On Circumcision

Today two of my favorite non-SecondLife blogs choose to raise the subject of male circumcision.

copyranter does so by showing a new Filipino commercial about a boys journey into "manhood" (boring add) but on a back link to an earlier post I found this truly inspired commercial for a man owning a circumcision clinic.

Joe.My.God. also touches on the same subject with a post about a San Francisco anti-circumcision group that has collected enough petition signatures to place a city-wide ban on the practice on the November ballot. The commenter's have gone wild on the subject of the pro´s and con´s of circumcision. There are more than 185 comments now.

My own position on the issue is that mass-circumcision of infant boys is genital mutilation and child abuse. Admittedly there are a few cases when it is warranted by medical reasons, but otherwise I cannot see any valid arguments for this procedure being performed on infants.

In my mind this surgery should only be performed with informed consent on adult men. I for one would hate to have my foreskin removed, just saying.

(And yes, I totally agree that female circumcision is much more invasive and a more important issue to fight against, as it leads to more problems for the women later in life and also deprives them of the possibility to fully enjoy sex.)

Nothing Matters

On Friday I was thinking I should start to take stock of and reevaluate what I am doing with my life, first and second.

Then on Saturday everything came to a sort of standstill when I suddenly realized that nothing really made me happy, sad, angry, irritated or upset or evoked any emotions within me whatsoever. Nothing! I just suddenly went totally numb.

Nothing makes me want to think, act, get involved or bother in the least about it. It´s a really strange state for me, I cannot remember ever being here before. It´s like a very strange limbo, not unpleasant at all and very calm but sort of distant from everyone and everything.

Usually my feelings are what get me going. My feelings feed my thoughts and my thoughts lead to my actions, these lead to new reactions which I feel, think about and act on ad infinitum. Now I just think and absolutely nothing at all comes of it. My feelings sort of slammed the door in my face and just up and left.

I am still sure of certain things concerning my feelings though, but more in a rational than emotional way.
1. My parents love me and I love them.
2. I love Ars and Ars loved me.
3. Although I have always been a relationship junkie, I have never in my life been as clingy or dependent on others as I have been this last year. I am not used to throwing myself at anyone and ask them to take care of me, it doesn't suit me at all.

Well just wanted to let you - or perhaps myself - know whats going on here. Hopefully this will not last long. Hell, not even that wanker Assange upsets me right now - and that I know for sure will not last.

25 Years After Chernobyl

The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on April 26th, 1986, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in what is now Ukraine. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western Russia and Europe. It is considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the other being the Fukushima I nuclear incident, which is considered far less serious and has caused no direct deaths).

The battle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe ultimately involved over 500,000 workers and cost an estimated 18 billion rubles, crippling the Soviet economy.

The disaster began during a systems test on 26 April 1986 at reactor number four of the Chernobyl plant, which is near the town of Pripyat. There was a sudden power output surge, and when an emergency shutdown was attempted, a more extreme spike in power output occurred, which led to a reactor vessel rupture and a series of explosions. These events exposed the graphite moderator of the reactor to air, causing it to ignite. The resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive smoke fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area, including Pripyat. The plume drifted over large parts of the western Soviet Union and Europe.

From 1986 to 2000, 350,400 people were evacuated and resettled from the most severely contaminated areas of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. According to official post-Soviet data, about 60% of the fallout landed in Belarus.

The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry, as well as nuclear power in general, slowing its expansion for a number of years and forcing the Soviet government to become less secretive about its procedures.

I found these great pictures (below) taken by photographer Trey Ratcliff on his website Stuck in customs.

 

  

I was 16 at the time and can still  remember the terror that struck us all, especially with the predominant north westerly winds blowing the dust and smoke from Chernobyl over parts of Central and Northern Sweden. 

What would happen? How would we deal with it? What food or drink were we able to eat and drink?

Two Note Cards and A Rose

I logged in to SecondLife for a short visit today to pick up two note cards and a rose.

To the giver of the first note card and the rose; I love you too - always!

To the giver of the second note card; I gladly accept your offer of a truce! I don´t need or want enemies. 

You Are Never Alone - Mauro Scocco

I have posted this song by the Swedish singer/songwriter Mauro Scocco earlier, but I needed it´s comfort again.



You are never alone
by Mauro Scocco (direct translation to English by Bock)

When the storm blows, when the bridges burn
When hope and meaning, just disappear
When you feel small, and when no one is there
You will never be alone anyway, as long as I am here

I can walk all night, take a plane or train
It doesn't matter where you are
I´ll get there - anyway

You are never alone, as long as I breathe
As long as my heart - can beat
You are never alone, never forget it
I'll do anything for you, I hope that you know
Yes, I hope that you know

If those you trust fail you, if your dream fell apart
Then I can remind you of how much you're worth
That the fear you feel, it is not you
And how scary as it may seem, it will fade away

I can walk all night, take a plane or train
It doesn't matter where you are
I´ll get there - anyway

You are never alone, as long as I breathe
As long as my heart - can beat
You are never alone, never forget it
I'll do anything for you, I hope that you know
Yes, I hope that you know

So when you no longer cope, then I´ll cope for us both
When you cannot find a way out, I´ll find one anyway
You have given me so much over the years that have passed
The biggest thing one can get, you have given it to me

You are never alone, as long as I breathe
As long as my heart - can beat
You are never alone, never forget it
I'll do anything for you, I hope that you know
Yes, I hope that you know
Yes, I hope that you know

And I know that you know

Priceless or Clueless?

This is reposted from the excellent blog Joe.My.God. I almost fell of my chair from laughing so hard.

People cannot really be this clueless, or can they?

The Den at Easter

I went to The Den at Erotes late yesterday evening (my time).

Due to the ongoing Easter Holidays the club had less guest than usual but nonetheless DJ Butch Diavolo, club owner Chade and host Bacchus made sure that those of us that had come had a good time, they always do.

Here are a few sample pictures from yesterdays party.

DJ Butch, as always without footwear

Chade showing off his new haircut and moves