Category: World Events

International Commentary

SeaSteading or how rich guys want even more freedom and privilege

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The Sea is mostly free right? So why not turn it into property where the rich can have even more luxury? Fuck the rest of the world.

I am annoyed. I get annoyed when I read shit like this, telling us how some rich white guys are not happy enough with their (really well-off) lot in life, and just need some way to escape all their (multi-million) misery by founding their own nation of absolute freedom.

What a load of dicks!

When we have a world that is fast going down the drain, with millions of children starving every year, with hudreds of millions of workers surviving in subsistence wage and 16-hour workdays, with all the shit that is happening around us, creating untold misery and suffering, these amazingly lucky and  privileged people can only think of how to make their life even better.

Fuck the rest of us. It’s not like their wealth had anything to do with the rest of society. It was all created from the sweat of their brows.  So they have every right to take their ball and go (make a new) home.

For someone like me, who would like to see everyone in the world be better off, this kind of attitude makes me want to punch some rich geeks in the face. It makes me ashamed to even be in the same sector as them.

As always however it shows us that the ones who really support this bullshit ideology are the minority of lucky people who are quite better off than the vast majority of humanity and are quite happy to never help the rest. What else can you expect from shameless individualism of course. This is why the classic attempts they make are always escapist. From building new land they can use, to floating cities to taking over states.

But there’s also one more thing that bugs me about this Seasteading which goes back to the Libertarian right core concept of Homesteading that is necessary to avoid moral implications for their accumulation of wealth. The idea that one has the right to claim any territory that is not already claimed by anyone else. Can someone explain to me from where this right comes from and why I should accept it?

Anyway, I just needed to rant a bit after reading on how the rich feel so oppressed that they have to throw parties on floating restaurants to discuss how to escape their tragedy. And then they go for a fucking kayak trip.

2008 was an interesting year for USA…at least according to this guy

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A humorous review of 2008

Even though not a U.S. American, this Year in Review is still quite funny.

The games themselves are dominated by swimmer Michael Phelps, who wins eight gold medals, thus putting himself on a sounder financial footing than the U.S. Treasury. China wins the gold-medal count, although critics charge that some of China’s 11-year-old female gymnasts are under the minimum age of 16. Chinese officials refute this charge by noting, correctly, that they have tanks.

Check it out 🙂

(h/t to the Barefoot Bum)

In solidarity with the Greek "Hoodies"

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I got the idea from Ιδιώνυμο of Plagal who is asking people to post their own hooded pictures in opposition to suggestions for criminalizing anonymity through disguise. I do not know how true these suggestions are as no references are provided but I liked the idea nonetheless and decided to join and spread the word.

Personally I’m doing it in solidarity to the Hoodies in the Greek riots who are demonized by the mass media as mindless vandals, violent fringe elements and whatnot. This act, is miniscule by itself compared to all those people who were and are on the streets, in the schools, in the occupied building etc, but it is something I can do from another country.

So, first it was Vrypan
19112007073

Who I do not think did it with the same purpose in mind.

Then it was Plagal
Ιδιώνυμο

And now it’s me:
Hoodie Solidarity

The rest is up to you. Join in with your own pics.

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Not in our Name

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Since the third of November, a shattering shout is shaking the bases of our Democracy. From the third of November, the whole prisoner population or the Country is starting a hunger strike claiming the intuitive: Their lost dignity. Against them is poised the absolute silence of the national media and the absolute indifference of the political hegemony. To these practices, those of us signing this letter, DO NOT AGREE.

The following text was taken from the recent blog action call initiated here which attempts to raise awareness about the country-wide hunger strikes going on in Greek prisons. The translation is my own in order to help a non-greek speaking audience to understand what is going on. If you wish to take part in this protest, you can publish this text on your own blog on the 20th of November and link to the original article or sign the petition.

“The situation in the greek prisons is inconsolable. The radical change of the greek penal system is a main subject”
– Karolos Papoulias 6/11/08

“We’re human – prisoners. Humans, I say”
–Vaggelis Pallis, Prisoner, 9/11/08

Since the third of November, a shattering shout is shaking the bases of our Democracy. From the third of November, the whole prisoner population or the Country is starting a hunger strike claiming the intuitive: Their lost dignity. Against them is poised the absolute silence of the national media and the absolute indifference of the political hegemony. To these practices, those of us signing this letter, DO NOT AGREE.

The situation in the Greek prisons is undescribable and can be only be understood through the rigid language of mathematics. In the country’s so-called “reformation” institutions, 417 deaths have been recorded in the last decade, while their frequency has taken off to such a degree, that today 4 people are expiring in the hands of the state per month. The occupancy touches 168% (10.113 prisoners for 6.019 positions) with each prisoner’s area ratio reaching 1 square meter. With the daily govermental expenditure per prisoner being 3,60 Euro, the rations provided are despicable, the infrastructure reminds of medieval ages and the medical coverage is very lacking. Simultaneously, the Greek government is sending to jail one citizen for every thousand, with the withheld people (those temporary imprisoned) reaching 30% of the total number of prisoners.

If the quality of a Democracy is judged by its prisons, then our Democracy is asthmatic. If the punishment of illegal behaviour with imprisonment by the state is happening in the name of the society, then for this situation in the prisons, we are all responsible, and the lion’s share of the blame on those of the state machine. In this reality, all of those signing this text respond NOT IN OUR NAME.

The information revealed by official representatives about the Greek prisons sketch an image of a hellhole. The essay of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (2007) discovers torture, inhumane treatment and life-threats against prisoners, series of violations regarding the conditions of detention, a lack of investigation and punishment of the guilty parties, silencing of incidents of violence with the collusion of doctors and guards, unacceptable medical conditions etc.

The European Court of Human Rights has published a series of damning decisions for Greece in regards to the maltreatment and/or violations of other prisoner rights from the prison authorities. The National Commission on Human Rights has taken a strong-willed decision about the abuse in prisons, proposing immediate actions for their resolution. The Ombudsman (Sinigoros tou Politi) is complaining about the total lack of cooperation from the responsible state officials, as a result of which he has been virtually banned from entering the country’s prisons for the last two years. The bar associations of the whole country, the non-government organisations including Amnesty International and many political/social institutions denounce the unacceptable situation and request a wider cooperation to resolve this problem.

If human are the rights which every human being should enjoy, every deprivation of those becomes an open wound for our society. In this situation, everyone signing this text reply BREAK FINALLY THE PRISON ABATON.

With this hunger strike the prisoners are fleeing to their last fort of resistance they have left, their own body. This was preceeded by a final request from them towards the leaders to monitor this problem as the situation could go no more. In order to resolve this hunger strike, they request to meet demands which restore their lost dignity and recover their basic human rights, demands specific, decent and immediately feasible.

Against the prisoner movement the political leadership is spending its actions with indifference, promises and repression of their demonstrations.  Any indifference and heatlessness of the political leadership at this stage as well would mean dead hunger strikers. In this frontal collision that the country prisoners have selected for claiming their self-evident humanity we can not wait pathetically while crossing our arms and waiting for the news of hunger strike deaths but we will stand in solidarity.

If the defense of democracy and human rights require the watchfulness of all of us, now is the time to take a stand against this problem without indifference and evasions.

Faced with the tense situation in prisons throughout the country, those who sign this text are making the political leadership fully responsible for what will happen and demand the immediate, both institutional and practical GUARANTEE OF BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PRISONERS OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY

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Seriously U.S. Americans, What the Flying Fuck?!

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How much will it take for you wankers to wake up?

List of military tactics
Image via Wikipedia

In the last few days I’ve been absolutely stunned to learn of the current insidious events going on in the USA. While the spotlight is grabbed by the huge financial disaster caused by the known shortfailings of Capitalism and greed, the US Government is slowly putting the pawns into position to initiate martial law and eventually a police state.

And what is the reaction in mainstream blogs and news sites? Basically nothing. Everyone is just pointing and laughing at Palin bumbling around or gnashing the teeth and pointing fingers for the bailout or simply doing business as usual.

And in the meantime you’re got the Army deplying in US grounds to “quell civil unrest and unruly individuals”.

You’ve got your own US Army. In your own country. Answering only to your “Decider”. Getting ready to Quell you!

You should be marching in the streets right gawddamn now and asking for Bush’s head on a plate. Where’s your anger? Where’s your freedom spirit? Where’s your outrage?!

You have none. You keep on going as if the world is not crumbling slowly around your ears. People don’t even care to ask “Why is the army in our borders? What Civil unrest are they talking about? Is there something that our police force cannot handle?” No. You just accept that they must know what they’re talking about. There must be some unrest where you need the army. You know which? The unrest that’s going to happen when the final piece of their dictatorship falls into place.

But it’s too fucking late for you now. If you people are still so asleep that even after you have standing army taking up positions you still don’t act, it is with great sadness that I conclude there is no hope.

If you’re one of the few who are worried, or more appropriately, scared shitless about what is going on and you can’t mobilize everyone to go on the street, then get the hell outa dodge. You can come to Europe and at least help us fight the creeping islamization.

One thing you must know. Nothing is going to happen when you rant and rave on reddit, alternet or any other site. They want you to do that because then you’re not doing anything else. Unless you take very immediate and drastic action to chimpeach then you won’t have the chance to peacefully avoid this. If they don’t cancel the elections while declaring martial law because of a “National Emergency”, they will steal the elections for McSame. They’ve done it before so they know if works because, hey, you just let it pass then anyway…

So, Dear U.S. Americans, you have now you last chance to put your freedom where your mouth is. I don’t think you will but I sure as hell hope you prove me wrong, for your own good.

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Where's the outrage?

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standiing there fascismSeriously US. Americans, what the fuck is wrong with you? Don’t you see what is going on around you? Raiding homes of non-criminals for trumpted up charges of “planning to riot”? Arresting and beating up reporters?

Have you learned nothing at all from history?

These are the leading steps to fascism people. This is how totalitarianism comes about. It does not suddently appear one day and gives you a fair chance to fight it off with your 2nd ammendment rights. It creeps insidiously, slowly eroding your freedoms and hoping your will do nothing.

And nothing you did.

Where were you when people’s homes were raided? What were the neighbours doing when police & army were marching and singing military songs in the middle of the neighborhood as if you had a goddamn military law in effect. They did nothing. If all the people in the neighborhood came out of their homes and opposed what your government did to your felow US Americans, perhaps this day would not have been so dark.

But they were cowering at their homes, or having a schadenfreude at the expense of the “hippies”.

  • “In America, they came first for the hippies, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a hippie;
  • And then they came for the immigrants, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t an immigrant;
  • And then they came for the Atheists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t an Atheist;
  • And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”

Some of you may think that it’s just the government attempting to silence their critics forcefully. Some of you may think that since this can never be achieved with the distributed way of information, that you are safe.

But this is not what they want to achieve.

They want to scare you. They want you to leave in fear that at any point they will be able to barge into your home, manhandle you and take your possetions. They want to show you how none of your copatriots will raise a hand to help you. They want you to bask in fear so that you’re too afraid to speak.

And when the first “accident” happens, you will be.

So keep doing nothing US Americans. Keep doing nothing and see what happens.

Gold medal of…doping

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We interrupt our normal broadcast to bring you these hilarious news

Greece has been awarded the gold medal for doping (article in greek) from the president of the IOC Jacques Rogge. He has apparently named and shamed the Greek team as the most doped up team in the Beijing Olympics with the second and third places being taken by Bulgaria and Russia.

For a country that is so hell bent in maintaining a good image, they have managed to put yet another badge of shame on themselves (following the ban on computer games, suing lesbians and other funny stories)

You know what the sad part it? It’s the government itself that is promoting this kind of behaviour. After the recent shame came up, did anything happen? Was anyone fired or forced to resign? No.

Same as in the past where the doping of two Athletes was ignored and they were eventually not punished at all by the greek national sports comitee, only to have them 1 year later admit to the IAAF that, you know, they did dope themselves.

Pathetic.

But at least it makes this easily amused expartiate laugh at their antics.

Tyrrany of the Olympics

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The Beijing Olympics are growing more and more ridiculous by the day. The International Olympic Committee seems to have a perverse idea of what it means to represent the event. They have the impression that it means total behaviour control of anything having even a remote connection to Olympics.

Witness them contacting the Swedish government to take down a wholly legitimate website by Swedish law, making the Chinese government cover up all brands not sponsoring the Olympics everywhere and promoting the suppresion of behaviour.

It really looks like for the IOC and the Chinese totalitarian government is a match made in Nirvana. It really goes to show how the IOC wants the rest of the world to act and how they would if they could…

Can I ask why people are falling over each other to host the damn things? It is simply an extravagance of corruption, steroids and shallow nationalism. The costs are extreme and the aftermath is a country’s economy in ruins.

You know what the Olympic games are? A parasite. They move into a country and start sucking the life’s blood of the nation, replacing it with cheap nationalist pride. Once bursting red with money, they detach and go hunting for their next victim, leaving their previous host’s economy in ruins and no t angible benefit.
All the while the parasite grows in power and starts pushing other hosts around to accomodate it.

Pah!