Who are the 'axis of evil', and if they're so evil, why are they so busy NOT being evil? Iran has attacked no one, and if you include their war with Iraq in the 80's, Iraq was encouraged and supported by the US; Nth Korea hasn't attacked anyone in 50 years; Iraq attacked Kuwait 17 years ago and, again, had US support.

Who are the countries in this world today that are attacking other countries? Which countries in this world are clear and present threats to the sovereignty of other countries?

Come on. Someone tell me what action has been taken by any other country in the world against any other country, in the past 10 years. In the past 6 years. Anyone?

Which countries are realistically and apparently the greatest threat to any other country in the world today?

In November last year I wrote about my daily life. I was inspired the other day to re-write it for my current dailly life, which has changed a bit since last year. It's funny, 'cause my inspiration came from someone who wrote about their own daily life, as a result of reading my daily life...

Ok, the alarm goes off at about 6:40am. Deidre presses the snooze, and repeats the process a few times, while we snuggle and gradually wake up. By about 7:10am, I get up and stumble off into the lounge room to greet Geisha. In order to keep the peace in our household, the two cats have to sleep apart, otherwise no one gets any sleep. There'll be hissing and spitting and yowling... So anyway, her and I reacquaint ourselves for a few minutes as she snuggles into my chest while I check my email. Then she gets bored with that and wants to be let out of the lounge room. I ignore her for a while, knowing that Deidre doesn't want Geisha jumping all over her while she's still waking up, and I log into Eve Online to check in-game email and say hello to whoever's online as well (I'm talking here about 'corp mates', other members of the same corporation I'm in, in the game).

I shave, have breakfast, check the news for any new outrages that might have happened overnight, then shower, get dressed and go to work. When I get there around 8:30am, after a short few minutes of observing people on the bus, I connect my laptop to the work network and login. While it's logging in, I get myself a coffee, and then sit down and check my work email. I log into the Messenger service at work (like MSN Messenger, but only works on the internal network, allowing us to chat to other work mates) and also MSN Messenger (the external version).

I answer any emails that need to be answered, and assign jobs that came in overnight amongst the 3 of us in my area, and work on whatever jobs that I need to work on. The jobs revolve around internal network and application support. I'm a systems administrator, which means it's partly my responsibility to make sure the company's network and network-based applications all continue running smoothly, update personnel information, process new user setups, etc etc. Occasionally it's also to troubleshoot and resolve a problem, or assign to appropriate people to look after. I do this throughout the day, as odd jobs come in, or I leave them for the next day (or the next?) if they're not particularly urgent.

I chat occasionally to one of my workmates who plays Eve Online with me, and I help him work out better strategies for playing. We discuss ship setups, and other game-related stuff.

I also have a Gmail notifier active in Firefox, so I'm able to answer any personal email that I get during the day, for whatever reason. When I'm not doing jobs for work, I'm checking out world news and politics, or browsing the Eve Online forums and websites, learning as much as I can about the game and how to play it better or most effectively. In the game corporation I'm involved in, I've become the Head of Recruitment, so a lot of my forum browsing is also responding to people's queries about which corp to join, or I'm placing my own recruitment ads for the corp, hoping to attract new members.

Another role I have at work at the moment is yet to be clearly defined, but the temporary name for it is 'technical specialist', which means I help advise other areas of work on how to better improve their service desk policies and procedures, or help create client relationships relating to the support that their new service desk is going to be giving them. From those clients, I'm also responsible for getting all the information we need to provide them with the service that they want and need.

I'm soon going to be moving into the 'service improvement' unit/department/group/whatever, and I'm going to try and maintain my focus on the service desk, because of my long history and experience and knowledge of it. I'll be working - I hope - on improving service within and around the service desk. And boy, have I got lots of ideas about that!

The point of the above is that while I'm doing systems administration tasks, I'm also relatively busy with various client implementations, gathering information and technical knowledge about them, and integrating it into our intranet. There's also the occasional meetings with other staff associated with those clients, as various groups do their various things to help bring clients onboard.

I have lunch around 12-1pm, which is either sandwiches from home, last night's leftovers, or buying it from some shop or cafe. Then there's more of the same as the morning.

I leave work between 4 or 5pm, getting home around half an hour later. Then I log onto Eve Online and check for more in-game emails, talk to corp mates, and run missions until Deidre gets home around 6:30pm. I spend the next few hours catching up with Deidre, having dinner, and doing whatever else we might do (either going out somewhere, or watching a movie or Battlestar Galactica, or just chatting about life and weddings and stuff...). If she gets busy doing her own thing, like watching tv, doing something on the other laptop, or going out somewhere, then I'll focus more on Eve Online until she finishes what she's doing and we're ready to go to bed by around 11pm.

These days, most of the things that Deidre and I talk about are related to our engagement and wedding. It's all very exciting, and every day is wedding day, and probably will be for the next year and a half, until we get married. And then... every day will probably be children day, until we have children. And then every day will probably be... more children days for the following 18 or more years....

Some wonderful things to look forward to. :-)

That's a day in the life of me. What would be really cool is if you write your own story of your daily life and post it on this blog, linking back to this post so I can follow the trackback to read yours, or post your 'day in the life of' as a comment to this post. I'd really love to hear about your life!

You may remember me talking about procrastination as being an issue I've realised I have. Last night I realised that procrastination has been 'dulling' my passion. The passion I'm talking about is in business-building.

I've had the idea of setting up my own business providing software support and computer/internet training to small businesses and home users. This is something that I see a market for. I've created an outline of services that I offer. I've organised the software that I'd provide users, as well as training for the software. I've created website pages. I've even found a name and website domain that would suit my needs. I've got a business phone number organised. I've got contractors organised and available, ready for me to start.

But I haven't started yet. Why not? Procrastination. Distractions abound, to take my focus away from the business. What are they?

Potential clients not sure they actually want to pay for service.
A potential client (a branch of a national hotel chain) telling me $70 a month is too much.
Lack of motivation in potential contractors.
Lack of passion in me.

I know that business is business, and making a profit is very important, but how do businesses, for example, expect to get service for free? I was referred to the the manager of a hotel, who said they're looking for someone to look after their computers. Their computers are a mess, and their staff have no adequate training, so they're looking for someone to fill their needs. Their problem has been that most IT organisations out there are, apparently, too expensive.

So I organised a package deal for them, at $70 a month, providing them the support that they're requiring.

It was rejected as being too expensive.

Holy shite, how the hell is $60 a month too expensive for pro-active PC support and training?

Other business people I've spoken to have said that I have a great idea, and they think I'll do well. But no, they wouldn't be interested in it.

I'm wondering if the reason why there's a 'niche market' for what I'm offering is because no one's willing to actually spend any money on it. People just don't see the value in getting their computers and training supported on a proactive basis.

They would rather spend many hundreds of dollars for a reactive service, than a cheaper amount for a proactive service, preventing any problems from arising, and offering training in how to use things, which in itself, helps prevent further problems from needing reactive service.

Ah well... I still see the value myself, so I'll continue to test the market and see what kind of presentation I can find which will reap the greatest results. And then I'll move forward and 'find the passion'.

I've been reading quite a few interesting articles here and there over the past couple of years, none of which give rise to any hope for the US in a situation of major global conflict that escalates into all-out nuclear war. Even the US has no clear tactical outline of how they would be successful. Instead, they believe in their illusions of invulnerability and fail to take into account how the rest of the world just might act if they were involved in actions against the US. This article is an attempt by me to highlight American vulnerabilities. And if you believe it's all a crock of shite, you're one of those who believe in the illusion of invulnerability.

First, for those particular people, have a think about the following conflicts the US has been involved in: Vietnam, Bosnia, and Iraq. History has shown that the US has not been successful in any long-term military-against-military campaign. Its successes lie only in small, fast strikes against small, weak targets.

Since the end of the Cold War, US military resources were reduced by 50% by the Clinton Administration. The Bush Administration has been working within these restrictions by doing their best to focus military efforts with reduced resources. There is only one ammunition plant in the US, and body armour is in very short supply as well. The US has a huge number of problems fighting a battle in Iraq, with most of its active forces assigned there. How would it cope fighting battles on multiple fronts?

The manpower and resources of WWII are long gone. The US is much weaker today than it's ever been before. People are likely to say that strength is in the nuclear deterrent, however, that realistically only deters nuclear attack. Conventional attack is another story. If the US gets an enemy attacking on multiple fronts within strategic areas of importance, how likely is it that a nuclear defence is going to be used on those areas of battle that it itself is inhabiting? Not likely at all.

Also since the end of the Cold War, Russia has had the opportunity to increase its military and economic strength. New and advanced technology has allowed them to develop high speed torpedos, supersonic anti-ship missiles, and new aircraft. The anti-ship (Sunburst) missiles are probably the greatest threat to US naval superiority, as they employ highly advanced evasion techniques during the final few seconds of flight, avoiding anti-missile defences onboard ships. These missiles are powerful enough to take out carrier groups, and to date there has been no effective defence against them.

Russia sold these missiles in the 90's to Iran, Nth Korea and China.

The new fighter bomber that Russia built, the SU-27, was able to buzz the flight deck of the USS Kittyhawk only a few years ago. It achieved the element of surprise and was able to get close enough without being detected. During a time of war, a small group of SU-27's could easily destroy an entire fleet of US ships before anyone knew they were there.

Iran has Sunburst missiles, and likely have them deployed in their mountains, on the edge of the Persian Gulf. All of the US naval ships in the Gulf are vulnerable. Iran's defences are its terrain. It's next to impossible for the US to find, attack and destroy all of the Iranian missile emplacements and strategic military resources before Iran is able to cause serious damage to US ships.

And then there's the US military. If they can't succeed at bringing order to Iraq after 3 years of fighting civilians, how are they going to succeed in Iran against a determined and battle-hardened Iranian military? And then there's the fact that Iraq has deserts instead of the mountainous terrain of Iran, which can hide large numbers of Iranian forces and resources.

How effective is the US war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, with the mountainous terrain that the Taliban are hiding in? Completely ineffective. And that's just against a small number of Taliban. How do you think the US is going to cope engaging in mountain combat against the entire Iranian armed forces?

Iran's weak points are naturally their cities. Thus, it would be stupid of them to focus their own resources in and around those cities, allowing them to be targeted and destroyed. Any bombing attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities are only going to cause massive civilian casualties, and encourage Iranians to, like the Iraqis, increase their resistance against the US. Iranian citizens will become 'insurgents', helping the Iranian military, and taking up arms themselves to fight off the US.

It's not a war that can be won.

Iraq is a war that's currently being lost by the US, and yet it's now considering attacking another country. Any attack on Iran is going to be like whacking the hornet's nest with a great big stick. All hell will break loose, and Muslims everywhere are going to go on the rampage.

Iran has done nothing to attack any other country. It has complied with all international requirements for the development of nuclear energy, which it's allowed as a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). There has been absolutely no evidence to support any US claims against it. And, to top it all off, the Iranian President was democratically elected by the Iranian people. He's not a dictator that they would be happy for the US to get rid of.

If Iran is attacked, Muslims everywhere will see it as an attack against Islam, against the religious principles that the western world seems to fear. The riots that we've seen over the cartoons of Mohammed will be nothing compared to what we'll see in the near future.

The more the US tries to engage in military conquests around the world, the more obvious it is been that their strategies are not working. They are encouraging anti-US hatred amongst many countries around the world. This has to have an effect on not only economic relations, but also the balance of global power. Those that don't like what the US is doing are going to ally with those who would like the US to stop.

Terrorism in the world is against the US and those that support the US. The terrorists make that very obvious. If the rest of the world decides it is against the US, it's likely that the US will declare the war against terror is a war between itself and the rest of the entire world.

Under these circumstances, who are the terrorists? It's a term used by the US simply to deter attention to itself. By labelling others as terrorists, the American people are prevented from seeing how the US actions around the world are the real terrorist actions against othher countries and their people.

A very large and serious wake up call is going to be heard if the US attacks Iran. If the US gets their arses handed to them, the American people are going to wake up to the idiocy that their leaders are engaged in. If the US decides to attack Iran with nuclear weapons, the rest of the world is going to wake up to the idiocy that the American leaders are engaged in.

Big changes are coming.

Over here, they're talking about the news of Iran segregating religions via dress codes, to separate jews from muslims. The funny thing is, the news was an outright lie. One, it's amazing that a complete and utter lie was published in a major Canadian newspaper. Two, it's amazing that this single report was picked up by the US, Australian and Canadian governments as evidence of Iran's atrocities, and how they're becoming exactly like Hitler.

The truth is this. The story is part of a 'PsyOp', or psychological operation, an action designed to inspire anti-Iranian rage, so as to justify further actions against Iran. Here's a quote I placed on a right-wing blog that swallowed the story, hook, line and sinker.

You've all been hoodwinked by false news. Probably 'psychological warfare' designed to enrage people over Iran. It's an illusion. Even the Israeli ADL have released a statement saying it's false. There's a report here that says the only evidence was a single report in a Canadian newspaper, which was quickly accepted as fact by the US, Australia and Canada. It was denied, of course, by Iran, but 'of course they'd be lying'. However, the ADL also rejects it. The bill in question relates only to a dress code, not a separation of religions according to dress. The New York Post says that it "does not mention requiring special attire or markings for religious or other minorities."

It's hilarious to watch you guys get up in arms about an unsubstantiated, false report, with all of you claiming it's true, and willing to, once again, go to war over issues that are complete and utter fabrications. There aren't any human rights groups "raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims." The entire thing is completely false, and you were taken in by it.

You say: 'what do you have to say now? How are you going to defend this one?'
I say: there's nothing to defend. It's a complete lie. But here, have a cloth. It'll help you wipe the egg off your face.

You say: 'weapons grade uranium was found and you made excuses.'
I say: weapons grade uranium was not found, just 'traces of radioactivity suggesting there was weapons grade uranium associated with the equipment; equipment which was supplied by nuclear weapons-producing countries'. Another lie of yours.

You say: 'you deny Iran is building nuclear weapons but support their right to do so'
I say: as a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran has the internationally-allowed right to build nuclear energy programs, as do all members of the NPT, monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has not found any violation of the treaty, nor any evidence of nuclear weapons development. Evidence? Absolutely none. Conjecture? Lies? Through the roof.

You say: 'you like to compare Bush with Hitler yet you sympathise with Saddam and Iran.'
I say: I don't sympathise with Saddam and Iran. What I resent is the US deciding to act against international laws and conventions, which it helped create in the first place. The EVIDENCE for illegal actions are actually being supplied by the US as it openly and blatantly disregards international law. The evidence is that the US is committing illegal actions, while there is absolutely no EVIDENCE to support the US's claims about Iraq and Iran. The only evidence that exists is that the US lies it's way into whatever it wants.

I'm sorry to see international laws and conventions being broken by the US, which has decided that it can make or break laws as it sees fit, without any regard for anyone else, and without regard for the international standards by which it demands other countries abide by.

I'm also sorry to see so many of you Americans thinking that violating all democratic principles is the way to bring democracy to the world. If democracy is so good and so successful, why are the actions of the US government so representative of a fascist attitude, where might makes right, and the decisions of one man allegedly overrule democratic checks and balances?

I'm so sorry to see so many of you Americans literally demanding a dictatorship, demanding that all your freedoms be taken away from you, and demanding that the US government do whatever it wants to the rest of the world.

This is why Bush and such Americans are linked to Hitler and the Nazis.

UPDATE 26/5/06: It seems that the newspaper that originally ran the story has now apologised for the error.

I've set up a new blog to be dedicated completely to descriptions of my plans for the wedding. You can find more information about it here - Wedding Plans.

Any posts I make about engagement and wedding plans or activities will be on that blog. Please bookmark it or subscribe to its RSS feeds if you're interested in keeping up to date with that part of my life. Thanks.

Turkish, Iranian armies build up forces along Iraq's only quiet area

Tehran may also be flexing its muscles to remind the United States that it shares a long border with Iraq, and could cause serious problems there for the United States.

US military, intelligence officials raise concern about possible preparations for Iran strike

...the US may be preparing for a military strike on Iran, as military assets in key positions are approaching readiness...

US Army Troop Build up on Iraq-Iran Borders

Tehran local radio announced the US stationed army units on the Iraqi border, increased reconnaissance flights in the region, and trained anti-Iran militias in Iraq. Iranian Interior Ministry confirmed the information.

These are the updates I have since the last time I've written something personal in here.

Update 1
I've been sick the past week, with a cold or flu causing me to take a few days off work here and there.  It's been niggling at me, and I haven't really felt like writing.  Along the way, however, various political (American) issues have inspired me to write about them.  There's nothing like politics and world affairs to get you sitting up in bed and typing what outrages you.

Update 2
On Sunday Deidre and I went to a wedding show.  That was fascinating.  I wasn't too sure about going at first, but once we got there, I enjoyed myself.  There were many more couples there than I thought there would be, and it was funny to look at them and think, 'All these people are about to get married!'  It was also funny to see some of the men looking embarrassed to be there, and hoping they didn't meet anyone who knows them.

There was lots to be inspired about.  Venues, catering, fancy cars, bridal gowns and men's suits, wedding rings, photographers, and singers, to name just a very small few.  If you can think of anything related to a wedding, there was someone there to present it and hope that you'd choose them for your own wedding.

I was inspired mostly by the various styles of wedding rings.  We're probably going to have a very cool combination of titanium (or platinum) and gold, joined together as two halves.  Half titanium, half gold.  This is to represent the two of us coming together, as I'm more a gold-guy while Deidre's more of a silver-girl.  On the gold part of the band, we're going to both have a Celtic inscription of some kind, as decoration and a meaningful statement.  We think it'll look awesome.

The Celtic inscription was inspired by the inscription inside the ring from the movie Lord of the Rings.  It looks very cool!  And it was also inspired by some Celtic-patterned rings we saw.  Not only did the Celtic-ness (is there such a word?) inspire the rings, but it also inspired our thoughts of a wedding theme.

We've been talking about having a theme wedding, tossing around the ideas of a medieval wedding, or a murder mystery party that includes the wedding as the theme of the party.  However, these are not likely to be feasible for a couple of reasons.  1) The cost of a medieval wedding is about 3 times a normal wedding, and 2) there are likely to be invited guests who don't want to dress up, and therefore there will be participants and observers, which just detracts from the whole thing.

However, a Celtic wedding might be more feasible.  Celtic music, with some Celtic decorations around the place, and a Celtic theme to the vows.... It's something we'll be researching more of.

Oh, and the wedding is planned for September 15th, 2007.  It gives us a good year and a half to prepare.

Update 3
A lot of my 'writing time' has been taken up with playing Eve Online instead.  I'm really, really enjoying that game.  The relatively complicated nature of it, including long-term strategy of character development and 'career path' are intriguing and exciting to play.  I'm also enjoying my involvement in the corporation I joined in the game; excited enough to come up with strategies and roles to heavily immerse myself in the development and future of the corporation itself.  Happily, I'm being inspired to do so by the rapport I've got with the CEO of that corporation, who seems to enjoy and encourage my ideas.  It's funny that he has joked a couple of times about me being the 'secret voice manipulating the emperor'... 

Update 4
I've worked out that a serious issue in my life is procrastination.  I often feel it's better for me to do something tomorrow that could be done today.  The reason for this, it seems, is to compensate for the lack of control I grew up with.  In order to establish my own control on something, I'll choose to do it when I choose to, instead of when it needs to be done which is usually dictated by someone else.  Procrastination is a tool to establish my control on something that I have no control over.

So the underlying issue is the years of programming throughout my childhood and early adult years that told me I had no control over anything.  Since then, I've been rejecting other people's control over me - or the perception I have of it - by doing things in my time rather than their's.  This is apparent at work and at home.  A common saying of mine at home is, "I know it needs to be done; I'll do it when I feel like doing it."  A common saying of mine at work is, "I'm busy right now, so I'll get to it as soon as I can."  However, I'm not often busy, but I'm often procrastinating about it.

In order to move forward in life, I feel I need to deal with this once and for all.  Part of dealing with it is to acknowledge it as a problem.  "Hi, my name's Alan, and... uuuh... I'm a... a procrastinator.  *gulp*"  Being a procrastinator holds me back from achieving my full potential.  So I've decided it's time to do something about it. 

Update 5
As part of our plan to get into property investment, we finally made the first solid move towards it yesterday.  I faxed in a 'position statement' of our assets and liabilities, and our financial situation at this moment, to a mortgage broker who works extensively with a large property investment / wealth building organisation here in NZ.  Luckily they're in Wellington, which makes it easy for us.  As a result of this position statement, which was what they needed from us to organise pre-approval on bank and investment loans, they've told us that we're earning enough money, and have few liabilities, to allow us to get a 100% loan on any property investment, but it would be easier for us to buy our own house first with this in mind, than it would to buy investments first.

Coincidentally, this is just what Deidre wants to do.  I have a different plan though.  My plan is to buy investement properties that are cashflow positive, meaning that they give us a profit over all costs each week, and then buy our own house when we have enough profit coming in to pay for our own mortgage.  Use other people's money, so to speak, to buy the house that we'll live in.  This means we'll always be making a profit, rather than losing money by paying for a mortgage ourselves.

However, while Deidre sees the sense in it, she also has the emotional attraction to living in her (our) own home.  I can understand this.  It's good that she's willing to consider both options, and we'll be discussing this, and many other strategies, with the broker at a meeting we're having on 21st May.

We've decided that the only guarantee we have - which is something I realised some years ago - of creating wealth and independence in our lives is to get into property investment in a big way.  We hope to use our investments and capital gains to make us a very tidy profit over the next year and a half, to give us more money and more options for our wedding. 

And thus ends the updates.  I'll do my best at getting back into the habit of individual updates as they occur.  Have a fantastic day, wherever you are in the world.

Iran is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). As a member of this treaty, it has the right to involve itself in peaceful nuclear energy development, with monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It has never violated any part of the treaty requirements, and has always been open to monitoring and inspections.

None of this matters in relation to the US and its unfounded and unproven claims that Iran is building nuclear weapons. All they're trying to do is cause everyone to be afraid, which is the usual US tactic before it attacks a country that has done nothing.

Iran is trying to negotiate with the US, and with the international community. However, George Bush, the wonderful diplomat that he is, is refusing to talk. Responding to a letter from the Iranian President, Bush said:

"It looks like it did not answer the main question that the world is asking and that is, 'When will you get rid of your nuclear programme?'"

As a member of the NPT, Iran is not required to 'get rid' of its programme. As a member of the NPT it's fully entitled to have a nuclear program. Laws, treaties and facts, however, are considered irrelevent by Bush and his Administration.

Why let the law and the truth get in the way of a good reason to go to war?

The obvious answer to these questions is that Bush is doing all he can to go to war with Iran, regardless of the law and treaties and the fact that Iran has done nothing to show it's doing what Bush says it's doing.

There is more evidence of terrorism coming from Pakistan than there is from Iran. Pakistan already has nuclear weapons, and also is NOT a member of the NPT. No one bothers them though, because they have nuclear weapons.

It's completely and plainly obvious that the US wants to go to war with Iran. Nothing is going to stop it. The law isn't going to stop it. The truth isn't going to stop it. No other country is going to stop it. The US is plainly going to attack Iran.

So what is Iran to do?

If it's like Iraq, it'll sit back and hope that the US won't attack.

But it's not like Iraq. Iran knows the US is going to attack.

So the Iranian President sent a letter to George Bush 'asking for dialogue'. The letter also encouraged Bush and the western world to adopt Islam as the main religion, as Christianity just wasn't working.

There's an interesting Islamic law that says before an enemy is attacked, they must be given a final chance to convert to Islam. Bush has received his final chance to convert, and has rejected it.

Since it's so obvious that the US is going to attack Iran, wouldn't it be absolutely stupid and irresponsible of Iran, as a nation, to do nothing? Absolutely.

I believe this letter is a sign that Iran is not going to sit back and do nothing. It's going to attack its enemy, now that it's given its enemy a last chance to convert to Islam.

I think the next few weeks are going to be very interesting. My money is on the Iranians moving into Iraq to help their allies against US forces, as well as missile attacks on US ships in the Persian Gulf.

US President George W. Bush said the September 11 revolt of passengers against their hijackers on board Flight 93 had struck the first blow of "World War III."

...he said he agreed with the description of David Beamer, whose son Todd died in the crash, who in a Wall Street Journal commentary last month called it "our first successful counter-attack in our homeland in this new global war -- World War III".

Bush said: "I believe that. I believe that [Flight 93] was the first counter-attack to World War III.

And there you have it, folks. Straight from President Bush. The US is involved in World War III. Hmmm... I guess that means that Bush has decided the entire world is involved in World War III. That is, after all, what a 'world war' is all about...

I do find it interesting that this so-called World War III is aimed at 'terror', particularly against those who carry out 'terrorism'. However, terrorism is a military tactic. So what this is saying, if no one has actually thought about it before, is that the US has initiated a war against a military tactic.

Not a war against an enemy, a country or a race, but against a tactic.

The tactic of terrorism is often conducted by anyone, of any race, any nationality, against an enemy that is often militarily superior to them. So this 'war against terror' is really an open declaration of war against anyone who doesn't like the United States doing whatever it wants in whatever country it wants.

'May you live in interesting times.' An ancient Chinese curse, so relevent today.

The ongoing chapters of Black Claw's adventures in the online multiplayer game called Eve Online.  These will be updated every time there's a new chapter.  Please enjoy.

1. Black Claw
2. Questioning Morals
3. Possibilities
4. Purify
   

Just over a week ago, I left the old corporation I was in and joined a new one - Purify.  The old corporation was starting to fall apart at the seams, with the CEO deciding to quit, various members leaving, and the second-in-command not sure if he was going to continue the corporation or start a new one.  With all this happening, I made the decision to find another corporation to be involved in.  One that had been around for a while and was more secure, where the leadership was more committed, and which had values similar to mine. 

After some research, I found Purify.  Their main goal is to actively bring justice to the galaxy, working against pirates and illegal cartels, and other scum of the galaxy. 

In the time that I've been with them, I've achieved more than what I thought possible.  They are aligned with an organisation called Republic Fleet, who they recommended I obtain missions from.  I have to say, some of these missions have been pretty exciting!  Most of them involve me conducting 'kill missions' against the Angel Cartel, a pirate organisation that certainly deserves no mercy.  They give none themselves, so death is their only retribution.

In this past week I amassed over 5 million credits.  A pittance for some, but a fortune for one such as myself.  With that money, I've bought myself a small fleet of Frigates.  I have 3 Tristan Frigates which I'll equip in various ways for various purposes, and I have another Incursus Frigate which has a cargo capacity over twice as much as the Tristan, for those missions where I need to courier things that the Tristan can't.

It's been quite a fascinating journey.  Using advice from the Purify CEO and also research on the net, I've fitted my main Tristan with a reasonably formidable array of weapons and equipment modules, making those pirates fall that much easier to my attacks.

Before the latest weapons upgrades, I had an interesting time with one mission... Alone, I faced 6 waves of dozens of pirate ships.  My shields were depleted and they were cutting away at my ship's armour with their weapons attacks.  Thankfully I had just installed an armour repairer for such emergencies, and was able to recover from their attacks without any significant damage.  They all died for their insolence.

Purify is a corporation that has been helpful in helping me achieve my goals.  I've also struck up a rapport with the CEO, offering my advice on the operation of his corporation.  My ideas are to create various departments within the company that don't currently exist, with each department fulfilling various important areas the corporation needs to focus on.  Instead of the CEO working on all the areas, he has department chiefs working on them instead.

I guess that while Purify has been around since last year, they're still young in their organisational structure.  While I'm new, it's understandable that my ideas don't carry a lot of weight, but the CEO has promised that he has plans for me and my ideas once I'm past the probational period.  I'm looking forward to seeing what happens there.

In the past couple of days I've helped recruit a couple of new pilots to the corporation, one of whom acts in the same time zone as me.  I'm hoping to build a squad of 'friends' in the same time zone, so that we can work together on missions furthering the corporation's goals.

To be continued...

Thanks to the original post at Box of Chocolates, I thought I'd use the 'smart moves' they mention and add my own special flavour to it.

There's a lot of people with their own business, and many of them are on the internet. Some of them are even reading this, and it's to those people who are looking to improve their business that will find value in these tips.

1. Start a blog.
   Blogging about your business is a fantastic way of advertising your business on the net, and it gives your business that 'human face' that is lacking with most businesses.
   
   
2. Get good help.
   You can't do everything, as much as you'd like to. Running a successful business works best if you get the right people for the right job. Focus on what you do best, and get others to do the things you're not good at. If they turn out to be fantastic, keep them. Good help is hard to find. If they suck, then get rid of them! Don't let emotions play a part in business. The bottom line is profit, so if they're not helping you to succeed, then they're helping you to fail.
   
   
3. Write with a twist.
   If you already have a blog, or if you're trying to find things to write about with the blog you've just created because of tip #1, try this with your writing: take a relevent topic that others have alread written but add a new twist to it. Just like this post on improving your business, it's been done by someone else, but I've changed it to add my own unique views. You can do the same with topics that are relevent to your blog.
   
   
4. Unplug your fax machine.
   Anything that you can do with a fax can be done with email instead. Receiving 'fax spam' costs you money with toner and paper, while email is free, and easier to manage.
   
   
5. Stay as small as you can.
   Being small allows you to be flexible. If anything happens to influence your business, being small will allow you to handle it much better than being big. Let your business grow naturally, but don't push it. Don't grow faster than your ability to handle those unforeseen challenges that can provide barriers or opportunities.
   
   
6. Stay under the radar.
   If you're doing a great job of providing a valuable service, then your clientele will grow by word of mouth advertising. The less your competitors know about you, the less they can take business away from you. Don't advertise until you can afford to let your competitors start trying to take business away from you.
   
   
7. Turn your email off.
   Email is very intrusive, and when you ge an email you often feel that you have to read it or respond to it. Urgent email is never urgent. If something's urgent, they'll call you. Turn off your email for a few hours and focus your attention on something else. Like your business.
   
   
8. Raise prices every year.
   Just do it. The longer you work, the more experience you have, and the greater is the value of what you do. Raise the prices accordingly. Let people know beforehand, so they're not surprised, but it's business - everyone expects the prices to rise!
   
   
9. Know when to quit.
   If you find that you don't have a passion to work on your business, or you're even offering your services for free to get clients or because you don't value enough of what you're doing, then get out. Give it up. Start again with something you do value, and which you do have a passion for. Without value and passion, you're wasting your time and will only regret it.
   
   
10. Get office space.
    Having your own office will help you separate your work life from your home life. Keep everything work related at the office, and have your home for yourself. It helps you keep balance in your life. If you have your work at home, it can be very difficult to achieve the balance, as it's so easy to spend all your time at home, working. Don't do it. As soon as you can, get your own office and keep your work there.
    
    
11. BONUS TIP - Love what you do.
    As touched upon in #9, if you don't love what you do, then you should't be doing it. Make sure your business is based on something that has real value for yourself and for others. If you're not providing value, then you're not going to be successful. It's as simple as that. If you mix a business that's not providing value, with a lack of love/belief/passion, then your business is only headed for disaster. Loving what you do will become obvious to your clients, and they'll be much happier buying from you.
    

I'm noticing something exciting... the US media are now starting to ask the right questions of the Bush administration, having quotes from previous speeches available, so that when a member of the Bush administration says they never said something, the statement is made: "Well, on this particular day you said blah blah blah..."

And the politicians are getting damned annoyed, which is great!

However, I can see something really bad happening.  We've already seen that Bush is ignoring laws, which is a big sign he's moving towards an open dictatorship, instead of the disguised dictatorship I've been seeing in the past.  What we're also hearing is rumours that the US government is going to start enacting the 'Alien and Sedition Act', which makes it illegal to publish 'false, scandalous, and malicious writing' against the government or its officials.  The problem is, who is it that decides what is false, scandalous and malicious?  The government, of course.

And so anyone who criticises the government, who writes about them in such a way that it invites controversy or even a change of government, is, according to the Sedition Act, breaking the law. 

The Sedition Act has already been used against US citizens who are critical of the US government.  And then we have the ignorant who think it would be a good idea for the government to suppress free speech, so that no one gets the opportunity to criticise or mock the government.  In fact, the ignorance is worthy of quoting:

We need a new sedition act because nobody should be allowed to publish criticism of our leaders. For example, if someone believes that our President is a draft-dodging unintelligent frat boy, and they pollute others' minds with such treasonous language, they deserve to be imprisoned and thrown out of the country.

Yep, sure, I can see the 'logic' in that... not!

However, I'm really not sure if the author is simply being facetious when they finish their article with:

Blind trust is the foundation of a quiet citizenry. Remember, if France
had followed this philosophy, they would not have riots in their
streets.

After all, if we are not bound together with identical opinions, then how can we ever coexist peacefully?

They're either very stupid, or trying their hand at sarcastic satire.  I'm not exactly sure which.

So we have the rewarding actions of the media, questioning the lies and illegal actions of the US government, and yet we have the 'campaign of the idiots', who are working to suppress free speech, and to make it illegal to criticise the government. 

I call it the 'campaign of the idiots' because I feel that only idiots can believe freedom comes by suppressing those who seek freedom, and peace comes by killing those who seek peace.

I'm 'opening the floor' to you all.  I'd love to hear your stories, ideas, suggestions, and comments about what you think would be a great wedding idea, or tips for a successful wedding.  All comments, opinions, stories of past experiences, what works, what doesn't work, anything at all!

I'd love to hear anything you have to offer, to help Deidre and I plan an interesting, exciting, eventful wedding that's going to take place probably around Sept / Oct 2007.

Oh, and the cheaper the better.  :-)

Please, can you help me understand why you accept your President:

• ignoring Congress
• ignoring the Constitution
• breaking over 750 US laws
• ignoring the Bill of Rights
• ignoring the will of you, the people of America
• stating that he can do whatever he likes, according to his personal interpretations
• basing his foreign policy on what God tells him to do

Please, can you help me understand why you kicked President Clinton out of office for improper sexual relations, but you'll quite happily let President Bush stay in office for breaking not only more than 750 American laws, but numerous international laws and treaties. 

Please, can you help me understand why you'll kick out President Clinton for lying about those improper sexual relations, but you'll keep President Bush if office for lying about weapons of mass destruction; lies which caused the deaths of untold thousands of people, including over 2,000 Americans.

Please, can you help me understand why you don't want a President who lies about his sexual relations, but you do seem to want a President who breaks laws and causes the deaths of thousands of people around the world.

Please, can you help me understand how the rest of the world can understand where you're coming from when you support a President who violates everything that you, the American people, claim you hold so dear?

Please, can you help me understand why I should have any sympathy for those of you who willingly and aggressively give away your freedom and your liberty to a President who is quite happily taking it away from you in the name of freedom and liberty, thus leaving you with nothing?

Please, can you help me understand?

Bush challenges hundreds of laws

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

[NYU law professor David] Golove said that to the extent Bush is interpreting the Constitution in defiance of the Supreme Court's precedents, he threatens to ''overturn the existing structures of constitutional law."

A president who ignores the court, backed by a Congress that is unwilling to challenge him, Golove said, can make the Constitution simply ''disappear."

Aren't you just so pleased now that you know President Bush has been ignoring over 750 laws, so that he can do whatever the hell he wants?  Aren't you just so happy to know that your President believes he's above the law? 

If the law is disregarded, and you have a President doing whatever he wants, what do you really have?

A dictatorship.  The dictionary defnes it as: A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)  Seems to me that the US President is certainly not restricted by a constitution, laws or any opposition.

Good on you America.  Welcome to your new world.