Monday, September 19, 2011

What Rages the Machines?

Seriously.

Two weeks on and the trail of failed electronic equipment include 3 desktops, 2 laptops and a phone that does nothing but sits pretty on my desk... Nothing; as in it doesn't ring and I can't ring out. It just sits there electronically displaying an unhelpful reminder that it doesn't work.

Even the laptop which had a crashed hard disk and was sent for repairs has now gone down again, from my cursory assessment, with the same problem.  My back up desktop is displaying a message by someone named McAfee that I have a "Fatal Error: [0xEE00000B] EPEi_system_policy".  I think Mr McAfee is neither English nor human.

Not to mention a BlackBerry device which also went through a fatal crash which was un-revivable after my many amateur attempts and The attempts of Sammy, the professional phone surgeon, it remained stubbornly dead. Never mind, I've now bought a spanking new device which I love.

Yes, seriously.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

good vs evil...

It started out as a discussion over dinner about religion being a necessary tool of evil in politicking.  And then it suddenly occurred to me; isn't religion the devil itself?

If there wasn't a continuous polarisation of "good" and "evil" and the subsequent reinforcement of it, would there even be a division between the two?

Rhetoric lightbulb-moment; without good, would there be evil?  Vice-versa - without evil, what is good?  Where is the thin, grey line that tips one over to one side or the other?

The use of religion as a control-tool is inherently dependent on the continuous propogation of the struggle between good and evil.  But doesn't the precept of good and evil exist only in our own heads?

Sunday, June 05, 2011

onwards, to new depths of social retardation...

An Obdient Wives' Club?  Polygamy Club??  Really???!

Do Malaysians really have such low self-esteem?  I mean, don't get me wrong; those who can look at the issue and scoff probably wouldn't dream that they'd ever have a need to be part of such a club (although men may think a Polygamy Club might be amusing, but for all the "wrong" reasons!).  However, the problem is not with those who don't need a club membership, but with those who do.  And I am not about to scoff at how many members this club might enrol, no matter how small.

Why Obedient Wives' Club?  Are Malaysian Wives so blinkered to think that high divorce rates, crime, rape, drug addiction and the Big Bang Theory were all because they weren't good in bed?  Maybe they are so blinkered that they can't see the problem is in the blinkers itself.  Or maybe so close that they can't even see that they're blinkered.

Imagine: remove blinkers.  Change club name.

Change the notion of obedience to awareness or mindfulness.  To be a more thoughtful person instead of going to obedience school.  Think of what should go into their marriage instead of comparing notes with someone else's.  Communicate with a partner instead of doing what is told or expected.  Constructive input as opposed to subservience.

Change the context of being a wife into being a responsible and constructive human being.  Which is what we all are.  Not dogs on a leash.  And we all live with each other, amongst each other.  We form relationships which in turn, enable us to be a part of a functioning society.

Change.  Thoughtful People's Club.  But how many people would clamour to be a member?