:: Netmarcos' Notes ::

:: Friday, March 28, 2003 ::

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent which will reach to himself."

--Thomas Paine (1737-1809), conclusion, _Dissertation on First Principles of Government,_1795

:: Mark 12:20 PM [+] :: (0) comments
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It is worth noting that the world wide interest in war reporting is having an effect on Internet traffic. I have been getting connection refused errors on many of the popular news sites today. I am sure that there is some DDoS activity, but I doubt that it is that widespread.

:: Mark 4:09 PM [+] :: (0) comments
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The Times Online has an excellent peice discussing post-war relations here.

:: Mark 3:53 PM [+] :: (0) comments
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I am somewhat offended by the banner ad that often appears at the top of this page. If anyone else is put off by the anti-war propaganda, please rest assured that I have no control over these messages. I fully believe that there are times when the concerned citizens of this world must be willing to impose the ultimate sanction in order to safeguard the survival of the liberties to which we are all entitled. God bless those who are willing to put their own lives at risk to defend and protect those who cannot do it for themselves. Peace is a desirable goal, but passively cowering in a corner in an effort to avoid the attention of the despots and criminals of this world will not bring peace. Making it clear that the world will not tolerate nor ignore the subjugation and destruction that they wish to inflict on others will. Appeasment does not equate to deterence.

:: Mark 11:50 AM [+] :: (0) comments
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The war effort is continuing in a mostly positive way, from my perspective. I, like many others, have wondered about a way to make my support for the home team known. James Black of the Daily Mail has an idea and sent me the following:


Dear Mark,

A few days/weeks ago you wrote to me with kind words after seeing my open letter to America in your local newspaper or via e-mail sent by one of your friends.

At the time the great hope was that the situation in Iraq could be sorted by peaceful means. Most of us were desperate for a solution to be found to the crisis. This did not happened and we are now at war.

The people of the USA and Britain are once again forced together in arms to help solve the problems of the world. Once again we two nations will give our blood, our money, and our assistance, to help people who have been ruthlessly oppressed.

As in many earlier instances we will not be sending a bill or asking for thanks - true humanity does not require such things.

In my original letter I noted that I would stand by the American people should they face crisis again.

I think that time has come.

Like many people I feel helpless as I see our troops giving the ultimate sacrifice in my name. I want to let them know that, even though I am not in a desert with them, I am there in spirit.

Most of us will never be at the pointy end of battle as they are, but that doesn't stop us doing our part - something positive.

For this reason, I, James Black, pledge, that as of this day, Wednesday 26 March 2003, and for the duration of hostilities, whenever I receive a banknote of any denomination I will simply write in thick lines the letter V on it.

As we all know from previous experience, banknotes tend not to stay in our possession too long, so you can be sure that it won¹t take long before they will be seen by many others.

They will see the V and know it has been placed there to wish our armed forces a swift Victory.

The V also stands for peace, something we all want for the future.

The simple act of writing a letter V is not outrageous, does not smash windows, does not offend others, does not take up police time, and is easy to enact. It's effects, however, can soon be seen by all in the USA and the UK - and everywhere else.

I will place a V on every banknote I come across and I encourage the many thousands of people who have written to me since February to do exactly the same.

Let¹s show we want Victory, and we look forward to peace. I will write V on my notes - will you?

Regards

James Black
jamesblack@btconnect.com


PS If you like the idea - pass it on!

Pass it on indeed.

:: Mark 11:29 AM [+] :: (0) comments
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Winston Churchill said it well:"Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case; you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."

:: Mark 11:55 AM [+] :: (0) comments
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Most of the arguing and supposed punditry expended in analyzing the U.S.A.'s motives in the current conflict with Iraq seems to be missing the point.Several writers, however, have stood out from the braying masses with inspired commenntary and analysis. Check here, here, and here.

:: Mark 2:31 PM [+] :: (0) comments
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