Shall not the oppressor cease?

The provocations we see in Kenya today (they can not be otherwise characterized) bode ill for Kenyans. The powers that be have discarded any pretense of goodwill.  They dare their opponent to war, they have "horses, chariots, armed men" beyond number, and plenty of wrath with which to enforce their will.

As evidenced by the repressive brutality against university of Nairobi students on 28th September 2017, their manifest modus operandi is to stamp out all dissent whether legal or illegal, irrespective of whether the stamping itself is legal or illegal, proportional or not.

They will also sweep these black events under the carpet in their haste to proceed with business as usual. They expect, without explicitly stating it, that the message has been sent, and will stick in the memory, though the official record will not mention it, neither will any public official go on record to deny or affirm it. But their will be reiterations of the message as frequently and as emphatically as they will deem fit. Care will be taken only to ensure that it is not spelt out in crude words, but in blood and theft and molestation.

And thus in effect goes the message soon to be widely felt rather than heard:

Let all communities from now henceforth submit to a garrison in their midst.

The garrisons will clobber whom they will, seize property on whim and rape whomsoever their lusts can seize.

The garrisons will not cease until all faces are uniformly subdued in quiet desperation, and even then, they will not cease.

Many "heroes" will die.

Their grip on power will not slacken.

Inflation

Someone explain why the bidding for low value women starts at a premium.

There is a manifest oversupply of gold-digging whores. They should be dirt cheap, at least before they find the gold. However the trend within that demographic is to fake it till you make it, perpetuating an incurable epidemic of inauthenticity.

They all look, act and talk the same after a while: shallow, vacuous, fake.

High value women are rare, precious, yet they appear more circumspect in their self-valuation; they appreciate other measures of value besides cash and prizes, they will strive to earn their rewards. Last to proclaim their percieved value openly, they recognize the utility of "feminine mystique" - silence is golden. Let him do what he must to figure her out for himself. Give him space to act the gentleman.

But entitlement is a paradox; the more of it there is in a woman, the less it's worth, and then you will never hear the end of it though pigs should fly.

Attraction Differential

A great sage (I suspect it was the tireless Anon once again) said "Obey your instincts." Now in the haste of modern life many influences demand obedience, and sadly there are always stray people lacking direction who thus fall prey to confidence tricksters, simply because they seem to know what they are talking about. I'm always suspicious of people who primarily issue imperatives in their speech, maybe except my football coach, who literally barks orders. Now I need to be getting to the point, how our eyes need to stay open.

Let us telescopically zoom in on love and romance, the way modern culture depicts them. ( Not so close that we must stare at other people's displays of affection. Look in the mirror and you should see quite enough, thank you.) My view of the past presents me as an evangelical believer in the romantic tropes of back in the day.  For example, The One: an exclusive soulmate figure with whom the matching agent is no less than Destiny and without whom there is no Happily Ever After.

With ideas like these filling my head I set out to search for love and soon thought I found it. But my instinct refused to believe the narrative I was forcing upon myself. I ignored the annoying instinct until one day it screamed out: "Love is not this way!" The attraction was compromised from the start by an unfortunate pink hue coming from rose-tinted glasses I was wearing at the time.

Let me explain myself; you see, attraction is a funny thing, it's like binary. When it's on, it's like two magnets close together, they slam into one another and cleave together. When it's off, nothing will happen, like preoccupied strangers in the street. Factors of attraction vary, from physical appearance to virtues and appealing character but there's got to be attraction, it's not magic.

The problem begins when romantic love is made the be-all and end-all of life and happiness, until misguided souls settle with insufficient attraction. The cart is before the horse. There may be other motives which do not qualify as attraction because they are only marginally related to the object of affection, like how the two of you will look, what others will think, other calculations, etc (which are given disproportionate weight despite only being by-products, side effects.) This is the real dynamic behind that oft-rehashed complaint now popularized by the movies: "I feel like you are in love with the idea of being in love and not in love with meeee!" **tears, and then an overdue break up***

In a lovesick mind, having to pep talk oneself every time before facing the partner is more tolerable than being alone. Consequently, these shut their eyes and ears from dissonant facts that indicate that they have been settled for, shielding themselves from the truth by going to extra lengths to obligate their partners to stay with them. But love is not this way. Granted, arranged marriages between total strangers have worked, which somewhat  complicates my argument on the necessity of initial attraction. Never mind,  I'll figure it out. All I'm saying here is, there's no faking love in a relationship, no matter how "romantic" it is made to look.

Why am I talking like this? How do I know? I've been that guy, I've been on both ends of an attraction imbalance, both settling for others when my options dried up and being settled for by others. One kind of feels a nagging pain in the instinct in either format. Unless an isostatic adjustment balances the inequality, which may not happen even with prolonged exposure, do not proceed by any means. Just wait. Keep your eyes wide open in the meantime.

Drawing Lines

Let us temporarily move our minds beyond the alleged tradeoff between being single and lonely, or being in a relationship and bored. (Admittedly it is debatable.)

Putting that aside, I have a theory. Single people tend to be rigid in their opinions. Once they've made up their own mind, that's it. On the other hand, being in a relationship compels one to be flexible and open minded to a certain extent, in order to accommodate the other's opinions, tastes and preferences. 

This reality opens one up to all sorts of compromises that one would have never otherwise contemplated. Commonly referred to as "love conquers all," we have all seen the phenomenon of lovers ditching ideological stances, personal principles and even entire religions in the name of love.

It has happened to me enough times. For example, my taste in music and choice of viewing have been significantly influenced by exes, friends, the company I keep. On my own I am cautious of being seduced by pop culture. Even certain so-called "gospel music" don't cut it no more, mostly I'd rather let my thoughts soar through silence and naturally occurring ambient noises. If something "hot" comes up, you will catch me scowling at the screen moments before I change the channel or switch it off altogether. But put me on even the most casual setting with an acquaintance and the pop music will eventually bob my unwilling head as the visuals charm my hypnotized eyes. At long last all resistance is laid in the dust and the old joints will bust spontaneous moves.

I for one have resolutely taken the extreme view: unless I meet someone who is as strict (or stricter) about what they allow themselves to listen to or watch, guarding my own mind will be a losing battle. Since two shall become one, be not unequally yoked. Compromise must come with relationships indeed: however certain lines must be drawn as mutually inviolable or else two can not walk together.

Dead End Friend Zone

Annual youth social Sunday.
 

The scene was a hall, during a lunch-break that interrupted the day's program which entailed sports, games and "socializing".

Amidst a sea of "socializing" youths, I stood alone, chewing absentmindedly with loaded plate in hand. My eyes watched the way Anita moved amidst the crowd with a keen awareness of her own presence, her gestures deliberate but graceful. I was lost in the moment. Meanwhile, a mutual friend of ours was staring at me as I stared at how Anita occupies space. I briefly averted my stare for some reason, and my eyes landed on Loise, who was staring hypnotically at the intensity of my staring. Mildly embarrassing.

After waving to acknowledge Loise, I went right back to my study. Across the hall, Anita stopped herwinding travels briefly, to converse with a group of tracksuit-clad personalities. One guy in particular seemed just as enchanted by her dynamic charisma as I was from afar. Their words were a distant murmur, but their laughter rang out all over the hall, mingling with the general chatter.

Loise came over to join me. During the brief, narrow silence that still separated us, her teeth churned food mindfully, mine mercilessly. It was a perfect pairing: two party-wallflower types keeping tenuous company while they wait for the food they are chewing to drain into their bellies.

Loise swallowed first, heavily. And then: "If you like her, tell her." And then smiled nervously, because I turned to search for signs of insanity on her face.

"You know better," I said at last.
"I know she likes you!"
"You're not supposed to tell me, she is."
"Can she really tell you? You two are scared of each other."
"So you get to play matchmaker, is that it?"
"Yeah!" she smiled indulgently.

I smiled despite myself. Clearly, Loise didn't understand,but she was confident enough to air her presumptions. Fortunately for me, I didn't have to explain anything to her. I changed the topic. Explanations are exclusively available to readers of my blog.

Critical pondering lately revealed that my friendship with Anita is a dead end alley, and the brick wall at the end of it reads "Friend Zone - No Through Way". But I refuse to stall here admiring the graffiti artist's dexterity in scribbling those words. I have decided on a tactical retreat - hence the increasing lengths of time between increasingly accidental meetings. Call it bracing for the inevitable crash.

She's in the prime of her youth. I won't delude myself: lots of male attention comes her way, aggressive concerted attention that vies for her heart's affections. She's probably thinking of settling down too; many of her female age mates are either married or single parents by now. I have no such ideas in mind. Soon enough she'll show up flaunting an engagement ring and we'll laugh about it but the laughter won't reach my eyes because I laid the foundation by acting brother while the iron was still hot.

There was never any "thrill of the chase." Instead, since we began, a comfortable familiarity borne of firm rapport defined our interaction. The depth of her mind and the warmth of her character have been so rich that even our platonic conversations are rewarding. But naked desire died of neglect somewhere along the way. The moment was repeatedly lost in the multiplicity of words.

All or nothing. Looks like it'll be nothing then.

Resist Attraction

I believe in organically cultivated relationships. Get to know someone under mundane circumstances, befriend them gradually, understand the SWOT slowly and maybe blossom into love muuuch later. Long stretches of this road may look like the much-maligned "Friendzone" but nothing good comes fast and easy. Patience wins the marathon.

The whole "love at first sight" rainbow-themed rose-tinted fireworks arrangement strikes me as genetically modified love. Artificially inseminated with primal desire, incubated in pretentious dates, needing life support when the excitement fades, shaky at best, likely dangerous. (I've been both victim and perpetrator, so I ought to know by now.)

This is not to say that I have saintly transcended instantaneous lust in the age of makeup. That struggle continues. A man's eyes are prone to be ensnared by elaborate cons as long as Photoshop tools avail in our sisters' dressing tables and wardrobes. Actual authentic 100% lovely-looking lasses also roam the earth turning beholders' necks. I have already ranted so much against the consequences of fashion that I loathe repeating myself here now.

Alcohol also predisposes men towards carnal gratification. In Proverbs 23:33, The Bible says after you have become drunk,"thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things." Ever seen how a drunk gazes at the strange women who avail themselves? The Bible knows all about that. Goes on to say "a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit" (v27). At first I equated  strange woman with whore, prostitute, harlot;. Unfortunately, today, many glorified and overrated strange women operate under the guise of a wide variety of socially accepted (nay, celebrated) roles.

Back to topic. Granted, visual attraction is a major element in the establishment of any relationship. can't deny the fact that beauty is that which arrests the attention in the first place. I'd just like, one day, to be able to approach a lady with something along the lines of "I admire your character and comportment and I like your wit and humor. Your looks are an added bonus."

Karma is also extra-judicial!

Justly do the oppressed cry out

for judgement deems their cry a warning.

Their oppressor best pay heed.

Innocent blood is a stubborn stain,

an accuser never silenced;

impossible to ignore, seeking vindication.

Innocent blood cries out,

ceaselessly demanding justice -

an urgent cry, pleading with tears.

Justice shall respond to nonstop nagging,

and present Himself suddenly

to shedders of innocent blood.

Contra Diction

'Religious' post. Shoot me now.

World politics is a stage. All the marionettes we see thereon dangle off strings which are manipulated by Satan himself.

The devil is a liar and the father of lies. Thus, the reality and the rhetoric of world politics are diametrically opposed to each other. So effective is the deception that many, while swearing by the seductive rhetoric, have their eyes wide shut to reality. Unfortunately, the entire world is structured for serving rhetoric, dogma, a pack of lies. War is on the way because some of the dogma people are ready to fight to protect their deluded fantasies. Politically, economically and socially, lies have gained currency as the blueprint for a global society. Just don't ask UN, IMF, World Bank or any of the secret societies or mainstream religions.

Rhetoric says world politics is benign and progressive, leading towards world peace. The stark reality is that world war will suddenly be upon us. Look to the Middle East. While the talk in international fora is all about unity and everyone getting along, actual practice on today's battlegrounds is eugenics and genocide. According to research, the amount of depleted uranium used in the Middle East (War on Terror and variants) equals 400,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs in terms of radiation. If that's not racist by definition then it is racist by design. To say nothing of the role of the UN as the biggest high profile boot-licking cooperative ever in history, by which such atrocities are excused as victor's justice.

Elsewhere all over the planet, all cadres of leadership hype globalization, depicting it as a cute "global village" type of borderless arrangement. In truth, the whole thing despite all its fancy social networks widens the class rift between rich and poor. Connectivity is just one more thing the poor don't have. Marginalization, in short. This comes at a time when thanks to pop culture, 'swag' is the new black, the whole point in a culturally and morally bleached landscape.

Satan is leading a rebellion against God Almighty, but his stake in the affair is neither to accumulate wealth nor power nor fame. He has no need for such trivialities; come on, he has ruled the world for a while already. Rather, he outsources his labor among the humans, buying out his workers' souls at the incomparable price of coveted earthly perishables, because rebellion is his whole cause. Enough people are so willing to be blinded by such short term gains that today, our music is sacrilege, our entertainment is blasphemy, our economics is politically correct slave trade and our society descends deeper every day into new depths of moral depravity.

By the way, the last time Satan succeeded in uniting the whole world in rebellion to God, the Tower of Babel was thrown into confusion and that was the end of that.

If our "religious leaders" do not sound the alarm, that just indicates what side of the divide they have hedged their bets. Contrary to what some of them might say, God does not exclusively associate Himself with religions, sects or offshoots. His people are individuals of every background who follow Him in spirit and in truth, who desire to fulfil His will in their lives, even to the point of being called 'a peculiar people'. These are the true church of God, no matter their denominations. These are they which Satan seeks to deceive or destroy, for they do not conform to rebellion. He has the whole world's wealth and armaments at his disposal, his time is running out, and so his efforts of late are peaking towards a crescendo of sorts. Consider the darkness we call entertainment, and political instability all over. War is coming. Don't take it from me; watch the news, judge for yourself, check out www.vigilantcitizen.com.