5/2/09

am i blogging 'way too much'

should i link more people on my sidebar

since i started following less people on twitter i feel the same maybe

i feel like a character in 'lord of the rings' that wasn't in the movie and also wasn't in the book

since i wasn't in the movie or the book i'm not real, or something, but i'm sort of real, from a certain perspective

is that a feeling

'seems like i'm just typing whatever'

'i don't want to have a blog where there's giant blog posts every day'

'but that is what i have now'

have i become a contradiction, 'much like the universe itself,' also 'much like zen methods of existence' and 'light being both a wave and a [molecule?]'

will sales rise because of this, do i still have some 'aura of mystery' associated with my name, or am i like rosie o'donnell or someone like that, without any mystery, like a horse or pigeon

are horses mysterious, 'i'm not really even sure anymore'

by mysterious i think i mean, like, 'giant octopus' are mysterious

but typing that i'm not even sure, are 'giant octopus' mysterious at all

there is less than 30 hours as of 4 p.m. on saturday to bid on my myspace account

if bidding exceeds $15,000 i will post a sex video on this blog where i have sex to orgasm with five different inanimate objects of your choice

is that weird, do i not know how to promote myself anymore

if bidding exceeds $50,000 i will 'leave the internet' for five years

'damn,' just felt nervous typing that, saw myself reading jean rhys a lot, perhaps rereading all of joy williams, ann beattie, frederick barthelme, lorrie moore, etc., seems 'sweet' actually

if bidding exceeds $100,000 i will probably reprint james purdy's 'color of darkness' just to have a 'sweet' copy in my room, the cover would feature helvetica, probably something neon, the interior would be minimalist

is today saturday, just temporarily 'lost control' of the facility in my brain that locates me temporally in space-time

yeah, saturday, which means people won't comment on this post maybe, perhaps feeling fear that people will think they are reading my blog on saturday instead of surfing or something

i have 100% positive reviews on ebay, is anyone impressed

isn't there widespread knowledge on the internet that i 'can't be trusted'

what do i really want to type right now

feels like i just want to type similes

do i still 'just want to express myself' like two and a half years ago when 'you are a little bit happier than i am' came out

is there going to be a retrospective on the internet for that book

will one of my fans i haven't yet alienated 'hold' a 900-day retrospective for 'you are a little bit happier than i am'

how many fans have i alienated

when i'm working at taco bell, on my 20-minute break, in 2011, crying onto my burrito supreme, will i regret having alienated every person that did not produce 'sustained "warmth" and "excitement"' in me

or will i feel freedom, without my cell phone, tasting the sour cream, probably drinking a beer (against taco bell rules), only knowing what i can taste and see

is food 'the answer'

to what degree have i experienced 'meaninglessness'

if i had $1,000,000,000 how 'meaningless/beautiful/sad' would i feel, and in what manner would the feeling manifest prose-style wise (longer sentences? 'the sudden, glaring addition of mixed metaphors into tao lin's ouevre'?)

is 'pure' existential despair possible without having over $50,000 in your checking account

is that the purpose of the $50,000 guggenheim award

is my writing still socio-politcal, to some degree, how can i 'escape society' more fully, and is there a novel called 'nihilism' yet

seems like a title that could strongly brand a writer

where are all my shit-talkers, should i enable anonymous comments

where is my essay the poetry foundation solicited from me, it isn't on the site, i've fantasized 2-5 times 'already' about what to title the blog post linking it ('i've produced another "retarded" essay,' with the blog post linking my previous ones, mostly from 'the stranger), but it is not there, is this sentence harmful to someone

feels like i am going to win brandon's short story contest

does anyone think they can 'beat me'

i work 3-6 hours a day for ~30 days to create first drafts of 20-page short stories

but what if brandon doesn't like me, he might think my similes are more 'really annoying/trying too hard' than 'quirky/charming'

i mailed brandon $800 two days ago

i just confirmed with brandon, the winner of brandon's contest will also win a lifetime subscription to muumuu house ($100 value)

i can think of 'nothing better' re brandon's contest than if brandon wins and posts his own story

61 Comments:

Blogger Zachary German said...

'nihilism' is a good title / fist comment

4:31 PM  
OpenID thomasplevy said...

tao

im pretty sure i can beat you in brandon's contest

also

if you need to work in a fast food chain i suggest relocating to california or anywhere on the west coast (and parts of nevada) and applying at an in-n-out

they pat $10/hr starting

pretty sweet.

4:39 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

gonna put 'dibs' on 'nihilism' as a book title right now

hope that's okay with everyone

thomas, damn

i make like $12 starting delivering pizzas 'though'

4:40 PM  
Blogger Sarah Schneider said...

feel like i'm going to think about you crying onto your 'burrito supreme' a lot today, probably

4:51 PM  
Blogger adam coates said...

does that mean you follow lesser people on twitter?

5:05 PM  
Blogger Sarah said...

re:pictures on the ebay item listing.

there is something makes me feel quite perverse about looking at the inbox of someone else's myspace account.

thus ive had my fun i can not buy it unfortunately.

that would be too perverse.

Sarah x

5:11 PM  
Blogger Chris East said...

i have the answer to maybe 60-70% of the questions in this post

if you'd like to know the answers please email me

5:17 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

chris, i encourage you to post them in the comments section

5:17 PM  
Blogger Benji said...

this was really funny. i like these desperate posts.

5:18 PM  
Blogger em said...

"i feel like a character in 'lord of the rings' that wasn't in the movie"

Hahaha.

5:21 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

who are you benji

5:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

damn, tao

5:36 PM  
Blogger Benji said...

ben hirtle

5:47 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

'damn'

hi ben

5:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you would be happy at taco bell. happier than you have ever been. because you could eat all the taco bell in the world all day long and it would never grow old or unappealing to you, and you would just wake up every morning and eat taco bell and taste the delicious varieties of taco bell all day long for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and never pay a cent. everytime you ate the taco bell meals you would laugh to yourself about how you never even dreamed of having this happiness in your lifetime, and how small the many twists of fortune must have been that brought you here. your existence would be the epitome of love, fulfillment, joy and true happiness.

but it is better to be unhappy, tao, and you know it.

87N06B957HWK,WE82389QA1

5:55 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

sweet comment

damn

5:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

anonymous is like turning out the lights.

AM I SCREAMING?!

5:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

(i am)

oh,
sweet is a good flavour.

6:00 PM  
Anonymous My Last Tao Lin Comment said...

My story is much better than your story. I haven't read your story but I have read your blog and you clearly are a one trick pony when it comes to writing. You are rapidly taking over from Ron Silliman as "the Brittany Spears of contemporary literature". ie famous for being famous. I'm sure can figure out a way of using lazy thoughtless monosyllabic irony to turn that into a compliment though. Can you judge a blog by the quality of the writing in the comment box? Nihilism and cynicism are excuses for thinking not the result of thinking.

6:00 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

"the Brittany Spears of contemporary literature"

sweet

6:03 PM  
Blogger Chris East said...

yes

no

not a contradiction, something else, something bigger

sales will not rise because of the contradiction thing, yes to the aura thing, don't underestimate Rosie O'donnell

no

it is not weird, there are places on the internet where you can see that stuff i think, i'm not sure

today is saturday, yes

the 100% of people on eBay is impressed at least

there are definitely a number of internet people who think that

feels like you just want to type similes

i don't think so

the retrospective is twelve and a half years away

the fan who will organise the retrospective is currently too you to answer this question

as a percentage you may have alienated 55% of your fans, this is an estimate

if the taco bell thing is going well and you become assistant manager then i do not think you will worry about these things

food is AN answer

not at all

you would feel half sad and half beautiful and you would start using emoticons in your writing instead of standard punctuation

i would need to win the guggenheim award to answer this, sorry

no, but you could escape to a cave on a hill somewhere, i believe i saw an erotic novel called 'nihilism' for sale in a dream once

here, wait, is this shit talking, i don't know, do whatever you want

if i had $7 and my name was tao lin then i would beat you

if brandon doesn't like you then you should find new friends who you don't need to pay $800 to be their friend

hope this helps

6:05 PM  
Blogger david fishkind said...

wish peeps would compare me to 'brittany'. you're a lucky bro, tao.

6:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i think at 6.00pm that was ctually you.
imagine you wrote every comment on this, your blog and backed each comment up with a different avatar and personality trait and a further 100-200 previous realistic blogs dating back to between 2002-2004 in which you had simultaneously graduated, turned 7, been dumped, gotten a wrestling medal, had an abortion, qualified as a policeman, buried your late pianist wife, and married (underage) a man who later turned out to have been closely related to you all of your life who had a string of previous convictions for fraud longer than your arm, which is also amputated.
i think this is not the most unlikely thing.
i think you would are too hard on yourself saying "one trick pony"

go
easy

4W9HDW9DSNAHIENZW8E9R,28E

6:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what's the point of shit-talking anymore if you allow anonymous comments

it just means nobody cares about you anymore

its an admission of defeat on your part

big mistake

i feel sorry for you now

shit-talking about you would be like shit-talking about a blind child with leukemia and one arm and no legs

so i predict there will be very little shit-talking just like theres very little bidding

your like the beggars on the subway, people just are pretending you dont exist

and you dont

7:26 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

damn

7:34 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

'what's the point of shit-talking anymore if you allow anonymous comments'

can you elaborate on that, i feel interested

7:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

stages of writers careers

1. whos tao lin?

2. tao lin is a good writer

3. i want to write like tao lin

4. everybody writes like tao lin

5. whos tao lin?

*************

your at stage 4.4 or 4.5

7:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Whoa, Shit.

I like these poignant, vulnerable posts better than the confident promotional ones, but those ones make me feel happy for you, that you are making money or at least making buzz.

But, Shit. The shit-talking here surprised me. I didn't know it would descend to the HRO-level so fast.

10:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

By allowing anonymous shit-talking, this blog has officially 'jumped the shark' as of today.

Coming up next: in an effort to keep in a wandering younger crowd as 'hits' diminish, Tao's teenage cousin Chachi Lin will start doing guest posts every few days while Tao is 'occupied'.

It won't help. The question marks will be filled in with '2010'.

10:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

why do u do thessseee (sob)

-genuine human fan

1:21 AM  
Blogger matthew said...

tao, you should link more people on your sidebar

if i follow only you on twitter, will you update more often?

going to put $10 bill up on ebay soon

4:01 AM  
Blogger matthew said...

tao, can you talk about the thought process in changing your web address?

can there be a blog post about that? has there been already?

4:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sung J. Woo has defeated you.

He gets respect.

You get pity.

5:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

give tao lin money for his myspace account so he can reduce suffering through his writing

5:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

*NEW PROMOTION*

THE TAO LIN STEADY CASH FLOW FOUNDATION HAS A NEW AND EXCITING
PROMOTION.

WE HAVE TEN BAGS OF ACCLAIMED HIPSTER AUTHOR TAO LIN'S POCKET LINT PRICED AT $25 EACH. ORDER 2 AND GET A BAG FILLED WITH TAO'S TOE NAIL CLIPPINGS FREE!

PLEASE NOTE TAO FANS FAILURE TO BUY THESE ITEMS COULD CAUSE THE
AUTHOR TO IRONICALLY PICTURE HIMSELF WORKING AT TACO BELL. PLEASE DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN.

6:51 AM  
Blogger Roo said...

Gosh.

8:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Please don't let Tao Lin go without expensive organic food!

Paypal him $20 today -- just for being Tao.

Really, you fans are very ungrateful bitches if you don't support this guy.

Why don't you take a job, you lazy bastards, so you can send Tao Lin more money?

What are you, retarded?

10:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.tacobell.com/careers/rgm.html

12:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice try, fellow anonymous, but you should learn to use HMTL: Tao's imagined futureBut as someone said here,it won't work out for Tao.

With fans deserting him, he's fucked.

12:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I WOULD LIKE TO FEEL THE INSIDE OF YOUR MOUTH

1:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

AWKWARD MEETING AT TACO-BELL

BOSS: Hey Tao how's the restaurant doing?
TAO: I feel like the restaurant is a horse that has fallen over in front of an atm machine. or
perhaps a snail that has been diagnosed with asthma.
BOSS: O.k. but you've made this month's target right?
TAO: I feel "targets" have been met or something. somewhere. I have acheived "something". or maybe not.
BOSS: Ermm.. but it's going good right?
TAO: To define something as good a person has to have some assumption or frame of reference of what good means.
BOSS: Tao have you ever thought of being a writer?

1:33 PM  
Blogger DJ Berndt said...

So many comments.

Anonymous loves Tao.

1:51 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

"if i follow only you on twitter, will you update more often?"

maybe

"Sung J. Woo has defeated you."

damn, what is that

"tao, can you talk about the thought process in changing your web address?"

i considered something like eoirjaeorijaw;riohaw;riohaw;rioahw;rioah;roaiwj.com then hahahahahahahahahahaha.com then hehehehehehehehhehee.com

i chose hehehehehehehehehe feeling that hahahahahahahah was 'too sarcastic' and woiera;woirhaw;oierjaw;rijaw;rijaw;.com was 'too meaningless or something'

"AWKWARD MEETING AT TACO-BELL

BOSS: Hey Tao how's the restaurant doing?
TAO: I feel like the restaurant is a horse that has fallen over in front of an atm machine. or
perhaps a snail that has been diagnosed with asthma.
BOSS: O.k. but you've made this month's target right?
TAO: I feel "targets" have been met or something. somewhere. I have acheived "something". or maybe not.
BOSS: Ermm.. but it's going good right?
TAO: To define something as good a person has to have some assumption or frame of reference of what good means.
BOSS: Tao have you ever thought of being a writer?"

sweet

2:08 PM  
Blogger Glen Binger said...

I feel like leaving the internet for five years will be to hard for many people. good luck.

3:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

bye tao!

i will miss this blog!

x

3:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I NEED TO FEEL YOUR TUMMY RIGHT NOW. PUT MY HAND ON IT AND FEEL HOW SOFT ANONYMITY

4:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It'll be o.k. Tao if you don't sell your myspace, i checked and there's at least one Taco Bell Blog.

4:29 PM  
Blogger Annie said...

http://www.likecool.com/The_Hamburger_Bed--Furniture--Home.html

i thought you'd appreciate this amidst the anonymous comments

4:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://newmedia.funnyjunk.com/pictures/kitten-burrito-in-a-spinach-tortilla.jpg

4:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.spfldsparc.org/gw1/Portals/0/Supported%20Employment/Steve%20and%20Manager%20Eric.JPG

5:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it’s sort of tacky that Brandon is doing this. I know he just lost his job at the BBQ Café and probably needs money. I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like a worthwhile investment for anybody. Aren’t there are other more concrete things to do with your money? And if you win you get a copy of Brandon’s book? It reminds me of the bratty girls in elementary school who would tell me I could come over to their house after school if I did their homework for them. Like, cool, great, thank you. Do you also want seven dollars?

Tags: brandon gorrell, um, what

115 Responses to “Brandon Gorrell is holding an embarrassing contest at his blog.”
matthewsavoca says:

May 1st, 2009 at 4:09 am
i believe the winner gets more than just a copy of the book

this is like people who live together in college and play 10 dollar buy-in games of texas hold em on random tuesday nights but with a judge who decides who has played the best

at the risk of being called brandon scott gorrell’s male lover, i am going to say that i like this idea

[Reply]

james yeh Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 8:53 am

the idea you described is a funny idea. i would not like participating in something like that idea. but i do enjoy knowing that that idea exists.

[Reply]

skeptic says:

May 1st, 2009 at 4:14 am
i think some people are over-estimating their “net worth” and “level of fame” lately.

[Reply]

Catherine Lacey Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 8:45 am

I agree. I’m all for obscure, writer-people to blog and make literary journals and find other obscure writer-people to work with and read their blogs, but you get your mug in one slightly less obscure magazine and expect the money to roll in? Run the contest, yes, good. Will people enter it? I don’t know. Maybe we’re all just a bunch of assholes and it will be the contest of the century and we’ve all “under-estimated” bsg’s “net worth.”

[Reply]

brandon Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 10:10 am

where did i estimate my net worth?

where did i overestimate my net worth?

did i say or make it appear that i expect the money to roll in, where?

“another factor you may want to consider when deciding to enter this contest is that if a very low number of people enter, like 2 or 3, you have a high chance of making a couple of dollars + getting my book for free, or getting my book at almost half the cost”

[Reply]

skeptic Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 10:16 am

you’re so right brandon

you should be able to live off your writing while everyone else busts their asses at day jobs

you should be able to tell us exactly how many thousands you’re going to make off our stupid asses, and then expect that to be an accelerant in the process

you should be able to take, take, take, give next to nothing back, do a couple readings, do little to improve your writing, mimic the fuck out of better/more original writers than yourself (and not let us take this as an insult to our intelligence)

you should, and you seem to intend to, with all your shallow little heart: so go for it

if you’re afraid of not eating, go out and shoplift. i’m dead serious. at least tao lin has lived some of the antics he writes about. at least he exhibits passion in his own undeniably apathetic way (this is not a contradiction if you understand tao lin, which you seem to only on a surface level–ie, ‘the’ ‘way’ ‘he’ ‘writes’)

you can sit here all day and say this isn’t about money, but i don’t believe you

this is about money

moreover, this is about you not having to earn your money like the rest of us

you and tao have been talking about money non-stop lately

you’re losing your fucking minds

you know, i’m all for not working if you can find a way not to, but don’t make that way something as disrespectful as ‘i’m going to tell you how much money i’m about to make, and i’m also going to hustle my books non-stop, and then, for my true supporters, i’m going to run a contest with all my literary merit behind it’

right now, brandon, i feel like you’re a bad person

so shut the fuck up and let us bitch about it.

PHM Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 10:10 am

Word.

[Reply]

brandon Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 10:25 am

it is about money

“while one of my motivations for doing this contest is to gain money, money gained will be relatively little. for example, if 10 people enter, i will make $21, minus a book (retail $12). that is a net profit of $9. that will probably equal $3 an hour or less, considering that i’ll be reading submissions, tracking progress of contest, spending time in front of computer for the sole purpose of running the contest, etc. other motivations for this contest include attracting visitors to my blog, thus potentially increasing book sales, ‘networking’ and/or ‘building relationships’, and giving writers an opportunity to make money off their ‘work’ (rather than working for someone/something else)”

i didn’t say anything about true supporters

the reason for ‘telling you how much money im going to make’ is this: ‘to ensure certain levels of transparency, i will soon create a new link at the top of this blog called ‘contest’ or something. here i will post the rules of and some info about this contest, and the number of people that have joined. this way, a person can decide if he/she wants to join the contest based on the number of people that have joined, and thus the amount of money that could potentially be gained’

chris says:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:24 am
i am going to run exactly the same contest on my blog, though this comment will be the only mention of the contest, and the winning entry will be a story i have written myself.

to enter please email chriseast83@gmail.com

thank you

[Reply]

Kevin O'Neill says:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:53 am
I would monetise this comment if I could.

[Reply]

Josh Kleinberg says:

May 1st, 2009 at 9:08 am
Do you think he’ll front me the seven bucks? He can then take it from the rest of the pool if I win.

[Reply]

brandon Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:04 am

i will front you seven dollars josh

[Reply]

Josh Kleinberg Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 4:26 pm

Damn it. Now I feel remorse. I suck at being an internet dick.

[Reply]

Ryan Call says:

May 1st, 2009 at 9:15 am
‘i’ ‘dont’ ‘know’ ‘what’ ‘i’ ‘feel’ ‘about’ ‘this’ ‘contest’

[Reply]

Kevin O'Neill Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 9:27 am

like.

[Reply]

Brad Green Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:05 am

Funniest thing I’ve read today.

[Reply]

Tim Jones-Yelvington Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 2:18 pm

ha ha ha

[Reply]

David Erlewine says:

May 1st, 2009 at 9:47 am
chris, say you’ll at least consider the one i sent you. it’s about a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her

[Reply]

chris Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 9:58 am

if you film it it will win

[Reply]

David Erlewine Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:21 am

shit, someone told me it’s already been filmed. i need to see that movie. supposed to be good. julia brings subtlety.

[Reply]

barry says:

May 1st, 2009 at 9:51 am
“Maybe we’re all just a bunch of assholes and it will be the contest of the century and we’ve all “under-estimated” bsg’s “net worth.””

i like this a lot… only without the “maybe”

[Reply]

Justin Taylor says:

May 1st, 2009 at 10:12 am
http://unimpressivelinks.blogspot.com/

[Reply]

Brad Green Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:06 am

I looked all through that front page. I kept expecting to find my blog’s link there.

[Reply]

barry Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:38 pm

i like that link

[Reply]

Julia Cohen says:

May 1st, 2009 at 10:53 am
Weak Sauce Contest.

[Reply]

matthewsavoca says:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:00 am
i feel like someone should say “lighten up” or something similar

[Reply]

DeathFromAbove says:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:04 am
Ha, this is such bullshit.

Or, if I was to say it like BSG, that carbon copy Tao Lin, I would say:

this ‘contest’ is ’such’ ‘bullshit’

god im so sick of these fucking self indulgent assholes. i wonder if tao lin is considering his ‘net worth’ in all of this. if i were tao, i’d be worried about all of these assholes aping my style, and making me look like a fucking moron. you know, as much as i enjoy tao’s stuff, the fact that he is indulgent of all of these second tier writers who bite his style is making me actually dislike him now. and that’s in ‘concrete - fucking - reality’

how the fuck is BSG going to be a judge of the quality of anyone’s writing? in fact, if the people who enter the contest are all of those writers who circle around tao like flies on a fresh dog turd, how will he even tell them apart?

anyone who puts their money into this is a moron, period. at least when some fool bids on tao’s fucking myspace account or something they’re buying into what is essentially a warhol-esque comment on identity. I guess. I mean, I think theyre fucking stupid as well, but I think it’s quite funny that Tao is able to support himself from other peoples stupidity. Good for him. Its a moron tax. But to send money to this joker so he can ‘judge’ your writing, and basically take your cash and laugh in your face… well, look, if you enjoy getting fucked in the ass, there are night clubs and craigs list ads all over the place where you can find someone who will gladly do that shit for free.

ugh, these people bore the shit out of me. their writing is fucking anemic and boring, and they are all wannabe petit-bourgeois assholes. *pukes*

[Reply]

matthewsavoca Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:14 am

can i publish this on my twitter feed? it is a small press now

[Reply]

tao Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:22 am

seems sweet

seems concrete

did brandon not supply comprehensive information

confused

in 2006 i won one story’s short story contest, $15 entry fee, and won i think $300 and they didn’t publish the story

[Reply]

tao Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:25 am

i feel good

eating watermelon

woke up, opened the computer, saw that brandon had done something i feel is funny, saw ‘pretty serious’ shit talking

seems sweet

what else do i need, in the world

so far today seems ‘perfect’

[Reply]

Ryan Call Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:15 pm

i already made the single quotes joke.

[Reply]

anthony l Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:48 pm

win!

[Reply]

Aaron Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 1:50 pm

Well said Jimmy, and you’re right: pimpin’ ain’t easy. We all just need to watch out for the sharks and those with outsized conceptions of themselves. or ‘themselves,’ or whatever.

[Reply]

tao says:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:16 am
brandon is sweet

i’m excited he did this

seems so retarded/sweet

this is sweet

i told someone who is close to me to enter

i’m probably going to enter under multiple names

this is sweet

[Reply]

andrew says:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:26 am
I think the contest idea is really funny. Go Brandon!

[Reply]

tao says:

May 1st, 2009 at 11:37 am
keep scrolling up and down thinking ‘lol’

[Reply]

Jimmy Chen says:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:07 pm
i think people are being too hard on bsg. we all have blogs and we all want to sell books or make money.

there’s an unspoken ‘ethic’ about modesty that bsg has *seemingly* transgressed by running the contest — but to freak out and make such a big deal out of it (and then to say he’s no big deal, or to be indignant at the attention directed towards him) seems contradictory.

the fact that chelsea even posted this indicates that bsg resides in our collected consciousness and the level to which people are taking this ‘personally’ attests to that, and that is a certain level of ’success.’

to judge him on his career goals or path is petty, because we all do things to make money. we should reward people for being ’smart’ about how they make money. would brandon have more ’street cred’ if he stayed working at the bagel place? there’s this really unhealthy romanticism that real artists must toil in obscurity, and the moment someone achieves moderate success, people attack them.

bsg’s move was traditionally tacky, but he’s been completely transparent on his focus on money. the reason why most of us will turn into bitter obscure writers is that we think money is not important.

i’ve chosen the easy route and have a full time job, but i admire any one who has the guts to try to make a living as a writer. this community attack on bsg goes against the ostensible spirit of htmlg, namely, new ideas about writing and publishing. bsg represents, i feel, new ideas about writing and publishing. and i’m not blindly defending him. i would defend anyone put in his shoes today with these comments.

[Reply]

matthewsavoca Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:13 pm

well said, jimmy

[Reply]

Gene Morgan Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:16 pm

Yeah, and he’ll make what, like $30?

People are gonna hate because he’s doing something fun and might be able to take his girlfriend out to Chili’s for dinner as a result?

[Reply]

matthewsavoca Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:25 pm

haha chili’s

[Reply]

Nathan (Nate) Tyree Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 2:26 pm

I fucking love Chili’s. The bartender there sets my drink (Jack, rocks, double) in front of me before I ask for it. I love her a little.

tao Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:17 pm

sweet

[Reply]

PHM Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:17 pm

I’m going AWOL tomorrow. I expect everyone to send daily donations to keep me alive. Publishing contracts are a must. I will be completely transparent about my goal: to live without manual labor or dead time. I will stop reading your writing. I will begin to use the names of famous writers in a gimmicky way. When someone attacks me, Jimmy Chen’s policy of defending anyone put in the shoes of BSG today will rescue me. Thank you; I’ll see you in Canada.

[Reply]

Catherine Lacey Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 1:07 pm

yay Jimmy.

[Reply]

Blake Butler says:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:25 pm
as long as Brandon solicits T.C. Boyle or Alice Munro to be the ‘actual winner’ of the contest, and uses the entry fee money both to pay them and to go toward what he somewhere lists as exorbitant costs to upkeep his blog, I will, in light of this contest, label Brandon’s blog ‘Best Blog of the Year’ and ‘the Gold Standard of Blogs’

sorry, had to.

[Reply]

Blake Butler Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:28 pm

‘what would happen if i deleted this thread?’

[Reply]

Ken Baumann Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 9:01 pm

Daddy.

[Reply]

Nathan (Nate) Tyree Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 2:28 pm

That;s great

[Reply]

Matthew Simmons says:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Another perspective:

Brandon, like many Americans, is feeling the pinch in this difficult economy. Brandon has started a contest from which he will make a little money. Brandon will spend that money, helping the economy.

Brandon is an American hero.

[Reply]

Matthew Simmons says:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Also, Tao Lin’s Myspace account comment:

Feb 27 2009 12:30 AM
thanks for excepting me as a friend!


[Reply]

james yeh Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 4:34 pm

man tao has bad grammar

[Reply]

davidpeak Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:02 pm

if tao was using “excepting” as a play on words, it’s actually really clever. if it wasn’t a play on words than it’s not clever, nor very sweet.

[Reply]

Matthew Simmons Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:59 pm

Not Tao. A myspace friend. I thought it was a clever accident, too.

[Reply]

barry says:

May 1st, 2009 at 12:50 pm
why are the people who always say the harshest and shittiest things always doing so under douche bag pseudonums like skeptic and death from above. if you’re too big of a bitch to say something under you a real identity then shut the fuck up. besides, people who ridicule other people are always the bigger losers.

im not personally entering the contest, but i dont care who else does.

good luck to the contest and to the winner and to brandon’s book.

[Reply]

PHM Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 1:00 pm

I would say that sometimes people feel they can get their point more cleanly across if it is not polluted with whatever preconceptions people have about them.

[Reply]

Catherine Lacey Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 1:08 pm

faux names make me a little nauseous.

[Reply]

Nathan (Nate) Tyree Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 2:29 pm

I agree with this

[Reply]

SKULL EATER Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 2:35 pm

Do you know how easily I could kill you, Barry? Do you know how many times I watched you go in and out of that shitty Philly apartment? You are still alive because I have allowed you to live so you show me some GODDAMN RESPECT!

[Reply]

pseudonum Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 2:58 pm

Skull Eater should post as “sack licker” or “licker of zines printed on sacks.”

[Reply]

barry Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 4:56 pm

haha. i haven’t lived in philly in over 20 yrs you goddam moron.

i live in the sticks in michigan.

but nice try though.

[Reply]

john sakkis says:

May 1st, 2009 at 1:58 pm
there should be a moratorium on new posts when a hilarious comment stream emerges…

give it half a work day or something…

shit gets pushed down too fast…

“BSG” as douche bag pseudonum of what?

[Reply]

PHM Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 2:25 pm

I agree about the moratorium.

I disagree that pseudonym is spelled “pseudonum.”

[Reply]

Aaron Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 2:56 pm

here here, more time between posts so we can stew in it.

and skull eater: ease up buddy. i dig your name, it’s gory and punk rock and hilarious, but do recall jimmy’s description of the giant’s intent, man. you might check out a necropheliac osteologist web community, or the jeffrey dahmer memorial blog. we’re talking words.

[Reply]

Matthew Simmons Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 3:10 pm

Literature continues in earnest, gentlemen. And so must HTMLGiant.

But we apologize for the wear and tear on your wrists caused by constant scrolling.

barry Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 4:58 pm

bsg isnt the spuedy, i was talking about skeptic and death from above and skull eater…

[Reply]

david erlewine says:

May 1st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I think skull eater was screwing around, quoting from a pretty cool Eastwood movie. i could be wrong.

[Reply]

Nathan (Nate) Tyree Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 3:08 pm

yes. Not a great film, though.

[Reply]

david erlewine Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:48 pm

yeah, i’d say a decent movie, in retrospect. did like when he twisted the neck of the minnesota lady. and it had vinnie terranova’s mom in it!

[Reply]

davidpeak says:

May 1st, 2009 at 3:02 pm
In the Line of Fire

[Reply]

david erlewine Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:34 pm

i like when he shoots the fishermen.

[Reply]

john sakkis says:

May 1st, 2009 at 3:20 pm
just copy n’ pasting from barry at 12:50…”pseudonum”…

haven’t heard a “sack” pun in far too long…

john “sack is small” sakkis,
xo,
xo

[Reply]

barry Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 4:59 pm

thank you very much for the correct spelling. i would not be able to teach writing everyday without your guidance.

[Reply]

barry Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:00 pm

ha. i just started laugjing right now john, because i imagine you rereading your comments for spelling and grammar errors before you click submit. hahahaha.

[Reply]

pr Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:04 pm

John didn’t correct your spelling. You’ve misread the comment.

SKULL EATER Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:19 pm

i’m going to eat the skulls of your shit-spelling students, bar (”bare”).

[Reply]

Jimmy Chen says:

May 1st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
oh btw, i love the shadow whack guy

[Reply]

pr says:

May 1st, 2009 at 3:40 pm
who is the shadow whack guy?

[Reply]

Aaron Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 3:52 pm

the smirking spanker in the photo chelsea used for the post. amen — good stuff

[Reply]

pr Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 3:54 pm

i didn’t notice that until now. I thought it was just a nice photo of Brandon.

[Reply]

james yeh says:

May 1st, 2009 at 4:20 pm
shadow whack guy is king

[Reply]

david says:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:18 pm
got $7. entering contest. think maybe this will piss people off, maybe get me more internet presence. cool.

[Reply]

pr Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:25 pm

You know, I’m thinking of entering it too. Even though Brandon didn’t like my Cheever post eons ago and that made me sad.

Also, I really liked Barry’s rant against the meanies. I’m feeling a little inspired. Might have to submit.

[Reply]

brandon Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:31 pm

pr, you should

if you are ‘down and out’/ ‘low on cash’ ill front you the money

[Reply]

pr Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:35 pm

Brandon- I married a man with a very good job. But thanks, you’re sweet. I don’t know how to use paypal but my husband does and he’ll be home soon. He does it for me.

barry says:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:19 pm
madore told john he spelled pseudonym wrong, and john said he was just cut and pasting rom my earlier comment. i did spell it wrong…

either way. im all for everone doing whatver they feel like it. im just trying to help chelsea reach 100 comments. which is the pinnacle of html giant success.

hope this helps chelsea.

[Reply]

pr Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:22 pm

oops. my bad.

[Reply]

david erlewine says:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:49 pm
skull eater is fucking cool

[Reply]

Aaron says:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:56 pm
let’s get this to 100. let’s eat some skulls while we’re at it

[Reply]

Aaron says:

May 1st, 2009 at 5:56 pm
print some zines on some sacks too

[Reply]

Blake Butler says:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:01 pm
when this post reaches 100, i will delete it

[Reply]

pr says:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I deleted my hockey haiku post and sort of regret it- i did it because someone wrote a comment like “the end of the giant” like the “decline of the giant” comments that happen from time to time.
But hockey haiku is a great thing.

[Reply]

pr says:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I’m watching Nadal and Verdasco play tennis in Rome. If I pay too much attention to the tennis, I tear up. These men are so beautiful.

[Reply]

PHM says:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:10 pm
All I have to say anymore is

sweater puppets.

I’m five, seriously.

[Reply]

pr says:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Ken Baumann said he’d play tennis with me and someone said he looked like Verdasco.

My older son got into Ithaca College Piano Institute and I’m so proud of him I could cry. Tennis makes me cry, my sons make me cry, mean people make me cry. The other night I drank too much and found this stuffed animal that my dad had as a boy had become decapitated somehow. I cried, “Uncle Wiggly, Uncle Wiggly” (that’s the name of him, he’s a rabbit in a fancy coat) and held him and then passed out.

[Reply]

david erlewine Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:33 pm

i cried when kevin curran lost to becker. that was the end of tennis.

[Reply]

pr Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:36 pm

I cry watching tennis with some regularity. Right now, Nadal just went up a break against Verdasco and I love Nadal, but I also really really really love Verdasco and he’s the underdog here and- it’s just so emotional. Also it’s a Mallorcan Catalan- Nadal- against a Madrileno. And, well, I don’t know. I just want Verdasco to win. But he very much most likley won’t. Sigh Sigh Sigh.

Someday, I’m moving to Madrid. I’ll be old and shit but still. A tiny apartment in one of the outskirting nabes. That and a house on Zakynthos for the summers. I’m working on it.

[Reply]

SKULL EATER Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:59 pm

i used to love watching philipousis and sampras play. not. they wouldn’t have rallies more than three hits. boo. that killed tennis. i still think about that pat cash match, where he ran into the stands to hug his dad. or what about the jimmy connors patrick mcenroe rally? holy shit.

pr Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 8:11 pm

fillapussis. that dude got distracted by the ladies. Shame. Sampras had a great career. Connors, McEnroe- all good. But MAN- the playesr now? Nadal? Tennis has never been better.
Right now, Juan Monaco is coming out to play Fernando Gonzalez. Argentina v. Chile. These guys HATE each other. Gonzo will win, which is the second shame of the night (yes, Versdasco lost, waaah…).
But the great thing is it is two uncircumsized dudes, battling away, with their uncircumsized penises. Gonzo is hot, but Chileans are such fucktards. Argentines? Yes, they are a bit proud, but they are not- I repeat NOT- Chileans. Phew.

[Reply]

david erlewine Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 10:11 pm

fillapussis.

fuck, that’s funny.

[Reply]

pr says:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I’m wearing a brand new purple striped Aeropostale T-shirt that no 41 one year old woman should wear. I’m ashamed, and yet I’m just at home and no one but my kids and thier one friend whose sleeping over will see me- and my husband. But he thinks I’m fifteen anyway.

[Reply]

Mike says:

May 1st, 2009 at 6:29 pm
who’s Tao Lin?

[Reply]

Matthew Simmons says:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Time

[Reply]

Matthew Simmons Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:02 pm

to

[Reply]

Matthew Simmons Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:03 pm

delete? One more comment, Blake.

[Reply]

pr says:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:03 pm
MWAAAA!

[Reply]

chelsea martin says:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:16 pm
holy shit

[Reply]

Aaron says:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:18 pm
cue the explosion

[Reply]

barry says:

May 1st, 2009 at 7:46 pm
fvfdbgb
dvefbebrbrtb vgr
fbfbvr btrgbrb fbrbrbr
vfeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevfrbyhyebgw

[Reply]

Nathan (Nate) Tyree says:

May 1st, 2009 at 8:02 pm
win

[Reply]

sam pink says:

May 1st, 2009 at 9:04 pm
chelsea, congratulations. blake will be mailing you the “100 Club” jacket pretty soon i bet.

[Reply]

brandon Reply:

May 1st, 2009 at 10:34 pm

sam enter my contest

[Reply]

sam pink Reply:

May 2nd, 2009 at 3:43 am

i have never been able to actually send money using paypal. i have been pursuing the correction of this and yet, to date have found no such correction (the paypal people send polite emails though, for real). i can mail you a book to give away as part of the prize. although i’m having self-esteem issues right now and i feel like i am a shithead for acting like that would make more people want to do the contest more. i keep thinking sports exclamations and then “i’m a shithead” after them. like “touchdown, i’m a shithead.” or, a new one, “from downtown, i’m a shithead.” don’t let people hurt your feelings brandon. people are always trying to hurt feelings.

[Reply]

matthewsavoca says:

May 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
mutha fuckah

[Reply]

Lydia Davis says:

May 2nd, 2009 at 7:24 pm
I guess I just don’t understand the love ya’ll feel toward this little ear-biter.

[Reply]

Lydia Davis says:

May 2nd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Usually about two in the morning you end up taking advantage of yourself (Tom Waits)

[Reply]

5:32 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

sweet

5:42 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

the tortilla kitten, hehe

5:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thomas C. Newkirk
Eric N. Miller (Trial Attorney)
Cheryl J. Scarboro
Reid A. Muoio
Sean Patrick Casey

Attorneys for Plaintiff
United States
Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549-0911
(tel) 202/942-7275 (Miller)
(fax) 202/942-9569

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION,


Plaintiff,


v.


SURGILIGHT INC., JUI-TENG LIN,
YUCHIN LIN and AARON TSAI


Defendants.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
PLAINTIFF UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND
EXCHANGE COMMISSION'S
COMPLAINT FOR
PERMANENT INJUCTION
ND OTHER RELIEF


Plaintiff United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission" or "SEC") alleges as follows:

Summary
1. The SEC brings this civil fraud action against two securities fraud recidivists, Dr. Jui-Teng Lin ("Dr. Lin") and his wife, Yuchin Lin ("Mrs. Lin") (collectively "the Lins"), as well as Surgilight, Inc. ("Surgilight") and Aaron Tsai ("Tsai"). The Lins and their accomplices defrauded innocent investors of million of dollars through an unlawful pump and dump manipulation scheme. Incredibly, the Lins launched this scam barely a year after being adjudged securities fraudsters and enjoined from such activity by another federal court.

2. From late 1999 through early 2000 the Lins' with assistance of codefendant Tsai fraudulently drove up the stock price of Surgilight, and unloaded

thousands of shares of that stock onto an unsuspecting investing public, reaping over $3,000,000 in ill-gotten gains from their efforts. Specifically, the Lins deceived investors into believing that Surgilight had completed the development of a revolutionary laser technology that was capable of curing "Presbyopia," a previously untreatable and incurable eye disorder that affects virtually 100% of the world's population over age 40. Consequently, Presbyopia reversal is generally considered the "holy grail" of vision correction surgery. In reality, Surgilight's claims were baseless. At the time Surgilight published this information, the company had built only one laser and had not yet tested it in any Presbyopia procedures. In plain language, the Lins and Surgilight's claim was a lie.

3. At the same time, the Lins, with the assistance of Tsai, used nominee brokerage accounts that they secretly controlled to execute manipulative securities transactions in Surgilight stock. Through the defendants' activities, the market price of Surgilight common stock surged from approximately $2.50 to a height of $25 per share (split adjusted basis). By April 8, 2002, Surgilight had collapsed to $.30 per share. As such, Investors lost millions of dollars buying Surgilight stock at inflated prices.

4. By engaging in such conduct each of the defendants violated various provisions of the federal securities laws as set forth below, and unless restrained and enjoined, will continue to violate such provisions.

Jurisdiction
5. This Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to Sections 20(b) and 22(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act")[15 U.S.C. §§ 77t(b) and 77v(a)] and Sections 21(e) and 27 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") [15 U.S.C. §§ 78u(e) and 78aa].

6.Defendants have, directly or indirectly, made use of the means or instrumentalities of interstate commerce and/or of the mails in connection with the transactions described in this Complaint.

7. Dr. Lin violated Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a), 77e(c) and 77q(a)] and Sections 10(b), 13(d), and 16(a) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b) and 78m(d), 78p(a)] and Rules 10b-5, 13d-1, 13d-2, 16a-2, and 16a-3 [17 C.F.R. §§ 240.10b-5, 240.13d-1, 240.13d-2, 240.16a-2, and 240.16a-3] thereunder.

8. Mrs. Lin and Surgilight violated Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a), 77e(c) and 77q(a)] and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5] thereunder.

9. Tsai violated Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a) and 77e(c)] and violated Section 20(e) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C.§ 78t(e)] by aiding and abetting Dr. Lin and Mrs. Lin's violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rules 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5] thereunder.

Defendants
10. Surgilight is a Florida corporation headquartered in Orlando. Surgilight's primary business activity is the acquisition and development of laser technologies for applications in ophthalmology and dermatology. On March 31, 1999, Surgilight went public through a reverse merger with MAS Acquisition III Corp. ("MAS III"), a publicly held shell company owned by Tsai. Surgilight's securities are registered with the Commission under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78l(g)] and trade on the OTC Bulletin Board under the ticker symbol "SRGL."

11. Dr. Jui-Teng Lin, age 54, was the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Surgilight at all relevant times. He also controlled approximately 65.5% of Surgilight's common stock at all relevant times. Dr. Lin was born in Taiwan and is a U.S. citizen. He lives in Oviedo, Florida with his wife, Yuchin Lin.

12. Yuchin Lin, age 50, was Surgilight's bookkeeper at all relevant times. She was born in Taiwan and is a U.S. citizen. She is married to Dr. Jui-Teng Lin.

13. In September 1998, the Commission filed a civil action against Dr. Lin and Mrs. Lin charging them with violations of various provisions of the federal securities laws. Dr. Lin served as the president and chief executive officer of LaserSight, Inc., a company engaged in developing lasers for medical applications. Mrs. Lin was LaserSight's bookkeeper. The Commission alleged that, while in those positions, the Lins engaged in a series of sham transactions to sell unregistered LaserSight securities. The Commission also alleged that the Lins employed a system of nominees to move funds and securities back and forth from the U.S. to Taiwan in furtherance of their scheme. On September 10, 1998, the Lins consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining them from violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a), 77e(c) and 77q(a)] and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5].

14. Aaron Tsai, age 33, is the president and chief executive officer of MAS Capital, Inc., a firm that provides services to companies seeking to be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board. Tsai lives in Henderson, Kentucky. Through MAS Capital and affiliate companies, Tsai has registered approximately fifty shell companies with the Commission and has sold more then twenty shell companies in reverse mergers. He was the owner of the publicly held shell company that merged with Surgilight.

The Reverse Merger and Groundwork for the Scheme
15. In winter 1999, Dr. Lin was introduced to Tsai as an individual that could assist Dr. Lin in bringing his private company, Surgilight, public through a transaction commonly known as a reverse merger. In a reverse merger, a private company merges with a publicly held shell company, which allows the stock of the formerly private company to be traded publicly.

16. On March 31, 1999, MAS III, a shell company owned by Tsai, executed agreements to merge with Surgilight. As part of the reverse merger, Tsai received approximately 8.7% of the common stock of Surgilight plus $100,000. Dr. Lin controlled approximately 65.5% of Surgilight common stock after the reverse merger. On that same day, the board of directors of Surgilight, including Tsai, resigned and a new board of directors, including Dr. Lin as the chairman, was appointed.

17. After the merger, Tsai prepared and filed the reports and filings required by the federal securities laws and rules of the Commission for the next several months. One such filing that Tsai assisted the company with was a Schedule 13D filed on April 12, 1999 on behalf of Dr. Lin. In the filing, Dr. Lin stated that he had not been enjoined by a court against future violations of the federal securities laws during the past five years. This representation was false because, as explained above, Dr. Lin was enjoined by a federal court against future violations of the federal securities laws in September 1998.

18. Tsai then took the steps necessary for Surgilight common stock to be sold to public investors by getting Surgilight common stock quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board. As part of this process, Tsai enlisted the services of a market maker, Kensington Capital Corp., to help maintain an orderly market for Surgilight securities.

The Pump and Dump Scheme
19. After the reverse merger, the Lins set into motion their scheme to defraud the investing public. As set forth in greater detail below, Dr. Lin created and caused false and misleading press releases to be issued, touting Surgilight as, among other things, having completed development of laser technologies that could reverse the effects of Presbyopia. Dr. Lin also hired an individual to disseminate this information in Internet discussion foruMrs. While Dr. Lin was issuing these press releases, Dr. Lin and Mrs. Lin, with Tsai's assistance, used nominee accounts to create the false appearance of an active market in Surgilight securities and sell Surgilight stock they controlled to the public. The Lins' fraudulent efforts generated them approximately $1,700,000 in illicit proceeds.

Surgilight's False and Misleading Press Releases
20. On or about December 13, 1999, Surgilight issued a press release, which was prepared in whole or in part by Dr. Lin and which contained false and misleading statements of material fact. For example, the press release stated, "Surgilight, Inc. (OTCBB:SRGL) announced that it has completed development of two new technologies for vision correction using infrared (IR) lasers . . . ." With regard to a device known as Model IR-3000, the press release stated: "It is the most compact solid-state IR laser capable of performing the new procedure for presbyopia correction." With regard to a device known as Model IR-3001, the release stated that it "will be used for vision correction, including . . . presbyopia correction." Each of these statements was false and misleading because, as Dr. Lin well knew, Surgilight at that time had not completed development of any technology for vision correction using infrared lasers or tested any infrared lasers in Presbyopia correction procedures.

21. Dr. Lin also omitted significant material facts from the December 13, 1999 press release concerning U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") regulatory hurdles that Surgilight was required to clear before its lasers could be tested, marketed, or sold. These omissions are material because obtaining FDA clearance in the laser eye care industry is an enormous undertaking, which takes several years to complete, with no guarantee of success. Dr. Lin was well aware of these regulatory hurdles and yet failed to mention that Surgilight had not taken even the first step in the FDA regulatory process.

22. On or about January 11, 2000, Surgilight issued a press release, which was prepared in whole, or in part by Dr. Lin and which contained misleading statements of material fact. For example, the press release stated: "Surgilight, Inc. (OTCBB:SRGL) announced today that it had submitted a clinical trial Protocol to Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City for a new procedure called Laser Presbyopia Reversal (LPR)." This statement contained a misleading omission of material fact in that, as Dr. Lin well knew, the press release did not divulge that the protocol submitted to Mt. Sinai Hospital was wholly insufficient so as to render approval of the protocol impossible.

23. On or about January 26, 2000, Surgilight issued two press releases, which were prepared in whole or in part by Dr. Lin and which contained false and misleading statements of material fact. For example, both press releases stated that "The company's IR-3000 . . . is the world's first system with reported clinical results for the presbyopia correction." This statement was false and misleading because, as Dr. Lin well knew, at that time no reported clinical results existed for a Presbyopia correction procedure that were obtained with the IR-3000 or any other infrared laser.

24. On or about February 17, 2000, Surgilight issued a press release, which was prepared in whole or in part by Dr. Lin and which contained false and misleading statements of material fact. For example, the press release stated that Surgilight was at that time focusing on its "new infrared lasers and the related ongoing clinical trials in Canada, Europe and Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City." This statement was false and misleading because, as Dr. Lin knew at that time, no such clinical trials were ongoing in Canada or Europe and no clinical trials relating to infrared lasers were ongoing at Mt. Sinai hospital.

25. On or about December 1, 1999, Dr. Lin hired an "investor relations consultant" to further disseminate false and misleading information to the public regarding Surgilight. In December 1999, this individual contacted Raging Bull and America Online's securities bulletin boards and requested that these Internet sites create Surgilight discussion fora.

26. After the fora were established, the "investor relations consultant" posted information directing the board's participants to Surgilight's false and misleading press releases. This individual also posted information touting Surgilight's technology and the economic effect such technology was to have on the price of Surgilight's common stock. In total, during the three-month period from December 1999 to February 2000, the "investor relations consultant" posted approximately 100 messages regarding Surgilight and its technology on Internet discussion fora.

27. The false and misleading statements set forth above were intended to influence and did influence the price of Surgilight common stock, as set forth below:

Date of Press Release Price of Surgilight stock day before press release Price of Surgilight stock on day after press release % Change
12/13/99 $2.63 $6.25 + 137%
1/11/00 $5.50 $6.63 + 21%
1/26/00 $16.50 $23.50 + 42%
2/17/00 $13.50 $13.75 +0.02%

The Lins' Unise Nominee Accounts and Manipulative Trading Program
28. Approximately two days before the reverse merger, on or about March 29, 1999, Mrs. Lin caused a brokerage account to be opened at the Unise Investment Corp. of Flushing, New York ("Unise") in the name of Huei Lee, 6th Floor, No. 6, Nong 32, Lane 1, Chang-long Street, Taipei, Taiwan (the "Lee Unise Account"). In an effort to conceal their control over the Lee Unise Account, the Lins directed Jianhua Zou, a Surgilight employee, to sign a form purporting to authorize that employee to order trades in the Lee Unise Account on behalf of Huei Lee. Jianhua Zou never ordered a transaction in the Lee Unise Account and had no further contact with the Lee Unise Account or Unise.

29. On or about April 20, 1999, Mrs. Lin caused a brokerage account to be opened at Unise in the name of Hsueh-Yueh Chang, 17 F-3, No. 311, 12th Street, Ta-Tun, Taichung, Taiwan (the "Chang Unise Account"). In an effort to conceal their control of the Chang Unise Account, the Lins directed Hang Liu, a Surgilight employee, to sign a form purporting to authorize Hang Liu to order trades in the Chang Unise Account on behalf of Hsueh-Yueh Chang. Hang Liu never ordered a transaction in the Chang Unise account and had no further contact with the Chang Unise Account or Unise.

30. From August through November 1999, the Lins and Tsai caused approximately 99,750 shares of Surgilight common stock to be deposited into the Lee Unise Account and approximately 181,600 shares of Surgilight common stock to be deposited into the Chang Unise account. The original source of the stock deposited into the Unise nominee accounts was the block of shares Tsai received as part of the reverse merger.

31. On at least one occasion, Tsai transferred Surgilight stock directly to the Unise nominee accounts and in other instances, Tsai employed more deceptive measures. In one such instance, to conceal his direct involvement, Tsai caused a total of 100,000 shares to be transferred nominally into the names of friends without their knowledge. Tsai then knowingly or recklessly caused portions of these shares to be transferred into the Unise nominee accounts. Tsai did not file a valid registration statement with the Commission for any of these transfers and these transfers did not qualify for any exemption from registration.

32. In another series of transactions, Tsai knowingly or recklessly facilitated a series of transactions that resulted in the deposit of thousands of shares into the Unise nominee accounts. Acting in concert with the Lins, Tsai caused approximately 536,450 shares of Surgilight stock to be transferred to approximately twenty individuals that purportedly reside in Taiwan. Approximately one month later, the Lins and Tsai caused large portions of shares to be transferred to the Unise nominee accounts. Neither Tsai nor the Lins filed a valid registration statement with the Commission for any of these transfers, and these transfers did not qualify for any exemption from registration.

33. Beginning in November 1999 and going through at least March 2000, the Lins caused hundreds of manipulative transactions in Surgilight common stock to be made in the Unise nominee accounts. On a daily basis during this time period, the Lins placed telephone calls to Unise and ordered their broker to execute both purchases and sales in the Unise nominee accounts, as many as thirty per day.

34. During the three-month period of December 1999 to February 2000, the Lins caused a total of 296 sales and 244 purchases of Surgilight securities to be executed in the Unise nominee accounts. These transactions accounted for approximately one-third of the total trading volume for Surgilight common stock during that time period. The Lins did not file a valid registration statement with the Commission for any of these transactions and these transactions did not qualify for any exemption from registration.

35. The Lins' trading program served two illicit purposes. First, in the days between the publications of each press release, the Lins executed nearly equal amounts of purchases and sales of Surgilight securities. The Lins' buying and selling efforts stabilized the price of Surgilight common stock while it created the false appearance of an active and liquid market for the securities. Second, to capitalize on the surge in price of Surgilight common stock after the publication of each press release, the Lins dumped their Surgilight securities on publication day and the days immediately following the publication of the false press releases. The net effect of this manipulative pattern of trading was the accumulation of approximately $1,700,000 in the Unise nominee accounts by the beginning of March 2000.

36. Tsai also sold his Surgilight common stock into the inflated market that he helped create. Acting with knowledge, Tsai waited until the time period of January 18, 2000 to January 31, 2000, the days when Surgilight was trading at its absolute height, to begin selling his Surgilight stock. At that time, he sold 63,200 shares of Surgilight common stock and earned at least $1,000,000 from these sales. Tsai did not file a valid registration statement with the Commission for any of these sales and these sales did not qualify for any exemption from registration.

37. On or about March 1, 2000, the Lins caused two written wire transfer instructions to be sent to Unise. One instructed that $710,000 be transferred from the Chang Unise Account to an account maintained in the name of Hsueh-Yueh Chang at a branch of Hua Nan Commercial Bank in Taipei, Taiwan (the "Chang Bank Account"). The other instructed that $766,000 be transferred from the Lee Unise Account to an account maintained in the name of Huei Lee at a branch of Overseas Chinese Bank in Taipei, Taiwan (the "Lee Bank Account").

38. In accordance with the wire transfer instructions described in the preceding paragraph, on or about March 1, 2000, $766,000 was wire transferred from the Lee Unise Account to the Lee Bank Account, and $710,000 was wire transferred from the Chang Unise Account to the Chang Bank Account.

39. On or about March 6, 2000, the Lins caused approximately $524,055 to be wire transferred from the Lee Bank Account to the Chang Bank Account.

40. On or about March 8, 2000, the Lins caused approximately $1,232,000 to be transferred from the Chang Bank Account to an account maintained in the name of Su Jung Lee at a branch of Hua Nan Commercial Bank in Taipei, Taiwan (the "Su Jung Lee Bank Account").

41. On or about March 8, 2000, the Lins caused $1,232,000 to be wire transferred from the Su Jung Lee Bank Account to an account maintained in the name of Surgilight at First Union National Bank in Orlando, Florida, which they controlled.

First Claim
(Violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act by Defendants Dr. Lin, Mrs. Lin and Surgilight)
42. Plaintiff SEC hereby incorporates ¶¶ 1 through 41 as if fully set forth herein.

43. Defendants Surgilight and Dr. Lin, with the intent to induce others to purchase Surgilight securities, did knowingly or recklessly misstate material facts and omit material facts when Dr. Lin created in whole or in part the press releases described in the previous paragraphs and when defendants Surgilight and Dr. Lin caused the press releases described in the previous paragraphs to be issued to the investing public.

44. Defendants Dr. Lin and Mrs. Lin engaged in transactions and practices or courses of business that operated as a fraud or deceit upon purchasers of Surgilight securities when they caused hundreds of purchases and sales of Surgilight stock to be executed in the Unuse nominee accounts.

45. In the manner described above, defendants Surgilight, Dr. Lin and Mrs. Lin, in the offer or sale of securities, by the use of means or instruments of interstate commerce or by the mails, directly or indirectly (a) employed devices, schemes or artifices to defraud; (b) obtained money or property by means of untrue statements of material facts or omissions of material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or (c) engaged in transactions, practices or courses of business which operated or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon purchasers of securities, in violation of Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)].

Second Claim
(Violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act by all defendants)
46. Plaintiff SEC hereby incorporates ¶¶ 1 through 45 as if fully set forth herein.

47. Defendants Surgilight and Dr. Lin, with the intent to induce others to purchase Surgilight securities, did knowingly or recklessly misstate material facts and omit material facts when Dr. Lin created in whole or in part the press releases described in the previous paragraphs and when defendants Surgilight and Dr. Lin caused the press releases described in the previous paragraphs to be issued to the investing public.

48. Defendants Dr. Lin and Mrs. Lin engaged in transactions and practices or courses of business that operated as a fraud or deceit upon purchasers of Surgilight securities when they caused hundreds of purchases and sales of Surgilight stock to be executed in the Unise nominee accounts.

49. In the manner described above, defendants Surgilight, Dr. Lin and Mrs. Lin, in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, by the use of means or instrumentalities of interstate commerce or of the mails, directly or indirectly (a) employed devices, schemes or artifices to defraud; (b) made untrue statements of material facts or omissions of material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or (c) engaged in transactions, practices or courses of business which operated or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon persons, in violation of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5] promulgated thereunder.

Third Claim
(Aiding and Abetting by Tsai)
50. Plaintiff SEC hereby incorporates ¶¶ 1 through 49 as if fully set forth herein.

51. Defendant Tsai knowingly or recklessly provided substantial assistance to defendants Dr. Lin and Mrs. Lin's violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act by among other things, providing them a publicly held shell company; directly and indirectly causing Surgilight stock to be transferred to the Unise nominee accounts under circumstance which indicate that he knew or should have known that the Lins controlled; facilitating Surgilight's trading on the OTC Bulletin Board; and preparing and filing with the Commission documents required by the federal securities laws and rules of the Commission, which at least one of was patently false.

52. In the manner described above, defendant Tsai aided and abetted defendants Dr. Lin and Mrs. Lin's violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act by knowingly providing substantial assistance to such defendants in violation of Section 20(e) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C § 78t(e)].

Fourth Claim
(Violations of the Registration Provisions by all Defendants)
53. Plaintiff SEC hereby incorporates ¶¶ 1 through 52 as if fully set forth herein.

54. Defendants Surgilight and the Lins caused hundreds of purchases and sales of Surgilight securities to be executed in the Unise nominee accounts when a valid registration statement was not in effect as to such transactions and the transactions did not qualify for any exemption from registration.

55. Defendant Tsai caused approximately 536,450 shares of Surgilight common stock to be transferred to approximately twenty individuals that purportedly reside in Taiwan and caused 100,000 shares of Surgilight common stock to be transferred to two of his friends, and subsequently caused portions of such shares to be transferred to the Unise nominee accounts. At the time of all transfers of Surgilight securities described in this paragraph, a valid registration statement was not in effect as to such transactions and the transactions did not qualify for any exemption from registration.

56. In the manner set forth above, defendants Surgilight, Dr. Lin, Mrs. Lin, and Tsai directly or indirectly (a) without a registration statement in effect as to the securities, (i) made use of the means or instruments of transportation or communication or the mails to sell such securities through the use or medium of a prospectus or otherwise, or (ii) carried or caused to be carried through the mails, or in interstate commerce, by any means or instruments of transportation, such securities for the purpose of sale or for delivery after sale, and (b) made use of the means or instruments of transportation or communication in interstate commerce or of the mails to offer to sell or offer to sell through the use or medium of a prospectus or otherwise securities for which a registration statement had not been filed as to such securities, in violation of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a) and 77e(c)].

Fifth Claim
(Violations of the Ownership Provisions by Dr. Lin)
57. Plaintiff SEC hereby incorporates ¶¶ 1 through 56 as if fully set forth herein.

58. Defendant Dr. Lin caused hundreds of purchases and sales of Surgilight common stock to be executed in the Unise nominee accounts. Defendant Dr. Lin was the beneficial owner of the securities transacted in the Unise nominee accounts.

59. Defendant Dr. Lin failed to timely report his beneficial ownership of the securities in the Unise nominee accounts and changes thereto with the Commission as required by various provisions of the Exchange Act and rules promulgated thereunder.

60. By reason of the foregoing, Defendant Dr. Lin violated Sections 13(d) and 16(a) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 78m(d) and 78p(a)] and Rules 13d-1, 13d-2, 16a-2, and 16a-3 [17 C.F.R. §§ 240. 240.13d-1, 240.13d-2, 240.16a-2, and 240.16a-3].

Prayer for Relief
WHEREFORE, the SEC respectfully requests that this Court enter a judgment:

(i) permanently enjoining defendant Dr. Lin, and his agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and those in active concert or participation with him, who receive actual notice by personal service or otherwise, from violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a), 77e(c) and 77q(a)] and Sections 10(b), 13(d), and 16(a) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b) and 78m(d) and 78p(a)] and Rules 10b-5, 13d-1, 13d-2, 16a-2, and 16a-3 [17 C.F.R. §§ 240.10b-5, 240.13d-1, 240.13d-2, 240.16a-2, and 240.16a-3];

(ii) permanently enjoining defendants Surgilight and Mrs. Lin, and their agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and those in active concert or participation with them, who receive actual notice by personal service or otherwise, from violating Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a), 77e(c) and 77q(a)] and Sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b) and 78o(a)] and Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5] thereunder;

(iii) permanently enjoining defendant Tsai, and his agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and those in active concert or participation with him, who receive actual notice by personal service or otherwise, from violating Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 77e(a) and 77e(c)] and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5];

(iv) ordering defendants Surgilight, Dr. Lin, Mrs. Lin, and Tsai to provide an accounting and disgorge all ill-gotten gains from the conduct alleged herein, with prejudgment interest;

(v) ordering defendants Surgilight, Dr. Lin, Mrs. Lin, and Tsai to pay civil money penalties pursuant to Section 20(d) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. § 77t(d)] and Section 21(d)(3) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(3)];

(vi) permanently barring defendant Dr. Lin from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company pursuant to Section 20(e) of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C. §77t(e)] and Section 21(d) of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)]; and

(vii) granting such other relief as this Court may deem just and appropriate.

Dated: April 11, 2002

United States Securities
and Exchange Commission

By_____________________________
Thomas C. Newkirk
Eric N. Miller (Trial Attorney)
Cheryl J. Scarboro
Reid A. Muoio
Sean Patrick Casey
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549-0911
(tel) 202/942-7275 (Miller)
(fax) 202/942-9569



http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/complr17469.htm

5:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Profile of the Sociopath
This website summarizes some of the common features of descriptions of the behavior of sociopaths.



Glibness and Superficial Charm


Manipulative and Conning
They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.


Grandiose Sense of Self
Feels entitled to certain things as "their right."


Pathological Lying
Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.


Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.


Shallow Emotions
When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.


Incapacity for Love


Need for Stimulation
Living on the edge. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal. Promiscuity and gambling are common.


Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others' feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.


Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.


Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
Usually has a history of behavioral and academic difficulties, yet "gets by" by conning others. Problems in making and keeping friends; aberrant behaviors such as cruelty to people or animals, stealing, etc.


Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about wrecking others' lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.


Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts.


Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future, poor work ethic but exploits others effectively.


Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
Changes their image as needed to avoid prosecution. Changes life story readily.

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Other Related Qualities:

Contemptuous of those who seek to understand them
Does not perceive that anything is wrong with them
Authoritarian
Secretive
Paranoid
Only rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired
Conventional appearance
Goal of enslavement of their victim(s)
Exercises despotic control over every aspect of the victim's life
Has an emotional need to justify their crimes and therefore needs their victim's affirmation (respect, gratitude and love)
Ultimate goal is the creation of a willing victim
Incapable of real human attachment to another
Unable to feel remorse or guilt
Extreme narcissism and grandiose
May state readily that their goal is to rule the world

(The above traits are based on the psychopathy checklists of H. Cleckley and R. Hare.)


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NOTE: In the 1830's this disorder was called "moral insanity." By 1900 it was changed to "psychopathic personality." More recently it has been termed "antisocial personality disorder" in the DSM-III and DSM-IV. Some critics have complained that, in the attempt to rely only on 'objective' criteria, the DSM has broadened the concept to include too many individuals. The APD category includes people who commit illegal, immoral or self-serving acts for a variety of reasons and are not necessarily psychopaths.


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DSM-IV Definition

Antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a lack of regard for the moral or legal standards in the local culture. There is a marked inability to get along with others or abide by societal rules. Individuals with this disorder are sometimes called psychopaths or sociopaths.

Diagnostic Criteria (DSM-IV)

1. Since the age of fifteen there has been a disregard for and violation of the right's of others, those right's considered normal by the local culture, as indicated by at least three of the following:
A. Repeated acts that could lead to arrest.
B. Conning for pleasure or profit, repeated lying, or the use of aliases.
C. Failure to plan ahead or being impulsive.
D. Repeated assaults on others.
E. Reckless when it comes to their or others safety.
F. Poor work behavior or failure to honor financial obligations.
G. Rationalizing the pain they inflict on others.

2. At least eighteen years in age.

3. Evidence of a Conduct Disorder, with its onset before the age of fifteen.

4. Symptoms not due to another mental disorder.


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Antisocial Personality Disorder Overview (Written by Derek Wood, RN, BSN, PhD Candidate)

Antisocial Personality Disorder results in what is commonly known as a Sociopath. The criteria for this disorder require an ongoing disregard for the rights of others, since the age of 15 years. Some examples of this disregard are reckless disregard for the safety of themselves or others, failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors, deceitfulness such as repeated lying or deceit for personal profit or pleasure, and lack of remorse for actions that hurt other people in any way. Additionally, they must have evidenced a Conduct Disorder before the age of 15 years, and must be at least 18 years old to receive this diagnosis.

People with this disorder appear to be charming at times, and make relationships, but to them, these are relationships in name only. They are ended whenever necessary or when it suits them, and the relationships are without depth or meaning, including marriages. They seem to have an innate ability to find the weakness in people, and are ready to use these weaknesses to their own ends through deceit, manipulation, or intimidation, and gain pleasure from doing so.

They appear to be incapable of any true emotions, from love to shame to guilt. They are quick to anger, but just as quick to let it go, without holding grudges. No matter what emotion they state they have, it has no bearing on their future actions or attitudes.

They rarely are able to have jobs that last for any length of time, as they become easily bored, instead needing constant change. They live for the moment, forgetting the past, and not planning the future, not thinking ahead what consequences their actions will have. They want immediate rewards and gratification. There currently is no form of psychotherapy that works with those with antisocial personality disorder, as those with this disorder have no desire to change themselves, which is a prerequisite. No medication is available either. The only treatment is the prevention of the disorder in the early stages, when a child first begins to show the symptoms of conduct disorder.


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THE PSYCHOPATH NEXT DOOR (Source: http://chericola57.tripod.com/infinite.html)

Psychopath. We hear the word and images of Bernardo, Manson and Dahmer pop into our heads; no doubt Ted Bundy too. But they're the bottom of the barrel -- most of the two million psychopaths in North America aren't murderers. They're our friends, lovers and co-workers. They're outgoing and persuasive, dazzling you with charm and flattery. Often you aren't even aware they've taken you for a ride -- until it's too late.

Psychopaths exhibit a Jekyll and Hyde personality. "They play a part so they can get what they want," says Dr. Sheila Willson, a Toronto psychologist who has helped victims of psychopaths. The guy who showers a woman with excessive attention is much more capable of getting her to lend him money, and to put up with him when he strays. The new employee who gains her co-workers' trust has more access to their chequebooks. And so on. Psychopaths have no conscience and their only goal is self-gratification. Many of us have been their victims -- at work, through friendships or relationships -- and not one of us can say, "a psychopath could never fool me."

Think you can spot one? Think again. In general, psychopaths aren't the product of broken homes or the casualties of a materialistic society. Rather they come from all walks of life and there is little evidence that their upbringing affects them. Elements of a psychopath's personality first become evident at a very early age, due to biological or genetic factors. Explains Michael Seto, a psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental health in Toronto, by the time that a person hits their late teens, the disorder is almost certainly permanent. Although many clinicians use the terms psychopath and sociopath interchangeably, writes psychopath expert Robert Hare on his book 'Without Conscience', a sociopath's criminal behavior is shaped by social forces and is the result of a dysfunctional environment.

Psychopaths have only a shallow range of emotions and lack guilt, says Hare. They often see themselves as victims, and lack remorse or the ability to empathize with others. "Psychopaths play on the fact that most of us are trusting and forgiving people," adds Seto. The warning signs are always there; it's just difficult to see them because once we trust someone, the friendship becomes a blinder.

Even lovers get taken for a ride by psychopaths. For a psychopath, a romantic relationship is just another opportunity to find a trusting partner who will buy into the lies. It's primarily why a psychopath rarely stays in a relationship for the long term, and often is involved with three or four partners at once, says Willson. To a psychopath, everything about a relationship is a game. Willson refers to the movie 'Sliding Doors' to illustrate her point. In the film, the main character comes home early after just having been fired from her job. Only moments ago, her boyfriend has let another woman out the front door. But in a matter of minutes he is the attentive and concerned boyfriend, taking her out to dinner and devoting the entire night to comforting her. All the while he's planning to leave the next day on a trip with the other woman.

The boyfriend displays typical psychopathic characteristics because he falsely displays deep emotion toward the relationship, says Willson. In reality, he's less concerned with his girlfriend's depression than with making sure she's clueless about the other woman's existence. In the romance department, psychopaths have an ability to gain your affection quickly, disarming you with words, intriguing you with grandiose plans. If they cheat you'll forgive them, and one day when they've gone too far, they'll leave you with a broken heart (and an empty wallet). By then they'll have a new player for their game.

The problem with their game is that we don't often play by their rules. Where we might occasionally tell a white lie, a psychopath's lying is compulsive. Most of us experience some degree of guilt about lying, preventing us from exhibiting such behavior on a regular basis. "Psychopaths don't discriminate who it is they lie to or cheat," says Seto. "There's no distinction between friend, family and sucker."

No one wants to be the sucker, so how do we prevent ourselves from becoming close friends or getting into a relationship with a psychopath? It's really almost impossible, say Seto and Willson. Unfortunately, laments Seto, one way is to become more suspicious and less trusting of others. Our tendency is to forgive when we catch a loved one in a lie. "Psychopaths play on this fact," he says. "However, I'm certainly not advocating a world where if someone lies once or twice, you never speak to them again." What you can do is look at how often someone lies and how they react when caught. Psychopaths will lie over and over again, and where other people would sincerely apologize, a psychopath may apologize but won't stop.

Psychopaths also tend to switch jobs as frequently as they switch partners, mainly because they don't have the qualities to maintain a job for the long haul. Their performance is generally erratic, with chronic absences, misuse of company resources and failed commitments. Often they aren't even qualified for the job and use fake credentials to get it. Seto talks of a patient who would get marketing jobs based on his image; he was a presentable and charming man who layered his conversations with educational and occupational references. But it became evident that the man hadn't a clue what he was talking about, and was unable to hold down a job.

How do you make sure you don't get fooled when you're hiring someone to baby-sit your child or for any other job? Hire based on reputation and not image, says Willson. Check references thoroughly. Psychopaths tend to give vague and inconsistent replies. Of course the best way to solve this problem would be to cure psychopaths of their 'illness.' But there's no recipe for treating them, say psychiatrists. Today's traditional methods of psychotherapy (psychoanalysis, group and one-on-one therapy) and drug treatments have failed. Therapy is more likely to work when an individual admits there's a problem and wants to change. The common problem with psychopaths, says Sets, "Is they don't see a problem with their behavior."

Psychopaths don't seek therapy willingly, says Seto. Rather, they're pushed into it by a desperate relative or by a court order. To a psychopath, a therapist is just one more person who must be conned, and the psychopath plays the part right until the therapist is convinced of his or her 'rehabilitation.'

Even though we can't treat psychopaths effectively with therapy, it doesn't mean we can't protect ourselves, writes Hare. Willson agrees, citing the most important factor in keeping psychopaths at bay is to know your vulnerabilities. We need to "realize our own potential and maximize our strengths" so that our insecurities don't overcome us. Because, she says, a psychopath is a chameleon who becomes "an image of what you haven't done for yourself." Over time, she says, "their appearance of perfection will begin to crack," but by that time you will have been emotionally and perhaps financially scathed. There comes a time when you realize there's no point in searching for answers; the only thing is to move on.

Taken in part from MW -- By Caroline Konrad -- September 1999

THE MALIGNANT PERSONALITY:

These people are mentally ill and extremely dangerous! The following precautions will help to protect you from the destructive acts of which they are capable.

First, to recognize them, keep the following guidelines in mind.

(1) They are habitual liars. They seem incapable of either knowing or telling the truth about anything.

(2) They are egotistical to the point of narcissism. They really believe they are set apart from the rest of humanity by some special grace.

(3) They scapegoat; they are incapable of either having the insight or willingness to accept responsibility for anything they do. Whatever the problem, it is always someone else's fault.

(4) They are remorselessly vindictive when thwarted or exposed.

(5) Genuine religious, moral, or other values play no part in their lives. They have no empathy for others and are capable of violence. Under older psychological terminology, they fall into the category of psychopath or sociopath, but unlike the typical psychopath, their behavior is masked by a superficial social facade.

If you have come into conflict with such a person or persons, do the following immediately!

(1) Notify your friends and relatives of what has happened.

Do not be vague. Name names, and specify dates and circumstances. Identify witnesses if possible and provide supporting documentation if any is available.

(2) Inform the police. The police will do nothing with this information except to keep it on file, since they are powerless to act until a crime has been committed. Unfortunately, that often is usually too late for the victim. Nevertheless, place the information in their hands.

Obviously, if you are assaulted or threatened before witnesses, you can get a restraining order, but those are palliative at best.

(3) Local law enforcement agencies are usually under pressure if wealthy or politically powerful individuals are involved, so include state and federal agencies as well and tell the locals that you have. In my own experience, one agency that can help in a pinch is the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service or (in Canada) Victims Services at your local police unit. It is not easy to think of the IRS as a potential friend, but a Swedish study showed that malignant types (the Swedes called them bullies) usually commit some felony or other by the age of twenty. If the family is wealthy, the fact may never come to light, but many felonies involve tax evasion, and in such cases, the IRS is interested indeed. If large amounts of money are involved, the IRS may solve all your problems for you. For obvious reasons the Drug Enforcement Agency may also be an appropriate agency to approach. The FBI is an important agency to contact, because although the FBI does not have jurisdiction over murder or assault, if informed, they do have an active interest in any other law enforcement agencies that do not follow through with an honest investigation and prosecution should a murder occur. Civil rights are involved at that point. No local crooked lawyer, judge, or corrupt police official wants to be within a country mile if that comes to light! It is in such cases that wealthy psychopaths discover just how firm the "friends" they count on to cover up for them really are! Even some of the drug cartel biggies will scuttle for cover if someone picks up the brick their thugs hide under. Exposure is bad for business.

(4) Make sure that several of your friends have the information in the event something happens to you. That way, an appropriate investigation will follow if you are harmed. Don't tell other people who has the information, because then something bad could happen to them as well. Instruct friends to take such an incident to the newspapers and other media.

If you are dealing with someone who has considerable money, you must realize that they probably won't try to harm you themselves, they will contract with someone to make the hit. The malignant type is a coward and will not expose himself or herself to personal danger if he or she can avoid it.

5:47 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

@Anonymous damn

5:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think people are starting to take some cheap shots but as everything is wrapped in several layers of irony it's difficult to tell if anyone has any real feelings about any of this

5:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i write everyday

i'm been working on my novel

here's a typical 'session' of me working on my novel
1. get coffee and drink half of it

2. check e-mail

3. check some other things

4. check my other e-mail and download the manuscript of my novel

5. get up and go to the bathroom

6. sit back down at the computer

7. check e-mail

8. maximize the manuscript of the novel in microsoft word

9. begin to read it

10. feel a little uninspired

11. check e-mail

12. feel bad that there are no new e-mails

13. think about maximizing the manuscript of the novel in microsoft word

14. think briefly about my future

15. feel a little doomed

16. drink the rest of the coffee

17. look on the internet for something to inspire me

18. google news my favorite authors

19. check e-mail

20. use the bathroom

21. feel a little hungry

22. go outside and buy a banana, and tea

23. eat the banana, drink the tea

24. use the bathroom

25. back at the computer, check my e-mail

26. feel social and good from the coffee and the tea and from having just been outside; answer my e-mails

27. maximize and scroll through my novel, quickly, without actually thinking about or acknowledging it really

28. scroll to the top and begin to read my novel

29. notice that my eyes are unfocusing a little

30. think about other aspects of my life

31. think about my short-story collection

32. focus my eyes

33. stretch my neck

34. stand up and stretch my neck and arms

35. select-all my novel and change the font size to eight and single-space it all, to gain perspective

36. scroll down, quickly, like a game

37. stop suddenly

38. read over a section

39. delete a comma that i had added the day before

40. delete an adjective that i had added the day before

41. delete some other things that i had added the day before

42. go to the part that i consistently enjoy working on and write one or two sentences and add em-dash parentheticals to a few places

43. rewrite those one or two sentences for a long time

44. finally combine the two sentences into one sentence and rewrite that sentence and then finally get a really good sentence there

45. feel really good and social after writing that sentence that was really good

46. reply to some more e-mails because of feeling really good and social

47. send some e-mails to people

48. go on AOL instant messager to talk to people

49. talk to people for a while

50. use the bathroom

51. google and then technorati some of my favorite authors

52. begin to feel a little tired and uncreative

53. look at my novel

54. tell myself to spend one hour straight only working on the novel

55. acknowledge to myself that it won't happen

56. check e-mail

57. tell myself one hour starting now

58. get up to use the bathroom

59. realize that the music i have on is getting annoying

60. turn off the music

61. feel really agitated and hopeless

62. threaten myself to work on the novel or else

63. begin to read the beginning of the novel

64. realize that that sentence i thought earlier was good is derivative and not even that good and go to where it is and look at it and then delete it

65. go to 'edit' and do 'undo-delete'

66. copy the sentence and paste it at the end of the manuscript

67. go over all the 30,000 words pasted at the end of the novel that i am not going using for the novel

68. find that some of those things are really good

69. try to re-insert some of those things into the currently 10,000 word novel

70. tell myself i shouldn't trust myself to do this right now, since the coffee was a while ago and right now i won't think that anything is good, overall, no matter what, in life

71. type 'PRINT THIS OUT AND ORGANIZE IT' on the top of the manuscript

72. print it out

73. check my e-mail

74. use the bathroom

75. e-mail the novel to myself

76. read over some drafts of poems i'm working on that are in my gmail's 'drafts' section

77. work on those a little

78. read over all the sixty or so 'drafts' of e-mails that i have

79. delete some of those

80. go outside and buy another tea

81. decide to work on my novel for thirty minutes straight or else

82. download my novel

83. check e-mail

84. google myself

85. google my favorite authors

86. google my name and the names of my favorite authors

87. maximize my novel and think about screaming

88. check e-mail

89. go to amazon.com and read reviews of books by lorrie moore
etc.

also, i left out 'check how many people have visited my blog,' 'read other people's blogs and make amusing, irrelevant comments,' 'put my head down on the desk and listen to one or two songs without thinking,' and some other things

5:58 PM  
Blogger Tao Lin said...

@Anonymous nice

7:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

someday someone will write a sad story about how that sweet kid who loved "depressing books" and wanted to be a writer became a celebrity and a joke

damn, tao, it will be the saddest, most depressing story you ever read

7:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your blog does not have any ads on it, save those for your own store.

Isn't there money to be made through selling advertising on here? Your thoughts on books and the publishing industry seem somewhat interesting from what interviews I have read and clearly you have something of a fanbase. Since you blog about money quite a bit, I'm surprised you don't use google ads or something.

Maybe it is not aesthetically ideal to advertise for businesses unrelated to your own, but I mean. You're auctioning off your myspace page, so.

I don't know. I can't tell if you are actually desperate for money or if there is something elseI enjoyed your book Bed.

7:55 PM  

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