I live in Dunedin, where we have just one a competition — gigatown where we will be facing an increase in broadband speeds. But then I have to go travel.

And good it is not. Firstly, the work machine is good for most things == apart from touch typing. secondly, Australian Hotel wifi is horrible and expensive.

So I go on, do the lectionary readings, check email, and get off. Using a 4G wireless card.

But that means that there is less commenting on what others are doing here: this week (three days in Australia, complete with food poisoning[1]) and next week (four days, different city). North America and Europe are much better…. because they charge wifi as part of the room service and usually have good speed.

So, firstly, happy thanksgiving to those in the US. It is not a commonwealth tradition — we burn a Guy on Nov 5th and now have Christmas Parties — but the symbolism behind it is quite reformed.

This does not apply to society in general.

The new orthodoxy on homosexuality is about more than sex. It is an outcome of a profound change in traditional understandings of the world, the abolition of natural meanings and essences in favor of will and technique. Man, accepted public principle now tells us, is not a created or ultimately even a social being. Nor is he a composite of body and soul with a nature that reflects natural functions and goals. He is pure subjectivity, a Cartesian ego not tied to any role or quality. This sovereign independence, now seen as the basis of our unique dignity as human beings, requires that the ego be able freely to choose his values and connections, unhindered by any natural or social limits.

Of course, this rejection of natural law means that the currency that remains is hedonic. Pleasure. Allure. And that is not particularly wise or sensible as a foundation for a marriage.

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Grerp (whose twitter stream is above) expanded on what she was thinking.

What I think has changed – and perhaps this makes the SJWs experience very different from mine – is that women no longer interact with men in the traditional ways that set up a more positive dynamic between them. It used to be that older women of some station or qualities had rather a significant amount of influence over men, which, given their lack of sexual allure, seems inconceivable today. Now women have all of the power they will ever have when they are young and at their sexual peak. And, generally, they squander this power or deliberately abuse it instead of focusing it on loyalty building through nurturing and relationship building. When they are older, then, because they have not cultivated those important ties, they wind up like Liz Jones complaining about being lonely, poor, and ready to die.

It’s all so bizarre. Women are natural nurturers; they’ve evolved to be this way. Check out Tumblr if you think the desire isn’t there. It showcases thousands of girl blogs full of pictures of puppies, kittens, and baby hedgehogs propped in baby-like poses. Or browse Pinterest for the plethora of homemaking adventures and craft projects pinned there. But instead of embracing these female yearnings in the traditional vocations of wife and mother, girls online are writing thousand-word essays on the lack of bad-ass role models on TV and writing gay slash fiction about apparently heterosexual Harry Potter characters.

It’s a little stated fact that this female nurturing, while requiring considerable effort and self-sacrifice, it sets up more positive interactions with men (and, for that matter, people). Feminine behavior like cooking, baking, tending, touching, listening, smiling, laughing, and singing, brings out the protective nature of men and sets up a natural, positive give-and-take between them. Whereas a bitchy, kick-ass persona actively repels most men. It’s very counterproductive.

Beauty fades. Intelligence can make us learned fools, But caring for each other remains.

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1. Not sure if was food poisoning: finishing this post about a day later, and after having had a fever most of the night in between. Go to strange countries, meet interesting diseases, and get them.