Monday, May 30, 2011

Virginity Checks on Female Protesters. Outrageous.

I've just read this on CNN's website. Female protesters who were arrested in Cairo, Egypt were subjected to virginity tests back in the Egyptian protests earlier this year. Just recently, a senior Egyptian general admits that the virginity of the women were tested despite denials from other officials. The unidentified general gave the following statements in defense of the intrusive inspection:

"The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine," the general said. "These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs)."


The general said the virginity checks were done so that the women wouldn't later claim they had been raped by Egyptian authorities.

"We didn't want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren't virgins in the first place," the general saidhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif. "None of them were (virgins)."



Outrageous I tell you.

Source

Prudish Nutrients

Here's a little something I found posted in Plurk.



It turns out that the C in Vitamin C means "Chastity".

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Lug the God of All Skills



I find myself always focused on Egyptian deities so, for a refreshing change, I'm going to talk about an ancient European god who recently caught my attention. Lug (pronounced as "loo") is a heroic polymath god in Celtic mythology and the leader of the Tuatha De Danann, the gods of light and goodness. Lug was also artist, wise man, sorcerer, musician, warrior and blacksmith all rolled into one. He and his forces fought against the Formarians. a race of evil giants led by Balor of The Evil Eye.



"Wait! Stop! I think I think my contact lens fell off."


Balor of The Evil Eye was the grandfather of Lug. He was given that name because of his malevolent gaze that can destroy armies. It as prophesied that Balor's own grandson will kill him so he imprisoned his only daughter in a cave. However, she was seduced and she bore triplets. Balor had the triplets drowned but one of them survived and his name was Lug. Lug was rescued and raised by the smith god Goibhnu. The god, taught in all arts, crafts and skills, grew into a handsome and brilliant man. In the epic battle of good versus evil, Lug finally killed his grandfather Balor by piercing his eye with a sling stone. Afterwards, the Tuatha De Danann ruled Ireland for many centuries. However, after many centuries, the old Celtic gods were forced to live underground after a crushing defeat by the ancestors of the Gaels. As ages gone by, the all-skill god Lug became a fairy craftsman known as Lugh-chromain ("low-stooping Lug"), better known as the folkloric leprechaun.




Man he really let go.



sources:
Gods and Goddesses: A Treasury of Deities and Tales from World Mythology (Macmillan Books)
Wikipedia

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Netjer Cards set 1

Last week, I drew this set of Egyptian deities on blank calling cards. They're originally for sale but I like them so much I'm going to put them in a frame and display them in my house. Besides, I can make more cards like these.


The Unfortunate Tale of Dr. John Dee


I was watching the movie Elizabeth: The Golden Age and I was pleased to see that the English court magician Dr. John Dee was featured in the film. In real life, the man was remarkable. He was a scientist, an astrologer, occultist, navigator and even a spy (his codename was 007 thus making him a prototype for James Bond) for Queen Elizabeth I back in the Renaissance Age. He was the founder of Enochian Magic. He was a man who was ahead of his time.

Well, that is until religious bigotry stepped in and ruined his life. When Queen Elizabeth I died, troubles started piling up for poor John. His library and laboratory was ransacked by vandals and thieves. He was made Warden of Christ's College in Manchester but there he was hated and even cheated. When he returned to London, Elizabeth I died and the new ruler James I refused to help Dee due to his supernatural reputation. Dee spent the rest of his life in poverty.

Despite his unfortunate tale, John Dee's legacy lives on among the modern magicians. If the real world has a Merlin, Dr. Dee was the closest.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Lico's Easter Wandering 2011

Just this afternoon, I went to a Taoist Temple (I forgot the name though) in Scout Madrinan, West Triangle, Quezon City near Dragon Badminton Center. After that, I've decided to walk from Scout Madrinan to West Avenue. It was great exercise.

I somewhat reached my limit when I walked past Kamay-Kainan so I took a jeep to SM North. I walked all over SM North to find a barbershop (my Bieber hair is coming back *epic frown*) but sadly I saw none. After browsing through Fully Booked, I've decided to eat at my favorite Pakistani foodplace Kabab and Curry in the food court. I've decided to try their vegetarian dishes. One was a spicy chickpea stew and the other (a new favorite of mine) mung daal. Mung Daal is a bean stew mostly made of mung beans or "monggo" in Tagalog. Both dishes were delicious. I've decided to learn to cook those dishes.

After my dinner, I walked some more and then went home. Upon reflecting on my latest journey, I've learned a few things.

1. There is a Chinese temple in West Triangle along Scout Madrinan. Albeit well-concealed, it's there.

2. I know where the office of the MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board) is. I have no love for censors but they suspended Willie Revillame so I've decided to back off.

3. I found a martial arts gym (Strikes Unlimited) along Timog on my way to West Avenue. They teach Boxing, Muay Thai and Jujitsu.

4. Mung Daal is delicious and it should be part of my staple diet because it's nutritious plus it's low in fat.


Happy Easter.

UPDATE: I've just found out that the dal dish I ate is called Daal Makhani. My bad.

Friday, April 15, 2011

UFO mass sightings everywhere

I've never seen them but deep inside I really want to believe.



Oh and here's something interesting. Stanley Fulham is said to be a Ufologist with an uncanny record of giving accurate UFO sighting predictions. The recent sighting in Moscow was said to be a prediction fulfilled. There's also a prediction (probably from Fulham) that extraterrestrials and the world leaders will meet soon. If this were to happen, I really hope we'd have a utopian future similar to Star Trek.