have run the world, at least on the surface.  Until the invention of the gasoline engine brought equality to much work and the revolver meant that big muscles and sharp swords did not finish all arguments, it stayed that way.  Men were better at killing things and hauling the carcass home.  Also men did not have babies.  Put it together and the power was in the hands of the men.

That doesn’t explain why men still seem to be in the drivers seat.  If it were not for the coercion of government affirmative action there would still be few women in leadership.  Why is that still true?  I got a clue yesterday.  My wife and I had been taking care of some business and it was time to go.  She was driving.  Or she would have been if she could find her keys.  She had to go through her purse three times before they miraculously appeared.  We have the same problem with her cell phone.  Even when it is ringing she sometimes can’t find it.  It isn’t because she carries a purse.  If I carried a purse I would always have my keys and cell phone in a specific location.  Until women can organize their purses they will not rule.

Since I am on the topic I can give you another example:  Bathroom lines.  Look around as you are out and about.  At the airport the ladies room had a line coming out the door.  The men’s room was easy access.  For some reason my wife mentioned the three stalls in the ladies room at a realtor’s office we were at.  The men had one sitter and one stander.  Amusement parks are getting in the habit of making the ladies room much larger than the men’s.

Are things more equal than they used to be?  Yes.  Is that a good thing?  Yes.  Should people be paid equally for equal work?  Yes, even though that would mean lowering a few women’s salaries. 

Real equality will never be reached, though, until you ladies learn to keep track of your keys.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-263: Sexual Harassment and Geeks

DEFCON is over for the year.  I may continue to throw in thoughts generated by the CON. 

I was at dinner with a group of DEFCON geeks.  In the crowd were a couple of the security detail.  They call themselves goons and wear red, labeled t-shirts to prove it.  We had one young lady in the group.  The topic of sexual harassment came up.

Someone thought to ask the lady’s perspective and she was willing to share.  She said most guys were fine but there always seemed to be a few that could not keep their hands to themselves or understand the meaning of the word “No.”  At this the security guys came unglued.  They told her to point these guys out to her and they would make sure it didn’t happen again.  Then if became clear she was talking about other conventions.  She made it clear that she had never had any trouble at DEFCON.  The geeks seem to be perfect gentlemen.

There seem to be two reasons for that.  One is that the security team will not put up with that foolishness.  The second reason that came out was that there were so few women that attend DEFCON that they are treasured and protected.  The geeks may be immature, rowdy and drunk but they value the ladies that will put up with them. 

So ladies, if you are looking for a target rich environment full of bashful nerds where it is very safe to hang out, plan on DEFCON next year.

I am married and a one-woman-man so I have no vested interest in this.

homo unius libri