"Near Orgasmic Social Connections" Wait... wtf?

Check out this drivel by David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times (emphasis added):

Over the past several weeks, I’ve found I can change the conversation at any social gathering by mentioning Louann Brizendine’s book, “The Female Brain.” Brizendine is a neuropsychiatrist and the founder of the Women’s and Teen Girls’ Mood and Hormone Clinic in San Francisco. She’s written a breezy — maybe too breezy — summary of hundreds of studies on the neurological differences between men and women

All human beings, she writes, start out with a brain that looks female. But around the eighth week in the womb, testosterone surges through male brains, killing cells in some regions (communications) and growing cells in others (sex and aggression).

...............

During adolescence, the female brain is washed in estrogen. Female teenagers, in general, experience an intense desire for social connection, which releases near-orgasmic rushes of oxytocin in the brain. They are, on average, more sensitive to stress (by age 15, girls are twice as likely to suffer from depression). The male brain, meanwhile, is producing 10 times more testosterone than the female brain, meaning the male sex drive is, on average, much greater.

I can see how that would change the conversation at any social gathering. "Tell me, ladies, are you nearly climaxing from this social connection?"

Update: Ah-ha! More drivel:

The problem is that both the feminist movement Clinton rides and the civil rights rhetoric Obama uses were constructed at a time when the enemy was the reactionary white male establishment. Today, they are not facing the white male establishment. They are facing each other.

................

The interesting split is not between the feminist and civil rights Old Bulls, it’s between the establishments of both movements, who emphasize top-down change, and the younger dissenters, who don’t.

I'll only give David Brooks some credit because this was written before the Tea Party (click that link for a great write-up by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone).

Random Review: 'A Greater Darkness' by Red Harvest

Norwegian extreme/experimental metal quintet Red Harvest performed an impressive feat throughout their career; they managed to successfully differentiate themselves from the legions of second and third wave black metal bands (and black metal in general) to arise during the last twenty-five years while simultaneously crafting exceptional music that was bleak and heavy enough to proudly stand next to the best of their scandinavian extreme-metal brethren.

Even now that so-called 'blackened' music in general seems to have embraced synthesizers and techno-apocalyptic rhetoric Red Harvest doesn't sound like a trailblazer or has-been. Eschewing (though never disparaging) the occultism of their peers and drawing early inspiration from American bands such as Slayer and Ministry they created a unique style that only benefits from comparison to bands such as Aborym or Anaal Nathrakh.

Released in 2007 A Greater Darkness is very accurately described by its own title. If you are familiar with the rest of their discography then, thematically, there will not be anything surprising about this album since vocalist/lyricist Ofu Khan unfortunately didn't seem to have anything new to say in terms of raw ideas. Instead the band offers a radically new interpretation of their traditional fare. The synth is almost completely sublimated into the background on most tracks while the guitars and percussion trade in the precision attack of Sick Transit Gloria Mundi and Internal Punishment Programs for sloppier, crushing walls of noise. The result is music that sounds much more organic and atmospheric without loosing any of the energy or intensity.

Ofu Khan described A Greater Darkness as "This time it's less future-fear and bio-mec. This album is about knocking at the gates of Hell, and you are actually allowed in." With that in mind it is downright amusing to hear what he describes as 'less future-fear'; the album is already drowning in fatalism before the first refrain on the opening track Antidote:

Somebody's found the antidote

Somebody's found the antidote

to human suffering

Wipe us out of existence

After a brief section of ambiance the music opens like the crash of a sledgehammer and it is those words, literally the opening lyrics, that set the tone for the entire album. Gone is the 'new world rage' mentality of their older music and the fiercely defiant screams of "REJECT THEIR FUCKING WORDS!/REJECT EVERY FUCKING THING THEY SAY!" Also absent from the album is tortured regret expressed in many of Internal Punishment Programs's closing songs. In exchange you are presented a worldview that is shockingly pessimistic even by Red Harvest's own standards, so much so that even Ofu Khan's characteristic goofiness (if you have a good ear for metal you'll catch the line "Darth Vader rules the Vatican!" in Antidote) does little to lighten the mood.

No longer fighting the darkness Khan is free to explore his paranoid existentialism to a refreshingly nuanced degree. Seemingly drawing his energy from the conflict and paradox of trying to put a human voice to the ultimate forms of dehumanization Khan delivers a performance that is vividly harrowing in its detail and breathtaking in its scope. Particularly impressive is the second song; it's heartbreaking to hear just how old he sounds on the melancholic track Hole in Me.

It's where they try for direct aggression that Red Harvest runs into trouble on A Greater Darkness. The song Icons of Fear feels out of place with it's surprisingly catchy and straight-forward approach, almost as if its a throwback to their days as a Slayer tribute band. Dead Cities, however, is the only truly 'bad' song; it is competent-but-uninspired to the point that it should have been held as a b-side.

At the other end of the spectrum the final four tracks, I Sweat W.O.M.D., WarThemes, Distorted Eyes, and Propioception, showcase the best of what the band has to offer.

I Sweat W.O.M.D. is as bombastically abrasive and disorienting as it is introspective. A casual listening gives the impression that it is about something like the horror of nuclear warfare; in fact it's deeply personal song about irrational fears and paranoia.

Warthemes is a dark-electronica track. I honestly am not sure what it's about (cocaine?) but it is awesome.

The final two tracks together from a 13 minute epic. Distorted Eyes begins with a simple guitar riff and the words:

You're not the first

surely not the last

to think you have the answers

and are dead wrong

From there the song slowly expands to dizzyingly epic proportions. The final lyrics of the album,

Cherish the dark

in a ring of fire

reach for the unknown

as the pages turn

in a ring of fire

beautifully summarize its central themes: the horror of loosing touch with reality, fear of the inevitable, and the anguish of seeking solace in the dark and unknown.

Distorted Eyes dissolves into a dark synthetic mess that smoothly transitions to Propioception, a cold and minimalist piece of industrial ambiance.

Then it's over. Red Harvest disbanded in 2010, making A Greater Darkness their final studio album. Fortunately it's also one of their best, and one I highly recommend.

I Think My Imperialist Has Been Showing

Let us all bask in the glory of Mr. Samuel Clemens while pondering the wisdom and justice of America's glorious and ongoing adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya and Somalia and Yemen and Colombia and the Philippines (among others).

Taken from "The War Prayer" by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain):

.........

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister....

With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, "Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside – which the startled minister did – and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:

"I come from the Throne – bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention.

.........

"You have heard your servant's prayer – the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it – that part which the pastor – and also you in your hearts – fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. the whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory – must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them – in spirit – we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it – for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(After a pause.) "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!"

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

It's definitely worth it to go read the entire thing.

Only Korans? - Part 3, unfortunately

[04/16/2012] - I feel like I've learned a lot since I wrote this, and it now no longer 100% represents my views on the subject; they aren't enraged because we burned some books.


"Worse than useless" is the most concise way I can think of to describe that bigot Terry Jones.

That's all I have to say about him.

In Afghanistan many people have now been murdered because of a Youtube video of a Koran being burned. I'm disgusted by the bigotry of the group that burned that Koran. I'm outraged that those people were murdered. There is nothing to justify what has happened, though there are certainly explanations. Understanding their outrage is not a reason to sanction their actions. Understanding the maliciousness of the original offense does not mean that any part of the retribution should be forgiven.

When I made the original post I titled it "Only Korans?" to imply that no so-called Holy Book should be safe from burning in an act of defiance. Now though I'd like to repurpose that title for its other meaning.

That book is merely a Koran.

To Hell with the accommodationists and strict-multiculturalists. Their wretched hypocrisy, essentially born out of pity for murderers and tyrants, is nauseating. I have no respect for you or your opinions if you can look at the events that have just occurred in Afghanistan and say, "See? This is why we must forbid insulting Islam."

Fuck it. I have nothing left to say.

I'll quote Madison-area band Erebus instead:

(From 'God Loves Us')

The bones of infidels

Of countless human souls

How could the world forget

The graveyard it’s built on

This earth is drenched with blood

In the name of God

Surely the work of the Lord Has been Done

Let us pray for the 3 million children a year,

That are destroyed by the holiest butcher

Let us pray for the billions of infidels

That were created,

So they can burn in hell

Has he the will but not the power?

Impotent

Has he the power not the will?

Sadistic

Just fucking end it all

I’m blessed,

you’re blessed,

we’re fucking blessed

I’m saved,

you’re saved,

it’s fucking great

Grab mom and dad and grandma too

Cuz it’s true,

God loves me and you!

Why keep a prison

When we’ve got one here on earth

What can we expect at the gates?

When you’ve turned your back on us?

You wash your hands

And sit in judgment

Or are we just fuel

For the Flames

Let us pray to the god that has betrayed us all

Born a sinner, you will die nothing more

Pray to the tyrant, laughing on a throne of despair

Demanding all from a world too poor to give

We are controlled by guilt and fear

Suffering

Gambling on a roll of the dice

Cowardice

What are you waiting for?

I’m blessed,

you’re blessed,

we’re fucking blessed

I’m saved,

you’re saved,

it’s fucking great

Grab mom and dad and grandma too

Cuz it’s true,

God loves me and you!

How much worse can it get?

I’m disgusted

I don’t want your paradise

Send me to hell

Guilty Conscience Much?

Media Matters has a video of one of those "traditional marriage" quack-experts, by the name of Peter Wolfgang, addressing Connecticut's state congress. His argument is that providing legal protections to trans-gendered individuals will lead to men going into women's bathrooms to sexually assault little girls while the child's (presumably) straight father stands outside.

Mr. Wolfgang literally calls the bill, "The Bathroom Bill".

Stare rep Holder-Winfield responded to the inanity very well (the following transcript is literally copy-pasted from the link above):

REP.HOLDER-WINFIELD: Good afternoon, Mr. Wolfgang.

WOLFGANG:Good afternoon.

REP.HOLDER-WINFIELD: You said if this bill passes, nothing would prevent thesexual predators from taking the actions that you suggest might happen. What prevents themfrom doing that now?

WOLFGANG:Well they’d certainly have more of a reason to do it. And men in general shouldnot be allowed into women’s bathrooms. At issue is the fact that you have anexception for sex but not for gender identity and expression if this billpasses and men can enter women’s bathrooms.

REP.HOLDER-WINFIELD: But my question to you is, whatprevents them from doing it now? Youranswer, while a response, doesn’t actuallyindicate what does that.

WOLFGANG:Well, I mean, you know, there are laws thatprevent crimes, obviously, from taking place in bathrooms in general. But, I mean, why give sexual predators a pretext? Whygive them an excuse to say, “Look, I’m transgendered and that’s why I went intothe women’s bathroom.” Obviously it’s – you know, there are laws for registeredsex offenders.

REP.HOLDER-WINFIELD: And so those laws would actually exist if the crime wascommitted after entering the bathroom, even if thislaw passed – if this bill passed, is that not correct?

Wolfgang and his ilk betray a severe lack of comprehension of the issues at hand when they rattle of the type inanity seen above. I'm honestly proud of Wolfgang for acknowledging that sexual assault is a problem in America; but his single-minded fixation on trans-gendered males, and those who would pose as one, obfuscates and distracts from other possible types of harassment and assault. I'll ignore men and boys as victims, since Wolfgang doesn't seem concerned about them, and point out that by his logic he should be arguing for separate bathrooms for the L and B women of the LGBT communities. IMHO a *more* sensible topic to discuss would be how to offer protections to everyone from everyone else.

The failure of his imagination to think of those possible scenarios makes me wonder; what has Mr. Wolfgang been fantasizing about that makes him so concerned about protecting little girls from straight men?

Or maybe he's just a dumb-ass bigot.

Fun fact: I've always assumed that it was spelled "Conneticut" until I spell-checked this post and discovered "Conne[c]ticut" is the correct version. Also it was only a few weeks ago that I discovered "gover[n]ment" isn't spelled "goverment". Somewhere all of my English and social studies teachers are crying :'(

Aesthetic Conservatism

Have you ever tried talking about the French with a social conservative? My experience is that they nearly always respond with dismissive contempt and a sneer whenever that nationality comes up in conversation. Same thing with academia, environmentalism, secularism and anything else that wouldn't get a tip of that hat on Fox News.

This video of Rand Paul is one of the most perfect specimens of this phenomenon I've seen in a long time. How are you supposed to have a productive conversation with a person like that?

I find Libertarians to be especially adorable. For far too many of them their socio-political 'philosophy' is rooted more in a gut feeling for what the world should be than by any type of analytical thought. The fundamental flaw of Fox News Libertarianism is that it's ultimate goal is "Freedom". Freedom is by nature an impossible ideal; in order to grant one person the freedom to do as they want you must deny another person the freedom to stop them.

For example; if you gut the EPA and allow coal companies the right to mine the Appalachian Mountains however they please, how are the people living downstream from those mines going to enforce their right to drinkable water? By not buying coal? Not paying for goods or services that consume that coal?

Give me a fucking break.

American conservative thought, of all types, has become the realm of fuzzy tabloid-inspired doublespeak. The noxious mixture of religion, corporate interests, and insipid Sarah Palin folksiness has resulted in a culture of conservative thought that is as intellectually bankrupt as it is hypocritical.

But that's okay.

It feels right.

Another Twitter-esque micopost.

There's a good reason why my posts are so short and I never follow-up on things I say I will! Really, I swear!

Too much Minecraft* and not enough sleep ;)

So just as a teaser: here are some quick reviews that I intend to expand into full posts sometime within the next month.

• Scott Walker - More dis-likable with every passing day.
• Dawn of War 2: Retribution - Extremely fun and I haven't even tried anything besides Last Stand (co-op survival) mode yet.
• Deicide's new album "To Hell With God" - The least ambitious of all the albums they've released since 2001. Also one of the most enjoyable. Just no-frills no-bullshit brutal satanic Death Metal. I'll let you decide if that's a good thing.
• Internet Exploring 9 - Doesn't have any true adblock = not worth my time.
• The Feminine Mystique - Enthralling yet intellectually challenging book. I found it enlightening and highly recommend it if you haven't read it.

So.... yeah. That's it for tonight. Vaya con el Diablo mis amigas.

*Sorry, couldn't help myself :P

THIS, however, is an ad.

Follow me through the looking glass!

http://sweetscam.com/

Ah, corporations. How would I get my daily dose of surrealism without you?

No, this isn't an advertisement :P

Starbucks had this tumbler on clearance and I just couldn't help myself.

Now if I could just get the cat to stop rubbing itself on my laptop's screen life would be great.

On Second Thought...

I really don't like Ed Schultz's show. I'd rather not have him grandstanding the protests and turning it into a purely partisan publicity stunt.

North Korean House Trance!

The glorious leader commands you to check out this post on the official DPRK (North Korean) news-site.

Kim Jong Il Enjoys Electronic Band Performance

Pyongyang, January 26 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il appreciated a performance given by the Electronic Band of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the KPA Air Force Command.

Its colorful numbers included "Best Wishes", "Where Are You, Dear General?", "Attraction and Reverence" and "We Will Become Shield in Sky."

Its artistes enthusiastically sang of the leadership exploits Kim Jong Il has performed for the strengthening and development of the Party and the revolutionary armed forces and the building of a rich and powerful country under the banner of Songun and the great national pride and self-esteem of the Korean people blessed with the illustrious leaders generation after generation.

Kim Jong Il acknowledged the enthusiastic cheers of the performers and audience and congratulated the artistes on their successful presentation.

He expressed great satisfaction over the splendid performance replete with the faith and will of the DPRK and the revolutionary soldier spirit presented by the band and highly appreciated its success.

Though it is not long since the band was organized it has made rapid progress by displaying the revolutionary and creative spirit, he said, adding that this is the shining fruition of the strong revolutionary soldier spirit enshrined by the creators and artistes of the band.

He set forth the important tasks to serve as guidelines for arts creation.

I wonder what Kim Jong Il would say about Pr0metheus Burning.

Only Korans? - Part 2

[04/16/2012] - I feel like I've learned a lot since I wrote this, and it now no longer 100% represents my views on the subject; they aren't enraged because we burned some books.


Funny story; my internet died about an hour after I posted last time.

I really am starting to hate Charter Communications with the type of passionate dislike that I usually reserve for classmates who, upon buying hot chocolate, proclaim that it tastes, "Too much like coffee."

Anyways....

I guess what I was trying to say before is that burning the Koran = bad

Threating to kill people over burning the Koran = Worse

I hate to boil it down to a doltish formula like that, but over the last week I realized that I really don't care. I much prefer drawing the Prophet; rather than destroying something Islamic you are creating an image so as to express yourself. And when I see how upset the global Islamic community becomes over petty insults I honestly believe that the only reasonable response is to continue the petty insults in the most benign way possible.

The fact that Molly Norris has had to go into hiding is an absolute travesty. I don't care that most Muslims are great people. I don't care that they will be insulted too. And it doesn't make sense to say that we should all treat Muslims with respect rather than insult them. Until the Islamic faith and community can be freely mocked or critiqued without fear of death it is impossible to truly communicate with them in a respectful way. Politeness at the point of a gun is a survival mechanism, not respectful dialog.

So I say that drawing the Prophet Muhammad is a good thing. It's a peaceful way of saying, "Welcome to the civilized world. You will be mocked. You will be insulted. And until you learn to deal with it in a civilized way nobody will have any respect for you at all."

Nobody should be exempt from that either. Freedom of speech is not a promise not to be insulted.

More importantly Halo: Reach is a quality product that I readily endorse :D

I'm going to go play it now.

Dead Men Don't Rape

Trying to read the posts on Glenn Sacks' website is an exercise in intellectual masochism. The goal of overcoming cultural and legal systems that are harmful to males is admirable and necessary. To claim that struggle is anywhere near being as important as feminism is absurd.

Basically the entire so-called "Men's Rights" movement needs to collectively quit their pathetic whining. By essentially taking a stand against feminism they not only encourage direct harm against half of our species, they also create a cry-wolf scenario that prevents productive discussion on important issues.

Are rapes by female aggressors much more common than reported?

The answer: NOBODY GIVES A SHIT BECAUSE YOU WON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP! We get it. You're losing your precious patriarchy. It hurts any time you lose power. But you're just embarrassing yourselves with your crazy ranting*.

Especially when they start talking about false rape reporting. That link leads to an article by the above mentioned Mr. Sacks where he states;

The 2% claim originated with Susan Brownmiller in her book Against Our Will which was published in 1974. Where'd she get the figure? As Sherlock Holmes would say, "The game is afoot!" In other words, that's where the mystery lies. But solving it is like feeling in the dark. All who have tried - and there are more than just Greer - come away with empty hands.


Fuck you. According to the this 2007 report on rape in the US 18% of american women have been raped at least once and only 16% of rapes are ever reported. As far as I can tell every credible study in the US and UK has found that false reporting for rapes is at the same level for other violent felonies, around 2%. That number rises to 8% if you look at cases that are considered "unfounded", meaning that cases where the victim drops charges or refuses to cooperate with in investigation are included.

In that light any attempt to discredit or call into question the testimony of Rape victims is utterly contemptible. Glenn Sacks is a disgrace to the entire human race.

Thanks a lot Sacks. Now I'm going to have to listen to "Dead Men Don't Rape" a few times to scrape my brain clean of this insanity. (I'm mostly talking about Red Harvest's cover of the G.G.F.H. song, but 7 Year Bitch also has a song by that name that's pretty good.)

That's all I have to say right now, so adios!

*Yes. I am familiar with irony.

Update: Originally said that it was an FBI study, it isn't. It was funded by the Dept. of Justice and published by the NCJRS.