Tag: perspective

I got into an argument online because I, apparently, had an unpopular stance on an issue related to rape. Yes I know – don’t ever touch that issue, ever ever. But I’m me – and you know I can’t resist a good debate.

This was the image that started it all. But in case you can’t see the image, it says this:

Men should be offended when someone claims women should prevent rape
by not wearing certain things
or not going certain places
or not acting a certain way.

That line of thinking presumes that you are incapable of control. That you are so base and uncivilised that it takes extraordinary effort for you to walk down the street without raping someone

That you require a certain dress code be maintained, that certain behaviours be employed so that maybe today, just maybe, you won’t rape someone.

It presumes that your natural state is [that of a] rapist. Read More

I may not be blogging as often as I used to, but I actually have a bunch of blog “drafts” that were never posted/published. Starting a post is easy enough – but finishing it is difficult. Most of my unpublished stuff are due to that: I feel strongly about something, then I start typing away. But more often than not, the issue had already passed, and I’m still not done with the post – so the post suddenly becomes out of context – and therefore, useless.

I revisited one of my “drafts” and sure enough, it suffered from the issue I just mentioned earlier. It was about my reaction of some article by some [anti] RH Bill proponent.

But you know what? I figured what the hell; I don’t see any other time where posting this would be appropriate again so might as well just put it out there anyways for anyone who’s interested. Besides, even if the “issue” per se isn’t as relevant today. It still passes as one of my typical “perspective posts” Read More

It’s amusing that I’m reading the Song of Ice and Fire series – because one of the prominent houses has this saying:

A Lannister always pays his debts.

The saying had always struck a chord in me – possibly because of its clear ambiguity (how’s that for an oxymoron?). To me the saying is a nice summary of how I usually live my life. To me, everything is relative… but I do pay my dues.

I’m not a “good” person – to be sure. Altruism was never a concept that appealed to me – that’s why I never fully bought the “morality” that Religion tries to instill on its followers. Still, if I did something “wrong,” (to whatever standard) I make up for it. If not directly, in some other form. Whatever the case may be, I do pay my debts.

I may be proud, proud enough to engage in heated debate to prove myself right – even if it’s just for sport. Sometimes it’s simply because I end up being right, other times its simply because the things I claim haven’t been proven otherwise. ¹ Again, if your “proof” is simply based on what ought to be instead of what really, truly is – then you’re at a disadvantage when debating with me

But those who know me well enough know this much: when I am wrong, or if there’s something amiss, I’m the first to acknowledge it. Such are the thoughts I have on the issue that triggered this post. Read More

For the most part, the trouble I see with the whole Mideo Cruz controversy is that people fail to make the distinction between artistic & religious bias.

When the issue first started, it was simple enough; people were up in arms because Cruz’s work was blasphemous, and therefore “offended” their religious sensibilities. It got much more complicated because any person who actually uses their brain would know that while having those sentiments is understandable, it’s simply not enough to overthrow one’s constitutional right to express them self.

So what did those “offended” people do to “re-legitimize” their concern? They tried arguing “objectively” (for lack of a better term) – specifically attacking the “quality” of the art. Their point was now basically this: the art was not art at all, or mediocre art at best; thus had no place in the CCP. As one comment would eloquently put it:

The CCP is the art gallery par excellence of this nation, and so we have come to expect that only established artists; those who have built their reputations over decades of public acclaim and acceptance by their fellow artists; deserve to be exhibited there.

And that is a perfectly reasonable claim to make. I agree with it 100%

But what people don’t see is that we’ve already been misdirected from the real issue. Read More

I should’ve posted this when everything was at its peak – to avoid looking like I was trying to “rekindle” an issue everyone had supposedly “moved on” from. But then, I remembered that I never claimed the moral high-ground when it came to Lao’s recent media exposure – so suck it! 😉

But, truth be told, this post isn’t really about slamming Mr. Lao and what he did. ¹ We’ve all had our fair share of that in Facebook Instead, what I’m posting now are the salient points of a conversation I had with Cris about it; the real world implications this event had made painfully obvious. “Truths” people would have to accept so they don’t end up getting so bent out of shape when things like this happen.

That, and because I haven’t posted shit in such a goddamned long time that my blog’s beginning to rot. So let me brush aside the virtual cobwebs and try getting back into discussing stuff. Read More