S.o.A.
Sons of Anarchy

The Syrian Orthodox Church was established by St.Peter, the chief of the Apostles and the first patriarch in AD 37 at Antioch (now Antakya in Turkey). The church suffered all kinds of tortures and hardships from all quarters right from its establishment, but its flag still soars high. Today the church is spread around the globe spanning 27 countries headed by a patriarch residing at Damascus in Syria.

 

Generous hands are Blessed hands.

Proverbs 22:9-10

 

It is unfortunate that anarchy is regarded as a purely negative thing. I've met several anarchists and they aren't bomb wielding maniacs with agendas to take us back to the Dark Ages. Instead they are against the old forms of government. Ever since the end of World War Two Nazi propaganda tactics have been combined with Freudian psychology to sell us a certain reality tunnel. Education and the mass media have been as much as turning citizens into placid robots as it has been about opening up the potential of the human mind for thought, expression and powerful intuition.

Academia is horribly slow in catching up. It is almost a rule that any break-through in the sciences will only become orthodoxy after being ridiculed by the presiding generation of professors. None of Einstein's revered peers endorsed his radical new theories of the space-time continuum. At the end of Einstein's life when he was placed as the leading mind of his age he too ridiculed the theories of new up and coming physicists that have since Einstein's passing become universally accepted.

Sons of Anarchy advocate a breaking down of the barriers of authority and the systems of repression built into state education programs. We reject the agenda foisted upon us by the mass media. We look to the fringes, the outsiders and the visionaries who now seem mad, but in the future will be revered. Most of all we reject the asymmetry of information that helps the ruling elite hide the true reality of how they are exploiting and cheating the masses. For example, why is that democrats argue with republicans and socialists with capitalists over the spending of tax money? They are hijacking the debate when what we should be continually asking is how much of my tax dollar is being given in contracts to the military-industrial complex? You moan about asylum seekers and Mexicans and any vulnerable outsider but how much of your tax dollar really goes to these people? How much goes to people who are already impractically rich? Are you stupid enough to imagine that they will let you join their ranks or that the over time you put in at work will really change your position in society?

It is only by a clear presentation of the facts that matter and the subsequent ground swell of desire for change will things ever get better. Every day the news should remind us that there is no such thing as an 'eco car' and that carbon levels have reached critical levels. Instead they tell us about some stupid little rally on the stock market.

A true anarchists loves the people and wants to see real democracy - the will of the people represented and carried out by the people and a total removal of the systems of nescience that maintain the position of an unworthy ruling elite. Every man can be a ruler.

 

Health and Human Behaviour

Health is known to be related to foods we eat. We now have “new” conditions such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). How closely related to diet are these conditions? New evidence would suggest that the foods we feed our children play a crucial role in certain chronic conditions, e.g. Type 2 Diabetes as well as behavioural issues.

Therefore rather than feeding our young people with highly processed foods stripped of any real nutrition, perhaps we should be looking towards a whole foods diet that is rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. Juicers such as the Omega VRT350HD provide an easy way to create large quantities of nutritious fruit and vegetable juices in a short space of time.

Interestingly enough, there are further links to diet and behaviour of young offenders.

One of the secrets of controlling violent young offenders in prison is being unlocked. Researchers are looking at whether diet is as important as discipline. Fish oil and vitamin supplements, seem to have had a dramatic effect on behaviour at three prisons.

- HEALTH / CRIME: Young offenders: diet and nutrition tests

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An International War – The German Jihadists

To the security agencies around the world this comes as no surprise, but for ordinary Europeans it will seem very disturbing.  The fact that the conflict in Syria has so many sides and many of them contain fighters from Europe.  It has been confirmed this week that German jihadists are fighting now against the Syrian regime – an estimation from the interior ministry put the figure at between 30 and 100 fighters.

It is surprising in another sense as most Governments have been reluctant to confirm that fighters from European democracies are actively participating in the Syrian conflict.  The Interior minister Han-Peter Friedrich admited that it was of great concern to the German government.  The interview took place with the news site Spiegel Online – although you will need access to a German proxy or VPN server to access it outside the country – there’s one here.

The opposition in Syria has been calling out across the world for combat trained individuals with connections to Syria to return to join the fight.  The conflict has even been called a holy war in order to attract religious extremists and the jihadists.  Germany is certainly not alone and there are many people from other European nations now in Syria fighting against the regime.  The majority it is estimated come from Britain, France and Ireland.

Some studies have suggested that there several thousand European nationals in Syria at the moment although most of them won’t be actively involved in the conflict.  The concern is that extremists are being drawn into the conflict and that increases the threat of terrorism.

It is also a worry for outside nations about what sort of Government will be left in Syria when the war ends. If the influx of jihadist fighters is too significant, the country may end up with some extremist religious leadership which may even be linked to current terrorist groups like the Taliban. 

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Iran Blocks More VPNs

People all over the world use proxies and VPNs for a variety of reasons.  Their ability to obscure your IP address is fairly well known, and many surfers simply use them to access resources online.  There’s a whole mini-industry set up for people to watch UK TV online or access Hulu from outside the US for example, simply by using these servers.  The VPN has an additional advantage where all the communication is encrypted and thus safe from the many prying eyes on the internet.

However obviously many countries are not too impressed with these security servers particularly as they bypass their own spying, blocking and censoring software.  Iran is the latest country to attempt to block all these VPN services except the Government approved ones.  These are of course the ones the Iranian Government operate and are able to monitor and filter at will.

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme Cyberspace Council (anyone else think this sounds stupid!), announed that although users would be able to purchase the Government approved VPN services, all the others were now deemed illegal.  It’s actually not that easy to block these services though so expect there to be a certain amount of chaos for anyone operating within Iran.

We’re already hearing stories of foreighn companies having difficulties in communication.  The problem is that VPNs are legitimately used by the majority of companies across the world – to access banking systems, connect to company networks or email systems.  Blocking these takes a country back into the dark ages with regards technology which is perhaps where the Iranian Government would be happier anyway.

Expect lots of other websites and services like Skype to be blocked, plus lots of other online services.  These will inevitably be affected as ports are blocked to prevent access to VPN servers.  Their main target is of course protestors and polictical opponents  and it’s no coincidence the lockdown is happening prior to the elections in June.

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The Power of Micro Bloggers in China

We all know that China is determined to control and restrict it’s people’s access to the internet.  No other country has gone even close to the extremes of patrolling and censoring the web that currently happens in China.  There is of course the famous Great Firewall of China which blocks access to any site or content no acceptible to the Chinese Authorities.   Twitter, Facebook and a host of social networking sites that allow unrestricted communication are obviously blocked.  An army of internet police patrol the electronic ether encouraging citizens to report each other whilst initimidating individuals who speak their mind with violence and threats.  There are even a host of paid bloggers and commentators who jump in forums and discussion boards to steer conversations towards the party lines!

But of course it doesn’t work, the paid bloggers are teased or ignored, the restrictions are bypassed, technical circumventions like using VPNs to obtain a US IP address all part of a standard Chinese internet set up.  The problem is that it is virtually impossible to maintain access to the internet for a country as big as China and fully control everything that is said online.   One of the most popular sites in China is the micro blogging site Sino Weibo which people use in much the same way as Twitter is used in the rest of the world.  The censorship is still maintained but the volume of traffic on these sites is impossible to control completely with most bloggers finding ways to bypass the built in content filters.

The power is there for all to see, Government building projects and policies have all been dropped or amended due to outcrys from the blogosphere.  Millions of Chinese are difficult to ignore even in a big brother state like China, when the truth gets out there the authorities have little choice but to listen.  Many Government officials like Yang Dacai have also had their careers cut short by the people power of the internet.  Yuan was photographed smiling next to a particularly bad traffic accident in the press and immediately found himself a target.  China is full of greedy and corrupt officials and the internet is the perfect place to expose them.

Over the next few weeks pictures of this particular official where distributed far and wide across China,  in them he was wearing a wide array of extremely expensive watches.  Some of the watches he was wearing where worth many times his official salary.  Millions discussed this topic online, an investigation followed and a couple of months later he had lost his job.  Chinese officials have now become very careful about wearing any obvious shows of wealth when in public! 

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Syrian War Goes Digital

The fighting in Syria moved online last month, for several days the plug was pulled on the internet.  For the opposition it meant a huge blow to the communication networks they had build up via forums, Facebook and Twitter.  However it also halted the upload of YouTube videos and other methods of showing the world the atrocities being committed by the government against the Syrian people.

It also affected aid work as their communication networks also relied on the internet to exchange information.  The rebels only started to push forward when the internet block was lifted although there is obviously a very real threat that the blackout will happen again.

When the internet was closed down many tried different methods to bypass it.  Traditionally activists have used methods like VPNs and proxies like these - http://www.theninjaproxy.org/ however these are only effective via content filters and firewalls.  When the plug is pulled there is very little you can do to circumvent other than try and use alternatives like land lines.

Google actually started up an old service which was used during the Egyptian uprising.  It was called Speak2Tweet and enabled people to dial a number outside Syria, record a message which would be posted automatically on Twitter.  Unfortunately it was of limited use mainly because it was actually very difficult even to make landline calls to anywhere outside the Syrian borders.

People tried using satellie phones if they had access to them however even these had limited success.  Noone is quite sure what the problem with these were, but it appears some sort of jamming was being used at least in strongholds of the government.  Similar problems were reported by aid agencies and journalists who routinely used this technology.

The cyber war continued when the internet was restored to Syria – a series of malware attacks hit the activists.  Basically a remote access trojan was concealed in a widely distributed file.  This file purported to list all the people wanted by the Government in Damascus, but was merely a trick.

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Notes on Anarchy

The common notion of ’anarchy’ is the breakdown in law and order. People imagine a state of anarchy to be one of riots, rapes, arson – a general free for all where the weak get trampled by the vicious. It is interesting that the mass media and education has been able to successfully instill these preconceptions in people’s minds. The average person is neither a saint nor an angel, they probably are not rapacious looters and thugs, but that is what people think of their neighbors apparently!

Anarchy is a state where central government does not exist. At the same time the enforcing arms of government  – the army and the police do not exist. This is not so hard to imagine. If you go trekking in the Himalayas in Nepal, Bhutan or Tibet you will notice that most of the country is actually free of police, government officials etc. Are these people killing each other? No.

In Thailand on many of the small islands such as Koh Phayam and even on many beaches in Koh Phangan such as Haad Yao and Thong Nai Pan Yai there is 1 policeman at most. He is hardly, if ever seen. I have lived in Thailand for several years and the only bit of law enforcement I have seen a Thai policeman do is to collect a ’fine’ that was probably never handed in.

The truth is that real communities have their own customs, traditions and moral standards and they are able to enforce these standards without outside interference. This is particularly true of small communities. It thus seems apparent that the modern apparatus of government and enforcement is really a function of the urban milieu. Moreover, as inequalities mount between the haves and have-nots the only way to protect the property and wealth of the rich is through government and law. Proudhon said ’property is theft’, and he was right when one man owns everything and the rest are starving. Somewhere in history that one man or his forefathers has stolen the land from the forefathers of those now in penury around him.

It is something to think about.

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A True American Rebel!

When I read about men and women that have devoted their lives to a worthy cause, I’ve got to admit that it often makes me feel quite inadequate. These people regularly take on authority, seemingly without a second thought for their own personal safety or freedom. The depth of their spirit seems unlimited and it often makes me wonder what it is that sets these people apart from the rest of us mere mortals?

Oh how I would love to be more like them, but it is just not in my nature. I am by design a law abiding citizen, someone for who civil disobedience is an anathema. I’m not saying I wouldn’t love to be at the head of a mass demonstration, or lead a picket line against a tyrannical boss, but my natural inclination is to toe the line, which means I tend not to get involved.

Recently I was trying to think of a time when the rebel in me had seen the light of day, and I’m embarrassed to say that those times have been few and far between. I do remember one time though, a few days after I’d just bought the best electric shaver I could afford. I woke up late that day and in my rush to get dressed and ready for work, I left home without taking a shave! Not much in comparison to some peoples achievements, but for an entire working day the rebel inside me swelled with pride for at least 9 hours!

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Brutal Syrian Presidents Scandalous Emails

The Syrian government of late has made it very hard for fans of freedom to express themselves without serious consequences.  This makes the recent release of emails taken from the Syrian presidents account particularly irksome.

While his government does everything it can to maintain power, he continues his daily life as normal.  For the citizens protesting against his regime, this must be absolutely galling!  The emails have revealed scantily clad images of a girl with long black hair, something that is certain to outrage Syria’s more pious citizens even more than his outrageous abuses of the citizenry.

As he continues to oppress his people, the nation of Syria continues its’ descent into downright anarchy.  The outside world watches helplessly as he – with continued support from a couple of major UN security council members – continues his activities without sanction.

Our thoughts and prayers go the oppressed and dying in Syria, and we hope that someday soon their situation changes for the better!

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Ayn Rand and Anarchy

It is interesting to note that the present coterie of powerful , bankers, political advisors, share brokers and analysts that congregate in Wall Street and Washington espouse a form of right wing Republicanism that they claim is partly inspired by the writings of Ayn Rand. She was a Russian born novelist and philosopher whose major work was Atlas Shrugged.

In this giant book she described a movement of nationalization in America where all the major industries are taken over by a ’people’s’ bureaucracy that states that all things should be shared for the benefit of all. The novel is a powerful expose of the hypocisy of this communist point of view that claims to bring universal prosperity but instead brings industry, the trains etc. to a stand still. She states strongly that those excpetional people who can set up a business, invent a better type of steel, make a train faster should benefit from their inventions, drive and resourcefulness. People are ruined by handouts. This is all doubt partly true and the novel was very much influenced by the disastrous autocracy of Stalinism and Maoism.

We need people to pioneer new forms of enginnering such as EDM electrodes for precision cutting, internet engineers, innovative scientists etc. Those who invent and pioneer should be rewarded. There are, however, plenty of businesses that owe their success to little more than outsourcing to poor countries, bought government contracts, old school boy connections, mafia links etc. These businesses would not receive the Ayn Rand endorsement. Moreover, how can she argue with the success of many cooperative and syndalist companies like exotic car rental companies around the world where the workers own the company, vote on wages, choose their managers and equally share the profits? And on the other side of the coin, why would Ayn Rand choose to fete Goldman Sachs who lied to their investors about the quality of their financial products and then bet on those CDOs etc. failing?

There is a moral dimension to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of business that the far right fail entirely to understand.

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Political and Physical Health

Those of us who take an active interest in politics and the state of our nation are often also concerned with the state of our bodies. This is why to be able to participate fully in society, it is vital that we take care of our bodies. The right sorts of food and drink gives us the required energy for both physical exertion and mental focus. Every cell in our body runs on sugar. Therefore whether we are campeigning or demonstrating, using our physical body or debating, using our mental prowess, our need for the right kind of fuel is apparent.

Fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, in other words, (whole) plant foods, are pretty much the best that mother nature has to offer. I like politicians with principals rather than those who pander to fickle voter appetites. In the same way, I want to avoid processed foods designed to taste good, but don’t have any nutritional substance. Put simply, we should all eat more fruits and vegetables. This is a principal that we would all do well to live by. Making juices from whole fruits will help you to live the kind of life you were born to lead.

Youtube has information about the best juicer for overall health. This kind of information was unavailable to us just 10 years ago. The internet is a powerful resource that should be used for the good of mankind

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True Dutch Rebel: Hans de Booij

Dutch music might not be one of the most recognized forms of musical expression in the world, but nevertheless it has its moments. One of those moments is the career of Hans de Booij. It spans 4 decades and shows if nothing else that perseverance and the right attitude can get you a long way. And that the end of the journey might be more about happiness than money.

In the 1970s Hans de Booij worked in a theater in Antwerp, Belgium as a technician. This was an informative period in his career. He met famous Dutch artists such as Boudewijn de Groot, whose song he was later to cover and make him briefly a pop star.

In the 1980s Hans de Booij started his own comedy troop and started writing songs and performing them. He soon had a couple of hit records the biggest of which was de Groot’s song Annabel.

Success quickly left Hans de Booij. His songs became increasingly dark; he got in trouble with the police; he took too many drugs. Within a few years of his success he was performing in the street and was hard up for cash.

In 1999 Hans de Booij met the Dalai Lamai. The meeting was to prove inspirational for de Booij as he wrote a book called Ministry of Love in which he espoused his personal philosophy. The book was not a success. He ended up going door-to-door in Hooland trying to sell it. He claims to have sold 4,000 copies by doing this.

In 2007 nostalgia for 1980s music gave Hans de Booij ‘s music a new lease of life. He started performing again in Holland to big audiences. He also released a new album. Finally, Hans de Booij had gained some recognition and financial security. He had also gained more peace of mind.

In 2008 he moved to Koh Phangan. Hans de Booij makes music in Koh Phangan, a small Thai island and seems at last to have found peace. You can sometimes hear Hans de Booij play in the Jam Bar in Hin Kong.

Recommended Methods to Establish Business Credit

Small business owners need to think about ways on how they can build on their business credit. But the bad thing about this business credit situation is that, only a few business owners have ever utilized its benefits, because of fear from accumulating more credit. Credit has always been associated with negative benefits, but not all systems associated with credit are a liability. In fact, they are considered assets because it helps small business and large business owners get the things they need.

You will first need to apply for any form of business credit; the common one is applying for a business credit card, because it allows any business owners to borrow money from a revolving line of credit, as long as they pay the monthly bill on time and in full. Here is what you can do to establish strong business credit.

First step is to incorporate the business. Even if your business is already incorporated for some reason, it will deserve your attention in order to check out if your business is really absorbed. General partnerships and sole proprietorships are legally similar to the owner; this is why there is no separation of the business credit history part from the personal credit history. Forming LLC or incorporating the business will make the business legally separated from the owner.

Acquire an EIN or federal tax identification number. This is basically an SSS or social security number designed for businesses. This is actually required for federal tax filings, and is even required when you open a business bank account with the name of the LLC or corporation. In order for businesses to comply with the requirements of IRS, a lot of large businesses are required with an EIN belonging from the other vendors so that they can pay the services they have provided.

Recommended Methods to Establish Business Credit

Open an account for your business. Make sure that you use your legal business name as you open a checking account for the same business. Once you have successfully opened the account, make sure that you pay all financial transactions of your business coming from the account. If you applied for a business credit card for most of your financial transactions, make sure that you pay the bill on or before the deadline indicated in it, to avoid affecting your credit score.

Acquire a phone number for your business. Even if you are already using a landline, VoIP or mobile phone, you need to have a separate phone number exclusive for business use, which should be registered under your business's name. Enlist the number into the public directory of your city so that it can be easily found.

Open your business credit file. This is an important step to make if you wish to apply for business credit and further to business credit card. Make sure you open your business credit file on 3 large credit reporting agencies namely TransUnion, Equifax and Experian.

Acquire one or more business credit cards. This entirely depends on how much you are going to need, but the least is you should have one for your business, small or large in scale.

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