Analysis: The Relationship between Power and Sex

The seat of Power is warm and comfortable. It also offers the sensation of omnipotence. Once a human takes that appealing and much coveted seat; he/she must be aware of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of sitting on such tempting chair.
If any of you dreams of Power, it is advisable to bear in mind that it is a very lofty and lonely place. Moreover, it whitens your hair (or whatever it’s left of it).

Humans like to be in Power (under its many shapes and sizes) and, thus, they’ll do anything to get there: pretend to uphold family values; conceal their true sexual orientation; make promises they can’t keep; step on people’s toes; obliterate ethics, law and order...you name it...Power justifies the means.

After all and any means have been used to reach the ends; the powerful individual realises he’s all alone: he trusts no one (lest someone overthrows him); he bears the responsibility of constant success (since he’ll be the only one to be accountable for failure) and he invests a huge amount of time and energy on strategising (a process that, consequently, forces one to shut the world out).

By now, you have all realised how stressing and straining being powerful can be; so you must ask: what keeps these people sane and in touch with reality?
The answer to this question would be healthy disciplines that would connect them to their inner-Self, such as:

• Meditation and breathing techniques
• Introspection and Self-Examination
• Yoga 
• Tai Chi Chuan
• Capoeira, Karaté, Tae Kwon Do, Krav Maga, Kung Fun etc

However, some Powerful humans seem to go back to the raw, animalistic, side of life: dirty sex. Not copulation with their spouses, but crude and rude sex with prostitutes and Love Kleptomaniacs.
One would think that healthy disciplines would help the Powerful Ones to cope with all the harshness and aggressiveness entailing Power; but instead some of these people opt by debauchery, depravity, deceit and dishonour.

Being Powerful demands abusing one’s Reason and freezing emotions; therefore being deceitful, dishonourable and having subversive sex may be a form of thawing those same emotions. It makes sense...
But it also makes sense to say that Power may not have anything to do with it. Many Powerful people cope with their heavy burden through healthy disciplines; however some already were/are sexually disturbed and then make use of Power to get sex, and subdue, as a way to display the extension of their acquired Power.

So, what is the relationship between Power and Sex? Immaturity.

For a different analysis of this theme, please visit LS' Domain: Here

MAX celebrates its 4th Anniversary

Still Life by Christian Berentz

We celebrate the existence of this Blog: 4 years Dissecting Life and Society...happy anniversary!

The last anniversary party we threw, was back in 2009 where I took the advantage to thank all of my blogging mates, and readers, whom rendered the journey such a fabulous one.
Two years have passed and I am still grateful to my blogging friends, readers and followers. I am also thankful for the comments posted here, for not only they provide an interesting conversation but they are also an endless well of knowledge and wisdom. So, to all: thank you!

The MAX Experience stirs the Intellect (and in some, it even stirs emotions); it aspires to be the epigraph of Outstanding Thoughts (i.e. your thoughts); it aims at defending Democracy and Freedom; it upholds Law & Order; it rejects the Politically Correctness but welcomes Diplomacy (one is not necessarily dependent on the other); it denounces corruption, disrespect, perversion, ignorance, prejudice and gratuitous violence.

Now to get the party going, I will share with you a superb song by Jill Scott (entitled “Shame”) – this cool sound takes us back into the good old Music days and MAX has stamped it with the seal of Quality, Class and Excellence.

May our blogging experience last for many years to come and thank you for sharing this celebratory day with me: raise your glasses...L’chaim!

Analysis: The Catastrophe

The Fanatics of Tangiers by Delacroix

Last Sunday, the Palestinians staged a well prepared plot: to celebrate what they consider “Yawm al-nakbah” (Day of the Catastrophe), they decided to swarm into Israel, in a concerted action, to prove they are united, ready to invade and reclaim the State of Israel at their will. 

Hamas and Fatah have recently signed a reconciliatory agreement in order to achieve UN recognition for independent state in September 2011 and to avoid tensions similar to those occurring in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain for instance. Will it work? 

Palestinians should protest against Fatah and Hamas for not being able to serve the people instead of themselves; for not being able to stop violence and recognise the Jewish State of Israel; for not being able to ensure that Gaza borders would be considered safe enough so that the blockade would be lifted and finally commence the development of their Palestinian State. Palestinians should protest against its corrupt government to demand for schools, for hospitals, for freedom of expression, for the rights of women and for the ban of theocracy and authoritarianism. 

Palestinians should turn within and think about what they need. They should shun the voices of those who pretend to be their brothers but reveal themselves to be a jealous cousin: they use their situation for their own selfish political purposes. 

I am totally for the establishment of a Palestinian State; nevertheless I wonder what kind of nation it will be: a country that instead of developing itself, rather than setting a position in the financial and technological market, in lieu of developing its agriculture or even tourism (with all that sea in Gaza they could do wonders)...what does it do? It wastes time and money on focusing upon Israel and on violence – this strategy is obsolete and leads them nowhere. I also wonder about the Palestinian Anthem.

I love anthems. The Portuguese anthem lauds its past accomplishments and encourages for future ones; the Italian anthem reminds the Italian People that they are stronger united; the Israeli anthem chants the deep love and commitment for Zion and Jerusalem; the British anthem asks God to keep the Queen/King safe in order to guide and protect the People against knavish tricks; and the American anthem is a true ode to democracy and patriotism. 

However the Palestinian anthem doesn’t remind people of its strength, it doesn’t encourage people to grow and develop themselves, it doesn’t call for democracy, it doesn’t evoke Divine protection and peace...no, the Palestinian National Anthem invokes revenge, violence, guns, blood, pain, destruction.

Any country’s anthem is the reflection of its spirit...

My country, my country

My country, my land, land of my ancestors

Revolutionary, revolutionary

Revolutionary, my people, people of perpetuity

With my determination, my fire and the volcano of my revenge

With the longing in my blood for my land and my home

I have climbed the mountains and fought the wars

I have conquered the impossible, and crossed the frontiers

With the resolve of the winds and the fire of the guns

And the determination of my nation in the land of struggle

Palestine is my home, Palestine is my fire,

Palestine is my revenge and the land of endurance

By the oath under the shade of the flag

By my land and nation, and the fire of pain

I will live as a revolutionary, I will remain a revolutionary,

I will end as a revolutionary - until my country returns

Revolutionary

...And if this is the spirit of Palestine, then indeed it is Al-Nakbah and may God save us all.

A Zest of Racism

Benetton Diapers Ad

It is shameful yet true: in the 21st century, racism still greets us. 

And what is even more embarrassing is the subtlety in which racism is expressed. 

Illustration A

When we think of nappies and Huggies (or even Dodot); what is the first image popping up to mind? A cute white, blue-eyed baby (although not that linear in the USA). Don’t other ethnicities wear nappies? I am not even going to mention the underlying political-economic message behind this marketing atrocity...no, actually, I am: caucasians rule the political stage, they have more economic power and thus they are to remain the future of any society. 

At least Benetton is more inclusive, thus, passing on the message that babies from other ethnicities have the potential to govern, that they also have economic power and that they are also the future of any nation. Their nappies ads differ from “the norm” (behold the cute picture above): Auguri, fratelli!

Labello has a Soft Rosé lipstick that, according to the brand, “underlines the natural rosiness of the lips”...I have family members who do not have natural rosy, not even red, lips (due to the amount of melanin produced by their melanocytes)...so, should we think that Soft Rosé Labello is a lipstick intended for low-melanin-production sort of individuals only? Interesting...

Illustration B

Monarchic families (around the world) are not keeping up with times and instead of being a positive example (due to their prominence), they somehow choose to be subtle bigots. 

If we leave out the Royal Family of Denmark, for example (Prince Joachim of Denmark used to be married to Alexandra Christina, the Countess of Frederiksborg, an Asian from Hong Kong); it could be said that monarchies, in general, only marry “their own”. In Africa, there are white Africans, Indian Africans, Asian Africans; so why do African Kings marry black Africans only? In Europe, usually the same occurs; and I’ll offer a more blunt example: Prince Albert II, of Monaco, apparently loves a colour in his life (can we say Grace Jones? And let’s not forget his son’s, Alex, mother Nicole Coste, an African former Air France flight attendant) however he is going to marry a copycat of his mother (Grace Kelly) to please I don’t know whom under the flag of “royal duty”...weird and Freudian. 

Arabic Monarchies are more or less eclectic (mainly, toward Caucasians as a political and economic strategy) but then we have the Palestinian Queen Rania of Jordan, who seems to be ashamed of her own ethnicity and keeps trying to westernise her features through successive plastic surgeries...weird.

Illustration C

A real estate agent knocks on someone’s door. The owner of the house answers the door in shorts, t-shirt, slippers and a scarf on her head...she’s black. The real estate agent either asks, “Is the owner of the house in?” or “Is your boss in?”...oh yeah, this is still frequent in Portugal.

A zest of racism is being sprinkled everyday on our melting pot and we seem to be ok with it...but should we? 

Silence is golden

Silence by John Henry Fuseli

Secrecy is paramount.
The political stage has been corroded, over the years, by the general notion that there’s always someone ready to divulge everything that is heard or seen. There is nothing sadder (or more irresponsible) than belonging to a committee or a cabinet and then leak classified information to the press.
However, I see a light at the end of the tunnel: the Obama Administration managed to successfully plan, organise, implement and control a military op in utter secrecy for 6 weeks.

I once heard someone saying that a secret known by two people was no longer a secret. Is this piece of wisdom that linear?
For a secret to exist, at least, two parts must be involved and it doesn’t necessarily imply a breach of secrecy. For instance: two adulterers have a secret that they share with no one; an individual changes its identity and although its mum knows it she remains silent; a neighbour is spotted killing a dog and burying it, two brothers witness it and keep it to themselves; someone transgresses and shares it with its priest, rabbi or therapist (who usually are bound by confidentiality); a group of men holds information on X individual, follows him closely, dictates how he is to live (or not), limits his movements, but tells no one of why this must happen (the secret perspires not outside the group)...the examples are endless.
A secret can exist beyond two people, beyond two parts, if and when the people involved are disciplined enough to keep it; if and when the parts involved are not prone to purposeless gossip; or even if and when there’s a specific purpose to protect such secret.

Silence is golden.
We are not to share our intents and intentions before we act. We are not to threaten others (giving them, thus, the blueprint of our strategy). We are not to brag about our ideas (before implementing them) lest someone steals and thrives upon them. We are not to offer too much explanation lest we leak apparently trivial information that will end up being more revealing than anything else.

The US’ latest intervention in Pakistan reminded me of the good old days when people knew how to shut their mouths and special forces could successfully do their job. It also reminded me of the glorious days when Israeli security forces operated smoothly to retrieve citizens in peril and to avenge persecution to their brothers and sisters.
Mazel tov to the US Navy Seals for their wonderful job: Osama Bin Laden has finally left “the building”.
I want to be able to congratulate a small yet grand nation when Gilad Shalit returns home.