http://www.iltasanomat.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/uutinen.asp?id=2262501
The text is Finnish, but the content is pretty simple. A guy had to pay in compensations 375 000€ and got a commuted prison sentence for hosting a service that provided illegal downloads. Fuck that shit. Internet pirateism maybe illegal but the penalty here way way out of proportion. As a comparison the entire Finnish media pays 6,5 million euros in fees to play music. The penalty is about 6% of that amount, for a guy who had 3000 members on his site. I would like to see the maths behind this. Another interesting comparison is in what sort of compensations are awarded for other crimes, for example the average compensation for a sexual assault on a child is around 4000€. For Fucks Sake!!! Seriously which is more serious, hosting a site with illegal downloads or raping a child. Nice to see how fucked up the sense of justice has gone in Finland.
Fuck the music industry and its witch hunt. I say lets everyone go to the Pirate Bay and download some music, to show these motherfuckers that we aren't afraid of them.
I would dearly love to buy music online but every single time I have tried to use an online service, it has been an abysmal failure. The music industry in Finland tries to cling to old fashioned distribution channels like record shops. From now on I will stick to Youtube, its convinient, easy to use and most of all free.
torstai 14. lokakuuta 2010
On the Nature of Dictatorship - Part 1
As Requested by Sahar
The word Dictator comes from the roman office of Dictator. The romans had a very well ordered constitution and form of government that built so that it would practically impossible for one man ever to dominate the entire nation. Every official position that had any form of political power, were usually appointed in multiplies. There were always 2 consuls, who ran the country, there were strict rules regarding consequtive terms, legistlation was done by the Senate through discussion, debate and voting and even the common man was protected by the Tribunis Plebis, who was elected by the people and had the right to over rule any law that the Senate passed, by simply stating VETO!! Latin for I forbid. Add to this the fact that the Roman republic was founded by ousting a particulary nasty king, Tarquinius Superbus, the romans were paranoid about letting anyone have too much power.
There was however one exception to this lets talk, vote and share power idea that the romans were fond of, The Dictator. Romans were overall very realistic and pragmatic people and they recognized there were going to be times when they simply didn't have the time to talk and vote, times when one man needed to take control of a situation and for other to follow that man.
The Dictator was elected by the Senate to deal with a specific situation usually some form of dire emergency, often military related. The term of office was usually for the duration of the crisis but with a maximum of 6 months after which the dictator was forced to cede the power. During the dictator's office all other officials lost their powers and had to follow the orders of the dictator, the dictator could change any laws or make new ones as they saw fit, they had an Imperium, which means that they could put people to death, and they were the supreme commanders of the roman army. In battle they were forbidden to ride a horse and were expected to fight in the front line infantry, this is to insure that Dictator suffers the consequences of their actions. To assist them dictators appointed a Magister Equitum as an assitant who lead the cavalry in battle. So the Dictator had the authority to run the state as they saw fit for a limited period of time.
Here are few examples of Roman dictators,
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus: A legendary example of how a Roman Dictator should conduct his office. When the Roman Senate came to inform him that they were going to need his help to save a roman army trapped by a rival tribe, the Aequi, he was plowing a field on his farm. He accepted his commision, asked his wife to bring his toga and went to save Rome. He assembelled an army, personally led the infantry to a crushing victory over the enemy, saved Rome, forced the enemy into a humiliating defeat, resigned, returned home and went back to farming. He did all of this in 16 days. I dearly wish we had politicians like this.
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator: During the Second Punic War the romans suffered a series of devastating defeats against Carthagians lead by the military genious Hannibal Barca. Rome was teatering on the edge of defeat and a Dictator was needed to save the situation. Fabius was elected and he proved to be a brilliant choice. Fabius was smart enough to realize that as a field commander he was no match for Hannibal, nor was his army of raw recruits a match for Hannibal's battle-hardened veterans, so he deviced an ingenious strategy. Since he couldn't defeat Hannibal in battle he chose to avoid battle with Hannibal all together. He shadowed Hannibal's army, while using schorched earth tactics to prevent Hannibal from gathering supplies. These tactics proved successful, since Hannibal was unable to bring the romans to a decisive battle that would force the romans to accept, defeat he was forced to keep moving from one province to the next in order to feed his army. While initially unpopular with the romans and inspite of providing Fabius with very little glory, Fabius's strategies became Rome's standard solution to the threat of Hannibal. It allowed Rome to contain their most dangerous enemy, while allowing them to defeat Carthago on other fronts, culminating in the invasion of Carthage itself which finally forced Hannibal to leave Italy to defend his home city, in a battle where he was finally defeated. Cunctator, which means the delayer, was initally an insult on Fabius, but later was considered a honorific title, when romans realized the importance of what Fabius had done. One roman historian even said unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem – "one man, by delaying, restored the state to us."
Gaius Julius Caesar: A man who needs no introduction, one of the greatest politicians and generals in human history, was the last of the roman dictators. He held the office several time until getting elected as life-time dictator by the Senate, in effect becoming what the romans had been fearing for so long. This however proved to be a fatal mistake, when a group outraged roman senators stabbed him 23 times on the Senate floor on the 15 of March in 44 BC.
Next part is going to be about modern dictators
The word Dictator comes from the roman office of Dictator. The romans had a very well ordered constitution and form of government that built so that it would practically impossible for one man ever to dominate the entire nation. Every official position that had any form of political power, were usually appointed in multiplies. There were always 2 consuls, who ran the country, there were strict rules regarding consequtive terms, legistlation was done by the Senate through discussion, debate and voting and even the common man was protected by the Tribunis Plebis, who was elected by the people and had the right to over rule any law that the Senate passed, by simply stating VETO!! Latin for I forbid. Add to this the fact that the Roman republic was founded by ousting a particulary nasty king, Tarquinius Superbus, the romans were paranoid about letting anyone have too much power.
There was however one exception to this lets talk, vote and share power idea that the romans were fond of, The Dictator. Romans were overall very realistic and pragmatic people and they recognized there were going to be times when they simply didn't have the time to talk and vote, times when one man needed to take control of a situation and for other to follow that man.
The Dictator was elected by the Senate to deal with a specific situation usually some form of dire emergency, often military related. The term of office was usually for the duration of the crisis but with a maximum of 6 months after which the dictator was forced to cede the power. During the dictator's office all other officials lost their powers and had to follow the orders of the dictator, the dictator could change any laws or make new ones as they saw fit, they had an Imperium, which means that they could put people to death, and they were the supreme commanders of the roman army. In battle they were forbidden to ride a horse and were expected to fight in the front line infantry, this is to insure that Dictator suffers the consequences of their actions. To assist them dictators appointed a Magister Equitum as an assitant who lead the cavalry in battle. So the Dictator had the authority to run the state as they saw fit for a limited period of time.
Here are few examples of Roman dictators,
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus: A legendary example of how a Roman Dictator should conduct his office. When the Roman Senate came to inform him that they were going to need his help to save a roman army trapped by a rival tribe, the Aequi, he was plowing a field on his farm. He accepted his commision, asked his wife to bring his toga and went to save Rome. He assembelled an army, personally led the infantry to a crushing victory over the enemy, saved Rome, forced the enemy into a humiliating defeat, resigned, returned home and went back to farming. He did all of this in 16 days. I dearly wish we had politicians like this.
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator: During the Second Punic War the romans suffered a series of devastating defeats against Carthagians lead by the military genious Hannibal Barca. Rome was teatering on the edge of defeat and a Dictator was needed to save the situation. Fabius was elected and he proved to be a brilliant choice. Fabius was smart enough to realize that as a field commander he was no match for Hannibal, nor was his army of raw recruits a match for Hannibal's battle-hardened veterans, so he deviced an ingenious strategy. Since he couldn't defeat Hannibal in battle he chose to avoid battle with Hannibal all together. He shadowed Hannibal's army, while using schorched earth tactics to prevent Hannibal from gathering supplies. These tactics proved successful, since Hannibal was unable to bring the romans to a decisive battle that would force the romans to accept, defeat he was forced to keep moving from one province to the next in order to feed his army. While initially unpopular with the romans and inspite of providing Fabius with very little glory, Fabius's strategies became Rome's standard solution to the threat of Hannibal. It allowed Rome to contain their most dangerous enemy, while allowing them to defeat Carthago on other fronts, culminating in the invasion of Carthage itself which finally forced Hannibal to leave Italy to defend his home city, in a battle where he was finally defeated. Cunctator, which means the delayer, was initally an insult on Fabius, but later was considered a honorific title, when romans realized the importance of what Fabius had done. One roman historian even said unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem – "one man, by delaying, restored the state to us."
Gaius Julius Caesar: A man who needs no introduction, one of the greatest politicians and generals in human history, was the last of the roman dictators. He held the office several time until getting elected as life-time dictator by the Senate, in effect becoming what the romans had been fearing for so long. This however proved to be a fatal mistake, when a group outraged roman senators stabbed him 23 times on the Senate floor on the 15 of March in 44 BC.
Next part is going to be about modern dictators
keskiviikko 13. lokakuuta 2010
A little song for my favourite political party
This is obviously a modified version of God save the Queen by Sex Pistols. For those who don't know what RKP is, it is the Swedish people's party, the party I would dearly like to see wiped off the parliament, save for that one guy who represents Åland.
You want to know why dislike this party so much, mostly because its a poster child for what is wrong with the political system in our country. There is an old joke "What does Finland and North Korea have in common?" "The same party has been in the government for 50 years" In Finland this party is RKP. The election results don't really matter, gain seats or lose seats, they are there. Who they form government with doesn't matter either, as long as they get to dictate what languages get taught in schools and the swedish minority doesn't get bashed, anything goes. As long as their demands are met they could just as easily form a government with hardline Stalinists/Maoist commies as they could with a hard core ultra rightwing neonazis. But nevermind the bollocks, here is the song...
God save the RKP
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb
God save the RKP
They ain't no human beings
There is no future
In Finlands's dreaming
Don't be told what you want
Don't be told what you need
There's no future, no future,
No future for you
God save the RKP
We mean it man
We love our RKP
God saves
God save the RKP
'Cause Swedes have money
And our figureheads
Are not what they seam
Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh Lord God have mercy
All crimes are paid
When there's no future
How can there be sin
We're the flowers in the dustbin
We're the poison in your human machine
We're the future, your future
God save the RKP
We mean it man
We love our RKP
God saves
God save the RKP
We mean it man
And there is no future
In Finland's dreaming
No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future,
No future for me
No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future
For you
You want to know why dislike this party so much, mostly because its a poster child for what is wrong with the political system in our country. There is an old joke "What does Finland and North Korea have in common?" "The same party has been in the government for 50 years" In Finland this party is RKP. The election results don't really matter, gain seats or lose seats, they are there. Who they form government with doesn't matter either, as long as they get to dictate what languages get taught in schools and the swedish minority doesn't get bashed, anything goes. As long as their demands are met they could just as easily form a government with hardline Stalinists/Maoist commies as they could with a hard core ultra rightwing neonazis. But nevermind the bollocks, here is the song...
God save the RKP
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb
God save the RKP
They ain't no human beings
There is no future
In Finlands's dreaming
Don't be told what you want
Don't be told what you need
There's no future, no future,
No future for you
God save the RKP
We mean it man
We love our RKP
God saves
God save the RKP
'Cause Swedes have money
And our figureheads
Are not what they seam
Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh Lord God have mercy
All crimes are paid
When there's no future
How can there be sin
We're the flowers in the dustbin
We're the poison in your human machine
We're the future, your future
God save the RKP
We mean it man
We love our RKP
God saves
God save the RKP
We mean it man
And there is no future
In Finland's dreaming
No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future,
No future for me
No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future
For you
Retarded Finnish legistlation stikes again!!!
Two Retarded laws in Finland I have heard of recently
Retarded law number 1) If you are a non-EU citizen in Finland, good luck finding a job. The government in its infinate wisdom has decided that an employer has to give a solid reasoning, why they had to hire a foreigner instead of a Finn, to the emigration police, otherwise the worker cannot get a work-permit. For Fucks Sake! Then you have people complaning about foreigners not working, gee, with laws like this I wonder why. There are great speechess on equality on the labour market with laws like this. Nice to know that government finds equality so important.
Retarded law number 2) The taxation on sweets, ice cream and soft drinks. The government decided that in order to stem the tide of fat kids, fattening food products need to be taxed harder so that people can afford to eat less of them. A good idea on paper, although I am opposed to the idea of the government telling me what I should and should not eat, but the idiots in the government managed to FUBAR the whole thing. For example chocolate icecream gets a 75 cent tax per kilo, but a frozen chocolate cake sold next to icecream isn't taxed. How the chocolate cake is more healthy than chocolate icecream? If anyone can find a logic in this, please explain it to me.
Retarded law number 1) If you are a non-EU citizen in Finland, good luck finding a job. The government in its infinate wisdom has decided that an employer has to give a solid reasoning, why they had to hire a foreigner instead of a Finn, to the emigration police, otherwise the worker cannot get a work-permit. For Fucks Sake! Then you have people complaning about foreigners not working, gee, with laws like this I wonder why. There are great speechess on equality on the labour market with laws like this. Nice to know that government finds equality so important.
Retarded law number 2) The taxation on sweets, ice cream and soft drinks. The government decided that in order to stem the tide of fat kids, fattening food products need to be taxed harder so that people can afford to eat less of them. A good idea on paper, although I am opposed to the idea of the government telling me what I should and should not eat, but the idiots in the government managed to FUBAR the whole thing. For example chocolate icecream gets a 75 cent tax per kilo, but a frozen chocolate cake sold next to icecream isn't taxed. How the chocolate cake is more healthy than chocolate icecream? If anyone can find a logic in this, please explain it to me.
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