Well, let me fill you in on Vivec (Goddamned pseudonym just won't stick!) since you asked.I don't post very much about myself and my private life anymore, mainly for political and privacy reasons.
I don't spend 30 minutes a day hunting these stories. But I do read several news sources throughout the day. These are usually the top stories of the day in the various categories. Is it my fault that the ones given the most prominence usually involve the United States' totalitarian christian Administration f**king things up? I don't think so. It also isn't my fault that the majority of problems which the world faces today can be tied back to one country: The horrible state of Iraq and the Middle East and the tenfold increase in suffering in that country;The recent disaster in New Orleans; The threat of Nuclear Weapons being used against targets, ground penetrating nuclear weapons being used in a region criss crossed with linked,buried oil fields, threats to our widely held online freedoms, control of the Internet Domains, Global Warming and pollution,Censorship of online media and freedom of expression, interference in sovereign States, willfully initiating 'free trade' treaties which kill or seriously hurt the local economies of nations. Most people who are interested in their world see great injustices being committed and great evils being done, and most feel frustrated that there seems to be nothing which can be done before the next decade about it.You may not have noticed but there are now more than a few books, and movies on the subject of totalitarianism, Fascist institutions and "1984" style living. Let me give you a hint: they aren't talking about the middle eastern dictatorships. And they are not coming out of just Europe anymore. What I post is not unique, you will find the same sort of commentary on any mailing list that has International membership. The active membership of this particular list has become White Americans. If you were to join other lists or message forums with a more International and varied pool of contributors, you will probably be horrified. You claim that my posts get old, but then you must also think that the Entertainment Industry and a growing segment of the US population is getting old as well since the dissatisfaction is growing enormously, seemingly with every new Revelation. I also do not only post things about the US. But if you look carefully at even GAMING news, you will see that the negative things which the US does since the Bush - Kerry Administration, affects nearly everything. It's almost impossible to avoid unless one stops reading the news. My attitudes on the list also shifted after the last debacle on race relations that occurred on the list , and when a list goer posted blatant racist comments during the New Orleans disaster, for reasons I prefer not to go into. As for my personal life I'm actually quite happy now. I was going through a lot of crap personally and professionally over the last few years. I am now a principal in a construction business which has a very large contract. I am responsible for about 10 staff members now, including the contracted help for my Web Company which is still going fairly well and for which I am constantly looking for new blood. I recently hired a programmer whom is a new member of this very list. My Web Company is tied to another old time member of this list as well.So I actually hire and do business with more than a few list members, and I think so far they are happy working with me. It's also another reason why I remain a member of this list after more than 7 years. Yeah, it's been that long. I was responsible for winning an internationally ground breaking website and web-enabled application project this year for carnivaltribe.com, the first carnival band to completely break the mold and move their operations to a fully computerised online environment.Very exciting and rewarding project. I am also responsible for securing the webpresence of one of the world's leading female Calypso stars this month. One of my firms secured one of the largest Architecture projects of it's kind in this twin island state, and indeed in the Caribbean. So in my few years on the planet I think I've accomplished a fair bit considering I am one of the younger list goers. In my business environment I take the stance of trying to get the most for my country which represents the society in which I live and from which I benefit (If I lived in a different country same thing applies), and firmly believe that to whom much is given much is expected. I try to live that on a daily basis with my interactions with people, and with the directions and goals I try to set on a business level .Capitalism has it's place and is extremely important,but I am not of the mind to be able to comfortably make 100% profit and instead squeeze my staff,my clients and others in order to acheive 200%. I believe in Ethics, which transcends religious boundaries. I believe in the strength and worth of Humanity and the Human Resource of a country. And I believe that as a business owner it is my responsibility and duty to advance my country and its human capital. My businesses are privately owned, either wholly and solely by myself or with one or two other close and trusted directors. I don't see myself as 'running businesses', I see myself as building systems to generate wealth, and to further a collective goal of progress and sustainability. It's no accident that the businesses in which I involve myself are Service oriented. I don't hate America. I think America's ideals on paper are noble and those ideals should be strived for. I also think that America does a poor job of implementing those ideals and the Rich White Christian hegemony is the wrong force to take our world forward. I do business with America everyday, and generally like the Americans with whom I interact face to face, go for drinks with and hang out with. I got engaged last year to my girlfriend of three years and the wedding may take place this year depending on finances and time. In the frivilous and materialistic sphere things are going ok. After 5 years of suffering with a car that sucked my disposable income and my savings dry I have managed to get a BMW 3 Series which is a dream to drive. I can finally enjoy having to go places now. I had a bad experience with a 7800GT SLI system from Alienware but I managed to get a near 1 to 1 sale for it and am now looking toward buying a Voodoo PC. I finally am able to run games the way all my other friends were lauding over me in the past.Took me a while but I got there. I also have a fast Dell XPS Laptop so I've entered the sphere of 'mobile computing' (if you can call a 2hr battery life 'mobile' *chuckle* ) My long awaited Oblivion was released and I'm enjoying it, though my work isn't giving me much time to play as often as I would have in the past. At some point this year I plan on taking another short exotic vacation similar to the one I made to Curacao, probably to another dutch caribbean island since I seem to adore that setting. Oh! And I was in the US late last year, Miami South Beach (the 3 day 'vacation') and Atlanta GA (the business part of the trip which left me with little time to myself or to meet friends unfortunately). So things aren't as fantastic as the list member who said his friend left him a millionaire's bounty of cash, but they're not too bad I don't think. There have already been setbacks, speed bumps and things that just haven't gone as they should, but you deal with those. And that, in a nutshell, is what's going on with me. I'm sorry if it didn't quite 'gel' with what you were thinking, but you should not confuse my disatisfaction with the greatest influence on the world with disatisfactions in my personal life or professional life. I don't rant about my personal problems very often, I also similarly don't overly toot my horn about my accomplishments but I do like to share good news where applicable. I would speak to any one of you in a social setting and buy you a beer at a moment's notice once I could afford it. I appreciate the points of view of everyone on here, and I hold closely to my own but am willing to change those if given sufficient logical proof and direction to a contrary. As I grow and experience world events I may come to realise that these things go in cycles and one is not ever 100% better than the next, but perhaps all are necessary. Such philosophical theorising would probably be best for another thread. Cheers Cameron, and Happy Easter. On 4/14/06, Cameron Childress <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm actually always interested in knowing what's going on. And yes, I > look at it in the same way as a slow motion trainwreck. It just gets > old. The way I see it, Gel makes a serious daily effort to hunt down > 3 or 4 articles and post them, blasting American policy and politics. > > After awhile it just gets old. Everyone is entitled to their opinion > and everyone is free to post whatever they like, It just gets old. > > My real question is this... Gel - you use to be one of the happiest > and most positive people on this list. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:204346 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
