Entries Tagged 'Society' ↓
March 22nd, 2007 — Society
It seems shameful now, but I have been through a self-help phase. Experiencing a downward spiral some time ago, I did what any intelligent person with an Internet connection would do: I ordered a bunch of self-help books from Amazon, relying on reader reviews to gauge their credibility and effectiveness.
Recently, I read the last of the books I had purchased: Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self. Littered with fluff and inane affirmations such as “I love myself unconditionally” and “Today is the best day of my life”, it was one of the most painful experiences I have endured. The entire book can be distilled to one sentence: “Positive thinking bad, optimal/constructive thinking good”. Yet the Amazon reviews raved and raved.
To the cynics among us, self-help conjures images of charismatic charlatans getting rich off the woes of the gullible. I have read my fair share of testimonials such as “Your 78-week program transformed me from a smelly hoboe to a successful male ballerina!”, and “When I put on my Enhancinator Cape ™ and recite my Enhancinator Power Statement ™, I just know I can do anything!”
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February 24th, 2007 — News, Society
FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) has long been used as a hammer with which to beat Muslims, and especially us nasty wasty fundamentalists. The practice is confined largely to Sub-Saharan Africa, but as it is no longer acceptable to denigrate black people, they must be recast as Muslims so as to be collectively vilified. The small matter of the procedure being practiced by African Christians as well as Animists is conveniently ignored.
Enter stage left, the self-appointed protectors of black women who are largely white middle-class feministas with bright red-rimmed glasses, spiky hair and lips pursed tight with moral outrage and lipstick. These grim faced harridans always clutch the latest gospel (this week, it is the fraudulent asylum seeker Hirsi Ali’s tome, Caged Virgin).
However in a recent piece in the prestigious British Medical Journal, surgeons reveal the full extent and motivation of largely white women who pay top dollar to have their vaginas mutilated.
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January 27th, 2007 — Opinion, Society, Sport
Many many years ago when I was a child, our family was on the same flight as The Pakistani cricket captain and matinée idol Imran Khan. The air hostesses were swooning over him in his business class seat. Where we were in steerage we had a clear view of proceedings. All of the children in our family were gradually becoming incensed at the behavior, but mostly we were very annoyed by the gormless performance of his cricket team. In true Lord of the Flies tradition (as children do) we bullied our youngest sister to go up and read the riot act to him, she was all of 7 years of age. When she finally arrived at his seat (after much cajoling) she stood rooted to the spot, unable to speak and staring blankly ahead. He (presumably in a jet lagged haze) signed a napkin and abruptly invited her to be on her way. She returned, mortified and humiliated.
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January 2nd, 2007 — Society
The New York Times has a piece on the “illusion” of free will.
Mark Hallett, a researcher with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said, “Free will does exist, but it’s a perception, not a power or a driving force. People experience free will. They have the sense they are free.
“The more you scrutinize it, the more you realize you don’t have it,” he said.
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