Blogging is Hard

The Cul-De-Sac Hero has been applying his heroism to other pursuits, namely T-Ball coach.  While the time demands are considerable, I feel that coaching a group of boys in the pursuit of a good swing, straight throws and consistent catching does far more good for the future of society than blogging ever could.  I think that OneSTDV would agree.

However, I swear that I won't pull a ONE and burnout and quit.  I will continue to be a Stalwart Moderate, sporadically posting meandering essays with varying levels of quality to my blog.  I'm just going to have to find new places to troll.  It shouldn't be difficult.  As a moderate, I can disagree with just about anyone.

Another pursuit I've taken up, rather by accident, is educating the youth.  A younger friend of mine was shopping for an engagement ring.  Always interested when a younger man decides to join the ranks of married men, I decided to see how he was doing on instant message:

Older Gent [9:13 AM]: Did you get engaged yet?

Young Buck [9:13 AM]: do i look stupid?

Older Gent [9:14 AM]: I thought you were shopping for a ring.

Older Gent [9:14 AM]: Hey, I was "stupid" enough to do it. [get married]

Young Buck [9:15 AM]: no, you crazy? no way i'm going to drop $10k

Older Gent [9:15 AM]: $10K for a ring???? F - that!

Young Buck [9:15 AM]: ya man, its the new standard

Older Gent [9:15 AM]: Don't believe it.

Older Gent [9:16 AM]: If your woman believes it, just think what you'll have to drop for a house.

Young Buck [9:20 AM]: told you, you're and old man, times are different
Young Buck [9:20 AM]: 1 cart is the min

Older Gent [9:22 AM]: I'd run away. I'm telling you, women have fallen for a sales pitch hook line and sinker.
Older Gent [9:22 AM]: There'll never be enough money to satisfy that desire
Older Gent [9:23 AM]: I don't mean to say anything bad about your girlfriend.

Young Buck [9:23 AM]: haha / you're not with the times

Older Gent [9:24 AM]: But I know guys who married really nice women who turned out to leave them because they "wanted more"
Older Gent [9:24 AM]: and more
Older Gent [9:24 AM]: and more
Older Gent [9:24 AM]: It's the consumer disease
Older Gent [9:25 AM]: women are the most aflicted.
Older Gent [9:26 AM]: house, trips, furniture, appliances, cars.... it adds up
Older Gent [9:26 AM]: and it starts with 10K rings
Older Gent [9:27 AM]: don't mean to scare you, kid. but think about it.

Young Buck [9:34 AM]: thanks for the advice

So, if anyone is reading this, do you think I was too harsh?  Or was I way off because he appears smart enough not to spend $10,000 on a piece of gold with a shiny rock that someone says is the standard (aka minimum) purchase.  Where did this standard come from?  Why do groups of people accept such arbitrary requirements?

I only reacted because it reminded me so much of a friend of mine who's wife suddenly left (frivolous divorce) because she wasn't satisfied and they were always fighting over money they didn't have which she still to wanted to spend.  At the time, I called it the consumer disease and told him that women feel the need (more than men) to obtain material things right away.  They are the target of a larger portion of advertising because, I think, their feelings of entitlement are easier for advertisers to exploit than any of the weakness men have.  Men have better resistance to marketing than women, but not perfect.

The theme of consumerism is one which I'd like to explore more deeply, but I doubt I will due to the usual constraints of time and energy.  I do find our willingness to accept truths that are marketed to us and willful blindness to the affects of the forces of marketing on our psyche disturbing.  I think it is the single worst threat to society and capitalism and the most important gap in our education system.

Canucks Fan Sexually Harrasses Sharks Player

Suppose the roles were reversed in this scene.

Of course, nothing would happen because men can go topless at sporting events and do so all the time.  Fembot-Liberal-nutcases commenting on the page seem to think that there is no difference between a man's chest and a woman's breasts.
Proactive Indifference writes:

Human Rights Violation?
If a man had bared his chest, nothing would have happened. It is common at sporting events for bare chested men, often with painted letters, to be shown off on camera. So why not a woman? This game was in Vancouver, and since 2008, women have had a right to legally bear their breasts. The arena authorities had no right to remove the woman. Since they would not even have asked a man to leave, this constitutes as a sexual harassment/human rights violation based on gender.

Right, because men have had the constitutional right to bare their breasts since confederation?  What breasts?  Also, the last time I checked, the arena (and all private venues) reserved the right to remove anyone.  I wonder how many men are removed compared to women?  If more men are removed, is that discrimination based on gender?

Bubbles4PM writes

Gotta love North American culture...

It's OK to knock the head off a player, bare knuckle scrap (all crimes in society) yet a woman hurts no one with a part of her body that is legal to be in public with (in most provinces) and she is treated like a criminal? Give me a break, is sexuality worse than violence?

Because I forgot that consensual physical contests should be curbed but involuntary exposure to sexual body parts, as long as it's a woman exposing herself to a man is ok in all but the most repressed societies.

Although most people would not put baring breasts on the same level as a man exposing his genitals, it is still in the same category since they are both sexual body parts. So what would happen if a man exposed his genitals?  He'd be put in jail and called a pervert.  But this wanton, intoxicated woman is somehow revered?  I don't think that she should be in jail, but I'd describe her behaviour to be worse (more offensive) than a green-man handstand which is also banned in the Rogers Arena.  Yes, men in tights are disgusting when viewed at the wrong angle.

Offense is not the right word to describe my reaction to this behaviour.  One would be hard-pressed to find a warm-blooded hetero-sexual, non-theist man who would be offended by the display of breasts.  I'm sure I would feel differently if my sons were watching at the time, but since West-Coast games are broadcast at 9pm so the little kiddies are away in bed, but I'm sure there are a few mothers and fathers who have feelings stronger than mine about this incident.

However, I am a concerned by the trend and the comical attitudes everyone takes.  Everyone knows that nobody is allowed to criticize a woman today [full stop].  A woman is free to do whatever she wants [full stop].  At least that is the prevailing opinion. 

If left up to young men, they'd be happy to have women bare breasts as much as possible.  I was when I was younger - heck, I'm more than happy to see an unexpected free show and probably will until the day I die.  But, to say that a woman's bare breasts are no different than a man's is ridiculous and it is time to let this idea die.  It was used in Ontario to successfully challenge the law outlawing bare breasts in public.  To the "surprise" of everyone and disappointment of some, breasts are not routinely bared in public here.  Apart from outdoor concert events, (having not been to one in over a decade, I can't say whether phone cameras have reduced the behaviour, if anything it seems to increase it) social standards, decorum and personal sense of decency have kept breasts covered in public for the most part. 

To feminists who hilariously try to argue that breasts are not sexual, I would ask one question:  What kind of assault is it if a man grabs a woman's breast?  If you say sexual assault, then it means that breasts are inherently sexual.  When a woman bares her breasts, her body sends signals to any male pair of eyes (connected through neurons and chemical reactions to a pair external sex organs) in view.  I see no reason that, if such signals are unwanted or done in a way meant to tease or distract that it could not be considered sexual harassment.  The man in my flip-side comparison would be jailed and put on a sex offenders list.  Why is there such a disparity of reaction to the woman's "crime" which varies only in severity.



To be clear, I agree with the Ontario law in that it should not be automatically be crime for a female to display her breasts in any circumstances.  But, it is one thing to lay on a beach (which is the only place breasts are commonly bared in public in Europe) and another still for a woman to go walking through a children's park or live television.  Perhaps we're generally too uptight in North America, but it does not mean that anything goes. 

Where, as a supposedly tolerant society can we draw the line on personal behaviour.  Currently, men have as many social boundaries as people can think of...  but women ...

Christian Righteous Anger Bait - Pink Toenails

I came across this at Thinking Housewife.

I read a few of the 5,000 or so comments and it occurrs to me how unequipped Christianity is to deal with Liberal baiting tactics.  A quick perusal shows a roughly 5-7 to 1 ratio of supporters of Jennas to people upset by it.  Most of the supporters comments take the form of taunts toward anyone who takes offence to Jenna's actions - basically summed up as "So what ... Big deal ... Shut-up you ignorant fools".  When I read some of the earlier comments, a lot of people were posting religion soaked diatribes that just elicit howls of laughter and more ridicule.
This is what a Christian looks like to Jenna Lyons and the rest of the "gay-is-right" lobby.

It's the same for the woman who let her son dress up as Daphne from Scooby Doo and then blogged about it.  What possessed her to post it to the world?  Simply to rile up the conservative masses so she and those like her can point out how "Homophobic" they are.  However, in Jenna Lyon's case there is a commercial interest.

I sent this article to a friend and he asked me what I thought, as a father of two boys.  I told him and he told me to check my homophobia.  It has nothing to do with that.  I'm not religious and I'm not homophobic.  That doesn't mean that I don't have a strong opinion about gender identity.  I find it sad to see someone trying to feminize her son while admonishing anyone who says it could be wrong. 

Kids are only forming their identities at that age - sexual or otherwise.  I seriously doubt these women had no part in their sons' propensities to form feminine identities.  The Daphne boy's mother stated that it was completely his own idea.  But, Jenna Lyon stats "Lucky for me, I ended up with a son who likes pink."  Really, she just ended up with the 1 in 1000 boys who likes to dress as girls.  So, now you can exploit him and show those precious, dainty toe nails to the world to sell more preppy shirts?

So, I have to admit that negative comments seem to have increased in skill, while the supporters seem to be more bewildering.  I couldn't resist posting a few comments despite not having enough time to finish this post (I'm going to be tired tomorrow).  Dr.Keith Albow provides a fairly decent admonishment, bringing up the point that it is also wrong to dress girls in slutty (my word) outfits.  Again, comments are mostly ridicule of his "ignorance".

Personally, I have nothing against gay people or gay lifestyles.  I believe that gayness is part of nature.  I simply find the extreme anti-gay crowd and the extreme pro-gay crowd are in this one-up-manship battle to see who can offend the worst.  Most of the people in the middle have the PC-indoctrination which means an inability to apply critical thinking to any issue and always siding with the pro-gay crowd lest you be seen as un-PC vis. Homophobic vis. hateful.  Yes people, you can criticize someone (even someone from an protected identity group) without impinging on their rights or being a hate-mongerer.

How Dare a Judge Describe a Sex Crime in Detail

Although he's campaigning for the Liberals, I like this guy.  I know that during an election, everything is under the microscope and people will try to dig up dirt on anybody but basically, he sounds like a reasonable judge.

First, although minimum sentences for "sexual assault/rape" fit in well with the Conservative tough on crime agenda, this judge has spelled out why they would be harmful under the current definition of rape/sexual assault and that in fact there far too many degrees of severity of this crime category to even think about jail as a mandatory punishment.  I think everyone just gets queasy when they hear an old man describe a young woman's genitals being fondled, but he's a judge so he deals with such details as a matter of his job.

Second, I'm glad someone has the guts to speak up about corruption on Native Reserves.

Third, I haven't read anything about the supposed white rights activist Liberal candidate André Forbes, but it seems that the Liberals chose a good candidate to fight against the white (French) rights party of Quebec.

Slut March

So, a Toronto Police Officer told a "personal protection" class not to dress like sluts.  Now the backlash.  We're inundated with idiotic repetition of the mantra that 'Women can dress however they want' in newspapers, TV and radio.  Is it totally lost on the marchers that women's bodies are basically biological instruments that constantly send messages to others?  Is it not the case that dressing 'like a slut' only sends those signals more strongly and the signals specifically suggest sexual readiness?

In this day and age where it is almost impossible to criticize women, it is ALWAYS seen as victim blaming to suggest that a woman's behaviour has anything to do with her risk of rape.  It is ridiculous when it seems that the only thing a woman has to prove in some places is that she had one drink to many to provide consent.  I imagine (or I like to), that most victims of rape did not provoke it in any way in much the same way that most dog bites are unprovoked.  However, a little education (which the cop mishandled mightily) can go a long way in preventing both.

I've lived with big dogs since i was a small boy.  I've learned not to tease dogs through their fences or cages and not to look a nervous dog in the eye.  Maintain a height difference if possible and carefully hold your hand out lower than a dogs mouth to let him sniff you.  Usually, this will avert any aggressive behaviour but it does not always prevent it.

By feminist logic, I have no responsibility for any bites that occur if I wander near a dog park after soaking my clothes in the drippings of prime rib roast.  If I were to do so, it would not excuse the owner if I were to have my legs chewed off by his pit bull.  But, I nobody would ever tell me that it was a smart thing to do. 

In case you're confused about the analogy, the woman is the person soaked in beef juice, the dogs are men's libidos and the dog owners are the men themselves. Yes, each man is responsible for his behaviour and it doesn't matter what the circumstances are.  It is true that a woman could walk down the street with no clothes on whatsoever and that does not give any excuse for rape.  However, it should be acknowledged that said woman is sending a message by dressing (or not) in that manner.  The message clearly is inviting sexual advances. 

It's all well and good to go around saying that women have the right to dress how they please with out facing any consequences.  However, society has become unable to criticize women for any overt sexual behaviour at any age no matter how outrageous lest we provoke the kind of reaction found at the Slut March. (I think we've generally lost the ability to even think critically at all).  The bottom line is that I wouldn't want my daughter (if I had one) dressing like a slut, at least until she's mature enough to understand and deal with the consequences of sending those types of signals.  One point most people miss is that as a father of two boys, I am also concerned that my sons will be receiving such signals from young women before they are able to deal with them.  Nobody wants to acknowledge that aggressive female sexuality can have damaging impact on boys - well, at least nobody would care about that if it were acknowledged.
I find that the current dilution of the definition of rape, becoming synonymous with the broader term sexual assault, along with the campaigns such as the one above are hurting the real victims of rape by trying to include many normal (albeit negative) aspects of sexuality.  I mean, calling it rape when a girl has a few too many drinks and has sex because she is too inebriated to consent to sex is an insult to Kimberly Proctor and other victims of sexual psycopaths.