Right's pre-modern 'Masculinist' fantasy

(The Ezra Klein Show) Helen Lewis on the Right's pre-modern 'Masculinist' fantasy

We must get rid of immigrants (Simpsons)

(Gangstagrass) This BS has been going on for generations. Which BS? A 1996 episode of The Simpsons tried to warn us. List of The Simpsons episodes (Wikipedia).

(Karoline Leavitt Komedy) My job is lying for Trump. We investigate ourselves

(Karoline Leavitt is an American comedienne who plays the White House)

(DemocracyNow.org) ICE out of Minnesota!

Trump says USA voted for him to be a Hitler.

Satire is a dangerous thing in a post-ironic world with so many citizens suffering from severe irony deficiency, but we carry on. Did viewers send strongly worded complaint letters to The Simpsons, protesting this comically ironic episode? Blaming a scapegoat was done then, and Trump does it now. It seems Hitler's Nazis did it, too, and biblical Jews before them, where it was literally invented that Yaldabaoth (Yahweh) demanded blood, blood sacrifice, and killing to cleanse the people with blood.

Save our wild bears

Momma her and baby bear cubs in the wild

The Center and Alaska Native Tribes just sued the Trump administration for trading away public lands to allow a destructive road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The road would slice through crucial migratory bird habitat and wreak havoc on beloved Arctic species like [the charismatic megafauna and keystone species like] grizzly bears, caribou, and endangered Steller's eiders. We are fighting to protect this invaluable refuge and our partner Tribes' subsistence traditions. Give Now to Save the Wild

• Gaza Recovery: Help Deliver Urgent Aid | International Rescue Committee
• SNL (Trump's going to hell, but he says God's happy with him); Matt Groening's The Simpsons via Gangstagrass; I. Rony (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Inside Deportee Slums of Tijuana

(Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan) Inside the Deportee Slums of Tijuana

Sex and Asian men vs. Aunty Lus

The hottest "woman" in the world? ("Aitana Lopez" AI-creation)

WARNING: Graphic! Adult themes! Candid discussion of sexual matters treated as mere jokes!

Sexual pleasure and the concept of "sin"

British Buddhist Maurice O'Connell Walshe, Buddhism and Sex (edited by Wisdom Quarterly)

AI-generated model "Aitana Lopez" earning up to €10,000 pm (hyscaler.com)

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Deviant (Wadinagala Pannaloka)

Reduced to essentials, the great debate about sex revolves, for many people, around the [Christian] concept of sin.

To the Puritan, indulgence in sexual activity for the sake of pleasure is evil, wicked, or, as our society tends to say, "sinful" (i.e., displeasing to the God).

To the permissive, this is nonsense. Many reject the term "sin" [which is an archery term meaning "to miss the mark" not all of the attendant connotations now associated with it] as meaningless. Many not only see nothing "evil" in sexual pleasure but regard it as highly legitimate perhaps the highest pleasure there is, certainly something to which, in principle at least, everybody has a right.

Many people who come from a more or less [Judeo-]Christian background with Puritanical overtones, find the true Buddhist attitude to this problem rather difficult to see.

Perhaps they have never even been given a clear explanation of it. If they have, it may have seemed too technical for them, and they have not grasped the point.

The point, in fact, is of considerable importance. So it is worthwhile to attempt to make it clear. It involves a proper and elementary grasp of what is meant by karma — something many "Buddhists" have never had.

What about "sin"?

Buddhism and Christianity

It may be profitable to consider the word "sin."

Sin to Christians is thought of as a breach of some God's commands. This explanation may make sense in Christian theology, but it does not apply in Buddhism, where there are no such commands to infringe.

Buddhist precepts are undertakings to oneself, which is something different. They are on par with the instruction, "Look both ways before crossing the road." There is much agreement between the content of Buddhism's Five Precepts and some of the Ten Commandments. So it may be wise in many cases to behave accordingly, whichever formulation one follows.

However, there is another rendering of the word "sin" itself which, though less well-known, comes much closer to the Buddhist view of things.

In the Bible, "sin" translates Hebrew and Greek words that literally mean "missing the mark," that is to say, behaving unskillfully or inadequately.

Zen in the Art of Archery

The "sinner" person, then, is like an unskillful archer who misses what that person aims at. (Could this be the real meaning behind Zen and the Art of Archery?) This comes very close to the Buddhist idea of akusala karma or "unskilled action."

The Pali word kamma (Sanskrit karma) literally means "action" (volition, intention, underlying motivation, cetana), which can either be skillful (kusala) or unskillful (akusala).

The results of action (karmic results) come back to the doer as resultants (vipaka), which are pleasant when the action previously performed was skillful, unpleasant when it was unskillful.

If I look before I cross the road, I get across safely, which is pleasant; if I don't look both way, I may get run over, which will be very unpleasant.

• The FEELINGS we experience are of the nature of karmic results: They are dependent on past karma. And, of course, we are constantly creating new karma most of the time.

Lust for Enlightenment (Stevens)

It should therefore be noted that the feeling of pleasure (sexual or otherwise) is not an action, not karma, but a result of karma. There is, therefore, nothing either "skillful" or "unskillful" about experiencing such a feeling.

We should therefore not regard it as either "virtuous" or "sinful." So far, so good. Such pleasant feelings can be enjoyed with a clear conscience free of guilt feeling. If this were all, there would be no problem. Puritans would be routed and the permissive justified.

However, there is another side to the matter. We may recall that a few years ago there was a song called "Money is the Root of all Evil." The careful pointed out that it is not money, but the love of money that the Bible calls the root of all evil (of a lot of evil, anyway).

And here is the snag. Sexual pleasure (like money) is not "evil," not unskillful, but attachment to sexual pleasure is. If we can experience the pleasure without grasping and clinging, we are all right; if we become attached to it, we are far from "hitting the mark."

• Is detachment (not being clingy) better? The Buddhist Layman

What mindfulness help? - It is always helpful.

Now of course it is rather difficult, to put it mildly, to experience pleasure of any sort without feeling (or exciting the habit) attachment to it. Attachment is karma, unskillful karma at that. The results of that will inevitably, according to Buddhism, be unpleasant in the future. It needn't be this way.

Many might find this explanation novel. Some might find it puzzling. Some will undoubtedly reject it — without investigation — with the excuse that it is overly subtle, arbitrary, or something of the sort.

What they mean is that they find it inconvenient. But it repays a lot of consideration and mindful investigation.

Careful study, in fact, should show that it is the key to the whole problem. The matter can also be considered in terms of [the 12 causal links of] Dependent Origination:

• "Contact is the basis for the arising of feeling;
• feeling... of craving;
• craving... of clinging;" and so on,
• the ultimate outcome being the continued process of becoming, with all the suffering that entails.

Buddhism and [Regular] Sex (M. O'C. Walshe)

So if we wish to adjudicate between the Puritans and the permissive, we cannot say that either side is entirely right. However, we might suggest that Puritans are partly right for the wrong reasons.

Sexual indulgence is not wicked, but it may be (to some degree) inadvisable. Most people will not feel they are able to refrain altogether (nor are they being urged to), but there is merit in moderation. More

• Deviant Sex and Buddhism (Kindle edition) by Wadinagala Pannaloka

Aunty Lu's internalized Asian racism?

Who are the Aunty Lus who are so against dating Asians?

• Part 1: White worship: internalized Asian racism
• Maurice O'Connell Walshe: Wheel 275/276 — Buddhism and Christianity (with some notes on Judaism)

Funniest sex moves by guys | stand up comedy

(Free Time Movies) Featured Comedians: Tim Minchin | Alonzo Bodden | Rhod Gilbert | Lynne Koplitz. Subscribe to Crack Up 👉 bit.ly/SubToCrackUp | More 👉 bit.ly/WorldStandsUp.

This property is under a non-exclusive license from Rights Booster. All rights reserved. The World Stands Up brings together the best in comedy talent from all over the globe. Each episode features four artists (two from North America and two from the rest of the world) the last of which is musical. More than two hundred and fifty acts from five continents. #TheWorldStandsUp #StandUpComedy #CrackUp #TheWorldStandsUp #CrackUp

• Free Time Movies (stand up comedy), Aug. 17, 2021; Maurice O'Connell Walshe, BPS.lk via accesstoinsight.org; Why Everyone Hates Asian Men; CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Int'l Women's Day, March 8, 2025

Women's March takes to the streets of downtown Los Angeles

(NBCLA) March 8, 2025: Thousands of protesters, women and allies, gathered at Pershing Square in downtown before marching several blocks to LA City Hall for a march on International Women's March. Amber Frias reports for the NBC4 News at 6:00 pm on March 7, 2025.

• International Women’s Day 2025 (United Nations)
• Enola "Gay," clumsy execution turns a bad anti-DEI idea into another humiliation for Trump (Rachel Maddow, MSNBC)
• Crowds march in Brussels, Athens, and Belgrade to mark International Women's Day

White women, did we invent feminism? No, but we take the credit. We made these caps.

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Pink pussyhat riots and disorderly marches, why not? It's also Be Nasty Day. What better way toward progress than civil disobedience?

• BE NASTY DAY - March 8, 2025

Fight the power. Buy the tee-shirt? DIY

Imagine a gender equal world: a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination, a world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive, a world where difference is valued and celebrated.

Together we can forge gender equality. Collectively for #IWD2025 we can all #AccelerateAction.

International women's symbol

International Women's Day (IWD) has been around for over a century, and now it's time to pack it up because women have achieved complete equality! 

No, many issues are still impacting women, holding back more than half the world. Since 1911, this day has been for all who care about women's equality.

Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness about discrimination. Take action to forge gender parity.

Um, "all IWD activity is valid," really?

All IWD activity is valid -- burning bras, leading Law of Attraction manifestation workshops, attending pricey DEI seminars, sewing white flags and giving up, gaining weight until obese, knitting pink caps with little ears and marching for corporate sponsors, making posters, forming a Pussy Riot punk collective or skittle band and playing in a church without permission, getting doodle tats, filing lawsuits, turning into men and fighting for the other side, sitting at home depressed, watching Pearl videos, all of it (well, maybe not all, Pearl Davis must be stopped!) -- that's what makes IWD so inclusive. More

• INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY - March 8, 2025 - National Today

Pearls of Wizdumb (or brilliant irony?)

Pearl believes she's helping women by being honest as she sees it, even if women hate it. She has become a rallying point for women against Pearl and her outrageous pro-male views in a patriarchal society. So if SHE believes, is that "valid"? If someone thinks s/he's helping, is that enough? Is that the standard? Men males are allies, whether all women are or not, whether females think so or not.

Pearl will not stop, so should she be stopped? - What about Whatever? There's no patriarchy?

Xingonx Fest, Los Angeles

Xingonx (Chingona) Fest, 28th anniversary, FREE, March 8, 3-6 PM (Mujeres de Maiz)

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IWD teeshirt collection (amazon.com)

Join Mujeres de Maiz at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes for an afternoon of sisterhood, spirit, and solidarity, honoring International Women's Day and Mexica New Year among friends including poetry, performance, platica, prayer. This event is to highlight MDM's 28th anniversary, focusing on 28-day cycles of the moon and our coming into another lifecycle by bringing to one stage the writings, women, and work of 28 years of Mujeres de Maíz. Come early to see a wall in the Conexiones Exhibit at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes and connect with like-minded gente. The time is now, Latinas, Latinos, [and Latinx?]! mujeresdemaiz.com

• International Women's Day Events
• Important health warning issued to women who 'don't have sex often' | Daily Mail Online
• Women who rarely have sex are at an increased risk of dying, [male] study finds
• Mujeres de Maiz (Women of Corn)
• InternationalWomensDay.com, 2025; I. Rony, Crystal Q., CC Liu, Sheldon S., Ashley Wells, (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Are all Catholics "Forgiven," Alanis?

Alanis "Forgiven" (w/ Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins, The Prince's Trust Masters of Music 1996

It's good to be Catholic, but just for Mardi Gras

"You know how us Catholic girls can be," states Catholic Canadian cool hippie gal Alanis Morrissette, who became famous in the U.S. when she released Jagged Little Pill.

The CD had hit after hit, particularly "You Oughta Know." "Ironic" is dumb. "Head Over Feet" is so heartfelt. The seventh single should have been "Forgiven." It was a long run with millions of copies sold, making it double diamond (rather than mere gold or platinum).

Her ironic sass and probing irreverence are cool

How this song didn't get promoted, we'll never know. It's like P!nk, who's not that good but heck a popular. She had one pretty good song no one seemed to think that much of about her dysfunctional family.

"We all had our reasons to be there. We all had a thing or two to learn," Morrissette and Ballard explain. "My brothers, they never went blind for what they did, but I may as well have. In the name of the Father, the Skeptic, and the Son, I had one more stupid question.... If I jump in this fountain, will I be forgiven?"

• Not everyone likes the religion's "holy" sacraments

• Alanis Morissette; Team Recovering Catholics, Wisdom Quarterly

LA activists disrupt Trump's ICE raids

Activists disrupt ICE raid in L.A. County

(KTLA 5) Immigration rights activists have banded together to conduct patrols throughout Los Angeles communities and, in a few instances, have stopped raids as they were happening. KTLA's Carlos Saucedo reports live on Feb. 24, 2025. Details: ktla.com/news/local-news/anti... KTLA 5 News, keeping Southern Californians informed since 1947.

Science of feelings: dating icks (NPR)

Did your date give you 'the ick'? Here's the science behind the feeling

"Ugh, eww, and ick! I'm out! H to the NO!"

The food was top-notch, the atmosphere was cozy, and my date aimed to entertain. I love a good personal story, so I invited him to relate one that he'd referenced in his profile. Good fodder for a first date, I thought.

At one point in the story, as he recounted it, a goat butted its head into an outdoor toilet that he happened to be using, shoving the door open.

That's sick, Barry! Get out!!

"ME-EH-EHH!!" said my date, braying like a goat and thrusting his neck in a reenactment that seemed just a little too accurate.

Something inside me recoiled. Any trace of romantic or sexual interest I had in this man disappeared in that moment.

• The key to flirting? It's not about you (Life Kit)

You could say I got "the ick" — that feeling of disgust when someone you're dating does this one thing that you just can't get past. The term was used on Ally McBeal in the 1990s and then popularized more recently on the reality show Love Island and on Nobody Wants This.

Eews and icks

Ick, he said he listens to heavy metal garbage.

What gives me the ick and what gives you the ick can be worlds apart. From wearing acrylic nails to laughing too loud to using a Borat voice in the middle of a make-out session, a little internet searching will reveal a whole universe of "icks."

There's an idea in psychology that all emotions, from fear to disgust, were evolutionarily advantageous traits. But is the ick really serving us now?

One theory posits that disgust evolved to protect humans from pathogens that make us sick. And that kind of makes intuitive sense: If a piece of fruit or meat smells disgusting, you probably won't want to eat it.

But Professor of Psychology Josh Rottman, who studies disgust at Franklin & Marshall College, says disgust isn't just a biological function; it's a product of our socialization. And that means if you get the ick on a date, it might be time for some self-examination.

• Dr. Bruce Lipton: Why Darwin's wrong
• What's your attachment style? Take this quiz to find out (Life Kit)

Prof. Rottman spoke with It's Been a Minute host Brittany Luse about the psychology of disgust and the case for pushing past the ick when it comes to choosing a partner. Here are four takeaways from their conversation:

1. Little kids don't feel disgust — and that tells us something

Maybe innocence means not having disgust yet.

"Unlike many emotions that emerge within the first year of life or so, it seems like disgust doesn't really robustly come online until around 5, 6 years of age," Prof. Rottman says. (Think about the toddler who has no qualms about eating a stale Cheerio off the floor.)

If disgust were all about keeping us healthy, he says, researchers would see it in younger children. Instead, kids start experiencing disgust around the same time they start thinking about "cooties" — and who's in the "in" group and "out" group on the playground.

2. Disgust is more gut reaction than conscious thought process

If you're at the movies and you see your date pick her nose before reaching for your hand, you don't think, "This behavior is indicative of poor hygiene and lack of consideration." You just flinch and pull your hand away. This revulsion response happens almost instantly; it comes without any thought, says Prof. Rottman. And he says once you feel disgusted by something, it can be really difficult to overcome that feeling.

As host Luse of It's Been a Minute puts it, it's just "this tiny bit of disgust that you just can't look past or get over."

3. Disgust is related to social norms — often ugly ones

"I think a lot of the specific icks that people have are reflections of social norms that we might want to challenge," says Prof. Rottman.

For instance, actress Millie Bobby Brown has said her "biggest ick" is when a man holds an umbrella, because "there's something about it that just feels really pathetic."

Prof. Rottman says Brown's ick might be an "aversion to the norm violation against masculinity."

And research shows that the consequences of disgust can get a lot worse than getting rejected on a date.

Mr. Prejudice, 1943 (US bigotry)

Prof. Rottman says that disgust may have served an evolutionary purpose in that it could help your reputation to distance yourself from people who your group considered undesirable. "I think disgust has evolved as a way to really embody a lot of xenophobia and bigotry," he says.

"There's a lot of good evidence that genocides and a lot of horrific things that have happened in society have been correlated in some way with disgust," Prof. Rottman says.

Tables turn on racist/implicitly biased Karen

Nazi princesses promoted by racist Disney

For example, Nazi propaganda used terms like "parasites" and "lice" to describe Jewish people. Disgust has been leveraged throughout history to create the feeling that certain people are "impure" or less than human.

"The ick is probably a much more minor version of that," Rottman says.

4. It's worth trying to get past the ick

Why can't I find my one and only perfect prince?

Prof. Rottman says that while it's difficult to completely shake a feeling of disgust about another person's particular behavior, getting the ick doesn't have to be a deal breaker.

And, he adds, there's good reason not to give it too much weight in dating: "I think…these feelings of ickiness are not going to be great signals of whether someone's going to be good for us and a good partner."

He shared that he even gets the ick from his partner from time to time — when she walks around barefoot in the garden, developing big calluses on her feet. "I think I can realize that…she's great in so many other ways, that that shouldn't be something to drive me away," Prof. Rottman says. (The professor said he got his wife's permission before sharing this story.)

As host Luse suggested to Prof. Rottman, perhaps "love is persevering against the ick."

So next time you get the ick, consider whether that says more about you than the other person.

And Luse says on It's Been a Minute, maybe "it's a you problem."

The triple plandemic ick at the coffee shop

• This story was adapted from an episode of It's Been a Minute, NPR's podcast about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident. Listen to the original episode here.
• Corey Antonio Rose, B.A. Parker, Barton Girdwood, Liam McBain, and Jasmine Romero contributed to this story. Lead photo: munandme/Getty Images/iStockphoto
• Andrea Muraskin, Brittany Luse, Shots: Health News from NPR, Feb. 2, 2025; Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How to destroy Black Americans (video)

200 Black cities drowned underwater: the racist U.S. government’s dark history

(Black Culture Unlocked) Black History. Let's explore the hidden history of 200 Black cities submerged underwater due to U.S. racial violence, systemic (institutional) racism, government oppression, and infrastructure projects.

Uncover the untold stories of thriving Black communities erased from the American map, their cultural legacy, and the impact of these purposeful tragedies on modern society.

(60 Minutes) Uncovering the Greenwood Massacre 99 years later

• White racists burned down "Black Wall Street" (Greenwood, OK) as they bombed and destroyed it in 1921:
• Tulsa race massacre, the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre whites committed between May 31 and June 1, 1921: Mobs of white residents, some deputies armed by city government officials, ATTACKED Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Who was US president in 1921, Republican Warren G. Harding?

The Burning of Black Wall Street - Tulsa, Oklahoma (Extra History)

ABOUT: Black Culture Unlocked is a movement focused on bringing the raw truth and real history to the [mainstream] culture. Its mission is to write its own stories and unlock the minds of the culture to become free thinkers. Subscribe and turn on post notifications to join the movement 💰 Business inquiries ➡️ kingsonparade@gmail.com

US Marks 100th Anniversary of Tulsa Race Massacre: "Black Wall Street"

• Black Culture Unlocked, Dec. 22, 2024; Scott Pelley, 60 Minutes, 2020; Extra History (animation); Amy Goodman, DemocracyNow.org, 2021; Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly