All entries for February 2006

Has Feminism Hurt Women?

Writing about web page http://my.opera.com/khankrumthebulgar/blog/show.dml/129036

Linked to is an interesting article, by a career woman, on how feminism has hurt her.

Here are a few interesting quotes

Far too often, it seems to me, the unwitting price of female emancipation has been heartache, stress and a life spent chasing false promises

That’s what happens when we start to stray from the truth of the universe, as created by God. Men and Women are different, have different roles, think differently and have different biology. We can’t say that men and women are equal in all aspects, when this just isn’t true

Sandra admitted that the divorce settlements at the top of the league were having a trickle-down effect. "I think that it has created a groundswell of anxiety in men, and it is certainly in my experience putting men off getting married at all". So, by supporting and perpetuating an increasingly unfair divorce system, we are in effect putting men off marriage – the institution most women still believe makes them happier and more secure than any other. How sad.

I would personally say that this doesn’t apply to me. I (as a man) don’t currently feel put off by the divorce culture that exists, but maybe that’s because of my faith. Put simply I’m expecting marriage to be for life, with only a few reasons for divorce permitted (aldultery being one). I also desire to (eventually) marry a women who believes the same. Also I’ve not experienced divorce in my close family, so I think that I have less fear of it happening to me.

And so my journey had brought me full circle, from the past generation to the future one, and the thread running through it all was a startling realisation that women are covertly contributing to our own unhappiness. So why had we put up with it for so long? Because to tell the truth felt like a betrayal of the core promise of feminism, an admission of failure. But women haven't failed: it's just that our expectations were unrealistic. We set the bar too high and so have spent our lives crashing into it. The simple truth is that we can't have it all. We can't have everything we want, when we want. (emphasis added)

I think the last quote is the most pointient. We can’t have everything we want when we want. In fact, many of the things we really want are the most damaging to us. We want to rule our own lives, but this is the most damaging thing we can ever do.

From a student’s point of view, we want to live the student life now, living for now, living to excess and partying hard. But this is so very damaging to us. We end up with large amounts of debt, that sometimes we just cannot service. We want something for nothing (as evidenced by the anti-fees campaign that essentially says “I don’t want to pay for my time at university, so someone else must”).So often I think that a more sober mind in students would save so much heartache in latter life.
I’ve seen so many throw-away relationships in my time at university that I am saddened. People in relationships for the here and now, with little thought of the future. Not to say that I’ve been perfect in this and other regards, but I’m in my 5th year of watching the folly of students, and I’ve seen much.

We want to define for ourselves our sexuality, without realizing that god designed us to work a certain way, and that when we go our own way it damages us. We drink and smoke and party hard, neglecting the temple that is our bodies.

Maybe a much more sober mind among students is needed.

That’s it for now.

: 17 Feb 2006 17:39 |  Tags: Feminism General |  Comments (5) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Post Valentine's Day Rant (not what you think)

After the “festivities” yesterday of Valentine’s Day I felt a rant coming on. So here we go.

This isn’t your standard commercialisation rant or a singleness rant but something subtly different.

I’m a Christian. A Christian with a very lovely girlfriend. As such I wanted to get her something for Valentine’s Day. Having done this, I of course, wanted a card to go with it. As my artistic skills are a little lacking, I thought I’d buy one. And here in lay my mistake

However, I hadn’t reckoned on the minds of those who come up with these cards, because, I was, quite frankly, shocked by what they showed.

Being a Christian, I’m a no sex before marriage kinda guy.

So, given that unmarried Christain men (and women) must form a significant market out there, is it so difficult to find a Valentine’s Day card that doesn’t outright talk about sex between the card giver and receiver or isn’t either dripping in sexual innuendo, or so horribly mushy that it makes you sick to read it. Why is it so damm difficult, and presumably non-financially viable, to sell a clean, simple card, with minimal messages inside for us to add our own messages. I really don’t want a card that suggests new sexual positions for us (me and my girlfriend) to try.

Come on card makers, there’s a market out there for such cards, both men and women who would like to send a clean card to which they can add their own personal messages.
Well next time I’m making my own card, no matter how rubbish it looks compared to a well drawn and printed shop one, at least I won’t be saddened by the other cards on display and put off getting any card for someone else by the rather sad and pathetic cards on sale.

At least the thought will count.

Bar-humbug

: 15 Feb 2006 15:46 |  Tags: General Rant |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

My Imperial Guard Army – 362nd Matherian Experiditionary Force

Follow-up to My Imperial Guard Army – 362nd Matherian Experiditionary Force from SoundRich MkII

Fast Attack

The Fast Attack section of the army is about being just that, fast. It tends to be made up of units that are generally able to fight better on the move than the other sections of the army, are typically the fastest in the army, and are often lightly armoured.

There are two fast attack choices in my army. These are my sentinel squadron and my Hellhound flame tank “Asher”

Sentinel Squadron

At the moment there is but one sentinel in my sentinel squadron. Sentinels are lightly armoured walkers that support the infantry. The sentinel is armed with a multi-laser, a rapidly firing anti-personnel and light anti-armour weapon.

I often don’t use the sentinel in games, simply because it’s so lightly armoured

Hellhound – “Asher”

The Hellhound flame tank is a medium tank, equipped with a long range flamethrower.

It’s best used to skirt round the flank, moving fast and avoiding being shot, and then bursting out and shooting with everything it’s got. Against most enemies it’s quite capable of killing a squad per turn.

– next in the series Heavy Support

: 09 Feb 2006 22:23 |  Tags: Games-Workshop Hq Imperial-Guard Units |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

My Imperial Guard Army – 362nd Matherian Experiditionary Force

Follow-up to My Imperial Guard Army – 362nd Matherian Experiditionary Force from SoundRich MkII

Troops

Sorry for the long gap between the elites and my troops section but here we go.

Troops form the core of all armies for Warhamer 40,000. They represent our basic troopers, who bear the brunt of the battle. They often represent the most tactically flexible units in your army, able to soak up firepower and hit hard against either troops or enemy armour both at range and in close combat. Troops are essential for winning the battle, since, although they can't do everything as well as the more specialised units can, they have few weaknesses. Also in some battles, they will be the only thing you can depoly at the start of the battle, and so become essential for your battle.

Imperial guard troops units work a little differently to other armies. In other armies, you buy one unit per choice on the force organization chart (a chart that determines how many of each type of unit (HQ, Elites, Troops, Fast attack and Heavy Support) you can have in your army). However, for an Imperial guard army the main troops choice is called an Infantry Platoon. This consists of a command squad (5 men) and 2 to 5 infantry squads (of 10 men each). All these can then be bought upgrades.

Imperial Guard armies also have Conscript Platoons (large squads of more poorly trained but cheaper men) and Armoured Fist Squads (single infantry squads of 10 men mounted in an IFV) available instead of taking an infantry platoon. However to take a conscript platoon or armoured fist squad requires you to take an infantry platoon first, limiting their numbers.

My army at the moment consists of 2 Infantry Platoons with 3 squads and a Conscript Platoon. I plan to add an Armoured Fist Squad in the near future.

Command Squads

Each Platoon is lead by a command squad consisting of a junior officer and 4 men. In my army the Officer is equipped with a boltgun, one man with a grenade launcher and 2 men in each squad form a weapons team equipped with either a missile launcher or an autocannon. The Autocannon is a long range fairly rapid firing weapon, designed for engaging enemy heavy infantry and light to medium armoured vehicles. It lacks the strength to take on the heaviest armour in the games, but makes up for this with its long range and higher rate of fire.
These pictures show the command squads for the two platoons in my army.

Infantry Squads

Each platoon is identical in terms of the infantry squads that it contains. Each contains 3 squads each of 10 men, with a special and heavy weapon. These are a squad with a missile launcher and a grenade launcher

A second squad carries a plasma gun (powerful but prone to overheating!) and an autocannon.

A third Squad carries another plasma gun, and a Lascannon (one of the best anti-tank weapons in the game, at least the man portable ones)

Concript Platoon

The conscript platoon consists of 20 conscripts armed with lasguns and two flamers. They’re cheap, poor shots (BS 2!) and poor morale. But the whole squad costs less than 100 pts, so they’re a good gun fodder.

These units (Infantry and Conscript platoons) do most of the fighting in my army, both at long range and short range. They also absorb the majority of the points cost of my army, as befits they’re central role. All my games are won or lost based on my use of these units, and their positioning and movement.

-next in the series “Fast Attack”

: 03 Feb 2006 18:22 |  Tags: Games-Workshop Hq Imperial-Guard Units |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Finally, a date for the IONA live at London University Union Date

Writing about web page http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/voiceprint.php/Catalogue/Coming/OPENSKYDVD2

As I posted on my undergrad blog about 14 months ago I went to a fantastic concert by Iona at London University Union in london. Well it looks like there's finally a date for the rellease of the DVD (which I paid for with my ticket), 6th March is the release date. Hopefully I'll still be here when this rolls round.

4 Weeks to go!!

: 03 Feb 2006 15:30 |  Tags: Concert DVD Iona Music November |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem