Strong Women In Iran

 and other things...Today I'm going to talk about three movies I have watched recently. 

The first one is called Mazar Sharif . It was produced in 2015 in Iran and can be watched on YouTube with English subtitles. 

Genre: war drama. Based on real events. It's 1990s and Taliban is taking over in Afghanistan. Ten Iranian diplomats are stuck in Mazar Sharif, where their only hope lies in their diplomatic immunity. However, mujaheddin have other plans. They break into the embassy, rob it, then line everyone up against the wall and shoot them. One guy manages to survive, but will he make it to the border though? (hint: he wouldn't, without a strong woman to help.)

The moral: war is bad. It's also the fault of the West.

The next one is A Bullet For The General, a 1967 Italian film, which can be watched over here.

Genre: spaghetti Western. A mysterious American joins with Mexican rebels, ostensibly to share in the profits of the illegal arms sale, but what is his real objective? 

The moral: while others fight for common good, gringos usually fight for money (sorry, my American friends, I do love you:)

The last one is a (quite recent) film by Johnson Production Group, the one which makes movies for Hallmark Channel. It's called Three Weeks, Three Kids and is also on YouTube.

Genre: chick flick. A frivolous young woman is forced to grow up when the circumstances demand that she watches her eldest sister's three kids. 

The moral of the story: taking care of a family is not for ditzheads. 

All three movies are very different, so you can choose whatever suits your taste:)

Doctors Aren't Arbiters Of Morality

 Tell me why we should respect "healthcare professionals" again:

A mail survey was conducted among all physicians and paramedical professionals involved in late TOP (termination of pregnancy) decision-making in all eight centers with a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Flanders, Belgium (N = 117)...

Late TOP was highly accepted in both lethal fetal conditions (100%) and serious (but not lethal) fetal conditions (95.6%). Where the fetus is healthy, 19.8% of respondents agreed with late TOP for maternal psychological problems and fewer respondents (13.2%) agreed with late TOP in the case of maternal socio-economic problems (P = .002). Physicians more often preferred feticide over neonatal palliative care in the case of non-lethal fetal conditions compared with paramedical professionals (68.1% vs 53.2%, P = .013). Almost nine out of ten respondents (89.1%) agreed that in the event of a serious (non-lethal) neonatal condition, administering drugs with the explicit intention to end neonatal life was acceptable. Behavioral intentions indicate that even in situations with an unclear diagnosis and unpredictable prognosis, 85.6% of professionals would still consider late TOP. 

Neonatal refers to a 
the newborn and especially the human infant during the first month after birth, so we aren't talking abortion any more but straight out infanticide which most Belgian doctors working in this care unit are perfectly OK with. I would be perfectly OK with redacted.

Sometimes I wonder whether there is still something worth fighting for in the current version of the West...Glad we still have enough Christians over here, but for how long?

Palm Sunday

 

It's Palm Sunday today for Western Christians, the 1st day of the Holy week. 

We went to church today as we are planning to go on a short vacation Easter Weekend. To attend, we have to write ourselves down beforehand on Monday (!), but we are now allowed to sing the last hymn all together, which is nice. A friend in Norway told me everything is closed over there, till April 11. How are things in your neck of woods?

The Real "Trad"

 There have been autistic discussions online about what does it mean for a woman to be fully "trad". Now look girlies, here's an example:

 

Seriously though, not everybody's close ancestors were subsistence farmers:)

Gold Is The Girl's Best Friend

 Well, I don't know about the diamonds, but gold appears to be good for your health:

 From the ancient times, benefits of gold like healing and curing properties are used, and you’d be surprised to know how gold can actually improve your overall well-being. Moreover, one of the researches confirmed that wearing gold on skin can improve and alleviate rheumatoid arthritis symptoms in a significant proportion of sufferers...

So if you have some gold jewellery which you don't regularly wear, it's time to take it out of the drawer and put it on! It'll make you feel more feminine, too. It's not wrong to feel pampered.

 Gold is in itself something that makes most happy. However, its influence on the wearers health and life is more important than a fashion statement that if portrays while wearing them. Moreover, if it would help you to feel better by buying, receiving, or wearing an expensive piece of gold jewelry then it is worth a buy and anytime you feel slightly stressed or depressed, you can always look at it, and let it help you to become more positive and motivated in life.

 

Going Back In Time

 Feeling nostalgic right now, who still remembers when this song was popular???

Slandering A Woman's Honour

 In Islam, slandering a chaste woman is punishable by 80 lashes. 

They appear to take the issue quite seriously, and while the penalty sounds rather extreme by modern Western standards, the idea behind it is not without merit. In fact, I think the casual slander of women by some figures on the right is quite disgusting.

I'll give you some examples without naming anyone. When discussing a divorce in certain circles, not only all the blame would be automatically assigned to the wife, but her motives would often be presumed as the desire to wh*re around. The fact is, since we have a no-fault divorce nowadays, you aren't obliged to give any reason, and you guess what? Many don't. Some people were still raised with the principle of not hanging your dirty laundry in public. People will cite "irreconcilable differences" exactly because they don't want to malign their spouse and the father/mother of their children.

And actually, it's not really your damn business why some couple on the internet divorced. Unless you have the proof female adultery was behind it (which, of course, happens) it's really not up to you to judge. There is something creepy behind it, too.

Still, one could argue that those who choose to have a presence on the internet are a fair game, since they are now a public figure. OK, there is some truth behind it. But it often goes further than that. Instead of the presumption of innocence, there is the presumption of guilt. What about all the talk about church girls being sl*ts, who only bother to behave decently on Sunday? I mean, WTF? These girls are your sisters in Christ, and  they are also someone's daughter, sister and cousin. 

And then, how do you know they are all wh8res? Did you fornicate with all of them? Well, then it makes you a wh8re-monger, hardly something to be proud of. You are just as guilty as those women, and a snitch as well, and we all know what happens to snitches...

I have a feeling that some of these men don't really want a return to "traditional patriarchy" and they wouldn't fare too well in some of these societies, their idea of "tradition" is a 1960's James Bond movie. Every woman he wants he gets etc.

Also, young girls are under authority of the families/fathers. It's not up to some random man who probably just wants to bang her, to presume any sort of authority above her, unless they get married.

BTW, I'm not trying to say that one can't criticise women (or men, for that matter), or the general degeneracy of society, however, it's not really Christian or traditional or even charitable to always ascribe the worst possible motives to someone's behaviour, without sufficient proof. It certainly won't win any converts to your cause, either.

Is The Roman Empire Finally Coming Back?

French call to replace English with Latin as Europe's official language 

The Le Figaro article, penned by Sundar Ramanadane, claims Europe’s divorce from the English is complete, and says the feeling that French should be Europe’s lingua franca is hardly unique, pointing to articles by Germans that asks whether German should be the EU’s foremost language.  

But for Ramandane, Latin is ideal. How does one revive an ancient, largely dead language? The case of Israel’s revival of Modern Hebrew is used as proof that it’s possible. 

This is perceived as crucial and necessary if Europe will ever fulfil its dream of becoming more than a common market. The issue is an identity based on a common language and past, and this can never materialize in the status quo, he says.

Latin, he argues, is a natural choice. This is particularly given that every shared historical political experience in Europe leads back to Latin. From the Roman Empire and Christianity, to the Renaissance and Enlightenment, Latin was present throughout it all. 

It’s not lacking for culture either, says Ramandane, used through nearly 2000 years of history as the only common link between European minds, leaders and scholars. He goes on to argue that it's no stranger to modern languages, having shaped them deeply.

More importantly, he argues, Latin is well-suited to politics. In fact, some of the greatest orators and legal experts spoke in Latin, and one that will make it possible to train political leaders and civil servants in rhetoric and logic, much like ancient Greece and Rome.

 Time to brush up on my Latin? Boy am I glad now I went to the university, I still have my Latin study book at home...

S*xy In North Korea

 Musical Interlude

The State Of Western Fatherhood

 Wife wants to take care of her baby, is accused of being mentally ill by her own husband:

 My wife’s company has a generous maternity leave policy, and she has been at home with our daughter since the birth and is scheduled to go back to work just after her first birthday in January. She recently told me she doesn’t want to go back to her job and would like to be a stay-at-home parent instead. I asked her why, and she said she enjoys being a mother too much to leave our daughter to go back to work when she doesn’t need to...

...one of the things I was most attracted to was her ambition and tenacity. It’s really surprising to hear that her career isn’t that important to her anymore...

... I really admired my wife for her work ethic, and I want her to set a good example for our daughter, too. Seeing her give up like this is really disappointing. I gently asked her if she thought her change in attitude could be related to a possible mental health issue... 

It's actually called maternal instinct, even cats possess it. It's what makes you a good mother. Yet, there are some women on the internet who will defend this loser and say that the wife needs to obey him unconditionally, and that the well-being of a baby is less important than the father's feels.

And yes, I met "men" in real life who pushed their (unwilling) wives into the workforce and then had the audacity to complain. The state of modern Western family isn't only the women's problem. 

Read the whole article over here. 

P.S. I've read a twitter discussion on the topic and some folks apparently have a reading comprehension problem. Nicole isn't the father's name, it's the lady who runs an advice column and she quotes a guy who wrote to her. 

If You Struggle With Lust

 Here is a guy who could give some advice:

Obesity Crashed Western Economies

 That's why we have lockdowns:

Nearly 90 percent of coronavirus fatalities have occurred in countries with high obesity levels, according to researchers — who now want overweight people to be prioritized for vaccinations.

Death rates were 10 times higher in countries such as the US where at least 50 percent of the total population is overweight, according to a World Health Organization-backed study released Thursday  by the World Obesity Federation.

Not that vaccinations will help much in this case:
 
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute Regina Elena found that those considered obese — defined as having a body mass index over 30 — produced about half the amount of antibodies compared with people who had a healthy body weight, the Guardian reported.

Even WHO is worried:

“[This] must act as a wake-up call to governments globally,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus...

For Pete's sake, fatties,  overweight fellow citizens, lose some weight, otherwise we all will stay in quarantine forever:)

Read the whole article over here.

One Happy Naughty Piggy

 Wow just wow, aren't they...well, prolific:

dudeposting

Civil Disobedience

 We had a civil disobedience action yesterday.  Restaurant branch opened its terraces, so that you could sit outside and drink something. It was actually in the whole country, but in many places police interfered early and shut everything down.

Our city government didn't intervene and the action went on till 5 p.m. after which everybody closed their doors again. The weather was very good, and it was full. Mothers took their children from school and went to a nearby cafe right away.

Today stores partially opened. You have to write yourself down, and the number of clients is very restricted. Some shops are closed still, others want you to use internet for an appointment, which I'm not going to do as there have been numerous security breaches everywhere.  By smaller stores you can write yourself in at the door. I've been to town and bought some things I needed, which was a nice experience, after 2.5 months.

The number of infections/cases keeps fluctuating so I'm not very optimistic. But today I've enjoyed myself anyway:) How about you?

A Nice One

This is a good one:) 

2040's Republican

Seen this one before and Will posted it, too.

I'm rather busy at the moment, but will try to write more later this week!