With Great Power Comes Great Corruptibility

Well it seems that the crazies who run my head have finally given me an answer on what I should do about the question that has been running around in my head for the last few days. I've decided that I'm going to join the Antares Fleet http://antaresfleet.org/index.php . And in that capacity I asked myself what I really wanted out of the fleet.

While I would have enjoyed a position among the higher ups I thought something further down would be better. Now granted I am technically the 5th most senior member of the Antares Fleet, but that's besides the point my job as Antares Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer or AFMCPO as its easier to say or at least it should be. My job is to connect the heads of the Fleet to the general membership, they can voice their concerns to me and comment on any current legislation.

Now you might wonder why I chose a Scar and Simba picture for my blog today. The reason is simple. Inside my head their are two sides of me, much the proverbial coin. As you can tell most of the time Scar is in control looking for possible routes around situation and of course trying to get the best result. My Scar side wants me to control the situations around me for the best result and damn the dissenters. This is the problem with giving anyone power I suppose, you give someone a position in the hopes that the corrupt side of the individual will be kept at bay with either his/her morals or the individual's respect for the system.

Honestly while I wouldn't call myself corrupt, I wouldn't paint a rainbow over my head. When I was first elected to my high schools government, I was the one abusing the power. In fact one day where my school was throwing a free barbecue for all the students I was able to cut line of not one or two people but almost 200 people. Yes I know its horrible the only thing I said to move the students was "Student government coming through out of my way!"

Some people yelled at me but few tried to stop me at all, it seemed that my own confidence in my own power allowed me to push to the front which I shouldn't have been able to do. Some people waited in line for 45 minutes but because I wanted to leave early with a good lunch I decided to play dirty and it worked.

While its been a couple years since I've done anything that bad I always remember that side of me that used an obtuse power that really didn't matter and used it to gain leverage.

It's my first week as the AFMCPO and its going well I can only hope that I don't end but being like Scar and more like Simba. My worst fear for this fleet is that our good intentions will slowly erode without a good constitution and without proper leaders. Unfortunately our society has shown us that a piece of paper rarely stops men and women from doing anything to serve their own selfish interest.

A Question of Loyalty?

So as you might have guessed the meaning behind my newest title if you had read my 2nd posting on my blog. Which is unlikely, also how do you check is someone has viewed your blog? Any who its happened. My CO (i.e. Commander Officer) has decided to leave Bravo fleet for a Indy Fleet that has just started up. My feelings on the matter are unusually murky and not as settled as I'm use to. I usually can look at something and set it on one side or the other, black and wide left or right. But right now I'm not sure what to make of this new fleet. Is it another fools journey into obscurity? Or is something that I should try and invest in? Ever since one of my CO was knocked out of his JAG position for not following dishonest orders it has always been my dream to insure that any Star Trek website have iron clad democratic rights for its prosecuted and to shrine any JAG officers with full independence and allow them to conduct trials without undue outside influence.

The question as my title so accurately is a question of loyalty. Do I invest in this venture and gain the kind of influence I've always wanted or do I go back to the drawing board and find another ship that will probably be not as good as the Templar has been to me. It's something I have to think about, questions need to be asked, first and foremost is what Bravo Fleet was doing to pressure or which players were asking to leave because of infighting within Bravo Fleet. After I finish this post I'll be sending my CO a few pointed questions and some statements that if get answered well (to which I have no doubt) then I just may join this fleet for good and do what I've always wanted to do.

The Minimum Wage Isn't High Enough

Another year and another wage increase for the lowest paid workers in the province of Ontario. And as usual business are crying about how they will suffer, in fact this years wage increase was almost cancel because of the 2008 recession. And it makes sense I mean if large corporations are going under for their own incompetence the workers must be scarified to appease the rich elite of Ontario.

This will be the last increase for the next few years, and while I hate not to have another increase I'm somewhat happy, before the Liberal government came into power, the minimum wage in the province was horrible. I still remember the days of being paid $6.95 an hour as a dishwasher. Now as of March 31st 2010 the mandated Ontario minimum wage is $10.25 for anyone over the age of 18.

However, I really got to ask myself, if I'm getting paid a minimum wage do I do a minimum job as a grocery clerk for No Frills? Think about it, if I get paid the lowest legal wage why should I work my ass of for my boss who hoards all the money to himself? He has a nice car and a lucrative business that is always keeping him in the black. So while he gets thousands of dollars every month and nets himself a healthy profit what does he do for his workers? Does he pay them above minimum wage? No of course not, why not keep using the stupid and under educated students from a local high school as a means to keep costs down and profits up. And do you know what he gave us as a Christmas bonus? Guess really I can wait......a fucking sweater...something probably made in china by an 8 year old kid. Yes thats generous of you, I'm ecstatic about my sweater.

As you can tell I don't really like my boss...not to say he's a bad guy...I simply think he's a workaholic that loves to push himself up by pushing his employees down. In the old days you paid a good worker for a job well done and because of that, that very same worker would do anything he could to help the company to survive. In the old days if a company was becoming less profitable because of a recession would bite the bullet and not fire a few hundred workers to keep the profits up.

Those days are dead for my generation, we are expected to work just as hard as our parents and even harder for less money and paid higher taxes that the government needs for subsidizing the rich corporations.

The minimum wage should be set as something reasonable. How about every time the company makes a profit in the week everyone gets a portion of it. The more hours you put in and the harder you work the more you earn. Isn't that capitalism at its best rewarding the most hard working with the higher wage? Oh I'm sorry this is not capitalism at work this is corporatism.

South Park Is Right About Facebook

I just finished watching the newest South Park episode "You Have 0 Friends" a great Facebook parody that gets to the heart whats wrong with online media in general. Yes I know its hypocritical to talk about online media when I myself am using an online blog but I gotta rant somewhere and the city council have banned me from ranting in front of local community center.

The episode shows how we feel about our friends, there are some people that before Facebook came into being thought of their friends as commodities to be used an exploited for their own selfish needs. Now instead of that two-faced-bitch-blond-cheerleader-two-face-got-knocked-up Jessica being the only person its become epidemic with everyone on Facebook trying to get more friends and getting sucked into a meaningless facade of friendship that never get face time.

And that's what this episode is really about, kids don't meet friends playing outside they meet them online and half the time their swearing at the noob who just killed them with a rocket. I'm not sure if kids are getting the same type of friendship like it was in the old days. Sure I was born in the late 80's but when I was growing up their wasn't a computer or even a gaming console to occupy my time. It was playing outside with friends or running around the school yard trying to avoid being captured by the enemy.

The real question has got to be is why we treat our friends like commodities, is it something that has just happened because of new media and new ideas about friendship or is it something much deeper is it our own human sense of greed and selfishness that drives us. I don't know all I know is that I have a Facebook account and I don't have a virtual farm.

South Park has given us a mirror for society to look at, and we may laugh at its generalizations but as always they have a lot of truth and knowledge to pass on to many people.

Why Does Everyone Want Independence?

I started simming for a Star Trek website back about 5 years ago, and in that time I have written countless stories with people from across the world. I have been in every possible Fleet that's simm talk for a bunch of people who start up a website for recruiting then start up ship/starbase simms and give them to people to run and in return these overlords give you access to avatars, new recruits and special websites for you to use. Unfortunately when you put bureaucracy and Star Trek together you get a bunch of self righteous fools who want to be real admirals. What ends up happening is that ships leave the fleet or are force out through intimidation threats and not so independent judges.

So you must ask yourself why I chose the title for this post. While sometimes these overseers can be stupid and down right moronic the captains leading the charge for independence are unfortunately the same people you are fighting against. They want power over you their ship and anything else who will join them and bow to them. Its a human condition that we all want power, its our need of power that has advanced our society and on occasion brings it down around us. Right now my new simm which I have been apart of for maybe 5 months has gone down the Indy path as I like to call it. This would be fine if this was the first or even second time that a ship has gone Indy after I joined. No friends, this is the fourth ship that I've join and in a few months goes rogue, I mean for fucks sake am I a bloody carrier for rebellion. Every single time the simm goes rogue I can just imagine that Star Wars clone officer saying "Rebel Scum when will they learn".

And the worse of it, everyone goes along with it, no one objects, everyone wants to follow the captain out of some sick Star Trekess hard on that everyone follows the captain because he's always right. Well guess what kids he ain't the fucking pope (and he makes even worse decisions) and he doesn't become infallible when he gets four bloody pips on his god damn collar.

Time and time again I have seen the captain set a bold vision for the new independent and better simm only to have to crumble or slowly die around him. And just like a Soviet loud speaker stating the same think over and over again "Everything is fine, return to your homes" also a key phrase during all zombie apocalypses.

So now I have to ask myself...what the fuck do I do? Join on this new quest in the hopes that the ship doesn't sink like a ship or jump ship like a fleeing rat?

Spend More Time With My Family.....This is Getting Desperate

People Don't Give A Shit

So this is my first blog post which probably will never be read or viewed. But in the vain hope that someone will use a generic google search I shall write on.

So as you can see the image above shows Canada's apathy for politics. Unlike Americans who are beginning to stew in their own hatred of each other Canada has become an apolitical nation. No one votes, but complains when something is done by the government that they didn't like. Granted many governments voted in are hated for doing something the electorate that voted them in didn't want but that's besides the point. Back in 08' when I was still in my Public Relations Diploma Program. Our entire class was expected to take a public affairs class that mainly focused on goverment and how it works. Being the sky person that I was I barely said anything, until that is when the teacher (a balding man with long hair that reminded me of a hippie) ask everyone to tell the class their name and anything generic.

When I stood up, I had to admit I was nervous sure I can debate with the best of them but this was a new class with people I didn't know and I felt the shuttering of nervousness ripple threw my stomach.

So I started to slightly ramble telling them my name and the reason for its meaning (which many students before me had stated) I told them it was mother who named me after one of Jesus deciples and that it matter little since I was an atheist and that I was a former communist. To my shock no one looked at me weird. One of the students in the class started up a conversation asking what a communist was and the class discussion took off, people were asking question and the professor was amused. They discussion were of course anti-communist (not all together surprising but at least they didn't badly about my atheism).

On and one the entire class discussed the topic of communism, they brought up sevearl hard question (Stalin seems to have crippled everyone's views about the original ideas behind communism) which I did my very best to answer. Some of my question were good but others fell off when it became apparent that many people viewed my defense of censorship. Not my best area of expertise but I tried nonetheless to defend the prat ice.

The class and myself were eventually forced to start lerning the lession. And this is where I shined, I mean who do you know that watched political speeches and polling's numbers like a sport before high school? It just didn't happen, the teacher started asking, and one a few hands would go up, this was the first time in my entire college year that I could answer every question. It seemed almost insane, everyone was starting to look at me for the answer people started ask me where I learned it all.

Some of the more misguided ones thought I had gone to some private school in Toronto, I just laughed it off with nervousness in my voice and my leg unwilling to stop moving (nervous leg syndrome). And just to make it clear, I went to a Catholic High School (Yes I know its ironic an atheist in a catholic school laugh it up) and I told them that anything I learned was through the internet, television and of course several books that I bought at Indigo.

After a few weeks everyone started to like me better (maybe they just liked to compare my answers on an assignment but that's besides the point. After a few weeks (which was during the 08's election year) people starting asking who to vote for. Should they vote Conservative, Liberal or New Democrat? They started asking me, ask if I knew what they believe in, I told them that I was going to voted for the Liberals because while I didn't like Dion at least I knew he couldn't lie his way out of a wet paper bag.

I just said to look up the views and beliefs of both parties from independent sources and compare their own beliefs and then vote. Here was a class that had complained in other course about the boredom of the class that I enjoyed going to every afternoon. Now here they were asking about voting and party policy.

I admit it made me jitter with excitement and while my teacher may not have been the most exiciting teacher he was engaging and pragmatic of any teacher. For years I've had to deal with wishy washy taechers who couldn't give me a straight answer.

The class all voted that year and people even talked of meeting up afterwords to discuss the vote. Here was a class that had been apathetic and only interested in other things but now after a few short weeks their minds had changed.

I'm hopefully one day the government will put aside some of its money and finally stop spending it on fancy new departments or more money for the military and make its citizens involved in the democratic process. That of course will never happen, one vote means one vote, and if everyone is stupid and pushed away from voting then it might as well be a communist dictatorship.

This is Filipe signing off.

P.S: I hate Twitter...just putting it out there