You can also catch me on Facebook now!

Yes, yes. After not wanting to get on, I finally did make the jump and accepted the invitations to join Facebook.

See you around!

What a beautiful day... it felt just like a dream.

Back home from Paradise

Well, now that I have gone through my gillions of e-mails piled up during the month I was gone getting married and going through a whirlwind of a honeymoon in Europe, it is time I update my site with all the beautiful pictures and thoughts I collected during the impressive pilgrimage across the Mediterranean and especially in Al-Andalus.

Here is a little souvenir from Positano...

Quick reminder to the closed-minded...

The views expressed on my website are mine. They reflect how I feel and what I believe at the moment I wrote them. This is my site and only reflects my opinion.

It is not and should not be considered to reflect the views of my employer, my associations nor of those who are around me.

Just my right as a free citizen of the world to express myself.

If you are not happy, make you own views heard either by commenting on my blogs or by having your own page.

I appreciate having just a simple piece in this world where I can be free and at ease to express myself, based on my mood. Thank you for at least trying to understand me.

In Dallas

Oddly enough, I am sitting in a Dallas Marriott hotel lobby, freeriding on the wireless connection because this dumb Dell D600 Latitude PC is not able to function 5 minutes without crashing when networked.

I am having a fantastic time at Accor North America. It feels so odd to be in a French corporate environment, in suburban Dallas, Texas.

These months have been flying by - I just finished the 90-day Merger Integration Work at Fairmont and Raffles.

One more final exam in Marketing and school will be out for the summer. Can't wait...

One Voice of Reason on Iran... but who is listening?

I really enjoy reading Gwynne Dyer. I find that he is a fair correspondant with the appropriate background in the military to be able to make the smart and balanced statements the the majority of pundits can not. In my opinion, he is a journalist that is able to see and tell it the way it is:

"Iran's activities nevertheless remained legal under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, since all the early steps towards a nuclear weapons capability -- essentially, developing the ability to enrich uranium or to reprocess plutonium -- are identical to those you would take if you just wanted to have the full fuel cycle for civilian nuclear power generation under your own national control.

And if Iran's major goal is the ability to deter attack if Pakistani nuclear weapons fall into the wrong hands, it is probably only seeking a "threshold" nuclear weapons capability for now: That is, to get to the point where it could build the actual weapons in six months or so, if the local strategic situation suddenly went really bad.

There are many other counties with this kind of "threshold" capacity, from Japan and Brazil to Sweden and South Africa.

It's a perfectly legal position to occupy, and given that Iran lives under the shadow of Israeli, American, Russian and Indian nuclear weapons as well as Pakistani ones, it's not unreasonable for Tehran to want to get there.

There is obviously a diplomatic deal to be made here -- if anybody's interested."

Source from Hamilton Spectator

Poodle should have shuffled himself out!

Funny how in an attempt to shuffle his cabinet in response to people's unhappiness, he forgot to fix the problem by shuffling himself out.

Blair did a fantastic job to restore the decaying tired UK brand, tarnished by the Tories' insatiable grip on power.

He sure was a good partner while Clinton was in the commanding lead. However, to maintain his special relationship of devoted lackey he quickly became Bush's Poodle. Since then, his popularity sank as his special bond solidified throughout the disaster of a war in Irak.

My prediction is that he shall also see the way out as soon as people give him the boot for good, the same way Aznar, Berlusconi got it. Bush Jr., the incompetent and the worst president in history will gladly go down the same path.

Tony Blair Shakes Up Cabinet After Losses

"The world is my country, science is my religion" - Christiaan Huygens

Four centuries ago, the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens was able to communicate clearly and in a few words, what world leaders in the 21st century can still not understand.

Elected leaders of the free world still fight wars based on holy whispers and believe in divine truths that justify ravaging lives in the carrying-out of their just crusades.

The answers to our problems lie in our past. We should dare to dig deeper.

Ask why.

No, I am not hosting an event with Jesse Jakson as a speaker.

The weirdest thing just happened. Someone called from 985 445 4754 and was asking if I am planning to host a conference by Jesse Jackson.

At first I thought it was a crank call from a friend, and then when the lady called back, I was convinced it was a wrong number; but then she repeated my phone number back to me. So I assumed that perhaps my phone number had been erroneuously published instead of someone else's.

After hanging up, I googled my phone number and "Jackson" and found out that I was the top google search for the combination.

I just wonder what search terms she had entered... {It obviously does not help that I am reading John Batelle's The Search right now}!

Radio Darvish

What a beautiful sound: Radio Darvish
Also accessible through iTunes.

With a great quote from Rumi:

Dance, as though no one is watching,
Love, as though you've never been hurt before,
Sing, as though no one can hear you,
Work, as though you don't need the money,
Live, as though heaven is on earth.

The Story of the Mexican Fisherman

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, 'only a little while.'

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, 'but what do you do with the rest of your time?'

The Mexican fisherman said, 'I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.'

The American scoffed, 'I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.'

The Mexican fisherman asked, 'But, how long will this all take?'

To which the American replied, '15 - 20 years.'

'But what then?' Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, 'That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!"

"Millions - then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

I was wrong.

Peace.