The benefits of playing - A Play Manifesto

Very good video, I found it a while ago. It made me think about how we really take our jobs too serious and that vision deprives us from enjoying the life game of being successful.

We should stay goal oriented, setting up small targets and enjoy achieving them, just like a game where we pass from one level to another. But for sure this game is the one that will pay off.

Same-sex Relationships for Girls

Some say being in love with someone you sex is just going against the laws of nature. But how many people really feel this way?

It’s not nowday’s invention. The first historical mention of the performance of same-sex marriages occurred during the early Roman Empire.

The word lesbian comes from the Greek Island of Lesbos, where the poet Sappho lived in 600 B.C. Sappho was an intellectual and poet who wrote many love poems to other women.

Today same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. In Mexico, same-sex marriages are only performed in Mexico City, but these marriages must be recognized by all Mexican states. Israel does not recognize same-sex marriages performed on its territory, but recognizes same-sex marriages performed in foreign jurisdictions. In the United States, although same-sex marriages are not recognized federally, same-sex couples can marry in five states and one district (Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia) and receive state-level benefits.

Society and religions have hindered the 10% of the population seeking same-gender relationships- it's not fair to limit their happiness, isn’t religions based on love and happiness? Plus some religions allow one to have more than one supposes. Isn’t that against the main law of love- it’s just for two?

Psychologist John Buss estimates that for most of human history, perhaps 2% of women have been lesbian or bisexual (see note 1, below). Not any more. Recent surveys of teenage girls and young women find that roughly 15% of young females today self-identify as lesbian or bisexual, compared with about 5% of young males who identify as gay or bisexual. How come girls make this choice?

It starts mostly in the teenage. If a teenage girl kisses another teenage girl, for whatever reason, and she finds that she likes it - then things can happen, and things can change. If a young woman finds her soulmate, and her soulmate happens to be female, then she may begin to experience feelings she's never felt before. Especially if all the guys she knows are losers.

A girl in a same-sex relationship, who used to be strait shares: "It was just such a welcome change, to snuggle under a blanket on the couch with my girlfriend, watch a movie, and talk about God and death and growing old, to be intimate emotionally and spiritually as well as physically. I don't know a guy who could even comprehend the conversations we have." Maybe a straight woman is just a woman who hasn't yet met - the right woman? That sounds bothering. Is it getting harder for men and women to understand and please each other? If we connect this fact to the fact that around 50% of the traditional marriages end up with divorce in the US?

There are lots of forms discussing advantages and disadvantages of lesbian relationships and most of the posts are very positive. Here are the advantages people say:

“Guys usually don't have a problem with it and find it hot.” Sometimes girls start lesbian flirt to attract boys’ attention. It happens that after that she focuses her attention to the girl.

“You don't have to worry about getting pregnant.”

“There are more ways to have sex and pleasure”. “women tend to want a real long lasting relationship unlike some men, the kisses feeling soft and tender- being on the same wavelength and knowledgeable about the female body.”

“People are people no matter what sex and emotions and everything else still come into play. It’s really just your personal preference what you are into. But relationships will always be the same whether is straight, gay, or lesbian.”

Some information taken from: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sax-sex/201004/why-are-so-many-girls-lesbian-or-bisexual

In Japan: Christmas for Non-Christians

Christmas in Japan is quite different from the Chrismas celebrated in most countries in which the population has a large percentage of Christians or a Christian heritage. Only 1/2 of 1% of the Japanese population is estimated to be Christian, with the majority of Japanese being tolerant of all faiths: Buddhism, Christianity, Shinto, etc. In spite of this, the Japanese are great lovers of festivals and celebrations, including Christmas.

December 25th is not a national holiday in Japan, although December 23rd, which is the birthdate of the present emperor, is. Although it is not an official holiday the Japanese tend to celebrate Christmas, especially in a commercial way. The Japanese celebrate Christmas Eve by eating a 'Christmas Cake' which the father of the family purchases on his way home from work (or his wife does in the case where he has to work on Christmas Eve). Stores all over carry versions of this Christmas cake and drop the price of it drastically on December 25th in order to sell everything out by the 26th. This has resulted in a rather interesting expression in which young girls are referred to as a 'Christmas cakes': marriageable until their 25th birthday and requiring heavy discounts to get married after their 25th birthdays.

In recent years, thanks to the marketing prowess of the folks at Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Christmas Chicken Dinner has become quite popular. Many Japanese even make reservations for their "Christmas Chicken" ahead of time. People line up at their outlets to pick up their orders. As a result of KFC's brilliant advertising campaign, most Japanese now believe that Westerners celebrate Christmas with a chicken dinner instead of the more common ham or turkey.

Christmas Eve has been hyped by the T.V. media as being a time for romantic miracles. It is seen as a time to be spent with one's boyfriend or girlfriend in a romantic setting, so fancy restaurants and hotels are often booked solid at this time. It is often also a time when girls get to reveal their affections to boys and vice versa. Because of this, extending a girl an invitation to be together on Christmas Eve has very deep, romantic implications.

Christmas presents are exchanged between people with romantic commitments as well as close friends. The presents tend to be 'cute' presents and often include Teddy Bears, flowers, scarves, rings and other jewelry. Christmas cards are also given to close friends.

Christmas presents tend to be things which are cute and sometimes slightly expensive because of the relationship to the person to which they are given to. More obligatory year-end presents are given during this season as well to people who have done you a favor during the year, however, in contrast to Christmas presents, they are given between companies, to bosses, to teachers, and family friends. These presents are known as 'Oseibo' and are generally things which are perishable or which wear out quickly for which the price can readily be checked because of the system of 'on' and 'giri' (loosely translated obligation and reciprocity). These presents are usually purchased at department stores so that the recipient can check the price and return something which relates to the scale of reciprocity.

For the more elderly couples, many hotels host dinner shows featuring major singers, actors, and actresses. Tickets to these shows, due to the season, are very pricy.

The Christmas season comes during the month of the year-end parties. Company groups, hobby groups, sports groups, etc. often book a section of a restaurant to have drinking parties, known as 'bonenkai' [forget the old year parties]. This phenomena leads to streets, subways, and trains full of people in varied states of intoxication during this season.

Christmas lighting and displays are often up at the end of October and this year many stores have displays featuring Teddy Bears. There is also a trend developing for make-it-yourself presents.

The New Year's holidays, which constitute the main holiday season for the Japanese, come closer to the American-European idea of assembling family and friends. Christmas seems to be closer to the Western concept of St.Valentine's Day.

Original article: http://www.tanutech.com/japan/jxmas.html

Pain for God's Sake

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community.

Devotees prepare for the celebration by cleansing themselves through prayer and fasting. Kavadi-bearers have to perform elaborate ceremonies at the time of assuming the kavadi and at the time of offering it to Murugan. The kavadi-bearer observes celibacy and take only pure, Satvik food, once a day, while continuously thinking of God.

On the day of the festival, devotees will shave their heads and undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens). At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk, but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common.

The simplest kavadi is a semicircular decorated canopy supported by a wooden rod that is carried on the shoulders, to the temple. In addition, some have a small spear through their tongue, or a spear through the cheeks. The spear pierced through his tongue or cheeks reminds him constantly of Lord Murugan. It also prevents him from speaking and gives great power of endurance. Other types of kavadi involve hooks stuck into the back and either pulled by another walking behind or being hung from a decorated bullock cart or more recently a tractor, with the point of incisions of the hooks varying the level of pain. The greater the pain the more god-earned merit.

source: Wikipedia

Skinny or Plus Size Models?

Kalokagatia- Beauty Gathers Ethics and Esthetics

Beauty is commonly defined as a characteristic present in objects, such as nature, art work, and a human person, that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, joy, and satisfaction to the observer, through sensory manifestations such as shape, color, and personality. Beauty thus manifested usually conveys some level of harmony amongst components of an object.

According to traditional Western thought from the antiquity through the Middle Ages, beauty is a constitutive element of the cosmos associated with order, harmony, and mathematics. Classical Philosophy treated and conceived beauty alongside truth, goodness, love, being, and the divine. In this concept, beauty is a supreme value, basic to the whole cosmos.

Kalokagatia- It's the highest ethic and esthetic principle in ancient Greece. This Principe is based on two words which means kάλος(beauty)kάι (and )aγάθοσ(good)
Conclusion that we need to accept for ancient Greek philosophy and Hellens in deed is that they were at the same time ethical as they were esthetical .Biant(one of the seven wisdom reach ancient philosopher) for example said: "You have to watch yourself in the mirror, if you are beautiful do lake that if you are not try to recover physical anomalies with doing good things. or Sappho(one of the greatest poetess from ancient time till today) said:”Someone who is beautiful for my eyes maybe is good person but someone who is good person is at the same time beautiful”. Real balance between two principles.

And how about today? Do we still consider a beautiful face and a body for a beautiful personality? May be not, but we can't deny the attraction we feel to those people. Beauty has always been a power and I believe now days it still is!

A part of the text belongs to : http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Beauty

German Marriage Tradition- Working Together

I find it funny, but I guess it makes sense... yes, family takes a lot of dirty work and those who want to get involved have to be prepared.

Polterabend is a German pre-wedding tradition where friends and family come together for an informal party. While that may not seem odd, what they do at these parties certainly is. They break dishes, flowerpots, tiles, toilets, pretty much anything except glasses or mirrors. To symbolize working together through future difficulties, the bride and groom must clean everything up. - http://totallytop10.com/lifestyle/culture/top-10-strange-traditions

Why Free Women Marry Prisoners

It is not easy to determine why any women would want to marry someone who is incarcerated for life or waiting on death row. Some say it is a thrill for the women, while others compare the fascination with that of a celebrity obsession. This article will lay out some of the theories of why women seek out love behind bars.
Throughout history, women have seemingly passed up the "good guy" for the "bad boy". This is one reason women may seek out love behind bars. They may feel the inmate is strong and is able to protect her because he is "dangerous". The worse the guy is, the more attractive he may become to a woman.
The psychological aspect of women who marry men behind bars is very complex. Often times, the women who seek out these inmates suffer from a variety of psychological problems. They are often depressed and have poor self-esteem. They seek out the unconditional love of someone who has less than them to make themselves fell validated.
Women become fixated with these men because of the popularity the media gives them. As we all know, the media is quicker to release coverage on a serial killer than on good things in the world. When the media makes a celebrity of someone women become obsessed with these men in the same way they would be obsessed over a rapper or actor. The difference between women being in love with a killer and a celebrity is they may one day receive a marriage proposal from an inmate, whereas with a celebrity they can only hope for an autographed picture.
Sometimes people would just rather give these women benefit of the doubt for marrying a convicted killer or rapist due to the nature of the crime and the case which was presented in court. A lot of these women sincerely believe these men are innocent, as a result of being fascinated with the case from day one. Also, these women feel sorry for these men and believe that even while they have been sentenced to death or life, they should not remain alone.
These women feel they cannot find love elsewhere in the world or they may feel that it is better to be married to someone who she does not have to deal with everyday at the home. I often wonder why these women would not want the comfort of a husband at home. I could not imagine never being able to be kissed or held by my husband, but for these women, it is more of a connection between two minds rather than the physical.
Whatever the reason may be for women falling in love with inmates, they seem to be happy with the arrangements. No matter how bad the crime, prisoners keep finding someone who loves them in alarming numbers. I believe there will never be a definitive answer to why women choose to marry prisoners, but I do know that those who do make that choice deserve their shot at happiness as well.


Link to original article:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/137315/why_do_women_marry_prisoners.html?cat=41

Killing Daughters In Order to Survive

A few days before India's 60th Independence Day celebrations, government officials in Punjab, one of the wealthiest states of India and also the birthplace of Bhangra music, discovered dozens of female fetuses dumped in an unused well in a town called Patran.

A quack, formerly serving in the Indian army, and along with his wife, was running an illegal maternity clinic where, assisted by a team of nurses, he 'helped' expectant parents determine the sex of their fetuses and aborted the female ones if the parents so desired. The fetuses were secretly thrown in the well.

Allegedly, this killing of would-be girls had been carried out for a number of years.

Killing female embryos is an unacknowledged practice in Indian society. Everyone knows it is a crime and perhaps morally wrong, too. There are many who do not fall for it, but still it is acceptable. Just be quiet about it, please.

It is also true that many Indians love their daughters as much as their sons, yet the birth of a girl is an undesirable occasion in many families. Girls are seen as a burden on the household, a bundle of shame, and a thankless responsibility. They are perceived as offspring who, unlike the sons, would not carry on the family's name. Instead, a great amount of money would have to be arranged for their wedding dowries, which would benefit the homes of their husband's families.

The main reason for the widespread female foeticide and the continuing prevalence of female infanticide in parts of India was the dowry system, which although long prohibited by law, continues to play a significant role in Indian society. Dowries and wedding expenses regularly run to more than a million rupees ($35,000) in a country where the average civil servant earns about 100,000 rupees ($3,500) a year. Added to this the low status of women in rural India, where they perform the menial tasks of the family such as carrying water and firewood and seeing to feeding the animals, and it is clear where the roots of the discrimination spring. About 41 percent of Indian girls under the age of 14 do not attend school, said the report.

The oleander plant yields a bright, pleasant flower, but also a milky sap that, if ingested, can be a deadly poison. It’s one of the methods families use to kill newborn girls in the Salem District of Tamil Nadu, a part of India notorious for female infanticide

According to a recent report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India’ s population as a result of systematic gender discrimination in India.

Original links to the materials:

http://rupeenews.com/2008/04/15/indian-girl-infanticide-female-foeticide-1-million-girls-killed-before-or-after-birth-per-year/