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Kathy
Terra Nova Tramp
Thank you my friend
Apropos of nothing in particular, I find it amusing that the art website shop "FineArtAmerica" is offering crux images now on duvet covers. One can only imagine the delight that Mrs. Jollyrei will express when the duvet on our bed has a crucified nude Asian woman on it. 
Praefectus Praetorio
R.I.P. Brother of the Quill
I had a fine Thanksgiving, but now I'm out with me mates to kick some doors! Good Times!I'm always late to these parties. Congratulations @Kathy .
IT'S GENERALLY NOT MY USUAL SIDE OF A PERSON'S LIFE, YOU KNOW.
M
montycrusto
Guest
Reminds me of that old Scottish joke (apologies to @Eulalia and any other Scots here);
“”When ye come tae ma door, kick twice an’ I’ll ken who it is!”
“Why, have ye no got a doorbell?”
“Aye, but ye’ll no be coming empty-handed, will ye?”
Silent_Water
Tribune
I wanted to tell you this story but I did not know where to put it in the forums here, so I take this thread.
There are sometimes places in the world where things are happening which are fitting somehow to the ancient history of a country.
For example, I was always surprised by the fact that the Olympian deity HERMES was not only herald of the Gods but also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orators.
en.wikipedia.org
I always thought: "Thieves?" Why them? But a professor for history once told me that the ancient Greeks regarded thieves sometimes as "useful" because they caused people to care more for their relatives and they were often not so much different from travelling merchants who made their success by selling items with too expensive prices ... in other words, they stole a bit of money from their "partners". So, this god HERMES was also a bit criminal but he did never accept crimes which really hurt or killed someone, then he used his divine abilities in the form of coincidences in order to punish the really dangerous criminals because he was also the most feared "hero trickster" in ancient Greek mythology.
Some historians and philosophers were remembered of this ancient Greek mythology, when this story was launched in the last 3 weeks in Greece:
In an attempt to curtail the current (Covid-19-) spike, the conservative government led by PM Mitsotakis has imposed new, stricter measures, limiting access to cafes, restaurants, banks, and certain state services for those who are unvaccinated or do not have a negative coronavirus test.
But according to a story in To Vima, one of the country’s principal outlets, Greeks have been seeking a way to circumvent the measures, mostly by purchasing fake vaccination certificates. The investigation claims that more than 100,000 citizens bribed their way to a forged pass.
The vaccine sceptics among them went even further. According to To Vima’s findings published in its Sunday edition, some have approached the doctors with a request to be jabbed with bacteriostatic water and offered up to 400 euros for the favour.
However, the doctors gave them the real vaccine instead. (!!!)
The recipients of the jab they thought was fake only became suspicious once they started exhibiting side effects of proper vaccination, such as the common low-grade fever.
Now, they are in a double bind: although they can sue the doctors for malpractice, they would have to admit to committing bribery, the story claims.
Quotation from this internet information site:
www.euronews.com
In an article of the most famous Swiss newspaper "Neue Zürcher Zeitung", the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek is "philosophing" about the funny question what a Greek court might have to decide when a deceived cheater is suing the doctor who cheated him:
...
(In Greece, there was some weeks ago the ...) detection of a fraud in which more than 100,000 opponents of vaccinations and 200 to 300 doctors and nurses were involved. Opponents of the vaccination had a saline solution injected instead of a vaccine for 400 euros. The doctors, on the other hand, duped their customers and secretly injected them with an effective vaccine. Nevertheless, they took the bribe and acted both morally correct and corrupt at the same time.
On the other hand, the deception took an almost grotesquely comical turn for those who opposed the vaccination. They said they had tricked the system, but now some of them still suffered from the known side effects of the vaccination. But they did not know how to explain to themselves or to others how it could have come about, because they believed they had been injected with a completely harmless drug.
Even if I condemn the doctors involved in the fraud, I cannot judge them too harshly. When they handed out a certificate to the opponents of the vaccination, they did not cheat because the person concerned had actually and correctly vaccinated. Only those who had intended to cheat were defrauded by trying to take advantage of the vaccinated without being vaccinated. You have been duped by the truth itself. Little did they suspect that they actually were what they only pretended to be.
...
Is there a problem with doctors not only lying in promising patients that they would be vaccinated but also taking the bribe? It could also be argued that if the doctors had waived the money, patients could have become suspicious.
The only sound ethical consideration is that patients have been vaccinated against their will. In turn, under the circumstances, I consider that to be a minor offense, since there was an intention to deceive. Without being vaccinated, the patients wanted to obtain an official vaccination certificate. So they put not only themselves but also others in danger.
...
Quotation & translation from:
www.nzz.ch
And possibly somewhere in the clouds over Greece is the ancient god HERMES still smiling about these modern Greek doctors who cheated on the fraudsters while still taking the ancient Hippocrates' oath "relatively seriously" ...
There are sometimes places in the world where things are happening which are fitting somehow to the ancient history of a country.
For example, I was always surprised by the fact that the Olympian deity HERMES was not only herald of the Gods but also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orators.
Hermes - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I always thought: "Thieves?" Why them? But a professor for history once told me that the ancient Greeks regarded thieves sometimes as "useful" because they caused people to care more for their relatives and they were often not so much different from travelling merchants who made their success by selling items with too expensive prices ... in other words, they stole a bit of money from their "partners". So, this god HERMES was also a bit criminal but he did never accept crimes which really hurt or killed someone, then he used his divine abilities in the form of coincidences in order to punish the really dangerous criminals because he was also the most feared "hero trickster" in ancient Greek mythology.
Some historians and philosophers were remembered of this ancient Greek mythology, when this story was launched in the last 3 weeks in Greece:
In an attempt to curtail the current (Covid-19-) spike, the conservative government led by PM Mitsotakis has imposed new, stricter measures, limiting access to cafes, restaurants, banks, and certain state services for those who are unvaccinated or do not have a negative coronavirus test.
But according to a story in To Vima, one of the country’s principal outlets, Greeks have been seeking a way to circumvent the measures, mostly by purchasing fake vaccination certificates. The investigation claims that more than 100,000 citizens bribed their way to a forged pass.
The vaccine sceptics among them went even further. According to To Vima’s findings published in its Sunday edition, some have approached the doctors with a request to be jabbed with bacteriostatic water and offered up to 400 euros for the favour.
However, the doctors gave them the real vaccine instead. (!!!)
The recipients of the jab they thought was fake only became suspicious once they started exhibiting side effects of proper vaccination, such as the common low-grade fever.
Now, they are in a double bind: although they can sue the doctors for malpractice, they would have to admit to committing bribery, the story claims.
Quotation from this internet information site:
How a fake jabs probe highlights Greece's deep vaccine scepticism
“This is a nation and a culture where doubt is sewn into everything, including the questioning of authority and science, in order to maintain the beliefs they already have.”
www.euronews.com
In an article of the most famous Swiss newspaper "Neue Zürcher Zeitung", the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek is "philosophing" about the funny question what a Greek court might have to decide when a deceived cheater is suing the doctor who cheated him:
...
(In Greece, there was some weeks ago the ...) detection of a fraud in which more than 100,000 opponents of vaccinations and 200 to 300 doctors and nurses were involved. Opponents of the vaccination had a saline solution injected instead of a vaccine for 400 euros. The doctors, on the other hand, duped their customers and secretly injected them with an effective vaccine. Nevertheless, they took the bribe and acted both morally correct and corrupt at the same time.
On the other hand, the deception took an almost grotesquely comical turn for those who opposed the vaccination. They said they had tricked the system, but now some of them still suffered from the known side effects of the vaccination. But they did not know how to explain to themselves or to others how it could have come about, because they believed they had been injected with a completely harmless drug.
Even if I condemn the doctors involved in the fraud, I cannot judge them too harshly. When they handed out a certificate to the opponents of the vaccination, they did not cheat because the person concerned had actually and correctly vaccinated. Only those who had intended to cheat were defrauded by trying to take advantage of the vaccinated without being vaccinated. You have been duped by the truth itself. Little did they suspect that they actually were what they only pretended to be.
...
Is there a problem with doctors not only lying in promising patients that they would be vaccinated but also taking the bribe? It could also be argued that if the doctors had waived the money, patients could have become suspicious.
The only sound ethical consideration is that patients have been vaccinated against their will. In turn, under the circumstances, I consider that to be a minor offense, since there was an intention to deceive. Without being vaccinated, the patients wanted to obtain an official vaccination certificate. So they put not only themselves but also others in danger.
...
Quotation & translation from:
Slavoj Zizek über betrogene griechische Impfgegner
Macht sich ein Arzt schuldig, wenn er auf betrügerische Weise einen Betrug vereitelt? Ein Fall aus Griechenland liefert schönste Anschauung für ein moralisches Dilemma, wie der Philosoph Slavoj Žižek findet.
www.nzz.ch
And possibly somewhere in the clouds over Greece is the ancient god HERMES still smiling about these modern Greek doctors who cheated on the fraudsters while still taking the ancient Hippocrates' oath "relatively seriously" ...
Crux-Emperor Baracus X
Rectidolor
Kathy
Terra Nova Tramp
Thanks and no dungeon , LOLCongratulations !!.
Does it come with a dungeon ??
( asking for a friend )
Kathy
Terra Nova Tramp
If you hear screaming keep on walking , LOLThere'll no doubt be screaming in the night before too long - dungeon or no dungeon
gjpain
Governor
this perfect! congratulations!
Congratulations, I hope you feel comfortable in your new home.
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
Congratulations Kathy!
Perhaps there is no dungeon, but consider firm clothesline poles in the garden!
Kathy
Terra Nova Tramp
Read an article of interest this morning, and was at a loss as to where or even if to post it on CF. Eulalia recommended the Coffee Shop.
As the Daily Beast is partly behind a paywall these days, a c&p seemed the way to go.
Her partner’s arm stretched out to reach something powerful yet invisible. Smiling, with her eyes closed, she looked totally absorbed.
“Something I really adore is just the feeling of rope flowing through my hands,” Marceline said, gesturing to mimic the rope moving. “You get into a flow state.”
By day, Marceline, 26, is an engineering researcher and a physics Ph.D. By night, she is a rope bondage artist and educator. Her pseudonym, “Marceline V.Q.,” is adapted from the character “Marceline the Vampire Queen” in the cartoon series Adventure Time, as she wished to keep her academic life separate from her rope bondage gigs. She tries to constantly challenge the world of BDSM—bondage, domination, submission, and masochism—with aesthetic concepts and complex rope techniques.
“When I was starting out, the struggle for me was trying to show people who weren’t involved in this that rope bondage doesn’t have to always be about sex,” she said. Although for her, it is and it isn’t.
Before the pandemic hit, she was invited to perform and to teach a class called the “physics of ropes” all over the country. Combining her artistic and scientific skills, she uses geometry to inspire most of her rope bondage work.
“When creating rope bondage work, I’ll take the idea of translating a four-dimensional object into three dimensions,” she said. “I’m sort of turning off the analytical side of my brain and feeling more than thinking, in a lot of ways. That’s unusual for people doing very intense mental work.”
However, Marceline’s rope bondage experiences weren’t always artistic. Smiling shyly, she admitted the “epiphany” moment came when she was playing a game of “cops and robbers” with her friend when she was 10 years old. Tying her friend’s hands behind the back with a rope, Marceline had this exhilarating feeling of stepping back to appreciate her “artwork” and thinking she wanted to be part of it.
“I think people understand their sexuality a lot earlier than they realized,” she said.
Marceline began her rope bondage journey in 2014 when she found out about several BDSM subculture groups on FetLife, the social network for the BDSM and kink communities. There she discovered “kinkers,” who go beyond what are considered conventional sexual practices. They don’t “practice” rope bondage. They “play” it.
Rope bondage, or “shibari,” originated from the Japanese martial art of restraining captives and then transformed into erotic bondage in the late 19th century, according to the first English instruction book on Shibari. “Shibari is a Japanese form of sex play using rope restraint methods. It may or may not be sexual, but it is certainly centered around joy and delight and play,” said Midori—an online pseudonym of the acclaimed sexologist and author of The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage.
“Even though most of the work I produced in rope doesn’t tend to be very sexual, I don’t want to completely separate myself from those origins, because that’s why we’re here today.”
The view of rope bondage has not been consistent over time. After studying in Japan for several months in 2017, Marceline says she noticed a slight shift in shibari communities. Some members started to consider rope bondage as art, which completely erased its “messy, dirty” history.
“Even though most of the work I produced in rope doesn’t tend to be very sexual, I don’t want to completely separate myself from those origins, because that’s why we’re here today,” Marceline said.
Midori also believes that learning rope bondage’s origin is essential. “Saying, ‘I am practicing this as art’ is pretentious,” said the sexologist, furiously. “It’s about elevating one’s own social prestige.”
Following the release of the erotic book Fifty Shades of Grey, kink subcultures gained mainstream momentum in 2011. Kink behaviors are common among adults in America, according to a 2017 study from Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health Promotion. More than 30 percent of those surveyed acknowledged they had engaged in spanking, more than 22 percent engaged in role-playing, and more than 20 percent engaged in rope bondage.
“Fifty Shades of Grey changed the way people view kink and opened up the conversation about consent,” said Susan Wright, the spokesperson of the National Coalition of Sexual Freedom (NCSF), a nonprofit organization that advocates for the sexual freedom of all adults.
Although a number of films and books have thrust BDSM into the realm of popular culture, rope bondage is still taboo for a lot of people. Some feminist activists expressed strong opposition. “I do not believe meaningful sexual liberation is achieved through replicating the same dominance-subordination dynamics of institutionalized male dominance,” said Caitlin Roper, a feminist activist and a Ph.D. candidate researching female-shaped sex dolls. “With an understanding of feminism as a collective movement to liberate women as a whole from patriarchal oppression, I do not believe there is a feminist case for male violence and degradation of women, even if some women consent to it or say they like it.”
In the past few years, the National Coalition of Sexual Freedom saw a rising number of female dominant and queer people in kink subcultures. Marceline has mixed views toward the use of gender in the interpretation of BDSM. “Feminism is about giving women the agency to decide what’s best for themselves. I am one of those women who finds sexual liberation in kink subcultures, but there’s certainly an opportunity for really shitty people to get involved in the scene and use that for their own purposes,” she explained.
Reclaiming rope bondage’s versatility in the modern context, Marceline now believes that kink subcultures can be both sexual and visceral. She enjoys the interplay between the physical posing and the emotional components of it.
“You can think of rope like an intimate massage, or you can think of rope like a workout or therapy,” she said. “It’s like dancing.”
As the Daily Beast is partly behind a paywall these days, a c&p seemed the way to go.
Rope Bondage Is About Far More Than Sex
As she skillfully tied her partner onto a steel suspension tripod, Marceline V.Q. let her inspiration lead her. Using natural hemp ropes to recreate a scene from Michelangelo’s well-known fresco painting, The Creation of Adam, Marceline pondered every reaction her partner made, as the woman hung in midair.Her partner’s arm stretched out to reach something powerful yet invisible. Smiling, with her eyes closed, she looked totally absorbed.
“Something I really adore is just the feeling of rope flowing through my hands,” Marceline said, gesturing to mimic the rope moving. “You get into a flow state.”
By day, Marceline, 26, is an engineering researcher and a physics Ph.D. By night, she is a rope bondage artist and educator. Her pseudonym, “Marceline V.Q.,” is adapted from the character “Marceline the Vampire Queen” in the cartoon series Adventure Time, as she wished to keep her academic life separate from her rope bondage gigs. She tries to constantly challenge the world of BDSM—bondage, domination, submission, and masochism—with aesthetic concepts and complex rope techniques.
“When I was starting out, the struggle for me was trying to show people who weren’t involved in this that rope bondage doesn’t have to always be about sex,” she said. Although for her, it is and it isn’t.
Before the pandemic hit, she was invited to perform and to teach a class called the “physics of ropes” all over the country. Combining her artistic and scientific skills, she uses geometry to inspire most of her rope bondage work.
“When creating rope bondage work, I’ll take the idea of translating a four-dimensional object into three dimensions,” she said. “I’m sort of turning off the analytical side of my brain and feeling more than thinking, in a lot of ways. That’s unusual for people doing very intense mental work.”
However, Marceline’s rope bondage experiences weren’t always artistic. Smiling shyly, she admitted the “epiphany” moment came when she was playing a game of “cops and robbers” with her friend when she was 10 years old. Tying her friend’s hands behind the back with a rope, Marceline had this exhilarating feeling of stepping back to appreciate her “artwork” and thinking she wanted to be part of it.
“I think people understand their sexuality a lot earlier than they realized,” she said.
Marceline began her rope bondage journey in 2014 when she found out about several BDSM subculture groups on FetLife, the social network for the BDSM and kink communities. There she discovered “kinkers,” who go beyond what are considered conventional sexual practices. They don’t “practice” rope bondage. They “play” it.
Rope bondage, or “shibari,” originated from the Japanese martial art of restraining captives and then transformed into erotic bondage in the late 19th century, according to the first English instruction book on Shibari. “Shibari is a Japanese form of sex play using rope restraint methods. It may or may not be sexual, but it is certainly centered around joy and delight and play,” said Midori—an online pseudonym of the acclaimed sexologist and author of The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage.
“Even though most of the work I produced in rope doesn’t tend to be very sexual, I don’t want to completely separate myself from those origins, because that’s why we’re here today.”
The view of rope bondage has not been consistent over time. After studying in Japan for several months in 2017, Marceline says she noticed a slight shift in shibari communities. Some members started to consider rope bondage as art, which completely erased its “messy, dirty” history.
“Even though most of the work I produced in rope doesn’t tend to be very sexual, I don’t want to completely separate myself from those origins, because that’s why we’re here today,” Marceline said.
Midori also believes that learning rope bondage’s origin is essential. “Saying, ‘I am practicing this as art’ is pretentious,” said the sexologist, furiously. “It’s about elevating one’s own social prestige.”
Following the release of the erotic book Fifty Shades of Grey, kink subcultures gained mainstream momentum in 2011. Kink behaviors are common among adults in America, according to a 2017 study from Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health Promotion. More than 30 percent of those surveyed acknowledged they had engaged in spanking, more than 22 percent engaged in role-playing, and more than 20 percent engaged in rope bondage.
“Fifty Shades of Grey changed the way people view kink and opened up the conversation about consent,” said Susan Wright, the spokesperson of the National Coalition of Sexual Freedom (NCSF), a nonprofit organization that advocates for the sexual freedom of all adults.
Although a number of films and books have thrust BDSM into the realm of popular culture, rope bondage is still taboo for a lot of people. Some feminist activists expressed strong opposition. “I do not believe meaningful sexual liberation is achieved through replicating the same dominance-subordination dynamics of institutionalized male dominance,” said Caitlin Roper, a feminist activist and a Ph.D. candidate researching female-shaped sex dolls. “With an understanding of feminism as a collective movement to liberate women as a whole from patriarchal oppression, I do not believe there is a feminist case for male violence and degradation of women, even if some women consent to it or say they like it.”
In the past few years, the National Coalition of Sexual Freedom saw a rising number of female dominant and queer people in kink subcultures. Marceline has mixed views toward the use of gender in the interpretation of BDSM. “Feminism is about giving women the agency to decide what’s best for themselves. I am one of those women who finds sexual liberation in kink subcultures, but there’s certainly an opportunity for really shitty people to get involved in the scene and use that for their own purposes,” she explained.
Reclaiming rope bondage’s versatility in the modern context, Marceline now believes that kink subcultures can be both sexual and visceral. She enjoys the interplay between the physical posing and the emotional components of it.
“You can think of rope like an intimate massage, or you can think of rope like a workout or therapy,” she said. “It’s like dancing.”
Last edited by a moderator:
YES!
It's not about being dictated to as to what we make of our very varied, complex selves by puritans who consider their way of being women is the only 'right' one.