27/08/2008

Burma: Only Relevant During Riots

Burma still have elections. This might come as a surprise to you, but there are still elections being held that, more or less, accurately announces the people's choice.
The democratic party NLD (National League for Democracy) has also won this election several times.
Not that it matter's to the military regime, who 1990, when the NDL won an overwhelming victory, killed around 200 people instead of handing power over.
There are still hundreds of political prisoners in jails, as well as Buddhist monks, who made the mistake of openly protesting the regime.
Ms Suu Kyi, the leader of the NLD, has spent the last 20 or so years either in prison or house arrest.
There are now rumors curcinating that she, and her two aids, have gone on a hunger strike. What the goal would be if this rumor is indeed true is unknown.
Meanwhile the regime continues building their new capital city, Abode of Kings, presumably as a monument over their own glory. Who else would be surprised if only the rich, famous and powerful get to love there, while the rest remains in the old capital?

Joe Metro

24/08/2008

23/08/2008

Today

I've just watched documentary about Hunter S. Thompson, the closest thing to the second coming of Jesus we've had so far.
Let me explain, Hunter cared about people. He might not have reported things neutrally so that we could decide for ourselves what we thought, but he did report things from his own heart. And he was damned good at it.
I don't know why I'm so fascinated by Hunter. He was a rock star writer, but I've never really understood the hysteria over musicians. The closest thing I get is a sort of respect and pride over what they're doing. I feel like what they do matters to me, and that's really the only thing you need to achieve as an artist, any sort of artist. Entertainment is secondary if what you do makes someone think for just a moment. Even if they think about something trivial, like the price of gas, you've made them think, which is a lot harder than making people feel.

That also a think that should be required for people going into politics. They need to care about people. Maybe not all people, but at least most people. If you only care about a sliver of the people your going to have an influence over, you've got no business in any position of authority.

China is apparently cracking down hard on anyone with a opinion that differs from the government to make things look nice and tidy during the Olympics. Another proud moment in the history of humanity.

McCain owns 7 homes, consider 28 million dollars to be an alright amount of money, yet media accuses Obama of attacking the American Dream when he criticizes McCain for not knowing how many homes he's got. So, apparently there is no difference between greed and the American Dream these days. What happened with "One nation under God"? Last time I checked greed was a mortal sin, but maybe they've changed the 10 Commandments to fit better in to a society that values income and property over people?

I'd rather live in the loving care of a mad freak, than the uninterested care of a normal person.

16/08/2008

Lykke Li Kicks It

Everyone's heard Lykke Li by now, but if you haven't seen her live you might not know of her love of hip hop. When I saw her she did Everyday I'm Hustlin by Rick Ross for instance, as well as a bunch of other songs. Now I'm kinda hoping she'll make a hip hop record. Maybe with Saul Williams? That would be something, and would probably kill a few music critics from pure excitement.

Anonymous vs. Scientology 08-08-08

Quote of the Day

14/08/2008

Russia vs. Georgia

This whole thing seems to get more and more out of hand.
First Georgian forces went into South Ossetia, which is a former part of Georgia, they were apparently trying to hunt down seperatist, but South Ossetia asked for military support from Russia, since they presumable didn't have any means of denying the Georgian to enter their territory. This was eagerly granted, since the Georgian military apparently also managed to kill a few Russian diplomats and military personal stationed there.
So, Russia kicks the Georgian military out, and pursues them into Georgian territory. So far it only seems fair.
The problem, however, is that South Ossetia isn't recognized as a nation by any member of the UN. Instead it's still considered a part of Georgia. Why that is I have no idea, but it's a big part of the problem. It's also apparent that Russia does not seem to agree with this.
So, now Russian troops seem to draw close to the Georgian capital. Clearly overkill, but if their goals was to overthrow the Georgian government it kinda makes sense. Problem is, we can't assume anything about the situation. Since, if it turns out that the Russians where only sending a message to Georgia to stay out of South Ossetia, and we start something over it, we could kick off World War 3.

Bush is claiming that Russia will be internationally isolated it they do not withdraw. Which is of course just an empty threat, thanks to their presence in Iraq.
I've also heard speculations that the US will trade Georgia against an Israeli attack against Iran. Maybe not the most likely scenario, but it is nevertheless a possible factor if Russia do occupy Georgia and the US does nothing.

Personally I'm hoping that Russia is just doing a show of force to show Georgia that they should leave South Osseta alone. Either way, the following days is gonna be interesting.

Forbiden Thoughts

The US and Britain appear to be competing on who can create the first Orwellian society. Sure, Britain's got the cameras everywhere in London, the metal detectors in the subway, but the US got the limited liberties of the population, encouraged spying on your neighbors, and soon: (at least according to this) thought censorship.
Basically, if you have a political, religious, or an other opinion that does not work with the one supported by the government, people will figure out a way stop you. You can't disagree with the government, they were elected after all, people want them to take care of you!
Thing is, if we can't disagree with a government, how will we ever manage to change anything? Isn't politics about change? Cause it seems to me like it's more and more about maintaining an almost dogmatic belief in a political view. There's a difference between convincing yourself that you're right, and finding out what's right.

12/08/2008

Writing Fiction

I do this from time to time. Always liked writing and reading when I grew up. So far I've only written short stories, but lately I've been thinking a lot about writing something else. So I've come up with a few ideas that I'm going to try to work on. One is a series of short stories that I'm mostly just working over in my head, but I've got quite a nice structure to it so far I think. The other is more the kind of story that evolves as I work on it. I'm thinking that one might turn into a proper book, or at least a novel. We'll see I suppose. I'm gonna put that on hold for a while though. With school starting soon again, and me still having some things I have to get done before that, writing two books at the same would probably be a bit much. Still, can't study all the time.

09/08/2008

Glowing from the Inside: Radiation Poisoning

The fact that we at any moment can die in the instant spark of an atomic fire haven't really been a concern of ours since the Cold War. Yet those countries who have nuclear weapons spend billions of dollars on improving them. Right now we could kill everything on this planet a few times over, but that's apparently not enough for some reason. Never mind the fact that no one can win a nuclear war, we're using ancient knowledge here. An eye for an eye.
And yet, if we spent all of that money we waste on nukes on, say education, health care and public transportation, we'd have come a lot closer to a utopia than a post apocalyptic wasteland.
Sure, Fallout might be a cool game, but no one that can be considered sane would want to live there. Fact is, you'd all be too dead to live there anyway, considering the generations that would have to pass before we could actually walk around outside again whiteout a sunblock of, say, a few millions.
I've always heard that we'd have to inherit our parents mistake. It seems like their nuclear holocaust is also passed down for the next generation to worry about. Thing is though, no one does.
One day, when all the nukes are long since forgotten, some bad wiring will cause a nuclear storage facility to go, well, nuclear on our asses. Like waking up the day after under a table, realizing that you're not at home. It's confusing and it hurts, and once you get home there's not one shard of whole glass left in the entire building, someone's stolen the doors, and everything else that wasn't chained to a block of concrete. Someone's also made a fire in the living room, decided to make a hole in the ceiling to let the smoke out, burned all the furniture that the other thieves didn't want, and repainted the entire place with small dead animals, garbage and human shit.
And when you're laying there naked and mentally destroyed, with blisters on your feet because you didn't find your shoes, a pair of torn jeans and a severely stained t-shirt is all you've got on that completely fails to keep you warm, I'll come climbing in trough the window.
I'll probably be looking a little less than a bum than you do, except for a enormous beard.
I'm gonna walk over, grab your t-shirt by the collar, punch you in the face ones, say "I told you so." then throw you back on what's left of your floor.

How's that for a metaphor?

08/08/2008

The Perfect Human Vol. 2

Another thing I find interesting is that we seem to focus on unreal dangers, while we let the real ones go unnoticed.
For instance: terrorism. Impossible to stop, near of closing your borders and creating a society resembling a machine more than an organism.
A lot more people die in traffic accidents, by slipping in the bathtub, by stumbling at the wrong moment, and other as trivial things that any terrorist could ever dream of. Yet these are things that don't seem to bother us greatly.
The difference is of course that when a threat is uncommon it can turn into a phobia. Like being terrified of spiders, or sharks while going to the beach. Sure, more people get killed by dolphins than by sharks, but sharks seem a lot scarier. They've got bad pr compared to the dolphin.
Same thing with terrorism really. People seem to have forgotten what the purpose of terrorism is. I'll give you a hint. Read the name again. Terror. Ism. The goal is not to kill a lot of people, that's just a way to reach the goal. The domino effect that ripples trough the targeted society is the goal. Fear. Anger. Confusion.
Like an earthquake in the right spot causes a tsunami, so does a strong enough hit at the right place in a society. You don't have to kill a lot of people though. You could just as easily disrupt the infrastructure long enough for people to start to panic. If done right you could halt a entire society for several days.
Luckily this hasn't happened. Probably because those that are conducting terrorist activities are driven by fanaticism. Their goal is to kill people first, scare people second.

But that dosen't really matter. What matters is what seem to do to protect ourselves against our phobias. We lock ourselves up, we destroy our own lives because we imagine ourselves to be safer that way.
Then we have the conspiracy theorists who do the same thing as the terrorists really. They turn into fanatics because they refuse to believe that people would agree to the sort of things that makes them safe but also takes away their freedom. They accuse the government and different authority's, along with media, banks and all kinds of places to have manufactured the current situation to take power over the world, the country, or something like that. What they don't seem to realize is that there are people in these places. Who are probably also afraid, although maybe not at the same level as the ordinary person. And even if they're not, they get affected by everyone else.
Humans are social creatures. Anything that affects enough of us affects everyone to some degree. Unless you're a hermit that lives in a cave somewhere.
The point is, we all react to what happens. The problem is that we sometimes forget to think about what we reacted to, why we reacted the way we did, etc.
Basically, use your skull.

I am Blond

Once upon time, when I was still a child I used to have blond hair that flew in the wind as I peddled my tiny bike around like a madman on speed.
With the passing years my hair has turned the strings of dead cells attached to my scalp darker and darker. Theses days they that certain brown color that's between dark brown and light brown that makes you look like a dead dog.
But thanks to science and a fair dose of vanity, combined with a slight panic that disrupted my usual "fuck it" attitude towards my hair, I am now blond. Ish.
You see, some of the spots look like I am an Asian that has tried and failed at making my hair blond. Nature has decided to punish this trespass by turning these spots into the color that attracts birds and insects. It is some-sort-of-orange, basically.
Others are almost too blond. I've got spots of white-blond hair that cold probably reflect sunlight to a low orbital space station.
Needless to say, I love it.
There are two reasons for this:
One: It will offend people that I like how it looks.
Two: If I use chemicals such as concrete and glue I can make something even more offensive.
If I can not stab you to death with my beautiful yet repulse hair, I don't want it.
Add goggles and a strange coat and I'm a mad super villain.
Hell, I can probably wear anything with this hair. It sorta demands it in a way. Either I look super weird, or super awesome ninja-cool, there is no middle ground.

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