Monthly Archives: December 2010

New Years Resolutions (Rough Draft)

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I remember once creating ‘September Resolutions’ or something like this, several years back, with the notion that a ‘new year’ should not necessarily be the foundation of a set of resolutions; if something is worth resolving to do, you should really start from that date, forward. However, I was inspired by a man named Qatzel who gave up all meat, junk food, movies and television on January 1st, 2001, and has kept the resolution for nearly 10 years.

I figure that this could be the initial ’10 year plan.’ God knows these plans did wonders for Communism, but in all seriousness, it is a good idea to plan to do ‘better at life’ since ‘we only live once’ (unless the Hindus got it right).

(1) More Musical Commitment

2010 was a good year; I played in the amazing hardcore band Shellback and opened up for Strike Anywhere. Super awesome days in Shellback!

I played in Brothers of the Hole and we had some struggling moments but in the end it was an amazing success; our last Show on December 18th was fantastic. I was satisfied with all of our effort.

With this, my musical goals would be:

(a) Brothers of the Hole reforming as soon as Sean gets back; record old material, write new material; release an album, do more shows.

(b) Bialy gets back to Korea and we reform Pornotarium. Write new material; have some shows.

(c) Form a Black Metal-esque project.

(d) Work on my tremolo picking, black metal guitar work at least every other day for at least 1 hour.

(2) More Exercise

I love to jog but it is winter; I am going to have to invest in buying some warm clothes. I would like to begin jogging like how I used to, 4-5 days a week, at least 1.5 hours. My Aunt was a marathoner — I would like to run a marathon one day, when I have more time, and I know this is a goal that will be more apparent after a few years, but if I spend 2011 jogging well, it will be a more realistic goal.

I would like to be thinner.

(3) Better Vikings in my life.

(a) I want to see the Minnesota Vikings prosper in 2011 since 2010 has been such a terrible year.

(b) I want my hair to get longer and I am going to start growing a beard; already working on that. If it looks good, I will be happy; we will see how it looks in a few months.

I hope that the red in my beard comes out well as an ode to my mother’s red hair.

I have always wanted to see my beard out to some sort of conclusion — so we shall proceed.

(4) Individuality Uber Alles

I spent some time in 2010 moderating myself in hopes of being liked more by ladies; though this had minimal success in late 2010, I found that the ladys that liked it were not ladys that I liked. If any woman is worth liking she will like me only for my individual self.

It was an erroneous principle to moderate myself.

I achieved only moderate success because in moderation there only comes moderate results.

2011 will be pure Vervic principles put into action.

I will exist purely on my own terms.

(5) Work On Language

(a) I have slacked on Korean; I should study it harder.

(b) I need to begin learning a European language and/or Chinese. I have contemplated going back to French, but I have also contemplated putting forth some sort of effort in Polish or a Nordic language like Norwegian. I realize that most Europeans of my age group speak amazing English but this is irrelevant.

I feel there is a lot to get out of these languages that goes beyond those intiial

(6) More Writing

(a) I need more blog posts.

(b) I need more introspective essays.

(c) I need to write more on my philosophy of Caravaryanism. I will try to write the initial manifesto.

(d) I want to write 5,000 words a week on my fantasy novel. 56 x 5,000 = 280,000 words. A full length novel is usually 120,000 words at minimum; I would like to get over 280,000 and begin editing / second drafting in 2012 and seek publishing in 2012.

(7) D & D / Role Playing Games

I need to play these again. I got some good action with Jay Traub & company in 2009 / early 2010. I need to get back into this because it is a good hobbie.

So these are the initial goals and the rough draft of the resolutions.

I’ve never successfully executed resolutions but “2011 will be different, maaaaaan.”

Assange Lawyers Complain Over Leaked Documents (!!!)

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I had to have a laugh over this. I am not sure how Assange feels about the ‘leaked’ information, but I am certainly having a good laugh about the reaction of his lawyers claiming such documents will damage his case.

I would like to know how he feels about it, but until then, I will just be satisfied with the hypocrisy of his lawyers:

The founder of WikiLeaks is (in)famous for blowing the whistle on governments by leaking documents and cables. Now the tables have turned on Julian Assange with the releasing of secret government documents about the rape charges filed against him — and in an ironic twist, his lawyers are furious.

According to the Atlantic Wire, the loud decry of the leaked government documents containing details of the rape charges against Assange is, according to his lawyers, “among the most audacious and least self-aware complaint of all time.”

To add insult to injury for Assange, the Swedish police files were leaked to the Guardian, the same British newspaper that WikiLeaks handed thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables. His lawyers believe that the leaked documents unfairly damage his defense case and they are angered at what they allege is a political agenda behind the leaks.

Time

Belarussian Election A Sham (As Usual)

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Few people pay that much attention to the last dictatorship in Europe but certainly repression was in full swing as they had their presidential “election” in which opposition candidates were rounded up and detained. A 64 year old candidate was even taken from his hospital bed (he had been beaten by police earlier) by plain clothes KGB.

It is another interesting thing to note that the Belarussian government holds military expos and sells old Soviet technology / weaponry to the highest bidders around the world, a nice source of income for the dictatorship.

Although many of us consider this news to be generally irrelevent to us, we should think about these things from time to time and be informed; perhaps if more people care there will be less power for these sort of miscreant dictators who rule as if the Berlin wall never fell:

A presidential candidate in Belarus was arrested and dragged from his hospital bed early today, just hours after police beat him and other protesters who rallied against an allegedly rigged election victory for the hardline leader, Alexander Lukashenko.

Men thought to be security agents carried the candidate Vladimir Neklyayev, a 64-year-old poet, out of a ward where he was being treated for blows to the head at about 2am. His wife, Olga, told reporters: “We were in a hospital room when plainclothes men burst in, wrapped him up in a blanket and dragged out of the room in an unknown direction.”

Six others of the nine opposition candidates in the election, including former deputy foreign minister, Andei Sannikov, were reportedly under arrest this morning as Lukashenko’s regime moved swiftly to crush dissent.

Up to 400 activists were also in detention, according to the Vyasna human rights group, which itself was stormed at 3.15am by members of the KGB, as Belarus’s security agency is still called. Ten employees of the group were arrested as they collated information from observers at polling stations.

An international monitoring group from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) today condemned the election as neither free nor democratic. “Election night was marred by the detention of most presidential candidates and hundreds of activists, journalists and civil society representatives,” it said.

Guardian

Chavez Can Rule By Decree, Cntrl Internet & Media

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This could be the start of something big in Venezuela:

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan lawmakers granted President Hugo Chavez broad powers Friday to enact laws by decree, undermining the clout of a new congress that takes office next month with a bigger opposition bloc.

Chavez opponents condemned the move as a power grab, saying the law gives him a blank check to rule without consulting lawmakers. The National Assembly approved the special powers for 18 months.

A new congress goes into session Jan. 5 with an opposition contingent large enough to hinder approval of some types of major laws.

Chavez has argued he needs decree powers to fast-track funds to help the victims of recent floods and landslides, and also to hasten Venezuela’s transition to a socialist state.

He taunted his opponents in a televised speech Friday night, saying now that he has decree powers they won’t be able to block his laws.

“You won’t be able to make a single law, ‘pitiyanquis,'” Chavez said, using one of his favorite insults, which refers to U.S. collaborators and translates as “little Yankees.” ”We’re going to see how you make laws now.”

The president’s critics have denounced the decree powers as one of many controversial measures being pushed through in the final weeks of a lame-duck congress.

Another measure under discussion Friday was the revised “Social Responsibility Law,” which would impose broadcast-type regulations on the Internet and ban online messages “that could incite or promote hatred,” create “anxiety” in the population or “disrespect public authorities.”

AP Via Google

Well, his party had recently suffered in the elections that they faced; he has lost power and he has lost some of the support of the people. He is now making clear the desire that he has to really control the country and he has taken advantage of the recent natural disasters to push it through.

So he goes on to mock his critics and show them how powerless they have become as well as push forward legislation that will essentially turn the country into an even more undemocratic place.

No doubt he will continue his education reforms with the intent to continue to brainwash youth… All while controlling the internet and media more to shield himself from criticism.

It sounds like he has become acutely aware that his grip on power was tenuous and that now was the time to use the natural disasters of today to give himself 18 months of power, setting him up to become a dictator if he should so choose.

The world… It’s got problems.

On Social Economy

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Over the last three years I have been shifting from being a generally pro-free market thinker into having a more liberal view of the economy.

Things that have helped spur this forward is observations on human trafficking and seeing it occur first hand in Seoul; experiences with poor & disenfranchised students who do not stand a proper chance to further themselves economically in the future due to their current poverty and lack of ability to compete academically with richer peers; the general observation that some nations are habitually impoverished due to foreign corporations that milk the natural resources of the company while not contributing back.

Often times systems are set up where poor, impoverished people in these nations are forced to function as menient workers in the system and are essentially barred from rising. These sort of economic issues occur not only at the hands of Western corporations but also at those of Korean and Japanese corporations, who go to labor cheap places and fill every imaginable position of worth in the corporation that receives a paycheck that guarantees a future for the person & their family, while the native people have no actual chance at practical self-advancement.

It is amazing to think that for countless children around the world their greatest chance at success in life is literally if they can prove that they are good at kicking a soccer ball or have a special skill for hitting a baseball; there are other women who often leave or are sold by their family at a young age into prostitution, and of course, there is the whole other genre where women in the tens of thousands annually sell themselves off to foreign men for a chance at helping their families & attaining a more comfortable life.

These are issues that Capitalism has not addressed, and although there are charities at work, these have proven to only minimize the pains.

The fundamental mistake of the free market is that it does not view the people as the end goal; it is the classic ‘profits over people’ scenario, and this ‘self-interest’ that people insist will eventually lead to the world as a whole being benefited is more of a myth.

Of course, each economic situation is drastically different from the next and I cannot consider myself a “socialist” in a strict sense of the word, but certainly I cast my lot with those who are critical of capitalism as a whole.

Since the economy effects all aspects of human life, from the way that people view you to the way that you view  yourself, it is important to come to concrete conclusions on how an economy should be managed.

Hobbes largely is credited with coming up with the idea of a ‘social contract,’ but perhaps what we need is also a ‘social economic contract.’

We are born with obligations to our government (and theoretically the government must honor these obligations), but we should also remember that we should be born with obligations to our society as a whole, and much of this should be founded in the economy.

The economy is the force that divides the people in ways more nefarious and insidious than nations; the poor of India & China have more in common with each other than they do with their own country men ‘ho live as pigs in palaces while others have nothing’ (a Ceauceasecu quotation for any history buffs).

It should be understood that a man who runs a business should have the best of his employees at heart and while maintaining a good standard of living for himself he should offer positions of growth and development to his workers.

This means pay that is not necessarily based on the ‘labor’ a man performs, and whether or not it is skilled or unskilled, but pay that is based on a proper idea of how profitable an endeavor is. The CEOs at Apple get absurd salaries, and as do the common managers I am sure, but little to nothing goes to the workers who, having no other skill, are assembling the parts.

It is amazing to think that there are people in the textile industries who will spend their entire lives putting together expensive clothes for foreigners and will never be able to even afford to wear the products they will spend decades creating.

It is interesting to think, for a moment, about the factory worker who is producing all manner of expensive goods meant for the consumption of teenagers from rich countries across the world yet he’d never be able to afford to give one of his kids the same product he will manufacture hundreds of each day. This is a position of irony & I guess you could say even a depraved condition for that person.

I am not qualified to comment on ‘how money works,’ but I think as a human I am qualified to speak on ‘how money should work.’

These are things we should think about.

Announcing My Candidacy For President

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There has been a long tradition of myself running for President. It began at around age 14 when a school bus driver nominated me for President somewhere between 5th Street South and 8th Street south, near my stop. I humbly accepted the nomination and proceeded to campaign through a series of hand written journal papers given to other students outlining my world views and describing my weekends with punk rockers in dingy basements.

I wrote over 100 of these because during these days the only classes I paid attention in where History & French. Remaining class time was dedicated to the grass roots campaign to the Presidency.

I was also campaigning in the private chat room called ‘punk’ on America On Line. My two largest supporters were users with the screen names 0Banana0, TypeOhNeg, Ossifer Flowers, FireFireFi, YCL9999. Other supporters in different chats consisted of NuclearFerret, KISSOZZY55, AsidRain81, HorsesAreOK, OiByrd33, Accent18, RATM84, Bobadoo and Serra1999. The campaign suffered a large loss when during one evening YCL9999 started his own campaign, at which point the initial surge of strength shifted and I lost the ability to be a competitive candidate.

However, I still officially honor OssiferFlowers & TypeOhNeg for not only standing by me in my campaign for the Presidency but also sending nudes.

Somewhere on an outdated hard drive in a computer dump in China the immortal glory of these American patriots is preserved & we sorrowfully wish that their morale contributions to the campaign could be recovered to encourage the entirety of the Third Presidential Campaign.

We salute you. By now you are in your mid to late twenties and I hope you have found your piece of the sun wherever you may be.

It continued in late 2007 when I was nominated for President by an unknown person who wrote on the bathroom wall of a military installation, “SGT. Verv for President!” Someone also scrolled “Yeah!” under it and another person drew a picture of a woman exposing her genitalia beneath that, and also wrote “YEAH!” and I accepted this as my campaign symbol and proceeded to run for the American Presidency by writing things on the internet.

Recently, a person whom I believe to be J. N. of Suwon, South Korea posted a comment on a youtube video saying, “Soju & Red Bull. Alcohol & philosophy. Verv for President.”

True to tradition, I have accepted this nomination and though I recognize I do not qualify to be President of any known nation these legal shortcomings will be overlooked in the greater interest of the people.

I will be recruiting members for VERVPAC (Victorious Electoral Revolutionary Vanguard Public Action Committee), and we will be holding our first meeting on Friday or Saturday, depending whether or not the Mongolian girl will go on a date with me on Friday or whether on Saturday; it could be pushed as late to Sunday, but I promise all attendees that the meeting will be largely informal and focus  more on socialization and positive alcohol consumption in the company of friends.

If a nation chooses to include me on their Presidential ballot, in place of Political Affiliation they should simply announce that I am the Viking Candidate for office, and in the long tradition of men who sacked provinces and set up repressive feudal states, I have come to hopefully take the reigns of power within their society to fulfill the following goals:

(1) Show the political process and the government as a whole for the unending mockery of the people that it is.

(2) Expose corruption within the said government, including exposing my corruption. I have every intention of using tax payer dollars to fund basement rock & roll concerts in which people underage are encouraged to criticize every facet of society and are not kicked out for smoking or drinking. I also intend to use tax payer dollars for new tattoos,  new band equipment & a formidable alcohol cabinet.

(3) Investigate actual political reforms that would be beneficial.

(4) Erect a $500 shrine to the Unknown Philosopher; said shrine would be a crude, non-descript, genderless statue of a human being with the words “Unknown Philosopher” under it, and the remaining money left over would be donated to the Presidential Liquor Cabinet.

I have some other general campaign promises:

(1) I will not create any political scandals but the entirety of my Presidency will be one gigantic social scandal. I promise the following will occur:

(a) Public intoxication. (Several times a week)

(b) Promotion of material of questionable moral value. (Daily)

(c) Sexual scandals. Sometimes in ally ways. (Frequency unknown; this would depend on how much the Presidential Liquor Cabinet would effect the girth of my stomach as well as my current love life status).

(d) Passport urination scandals (hopefully as often as members of political forums will fly out to meet me).

(e) Perpetual unprofessional bearing issues.

(2) I would never do something that would betray the people; although my political & social compass does not exactly allign with the average human being, I will bring forward a sincerity in speech & action that would merit me pejorative nicknames like “the idiot,” “the drunk,” “the pig,” “the savage,” “the waste of human flesh,” etc. No longer would the President be called a ‘snake’ or a ‘liar’ or a ‘backstabber.’ It would usher in a new form of politics that elevated politicians from ‘snakes’ to ‘pigs.’

(3) I do promise that when it comes to international meetings of high profile I will encourage other world leaders to speak openly and bluntly on all manner of topics; I also would be curious to examine what regulations exist at major political summits on alcohol on the meeting room. I intend to find out the UN General Assembly’s stance on a variety of issues, e.g. “Is it OK to consume alcohol on the floor?” “Is it permissable to be shirtless?” “Can a speaker be receiving a tattoo during his speech, or in the audience?” “Is it possible for me to have an introductory song be played? Can it be done by a live band?”

“Is it possible to ‘not have a seat,’ and to take away ‘assigned seating,’ to allow me to sit next to UN Ambassadors that I find are more welcoming towards me than others?”

(4) I promise to refer to other political leaders by nicknames that are appropriate to their general demeanor, ranging from offensive to endearing. A short list would include:

‘Old Sex Guy,’ (Burlseconi)

‘Young Sex Guy,’ (Sarkozy)

‘The Sex Guys,’ (a reference to the entirety of the Saudi royalty)

‘The No Sex Guy,’ (the super religious and unmarried President of Poland), or, alternatively, ‘The One Who Stole The Moon,’ (a reference to his role in a children’s film from decades ago)

‘The Never Sex Guy’ (the Pope)

‘Dumb Face,’ (Pres. Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan; he seems to have a dumb face and he is also a dictator; I find it an appropriate nickname)

‘Squinty,’ (Lee Myeongbak)

‘The BBC [Big Boobs Conservative],’ (Merckel)

‘The Shower Guy,’ (Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa who reassured the country he did not have HIV after sleeping with an HIV positive woman and saying it was OK because he took a shower)

‘The Scum of the Earth / the Bane of Humanity / the Little Fat Boy, etc.’ (Kim Jong-eun)

‘the MILF’ (Laura Chinchilla, President of Costa Rica)

(5) I will take emergency actions to create the ‘Piracy Bureau,’ an official group of internet geeks who will turn the Presidential website into a great bit torrent / direct download place for all appropriate media.

(6) I will take emergency actions to allow myself a perpetual allowance of $2,000 USD per month, to be adjusted with inflation, and to be paid promptly for the purpose of maintaining my Presidential lifestyle after I have stepped down or been impeached.

I am sure there will be more ideas later but you will have to wait until after the first VERVPAC.

Snakes In Washington Opposing Child Marriage Prevention Act

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This is very fascinating — the government doesn’t seem to care about signing off on the manufacturing of F-22s that are $361 million per aircraft, yet suddenly there is an issue with finding $67 million over a four year period to prevent child marriage within the United States: 

The measure, introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), passed the Senate by unanimous consent and attracted a list of 42 cosponsors, including Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). It also had the support of nonpartisan groups like the YWCA. On Dec. 6, former president of Ireland Mary Robinson and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post, praising the United States for stepping up: “This act illustrates how support for securing a just and healthy life for every woman and girl transcends politics.”

The House version, introduced by Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), had 112 cosponsors. What’s interesting is that some of them — such as Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) — actually voted against the bill. In the end, only 12 Republicans backed the measure; nine Democrats defected to the GOP side. So what happened?

This week, a GOP whip alert went out about the child marriage legislation, saying that House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Committee on Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) all oppose it.

According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate, “CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $67 million over the 2011-2015 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting S. 987 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply to this legislation.” 

Conor Williams writes in The Washington Post blog PostPartisan, “How can Republicans explain efforts to defeat a human rights bill because of $67 million in potential spending while simultaneously pushing for a tax cut deal for wealthy Americans that will add $858 billion to the deficit? Is this at all credible?”



El Huffington Post

Not much more to say on something like this.

Something about the tea party & europa

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I have a very good Finnish mate named Jussi, and he has a beautiful girlfriend that came and visited him in Korea by the name of Annika (sp?); she had spent six months in America and when discussing politics she spoke about how she had a common European attitude of scoffing at American conservatism and viewing the American right as incoherent idiots. “However,” Annika would say, “although I do not agree with it I now understand it and it is sensible.” We nodded, discussed it further, understood the differing situations between the European and American heritage. I will be the first to say that there are some elements within the American right that are foolish at the best of times. Sometimes I am embarrassed when some of these people who make more money than God are on TV running their mouth about God & guns (of which there is nothing wrong with either) and managing to make potentially rational discourse into sniveling accusations and cry baby patriotism. However, the one thing I am just failing to comprehend or understand are the riots in Rome & Greece. They’re made that Burlesconi (sp?) didn’t get voted out; they’re mad that a failed and debt ridden government is taking ‘austerity measures’ during a crisis. They say they represent something fundamentally democratic in the former when in reality they are opposing a democratic gesture because it didn’t go their way, and the Greeks are acting like children who got their Xbox taken away because their report card was riddled with failures. Europe loves to thumb their noses at us American simpletons — and they have every right to thumb them at countless demagogues on TV that give a terrible name to us. However, the dismissive attitude towards all American conservatism makes me flush with a bit of anger — there are concise, logical trains of thought in the various seeds of American conservatism and I feel it a bit ridiculous to always complain about the smell of our offal when many seem oblivious to the ridiculous elements within European politics. You can look at the Tea Party and point out a lot of issues, a lot of unsound thinkers amongst them, but the general essence of the movement is not incorrect. In the American tradition there is a backlash against bigger government. Although they will resort to fear mongering over death panels; although they will treat socialism as a four letter word without being willing to discuss it in an unbiased and proper fashion, I can really call this no worse than any political movement that exists anywhere. I merely find it frustrating that for some reason few people are willing to take a look through the eyes of an American and analyze the situation from such a perspective. It is pretty clear cut as to why the Europe does as Europe does, and why the South Korea does and the China does, why is it suddenly so illogical and baffling and counter-intuitive to be American and conservative? Heaven forbid a nation which defined itself in its origin as desiring small government would ever try to continue down such a course. There comes a time in every person’s adult life when they have to sit down and wonder ‘why are things this way?’ and suddenly look at it from a different perspective. There are many reasons to dislike Berlusconi and to feel wrath towards a government that in the end generally failed the Greek people, but clashing and fighting in the streets and making a bad situation worse while people are critical of the tea party but silent about this irrational phenomena in Europe irks me.

Yo Greek Dawg, I heard you like making a bad situation worse…

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So I put riots & strikes in your failing economy so you can make a bad situation worse while you make a bad situation worse:

Striking public and private sector workers in Greece have grounded flights, shut down schools and paralysed public transport.Clashes have erupted between police and protesters in Athens, the Greek capital, as demonstrations take place against a new wave of austerity measures.Greek police fired teargas at protesters who threw petrol bombs at two hotels in a square outside parliament, setting one balcony alight while others set a car ablaze.An estimated 15,000 people turned out at Syntagma Square on Wednesday morning, police said, hours after parliament approved a bill that will cut the salaries in public utilities.

al-Jazeera (The Jazz, as I like to call it)What’s the deal?Your economy collapsed and your government is in big trouble. They are trying to save the situation and make things as better as possible as soon as possible. Part of this involves some suffering that all people will have to do.Money doesn’t come from nowhere; it comes from people working, and you are preventing people from working and improving the economy.In this time of struggle the criticism of the government is healthy and necessary (as it is in times of prosperity) but you are only shooting yourself in the foot. It’s time you do the right thing and quit this nonsense.