TrevorNelDailyOnline

Phew... the last two weeks have been intense. Sadly, I have been dealing with individuals that seem to be totally lacking in PASSION for delivering on their promises... or potential. It is really sad.. :-{

I was sitting thinking why I should be so passionate about delivering on one's promises... and whether I am perhaps asking for others to live to ideals that I have set to high for them..?

As I was beginning to feel a little despondent... and almost questioning my dreams for the raising of standards in everything I am involved in... a fantastic, uplifting song started to fill the air... 'To DREAM... the impossible dream...' and it got me totally FIRED up to continue on my quest.. :-)

I found the words on a website which I share with you here:

My Quest
To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...
To right ... the unrightable wrong ...
To love ... pure and chaste from afar ...
To try ... when your arms are too weary ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...
This is my quest, to follow that star ...
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ...
To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...
And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm,
when I'm laid to my rest ...

And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

Joseph Darion & Micheal Leigh

Have just received this email sms from our daughter at varsity in Cape Town:

hello

I'm coming home in 11 days!extremely excited!
YAY

C u soon
luv max

When your heart goes 'boom bitty boom bitty boom bitty boom boom boom'...

That's LOVE...!

As I enter my 50th year... a little longer in the tooth... greyer around the edges... my intuitive antennae honed by the experience of many exciting successes and failures in life, sport and business... I find it easy to have an opinion.

Not that I have ever been shy to have an opinion, to stand for a cause, to drive persistently and relentlessly for a goal.. ;-)

However this internal confidence or 'arrogance' of KNOWING is just two sides of the same coin... a VIRTUE in that results are achieved in one way or another... a 'curse' in that popularity with the mediocre and general group acceptance disappears out of the window. Especially if one's value system is to share one's honest feelings openly without fear of upsetting fragile egos.

Now here is my 'experienced' opinion: INDIGNATION expressed by an individual (especially an employee or paid official) is the first warning sign of deterioration in personal productivity from Enthusiasm, to Complacency, to Mediocrity, to Incompetence.

This thought surfaces from an instruction I issued via email to paid service providers, in a R50 Million community security project, to increase their standard of service level innovation and delivery.

The giggle is that I am the initiator of this community project from scratch. I have always been a volunteer driver to maintain moral high ground authority and personal integrity in delivering on its original long-term intention, and our team now issues a cheque to service providers for just short of R900 000 for month.

Now... you would think that given my success and HUGE contribution to the success of this MASSIVE campaign that pays the wages of over 200 staff members every month, if I issue an instruction to jump, that maybe the recipient would come back to say 'how high?'

Strangely, two of the service providers came back to voice their TOTAL INDIGNATION at my simple, direct communication.

Interestingly, they were more concerned about the WORDS I used in my unambiguous instruction than in addressing the issue at hand.

And herein lies one of the challenges of today's business world... the sensitivities of people is clouding the actual business objective. And... I am going to be even more direct... people who do not deliver raise 'red herring' issues to mask their lack of delivery.

I don't fall for that..!

It hasn't happened just once this week... but twice more. Once in a major business that I am busy launching where a partner who is not delivering on deadlines, a little bit too often for comfort, had exactly the same reaction to my simple words highlighting a key issue of delivery and integrity. Instead of proposing a solution for hitting the objectives, a lengthy debate ensued from his direction as to whether I was questioning his integrity... and still nothing got delivered on time. Soon there may be no further debate..!

I am also in the throes of a number of international negotiations... and in one instance, the unbridled ego of the counter-negotiating party almost scuppered the deal. It was traced back to a perception attained from one of my email communications that 'seemed' to point counter to a view held by this individual... but totally contrary to the objectives of his company. The counter-party has no idea how close I was from walking away from this deal straight into the hands of his competition. Thankfully, he recognised the quality of international players he was working with... and that my international colleagues and I do not allow 'bluster' and 'ego' to enter into our business negotiations. We'd rather walk away from the deal... there is TONs of opportunity out there... everywhere.

I repeat my opinion:

INDIGNATION expressed by an individual (especially an employee or paid official) is the first warning sign of deterioration in personal productivity from Enthusiasm, to Complacency, to Mediocrity, to Incompetence.

At business negotiation level... INDIGNATION is a sign of incompetency in leadership, management... or a weakness in the business structure. When personal ego gets involved as the central issue... it is almost time to walk away from the deal.

I have just spent a super-busy weekend investigating a number of online Social Network Applications… and I am blown away… I haven't taken these seriously before... this seems to be the way that people are going to develop their social and business contacts all around the world.

Lada A. Adamic writes: ‘Community Web sites are becoming increasingly popular — allowing users to chat, organize events, share opinions and photographs, make announcements, and meet new friends. ‘ - First Monday

As I am busy negotiating with a major such social networking platform, I sent off a few test messages to powerful networkers in their database. I shared the article, in this weblog (see links on right of this column), on Anna Lisa Magellanes who earned a $40000 cheque last month in Juvio - the Global IT Support and Education company 2004. Yes, that’s right, this simple Filipino woman earned R262000 last month… after just 176 days in this business..!

What really excited me is that I had an almost immediate response from high quality business networkers on their site. Each and everyone of these people were committed to networking to promote their products and services… and they were open to learning about mine. Now that is very exciting for anyone who believes that we CAN make a fortune online from our own quality home-based business offices.

I have noted that there are those who object to Social Networks online being used for business networking… they believe it should just be for banter in a subject that one enjoys. Hey, I enjoy developing businesses and making money..! One such commentator - Gary Murphy - gives his version of a social network: ‘A social network is a network with a social cause, a social reason for being. Social networks fill a niche need for interaction. Church clubs, business clubs, square-dance clubs, these form natural, anthropologically sound social networks with the intelligent self-organization moving from the local (chapter) out to the regional and then clustering still beyond. They are also self-governing, electing their executives from grassroots, organizing on the need to expand the social network.’

Whatever anyone says, the Internet and Mobile Telephony communications have changed the way people interact. It is so much easier to do in these times than ever before in the history of man. I am just in AWE of how much easier it is going to get in the future. I am so excited that the world of technology already allows one to retire to a cottage on a beach and conduct business with the biggest businesses in the world.

Mind you, I believe the world is going to be populated by a large percentage of independent home-based business entrepreneurs who will be delivering a service related to digital content and PC education and support. All the areas I have structured my own online businesses upon. I sincerely hope that you too are working flat out to develop your own quality home based business operation… and designing your online business applications on the web. Enjoy and God Bless..!

The death toll tops 200 people dead in Madrid... many more cruelly maimed and injured... what a terrible day..!

To me, there is nothing more cowardly, more vile, more evil than the killing and maiming of innocent civilians going about their normal day to day lives.

There is nothing that any SANE person can try to justify to me about the cold-blooded killing of another defenceless human-being.

I don't care what religion you are, what ideology you preach, what cause, colour, creed or nationality... to think that unleashing devastating terrorist attacks, like in New York's 9/11, Bali, Kenya, Afghanistan, Israel, and Iraq to name just a few, have any semblance of 'honour' in them at all... is either the machination of an INSANE mind or an indication of PURE EVIL.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that these terrorists are 'stupid'... to me they seem to be highly skilled, organised and extremely intelligent. So was Hannibal Lector in the movies... such individuals have no place in the REAL world of sane people.

To me a terrorist that kills or maims a human being is nothing less than a cold-blooded murderer. In fact, that is too 'nice' a description... this character to me is worse than a picture I have in my mind of a psychotic madman who enters into hospital labour wards to kick the heads off new-born babies as a demonstration of his power and control over others.

A horrific picture I know, but I want to get you close to my sense of TOTAL REVULSION for this evil individual - the cold-blooded, cowardly, vile, murdering TERRORIST.

You may wonder why I am so vociferous about this... quite simple, it is because I have my own personal experience with combatting TERRORISM in our local community. And that began with the cold-blooded gunning down of my street-neighbour in May 2000.

I will never forget the chilling sound of a 90 second gunfight just 30 metres way from this office that I sit in. I honestly thought that it was my family being attacked in our living room… I cannot tell you the depth to which my heart had plummeted at that moment.

Checking that my family were okay I ran out into the road to see the getaway car turning the corner... and ran down to my neighbour’s driveway. There I saw a sight that I never want anybody to ever have to see… the AK47 bullet-shattered and blood-spattered body of my friend Steve lying slumped behind the steering wheel of his BMW - later found to be sprayed with over 50 bullets!

Steve took SEVEN AK47 rounds into his body and survived! But the purpose of this story is to explain that it made me very angry at evil criminal elements that were TERRORISING our suburbs. A violent criminal attack on a local resident was happening every 6 to 8 weeks in our community. Every night these gangs would drive through our suburbs and fire rounds at random times to let residents know that they could attack at any time with impunity. They 'ruled' by fear.

It is said that all it takes for evil to thrive is for a few good men to sit back and do nothing.

Well, I decided to take some ACTION and printed some 50 posters which read: ‘Are you DYING to stay in Lonehill’… with an invitation to residents to form a Security Action Group. Over 450 people packed out our local Village church. Over 40 concerned residents formed a powerful action group that established a clear vision and objectives to establish a crime-free solution.

To cut a very long story short… within five months a MIRACLE took place in our suburb.

Our local weekly chronicle even wrote: ‘Lonehill residents have achieved a miracle! By pulling together as a community and putting their money where their mouths are the Lonehill area is now in the process of being transformed into a secure estate.’

We have hardly experienced a minor petty theft … where brutal slayings were becoming the norm. We have effectively removed the influence of four independent security companies who were idlely sitting by taking residents money and effectively allowing violent criminals free-access to terrorise our community.

We appointed our OWN security company who pumped in R1.8 million to supply us with FIVE dedicated security vehicles and THIRTY 24-hour roving guards… we now had our own ‘security force’ in a determined effort to take back our village community from the evil criminal element.

Now all of this has happened in just 5 months in a community that could not get 30 people to a community meeting in the last 15 years. We have since filled school halls to jam-packed capacity of between 800 to 1000 residents at a time.

Just over three years later, we have not lost a life to a serious incident, crime has decreased by over 98% (just petty crime happens every now and then), property prices have shot through the roof, and the original group of volunteers now control a R50 million security project... making this community one of the most successful crime-free open communities in South Africa.

So you will understand that I have been a little busy, while running my own businesses.

Now here’s what I have learnt from this experience…. when you stir up change you will make some people VERY ANGRY! Some of our residents actually despised me with naked hatred for stirring up the community into MASSIVE action.

Tom Peters - of In Search of Excellence fame - talks of this type of project as a WOW project and he asks if we have... 'Made anybody angry lately?'

He writes: 'It's simple: WOW Projects = Changing the rules. Changing the rules = Piddling off members of the Establishment.'

'Contention is part and parcel of a truly WOW/It-Matters project... You will, simply, have to deal with people who, for various reasons, don't want you to succeed: people who are envious, people who feel their turf is being invaded, people who have a b-i-g stake in the status quo, people who are just plain afraid of change.'

Boy, did he have it spot on… the lesson I learnt is that you have to have a thick-skin founded upon a solid moral and spiritual value system of faith, integrity and honesty to stay with such a huge challenge and make a difference in society... despite your critics!

This really is the simple fact of life… no matter what you do… you will not please or win over all of the people all of the time… so don’t sweat it… just do what YOU believe to be right... with moral authority and integrity..!

One other lesson learnt from this project is that SATISFACTION can be far more rewarding than all the money in the world. I have made personal investments and time sacrifices to drive this project to success without one cent in return… and I have LOVED every moment of it!

Money is not everything… reward can come to you in many guises if you really go out to make a positive difference in society… even if it is just to the people around you.

Plus, I have met with fantastic people who have taken on key responsibilities and helped to drive this project to the level of success it has reached… when you do BIG positive things you attract BIG positive people into your circle of friends!

The moral of the story is that whether at a community level... or at a global level... the point to remember is this: All it takes for evil to thrive is for a few good men to sit back and do nothing.

Do whatever you can to root out this EVIL of TERRORISM... or you yourself may become a victim through the loss of a loved one in your family who is cold-bloodedly murdered on their innocent way to work or school.

We cannot sit back and mouth a 'tut-tut'... everyone must do something... or, at least, support those who are prepared to put themselves in the front-line against this EVIL. I can only wonder in AWE at the LEADERS in our world who have to take tough decisions of global proportions and effect to combat this evil. I wish them God's guidance to entrench their moral authority and decison-making with integrity. I KNOW the personal pressures they must be under.

Last night I witnessed an unpretentious woman from the Philippines earn her first $40 000 cheque for the month... from her activity online. I must warn the reader and declare my personal involvement in that this is in one of the businesses that I represent online in the Business 2. My Global Income TEAM link on the right of this webblog column.

$40 000 in one month... that's almost £22 000 in the UK... or just over EUR32 500 in Europe... just over R262 000 in South Africa.... in any one's language, it is a ton of money payable for one month's effort in an online service delivery project..!

This incredible performance began with Anna signing into this online business just six months ago... not doing a cent of income in her first month while she learnt everything she could about the business (all explained online)... and then slowly beginning to promote it in the Philippines to everyone who owned a PC that she could personally talk to... a pretty difficult market at the best of times... not exactly the world's economic centre... ;-)

And YES... she promotes this online business OFFLINE... belly-to-belly... over a cup of coffee, with the marketing tools supplied by the company. And she does it simply by promoting the products and services on this page:

https://secure.juvio.com/shared/store/default.asp?refer=growth&service

But... what is my real point of this comment today... it is to recall something I wrote, as I was about to depart on a skiing holiday a few years ago, about the importance of having your own Web Business presence online - just like Anna from the Philippines. Here's what I wrote to help folks like Anna get into operating a business online:

'Here are some clues as to where a lot of my time will be spent - particularly on the Internet.'

I am busy studying some of the MOST fantastic Web Marketing material I have ever had the pleasure of working through.

Produced by Ken Evoy - Make Your Site SELL! - has been proclaimed by most Web gurus as the "single best resource" about selling on the Net. And I totally agree with them.

(As an aside update, today - 2004 - Ken provides fantastic case studies, one for each category of SSB (Small-Small Business), which are powerful proof, on a very personal, business-specific level, of how YOU can succeed online).

This program - MYSS - covers essential web site building topics from... product development... to site selling... to traffic-building... MYSS! covers it all! At well under US$20 (that's right, LESS than twenty dollars) it is an absolute must for people who want to learn how to sell their products or services on the Web!

Quite honestly, if it is not in your product library I will question just how serious you are about making money on the Internet! And… if you are not thinking about making money on the Internet… I will question just how serious you are about your future.

Let me share with you what has got me RAVING about this MYSS! program!

Firstly, Ken has an amazing way of getting you to question what your true PASSION in life really is... and then he shows you how to apply that passion to developing a Web Site that PAYS YOU for doing something that you really love.

Take a look at my list of passions that Ken’s templates helped me to identify in reassessing my personal profile:

1.) I LOVE my lifestyle... working from home... being my own boss (with my wife's permission of course)... totally debt-free!

2.) I am PASSIONATE about learning of new ways to GENERATE QUALITY INCOME and for testing and building new businesses.

3.) I am REALLY PASSIONATE about discovering simple ways to generate BIG INCOME from global markets via the INTERNET!

4.) I LOVE to TRAVEL around the world WITH MY FAMILY - that is my idea of FUN!

Ken gets you to buy into a very simple mantra that I have always followed in getting to this fantastic point in my life - 'Do what you LOVE... the money WILL FOLLOW!' In my experience he is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

Those who know me well are aware of my simple demonstrations in my seminars and writings where I point out that... 'When you chase after the money, it tends too run away faster than you, but when you go out to make a difference in the lives of others... not focusing on the money, the money tends to chase after you FASTER than you can run away from it!'

That's right, it seems crazy... I don't know how or why it works... but it just seems to be a Natural Law of Life. I have lived long enough to see the utter havoc, death and destruction that CHASING MONEY has wreaked on people I have known... and it has ruined their lives... and their families! And often, they try and take down all those around them as well!

They are, have been and will be very unhappy people... until they learn Ken's simple mantra - 'Do what you LOVE... the money will follow!'

Now here is what Ken said that had me RAISING MY EYEBROWS... he says: 'Everyone, absolutely *EVERYONE*, has a special interest... a passion. Everyone knows something that is of value to others'. SOMETHING that others will seek out on the Internet!

For me it is clear... the moment you discover your true PASSION in life (and I have got more than one as you can see)... is the moment - as Ken says, '...you can ABSOLUTELY build a very profitable business...' on the Internet.

He explains clearly how e-commerce philosophy is so much simpler and controllable than the variables we face in our daily lives. He touches on how the VAST MAJORITY of people keep doing the 'same old thing' every day, hoping that something different will happen in their lives.

But all it guarantees are the 'same old results' - 'Except in rare cases of extraordinarily good or bad luck, everyone basically ends up where they are as a result of choices they make and courses of action they take', says Ken.

Now here is the MOST EXCITING PART - Ken describes his No.1 E-commerce Reality: 'NOTHING happens by accident in the world of computers, the NET, and customer response. There is always a reason for what happens, good or bad, and that reason is YOU.'

WOW! That is PROFOUND!

Well, I don't know about you, but when I see a business concept where CHANCE has no role to play... then I know that I can control the outcome of the 'game' with the right knowledge and strategy. And that... is the solution that Ken Evoy provides in his Make Your Site Sell! program.

He certainly knows how to press my buttons when he promises to show me how to turn my passion into a web site that offers ... 'A never-ending, always-building, income-generating program.'

I'll be darned... if that isn't just how I am looking to feed my future lifestyle!

Please forgive me, I have got to get back to my next MYSS study section. I am half-way through understanding the BIG 3 Points You NEED to Succeed on the Web... as much as I would love to spend more time with you all... I LOVE what I am doing right NOW - for my FUTURE - much, much more!

As I leave I am struck by the thought that perhaps the Internet is going to be the reason why many people are going to be extremely wealthy in the future... AND why MANY MORE are going to be extremely poor!

I think that we will look back in ten to twenty years time and recognise that 'we are where we are because of the decisions we took back then!'

As far as I am concerned if you don't have a web presence... YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE! Without a web presence you don't have a future on the Internet. Then, you will need to know how to make your web site stand out from all the others on the web. That's what I am studying from the BEST minds on the subject in the world.

You need to ask yourself whether you are indeed serious about making your future on the Internet... or WHERE you are going find the opportunities to spend your future enjoying your life to the full? When you find something more exciting than this... pleeeez let me know, won't you?

That's the end of my article from a few years ago... but Anna's $40 000 cheque issued today reminds us all that, for ordinary folks, BIG business income online has only just begun. Anna only got on board her Internet opportunity just SIX months ago. Don't miss the opportunity to do the same for yourself.. :-)

I woke up in pain this morning, with my thigh muscles as stiff as a post, after a fairly hectic weekend of moving heavy furniture and tons of books around from room to room. All in the quest for conserving space… as my years of collecting information threaten to see me drown under tons of books, magazines and papers.

Not what you would call ‘earth-shattering news’... but it did cause me to forgo my early morning visit to the gym and think of taking a walk around our village in the evening. As I limped through the day I began to question whether my body is just protesting about undergoing hard labour in its 50th year. To add insult to injury, my wife has nothing wrong with her muscles despite being on the other end of all the cupboards we carried around our home..!

Maybe I am being forewarned to take WALKING seriously… so I did a bit of research which proved enlightening. Here’s what I learnt:

According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, one in every three Americans, ages 35 through 45, was obese, as of 1991. This figure is 36 percent higher than it was in 1962.

"This obesity seems to be related to physical inactivity," said Mark Fenton, editor of Boston-based Walking Magazine.

According to Fenton, it is not just American children and adolescents who are inactive. Fenton says that adults in the United States are more sedentary than ever as well.

"Americans are less active than they ever have been," he said.

"Twenty-five percent of our population is essentially sedentary 55 percent are only sporadically active and only about 10 percent of the population exercises regularly."

This lack of exercise is killing us, say researchers at the CDC and the American College of Sports Medicine. According to a joint statement they issued this year, approximately 250,000 deaths a year in the United States can be attributed to physical inactivity.

The good news from these organizations is that 30 minutes daily of moderate exercise can promote long-term health.

"Walking is a good way to get that exercise," Fenton said.

"There are dozens of ways that a 30-minute walk can be fit into your day. It doesn't have to be putting on Iycra tights and going out and doing power walking."

"We encourage people to make a walk part of their daily life -- to intentionally keep a post office box and walk down there to get the mail, or walk to the video store or to the place where you get your milk or newspaper," he said.

And kids? How do we get them to walk more?

"Role modeling is a very important thing," Fenton said. "If you're the kind of parent who actually suggests to their kid that you need not drive the car everywhere and that maybe they could walk back from band rehearsal with a couple of friends instead of you going to get them, that can help set the tone a lot."

Fenton adds that the psychological benefits of regular physical activity for older adults are immense.

"We see again and again that regular exercise gives an improved sense of self-worth and an improved sense of purpose," he said.

"It's also clear that regular activity may reduce the likelihood of clinical depression -- a problem among the elderly who may begin to feel they are a burden to their family. With regular exercise, they can continue to be contributing members of society and if they want, they can get involved in volunteer work or part-time work."

- Other health benefits from regular physical activity such as walking include:
- Reduced risk of dying prematurely
- Decreased risk of dying from heart disease
- Decreased risk of developing colon cancer
- Reduced risk of developing high blood pressure
- Help in reducing blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure
- Decreased risk of developing diabetes
- Lower risk of developing hypertension
- Increased muscle strength, flexibility and sense of balance, all of which reduce the risk of falls Help in controlling weight

"What's really notable is just how much benefit there is for older adults to be physically active."

"We used to think that once you got to a certain age, it really didn't make any difference anymore, but what we're finding out is that even men and women into their nineties can see major increases in cardiovascular fitness and strength with regular physical activity."

Research sourced with permission: Partnership for a Walkable America by Emily Smith of the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center
http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/pedbike/articles/inactive.htm

NICE South Africans are riding on a high... what with the amazing performance of Charlize Theron in capturing her first Oscar... and next will be (in my opinion anyway) the crowning of Corrie Saunders as undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World on April 24th.

First, to Charlize Theron... what a lovely young woman..!

Knowing that she was landing in South Africa for an appearance on Carte Blanche last night, three of our family traipsed off to the movies to see 'Monster'. Uughhh... what a GREAT movie and performance... I HATED every minute of it..! And that is was what made it SO GOOD.

The language was terrible, the topic unsavoury and unsettling, the seedy characters representing some of the worst, down-trodden deadbeats and immoral members of society we can witness. Really hard to stomach.

It was all too clear why Charlize won her Oscar for this performance, so far removed from her expected roles... the shock value certainly worked for her.

Her appearance on Carte Blanche last night showed the REAL Charlize Theron... a tall, super-talented girl... who took her chances and made her own luck... with the support of her mother and friends. And now, she is on top of the world. FANTASTIC..!

Charlize made a controversial stand against South African men who indulge in RAPE... and it is clear that she has going to do the same when she confronts local opinion makers (including Pres. Thabo Mbeki) this week on HIV-AIDS. She has already committed to setting up her own HIV-AIDS charity in South Africa. She will make a DIFFERENCE.... and she will do it fearlessly.

But I must tell you that another NICE South African is lining up to conquer the world in the next couple of weeks. His name is Corrie Saunders... and my guess is that the world is going to see this 38-year old unleash a devastating performance to claim the world title on April 24th.

I was watching Corrie interact with his golfing partners (he plays off low single figures) and Supersport interviewers on Saturday morning... and was blown away by his pragmatic views on life. With his two kids playing up for the cameras on his lap, Corrie Saunders' focus on his upcoming fight was unwavering... and he already KNOWS the outcome..!

Don't bet against him... that is my warning.

It is clear that Corrie has his future mapped out... he knows the limitations of his age... and he is targetting a maximum of 2 to 3 defences of his title before he retires. So he will not be around for a long time with the title. But, I predict, he is going to leave an indelible mark on the division for a long time.

Both Charlize and Corrie have stories of unwavering persistence and perseverance in their road to the top... stories that serve as an example to anyone... let alone us South Africans. They make me proud to be a South African... what a great 10 years South Africa has had since Nelson Mandela lead us into our new democracy. I am VERY PROUD..!

I'm still smiling over my diverse thoughts of yesterday. There were two observations from early this week that I didn't address... and they are:

1. Driving to and from the gym early on Monday morning I noted almost every second early-riser (obviously blue collar workers) had their ears 'connected' to a cell-phone. Some even looked as though they had slept in the bush for the night... an unfair observation, I know, but nevertheless the question it posed in my mind was: 'How do these people, who look as though they are on subsistence borderlines, afford their cell-phones?' 'Who are they calling at that time of the morning?' I mean, in my opinion, cell-phone calls are expensive in South Africa.

That's why I live in AWE of our lifestyle today... can you imagine King Tut looking from his 10th floor pyramid window (tic) and seeing half his labour force on cellphones. It would blow his mind... he would want one immediately. Yet, that is what 'ordinary joe's' have in their hands today.... making them far 'richer' than the richest pharoahs.

2. I smiled at the furore over Mel Gibson's film 'The Passion'... and marveled at the Oscar won by our own Charlize Theron from her performance in her own film 'Monster'... and applauded the clean sweep of the team behind the 'Lord Of The Rings' trilogy.

What amazes me is the fact that these film producers spend tens to hundreds of millions of dollars to produce these movies... for my family to enjoy at just a few dollars per person. THAT'S INCREDIBLE..!

Not all the Kings, Queens, Emperors or Pharoahs combined, with all their collective bounties in all civilisations throughout the ages, could buy the entertainment value that we get from just one movie for a few dollars. That makes us 'richer' today than ALL of them.

Oh yes, I am in AWE of our lifestyles today.

Which is why an early morning comment at the gym this morning got me thinking again. A big strapping guy shouted out across the gym: 'Thank God... it's Friday!' Whether he was joking, or just frustrated with his week, I don't know... but if he meant it, that's pretty sad.

I say: 'Thank GOD... it's EVERY day... that we get to live in AWE of our time on this planet'.

Wow... what an incredible couple of days we've had in the world.

From where I sit in the comfort of my high-tech Home Office in Johannesburg, South Africa, I am privileged to have built up from scratch - through long, HARD WORK - a world connected to over 80 satellite TV channels and 24/7 broadband Internet access.

I get to switch between all the global news channels on the hour, every hour, whenever I am in the office... and I get to watch all manner of fantastic cultural, travel, animal, sport and reality TV programs. There is hardly ever a dull moment in the background.

In between the launching of another new business locally and conducting online business development between my U.S. and U.K. colleagues... I have followed a couple of global stories with interest.

They include: John Kerry's successful Democratic Party nomination campaign in the U.S.; George Bush beginning to warm to his U.S. Presidential Election challenge; Tony Blair's stand against mounting challenges to his leadership in the U.K.; the hundred's of Shi'ites killed terrorist attacks in Karbala and Baghdad; bombings in Pakistan; the flight of Aristide from Haiti and Guy Phillipe's rebels entering into a chaotic mob-trashed Port Au Prince... and the American's swiftly disarming these rebels; and the trial of the two murderers who slit the throats of nine men at Sizzlers... just a few hundred yards away from the luxury Sea Point Hotel my family holidayed at in Cape Town... and just days after we left..!

All this in the last three days... what an incredible world.

My first thought is that we ALL live on a DRY TINDERBOX of a globe that has the potential to explode at any time.

Now that should get anyone pretty excited..!

I just can't help being in total AWE of the times we live in... AMAZING times..!

My thinking is based on some History channel programs I watched on Sunday which traced the travels of Emperor Hadrian - he of Hadrian's Wall fame - as he spent most of his reign travelling to the far corners of the Roman Empire at its peak. As I marveled at the group toilets (up to 40 at a time) shared by the Roman elite... I look in awe at the four private flush toilets I have in my own home. Wouldn't this Rome elite just loved to have been in my position of private toilet ownership.. ;-)

As we followed his travels to the Pharoah in Egypt... and down the Nile... it struck me that Hadrian would have offered half his Emperor's bounty for a flight on a Boeing to the different provinces in his domain... a feat that many ordinary folk can achieve today for just a few hundred dollars.

It reminded me of how our own SA billionaire - Mark Shuttleworth - paid $20 million to fly into space.

Imagine how much we could have got from a Roman Emperor or Pharoah to swop their lives for the lives we ordinary citizens enjoy today... a life with lights, electricity, running water, healthcare, technology, transport, communication - all incredible advances that we probably all take for granted.

Why, I even think that the poorest folks in today's times are 'richer' than many of the aristocracy that had to survive in the Paris underground catacombs (another amazing History channel documentary) during the French Revolution... or those that died in the rat-infested Great Plague in London... all comparitively speaking, of course.

So why do we live on a world that is teetering on the brink of a 'tinderbox' explosion. Nothing different in history, I think it is all about greed, power, scarcity-mentality, control of the masses, and just plain 'ol evil. It is endemic across the world... and the masses seem to be caught up in the tangled web... not able to sort out the 'good guys' from the 'bad guys'.

I find that quite amazing to watch... and to realise just how human we all are. We all make mistakes.

The only way I can try and justify my support of the 'good guys' versus the 'bad guys' is to determine their upfront stated objectives and watch how they stick to those objectives. Hence a terrorist who lobs mortar bombs into a Shi'ite crowd, killing hundreds, without declaring why they are doing it... to me, is EVIL. Anyone deliberately killing innocent civilians, in my mind, is EVIL.

How does this compare to the overthrow of Iraq by Bush and Blair... well, regardless of the WMD evidence debacle, they gave Saddam a warning to comply with UN regulations... they openly stated their objectives to go to war to remove Saddam... they gave everyone a chance to capitulate and put down their weapons... and still the Iraqui's feared Saddam and his sons too much to capitulate.

Now with my argument fraught with all manner of weaknesses surrounding conspiracy theories and unstated objectives of the 'victors'... I still believe their approach to be more honourable to that of a mortar bomb-lobbing terrorist or a suicide-bomber who takes out a crowd of innocent civilians without any warning at all.

I firmly believe that we are in the midst of a global battle between GOOD and EVIL... and most times we demonise even the 'good' to the point that we can no longer tell the difference. Our challenge as ordinary GOOD folk is to search deep for the GOOD and back them to the hilt. I'm for the GOOD guys... if only I could tell who they are.. ;-)

Is the world still really made up of such gullible fools as those approached by this letter below..?

Maybe it is... seeing it was addressed to :'Atten..Trevor Nel'... someone obviously takes me for one of those FOOLS..!

If this weren't so pathetic (and so many still greedy enough to follow up on it)... it would be a funny JOKE. But, it is not, people are still being suckered into meeting with these idiots and meeting disastrous ends.

Be my guest... you can have my share in this 'incredible' offer... just mention me in your WILL first... ;-)

'Atten..Trevor Nel'

MR.NNAMDI IBEH.
GLOBAL BANK NIGERIA PLC.
PLOT 345 AWOLOWO CRESENT.
VICTORIA ISLAND,LAGOS.
NIGERIA.

Dear Trevor Nel,

I crave your indulgence as I contact you in such a
surprising manner.But I respectfully insist you read
this letter carefully as I am optimistic it will open
doors for unimaginable financial reward for both of
us.

This business transaction might not fall within the
wide spectrum of your business activities, but I plead
your assistance, as your flair for profitable business
is needed.

Permit me to introduce myself, I am Mr.Nnamdi Ibeh
Manager, GLOBAL BANK NIGERIA PLC,I am writing this
letter to ask for your support and co-operation to
carry out this business opportunity in my department.

Every five years, Nigerian banks transfer to its
treasury millions of dollars of unclaimed deceased
depositors funds in compliance with the banking laws
and guidelines, in majority of cases with reference to
my bank GLOBAL BANK NIGERIA PLC, the money
normally runsinto several millions of dollars.

A foreigner, Late Engineer Johnson Nel, an Oil
Merchant/Contractor in Nigeria, until his death four
years ago in a ghastly air crash has a closing balance
of US9,500,000.00(Nine Million,Five Hundred Thousand
Dollars)Ever since his death and up till this time of
writing, no next-of-kin or relation of his has come
forward to claim his money with us. Fervent valuable
efforts have been made by GLOBAL BANK NIGERIA PLC,
to get in touch with any of the Nel's family or relatives
but proved to no avail.

Naturally, as long as Johnson's money remains
unclaimed, the bank remains richer in free funds with
his money. However, with my position, I can present
you to claim the fund as a relative/next of kin if you
agree with me on private basis. Yes, I can present
you.

The request for you as next of kin in this business is
occasioned by the fact that the customer was a
foreigner and a Nigerian cannot stand as next of kin
to a foreigner,Hence, I plead for your assistance with
the intention of getting this unclaimed money
amounting to US9,500,000.00 (Nine Million, Five
Hundred Thousand Dollars Only) transferred into a
company/private bank account that you will present.

You stand to gain a negotiable percentage of the fund
if you agree to help me actualize this opportunity; I
will not contact any other company or person until I
am convinced that you are not interested in this
proposal.

Contact me immediately indicating your willingness and
also give your direct and confidential fax and phone
numbers for the effective communication that this
transaction requires.

I will furnish you with the procedure and also
enlighten you on how the funds will be disbursed and
shared on receipt of your response.
I will also require your advice in the areas of
investment as I plan to establish a business venture
in your country with my share.

Please reach on this private email address:
Remember that a business of this nature needs to
be kept confidential.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr.Nnamdi Ibeh.

You've gotta be joking..! But I know you're not... this hook regularly catches some fools... some of whom have lost their lives in their greedy quest for easy money. Don't be a FOOL..!

Charlize Theron - our very own local Benoni girl - wins the 2004 Oscar for Best Actress..!

Well done Charlize... all South Africans are proud of what you have achieved. Of course, we are all going to claim you as our own... but there is no doubt in my mind that YOU have created your own destiny by the paths you have taken... and through your own hard work.

I just wonder how many fully understand just how much of Charlize's success has been built on a bedrock of personal tragedy, pain, perserverance, practice and persistence. From witnessing her mother shooting her alcoholic, abusive father in self-defence... to taking a stand against RAPE as a high-profile voice in South Africa... and taking the issue to court to stand for what she believed in.

Her story is very much one of '..making your own luck'. It is a fantastic story of someone who has taken life and grabbed it with both hands.

Here are a couple of links to follow for Charlize's story:

Inherited Strength... Charlize Theron’s Mother Was a Force in Her Life — and One Night She Proved It

THE SCOOP: The legend of Charlize Theron…

Charlize Theron... South Africa's FIRST major Oscar winner... FANTASTIC..!

In a headline that masters the art of the understatement... MSN.com posts an article entitled: 'A good year to be billionaire'.

Well, forgive me for my little comment (tinged a shade green with envy)... whenever has it been a BAD year to be a billionaire..?

Please God... give me a BAD year as a billionaire... and let me see how I handle the problems..!

So... can it happen to anyone reading this comment... can you become a billionaire in the next 10 years.?

You bet you can... because J. K. Rowlings did it.

It is hard to believe that this latest addition to the world of dollar billionaires was living in '..was living on £70-a-week benefits as a single mother in a cramped Edinburgh flat.'

Great work J.K. You have proved that there is hope for us all.. :-)