Kombinat!
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
European Union - Communism by Invitation
from flickr user:Kombinat.
from flickr user:Kombinat.
Gonna write about this soon. This pic is a reminder.
Marketing Fantasy. Imagology at work. White Wristbands Validations.
I am reading Milan Kundera's book "Immortality" and I breathe in, digest and reason his beautifully articulated passages on Imagology. Incidently I also found relevant to introduce you to this passage from Hugh MacLeod where he exaplains his 'Validation Marketing' idea.
So I wonder if his wearing the wrist band gave him PERMISSION to fantasize about one day ending poverty on this planet. Once marked with the IMAGE of "making a difference" Imagology and VALIDATED by its magic he no longer was called to do anything else. Now he BELONGED to the group of people who wore such wrist bands as he did and upon meeting another they could exchange smiles, VALIDATE themselves and go on their daily living never really having any empathy with those dying from extreme poverty. I believe in this brief encounter they would actually feel empathy to each other for their inability to make a difference but nevertheless wearing their Image to Attempt proudly full of fantasy and hope that maybe one day they would be in a situation to actually do something about it. "Lord Jim" of Joseph Conrad comes to mind. "Under a cloud".
It’s not about changing the world. It’s about giving folks PERMISSION to fantasize about changing the world, even if they never get round to it.It looks like Imagology is working as it should be. Maybe after Hugh's example we can call this Imagology Marketing. A project like "Make Poverty History" comes to me as an example of such a Imagology Marketing or Validation Marketing. I met a guy on my recent trip who wore a white wrist band that said "Make Poverty History". I noticed it and started laughing and he asked why was I laughing? I said "because you wear it as a fashion statement and not something that will make an difference" to which he replied "well, this is the least I can do" to which I replied "yeah, you are off the hook now. You did your part right?".
Similar to what Martha Stewart did, at least in her heyday- giving people PERMISSION to fantasize about buying that old abandoned sawmill in Vermont and turning its interior into a yuppie paradise. Or Oprah Winfrey, giving her fans PERMISSION to fantasize about one day getting over their personal baggage.
So I wonder if his wearing the wrist band gave him PERMISSION to fantasize about one day ending poverty on this planet. Once marked with the IMAGE of "making a difference" Imagology and VALIDATED by its magic he no longer was called to do anything else. Now he BELONGED to the group of people who wore such wrist bands as he did and upon meeting another they could exchange smiles, VALIDATE themselves and go on their daily living never really having any empathy with those dying from extreme poverty. I believe in this brief encounter they would actually feel empathy to each other for their inability to make a difference but nevertheless wearing their Image to Attempt proudly full of fantasy and hope that maybe one day they would be in a situation to actually do something about it. "Lord Jim" of Joseph Conrad comes to mind. "Under a cloud".
Cluetrain Moves by Overstock's CEO Patric Byrne Speaks
For all of you people out there that subscribe to the idea of Cluetrain's "Markets Are Conversations" I want to let you know that here is a rare example of Conversations where Markets are Created. In this example Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com speaks on Motley Fool boards. Why this is important is because Overstock.com has filed a lawsuit (PDF file at Overstock.com Investor Relations). It is summarized by Patrick B in a response to one of Fool's writers at the post on Fool.com OSTK board (registration required)
"[lawsuit] is about an unfair business practice: one hedge fund paying a research house to prepare putatively independent research while providing it to that client before others, allowing that client to edit it, and delaying publication to suit that client's trading purpose. It is no more “about” shorting than a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment in the workplace is “about” sex. The pattern of facts we are alleging could have supported a lawsuit (mutatis mutandis) whether the defendants were short the stock, long the stock, betting in favor of volatility in the stock, or betting against volatility in the stock. The reader can, of course, see this for himself by simply reading the lawsuit (http://www.shareholder.com/overstock/downloads/OSTKcomplaint.pdf), the first page of which lists “unfair competition” and “negligence” as the only causes of action, or checking to see that the statute under which it was filed (California 17200) concerns unfair business practices, not stock manipulation, stock prices, shorting stock, or anything related to stock"Patrick Byrne is fighting Wall Street. He may end up with a bloody nose but we are all gonna be better for it. (I'll attempt to update this post in the near future to give you a better understanding of what the fight is about)
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Monday, August 29, 2005
Some lies
Vanity. Fucking Vanity. And you are not even born yet but when you do you will be born into Vanity. Fucking Vanity.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Here is an Excellent Blog
Hail, Sons & Daughters of Carnegie!:
Here’s one way to make a better world. Have the Great Djin pull all of our souls out of our bodies and transport them to a huge celestial conference center. Have the Djin tell us we can’t leave until we agree on the principles, social arrangements, and political institutions that will govern the planet when we return. Here’s the kicker: Make it clear that after we finish our deliberations, there will be a random shuffling of bodies and souls. If we were born a poor Arab herdsman, we might return to earth as a wealthy German magnate; if we were a straight Caucasian woman from Mobile, Alabama, with a large family, our next avatar might be a gay African American man living with HIV/AIDS in Manhattan. We can’t count on our age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, health, wealth, IQ, religion, political affiliation, or even world-view to survive the shuffle.
I suspect the prospect of inhabiting another person’s skin would sharpen our empathic faculties. If we were wealthy, suddenly the lot of the poor would take on a new significance; if we were straight, the denial of basic human rights to gays and lesbians would acquire new meaning. We’d be very careful how we arranged the planet prior to our return, uncertain of what our position in it would be.
Here’s one way to make a better world. Have the Great Djin pull all of our souls out of our bodies and transport them to a huge celestial conference center. Have the Djin tell us we can’t leave until we agree on the principles, social arrangements, and political institutions that will govern the planet when we return. Here’s the kicker: Make it clear that after we finish our deliberations, there will be a random shuffling of bodies and souls. If we were born a poor Arab herdsman, we might return to earth as a wealthy German magnate; if we were a straight Caucasian woman from Mobile, Alabama, with a large family, our next avatar might be a gay African American man living with HIV/AIDS in Manhattan. We can’t count on our age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, health, wealth, IQ, religion, political affiliation, or even world-view to survive the shuffle.
I suspect the prospect of inhabiting another person’s skin would sharpen our empathic faculties. If we were wealthy, suddenly the lot of the poor would take on a new significance; if we were straight, the denial of basic human rights to gays and lesbians would acquire new meaning. We’d be very careful how we arranged the planet prior to our return, uncertain of what our position in it would be.
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Democracy Now! | Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions:
AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Okay, explain this term, “economic hit man,” e.h.m., as you call it.
JOHN PERKINS: Basically what we were trained to do and what our job is to do is to build up the American empire. To bring -- to create situations where as many resources as possible flow into this country, to our corporations, and our government, and in fact we’ve been very successful. We’ve built the largest empire in the history of the world. It's been done over the last 50 years since World War II with very little military might, actually. It's only in rare instances like Iraq where the military comes in as a last resort. This empire, unlike any other in the history of the world, has been built primarily through economic manipulation, through cheating, through fraud, through seducing people into our way of life, through the economic hit men. I was very much a part of that
AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Okay, explain this term, “economic hit man,” e.h.m., as you call it.
JOHN PERKINS: Basically what we were trained to do and what our job is to do is to build up the American empire. To bring -- to create situations where as many resources as possible flow into this country, to our corporations, and our government, and in fact we’ve been very successful. We’ve built the largest empire in the history of the world. It's been done over the last 50 years since World War II with very little military might, actually. It's only in rare instances like Iraq where the military comes in as a last resort. This empire, unlike any other in the history of the world, has been built primarily through economic manipulation, through cheating, through fraud, through seducing people into our way of life, through the economic hit men. I was very much a part of that
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Kombinat! relives Franz Kafka
Fucking German Bureaucracy. I have spent the entire fucking day dealing with these fucking stupid German Customs Bureaucrats, Franz Kafka's world of Castle is alive in Germany. At least at the Customs. I took delivery of some shit from US arriving in Hamburg. The Customs Agent looked at my paperwork from US and told me he does not believe me that this is the price I paid for my shit. I told him my shit costs this much in US. If it was more I wouldn't want to ship my shit over here. I would just buy my shit in Hamburg in the first place.
My argument was that if I get a Whore in Costa Rica for $50 and have a proper documentation stating so but he insists that whores in Hamburg charge $200 for similar service therefore it is impossible that I paid only $50 then does it make me a liar or does it make him completely incompetent to be a Customs Agent who collects taxes for Whore Services. He simply insisted that a Whore purchased in Costa Rica is taxed at Hamburg's whore prices. What I paid for the Costa Rican Whore is irrelevant. I asked him why then should I pay tax based on the German Whores Prices???
So back to my shit. He simply didn't believe the documentation from US. He insisted that this is not true and in turn showed me a web page where it was said that my shit cost way more than what I paid for. I said I didn't pay for my shit with retail prices. I bought it wholesale and my shit wasn't the best quality. He said that from looking at my shit he said it is of fair quality and worth a lot more than what I had paperwork for. At which point I realized that I am dealing with a fucking debility in his mind.
This man was insisting that prices on the internet had more authority at this point than a receipt and official documentation stating why I paid much lower prices for my shit. My shit was of inferior quality, it was certified as Salvage Shit but he insisted my shit was worth more. At which point I wanted to ask the Russian standing next to me to shoot the fucker. I already saw few minutes earlier that he was ready to just kill him for free, just so he wouldn't listen to this fucking debilitating conversation.
OK, I need to go and get a Hamburg whore now and I need more beer. You would not believe this shit happening here. And don't even ask me about my trip to the bank where I had to change $2000 into Euro. The lady at the counter at the Deutsche Bank told me that they can change $ into Euro but only $500 because they, really you want to get this argument, because they, ok it's coming, because they think that this is the maximum appropriate tourist allowance per day... Do you get this shit? The lady at the bank was telling me an opinion about how much money I can change per day. Just as that fucker at the Customs Office telling me his opinion as to how much my shit is worth.
So, get this. Two fucking Frank Kafka moments in One Day. This is simply amazing. These bureaucrat's fucking opinions are worth more than the official stamped and signed documents from US. I would not worry at all that European Union is ever going to be any threat to our American Empire. European's are gonna fucking tax themselves to death before they come up with any way of generating wealth for their citizens.
OK. This Russian Mafia guy was impressed with the way I wanted to strangle this German Bureaucrat and he invited me to Kaliningrad for a couple of weeks. So I am going and I will tell you more when I come back. In the meantime keep building our beautiful American Empire. Long Live Ownership Society. Fuck the European Socialists.
Kombinat!
My argument was that if I get a Whore in Costa Rica for $50 and have a proper documentation stating so but he insists that whores in Hamburg charge $200 for similar service therefore it is impossible that I paid only $50 then does it make me a liar or does it make him completely incompetent to be a Customs Agent who collects taxes for Whore Services. He simply insisted that a Whore purchased in Costa Rica is taxed at Hamburg's whore prices. What I paid for the Costa Rican Whore is irrelevant. I asked him why then should I pay tax based on the German Whores Prices???
So back to my shit. He simply didn't believe the documentation from US. He insisted that this is not true and in turn showed me a web page where it was said that my shit cost way more than what I paid for. I said I didn't pay for my shit with retail prices. I bought it wholesale and my shit wasn't the best quality. He said that from looking at my shit he said it is of fair quality and worth a lot more than what I had paperwork for. At which point I realized that I am dealing with a fucking debility in his mind.
This man was insisting that prices on the internet had more authority at this point than a receipt and official documentation stating why I paid much lower prices for my shit. My shit was of inferior quality, it was certified as Salvage Shit but he insisted my shit was worth more. At which point I wanted to ask the Russian standing next to me to shoot the fucker. I already saw few minutes earlier that he was ready to just kill him for free, just so he wouldn't listen to this fucking debilitating conversation.
OK, I need to go and get a Hamburg whore now and I need more beer. You would not believe this shit happening here. And don't even ask me about my trip to the bank where I had to change $2000 into Euro. The lady at the counter at the Deutsche Bank told me that they can change $ into Euro but only $500 because they, really you want to get this argument, because they, ok it's coming, because they think that this is the maximum appropriate tourist allowance per day... Do you get this shit? The lady at the bank was telling me an opinion about how much money I can change per day. Just as that fucker at the Customs Office telling me his opinion as to how much my shit is worth.
So, get this. Two fucking Frank Kafka moments in One Day. This is simply amazing. These bureaucrat's fucking opinions are worth more than the official stamped and signed documents from US. I would not worry at all that European Union is ever going to be any threat to our American Empire. European's are gonna fucking tax themselves to death before they come up with any way of generating wealth for their citizens.
OK. This Russian Mafia guy was impressed with the way I wanted to strangle this German Bureaucrat and he invited me to Kaliningrad for a couple of weeks. So I am going and I will tell you more when I come back. In the meantime keep building our beautiful American Empire. Long Live Ownership Society. Fuck the European Socialists.
Kombinat!
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Fake Quotes Department
"As long as there is money to be made there will always be a place for a middleman"
Only The Good Die Young
The BBC is now taking applications from science and technology writers hoping to fill its Ivan Noble bursary post.
The position was set up in honour of the journalist, who died of a brain tumour earlier this year.
Before his death aged 37, Ivan charted his illness in his regular "tumour diary" column, which was later published as a book.
