Life Through My Eyes

Changing blogs

2006-10-21T22:09:00.000+13:00

Ok, this will probably come as a surprise to you all, but I've changed the blog to something new. You can find it by going here:

http://alanzeyes.blogspot.com

New posts from this moment on are going to be at the new blog until further notice. Please make sure you add it to your RSS reader or bookmarks.

Information on WHY the change has occurred can be found at the new location.

Thank you.

To my soul mate

2006-10-21T15:35:00.000+13:00

I am so glad that you are a part of my life. It is a privilege - to know you, to share myself with you, and to walk together on the paths that take us in so many beautiful directions.

When I am with you, I know that I am in teh presence of someone who makes my life more complete than I ever dreamed it could be. I turn to you for trust, and you give it openly. I look to you for inspiration, for answers, and for encouragement, and you lift my spirits up and take my thoughts to places where my troubles seem much further away and my joys feel like they're going to stay in my life forever.

I hope you'll stay forever, too. You're my soul mate... My world is reassured by you, my tomorrows need to have you near, so many of my smiles depend on you, and my heart is so thankful that you're here.

- D. Pageh

Thank you Deidre. :-)

It has begun...

2006-10-21T11:56:00.000+13:00

Yes, I know it began a long time ago, but since the passing of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 a couple days ago, the Bush administration has been very quick to notify the courts that they no longer have jurisdiction to consider hundreds of Guantanamo Bay cases.

The new law already has been challenged as unconstitutional by lawyers representing the petitioners

I guess someone forgot to tell them that the constitution no longer matters.

Whichever side loses in the upcoming court battles, he said, will then appeal to the Supreme Court.

Why bother? The Supreme Court has already ruled on unlawful actions by the US government, stating that unlawful actions must be approved by Congress. What use is law and the constitution when Bush can get Congress's approval to ignore laws and the constitution as he sees fit?

People don't seem to be getting it. The law and justice has lost, and the Bush administration has won.

What we're going to see from this point on is more and more of the law being pushed aside in favour of what the Bush administration wants. The law will only apply to those who have no power.

Congress allows George Bush to enact martial law

2006-10-20T11:29:00.000+13:00

Welcome to martial law.

Moments ago President Bush signed the Military Commission Act into law, stating “This bill provides legal protections that ensure our military and intelligence personnel will not have to fear lawsuits filed by terrorists simply for doing their jobs.

[The] legality of the system I established was challenged in the court, and the Supreme Court ruled that the military commissions needed to be explicitly authorized by the United States Congress. And so I asked Congress for that authority, and they have provided it.”

If that's not authorising and enabling martial law, I don't know what is.

The Military Commissions Act is not a speculative notion. It is law, already being implemented and now codified.

As an American, your rights have disappeared. You don't even have to be an American either, as there's a lot of the Act that's related to legal and illegal immigrants.

For any reason - or for no reason at all - you can be declared an enemy combatant and you WILL be arrested, taken away, and held indefinitely. No trial, no defence, no hope.

Well done America. You've done a fantastic job of allowing your fears to come true.

More of those silly Republicans

2006-10-07T18:57:00.000+13:00

Senator Mark Foley, while leading a government group responsible for protecting children, was also engaged in assaulting the rights of the same children he was allegedly protecting.

Hypocrite. In a big way.

"At Sacred Heart, I was taught how to be a better citizen because of their focus on discipline and moral values."
- Mark Foley

I guess we all know what those values are now.

"I have said repeatedly that in this country we track library books better than we do sex offenders."
- Mark Foley

Lucky for him, I guess.

"Pointing fingers, trying to catch each other in scandal does not bring honor to this House."
- Mark Foley

Probably trying to make sure no fingers were being pointed at him.

What I find amusing is that in Washington DC it's legal to have sex with a 16 yr old, but it's illegal to talk about sex with under 18's. So you can screw a 16 yr old, you just can't talk about it - that'll get you thrown in jail. (You can read about it here.)

It was learnt that leading members of the Republican party knew about Foley's habits for some years now, but he was protected by those same members who promote good, wholesome family values and morals.

With the Republicans playing the blame game, avoiding responsibility and pointing fingers at someone else, it was obvious they were in trouble.

So Fox News, the bastion of Republican propoganda, was brought in on the act, and suddenly Mark Foley was a Democrat, not a Republican. (Click here for more on that.)

Of course! The truth finally comes out. It's all actuallly the fault of those steenkin' Democrats, posing one of their own as a Republican, bringing shame to the Grand Old Party (GOP).

And then, naturally, there's the continuing saga of how President Bush is above the law.

President Bush this week asserted that he has the executive authority to disobey a new law in which Congress has set minimum qualifications for future heads of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Who needs lawmakers and Congress any more, when Bush can declare which laws he wants to obey (only those that suit him) and which laws he wants to overrule.

What is the point of having laws if Bush declares that he has authority to disregard them?

The only valid reason for this is that Bush has declared himself dictator. The legal restrictions of a democratic society obviously don't apply to him any more.

Does anyone notice? Do they care? Apparently not.

As Alan Shore said in one of his episodes (probably a few of them actually):

When the weapons of mass destruction thing turned out to be not true, I expected the American people to rise up. Ha! They didn't.

Then, when the Abu Ghraib torture thing surfaced and it was revealed that our government participated in rendition, a practice where we kidnap people and turn them over to regimes who specialize in torture, I was sure then the American people would be heard from. We stood mute.

Then came the news that we jailed thousands of so-called terrorists suspects, locked them up without the right to a trial or even the right to confront their accusers. Certainly, we would never stand for that. We did.

And now, it's been discovered the executive branch has been conducting massive, illegal, domestic surveillance on its own citizens. You and me. And I at least consoled myself that finally, finally the American people will have had enough. Evidentially, we haven't.

In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is we're okay with it all. Torture, warrantless search and seizure, illegal wiretappings, prison without a fair trial - or any trial, war on false pretenses. We, as a citizenry, are apparently not offended.

You resign yourselves to a fate of your own making. And we, the rest of the world, can only watch on in sadness.

Surprise of a lifetime

2006-10-07T16:55:00.000+13:00

You could probably say that the 'surprise of a lifetime' would be something that would be the biggest thing to surprise you in your entire life. I think that's what's happened to me.

I discovered during the week that I suffer from passive aggression:

People with this disorder resent responsibility and show it through their behaviors rather than by open expression of their feelings. Procrastination, inefficiency, and forgetfulness are behaviors commonly used to avoid doing what they need to do or have been told by others must be done.

A person with this disorder may appear to comply with another's wishes -- may even demonstrate enthusiasm for them -- but the requested action is either performed too late to be helpful, performed in a way that is useless, or otherwise sabotaged to express anger the person cannot relate verbally.

That's me.

You might be wondering what the big deal is. Well, this is why:

Some of the common signs of passive-aggressive personality disorder include:
Procrastination
Intentional inefficiency
Avoiding responsibility by claiming forgetfulness
Complaining
Blaming others
Resentment
Sullenness
Fear of authority
Resistance to suggestions from others
Unexpressed anger or hostility

All of those signs are within me. And they've been within me all my life, ever since I was a child.

The common theme amongst passive aggressives seems to be that during childhood they were not allowed to express their feelings, and any feelings that they did express were ignored, rejected or resulted in being punished for. As a result, they learnt to fight back in subtle ways, agreeing to do what they were told but then never getting around to it.

His anger grows but he cannot express it so it becomes submerged and is expressed in an unconscious ‘You can't tell me what to do.' He is not allowed to get his way by direct confrontation and competition so he learns to displace his anger through resistance. He learns to use charm, stubbornness, resistance and withdrawal to protect himself in power struggles. He rebels by becoming moody, being an underachiever or developing behavior problems. His self protectiveness and duplicity from the squelched anger and hostility becomes a habit that he plays out with other women he meets. He desperately seeks a woman to meet his needs of being accepted for who he is, but puts her off with small, continual acts of rebellion. He replays the distancing drama of his original family in the relationship.

This is what I've been doing all my life, and which I've only just realised now.

It's naturally had an effect on my relationship with Deidre.

The biggest irritant in being with a passive aggressive man is that he doesn't follow through on his agreements and promises. He dodges responsibility while insisting he's pulling his weight. He procrastinates, takes on big projects but doesn't finish them then feels put upon or hostile if someone else tries to finish it. He often ignores reality as to his irresponsibility and withdrawal. He denies evidence, distorts, minimalizes or lies to make his version of reality seem logical.

What does one do when one learns that everything they've been doing in life has been to sabotage themselves, their partners, and anyone around them that means something to them?

One goes into something resembling shock.

Now I don't know what I want any more, because I can see that what I've wanted in the past has often been to sabotage or to rebel against what someone else wants. Or even against what I want.

How the hell can someone sabotage their own desires, simply because they're rebellig against the expectations of others?

It's bizarre, absolutely bizarre.

I can't trust myself any more. Every time I say I want something, I have to analyse myself to work out why the hell I really want it. Am I saying it to appease someone? Am I saying it to avoid conflict? Am I saying it to make myself look good? Am I saying it because it's what I've always been saying, and has no meaning other than the pattern of past habits?

Passive aggressives - I - try to avoid conflict. We do so by agreeing to things we don't want to do, and then finding some excuse as to why we fail to do it. That could be forgetfulness, procrastination, doing something else instead, making someone else responsible for it (or the failure of it being done), or causing an argument that results in not doing it.

It's about control. I feel I have no control when I feel I have to do things for someone else, and so I take back control - one way or another - by not doing it or creating situations that result in avoiding what needs to be done.

I'm the rebellious teenager that never grew up.

I'm just really, really lucky that I have a partner who is understanding, committed and willing to work on my issues with me, because I've been doing the same with her own issues. And because she loves me.

:-D

So I've been in shock for a few days now, feeling like withdrawing, and simply not doing anything at all, because I don't know the real motivations of why I want to do things any more. I know that a great deal of my agreements to Deidre in the past have been because I want to appease her, or to ensure she stays with me, because fear of loneliness and abandonment are prominent.

These haven't been conscious decisions, but in the process of making these arrangements there has been residual and passive anger as a result of not having any control in my life. I've spent a great deal of time and energy passively blaming her without consciously realising it. Her anger at being blamed for things resulted in me being angry at her for misunderstanding me. It was actually me who was misunderstanding myself, and trying to make her responsible.

It's a pattern of behaviour that I've been following ever since childhood. Underachieving at work, procrastination, inefficiency...

I can say that now I know what the problem is, I can work on fixing it. But the real challenge is that now that I want to fix it, I have to work out what I really mean when I say what I want, whatever it might be.

I told Deidre today that I feel like doing nothing at all, nothing whatsoever, and then to start doing things that I want to do, even though I know it might piss her off. Stop 'caring' about how she's going to feel at what I do. Stop 'caring' about pissing her off, and letting her deal with those issues herself.

In order for me to heal the issues that I'm suffering from, I have to feel safe that the expression of my thoughts and feelings are appreciated, respected and desired. I've always told her that I'm angriest when I feel I'm not being listened to. It's because it reminds me of my childhood, where I wasn't listened to, or my feelings or thoughts were considered to be of no importance.

She has a big job ahead of her. We both do.

The surprise of my life has left me in shock. Now I have to move forward and make a new beginning.

I hope I don't procrastinate about this...

Wedding update

2006-09-28T16:15:00.000+12:00

I know it's been a long time since I've talked about it, but don't worry - it's still happening! Hehehe.

I haven't updated my wedding blog for 3 months, and only just remembered to do this today. You can see the latest update here: http://weddingplans.wordpress.com/
(Bookmark the site or subscribe to the RSS feed if you haven't done so already.)

Enjoy.

Interesting times ahead

2006-09-26T12:54:00.000+12:00

With all the crazy stuff happening in America today, I have a feeling that we're going to see some very interesting, scary and sad times in the near few years.

It's heading more and more towards a 'police state', where the jackbooted actions of the police stomp all over the rights of the people.
The political craziness that's coming to the fore has suggestion of armed conflict between Republicans and Democrats, due to prominent Republican commentators claiming that since Democrats are against the war on terror then they must be for terrorists, and are therefore terrorists themselves. Some are calling for attacks, arrests and even executions of vocal Democrats and anti-war campaigners.
The Republican campaign for the Commander-in-Chief being the only man for the job to fight terrorism is leading to Republicans wanting to vote for the removal of elections and have the President as Dictator-in-Chief.

What's wrong with these people that they want to vote for the removal of all their freedoms? They want to vote on putting a dictator into power?
The US has become one of the most censored countries in the entire world, where any news that has evidence of Bush doing something wrong is simply not shown in US newspapers or on US television.

A case in point was a year or two ago, where evidence arose of Bush and Blair planning the Iraq war before 2003... this was a major scandal and reported all throughout the world. Except in the US.
The latest idiocy to come out of America is their attempt to re-write the Geneva Convention so that they can't be accused of war crimes. Apparently there was a complication to this, as there was a clause in the Constitution that prevented them from changing the Geneva Convention. But there isn't any such clause preventing them from
changing the War Crimes Act.

There's no brushing over of this idiocy - the Bush Administration wants to change the rules so that they can't be accused of War Crimes, and they want it to be retrospective, so that they can't be accused of War Crimes in the past. What is it that Americans don't seem to understand about this. THEY PLAN ON COMMITTING, OR HAVE KNOWINGLY COMMITTED CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY!

When you have Republicans calling for the death of Democrats, and the police doing whatever they like with impunity, and idiots wanting to vote for their President to become dictator, and the leadership wanting to change the rules so they can't be accused of war crimes, then you have a situation. A serious situation. And one which can only lead to serious consequences.

The world banded together to act against the totalitarian and fascist actions of Adolf Hitler in the early 1940's.

What will we see in the next few years, I wonder.

What's your talent?

2006-09-24T22:54:00.000+12:00

I was recent talking to someone who considers themselves to be a pagan and a witch. Very interesting person. They asked me at one point what my talent was. At first I was confused, so I asked them for some clarification. They said their own talent was being able to read auras, and they had a sensitivity to other people's energy. I thought about it for a moment, and then I knew what my talent was.

I see people for who they really are. I see the truth behind the facade that they present to the world.

Everyone has a different 'face' that they put on for different people and situations. Most people's faces are there to hide their true selves from those they're interacting with.

I understand the fears and insecurities that people have, and how they're driven to wear the faces that they think protect them. When I'm talking to someone about something meaningful, that grabs my attention, I'm looking past their face and into their soul. Most of them find it unnerving, and I don't blame them. I don't do this all the time, of course. That'd be too draining. I only do it with those I find highly interesting and intriguing, and who I want to understand more than I currently do.

They don't like someone getting too close to them, knowing who they really are. How would you feel if someone could see past your disguise, and see all those things you'd rather no one knew?

However, everyone has a talent of some kind, even if they're not fully aware of what it might be. Even you have a talent. Maybe you have a talent for reading people, for understanding them. Maybe you have a talent for making people laugh, or you can inspire them to do great things. Maybe you have some psychic ability that you use to help others with.

Whatever your talent is, it often has something to do with helping others.

So what's your talent? I'd be interested in knowing.

Update on work

2006-09-16T17:51:00.000+12:00

It turns out that my application for the Solutions Design Specialist role at work was the ONLY application received, even though it was advertised both internally and externally.

Seems like an interesting sign to me... to be the ONLY applicant for a role that I would love to have, and which would be ideal for me.

I'll continue providing updates as more becomes known.

Anniversary of 9/11

2006-09-11T08:30:00.000+12:00

Regardless of my political thoughts on the matter, 9/11 was a tragedy. On this 5th anniversary of the event, I refer back to a post I made at the time (quoted below). As we all remember and send our prayers to all those who were affected one way or another, my own memories return to the day. I'll talk more about it below the quote from the day it happened.

(Please note that for us in New Zealand, it happened on 9/12, as we're about 17 hours ahead of the US. And today, which is 9/11 in NZ, is still only 9/10 in the US. Damn timezones...)

Along with America and the rest of the world, I'm in shock, and have been for the entire day. What a sad and horrifying day this been...

Terrorists have co-ordinated the hijacking of 4 planes and have destroyed the World Trade Centre in New York, along with a plane impacting into the Pentagon. Another plane was possibly aimed at Camp David, but crashed before it reached there. Thousands of people dead.

I've never been as shocked about something as I have been about this. It's like a heavy feeling in my stomach, and I've been in a dazed mood all day.

My condolences and sympathy to the people over there in New York and Washington.

My memory of that day was that there were a lot of people who didn't have perspective. I was working as a helpdesk analyst, and while the TV was going in the background so we could all keep up to date with events, I was taking phone calls from people who had computer or software problems. The common theme of helpdesks is:

"My computer doesn't work! My software has an error! It's urgent! You've got to fix it now!"

But when these people are calling you and talking about how their lives are going to hell because Word crashed on them and they lost an hour's worth of documentation that they were too stupid to save, and they're demanding you get it back for them.... or their computer doesn't work because they're too stupid to to realise they've accidentally nudged the cable out, and instead of wanting to follow your instructions to plug it back in, they demand that you send an engineer around to fix their computer because they need it working urgently....

I had a hard time keeping my cool. As I'm watching people jumping out of the burning WTC buildings and falling hundreds of feet to their deaths, I was disgusted with these idiots who call the helpdesk because they can't handle their own stupid mistakes. Their own petty lives and small brains and self-centred attitudes....

"Get some perspective!" I wanted to scream at them. "People are dying by the thousands in New York, and you're fucking crying about a crashed Word program!"

That's what I wanted to scream at them. But instead, I helped them with their problem, while watching the tragedy on TV... all the while hating these self-centred retards that I was employed to help. People who can't help themselves, and cry to others when they need help. They disgusted me.

That's my memory of today, five years ago.

Solutions Design Specialist

2006-09-07T19:42:00.000+12:00

Working across telecommunications and IT, it will be your responsibility to design and develop ground breaking managed service solutions for a number of large corporate clients.

Does that sound interesting to you? Well, it does to me... I found out today from a colleague that the role is available. They thought I'd be great for it, and wanted me to submit my CV. I did some research, thought about it, and decided that I will. I'll do that tomorrow.

Throw the cards, let them fall where they may, and we'll see what happens as a result.

I love designing solutions and then handing them over to others to make the solution work. I'm good at it too, but I haven't had a chance to throw myself into it. This might be a good opportunity that'll lead me in a new direction.

I'm depressed

2006-09-05T20:27:00.000+12:00

(Something I wrote on 4th November 2004, which I thought I'd repost...)

I'm depressed that George Bush won the US election.

I'm depressed that he won not only the popular vote, but also the electoral vote.

I'm depressed that the people of America, in their stupidity and ignorance, voted for a man who says they'll be safer with him.

I'm depressed that they were safe until he came into power. All the problems of American 'internal security' began with him.

I'm depressed that the Republicans now control the Senate, the House, and the Presidency, because now they don't need to appease the Democracts - they can simply do what they like.

I'm depressed that the past 4 years of lies, manipulation, death and destruction are only going to get worse.

I'm depressed that the majority of Americans have proved to the entire world how stupid they are. (Unfortunately, Bush got all the southern and central states, where all the redneck loonies are. They're the ones who are pro-religious, pro-war, and anti-same sex relationships. They're living in the past, rather than wanting to move into the future.)

I'm depressed that Democracy has died in favour of the stupid who support the loss of their freedom.

This is what right-wing is about - the weak and stupid following the idiots who take away their freedom.

This bullshit about how the world is a dangerous place is fear-mongering. It wasn't dangerous until Bush started making it dangerous. And now it's dangerous only for those who support America.

Terrorism as we know it began many years ago, as a means of combating unwanted American intervention in various countries. The people who resented unjust American influence are the ones who became America's terrorists, but freedom fighters within their country. They fight for the freedom of their country against the oppression of America.

The more America stuck its nose in, the more these people felt they had to fight. If America withdrew, and just let these people deal with their problems themselves, with guidance instead of oppression, then there wouldn't be terrorist actions against Americans.

It's really quite simple, but rednecks and liberals just don't get it.

I'm depressed because we have at least another 4 years of seeing the world become even more dangerous.

A friend of mine recently suggested to me that they don't care what America does, because it doesn't affect them. I asked them how much they pay for their petrol these days. I asked them what considerations do they place on travel these days. I asked them if it really is true that what America does doesn't affect them.

It affects all of us, and it's not positive.

I'm depressed because I see a shitstorm coming, and it's a shitstorm that the right wing 'death beasts', as they like to call themselves (eg. pro death?), support. In their attempt to give control over their lives to idiots like Bush, they support even more reductions in freedom.

We are free only when we can do what we want to do, as long as what we do does not harm ourselves or anyone else.

Their idea of freedom is to live in a small metal box that someone has told them is a good idea, to protect themselves from something that someone has said endangers them, but because they're told that they are free inside this box, they're happy.

They're idiots, and weak. I feel sorry for them, because they live in a world of self-delusion and ignorance.

I'm depressed because the world has become a little darker.

Who really controls America?

2006-09-05T11:26:00.000+12:00

George Carlin knows who...

The wise man

2006-09-02T16:08:00.000+12:00

People climb great mountains and go to great lengths to visit the wise man, so that he can help them with his amazing advice. He either points out to them something they already knew, or tells them that they already know the answer, and they go away marvelling at how wise he is.

The truth of the matter is that the wise man lives a life of common sense and perceptive simplicity, whereas most people live a life of denial, pretending that the truth is something they can ignore, while they get on with a life of illusion, hoping that eventually their lives will get better without them actually doing anything.

Unfortunately, not only are all the answers to our questions already known by people, but they also have to be acted upon by them for those answers to be of value.

What's the point of having the answer if you never use it in your life?

Articles are back to normal

2006-08-30T19:29:00.000+12:00

I decided that I wasn't able to sustain the conversational style of writing I was doing before. Trying to get a point across within a written conversation, while creative and interesting, made the articles far too long. I've gone back to the normal article style of writing, as it's more succinct and to the point. Much better when you're trying to grab someone's attention and they might not have enough time.

Heal yourself first

2006-08-30T18:38:00.000+12:00

If you think that life is a result of your thoughts manifesting into reality in order to help you grow spiritually, then this article is for you.

With your thoughts creating your reality, it's easy for you to think that what you want can be created, which is what the Law of Attraction is all about. You attract to yourself those things which are most on your mind, and thus create them from your mind.

This all happens inadvertently, and works on the principle of 'like attracts like' and, if we go a bit deeper, into the very fabric of reality itself.

We exist as energy in a universe of energy. That's a scientific fact, if you need one. It's indisputable. Everything is connected, and everything has an effect on everything else. As you move around your world, your influence causes a change on it; on the environment, the people around you, the events that you're part of. Everything changes because of you.

On a deeper level, changes occur not just because of your thoughts and your actions, but also your feelings. Have you noticed when you're angry about something, things happen that just make you more angry? When you're having a bad day, more things happen to make it even worse? And when you're having a good day, nothing can go wrong.

This is because your reality is also influenced by your feelings, not just your thoughts.

And your feelings can go pretty deep, along with the reasons for those feelings. There can be so much hurt and anger and sadness inside of you, all of it going back to some past event that you haven't resolved for yourself.

These feelings are part of your reality too! And by being part of your reality inside of you, they're manifest into your reality outside of you too. What is inside, is outside.

Anger, hurt, sadness... Any emotion you have inside of you is going to be manifested in the people around you. Many of the people that come into your life will have the same emotions as you, reflecting back to you what is inside of you.

In fact, you could quite easily work out what kinds of unresolved emotions and issues you have simply by looking at the people around you. They're reflecting you, in all your glory.

The feelings that they bring out in you are feelings that are yours. Not theirs. It's unwise of you to say something like, "I hate them because they do something I would never do!"

All that says is that you hate yourself because you actually do the same thing. What you hate in others is also what you hate in yourself, but you just don't acknowledge it!

And it's because the emotion is unacknowledged that it has to manifest outside of you, to make you aware of it. It needs acknowledgement before it can be healed, and so it needs to make you aware of it.

The funny thing is, the more you refuse to acknowledge that emotion within you, the more you'll see it manifesting in your life.

Here's an example...

I really despise how George Bush does things. I despise how his arrogance and ignorance have created a situation that has affected the entire world, plunging it into knee-jerk reactions based on fear. Not only is the world reflecting Bush's fears back to him, but Bush is reflecting to me my own frustrations with arrogance and ignorance inside of myself.

I don't like being arrogant and ignorant, and yet I see those qualities in me. When I see someone with the same qualities, it makes me very angry about how arrogant and ignorant they are. The problem is, all I'm really seeing are reflections of me!

In order for me to get past my own arrogance and ignorance, I need to become consciously aware of it. I need to acknowledge it. I need to apologise to myself for ignoring that part of me, and tell myself that I love me.

"I'm sorry, I love you."

That's what I need to say. That's what YOU need to say to all those emotions inside of you which are crying out for acknowledgement by manifesting themselves into the world around you.

And here's an interesting little side effect.

When you can heal the problem within you, then the manifesting of it will fade away. When you can heal your unresolved emotional issues, the triggers for those emotional issues will no longer be there.

When I can heal my own arrogance and ignorance, for example, then George Bush will cease to be the cause of such frustration in my life. In fact, George Bush himself will be healed of his own arrogance and ignorance, simply by not needing to manifest it for me any more!

At least, that's the way it'll seem in my reality. And you never know, it just might be the same in your reality.

So in order to heal those people around you, you need to heal yourself first by seeing them as manifestations of your own inner illness.

If someone you know is suffering from something, then it's the manifestation into your reality of something that you're suffering from.

Take cancer, for example. If you are close to someone who has cancer and is dying, you have the opportunity to heal them by recognising that there's something going on inside of you that's eating you up inside. By healing yourself, you have the power to heal others.

Try it, it does work. There are people who already make it work for themselves. You can too.

The new war that can't be won

2006-08-30T08:58:00.000+12:00

A very interesting article. You should read it.

So it turns out that Arabs—or more broadly Muslims—can fight after all.

We may surmise that they now realize that fighting effectively requires that they do so on their own terms rather than mimicking the West. They don’t need and don’t want tanks and fighter-bombers. What many Westerners dismiss as “terrorism,” whether directed against Israelis, Americans, or others in the West, ought to be seen as a panoply of techniques employed to undercut the apparent advantages of high-tech conventional forces. The methods employed do include terrorism—violence targeting civilians for purposes of intimidation—but they also incorporate propaganda, subversion, popular agitation, economic warfare, and hit-and-run attacks on regular forces, either to induce an overreaction or to wear them down. The common theme of those techniques, none of which are new, is this: avoid the enemy’s strengths; exploit enemy vulnerabilities.

Being sick sucks

2006-08-27T22:30:00.000+12:00

Since Wednesday last week, I've been sick as a dog, and have been off work since then. First I came down with flu symptoms, with everything aching, fever, chills... That went away by Thursday night, but that day I got a very sore throat. So sore it was actually painful to swallow, and my face was almost going into contortions with the effort to get food past the throat. Then the coughing started yesterday, around the same time that the soreness started to fade away a bit. I could swallow again without too much of a problem! Yay! But the coughing...

The coughing got worse today, and the painfully sore throat came back again late this afternoon. Along with the earache. By mid evening the earache was excruciating. It was obvious that my throat and sinuses were under a vicious assault by bacterial forces, and I was suffering dearly for it.

Deidre has just been awesome throughout. She's been there, looking after me, providing me with everything I could want and more, and being the nurse and loving partner that someone as sick as me needs right now. It's been so awesome to have someone looking after me who loves me so dearly, that I just can't describe what that means to me. Words aren't enough.

She came into the bedroom tonight and saw me holding my ear, which I was doing because it was so painful. The warmth of my hand seemed to be a little soothing, so she got a hot cloth for me to hold against it instead. That was nice. But then we decided that since things were so bad, and tomorrow I had to go back to work again, that it was time to go to the doctor. I agreed.

I don't like going to doctors unless I'm either disabled (like when I got a collapsed disc 13 years ago, and when my hip was somehow displaced 7 years ago) or having my life threatened by something (like when I got bitten by a white tailed spider about 2 and a half years ago). Those 3 times are the only times I've ever been to a doctor in at least the past 13 years. Anything outside of those conditions are something I've dealt with. Most flu and cold symptoms are over within 2-4 days at the most. This time, after 4 days, it seemed to be getting worse. I acknowledged I needed to go to the doctor.

So we went to an after hours surgery at 9pm. Thankfully no-one else was there, so we got into the doctor's straight away. I explained to him my symptoms over the past 4 days. He stuck a thermometer in my mouth while having a look in my ears and listening to my breathing. Then he had a look in my throat. This is where it got horrible.

I've got a horrible infection in the right ear, with lots of pus there. No wonder the damn thing is so sore and blocked. And then there's a lot of horrible pus stuff on my tonsils, in the back of my throat. I've got tonsilitis, he said.

I've never had tonsilitis before. I know people have that operated on, and get their tonsils removed, but I also know that only happens if they keep coming down with it. This is my first time, and I hope that it's not a repeat occurrence....

So now I'm off work until Thursday. A whole week off. That'd almost be YAY-worthy, but it's not very appealing to be stuck in bed for so long. I've already been here in bed for 4 days, taking it easy, and now I've got another 3 days of it to look forward to. Not.

But oh well, it's good to now have some antibiotic treatment for what I've got, which will hopefully get rid of this thing very soon.

My apologies for not having written so much. I haven't been much in the mood for it. What do you write about when you're stuck in bed feeling horrible? Nothing came to mind. So I played Eve Online instead. Building my corporation in the game, setting up a new website / forum for it, and just generally wasting time playing a game. Well, some people read books or sleep... I play games.

I'm sure I'll be back to normal over the next few days. There's some articles waiting to be written. :-)

No more anonymous users

2006-08-16T11:57:00.000+12:00

Apologies to those that will be inconvenienced by this, but I've had a few abusive comments from anonymous users which I've deleted. As a result, I've decided to cancel the anonymous comment function. Anyone who wants to comment and isn't already a blogger member will have to sign up for a blogger account and use that. Anyone that wants to leave an anonymous and/or abusive comment aren't likely to go to this effort, and will decide not to bother. It's quick and easy, though, and you can use it to log in and comment in future.

Thanks for your understanding.

Geisha's collar

2006-08-15T10:47:00.000+12:00

Last week we took Geisha in to the vet to get speyed. She wasn't happy, as you'd expect! Because she's such a manic kitten, hyperactive in a big way, she even surprised the vet. She'd just woken up from the op and was already trying to run around, even while groggy. We put her in her cat cage to take home and she was chewing at the cage door to try and get out. As a result, the vet suspected we might need a collar to prevent her from licking the surgery wound and removing the stitches. The vet was right.

As of this writing, the collar has come off and she's settled in to the idea of having stitches. It was touch and go for a while though, 'cause she managed to find a way to twist herself around so that she could still tug at the stitches even with the collar! We had to try and squirt her with the spray bottle of water every time she did this, but after a while she just ignored the spray and continued.

The collar had to be removed before it was time, because she was literally scratching holes in her neck to try and get it off. All her fur was gone at the scratch points.

Why did we have to get the craziest kitten in the city?

More on connecting the dots

2006-08-13T16:32:00.000+12:00

"I don't really understand what you meant with that commentary you wrote, where you were talking about the dots." Jake was scratching his head, looking at Alan's blog on the computer screen.

"What don't you understand about it?" Alan asked, putting his drink down.

"You're obviously referring to... what is it, psyops?" Alan nodded, and Jake continued. "So how can there be these psyops when it's obvious that the terrorists were engaging in a plot to down those planes? How do you connect the dots to find evidence of psyops?"

"Well, you need to look at the overall picture of what's going on around the world," Alan replied.

"So what picture are you presenting here? I'm not really seeing it."

"Ok, you know that there's a lot of political backlash around the world with Israel's actions against Lebanon, right?"

"Yeh, heaps."

"Israel doesn't want to stop fighting the Hezbollah, because that would show weakness. They're after a decisive victory. They can't afford to stop, or seek peace. They need to win, there are no other choices. But the rest of the world wants them to stop."

"That's right," Jake said. "Well, everyone except America...."

"Exactly," Alan smiled. "America supports Israel's actions, firstly because Israel is a major US ally, and secondly, the Israeli's are fighting in the 'war on terror'. America has to continue supporting Israel's actions, even against world opinion. So when America's citizens start protesting about Israel's actions and demanding that their government put a stop to it, then they need to be distracted from the Middle East, which eases the pressure on Israel and the demands for the Bush government to do something about it."

"So what you're saying is that all that political crap about Lieberman and Lamont is a distraction?"

"Think about it," Alan said to Jake while nodding his agreement. "There's a major crisis in the Middle East that the American people want resolved, and so the Bush government starts talking about how voting for peace is actually voting in favour of terrorism. As a result, the American people's attention is distracted from the Middle East and more focused on their own internal politics."

"When was wanting peace something that favoured terrorism?" Jake asked, frowning.

"When the Bush administration wants to divert attention from peace," Alan explained. "Not only do they create division within internal politics, they raise the terrorist threat alert as a result of the UK."

"Ok, so how is the UK terrorist threat part of psyops?"

"Well, don't you find it interesting that it happened at the same time as both Blair and Bush are facing challenges to their leadership?"

"Not really," Jake said, disagreeing. "I mean, it's a war after all, and acts of war happen all the time."

"Sure, but this isn't a war about gaining ground, like we've been used to in previous wars. Battles in this war aren't about territory. This is a psychological war, with the objectives being whose ideology is better."

"Ideology?"

"Let's look at it this way," Alan said. "According to Bush, the terrorists want to destroy freedom. That's fighting for an ideology."

"You said 'according to Bush'... you think the terrorists want something different?"

"Sure. The terrorists are fighting for their own freedom from America's oppression."

Jake frowned. "But how is America oppressing the terrorists? That doesn't make any sense."

"America isn't oppressing the terrorists... it's oppressing people of foreign nations through subversive influence, or actual invasions like Iraq, or supporting abusive nations like Israel. The people who are being affected by America's actions believe they're fighting for their freedom. They call themselves freedom fighters, while the oppressors call them terrorists - just like the English in the 1700's called the Americans' fight for independence acts of terrorism."

"So everyone is fighting for freedom then?"

"Well, that's one way of looking at it, but another way is to ask yourself this - if the terrorists are fighting for their freedom from American oppression, then what's America really fighting for?"

Jake thought for a few moments. "Well, if the terrorists are fighting for their freedom because of US influence in their countries, then I guess that means America is fighting to continue that oppression?"

Alan nodded. "When you have a government that's fighting to continue oppressing others, then it needs to engage in psychological warfare to convince its citizens that the fight is a good fight. It needs to convince them that any attempt at peace is an attempt at helping the terrorists win. It's not after peace, it's after continued oppression. It needs to create an environment of fear that forces its citizens to continue supporting war and violence."

"So how to you pick up on psychological operations? How do you know the difference between them and the real thing?"

"Think about the UK terrorist plot," Alan said. "There's no evidence whatsoever about anything real. It's all conjecture." Alan moved over to his computer and brought up the BBC website on it. "Have a look at this," he said, and Jake came over to look.

"Notice the wording? Here, let me point out a few things to you..."

It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices...
Police are searching premises...
'He said they were "confident"...
...the plot was thought to have involved a series of waves of simultaneous attacks...
...the alleged plotters had intended "mass murder on an unimaginable scale".
"We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction..."
"We believe that the terrorists' aim was to smuggle explosives on to aeroplanes..."
...police sources had told him they had found "interesting items" which were being examined.

"Look at all the words they use that inspire fear and paranoia. That article was 3 days ago. If we look at one from today, we find this..."

Those held are suspected of involvement in a plot to blow up airliners travelling from the UK to the US, possibly using liquid explosives hidden in hand luggage.

"Do you see what I'm seeing?"

"Well... I'm not really sure...." Jake was scratching his head again, and Alan sighed.

"They've got no evidence! All they're doing is talking about suspicions, beliefs, possibilities... and what's this crap about 'interesting item's!" Alan was obviously frustrated. "They're using words that elicit an emotional response - fear."

"Hmmm...." Jake wasn't convinced.

"Look, don't you think that if they found anything substantial, or even had anything to go on, that the wording would be different? Instead of 'interesting items' they'd be talking about the liquid explosives they found. Instead of talking about how the plot was thought to be this, that or the other, they'd actually know what it was? What the hell are they doing arresting people on suspicions? They either arrest them because of knowledge and evidence, or it's all bullshit."

"Oh, so you're saying they arrested people only on suspicion, and that the whole terrorist plot is a fabrication?"

"By jove, I think he gets it," Alan said, sitting back and smiling. "Anything that talks in loose terms that inspire emotional reactions is evidence more of a psyop than anything else. Over the next week, we'll find that there was no actual threat. Half the arrested people will be released, while investigations 'continue' into the remainder of the 'suspicious people'. Eventually all memory will be forgotten of this non-event, but the ongoing effects of it won't. As a result of this non-event, there's increased security, increased loss of freedom, and a greater demand from all those frightened people to have their liberties taken away from them. What better way to create a fascist dictatorship than to have the people so frightened that they actually ask for it?"

"Is that what you think this is?" Jake asked.

"The more these non-events occur, the more the people will demand extra restrictions on their own freedom. It's actually in the terrorists interests, in this war of ideas, not to do anything! If they don't do anything, they win."

"How does that work?" Jake was scratching his head again, confused.

"The people want peace. They want America to withdraw from the areas of conflict and to seek peace. It's in the terrorists interests to encourage the withdrawal of American and allied forces from the areas they're fighting for. So when the people want peace and military withdrawal, that's in alignment with the goals of the terrorists. Why would those terrorists then want to damage their potential victory by engaging in further acts of terrorism? It's only self-defeating."

"But doesn't that mean that the Bush administration is right when they say that supporting peace is supporting the terrorists?"

"You could certainly twist it that way," Alan admitted, "And that's exactly how it's being twisted. But in reality, supporting peace under these circumstances is about ending American occupation and influence in foreign countries. It's about giving those countries the right to determine their own future, and determine their own way of doing things, without such destructive US influence. It's about recognising the rights of all humans, not just American rights to continue oppressing others. You just can't win a war against an idea. All you can do is respect that idea's right to exist and evolve or collapse of its own accord. The more you fight the idea of 'freedom fighting', the more you'll inspire more people to take up the fight for their freedom."

"So if the terrorists are fighting a war of ideas, and that in order to win they have to get the support of the American people, then that would mean engaging in further acts of terrorism is against their interests?" Alan nodded, and Jake continued. "So... are you saying that continued acts of terrorism - or news about possible terrorism - are actually psychological operations by the US military to justify their continued war on terror?"

Alan leant back in his chair and smiled. "You just need to connect the dots..."

Think about the dots

2006-08-11T13:48:00.000+12:00

Do you remember playing 'join the dots' when you were a kid? You got a whole bunch of dots and then drew lines between them, resulting in a picture forming. The dots are all over the place, and don't mean anything - until you connect them.

Here's a few dots for you to consider.

Joe Lieberman, a Democrat Senator who has been a vocal supporter of George Bush and the 'war on terror', lost a Democratic primary election to Ned Lamont, another Democrat. This is a major blow against the Bush Administration, losing a supporter of their policies.
The UK arrests a number of people allegedly involved in a terrorist plot to down some planes.
Lieberman uses the story to attack Ned Lamont, saying that Lamont's goals for ending the war in Iraq would constitute a 'victory' for terrorists.
Terrorist alerts are raised to maximum level in both the UK and the US.

Meanwhile, over in the Middle East where the real shit is hitting the fan, we have these other dots.

Israel has succeeded in cutting off Southern Lebanon from Beirut. All roads and bridges have been made impassable. All travel in and out of southern Lebanon has been cut. All life-supporting infrastructure in and to southern Lebanon has been destroyed. The Israelis can get there, but no one else can. There's nowhere for the Lebanese to go. Attacks are being conducted against them and they can't flee. There's no infrastructure left to preserve life. No electricity, no fuel, no life and rescue services. Thousands are going to die from Israel's tactics.
What news of Gaza? No news. And yet Israeli attacks are still continuing. Napalm and other chemical weapons are being used by the Israelis, weapons that are banned under international law as 'weapons of mass destruction'.
The US continues to support Israel by providing fuel for their jets and ammo for their weapons.

But back in the 'real world' we have heightened terror alerts, which are just awesome in their ability to deflect attention from the Middle East.

The UK is talking about introducing security restrictions to prevent terrorist attacks, bringing them in line with the US Patriot Act. 'In order to preserve our freedom, we have to give it up to protect ourselves'. How is that logical? 'In order to preserve our freedom we have to give up our freedom.' Freedom can only be preserved by continuing to support freedom. All that's being supported is a lack of freedom. For everyone.

Isn't it interesting that there was more of a threat from the IRA over the past 20 or so years, than there has been from these new terrorists. And yet, suddenly, the new war on terror means everyone has to give up their freedom in order to... preserve their freedom?

Blair and Bush are fascists who are leading manipulative events to create such incredible fear in their people that those people will agree to anything to 'protect themselves', including such protection as self-imprisonment through agreeing to such heavy security measures.

Look at the dots, and see for yourselves the manipulation of events that are occurring. Distracting people's attention from the real issues, in order to raise their fear about 'what might happen', is a psyop strategy to increase the power and control of the leaders.

Psychological Operations (PSYOP [US] or PSYOPS [UK, GE, NATO]) are planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to specific foreign and (in certain countries) domestic audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of governments, organizations, groups, and individuals. Sometimes combined with black operations or false flag tactics, the purpose of psychological operations is to induce or reinforce attitudes and behaviors favorable to the originator's objectives. As such, there must always be sufficient truth to be credible.

This concept has been used by military institutions throughout history, but it is only since the twentieth century that it has been accorded the organizational and professional status it enjoys now.

Don't let yourself be a victim to psyop manipulation. Look for the dots and find the picture that's hidden.

Anndion Lodge, Wanganui

2006-08-09T14:51:00.000+12:00

When we went to Wanganui, we stayed at this very cool backpackers - the Anndion Lodge, run by... Ann and Dion. :-)

They don't make them like they used to, that's for sure. And it's great that they don't! Backpackers used to be almost run-down, with the only available beds being in dormitories, sharing with everyone else. Now, some of them are actually better than hotels, with some awesome features being available, and being able to share it with pleasant company.

We loved it so much, I had to do a bit of a write-up about it. The room was a huge, with a King size bed, cupboards, and a huge ensuite bathroom which could fit two people in the shower, quite easily... ;-)

The lounge room was extensive, split into two sections, with a full entertainment system as well as a pool table. If you put a video or DVD in, you could actually watch it from your bedroom on the tv in there, while anyone in the lounge room could watch TV or the same video/DVD.

As you can see, behind the second part of the lounge room, a hallway stretches away with lots of rooms off it. Our room was off behind another section, the dining room....

And then there was the kitchen, which was just HUUUGE! Everything that you could possibly want, was supplied. Not just the kitchen, but pretty much in every room of the place.

The kitchen had all the kitchen equipment and utensils you could need, along with dishwasher, fridge and freezer. The lounge room had the entertainment system as well as videos and DVDs, while the bedrooms (ours, at least) had full bedding supplied, TV, hairdryer for the ladies, mirrors, and the bathroom/s have showering supplies as well.

If you're after a stay in Wanganui, I recommend you look 'em up. I've linked to their website at the top of this post. :-)

7 August - Wanganui

2006-08-09T14:28:00.000+12:00

I decided to do the photos the 'normal way'. Even though the previous post presented the photos in a way that's 'agreeable', I don't like the fact that viewing the photos actually takes you away from this blog. So I'll continue with how I've been doing them in the past. I'll leave the previous entry there, but show the photos here as normal. :-)

We went for a walk along the river bank...

Then we climbed a 176-step water tower / lookout to see the view of Wanganui and take some photos...

This was the inside of the 176-step tower we climbed up to take the previous photos. Going down was so much easier than going up...

These two photos show part of the main street of Wanganui...

Some snow-covered mountains we saw on our wilderness drive...

A bridge over troubled waters... signs of recent flooding. As we left the place the next day, after torrential rains, I'm sure the water was back up to the top of the debris you can see in the photo...

Photos - Wanganui, day one

2006-08-07T18:15:00.000+12:00

I'm trying a new way of showing photo albums... I use Picasa to work with my photos, and there's a new version that's come out recently that allows you to work with Picasa Web Albums. Part of the web album allows you to share it on your blog, which is what I'm doing now. Could you please let me know if you like this new style of slideshow, instead of all of them on the same page. If feedback is good, I'll keep doing it, otherwise, I'll go back to having them all showing, underneath each other down the page.

Wanganui Day 1

Aug 6, 2006 - 11 Photos

Unfortunately, I only found out about the smudge on the camera lens AFTER I'd uploaded the photos to the laptop at the end of the day. Sorry about that.

In order, the photos show some of the backpackers that we're staying at. It's REALLY HUGE, and really awesome (!), and the photos don't do it justice. I'll do some more later and show them in the next blog entry.

We went for a walk along the river that the backpackers is in front of, until we got to the bridge, and then we came back again. Then we went for a walk through the city centre, followed by a drive to a lookout and climbed 176 steps up inside an old water tower, to get to the top and take some photos of Wanganui and the river.

After that, we went for a drive around this Heritage Trail, which was supposed to take us only an hour. Well, that Heritage Trail can kiss my arse. Almost 3 hours later, we finally made our way back into civilisation. We found evidence of recent river flooding, and there were lots of slips all over the place. Luckily none of them were blocking the road. We tried passing a large truck, and the driver must've been bored 'cause he tried pushing us off the road. Seemed that way at least, when he came out into the middle of the road as we were passing him, and I had to go slightly off the road to continue unscathed. Arsehole.

And then the weather was just bucketing down with rain, which made the lonely road seem even lonelier. But we're back in the warm backpackers now, relaxing after a nice day.

More photos tomorrow... We're returning to Wellington tomorrow afternoon. It's been a nice mini-holiday so far. :-)

Going on a mini holiday

2006-08-06T10:43:00.000+12:00

Deidre and I are off on a small holiday today, coming back in 2 days time. I'll have details later, along with photos. :-)

When will the war on terror end?

2006-08-01T09:53:00.000+12:00

Jake turned away from the news on TV and said to Alan, "This war on terror they keep talking about. When do you think it'll end?"

"Not in our lifetime," Alan replied, looking up from the writing he was doing.

"Really? Why?"

"Think about it," Alan said. "Terrorism is a result of oppression, with displaced people feeling their only choice is to fight the oppressors. The oppressors call them terrorists, while the people those terrorists are fighting for call them freedom fighters. A few hundred years ago, the English used to call the Americans 'terrorists', while the Americans called themselves freedom fighters and patriots. They forget their own history, you see. They won independence by engaging in acts of terrorism against the occupying force - the English. Now, the more the Americans interfere in the destiny of another nation, whether through political or military means, the more the locals of those nations will resent their actions. The more people America kills in the fight against terrorism, the more people are going to rise up and fight the American oppressors."

"So that's why you think it'll never end, because as they kill terrorists, they're just helping create new terrorists?"

Alan nodded. "The more they kill, the more their families and their fellow countrymen will take up arms to avenge their deaths. Eventually you'll have the US fighting entire countries in their war on terrorism, as those countries take up arms to defend themselves. Look at Iraq. You have the Iraqi people themselves fighting the US, or helping their countrymen fight the US. There's so much anti-US hatred there, because of all those Iraqis that the US kills, abuses or tortures. It's not a fight against terrorism any more, it's a fight to suppress the entire country.

"Look at Israel and Lebanon. It's not a fight against the Hezbollah, it's an invasion and suppression of the Lebanese country. When it's the people of the country that are taking up terrorism to free themselves from oppression, then the only solution is to destroy the country. The war on terror is actually a war against every country that refuses to aid or support the US and its allies."

"Well, here in New Zealand, we don't aid or support the US...."

"Don't we? How much of our goods do we trade with the US? Sheep, and livestock, and even dairy products. We aid the US by helping to sustain them. They need us, just like we need them - that's how trade works. But if we decided to cut all trade in protest, and we decided to actively complain about their actions, even if we weren't actively supporting the 'terrorists', the US would claim we were. You remember the words of Bush: 'If you're not with us, then you're with them.' New Zealand becomes a terrorist-supporting country in the eyes of the US, and then we're considered terrorists ourselves if we support our government's stance. Terrorism is simply what those in control say it is, usually against those that resent the control of the oppressors."

"So the only solution really, for us, is to support the US and avoid supporting other terrorist-supporting countries?"

"That's not a solution," Alan replied. "That's hiding your head in the sand and hoping that 'the bad thing' doesn't see you. The only real solution is for the world to change its state of being into one of love, instead of fear and retaliation. But that's not going to happen." Alan smiled.

"Why not? Wasn't it Ghandi and Martin Luther King that started movements towards that end?"

"Sure, and they're dead - assassinated, even - and the world's worse off than it used to be. The world doesn't want peace and love. It wants violence and chaos. Most people exist in a state of fear, and all they want is to be protected from their fear. Fear breeds violence, and that's the way things are. The best we can do is seek peace in our own lives. There are countries in this world where peace exists. Those that want it will gravitate towards those countries. Those that don't, will gravitate towards war. It doesn't matter whether it's world war two or even three - somewhere, there will be a country untouched by war, and that's where the peaceful people will be."

"But every country is touched by war...."

"Sure, just like us. But are you engaging in violence? Is violence being perpetrated against you or someone you know, as a result of war?"

"Well, no..."

"Exactly. We are at peace, and that's the way I like it." Alan smiled.

"Back to the war on terror...."

Alan chuckled. "Sure. I think it'll never end, because terrorism and the fight against it only feeds itself. The more it's fought, the stronger it'll get. It can never end, UNLESS the US and its allies cease all foreign policy interventions, and foreign wars and occupations. And I think that's less likely than everyone in the world existing in a state of love. But all that matters to me is that I exist in a state of love towards those around me. We create peace individually, and we spread that peace to those we interact with, and that's how we have a peaceful life."

"But what about the snowball effect? The more people that practice peace, the more likely peace becomes?"

"This planet is a playground for us to experience all kinds of different games in," Alan said. "There is no experience that can't be had on this planet. Everything you can think of is here. It's simply a playground, and us children will play, and play all kinds of games. We're here because of what we can experience. We create it because we want to. It'll always be that way."

Jake nodded, thinking about that, and returned to watch the games on the news.

New writing style

2006-07-31T11:05:00.000+12:00

I'm practicing a new writing style - conversational. My opinions and any articles I want to write will now be presented in a conversational style, with a fictional person called Jake. Any feedback you have on what you think of this new style would be appreciated. Thanks.

How do you find what you love to do?

2006-07-30T22:44:00.000+12:00

"You know, you've been talking a lot about doing what you love doing, but what if someone doesn't know what they love doing? What do they do then?"

Alan looked at Jake for a few seconds, thinking about what the younger man had just asked him. "Yeh, that's a good question. If you've never really thought about it, I can see how it'd be a tough question to answer."

Jake nodded. "There's a saying that's often thrown around: 'If you didn't have to worry about money, what would you choose to do?' Once you've thought about that, you're supposed to go out and do it. It's all very well to say that, but those of us that have to think about that NEED to worry about money."

"I know," Alan replied. "It's because you DO need to worry about money that stops you from taking that giant leap of faith to do what you love."

"Exactly," Jake said.

Alan continued. "And because you're worrying about money so much, you've never got the time to even THINK about what you love doing, 'cause you're working too hard to make money!"

Jake smiled as Alan started getting excited about what he was saying. "Yeh, so... what's the solution?"

"Well, one of the important things you need to do," Alan said, "is find what you love doing that can actually make you money at the same time, so that you don't have to worry about it."

"You know that's easier said than done," Jake replied, frowning.

"I know," Alan said, smiling. "Most people are working their butts off doing stuff they hate doing. They're trapped, stuck in a job that's going nowhere, just to make ends meet. They're on this treadmill that has them working hard going nowhere and they're too afraid to jump off it, because at least it's giving them the money they need to stay afloat. How can they worry about doing what they love when all they see is the treadmill?"

He paused as he sat back, thinking about it. "I do know what you're saying. I think it was Thoreau who said, 'leading lives of quiet desperation'. I think it's really sad that they they're too afraid to do anything about it."

"Afraid?" Jake asked. "Of what?"

"Well, afraid of losing their income, for a start," Alan replied. "They've got a lifestyle to maintain, bills to pay, families to take care of. Imagine the problems they'd have if they lost their income! It's FEAR that stops people even considering doing what they love, including the fear of what other people might think of them for doing something that might be so crazy and foolhardy."

"So what do you think they need to do?" Jake asked.

"Well, the reasons they're not doing anything is because they don't know what they love doing, and they're afraid of doing anything in case it doesn't work out. The fear of failure, that the risk is not worth the reward, all of that. But if they can work out what they really love doing, then that's a good start to overcoming the fear. Fear of the unknown disappears when the unknown becomes the known."

Jake nodded, thinking about what Alan said. "But you still haven't said anything about how they can find what they love to do."

Chuckling, Alan nodded. "First, let me ask you something. Do you know what you love doing?"

"No, not really," Jake said.

"Do you want to know?"

"Of course I do! Why do you think I'm talking to you about it?"

"I'm only asking," Alan said, smiling. "There's no point in understanding how to do something if you're not actually going to do anything about it. You have to be prepared to actually get off your butt and do something, especially if you know what you need to do."

"And you know what we need to do?"

"Well, I think so, but I believe we already know what we need to do. We just don't do it. As someone once said to me, 'You might know what to do, but do you do what you know?' Most people don't do what they know. They get caught up in the act of procrastination due to fear, and then before they know it, life's over."

"Yeh, and that's what I don't want. I'm too young to waste my life being afraid of the unknown! I want to do what I love, but I haven't had the time to try and find out what it is I love."

"Well, that's where I disagree with you," Alan said. "We all have the time to do whatever we want, we just don't take the time to do what's really important for ourselves. We have time to watch tv, go to sporting events, read the paper, talk for hours on the phone, play games on our computers, go nightclubbing and getting drunk, and all kinds of other things. People are wasting their life doing things that don't matter!

"I really get frustrated seeing people wasting their lives doing things that aren't important. And I know I'm not that much different either, which also frustrates me. For me, I know what to do but I don't often do what I know. Not as much as I want to, at least. I want to do more of it."

"More of what?" Jake asked, still trying to get to the bottom of it all.

"More of spending time with myself," Alan replied. "I want to meditate more, think more, write more, focus more on myself and my life."

"And that's the secret to learning what you love doing?"

"Sort of. It's a start. Even though you need to spend more time with yourself, there's a strategy you need to apply to learn what you love doing."

"And that is?" Jake asked.

Alan got up from the couch and moved over to his desk, grabbing a notepad and a pen. He brought it back and, as he sat back down again, put the notepad on the coffee table between him and Jake. He then drew a line down the centre of the page, splitting it into two columns. At the top of the first column he wrote 'SKILLS', and at the top of the second column he wrote 'INTERESTS'. He turned it around and passed the pad and pen to Jake.

"Here you go," he said, explaining to Jake what was required. "In the skills column you write down all the skills you've got. I mean ALL of them. Go back to your childhood and include the skills you had then, and work your way through to the new skills you have today."

"But I know all of them," Jake said, interrupting. "They're in my head already, I know what my skills are."

"Sure, but there's a lot from our past that's stored away in the old filing cabinets of our mind," Alan explained, smiling at his analogy. "As you write things down, you're shuffling through those file cabinets, remembering the skills you used to have. It's amazing what you can dig up as you remember things that were forgotten 'cause they've been stored away for so long."

"What kind of skills should I write down?" Jake asked, thinking.

"Everything," Alan said loudly. "Everything you ever did! I don't care if it includes how good you were at blowing bubbles with your spit. You can include everything you did, like computing, biology, basketball, plays, football, magic tricks, anything. Don't stop with just your childhood though, I'm just suggesting where you can start. Move forward and write down all the skills that you've learned over the course of your life. Driving, handling money, using a rifle, fixing computers, making web pages, helping people with something, like being a teacher. You have to write down everything. All of the skills you've ever had and have today. Use up lots of pages if it takes that many. Include the skills gained from jobs over the years, anything."

"And I guess I do the same with interests?"

"That's right. Interests aren't necessarily skills, although skills often come from doing things we're interested in. Interests are those things you've been interested in, whether it's insects or spiders, sports, shoes, babysitting or kids in general, fishing, martial arts, movies, can openers."

"Can openers?" Jake asked, looking up from the notepad.

"Yeh, I knew someone once who collected can openers. That was something that interested them."

"Ok," Jake said, sounding dubious. "And what's the purpose of all this?"

"Well, believe it or not, doing this is spending time with yourself, and helping you find what you love doing. It's better to do it by yourself though, in a place that's quiet and where you won't be distracted." He got up and turned off his phone, ensuring they wouldn't be interrupted. "Whatever you love doing has to be leveraged from something that you're skilled at." Alan sat back, watching Jake start writing. "By writing down all your skills and your interests, you're not just remembering the things that you have skills and interests in - you're allowing yourself to see connections between them that you might never have seen before. You can see them on paper, and they can inspire new thoughts in you."

He thought for a moment, and then continued. "Also, when we're kids, we have great ideas about what we'd love to do when we grow up, but once we've grown up we forget what we wanted to do. The passion that existed in us when we were kids, when we didn't have any worries in the world, if we can remember some of that it can be a major influence at helping us work out what we want to do today."

"Ok, I get it," Jake said, beginning to get interested in what he was writing down. "Hey, can I have a drink?" he asked.

"Sure,"Alan said, standing up and heading to the kitchen. "Beer or juice?" he asked.

"Beer will do," Jake said, still writing. "Thanks," he said when the beer was put in front of him. He kept writing. Alan sat back, smiling, and looking out the window.

"Why don't people do this?" Jake asked after a few minutes. "It's pretty easy..."

"I know," Alan said. "They spend a lot of time doing their taxes, cooking, watching movies, reading, getting drunk.... but when it comes to their own personal future, they never have any time for that." He looked back from the window to Jake again. "Really, what's more important? TV or your future?"

"That's a stupid question," Jake replied, not looking up.

"Maybe you could explain why it's stupid to everyone that thinks it's more important to watch TV," Alan said.

"I get your point," Jake said, continuing his writing.

While Alan waited for Jake to finish, or at least pause, he sipped at the beer he'd gotten for himself. He was watching what Jake was doing, amusing himself by trying to read Jake's writing upside down. Deciding to do something productive, he went to his computer to do some writing of his own.

After a while Jake called out that he was finished. Alan was washing the dishes by this time, both of them having finished the dinner he'd ended up cooking.

"Ok, I've finished," Jake said. "Now what?"

"Now's the interesting part," Alan said, sitting back down again. "Now you have to ask yourself a very simple question. WHAT WOULD YOU LOVE TO DO ON A DAILY BASIS, USING BOTH YOUR SKILLS AND YOUR INTERESTS, THAT WILL PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT VALUE FOR POEPLE."

"Alright, no need to yell it," Jake complained, rubbing his ears.

"Sorry, I get excited about these things," Alan said, smiling. He went on to explain. "When you include the value part to the question, that'll inspire you to find a way to make money doing what you love."

"Hey, I think I get it!" Jake exclaimed, almost jumping up and down while seated on the couch. "When you think about how you can add value to people's lives with your skills and interests, you can discard all those skills and interests you've written down that don't add value!"

"That's right," Alan said, nodding. "You can do that. So you can probably cross out that you like watching tv and that you love video games... But that's just another step in the process. The next thing you have to do is get another bit of paper and write down some answers to that question."

"What was the question again?" Jake said, looking up. Alan sighed.

"Write it down, ok? So you don't forget it again - what would you love to do on a daily basis, using your skills and interests, that inspire you to find ways to make money doing what you love."

Jake nodded and grinned as he wrote it down, and then he started writing various thoughts that were coming to him.

"A lot of people think so much about how to make money," Alan continued,"they fail to realise that money is simply a side effect of adding value to people's lives in the form of a product or service. When you know how you can add value doing what you love to do, you'll know how to get money."

"What about if an answer is stupid?" Jake asked, looking at his list.

"It doesn't matter. The stupidest ideas could lead to the most amazing answers." Alan paused for a moment as he thought about something. "Which reminds me of a story I read some time ago. A town with a ski resort attracted a lot of tourists. But when it snowed a lot, the snow would collect on the power cables, until the weight collapsed the cables and resulted in several power outages. The tourists eventually stopped coming, so the town had a meeting to work out how to solve the problem. Solutions were thrown about for a while until someone yelled out, 'Let's hang pots of honey on the cables so that bears will climb up, and the movement will shake the snow loose.' Someone else thought that was stupid, as they wouldn't be able to refill the pots of honey. Someone else suggested using a helicopter to refill the honey pots, and then suddenly they realised that they could use the helicopter to blow the snow off the cables with its rotors...."

"So what you're saying," Jake said, "is that one stupid idea can lead to another stupid idea, which could lead to the answer you're actually looking for?"

"That's right, and you'd never get there if you never wrote down all those skills and interests to see where you can take advantage of what you know and love, to make money from it by adding value to other people."

"Gotcha," Jake said. "But how will I know which of my ideas is what I really love to do?"

"Good question. You have to feel it. When you look at it on paper, and when you feel what it would be like to be doing it, how does it feel? Does it feel good? Does it feel right to you? Would you be able to talk about it for ages, to anyone that might be interested - and even those that aren't? You have to have absolutely no reservations about it. You have to know that, against everything that seems logical, this is it."

He paused at that moment, because he could see that Jake was crying as he was looking at his list. He smiled and said, "And if you can cry about it, then you know you've found it."

He stood up and got some tissues for Jake, then waited for Jake to regain his composure.

"I'm looking at this," Jake said, pointing at his sheet of paper, his voice still a bit emotional, "and I can already see how I can make money from it. And it's something I'd just absolutely love to do, and I can't believe I never thought of it before!"

Alan nodded. "And if you want to find more ways of making money from it, just go through those steps again. Your skills and interests, then ask yourself the question of how you can use those skills and interests to provide value to others. The more you do it, the more you'll find."

Jake nodded, his eyes still a bit red. "This is pretty amazing stuff. I take it you've done it as well?"

Alan nodded. "I'm doing what I love to do - helping people grow, and think a bit more about themselves and their lives and how they can find ways of improving things for themselves. It's what drives me every day." He smiled at Jake. "I'm yet to make a lot of money from it, but I know this is just the beginning. Opportunities make their way to me, and the more I do what I love, the more it will reward me, in so many different ways."

Standing up, Jake went over to Alan, who stood up as well. Without saying anything, Jake hugged him, and silently they stood there, arms around each other as they shared Jake's special moment. It was moments like these, Alan thought, that made it worth so much more than money.

"Thank you," said Jake, stepping back.

"Don't thank me," Alan grinned. "Thank yourself. You found what you love to do. Now go out and do it."

Values in relationships

2006-07-25T14:24:00.000+12:00

Please visit this article's new location. Thank you.

10 reasons you should never have a job

2006-07-24T16:52:00.000+12:00

(You can download article as PDF by clicking here.)

When people reach adulthood, everyone and everything tells them they need to go out and get a job. Everyone else does it, so they should too. I guess if everyone else decided that jumping off a tall building was a good idea, there'd be a lot of people who'd follow them. But doing what everyone else does isn't always the best way of doing things. Here are some reasons why you should do things different to everyone else.

Slaves to money

The time you trade in order to receive money is crazy. You only get paid for the time you work. What about being paid for when you're not working? What about receiving an income when you're sleeping too? Most people think that's crazy, but if you can set something up that pays you for the time that you're living, isn't that much better? Your plants grow when you're not tending them, your bank account should do the same.

Many employers care more about how many hours you work than the kind of work you're doing. They don't care what you do, or even how you do it. As long as you're working the hours they demand of you, they're happy. They're paying you for your time, not for your work.

There are few employers who pay you for the work rather than the time, but if you're getting the results that they need for their goals to be realised, then they don't care if it only takes you an hour a day! But being paid for your work is the same as being paid for your time - if you stop giving your time or your work, you stop being paid.

Each of those types of jobs equate value with time. Whether it's 40 hours a week, or only 5 hours a week, the time you spend is being traded for money.

Some people build a system for themselves that generates money every hour of every day throughout every year. They're the smart ones! The ones that have worked out how to bring money into their lives without needing to trade time for it. The money they receive then helps them create more money, or goes towards the lifestyle of our dreams. They're living the dream! (I'm yet to achieve that, but I'm certainly working on it.)

Whether the system is a business selling goods or services, the concept is simple. Have something of value for people to buy, at any time of the day, anywhere in the world. And it has to be of value, otherwise people will not spend their money on it! Instead of trading time for money, you're trading value for money. Now, it might take time to build the value, but once you do, you can sit back and reap the benefits.

There are plenty of systems out there that have already been created by others, for you to take advantage of. Ad networks and affiliate programs are just a couple of examples. There are plenty of other examples in bookstores or libraries, with business ideas and plans. There's something there that you can do too, you just have to look for it. (A good way to start looking is to work out what you love doing, whether it's a hobby or an interest or a skill that can be of value to others in some way, and then you create a system where others can find and buy the results of what you've done.)
Limited experience

Many people get jobs to gain experience, and then use that experience to go on to other jobs. But really, the other jobs are the same as the first one... You gain experience from living, regardless of how you live and what you do. Jobs only give you experience at that job. If you did nothing for a few years, you could say you're an experienced philosopher, or even a politician...

If you want to get an appreciation of the value of experience, ask yourself if the experience you're gaining now will be worth anything in 20-30 years. Will the job even be around then?

Which experience do you really want to gain - the knowledge of how to do a specific job really well (trading time for money), or the knowledge of how to do enjoy financial abundance for the rest of your life without needing a job again? If you're like most people, you'd rather have the knowledge of how to enjoy financial abundance for the rest of your life. Now's the time to start finding that experience.
Lifelong domestication

Cats are domesticated. Getting a job is like being a good pet. Look around you at the world. Are you free? Are you able to do what you want, when you want, where you want? Or are you actually living in a cage that you call society or your country? How's your obedience training going? Does your master reward you for good behaviour, and do you get disciplined if you don't obey your master?

Is there any spark of free will inside of you, or has the conditioning you've grown up in made you a pet for life? The question is, are you a pet, or a human being? Human beings were not meant to be raised in cages, and yet that's exactly what you exist in, a cage that keeps you restrained and controlled.
Too many mouths to feed

Income tax. You know all about it, I'm sure. How much are you taxed on your income? Probably quite a lot. Americans, for example, have about half their income taxed. Your employer pays tax on your behalf, which is considered to be part of your income, along with any bonuses and benefits. However, everything that is paid to you or for your requires you to be paying for it with your effort. Another part of your income goes to owners and investors. In total, that's a lot of mouths you're feeding.

You only end up being paid a fraction of the real value you generate, with your real income possibly being triple what you're actually paid. Your money, that you never see, goes straight into other people's pockets. Don't worry about donating your money... you're already doing it!
Way too risky

Many people think that having a job is the safest and most secure way of supporting themselves. A 'guaranteed income', is what they call it.

Social conditioning does some amazing things, like getting people to believe the complete opposite of what's true.

When you have a job, you are at someone else's mercy. Your boss decides whether or not you can continue working for them, and as long as you cater to their needs, you can guarantee your income. But what if their needs change and they forgot to tell you? What if your own needs change, and they don't like it? How safe and secure is your income when someone else is in control of it? Not to mention the issues of slavery that we've already discussed...

Two words is all it takes to shatter your world. "You're fired." That's all it takes to take away your income. Not very safe and secure, is it.

Is one income source honestly safer and more secure than 10 income sources?
Having an evil master

When you run into an idiot entrepreneur, you can turn around and go the other way. When you run into an idiot in the corporate world, you have to turn around and say, "Sorry boss."

The word boss comes from baas, a Dutch word which means master. In many video games the boss is the evil guy that you have to kill at the end of a level. So if your boss is really your evil master, then what does that make you?
Begging for money

When you want to get a pay rise, you usually have to sit up and beg your master for more money. You have to justify a pay rise to them, prove to them what a good little dog you are. Does it feel good to be thrown a few extra snacks for being a good dog?

Or are you free to decide how much you get paid without needing someone else's permission?
An inbred social life

Many people have their only social activities through their jobs. They hang out with the same people they work with. These relationships go nowhere. They talk about work during the day, and then they talk about work during social occasions too... What would it be like for them to go outside and talk to some strangers? Much safer to stay inside...

if one of your fellow slaves is sold to another master, do you lose a friend or simply a fellow slave? Why not decide for yourself whom to socialise with, rather than having your master decide for you? There are actually places on this planet where free people get together. I kid you not.
Loss of freedom

It takes a lot of time and effort to tame a human into an employee. The human's free will has to be broken. One of the easiest ways to do this is give the employee a large policy manual with all the idiotic rules and regulations that most corporations have. That'll do it every time. It leads to the new employee becoming more obedient, fearing that they could be disciplined at any time for something completely incomprehensible. The employee will often conclude it's safer to simply obey the master's commands without question.

As part of their obedience training, new employees are taught how to dress, walk, talk and so on. Employees can't very well think for themselves, can they? That would ruin the master's image. Never put a plant on the desk, as that's against company policy. And if someone finds you DO have a plant on your desk, oh no! It's the end of the world as they go tell someone that you're not complying with company policy.

Free human beings think stupid rules and regulations are... stupid. The only policy they need is: "Do whatever makes you happy, as long as no one is hurt."
Become a coward

Have you noticed that people with jobs always whinge about the problems at their company? However, they don't want solutions, they just want to complain about why it's someone else's problem. It's as if getting a job turns them into spineless cowards who have all their free will completely drained from them. If you can't call your boss a jerk now and then without getting fired, then you're not free. You've become your master's property.

When you work with cowards, you eventually become like them. It's only a matter of time before you sacrifice your humanity on the altar of fear. Courage, then honesty, then honour and integrity, and finally your free will. You lose it all in favour of having a job, of being part of the work force, of fitting in with society.

You sold the essence of who you are for nothing but an illusion, and now your greatest fear is learning that everything you believed is wrong.

It's never too late to regain your courage.

Do you still want a job?

If you feel defensive about anything in the above list, don't get angry at me. Your feelings are related to your own situation. I'm just helping open your eyes to the truth! The truth is still the truth, whether it's me telling you, or someone else. If you're angry about anything, then you need to look at what is really making you feel that way. You have the power to change it. It might mean you have to quit your job, and do something that really benefits your life, and / or the lives of others. Whatever the case, your feelings of anger or defensiveness are signs that a nerve has been struck. You're unhappy about something, and this article has helped show you what you're unhappy about.

What's the alternative to getting a job?

The alternative is to create other means of income that allow you to avoid working in a job. Create something of value to others, and they will be happy to buy it at a fair price. Start your own business. Whatever you might do in a job, you could od in your own business, and you could do it better. You would be in control of what you do, how you do it, when you do it, and how much you earn from it. Make sure it provides value to others, so that they're eager to buy it from you. Your investment of time and energy is returned to you.

Everything you learn along the way can be shared with others to create even more value. Even your mistakes can be used to bring you money, if you can help others avoid the same mistakes.

Thanks to Steve Pavlina for providing the basis of this article, which I added my usual distinct flavour to. :-)

Donate if you have found value here

2006-07-22T16:54:00.000+12:00

If you feel that anything on this site has been of value to you and you'd like to leave a donation for me, please click on the button below. The amount you donate is entirely up to you.

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I spend a lot of time helping people by researching information on personal development and spirituality, and writing posts and articles that reflect what I've learnt and experienced. Everything I do is always with intention of serving the highest good. If you want to support me in my passion of helping people realise their own potential and overcome the barriers that prevent their growth, please make a donation. Any amount is appreciated.

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I'm getting married! Donations welcome

2006-07-22T15:51:00.000+12:00

As you may or may not know, I'm getting married late-ish next year. In order to help Deidre and I reach the amount of money we need to pay for this special occasion, we're doing a lot of saving, and working out how to improve our financial situation, and creating opportunities for extra money to come into our lives. This post is such an opportunity.

If you would like to help us by generously donating to our wedding fund, we would have some awesome appreciation towards your kind hearted nature. Please click on the button below and filll out the appropriate details. Even if you can only afford $1, every little bit helps us.

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Middle East - the war begins

2006-07-22T13:44:00.000+12:00

I get breaking intelligence reports relating to conflict around the world, via stratfor.com, most of which is very interesting. Not all of it is new though, or interesting enough for me to write about. The other times I did was when I was talking about the bird flu hoax and the Muslim crisis planned by the US. The latest report I got, just in the past hour or so, talks about the Middle East, but is the most recent of many.

The ground war has begun. Several Israeli brigades now appear to be operating between the Lebanese border and the Litani River. According to reports, Hezbollah forces are dispersed in multiple bunker complexes and are launching rockets from these and other locations.

It provides a very interesting analysis of events. Basically, Hezbollah have initiated this war at their own time and choosing, and dragged the Israelis into Hezbollah territory, both of which are strategically advantageous.

Israel is forced to end the threat to its cities by destroying Hezbollah's launch capabilities, destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure, and do these things in a way that avoids occupations. It has to do it quickly and decisively.

Unfortunately, its ability to do that is severely hampered by Hezbollah's effective strategy, and has thus lost the strategic initiative. That doesn't mean Israel's options are limited, as it's still a frorce that is superior to Hezbollah. Israel's most effective strategy, according to Stratfor, is:

Insert airmobile and airborne forces north of the Litani to seal the rear of Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon. Apply air power and engineering forces to reduce the fortifications, and infantry to attack forces not in fortified positions. Bottle them up, and systematically reduce the force with limited exposure to the attackers.
Secure roads along the eastern flank for an armored thrust deep into the Bekaa Valley to engage the main Hezbollah force and infrastructure there. This would involve a move from Qiryat Shimona north into the Bekaa, bypassing the Litani to the west, and would probably require sending airmobile and special forces to secure the high ground. It also would leave the right flank exposed to Syria.
Use air power and special forces to undermine Hezbollah capabilities in the southern Beirut area. The Israelis would consider a move into this area after roads through southern Lebanon are cleared and Bekaa relatively secured, moving into the area, only if absolutely necessary, on two axes of attack.
Having defeated Hezbollah in detail, withdraw under a political settlement shifting defense responsibility to the Lebanese government.
Do all of this while the United States is still able to provide top cover against diplomatic initiatives that will create an increasingly difficult international environment.

Israel has one other choice, which is to extend the campaign to defeat Syria as well. Israel can do this, but the successor regime to Syrian President Bashar al Assad likely would be much worse for Israel than al Assad has been. Israel can imagine occupying Syria; it can't do it. Syria is too big and the Arabs have learned from the Iraqis how to deal with an occupation. Israel cannot live with a successor to al Assad and it cannot take control of Syria. It will have to live with al Assad. And that means an occupation of Lebanon would always be hostage to Syrian support for insurgents.

Hezbollah has dealt Israel a difficult hand. It has thought through the battle problem as well as the political dimension carefully. Somewhere in this, there has been either an Israeli intelligence failure or a political failure to listen to intelligence. Hezbollah's capabilities have posed a problem for Israel that allowed Hezbollah to start a war at a time and in a way of its choosing. The inquest will come later in Israel. And Hezbollah will likely be shattered regardless of its planning. The correlation of forces does not favor it. But if it forces Israel not only to defeat its main force but also to occupy, Hezbollah will have achieved its goals.

Interesting times ahead...

Reasonable action?

2006-07-21T07:38:00.000+12:00

Imagine a group of civilians calling themselves the Canadian Liberation Front. Imagine that they resented the actions of the US so much that they would kidnap two US soldiers. Would it then be reasonable for the US to engage in a full-scale invasion of Canada? Would it be reasonable for the US to bomb Canada's civilian infrastructure of commercial and industrial facilities? Would it be reasonable for the US to engage in bombing campaigns against Canadian bridges, and strafing runs by jet fighters against Canadian civilians?

No, of course not.

So why is it reasonable for Israel to do exactly the same thing against Lebanon and Gaza?

ITIL Service Management

2006-07-19T19:50:00.000+12:00

One of the trends in IT these days is something called ITIL, which stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library. It's basically a new way of standardising Service Desk processes and the language around it.

I finished Day One today of a course called ITIL Service Management Essentials. I need to do this one before I do the next one, which is ITIL Service Management Practitioner (or something like that). The course I'm on right now is only two days long, followed by an exam at the end of it. Pass mark is 65%. Based on a sample exam I did at the end of today's course I got 78% on today's content. I'm quite excited about that! My rate of comprehension isn't usually very good, and today was just casual reading and listening to the lecturers (there were two of them). I guess I was surprised about how much I retained.

I've been working in IT for 10 years now, and these ITIL qualifications will be the very first course I've ever done which will qualify me for anything! I'm a highly-skilled,highly-experienced but completely unqualified IT professional. Somethign I'm actually quite proud of.... But now I'll have some qualifications... my life will forever be changed.

ITIL Service Management Essentials
This is designed to provide a foundation level of knowledge in IT Service Management and is aimed at all personnel who wish to become familiar with the best practices for IT Service Management, as defined in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). The Foundation Certificate in particular enables people to understand the terminology used within ITIL.

ITIL Service Management Practitioner
This is aimed at those who are responsible within their organisation for designing specific processes within the IT Service Management discipline, and performing the activities that belong to those processes. The Practitioner's Certificates focus on the depth of understanding and application of those subjects, treating each subject as a specialism.

Bird Flu pandemic preparations

2006-07-18T15:11:00.000+12:00

At work I've been made responsible for preparing the service desk's Bird Flu pandemic plan. This is quite amusing to me because I consider the whole Bird Flu to be a hoax, but it's also quite interesting to me because if the Bird Flu does happen, I'm the one responsible for the plan that my work will be using to continue providing service to customers, as well as ensuring the safety of the employees.

There's quite a lot involved, as you'd imagine. The enforcment of 'social distancing' for a start, where no one is allowed to stand closer than a metre from each other, no touching of anyone else, and no gatherings of groups of people. The staff kitchen will be closed, and enforcement of hygiene will become an issue. There'll be signs and people ensuring that hands are washed in the toilet, medical checks, all kinds of things. Core personnel will work at home with resources provided to them to continue working, while those that aren't core staff will be required to still come to work unless sick or dead. :-)

I'm quite excited by it, to be honest with you. It's a very interesting project to be given and to work on, and I'm hoping I'll be, in some way, responsible for managing it if it ever becomes needed.

A rumour: I might be going to Sydney for work in the next month or so. No details yet as to why, or when, or for how long, as I don't know. But more information will be coming, as I get it.

Consider the lies

2006-07-18T12:15:00.000+12:00

Are you sure there are any captured Israeli soldiers, captured by Palestinians or Hezbollah guerillas? Are you really sure? You've only got the Israelis telling you this. Any news of Hizbollah or Palestinian negotiations comes only from Israel, who provide all the news about what's going on with Israeli interests. Israel is now telling everyone that the Hizbollah plan on moving their captured Israelis to Iran.

Why would the Hizbollah do that? They've never done that before, why now? Why would Iran take them, considering that Israel and the US are just looking for excuses to attack?

This certainly would provide them with the excuse, but how true is it, when the only news that's available is from Israel, who wants to go to war with Lebanon, Syria, and Iran? How can you believe that the news coming out of Israel is not propoganda created simply to further their agenda of destabilising the Middle East, and giving them reasonable grounds to invade whoever they choose?

If you believe what Israel tells you, and what the US says, then you're a fool. If you consider that the whole thing could be a lie, that there aren't any captured Israeli soldiers, and that everything you read and hear could be a lie, then you're smarter than the average bear.

When political or military actions occur around the world, look closer to see who benefits, and when you find who benefits from it, then you find the instigator of it.

Hezbollah doesn't benefit from it. Lebanon doesn't benefit from it. Iran doesn't benefit from it. Syria doesn't benefit from it. Who benefits? Israel does, and subsequently the US.

When you seriously think about it, you'll learn that you can never trust the media again, and you'll never look at the world the same way again. But your eyes will be open, and you'll see more of what's really going on in this world.

10 tips to boost your confidence

2006-07-13T10:20:00.000+12:00

If you think you could do with some confidence boosting, you might want to print this list out a few times and put them at various locations around the house, work, and in the car. When you think you can do with a bit of a boost, have a read of the list and use it to put yourself back into a more confident mode. Just before job interviews is a good time.

Think about someone who is confident, and act like them. Using someone as a model for your own behaviour is very helpful. Pretending to be like someone who's confident isn't much different from being confident, and eventually it'll become second nature to you. Instead of pretending to be like someone who is confident, you'll discover that you're confident too.
The past is there for you to learn from. Don't beat yourself up over things that have happened in your past. They're gone, never to return. What's done is done. All you need to do is learn from it, use it to understand how you can do things differently in the future.
Know your strengths and take advantage of them. Know what you're good at and seek out opportunities to do more of them. You'll have more confidence as you do more of what you're good at.
Just say no! There's nothing to be afraid of by saying no. Say no to someone today. It's not going to end their world, nor will it end yours. Saying no sets boundaries, gives you space and freedom, and inspires confidence.
Look at the 'can do' side of things instead of the 'can't do'. You know you've done a lot in your life and achieved many successes. Understand that you'll achieve a lot more successes in future. Know that you can do it, just like you've done it before.
Change how you think. Do you let other people affect how you think? Do you care what they think of you? Remember that no one can make you feel a particular way. How you feel about something is simply a choice you are making. It's not what others say that causes you problems, it's what you say to yourself as a result of their words that creates the problems. Say different things. Stop caring what others think. Change how you think about things, so that you're less affected by the ignorance of others.
Be grateful for what you have in your life. Be grateful for having someone you can love, or who loves you. Be grateful for those who help you, or who appreciate the help you give them.
Work on improving your body language. How you move your body has a great impact on your confidence. Walk with your head ups, shoulders back and as if you have somewhere very important to go. When people look at you they'll know you are walking with purpose, you have somewhere you need to be.
Be proud of what you have achieved, and let others know about it. Yes, that's right. Talk about yourself more than what you currently do. Express to others your successes and achievement. You'll feel more confident as a result.
Is what you're worried about really that important? Ask yourself this: in 5, 10 or 20 years time, will today's worries matter to my life? Remember 5 years ago, what were you worried about then? Does it matter today? No, it doesn't. What worries you today will be gone soon. Keep it in perspective, and remember that your future is up to you.
BONUS TIP - make wise choices. Who you are today is a result of what you've done over the past 5
years. Who you will become 5 years from now will be a result of the choices you make today.
Choose wisely.

Manage your email better

2006-07-11T15:41:00.000+12:00

If you're like most people, you probably find yourself overwhelmed by the amount of email you get, especially at work. Is your Inbox full of emails? Have you lost track of what you've answered, what needs answering, or what you don't even have to answer? If so, then these tips will help you get on top of your email problem, and allow you to manage it better.

Filter your emails. A lot. Filter everything except what's sent directly to you. Filter company emails, mailing list emails, and all emails that are CC'd to you. Set up automatic filters so that they go into their own folders. This helps avoid Inbox clutter, and you can choose to read them whenever you want. The ones that are sent directly to you are the ones that stay in your Inbox.
Filter specific senders out of the inbox. If you have those people who send you emails regardless of how relevant it is for you, then filter them into a special folder, even if it's into the Deleted Items (Trash) folder.\
Schedule time to review the folders. Ask yourself a simple question - if you don't read the email in X hours, can you still do your work? If you can, then schedule yourself so that you review your folders in max X hours. With those emails that you are CC'd, and memos, you're being informed and don't have to reply to the sender. Read them in your own time.
Read emails as a thread. Usually, if an email has multiple TO: and CC: recipients, it will likely attract a number of replies. When you read them as a thread, you can get the information from the conversation at once, rather than from multiple emails.
Don't answer every email, especially if you're CC'd. If you're being CC'd, then you're only being informed. Replying is not necessary. Answer only the emails that require a reply from you.
If you can't reply immediately, move it to a Reply folder. If you need to reply to an email but can't do it straight away, move it to a Reply folder, and make sure you go through it at the end of every day to clear it out. This is more efficient than trying looking in your Inbox and trying to remember what needs replying to and what doesn't. When replied, move it to the appropriate storage folder.
If you cannot read the email immediately, move it to a Read folder. Do this when you start reading an email and decide you should read it later. Move it to the Read folder so that you remember to read it. When finished, reply to it, move it to the Reply folder to reply later, or move it to the appropriate storage folder.

I hope these tips help you keep your Inbox uncluttered and manageable. When you're not overwhelmed and stressed by your email, you're going to enjoy what you're doing a lot more. And you'll have more time for all the important things you need to focus on.

Photo Blog

2006-07-10T12:49:00.000+12:00

Please note that my photo blog is regularly updated with links whenever new photo posts are made. If you want to check out the photos and you aren't a regular visitor that sees them when they're posted, then click on the Photo Blog link above to see them sorted by date and subject.

Thanks.

8 Things every blogger needs to understand

2006-07-10T11:58:00.000+12:00

As you're blogging, it's always a good idea to keep these things in mind:

Every reader has an opinion - and they're all correct. At least, in their own mind they are. Don't be too sensitive about what people say on your blog. Remember, they're entitled to their opinion, especially if you don't agree with it. There are going to be people who don't agree with you - does that make you wrong? No, it doesn't. Just because you don't agree with others, doesn't make them wrong either. Let them have their opinion, and use it to encourage discussion.
Posting the same thing as everyone else just makes you boring. If you're writing the same things as other bloggers, why would anyone be interested in hanging around your blog when they can get the information elsewhere?
Posting unique content is how you get noticed. Ensure that whatever they're
reading on your blog can not be read anywhere else. That's how you'll
keep visitors coming back.
It's better to have controversial posts read by people who disagree with you. You want to provoke people into thinking about things they normally don't. Getting them to actually feel an emotion in some way - even an angry emotion - is a guarantee of encouraging them to keep coming back for more. What inspires emotion inspires interest.
Only a few of your readers are going to leave comments. Don't expect everyone to feel inspired enough to comment. Most visitors will read what you say and then move on somewhere else. Only a tiny few will leave a comment about something you write. The more controversial your topic, the more likely they'll comment on it. If you're blogging to gather praise and acknowledgement, you're doing it for the wrong reason.
The same people are the ones who will repeatedly comment on your blog. It's not a bad thing though, as it means you're encouraging people to come back, and they're inspired to discuss their opinions with you.
Don't have a hit counter. Knowing how many people have been to your site is meaningless, and no one cares.
Don't complain about web traffic until you've taken the time to analyse your logs with a decent web stats package. Understanding your traffic is important if you want to know how many people are visiting, what they're looking at, and which sites they're coming from. Knowing these things can help you create more popular content. I use www.statcounter.com which I find excellent.

Blogspot Emoticons

2006-07-10T11:04:00.000+12:00

I found a great site here that gives you the coding instructions to add 'emoticons' to your blogspot blog.

:) :D :P :O :(

I hope you enjoy adding these to your blog too.

My Sunday, lovely Sunday

2006-07-10T10:05:00.000+12:00

Yesterday - Sunday - was a lovely day. Considering that we've had almost a week's worth of freezing cold, torrential rain, and general nasty storminess, yesterday was an absolutely fantastic day!

We started the day by having brunch (breakfast/lunch) with some friends, and then going for a walk around Oriental Bay.

After the lovely walk around the harbour, we went to a bed store, so that we could find ourselves a foldup bed / couch for the spare room. Deidre wants to make the spare room into her 'special place', where she can relax and chill out in her own space. As a result, the best solution, I felt - and which she agreed with - was to get a couch / bed, so that she can relax on the couch while enjoying the space of the room, and then when we have guests we can just fold out the bed for them.

So we bought a nice one yesterday. It'll be delivered in 6 weeks.

Then we went to have a fruit smoothie and sat and watched the people go by, followed by a visit to Tory Motors to have a look at the car that I want to upgrade to if I don't get the 'free' Chrysler. We took it for a test drive out to Petone, then home, then back to the dealership.

It's a BMW 728i, built in 2000. Beautiful to drive, very smooth, very luxurious. Deidre loved it. So did I. Only done 40,000 km too, which is average of 6,600 km a year... I think the original owners must've used it just to go shopping with! I've averaged about 12,000 km a year in mine over the past 6 years, which is also not much. But now that my car is over 14 years old, with over 200,000 km on it, it's time to upgrade. That's why I'm looking around at new cars. And it's why I'm working on 'manifesting reality', bringing a new car into my life by visualising and test driving and emotionalizing the experience.

Here's my current car, which doesn't look as good now as it does in these photos (which were taken over 5 years ago). The paintwork is a little 'faded' now... :-(

Is it a dream....

2006-07-08T23:05:00.000+12:00

As part of my dream-building activities based on the 'law of attraction', I've been visualising and emotionalising driving a particular car. It's a nice car. It's a car that I'd just LOVE to drive.

Last weekend Deidre and I went to have a look at this car. I sat in it, felt the steering wheel in my hands, imagined driving it and feeling the experience. This is the car.

It's a Chrysler 300c luxury sedan, imported from America. I think it looks awesome!

So anyway, as part of visualising and bringing it into my life, I was helped by my friend Ken this afternoon, with some ideas on how to get the car without actually paying for it.

I sent an email to the salesman I'd met last week, presenting a 'radical proposition'. I lease the car from them for only what it would cost them to have it, like insurance, maintenance and registration, etc. Obviously MUCH cheaper for me than if I were to buy it at full price. In return for getting the car 'free' from them, they put whatever advertising they want on it, and I drive it around for a year.

It creates a win-win scenario, where I get the car I want, and they get increased exposure to the public of this new car, as well as extra advertising, which only increases their sales and overall profit.

It's a 'radical concept', I know, but hey... you never know what will happen if you don't try to make it happen. They can only say no. But they might say yes too.

The salesman is yet to reply to my email. I'll let you know the result.

UPDATE: I just got a call from the salesman who said that my proposition caused the directors to scratch their heads a while as they thought about it, but unfortunately the depreciation of the car was too much for them to consider it as a feasible option. Worth a try though. :)

My personality

2006-07-06T20:57:00.000+12:00

Over here I've talked about my personality type being an INFP.

Quiet, reflective, and idealistic. Interested in serving humanity. Well-developed value system, which they strive to live in accordance with. Extremely loyal. Adaptable and laid-back unless a strongly-held value is threatened. Usually talented writers. Mentally quick, and able to see possibilities. Interested in understanding and helping people.

I wanted to explore it a bit more.

I found a 'portrait of an INFP', which I'm using to help me talk about my personality. As far as I can tell, it's completely accurate.

It calls me an idealist. That's certainly true. I have this vision of an ideal world, and am often frustrated when reality doesn't match my vision. And yet, I find myself frustrated because I know reality could BE like my vision, if only more people cared.

My primary mode of living is focused internally, where I deal with things according to how I feel about them, or how they fit into my personal value system. My secondary mode is external, where I take things in via my intuition.

I'm focused on making the world a better place for people, finding the meaning of my life, and what my purpose is. Interestingly, finding my purpose has been quite challenging. Maybe my purpose is to help make the world better for people? I'll have to explore that idea....

I'm highly intuitive about people, relying on my intuition to guide me, and I use my discoveries to search for value in life. I'm on a continuous mission to find the underlying truth and meaning to things. Every encounter and everything I learn gets sifted through my value system, and is evaluated to see if it will be useful in helping me move forward on my path. The goal is always the same - to help people and make the world a better place.

I'm flexible and laid back - until one of my values are violated, which turns me into an aggressive defender, fighting passionately for the cause. That's certainly me, with the political stuff I've been 'passionate' about in the recent past.

When it comes to the ordinary details of life, I'm completely unaware of things. I might not notice a stain on the carpet at all, or dust building up in the corners or on items around the house. Small, mediocre things aren't important in the grand scheme of things. I focus on feelings, and the 'big picture'... housework is something that will be done when I trip over it. (Although this has changed considerably since Deidre moved in early last year.... now I actually have a list of things to do around the house, but that's still no guarantee of getting everything 'just right'....)

Facts and logic often get in the way of a good emotional analysis. Why worry about facts when the feelings are all that are important? Some of my friends in the past have often been frustrated about this, where they rely more on logic than emotions.

I'm a talented writer (although I don't feel I'm talented enough...), which allows me to express myself quite well in my writing, but relatively awkward when expressing myself verbally. In a social situation, where all eyes are on me, I often don't know what to say (unless I know them exceptionally well).

The traits that are very strong in me are:

strong value systems
very interested in people
loyal and devoted to people and causes
future oriented
growth oriented, always wanting to grow positively
creative and inspirational
flexible and laid back, unless a ruling value is violated
sensitive and complex
dislike dealing with details and routine work
original and individualistic
excellent written communication skills
prefer working alone
value deep and authentic relationships
want to be appreciated for who I am

That's me. That's my personality. That's who I am.

Who are you?

A question for Americans...

2006-07-01T15:09:00.000+12:00

Do you believe that if the law states that the actions of George Bush is illegal, then the law needs to be changed?

Do you believe that if the Supreme Court finds that the actions of the Bush Administration is illegal, then the Supreme Court justices are on the side of terrorists?

Do you believe that anyone who is against the Bush Administration's actions, either morally or legally, are, in fact, terrorists and should be treated as such, including arresting them, or just shooting them?

Do you believe that Republicans are on the side of God and George Bush, while Democrats and the rest of the world are on the side of Satan and the terrorists?

Do you believe that the world would be a better place if everyone would just follow what George Bush wants, and all Democrats and non-Americans (if they didn't follow Bush) were executed?

Whose side do you believe God is on? Republicans or Democrats?

Do you believe these are valid and reasonable questions, or do you believe that the fact these questions need to be asked shows how crazy America has become?

A funny thing is happening...

2006-07-01T14:30:00.000+12:00

Which is, I'm sure, related to the Law of Attraction. Deidre and I are visualising and emotionalising greater prosperity in our lives, bringing more money into it, etc. We want better things for ourselves and our lifestyle, and our future.

The funny thing that's happening - just this past week - is that we're getting occasional unexpected savings on our spending.

I took the car for a car wash a couple nights ago. I went to the service station only for a car wash. As I was about to walk in the door, one of the attendants approached and handed me a voucher - for half price car washes. He was handing them out to everyone walking through the door. No one else, while I was there, accepted it. I paid half price, and left for the car wash. When I finished the car wash, I looked back at the attendant, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Yesterday I took the car for a major service. It was going to cost $1400 - just for a service, including labour and parts. But it was a service that I hadn't gotten for maybe three years, as I wasn't able to justify spending that much money. Having a BMW is expensive... First, I had the money to spend on the service, so I got it done. Secondly, at the end of the day it turned out to be only $800. They decided not to do the transmission service because it required the replacement of a leaky gasket and that would take longer than the time they had available. The extra transmission work was something I knew about, and was going to comprise $400 of the $1400. Somehow, I ended up not paying that and getting another $200 taken off the total. I wasn't going to question it!

The transmission needs to be done, I know that. But there's no urgency. It can wait. Instead, the $600 I saved on the service will be spent to pay off one of my debts, thus getting rid of it..

Today Deidre and I went out for brunch. We have an 'entertainment card' that gets you discounts on establishments that are part of the program. We went to a cafe, placed our order, and got one meal free with the entertainment card. As we expected. What we didn't expect, however, was that my meal - pancakes with bacon, banana and maple syrup - would have uncooked pancakes. I ate the bacon and banana, leaving the gluggy pancakes, and then returned it to them, saying the pancakes were uncooked. My intention was just to let them know of less-than-adequate service, but they gave me a refund of the price of the meal. So in the end, we got two breakfasts - even though I only ate half of mine - and two orange juices for the price of only two orange juices.

Small incident, obviously, but I think the law of attraction - attracting greater prosperity - is beginning to work in our favour. This week alone has resulted in the 'obtaining' of many hundreds of dollars, that we've put to good use to make our financial situation that much better, and bringing us closer to having our own house soon.

Happy Anniversary!

2006-06-27T22:35:00.000+12:00

On 27th June 2005 I wrote my very first post on this blog. Today was the 1st anniversary.

Apologies for writing this entry in the evening of this day, but I only just remembered that it was today.

Since I started writing this blog I've transferred a whole bunch of posts from my previous website journals, which is why the Archives go back to 1998, just in case you were wondering.

Thank you to all those of you who have been with me throughout the years, and thank you to those of you who have only just come along in the past year. It's been a pleasure having you along for the ride. I hope it's enjoyable enough for you to hang around for a few more years yet.

Cheers.

*raises a glass of wine to you*

It's been a little slow...

2006-06-24T13:26:00.000+12:00

When I decided to move away from political commentary on this blog, I cut out a great part of what this blog has been about. Most of the content has been based on what's frustrated me about global (US) politics. It's been interesting for me to move away from that, and to focus more on other things in my life. It's been quite rewarding, in a way. It's like my mind is somewhat clearer, thinking more about personal growth than about what frustrates me.

I think that focusing on what frustrates you holds you back from achieving happiness and fulfilment in life.

But as a result of the political commentary being halted, I understand it's been relatively slow on this blog, with less posts being made. I don't know if that will improve (although I hope it will), or if it will remain the same as it is right now (a few posts written once a week). I do know that this blog isn't going to die. I've been writing online about my life for over 7 years now. I am absolutely convinced it's not going to end. I expect it will end, of course, but that is going to be only when I die.

One way or another, as blogging technology develops, I'm going to be there, writing about my life and the things I learn and want to help others learn.

This past week has been interesting for me, in terms of online gaming with Eve Online. My enjoyment with the corporation I was part of in the game ended when the CEO of it decided to leave for his own reasons. My enjoyment was focused around the relationship I had developed with him, and so I decided I'd leave the corporation as well, and have my character follow his.

Over the week, however, I've felt more aligned with the idea of starting my own corporation, and placing my own brand on the game. Instead of working for someone else and promoting their way of doing things, I'll create my own corporation and promote my way of doing things.

I know it's going to be a good one, I just have to work out what it's going to be about, and what kind of philosophy I want it to present. I've had 5 years of experience running my own fleet with Star Trek roleplaying, creating an administrative structure and delegating responsibility to enthusiastic players, while having a background story and management style that moves everything forward in a way that's enjoyable and rewarding to everyone involved. I like the idea of doing it again with this game.

I think it doesn't matter what I do in life, I have to end up controlling things in some way. I hate handing over control of my destiny to someone else. I think that's obvious in everything I do, no matter what it is.

The secret to a rewarding life

2006-06-24T13:15:00.000+12:00

The funny thing about our mind and our life is that we spend so much energy thinking about and talking about the things we don't like. As a result, all that's on our mind is what we don't like, and what we don't want.

The universe always gives us what is most on our mind, so if all you think about is what you don't want, then that's all you're going to continue getting.

You need to think of what you DO want. You need to FEEL what you want. You need to imagine and feel the experiences of HAVING what you want. When that's all that's on your mind, that's all you'll be getting.

That is the secret to a rewarding life.

If you want a fulfilling relationship, you have to have that relationship in your mind. You have to see the pleasurable experiences in your imagination, and you need to feel those experiences as well. It's very important that you feel it as well as see it in your mind. It's only when you have a grasp of the visualising and the feelings, that you'll begin to have it in your life.

I can't emphasise this enough. It actually works.

When you think about it, you already know it works. You already make it work for you, but you're making it work against you rather than for you.

Let's look at the concept of being single. Most single people want so much to NOT be single. They want so much to not be single that they think they're doing everything they can to bring a wonderful partner into their lives. But in reality, the only reason they're looking is because they don't want to be lonely. They want to find someone to share their life with because they have no one to share it with.

All that's on the mind of most single people is how lonely they are. They're often telling themselves they'll never find anyone like 'so and so', or that they'll never find anyone worthwhile, or that all men suck, or all women suck, or that they're not worthy of finding someone nice, or yadda yadda yadda...

You know what goes on in a single person's mind if you've been single. It's usually negative. It's usually about what you don't have, and why you don't have it.

When all that's on your mind is what you don't have, or what you're unhappy about, or what you want to change, then those are the strongest thoughts in your consciousness. Whatever is on your mind is what becomes real for you in your life.

If you don't believe the universe follows a 'law of attraction', and you instead believe that reality is based on your actions in this world, then think about this. Your actions are based on your thoughts coming first. You think it, then you act it. If your thoughts are mostly about what you lack, then your actions are going to allow the lack to continue.

If your thoughts are instead mostly about what you want, then your actions are going to lead you in the direction of getting what you want.

Have a look at these two thought processes, and decide for yourself which one will end up with you achieving more in your life.

Thought 1

I hate my job so much. It sucks. All they get me to do is this boring crap that has no meaning. I can't wait until I go home. I wish I had another job. This mind-numbing, tedious work is so soul destroying. I'm sick of it. I need to do something different. But if I leave this job, I don't know if I'll get what I want. 'Better the devil you know,' as they say. At least I know this devil. If I leave, I could be out of work for a long time, unable to find a good job. At least this pays the bills. And there's always the chance that something better will come alone. Man, I so hate this job. I can't wait until I go home, and then I can forget about it... Oh great, they've given me more crap work to do. I wish they'd rot in hell. And this work can rot in hell with them. I hate my life. This sucks. Great, another 4 hours and 26 minutes before I can go home...

Thought 2

I'm not being challenged by this job. It's not utilising my skills as much as I'd like. Which skills would I like to utilise more? Well, I know I have a passion about understanding people more, and helping develop better relationships. So how can I change my role from a technical role to a relationship management role? Well, if I offer to help improve relationships between my company and the clients they service, that could work. And I'll let my manager know I'm more interested in relationship management than the technical stuff I'm doing. I love helping improve the service and relationships, it's so fulfilling! Oh wow, look at that, they're giving me the opportunity to work more with client relationship management. Hey, where did that come from? I've just been invited to join a services improvement team, which is going to let me do more of that. Oh, and they want me to do some relationship management courses! Wow, this is just fantastic.

What you give out to the universe is what the universe will give back to you, whether it's your thoughts leading your actions (or lack of action), or whether it's the energy of the universe reflecting to you what you're giving out.

If you put out that you hate something, and yet that's all you can see, then that's all the universe will give you. Because that's all it sees for you as well. It goes only on what's in your mind, and your feelings.

But if you put out that you want to improve something, and you can see the things you want to improve and how you can improve them, and you can feel the emotions of doing those things that you want to do, then that's all the universe will see for you. And that's what it will give you.

This is the secret to a rewarding life.

'Thought 2' (above) is based on my own personal experience of what happened to me during the past 6 months. I know it works, because it works for me. It can work for you too. Just let the universe act on the thoughts in your head. Choose the right thoughts.

The sixth sense

2006-06-16T14:01:00.000+12:00

Have you ever wondered why psychics haven't been able to guess specific things about you, and only seem to pick up some things and not others? How easy is it to disregard a psychic for being a fraud if they don't tell you the simplest things about you, or if what they tell you doesn't come true?

Psychics use a 'sixth sense', also called extrasensory perception, or ESP. Various forms of ESP include clairvoyance (clear vision), clairaudience (clear sounds), telepathy and many others. The sixth sense allows a person to pick up non-physical perceptions which aren't picked up by the 5 physical senses (touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell).

Here's the interesting thing. How often does your vision work perfectly for you? How often can you see clearly what's far in the distance? How often can you tell what you're hearing? How often can you identify what you're tasting?

All of your senses are able to pick up only what comes within their range of sensory perception. Touch obviously has a very close range, while hearing's range is a bit further. Sight only allows you to see what's in your line of sight, and not what's hidden from you. Smell allows you to determine if something is pleasant or disgusting, and sometimes you can tell exactly what it is.

It's the same with the sixth sense. Its perception goes beyond the limit of your physical senses, and yet, just like your normal senses, it's not perfect. It only has a range of perception as well, and it doesn't get everything right.

Wouldn't it be silly of you to give up trying to see just because you can't see around corners? Or give up trying to hear if something is too far away to be heard properly? So why would you want to give up developing your sixth sense, just because it doesn't always work?

Years of experience with our senses help us to filter out the 'noise', the things that don't mean anything. In a crowded room we can pick out specific voices. We learn what different smells and tastes mean. As we grow, we are taught and learn how to use our senses more effectively. It's a pity few of us are taught how to use our sixth sense as well, to filter out the 'noise' and pick up what's important to us.

A baby has difficulty making sense of all the perceptions that it has. Most people remain 'psychic babies' as they mature. There's too much that happens in the mind for them to make sense of, and they've received no training to filter out the noise, so they disregard it. It just gets put into the category of 'useless imagination'. The sixth sense is still there, it just needs development to make use of it.

Psychics are those who have developed their sixth sense, but they're not perfect. Nor should perfection be expected from them, just like we don't expect anyone to have perfection in any of their other senses. As we develop our own sixth sense, we shouldn't expect perfection either. It takes time to develop anything meaningful.

Right now you're probably wondering how you can develop your sixth sense.

Just like you develop anything else in your life, you can read books on the subject, talk to people who already do it, learn from them and from practicing it yourself.

Intuition is a major part of your sixth sense. It's the ability to take note of your environment and the factors within it, including the extrasensory perception of reality, and trust that what you feel is going to be best for you. Learning to trust your intuition comes with experience, with developing it and seeing the results of using it effectively.

But don't expect perfection. Just expect a sixth sense, one that will serve you as well as the other 5, if you let it. It will help you make better choices about what's important in your life. It will help you be where you want to be, and help you achieve the things that you desire.

Our engagement party!

2006-06-12T10:47:00.000+12:00

On the evening of June 10th we had our engagement party. Most of the people we invited turned up, so that was a bonus! I think everyone had a great time; Deidre and I certainly did. Thank you to all those who came and who provided us with gifts. Very much appreciated. (Personal thank you's arriving soon!)

Over 100 photos were taken. Please enjoy the 'best of'...

Giving

2006-06-10T17:03:00.000+12:00

After watching The Secret last weekend, and pondering on it this week, and writing articles, reading articles about the Law of Attraction as well as success thinking, I've been aware that there's been a lot of changes in my life. Just this past week.

But I think most of them have happened today.

This morning I realised that I had been very foolish in limiting myself to 'equal exchange opportunities'. These were those things that I would do for others, with the idea of getting something in return. An equal energy exchange.

But doing that is limiting! It's because I've been giving things with the idea of getting something in return. I haven't been giving a lot, because I haven't been expecting equal returns. And as a result of giving little, I've been getting little.

That's what I realised this morning. In order to receive so much more from the universe itself, I need to give more without any expectation of return.

To open the barriers to moving forward, and to let go of things I've been holding onto, I've apologised to a couple people today. The first apology was to someone who I had borrowed some books from 10 years ago, and never gave them back. I knew the books were important to them, but I had been slack - procrastinating - and failed to honour them by returning the books. I sent an email to them this afternoon apologising, and asking for their forgiveness.

I also sent an email to an 'ex friend', who decided a couple weeks ago that they didn't want to be my friend any more. At the time I felt completely indignant about their attitude, which resulted from me asking them to buy me a drink in exchange for taking photos of their event, which they asked me to do. I felt that them buying me a drink in exchange for a night's worth of photography was an 'energy exchange' that would satisfy both of us. However, it was their opinion that I wasn't giving enough, and always wanted something in return. This was true, but they decided it meant I wasn't worth having as a friend any more. I felt they were the one at fault at this, feeling that they just wanted to take whatever I gave, so I decided I didn't need them as a friend either.

However, today has been enlightening. I've realised that in order to receive more from the universe, I need to give more to the universe. I also needed to mend the broken energy between me and those who had been friends. I don't expect anything in return, I just needed to do it.

I'm also going to start giving more, not with the expectation of any return from those I give to, but to allow more prosperity and fulfilment into my life. I'll give just for the sake of giving.

This is what I've learned today. I think it's been building up over the past week.

The Law of Attraction is powerful.

Thinking like God

2006-06-10T16:26:00.000+12:00

Do you think God would have any thoughts of what s/he lacks? Do you think s/he'd be negative about his existence? Do you think s/he'd worry about the problems of the universe? Thinking like God helps you think without boundaries.

If you pretended to think like God, what would you think? What would you do? What would you say? How would you act in your relationships with others? How would you act at work? How would you behave in society if you thought like God?

The biggest question you're probably asking is: how do I THINK like God?

You pretend you ARE God. Just pretend. That's all.

If you were God, what would you do, think or say to others?

Start pretending, and start doing it.

Making the Law of Attraction work for you

2006-06-10T16:16:00.000+12:00

There's a lot of stuff about the Law of Attraction and how it works, but there's not a lot on how to make it work for YOU. You don't need to know how electricity works in order to turn on the light; you just need to know that flicking the switch will result in the light going on. I hope that this article will do that for you too, where a switch is flicked and you see the light.

Unlike the light switch, however, the process of flicking your own switch to attract your desires into your life can be slightly more complicated. While this process involves understanding WHY it works, there's no need to understand HOW it works, as the 'how' is literally up to the universe.

When you decide to do something, the first thing that happens is that a thought comes into your head. You might think that you want to go for a coffee at your local Starbucks. What happens in your mind is that you see the experience in your head. You can see the people that will be there, hear the sounds, feel yourself sitting in the seat, and enjoying the taste of the coffee that you drink while reading a book you wanted to catch up on. You are living that experience in your mind!

The next thing that happens is that you'll head out of your house, jump into your car (or go for a walk) and end up at Starbucks. When you get there you'll buy yourself a coffee, sit down and enjoy it, while looking at the people around you or read that book.

What just happened? The thoughts and feelings in your mind became a reality! What happens in your mind is the precursor to those things happening in your life.

Now, you can create on purpose or you can let it be created for you by default. Most people let their reality be created by default, because they don't put any effort or control into it. They're on 'auto pilot', letting reality be whatever it wants to be, because they believe they have no control over it.

When you create by default you avoid understanding how the power of your mind determines your reality. In the example above, you've used your mind to create a reality where you went to Starbucks and enjoyed a coffee and read a book. You could have instead created a reality where you stayed home and read the book there.

Your experiences begin as imagination, before they become real.

When you consider that your life is a result of your IMAGINED experiences, by failing to take responsibility for your thoughts and imagination, you also fail to take responsibility for your life. This is how you create by default.

To create on purpose involves making good choices about the kind of life you want. This is achieved by making those choices in your MIND first. You'll need to understand the power that your thoughts have on how your reality is determined, and then you can purposefully create the experiences in your mind that you want in your life.

You can CHOOSE the experiences that you want to have.

As you see them in your mind, you also have to FEEL yourself experiencing them. You have to imagine what those experiences are going to be. The emotions, the pleasures, the wind rushing through your hair, and the feelings of enjoyment that you would have with those experiences.

When you can hold these things in your mind, these visions and feelings, then your life will move forward in a way that will make those experiences real.

That's how you make the Law of Attraction work for you, by creating on purpose - choosing the experiences in your mind to bring them into your life.

To see how it works, you need to look at what you're attracting to yourself right now. If you can only see hardship, suffering, anxiety, fear, anger, etc, then that's all that you're going to experience. When you are afraid of something, you'll see more of it in your life than if you weren't. It's because you're looking for it, and by looking for it, you're creating it.

This happens with everything that's on your mind. So to have different experiences, you just need to have different thoughts. That's all!

It's that simple. There's nothing else you need to do!

Visualise it.
Feel it.
Let it come to you.

Just like how you already do it with everything that's been happening in your life so far. The only difference is that before, you didn't know that what's on your mind is what's coming into your life.

I have a friend who has wanted to move forward in hi s career doing something that he's good at. However, he's unsure about what he really has a passion for. He knows that what he's good at isn't what he's passionate about. As a result of holding onto the thoughts in his mind of continuing to do what he's good at, even though he doesn't really enjoy it, his life has moved forward in a way that gives him the opportunity to do more of what he's good at. The only problem is that he can see he's going to hate it!

What's happened is that the universe has provided for him what he's been asking for. The only thing is, he's asking for the wrong things. He's not asking the universe to provide what he really wants, because he doesn't know what he really wants. So the universe is simply providing him what is on his mind.

This is the same for you. You're getting what's on your mind. Change your mind, and your focus, and your imaginations, and the universe, one way or another, will give you what's on your mind.

Let me know how it works for you. I'd love to read your comments about what you're attracting into your life by changing what you're thinking. Share with us your successes.

News - real or imagined?

2006-06-10T13:10:00.000+12:00

I saw a current affairs story the other day that presented information that about 75% of information you read about on the news is actually 'advertising'. Someone is advertising their agenda in some way, and so they present information that's then believed to be news. There's another name for this.

Propoganda.

I was just discussing with Lee about the previous post on US foreign policy interventions around the world, and I said, "most people aren't interested in 'researching' information, so all they have to go on is what current media tells them." This is very true.

When all the public has to go on is what's told to them via the media, then that's all they know. And if 75% of what's told to them is a lie, then the world that they think they know is simply the world that someone wants them to think it is.

Do your damned research. If something inspires you to be outraged, research it. Find out the truth. Find out what's really going on out there. Find out what they don't want you to know, because really, if they wanted you to know it, they'd be telling it to you. There's a reason why they're lying to you.

Find that reason. Don't put up with the crap that they tell you.

Is the news real or fictional? That's really up to you to find out, but you owe it to yourself to find the truth, especially if you're sitting there watching the news and thinking it's true. It's not. So look for the truth. Don't accept reality until it's been verified through all the sources you can find.

Or, of course, you can just sit there and continue believing what they want you to believe.

Here's something for you to consider. Al Zarqawi has, by all measures, been the most elusive of terrorists. He didn't exist, according to some sources, and his only existence was in the propoganda crap that the US presented to justify their invasion of Iraq. Now they're presenting Al Zarqawi as being dead, thanks to great intel and a 500lb bomb.

The man who didn't exist and couldn't be found has now been obliterated due to a huge bomb. Apparently they confirm his death through DNA matching. Where'd they get the DNA from in order to match it? How convenient is it that the man who couldn't be found has now been killed. It's like saying, "The monster of children's nightmares that hides under the bed is dead. We bombed him. We have DNA matching that confirms. So there."

To me, it's another continued propoganda exercise to further the 'war on terror', to 'prove' that the efforts are working and the enemies are being killled. Now they're talking about a second in command who will take his place. Another 'boogeyman' to frighten the stupid into continued support on this ludicrous war on terror.

Read the book, 1984. You'll see this has happened before, in someone's imagination. See the movie, Wag The Dog. You'll see this has happened before, in someone's movie.

Don't believe anything you see. Think about where it's coming from and who it benefits. Discover your own truth, instead of the truth that they feed you.

US Foreign Policy - 1945 to 1999

2006-06-09T23:32:00.000+12:00

(This post was requested by Lee.)

One can only wonder what the world would be like today, if it wasn't for the US sticking their noses into everyone else's business. You can read all the annoying details of US intervention here. This is the condensed version.

Assassinations, military coups, civil wars, or invasions. These are the actions of America around the world over the past 60 years. Don't tell me the world is a better place because of the US. The world would be amazingly better off without US intervention, since many of their intervention has been to remove democratic and stable leaders who were against the US...

China, 1945-49
Italy, 1947-48
Greece, 1947-49
Philippines, 1945-53
South Korea, 1945-53
Albania, 1949-53
Germany, 1950s
Iran, 1953
Guatemala, 1953-1990s
Middle East, 1956-58
Indonesia, 1957-58
British Guiana/Guyana, 1953-64
Vietnam, 1950-73
Cambodia, 1955-73
The Congo/Zaire, 1960-65
Brazil, 1961-64
Dominican Republic, 1963-66
Cuba, 1959 to present
Indonesia, 1965
Chile, 1964-73
Greece, 1964-74
East Timor, 1975 to present
Nicaragua, 1978-89
Grenada, 1979-84
Libya, 1981-89
Panama, 1989
Iraq, 1990s
Afghanistan, 1979-92
El Salvador, 1980-92
Haiti, 1987-94
Yugoslavia, 1999

The Warrior Sage

2006-06-09T14:15:00.000+12:00

Back here in 2003, I talked about how I realised I was in alignment with the concept of what it is to be a 'warrior sage'.

The warrior sage may be defined as a spiritual philosopher that brings meaning, peace and unity to the chaotic separateness of life. This wise one was known as a healer as well as a warrior and one who had quested through the mountains and the valleys of the earth. Being ever the spiritual truth-seeker, he/she focused on a life pilgrimage that embraced the experiential knowledge and wisdom of the unknown as well as the unity of creation.

I'd forgotten about it, but it's become obvious to me today that it's not something I can easily walk away from. I may forget the title, but the philosophy and the experiences are always going to be with me. As time goes by, I'll only become a stronger warrior sage, with that strength being the spirituality and the philosophy that is with me all the time.

The warrior sage has nothing to prove to anyone. He lives his own life, not for others, but for what is true for himself. He doesn't care what people think of him, and he doesn't do things to please them.

The following are what I've found on the internet to describe a warrior sage, and which I feel I relate to. Please feel free to discuss.

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The sage consists of paradoxes that would mortify most people, but do not seem to bother him at all. The sage:

- is detached, yet compassionate;
- enjoys life, yet does not cling to it;
- is a perfectionist, yet indifferent to success or failure;
- is a man of honour, yet avoids reaping honour;
- ignores ethics and morals, but lives a life of the highest moral order;
- does not strive, yet achieves;
- knows the answers, but prefers to remain silent;
- has the innocence of a child, but incredible inner strength.

These paradoxes are in harmony in the sage, the same way nature itself seems to be a harmonious blend of paradoxes. This makes it difficult to describe the sage in conventional terms and categories. In fact, in most societies the sage's qualities would be seen as negative, even harmful.

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He feels at home in nature - in deep forests or on misty mountains - away from the artificial and the contrived. When moving in artificial corporate environments, the sage is true to his natural impulses, and even though he does not feel at home in a milieu of envy and greed, he remains if not untouched, then at least unstained by the destructive negative emotions around him.

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Calmness in victory. Tranquility in defeat. Serenity when confronted by the inevitability of suffering. The sage does not rely on externals to provide him with spiritual strength, for he knows: dependence on external factors - such as status, wealth, popularity, hedonism, success, knowledge and relationships - is the reason why modern man crumples so easily in the face of defeat, failure or loss.

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The sage is a loner. He avoids unnecessary contact with people. He does not feel at home with small talk. He abhors gossip. He avoids talking too much. Most people would probably find his company dull. Not that he would mind, for he is indifferent to his own popularity.

He moves in society without being immersed in it. He stands aloof from the conceptually fashionable. He does not become part of socially acceptable prejudices. He refuses to participate in the pretentious verbal exhibition of the latest in intellectual chic.

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The sage does not have the Western intellectual's desperate belief in the liberating power of knowledge. Knowledge, he instinctively knows, is just another form of bondage, just another commodity with which to parade one's superiority. It is just another means to control and to manipulate. As such, it is a form of power that has nothing to do with the bliss that comes when living in harmony with the Universe. Therefore the sage would rather sit in the shade of a beautiful tree, sipping wine in blissful union with his surroundings, than waste time in the hectic pursuit of knowledge that ultimately leads to greater bondage.

[That's why I don't study!]

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The sage understands that it is mostly futile to argue about imponderables. He realizes that our concepts of God are imperfect images created by our own minds. He would not argue about whether God exists or not. He knows that you cannot understand the incomprehensible and prove the unprovable. He accepts that man is partially blind, in particular to spiritual dimensions, and that arguing rarely increases man's ability to see more clearly.

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The sage is often not taken serious by "men of the world". Somebody who cares so little about material wealth could only be judged as inferior and foolish by a world intoxicated by material possession. Someone so untouched by hierarchical structures could only be a failure in the "age of the manager," which measures success by one's ability to manipulate and to rule. Someone who is honest and open can only be an imbecile to a world obsessed with devious manipulation and power.

Not for the sage the compulsive preoccupation with several problems simultaneously. He does not fret about his future strategies while frantically trying to deal with his immediate problems. He does not use his cellular phone while simultaneously eating and negotiating with someone across the table. Unlike your ambitious managerial type, he does one thing at a time, and enjoys doing it. He eats when he eats, sleeps when he sleeps, and enjoys company for the sake of company. He lives now and now only, for he knows the past is past and the future mere fiction.

He will only take upon him as much as he can handle without losing his compassion. He knows that being too busy inevitably leads to spiritual starvation and distress, and the loss of meaning to life.

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The sage avoids "managing" other people's lives, for he knows the world is a spiritual thing that should not be controlled or interfered with. He tries to restrict his own influence on others. He will rather suffer loss than manipulate others to reach his aims. Freedom to him has spiritual implications: it is to avoid any form of interference or manipulation. He therefore rejects the basic tenets of power. He prefers to be seen as a loser if success entails tampering with the lives and fates of others.

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The sage is honest in his relationships, never calculating. He does not flatter. He would treat his "superiors" with the same honesty than he would deal with his "colleagues" or "subordinates." He does not cringe when threatened, nor laugh ingratiatingly at the boss's jokes. He has no hidden self-promotional agendas. Responding to his natural impulses, he would spontaneously do what is virtuous, and instinctively avoid the false and the mean. He would participate in an organization and obey orders as far as they are of benefit to sentient beings, but he would go no further, no matter what it might cost him in terms of career, promotion or prestige. His incorruptibility is remarkable, for it springs from the inner strength of a person who has diminished his own ego to a degree where he has become independent of the judgement of society. He is essentially, genuinely anarchic: he is master of himself, and he will not be controlled by any system of power.

What the upwardly mobile person would find unforgivable in the sage is his lack of ambition. The sage avoids a life brimming over with goals and objectives, which he finds a hindrance rather than a help. He realizes that some goals might be essential for survival, and some might even be useful to make life pleasant. Most goals, however, do not give meaning to life. In fact, striving with great effort to reach numerous goals often destroys compassion as one becomes insensitive to the needs of others.

The sage instinctively avoids becoming too busy, which he sees as the worst form of laziness. Mostly, being too busy is nothing but the effort to sidestep the issues that really matter in your life. No matter how lofty or altruistic your goals might seem to be, being too busy is often a form of egomania, regularly accompanied by a martyr complex, in which the protagonist overtly or subtly displays how much he is "sacrificing" himself and "suffering" for "others" or for "the company" or some "worthy cause". Instead of giving meaning to your life, hyperactivity can create delusions which alienate you from your own self and increase your confusion.

Being too busy is like running fast without knowing where you are going. The sage refuses to run blindly in any direction. He moves at leisure with his eyes wide open, sensitive to the needs of living beings around him. Like the Good Samaritan, he will have enough time to help his fellow traveller lying, helpless, next to the road.

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By almost any Western standard, the sage qualifies as irreligious. Stale ritual has little meaning to him. Even if liturgy should be filled with emotion, the sage remains aloof and suspicious of it. Emotions come and go, and religions that depend on something so volatile as emotions usually forsake their followers when they need comfort most.

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The sage shuns competition, for it nurtures egotism, fosters brutality and justifies humiliation. The triumphant pose of the strutting victor is a sign of spiritual bankruptcy to the sage. The demonstratively humble acceptance of the prize, with the losers looking on in awe, is the pinnacle of vanity, and might corrupt even the purest of hearts.

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The sage has the tolerance of someone who knows his ideas are less important than his own well-being. He lives with the constant awareness that his convictions are not as precious as the well-being of others.

He has the patience of someone who knows his insights are limited and subject to continuous change.

He has the humility of someone who realizes what really matter are mostly beyond the grasp of mind and language.

Creating discord to defend your own limited vision is absurd to the sage who believes that harmony is the essence of meaningful life.

Therefore the sage does not take sides in intellectual pursuits.

He does not wear the colours of any sect or party.

He does not wave flags patriotically in the wind.

He does not sing anthems with tear-filled eyes.

He refuses to "die for his country".

He refuses to kill for some nationalistic cause, or in patriotic fervour, or to satisfy the greed of his rulers, or because he has fallen for some propaganda.

He is a true warrior. He would rather be declared a traitor than betray himself. He has conquered himself and therefore cannot be conquered.

Top 10 Signs of the Impending U.S. Police State

2006-06-08T15:24:00.000+12:00

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=UTH20060604&articleId=2574

The Internet Clampdown
"The Long War"
The USA PATRIOT Act
Prison Camps
Touchscreen Voting Machines
Signing Statements
Warrantless Wiretapping
Free Speech Zones
High-ranking Whistleblowers
The CIA Shakeup

Pressing buttons

2006-06-07T23:02:00.000+12:00

If there's one thing I seem to have a knack for, it's pressing people's buttons. I often find topics or comments which cause an emotional reaction in whoever I'm talking to, and then I try to find a reason for their reaction.

I do it not for the excitement of finding buttons to press, but for the purpose of finding a reason for the emotional reaction and pointing it out to them. If they're the slightest bit interested in learning about themselves and growing beyond those things that frustrate them (which are often reflected by emotional barriers of some kind) they'll see it for what it is, and understand that it's telling them a little bit more about themselves. If they're not interested, of course, then they won't bother looking at what they can learn from their emotions and the conversation. And that's ok too.

Most of our emotional reactions, our trigger points, are because our beliefs are being challenged. We might believe in something being a particular way, and we might even have valid justifications for our beliefs. But when someone challenges those beliefs and somehow points out that those beliefs might actually be incorrect, then we often feel challenged. As a result, we feel defensive. We feel that we must fight to hold onto our cherished beliefs, because our beliefs are all we have, and so we react by arguing about it, trying to prove the other person wrong and create validity in our beliefs.

Sometimes we react with violence when we think that words are not enough to make ourselves right. We are forced to keep the other person quiet, one way or another, in order to hold onto our beliefs.

A person willing to grow, willing to look at who they are and change what they don't like, will look at their trigger points as valuable signposts showing their weaknesses. The things that press buttons inside of them are reflections of inner issues that need to be looked at in order for them to grow beyond them.

Happiness comes as a result of having less issues to deal with in our minds, so the more we acknowledge and deal with those things that cause reactions in us, the happier we're going to end up being.

In my quest at helping people, 'pressing buttons' is something that seems to come naturally to me. Unfortunately, if a person isn't interested in dealing with their issues, and instead of trying to work past it they prefer keeping it, it can prevent any further dialogue or constructive attempts to move forward. Some people prefer keeping their issues so much that they'll decide that those issues are worth more than the relationships they have.

The problem with that however, is that the issues remain, while the only changes are pushing away those that care the most.

I tell myself every day that I 'follow the path of Love, Light and Truth'. The way I see it is that these things are of the utmost importance in everything I do. I must be truthful, with love and light in my heart. It's my duty to myself and those I care about. Many people don't want to hear the truth though. They prefer the truth be 'candied over' with politeness and political correctness. The truth only shows them the things they don't want to accept, so they avoid it, deny it, or remove it from their life.

Being truthful to those I care about has, on occasion, ended up with me in hot water, as they get upset or offended about either the honesty I express to them, or about the buttons that I press in them.

I actually don't want to change this part of myself though. I see a lot of value, and receive a lot of positive feedback, when I engage in 'button pressing' should it arise in deep conversations. People grow as a result of becoming aware of their emotional trigger points, and as they become aware of barriers to their growth. This helps them grow, and everyone feels great as a result.

I know that a big lesson for me in relation to this is learning to understand when I shouldn't move forward with the 'button pressing'. To change how I say things so that people become more reflective about themselves, rather than more defensive. It's what I need to learn. But pressing buttons is gonna stay.

If anyone is offended, angered or upset about what I do, it's ultimately a reflection of their own issues about what is being discussed. I can't let that stop me from continuing the path I'm on, of wanting to help people grow. I can only hope that those who recognise I care about them, will accept that, rather than think I'm purposefully trying to piss them off, which is not what it's about at all.

So how many 'pressure points' do you have? Do you have anyone in your life who presses your buttons? Instead of thinking about how 'evil' they are, instead look at what it is that really gets you hopping mad, and see if there's something there that you can work through. If you can see solutions to those issues, it's only going to help you be less mad in future.

Testing for humility

2006-06-06T09:06:00.000+12:00

You can test your own humility here. I took the test, and my results are:

Your score = 85

What does your score mean?
You are the humblest of the humble. According to your test results, you don't have an arrogant bone in your body. Maybe you just don't give a fig whether you impress others, or simply don't feel the need to toot your own horn. Hopefully, though, you really do like yourself! A lack of self-confidence can lead to all kinds of problems like depression, unhappy relationships and a fear of going after the things we really want. If you do have a high self-esteem but just prefer keeping that knowledge to yourself, good for you! Being humble is certainly more attractive than being cocky and full of yourself. The bottom line, which you seem to recognize, is: the way you feel about who you are is more important than what anyone else thinks.

6.6.06 - The end of the world?

2006-06-06T08:49:00.000+12:00

I'm sure you've heard the stories about 666 being the number of 'the beast', of the antichrist, or of the devil. There's stories that 6th of June, 2006, is when the antichrist makes his presence known, and it's the 'end of the world'.

Today is the 6th day of the 6th month in 2006. Right now, for me, in New Zealand. In America, it's still the 5th, and will be for quite a lot of hours yet. The 6th hasn't happened.

The question I have is....

If the end of the world happens here, which is the 5th in America, then that defeats the 'prophecy'. But if it happens on the 6th in America, then it'll be the 7th here, again thus defeating the 'prophecy'.

So which side of the world is it going to end? And does that mean only half the world will end on the 6th, in whichever timezone?

These are questions that haunt me, my friends.

But really, the absolute truth is this: Hundreds of thousands of people died yesterday of accidents, murders, nature or natural causes. Every day, the world ends for someone. Will the world end for you tomorrow?

I don't think it's a sign of Satan arising. I just think it's the natural order of things.

The Secret

2006-06-05T19:19:00.000+12:00

Deidre and I watched the documentary called The Secret on Saturday night. It's about the Law of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction is a universal law, which you might also know as 'like attracts like'. Whatever is on your mind is what becomes a reality in your life. As was said in the show, "Thoughts... become... things..." The trick is to think of things you want, instead of the things you don't want.

Most people, however, focus on those things they don't want. You know what I'm talking about. They want more money to get out of debt, 'cause all they can think of is the debt they're in. They want a new car, because all they can think about is how horrible their current car is. They want a new job, because they hate their current job.

But the more they FEEL the things they don't want, the more they KEEP what they don't want. And they get more of it!

Why is that?

It's because the universe is giving you those things you are passionate about. Even the things you don't like create passion in you, and the more energy you put into the things you don't want, the more the universe will give it to you. It thinks that the more passionate you are about something, the more you want it.

When you are passionate about those things you want, rather than those things you don't want, and when you can FEEL them, that's when the universe will give it to you.

That's the secret to life, and that's what The Secret is about. It's about the Law of Attraction, about understanding how it works, and how to make it work for you.

I realised over the past couple of days that I already practice the Law of Attraction, but I never knew it. But I also realised that I haven't been practicing it to the full extent of what's possible. I've always got what I wanted, when I really wanted it, I just didn't know I was using the Law of Attraction, and I didn't realise I could have gotten so much more.

At work, I've always gotten items like laptops and PDA's. This is because I've researched what I wanted, I looked at pictures, I visualised owning it, I felt the experience of owning it, and I worked on getting it from work in a way that would benefit both myself and them. Eventually, everything I've wanted has come to me.

It's the same as life. Know what you want, see it, feel it, believe it will be yours, and you will eventually get it in your life. The trick is to see it in your mind, feel the experience of having it, and believing that it will come to you.

See it.
Feel it!
Receive it.

Many professional athletes practice this already. They practice their sport in their minds. They see and feel it, and see and feel their success. They see and feel it so strongly that by the time they get out there to actually do it, it's easy for them to win the event because they've already seen themselves winning it! They believe it so strongly that the universe gives them what they want.

The universe will always give you what you ask for. You have to be clear with what you ask for though. If, in your mind, you see and feel only negative things around you, then that's what you will continue to experience. If all you see is debt, that's all you'll have. If all you see is pain and hardship, then that's all you'll get. If all you see is being single, then you'll always be single. If all you feel is anger for things around you, then that's all you'll continue to experience.

So Deidre and I have started a new path of visualising things, feeling them, and attracting them. We're going to be practicing this every day: visualising, feeling, seeing, and experiencing. We WILL attract to us those things that we really want.

That is the secret.

As part of what I realised this weekend, I've understood even further that my political commentary on this blog only helps to create more of what frustrates me. The more I focus on global injustice, the more I only promote global injustice. In order to change things in the world, I have to focus on what I want, rather than what I don't want. So if I want justice, or peace, then I need to focus on justice and peace, rather than on those things which reflect what I don't want.

So look at your life. Look at what makes you sad, angry, frustrated and unhappy, and realise that's what you're focusing on. Look at what you really want in life, and focus on those things. See them and feel them in your mind, and eventually you will see and feel them in your life.

That is the secret.

I'm going to be doing more of that.

Today we bought a new fridge and washing machine. It's what we've wanted for a long time, so today we got what we wanted. We haven't paid a cent for it. Not yet, anyway. ;-) But we're going to attract more money to us, in one way or another, so that what we've got today on credit will be covered by new income in the future. Even under current circumstances, if we didn't get any new income, we can see no problems occurring. We're not getting more debt. We're getting more things that we want and need, and attracting more prosperity into our lives.

You can do the same. Focus on what you want. See it, feel, it, live it. It will be yours.

Terrorism budget cuts because of admin punishments?

2006-06-03T12:58:00.000+12:00

The anti-terrorism budgets handed out by the Department of Homeland Security were cut by 40% because the city faxed their application instead of emailing it. So to punish NYC for their administrative error, their budget was cut by 40%. The faxed form was fine, nothing was wrong with it. Apparently, if they had sent it by email, they would have got 100% of their budget. But they were bad children, and so they must be punished by reducing the budget and letting terrorists have an easier time of attacking the city.

And I'm sure that the decision to reduce the budgets given to NYC and Washington DC - which also had its budget cut - weren't influenced at all by the fact that they're Democratic strongholds.

And I'm sure that the budget increases to other areas, as a result of the cuts in NYC and DC, had nothing to do with the upcoming elections, even though the areas that received budget increases are held by Republicans in danger of losing their seats. No, that anti-terrorism budget would have nothing to do with political desperation, I'm sure.

Because we all know that the US government is not corrupt, and has only the best interests of the people and the country at heart.

The Axis of Evil?

2006-05-30T18:04:00.000+12:00

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?

A day in the life of...

2006-05-28T18:01:00.000+12:00

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!

Procrastination dulls passion

2006-05-28T17:35:00.000+12:00

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'.

Iran vs. USA

2006-05-28T16:08:00.000+12:00

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.

PsyOps against Iran

2006-05-22T11:53:00.000+12:00

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.

'Wedding Plans' blog

2006-05-19T15:20:00.000+12:00

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.

War plans?

2006-05-12T14:53:00.000+12:00

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.

Life updates

2006-05-12T12:42:00.000+12:00

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.

Bush looking for another war

2006-05-12T11:54:00.000+12:00

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.

Bush declares 'fight against terror' is World War III

2006-05-06T18:32:00.000+12:00

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.

Eve Online: Adventures of Black Claw

2006-05-06T16:26:00.000+12:00

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.

Eve Online: Purify

2006-05-06T16:25:00.000+12:00

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...

10 tips to improve your business

2006-05-06T15:50:00.000+12:00

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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.

Changes within the US media

2006-05-06T13:15:00.000+12:00

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.

Wedding ideas and tips

2006-05-02T09:52:00.000+12:00

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. :-)

Americans, please help me understand

2006-05-02T09:50:00.000+12:00

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 quietly sets up his dictatorship

2006-05-01T11:11:00.000+12:00

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.

9 tips to work smarter, not harder

2006-04-30T17:32:00.000+12:00

Would you like to:

Decrease your work stress?
Get more done?
Be valued by your boss?

Then this article is for you.

Most people think that in order to get somewhere, they have to work hard. They're only partially right. While working hard can be a pathway to success, there are easier ways of doing it. This is called working smarter, not harder. And that's what we're going to talk about here.

Working harder is getting your head down and your bum up and doing more work than you usually do. This often creates more problems than what it solves, usually associated with stress. Working smarter, however, is finding strategies to get the work done without working harder. These strategies are usually designed to make your life easier, while giving you greater results.

If your work is task-oriented, then you might not find much value in this article, but even task-oriented work can be done smarter rather than harder. However, the greatest value in working smarter comes with results-oriented work. This is where the results are more important than how you get them.

Analyse the work that you do.
What do you have to do now? What can wait until later? If you
prioritise what's important, you can get them done without needing to
get stressed doing something that's become urgent because you've waited
until the last minute.
Learn to delegate.
Some of what you do can be given to someone else to do. You don't need to be a manager to delegate work. If there's someone around you that has the time and the knowledge to do some of your work, pass it onto them. Being part of a team is not just about being available for others, it's also about handing around the work that the team can help you do.
Learn to say no.
If someone wants you to do something, and you simply have no time to do it, say NO. Tell them that you've got more than enough on your plate already, and they'll have to find someone else to do it. Or, if they're your manager, you can give them the option of deciding what task you're working on that can wait for this new task to be done. Don't overload yourself, say no to extra work.
Schedule appointments with yourself.
Book a meeting with yourself to do something that needs doing. Being in a meeting makes you unavailable to others, so you will have the time and the space to get it done.
Aim for results, not neatness.
If you worry too much about how something looks, you can lose track of what's important. And what's important isn't the appearance, but the result of the work you're doing. The appearance can be worked on later, if it's that important. Focus on the result first.
Be aware of your value.
You were hired to fill a position for a reason, usually because of your skills and your experience. The company you work for values this enough to pay you for it each week; you are an investment to them. They would rather not lose their investment. As long as you are achieving the results that you were hired to achieve, they will be happy with what you're doing, and will contine to support their investment - you. Worrying about your job security is only recommended if you're not doing your job! This is why you should work smarter, not harder, so that they will always be happy with what you do.
Be proactive and display initiative.
Your company would love you to value them too, and to think of ways you can help improve the company and the way things are done. If you find something that needs doing, do it (as long as you have the time to). If you have an idea for how something can be improved, present it. You'll show yourself as a valuable asset to the company.
Take time out for yourself.
This is probably the most important part of your work - time for yourself. Many companies want you to work for them 120% of your time, but if you leave nothing for yourself, you have an imbalance which adds to the stress. Google, for example, provide every one of their employers with one day each week where they can work on their own projects. You need to work on your own projects too. If you get the results your company wants from you, they really won't mind. And if they do mind, then find another company. The brain works best when it's relaxed, not stressed.
Be a miracle worker.
Scotty, Captain Jim Kirk's Chief Engineer, would multiply the actual time it would take to do something by 3, so that when he did it in a third of that time, he was considered a 'miracle worker'. If you know something will take 1 day to do, tell them it'll take 3 days. If you do it in 2 days, they'll think you've worked incredibly hard to get it done, even though you know you took your time. You'll get the reputation of being a 'miracle worker' by giving yourself plenty of time to do it, and you do it without stress. Everyone wins.

I hope you find increased enjoyment in your work by using these tips to your advantage. Focus on the results, and your boss will love you. Look after yourself along the way and you'll love your job.

A friend's wedding

2006-04-30T13:00:00.000+12:00

My very good friend Vicki was married yesterday to her new husband, Alan. (Good men share a good name. Hehehe.) Deidre and I were there, enjoying the ceremony and reception, and I took over 200 photos.

They had an 'official' photographer who was a friend who offered to take the photos for free. I was their unofficial backup. Which was good, 'cause the other guy seemed to hang around at the back of the church, while I was up the front from all kinds of different angles, getting all the good shots. The other guy was there for photos between the ceremony and reception, but then he disappeared and was never seen again. So it's a good thing I continued getting all the good photos.

I'll be putting them up on a website somewhere, so guests, etc, can see samples and then choose to buy those they want to. I'll put some of the best in my own photo blog as well.

A new vacuum cleaner

2006-04-29T22:49:00.000+12:00

Due to Deidre's allergies, and how badly they're affected by the house we're in, we agreed to 'invest' in her health. As a result, I bought a secondhand Kirby vacuum cleaner. It's a model that I used to sell from 1990 - 92, but the real value of it is that it really cleans the carpets and gets the dirt and dust out of them (as well as lounge suites, curtains, beds and pillows, and all kinds of other stuff). I'm hoping that Deidre's health will improve as a result of the new, super-charged cleaning I'll be doing.

Two years of selling them, and cleaning other people's houses while trying to sell them, makes me an expert on using them. They're a pleasure to use! And now we have one of our own.

Are you a wimp around women?

2006-04-28T15:44:00.000+12:00

Please visit this article's new location. Thank you.

A new Star Trek movie!

2006-04-22T20:03:00.000+12:00

This is exceptional news! Star Trek XI is soon going to be made, directed by the same guy who created Lost. The story is going to apparently centre on the early days of Kirk and Spock, when they met and went on their very first mission.

Wooohooo! I'll be following this with great interest!

What would you do?

2006-04-22T17:30:00.000+12:00

Imagine you met someone from the future who travelled back in time to tell you that 20 years from now:

The 'Long War' had gone on for over 20 years, and the US was losing
Muslims had nuked Israel out of existence and ruled the Middle East
Muslims everywhere had risen up against non-Muslims, and as a result:

Europe was under Muslim law and called Eurasia
Some cities in the US had been nuked
Russia had taken advantage of the US withdrawals from Europe and taken back its old regions
China hada taken advantage of the US withdrawals from asia and taken over the asian region

The US was losing, and the problem was because they weren't brutal enough. The Muslims were brutal, and weren't afraid of dying, and as a result, they were winning.

What would you do now, if you knew that this was the future that would happen?

Those delusional, idiotic right-wing Americans

2006-04-22T17:12:00.000+12:00

I posted the below comment on a blog post over here. It's such a shame that stupid right-wing commenters prefer hiding their heads in the sand. I posted this comment, which the loser deleted, 'cause he obviously doesn't want to debate the truth. Hey, I know people can delete any comments they like, but he asked for left wingers to comment, but then deletes their comments, while continuing to ask for them to comment. Like most right-wingers, he wants to stifle debate and hide the truth, suppressing the very freedoms they say they promote. Fracking idiots, the lot of 'em.

I'll ignore the insults, as I'd like to think that you're more intelligent than someone who uses insults to disguise their lack of intelligence. That can't be you, right?

Now, IF Clinton authorised the handing over of nuclear detonator blueprints to Iran, then that can certainly lead to interesting consequences. However... IF that is true, why isn't this information presented by the Bush administration as evidence? Why is all their so-called 'evidence' simply conjecture based on fears? The statement of someone's opinion in a book doesn't make it true, and the Bush administration isn't using that to back up their statements. All the Administrations' statements are based on suspicion and fear, without any evidence.

Expressing one's fears and paranoia doesn't make the subject of such fear and paranoia real. Evidence is what makes it real, and so far, there's been no evidence. Just like there's been no evidence of WMDs before and since the invasion of Iraq.

Which leads onto the next part of this debate, which IS still related to the Clinton issue.

Why do you, and other right wingers, prefer to latch onto issues that aren't real, in order to justify the actions of someone who is leading you into war with country after country, for no other reason than the expression of their fears? Why is it so hard for you to look at the illegal and immoral actions of the Bush administration, and so easy to divert attention to other people or events - like the Clinton conjecture - which may or may not have happened?

Why do you feel the need to justify Bush's activities by diverting attention from them? Why are you supporting something that is so obviously wrong, by pointing to other people who may or may not have done something wrong? There's no evidence apart from a single person's opinion in a book, and you're latching onto it as if it justifies everything that Bush is doing. By diverting attention from Bush's actions, it's as if you recognise it's a 'crime' and you feel the need to be complicit in the conducting of such crimes.

What about the evidence of Bush conducting illegal operations and activities, for no justification other than fear, with no real results other than the subjugation of your own freedoms?

Bush tells you that you must lose your freedom in order to keep your freedom, and you don't see the idiocy behind it! "Yes master, I'll give you all my freedom and become a slave, so that you can tell me I'm free. So that I can go only where you want me to go. So that I can do only what you want me to do. So that I can say only what you want me to say." And you call that freedom?

The more the US acts against 'terrorism', which is only becoming more prominent due to the US military actions in foreign countries, the more terrorism there's like to be. The more people you kill, the more you'll have rising up to avenge their deaths. There's no solution to this, other than to stop doing what it is that's causing it

Bush is actively creating the war that he allegedly wants to stop. "To stop people rising up to avenge the deaths of their loved ones, I'll kill more of their loved ones!" Sure, that'll work. Not.

Clinton started it close to a decade ago. Or did he? Wasn't it Rumsfeld, in the 80's, who went to Iraq and gave them chemical weapons to use against Iran? 'The ally of my enemy is my enemy.' The US went to war against Iran 20 years ago, by helping Saddam attack them. The person directly responsible for that is now your Secretary of Defense, who is responsible for planning attacking Iran... And so the war continues.

Your tirades about those against Bush don't change the fact that Bush is not acting in your best interests. The more you rant and rave about how wonderful Bush is, the more people are being killed by him, and thus by you because of your support. The more you support such actions, the more those who are being killed by you are going to want you dead. You're involved in a war of your own creation, and you're a participant by supporting it.

Do me the favour of responding with maturity.

Well, he showed he's obviously not mature. Case rested.

A Sound of Thunder

2006-04-22T15:00:00.000+12:00

The other day I watched a movie called A Sound Of Thunder. It was a sci-fi movie based on Robert Heinlein's short story of the same name. Unfortunately, there was a lot wrong with the movie that didn't need to be.

1) The special effects mostly sucked!
These were the worst special effects I've seen in a movie in a long time... the computer graphics representing a city in 2050 were no more special than what you would expect on an expensive television advertisement. They weren't much better than a computer game's graphics. Pathetic. The creature effects weren't much different, although they were marginally better than the environment graphics.

2) The machinations of time travel sucked!
There was an explanatioin that changes in the past resulted in 'ripple effects', where those changes went travelled forward in time and changed everything in the future as a result of the change that occurred in the past. *coughbullshitcough* These changes occurred a bit at a time, where first the weather changed, then the plant life changed, and then the animal life changed, and then the humans would change. *coughbullshitcough* This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

The original short story (frack knows why they didn't just stick to the original concept!) had the changes occur like this... You go back in time and change something. You return to where you came from. You find that the world you remember is now different, because of the change you made.

I'm sure that the reason the movie screwed this up was so that they could have Jurassic Park-like effects, with strange creatures chasing people around in the present day, without having the people change until the last moments.

3) The theory of time travel sucked!
Due to the ripple effects within the movie, they discovered that they couldn't travel back beyond the time location of the next approaching ripple. So they instead theorised that if they travel back to hundreds of years before the change occurred, they could then 'slingshot' forward to where the change occurred. *coughbullshitcough* If they could travel back to hundreds of years before the change, they could frackin' travel back to where the change occurred!

Ludicrous bullshit that made no sense, on top of bad special effects, made this movie a waste of time. Which was a real pity, because the story and the concept were excellent.

I'll take this opportunity to say that the theory of time travel behind this story is one that I absolutely don't believe is possible. This theory of time travel is such that you could go back and kill your mother before you were born, therefore preventing you from going back and killing your mother before you were born.... A paradox without resolution.

The only theory that makes sense is the 'alternate reality' theory. This is the one where if you go back in time to kill your mother before you were born, then a new reality branches off from that point which doesn't include your birth. This reality is then that much different without you having an effect on it. You would exist in it only as the time traveller who went back in time to prevent yourself being born. Since you now exist in a reality where you were never born, which is different to the reality you came from, you can never return to your own reality.

Any attempt to go back in time to change the past, or even to leave behind evidence of your presence, would immediately create a new reality where such things happened. If we, in our reality, ever find evidence of time travel to the past, then it could only mean that our reality is the result of that change.

I don't think the evidence of time travel will ever be found in our reality. I also don't think that any time travel experiments will be successful. I believe the only success will be when they can work out how to detect and travel to the alternate realities. That will be the only way they can monitor the results of changes to reality, by making the change and then detecting the reality that resulted from that change, and seeing how things turned out.

I can also imagine that it would lead to exploitation. If you have the ability to change reality and then see the results of that change in a reality that's not your own, you can experiment with anything you like. You can create realities based entirely on your desire to see the results of chemical, biological or nuclear warfare or experimentation. The possibilities are endless, as there is no limit to the number of realities that can exist, and the number of possibilities to explore.

Technology like this would be hundreds, if not thousands of years in the future. It would make humanity 'gods', able to monitor a reality and manipulate events within it, with each manipulation creating new realities.

How do we know that 'God' wasn't actually a highly advanced race or being that technologically manipulated our own race, and the result is legends of God that we have today.

Anyway... A Sound of Thunder wasn't worth watching. Don't see it, you won't miss anything.

It's a small world

2006-04-22T11:32:00.000+12:00

Deidre and I went to look at a rental property this morning, to see if it's somewhere we'd like to move to. The place was nice, and we'll be taking it if the landlord decides we're the ones he wants.

And that's where the small world comes into it...

The landlord is an ex manager from where I work, who I used to have a good rapport with. "Oh God, not you," he said today, when he recognised me. The rapport was still there. And then, it turns out that the current tenants are also people I know, who are good friends with one of my good friends! "He's getting the place," he said to the landlord when he recognised me. We all had a good laugh. The landlord reminded us that he was committed to seeing a whole bunch of other people as well, but he didn't worry about the rental reference we had. "I don't need that," he said. We left with a good feeling, not only about the place, but about our chances.

It's funny, but Lee Pletzer has been looking around for a place for over a week now. We look at one place, and get these things happen to us... Maybe not funny for Lee though... (Sorry Lee!) But I better not count the chickens before they've hatched. We don't have the place yet, we just have the good feeling. So we'll see.

UPDATE: We didn't get the place. Interesting coincidences, but nothing else. Ah well...

Handling her male friends

2006-04-21T12:08:00.000+12:00

Please visit this article's new location. Thank you.

Dating and relationships

2006-04-21T09:35:00.000+12:00

My posts and articles on dating and relationships seem to be enjoying a lot of interest. As a result of this, I've subscribed to some RSS feeds of various sources to inspire me to write more such articles, but with my own perspective.

Many writers and sites offer advice on dating and relationships from the female's point of view, and many men think that if they understand what females are writing about, in relation to their wants, needs, likes and dislikes, then they'll understand women more and be better able to relate to them, thus ensuring more successful dates or relationships.

Unfortunately, this is completely wrong.

Most women don't really know what they want. You hear it all the time. "I just want a nice guy who'll treat me with respect," they cry out, sobbing, on the shoulder of the nice guy who's always there for them but completely invisible to their wants and needs.

It's the guys that don't treat them with respect that they're often attracted to, not because of the lack of respect, but because of other qualities that those 'jerks' have.

Challenging. Confident. Funny. Mysterious. Sexually appealing.

Nice guys often don't have those qualities, and so they're the ones often losing out.

The perspective that I write about is: how to be challenging, confident, funny, mysterious, and sexually appealing, without being a jerk. You'll find such articles in the dating and relationships categories. And due to their popularity, and my own passion in encouraging men to be themselves (instead of what they think women want them to be), I'll be writing a lot more dating and relationship articles from now on.

Let's talk about engagements

2006-04-21T09:23:00.000+12:00

It was a very enjoyable Easter weekend... Meeting Lee Pletzers and his wife, getting engaged, calling all our friends and family with the good news, and catching up with people we haven't talked to in a while, and talking about / planning our engagement party and wedding.

It's been enjoyable, but boy, are there going to be some interesting times ahead!

This is my second engagement, but the first time I've actually asked someone to marry me. The first time I was engaged was with Michelle, back in 2000. She actually asked me to marry her, and then she went and bought an engagement ring the same day. I thought, at the time, that we were in love, and that she was just excited, and that she was non-traditional.

However, the truth was that she was suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder, which affected a whole lot of her judgements and attitudes. I was naive at the time, and thought that she just was extremely excited about life. How wrong I was.

Not only was I naive, I was also extremely weak and insecure. I thought that when she was having her mood swings that she was just highly emotional, and that things would get better if I just hung in there. I thought that she was needing my support, and with enough support, she'd get through all the difficulties that she was having, and things would be so much better on the other side of those difficulties.

I was wrong though. Throughout her extreme highs and her extreme lows, the more I tolerated her actions, the more she did them. The more she did them, the more I felt responsible for them. In the end, it was just a horrible situation that I was so extremely glad to be out of.

My second engagement is so much different. I've been with Deidre 15 months now. She's proven herself to be more alive to me than anyone else has been, and has become closer to me than anyone else I've ever been close to. She's been the one who has most inspired me to grow, and who has herself been inspired by me to grow. We have been growing together for over a year now, and the time was right for us to move forward with a more serious commitment to each other.

And so I asked her to marry me.

Ever since then, the really cool thing has been that Deidre has become so much happier, and felt so much more stable and secure. For me, it's like a major step has been reached and passed, and we've become a lot closer for it.

Now we're planning the engagement party and moving foward with the wedding plans too... At this stage, the engagement party is going to be in May sometime, and the wedding is probably going to be around September 2007. Because of the fact that all our family and friends are scattered across Australia and New Zealand, deciding where to have it has been the most interesting aspect of the plan. We're leaning towards New Zealand at this stage, mainly because it's easier to plan something in the place you're living. Cheaper too.

You will, of course, be updated as things move forward.

We're both pretty excited about it all, as you would probably expect. :-)

Some facts about Iran

2006-04-18T09:12:00.000+12:00

Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
The NPT gives every state the right to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes
As a member of the NPT, Iran is submitted to regular inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
There has been no evidence found by anyone, anywhere, including the IAEA, that Iran is developing nuclear weapons
In 2006 Iran resumed its nuclear energy program, according to its right as a signatory to the NPT
India, Pakistan and Israel are NOT members of the treaty
India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons, while the Israeli government refuse to confirm or deny they also have them

For the US to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear energy is illegal, according to the NPT that they are all signatories to. But when has international law and treaty membership stopped the US?

Remember, there has been no evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

So what does it all mean, really?

It means there's a Bush Administration that wants to lie their way into another war, by planting false information into the media and American people about Iran, in order to obtain support for another war. Nothing new really.

Except this time I expect America is going to get a few nasty surprises when they realise the repercussions of such actions.

Day after engagement

2006-04-17T09:04:00.000+12:00

After enjoying a nice breakfast delivered to our hotel room, relaxing during and after it, we then packed up and went for a walk. Here are some random photos for you.

I'm engaged now!

2006-04-16T00:36:00.000+12:00

I'm writing this from a hotel room where Deidre and I are staying for the night. It's a special night. This is how special...

About a month ago or more, we started searching for an engagement ring. About 3-4 weeks ago we found a ring that she liked, which was one I actually picked out for her to try on. It was a gold ring though, and she preferred it to be in white gold. So we asked for a quote, and I gave my name and number for them to call.

A few days later, they called and told me the price. It was more than what the gold ring was, but still 'within budget', so to speak. I got them to go ahead with the order. I told Deidre, however, that it was too expensive and we need to continue looking. She was very disappointed, as you would expect, but we continued looking for a ring.

When I got them to go ahead with the order, I also called Deidre's father, and asked him if he minded me asking his daughter to marry me. He didn't mind at all, and was 'tickled pink' that I'd done the traditional thing and asked him.

I got the ring almost two weeks ago, but Deidre and I continued to 'look for a ring'. Tonight, however, was the night. I had booked the hotel room 3 weeks ago, around the same time that I confirmed the go ahead on the ring, along with dinner and breakfast.

Deidre thought we were just doing dinner, but that was just the beginning. Earlier today I checked in to the room and set it up a little, putting the ring onto a dark cushion on the bed, so it would be seen when we entered the room. After dinner, which was nice and romantic, I took Deidre to the room, which was also a surprise to her.

In the room, I waited for her to see the ring, but she didn't, so I got impatient and picked it up, held her close, looked into her eyes, and asked her to marry me, while holding the ring for her to see.

"Oh my God!" was repeated a few times, before she finally said "Yes!"

Needless to say, we're both very happy!

So now I better get back to her... she's watching tv while I'm doing this post. Not very good form to keep her waiting too long now, is it?

Oz Wedding

2006-04-15T18:05:00.000+12:00

Back in February, 17th - 21st, Deidre and I went to Sydney for a wedding of one of her cousins. I've FINALLY got the photos of that period up. Please click on Photo Blog at the top of the page to access the Oz Wedding photos.

I know it's taken me a long time to put them on here. Thank you for your patience.

Life Through My Eyes

Changing blogs

To my soul mate

It has begun...

Congress allows George Bush to enact martial law

More of those silly Republicans

Surprise of a lifetime

Wedding update

Interesting times ahead

What's your talent?

Update on work

Anniversary of 9/11

Solutions Design Specialist

I'm depressed

Who really controls America?

The wise man

Articles are back to normal

Heal yourself first

The new war that can't be won

Being sick sucks

No more anonymous users

Geisha's collar

More on connecting the dots

Think about the dots

Anndion Lodge, Wanganui

7 August - Wanganui

Photos - Wanganui, day one

Going on a mini holiday

Top 10 reader's cities

When will the war on terror end?

New writing style

How do you find what you love to do?

Values in relationships

10 reasons you should never have a job

Donate if you have found value here

I'm getting married! Donations welcome

Middle East - the war begins

Reasonable action?

ITIL Service Management

Bird Flu pandemic preparations

Consider the lies

10 tips to boost your confidence

Manage your email better

Photo Blog

8 Things every blogger needs to understand

Blogspot Emoticons

My Sunday, lovely Sunday

Is it a dream....

My personality

A question for Americans...

A funny thing is happening...

Happy Anniversary!

It's been a little slow...

The secret to a rewarding life

The sixth sense

Our engagement party!

Giving

Thinking like God

Making the Law of Attraction work for you

News - real or imagined?

US Foreign Policy - 1945 to 1999

The Warrior Sage

Top 10 Signs of the Impending U.S. Police State

Pressing buttons

Testing for humility

6.6.06 - The end of the world?

The Secret

Terrorism budget cuts because of admin punishments?

The Axis of Evil?

A day in the life of...

Procrastination dulls passion

Iran vs. USA

PsyOps against Iran

'Wedding Plans' blog

War plans?

Life updates

Bush looking for another war

Bush declares 'fight against terror' is World War III

Eve Online: Adventures of Black Claw

Eve Online: Purify