RantsCounterRants: Blix shocked?  Yeah, so are we…

I was shocked by poor weapons intelligence – Blix

So am I, an ardent anti-war protester; so are those who’ve been fervent supporters of the war in Iraq.  I knew the Bush Administration was less than truthful, producing new spin every week since our assault on Afghanistan, trying to sway everyone to get in line behind unilateral military intervention in Iraq.  The faithful assumed our leadership would never betray our trust in this way.

Fah!  They’re far worse than I suspected.  They used not only stretched truths but outright lied to justify their actions.  Worse, they deliberately trashed the credibility of highly respected individuals like Colin Powell, who did not originally support military action. 

I suggested the concept of trashing Powell before the first bombs dropped; now I’m quite positive that’s what happened when Powell went before the U.N. Security Council in February.  He was ordered to sell this bunch of crappy lies.  I wonder how long before Powell comes out and squeals?  Will he ever do that, being a “good soldier”?  This certainly could explain the radical shift from resistance to support that took place in late January on Powell's part.

I would think that after the lessons offered by Clinton (lying about Lewinsky), Reagan and Bush Sr. (stretching the truth about Iran-Contra), Nixon (lying about Watergate and misuse of intelligence resources) that Dubya wouldn’t go down the same road.  But apparently history is his weak spot.

Or perhaps the man has incredibly lousy short and long-term memory.  Wanna’ bet he’ll try and use that as a defense?

Seems like I’ve heard this before under oath in my lifetime: “To the best of my recollection, no” or “I’m sorry, I can’t recall that.”  Maybe I should take bets on how long before we hear these phrases again.

6:53:17 PM    comment []

Good sh*t: The Matrix: Reloaded discourse at Kottke.org

While 10 to 15% of this conversation is a little weak or trite, the bulk of the conversation at Jason Kottke’s place about The Matrix: Reloaded is really good sh*t.

It’s a treat to see people actually using their brains for once, in a public venue, without flaming each other when they can’t agree.

It’s also quite cool to see a broad range of viewpoints using references to sometimes arcane knowledge to make their case.  Gnosticism to post-modernism, magic to scripting, all there in this active conversation.

This isn’t for the faint of heart, if you choose to look into this good fun; there are more than 470 posts on the topic, accumulated since 15-MAY.  Some posts are pages long.  If you’re a Matrix geek like me, it’s worth the trip; jump in now before it gets any deeper!

(Thanks to filchyboy for pointing out this site!  I see you’re still hanging on there, too!)

1:23:16 PM    comment []

DharmaSurfing: Still paddling like hell to stay with the wave

Christopher Key commented at my last DharmaSurfing post that my business plan on which I’ve been working night and day needs to be a bit nebulous and flexible.

I agree; there’s 2-, 3- and 5-year information that I won’t commit to paper at this point in time.  I’m also well-aware that once I flash this plan at anyone, they will blab about it.  I don’t want to tip my hand, give away competitive, proprietary information.  Maybe I just don’t want to jinx my chances by letting desires see the light of day.

There’s also the pure and simple fact that I’m going into a business that’s entirely new to me; I don’t want to lock myself into a plan that won’t work if I see it’s not working.  I’m all about making changes – it’s the reason why I’m looking into this opportunity, a complete sea change.

The business plan might have to be pulled out of my back pocket when the property owner asks next week for financials and anything else that proves I'm serious.  I've been asked to sign a letter of intent -- which I don't want to do if it's binding, until after my corporate entity has been established.  The next best thing to prove my intentions is a business plan built around the site.  If I can demonstrate my degree of interest through the investment of time and effort in a plan, they may back off and give me the time I need without pressuring me further.

I'm still working on revenue projections; seems like each and every thing interdependent, one thing tied to or leading to another.  My revenue projections are tied to floor space, which are tied to an architect’s plan, which was required by the fire chief to meet local fire codes.  Now I need an architect for what I once thought was a very simple project!

The one tool that’s proved incredibly invaluable: the internet.  There’s an absolute wealth of knowledge that’s cut my timeline in half or less.  I’m so grateful to people who’ve shared their experiences with others; one gentleman in particular shared a lot of data that in a local market might have hurt him, but in a national market can only serve to increase interest in his industry.  Great stuff; I hope I can thank him some day.

The private sector does a much better job at helping businesses than government; local government does a far better job than federal government at the same.  To some extent, that’s how it should be.  But I can also see where certain segments of the population who need the information the most will get the least help; a new business person without traditional business education, less than savvy about the internet, might rely too heavily on government entities for assistance.  What a shame; they won’t be able to see that government (depending on the agency and locale) is either less than informed or hampered on the subject of starting businesses.

On the other hand, none of the information I’ve gotten, regardless of source, is a guarantee of success.  This whole thing could flop – either because I lose this particular site, or because I screw up on follow-through and delivery of the concept and products.

That’s an as-yet untapped source of knowledge here: failure.

It could happen.

12:45:26 PM    comment []