Who created terrorism?

Many would say the problem of terrorism we endure in today's society is a product of the east, but this is far from the truth with the United Kingdom and the United States of America being the two biggest creators of this horrible present day virus.

Many of you are probably thinking of present day western leaders who generated this west hating terrorism that is normally related to the world of Islam through the form of the Taliban and Al Qaeda but you are very wrong.

The issues we face from terrorism takes its roots from the decisions the UK and US took many years ago as you are about to find out.

The Baathist party of Iraq with whom Saddam Hussain raised to power gained control of Iraq in the late 1960's, at this time the US and the UK among other western countries were worried about the Baathist leadership. What these countries don't tell you is that from the late 1960's till the late 1980's right before the first Gulf war the UK and US were selling arms to Saddam Hussain a his party, this meant that when the Gulf war started Saddam Hussain army was equipped with UK and US weapons and were even wearing uniforms made in the United Kingdom.

In the early 1980's Russia (then the Soviet Union) started war in Afghanistan, this was at the same period of the Cold War between he Soviet Union and America which meant America were covertly helping the Afghan cause training and arming the people of Afghanistan against the Soviet forces. These Afghan people and others who were Muslim radicals from around the world who came to fight were known as the Mujahideen (translates as Muslims fighting a struggle through war) and were commanded by Mujahideen warlords rather than the Afghan government of the period....one of these Muslim radicals was a young rich Saudi named Osama Bin Laden.

America sent over many weapons, of which some were the latest in technology at the time, by doing this the Mujahideen managed to see off the Soviet forces. The problem with this was that after the war the Mujahideen warlords started a civil war as they fought each other for power.

The Taliban who were based in the south of Afghanistan (and north Pakistan) marched through Afghanistan and took control of Afghanistan from the feuding Mujahideen warlords.

It is also from this time that Osama Bin Laden is believed to have learnt the skills needed and the following of many fighters from the Afghan-Soviet war to build Al Qaeda in to an international alliance of radical Muslim's that are against America and anyone who supports them.

As you can see the UK and US trained and armed the people that are fighting against them now, not only this they also built Osama Bin Laden in to the person he is by training him and supporting him in building training camps throughout Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan war for Mujahideen soldiers.

Make me a Muslim

Channel 4 in the UK is showing a three part series where it takes people and shows them Islam s o they gain a better understanding of the religion. The people chosen are from Harrogate, an area with a population of some 115,000 that only has less than 400 followers of Islam.

This program has already angered me. I have become frustrated and angry at the behaviour of the people who are looking to find out more about the Islamic faith but failing because of their narrow minded views.

One of the participants started arguing about Muslims trying to bring Sharia law in to the UK, have you ever heard this? I think not.

Since when have those that follow Islam ever tried to enforce there views on the people of Britain? Granted they do follow a lifestyle that is different to some and their views differ greatly when it comes to certain subjects but I have never encountered someone of the Islamic faith who has tried to push their view on me.

I have a great many friends who are Muslim and there is never an issue when it comes to religion or the fact that I like an alcoholic drink now and then. I feel it is the media that has created this society where alot of narrow minded individuals have given in to the incorrect information being fed to them through the power of television, tabloids and pub banter.

I do look forward to the next few episodes in this series to see if these individuals who have a total lack of respect for the Islamic faith actually start to see things differently.

A changing life

Over the last thirty years the lives of everyone in the western world, lead by the US and the UK, has changed dramatically to the point that surveys are showing many people are not as happy as they once were....but why I ask?

Back in the 1970's people were alot happier than they are now yet did not have the luxuries we have today, we didn't have the appliances we enjoy or the money we make. There are many reasons why this is but the main reason for this is due to the governments, media and businesses of this world.

Back in the old days people lived in an environment that was more relaxed and less money orinetated than today. Today see's us running around in the rat race at such a fast pace because of the pressure put on us by the jobs we do, this means we do not have time to enjoy our lives to the full and when we do find time to spend enjoying ourselves we encounter another problem.

The other problem is the fact that we are conditioned from a young age by advertising, today it is shocking to see the amount of adverts that are put in the middle of football matches and eve childrens educational programs. These adverts push adults and children alike to buy "the next best thing" or "the tastiest burger the world has seen".

This leads me nicely on to the next part of todays problems, this problem is the fact that today sees us using credit more than ever before to buy all these wonderful products that we desperately need...although our parents and grandparents survived more than well enough without them. It seems that financial institues are more than willing to lend money more than ever before meaning we suffer the stress of having to pay back all the money we borrowed for luxury items that we really didn't need.

Back in the old days we were allowed to enjoy our lives without the pressure endured in todays societies and if the governments of today in the western world do not act then we could see a huge meltdown in todays society as people find it harder and harder to cope.

The Divine Queen Elizabeth II

Many people across the world know Queen Elizabeth the Second of the United Kingdom, after all she is the most famous monarch in the world today but there is more to Queen Elizabeth II than many people realise.

Queen Elizabeth was born in 1926 making her royal highness eighty one years old.


Prior to becoming the Queen the then Princess Elizabeth served in the military from 1945 while the war was still going as a Second Subaltern within the Women's Auxillary Territorial Service as none other than a military truck driver.

In 1947 Princess Elizabeth married Prince Phillip of Greece and Denmark (Now known as the Duke of Edinburgh). By the following year Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip had their first child Prince Charles and went on to have three more children Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

In February 1952 Princess Elizabeth took over the reign of the throne from her father who had passed away. This reign meant that upon becoming Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth became the Queen Regnant of the following countries

United Kingdom
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
Jamaica
Barbados
Bahamas
Grenada
Papau New Guinea
Soloman Islands
Tuvalu
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Antigua and Barbuda
Belize
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Falkland Islands
Fiji
Mauritius
Guyana
Gambia
Malta
Malawi
Kenya
Uganda
Trinidad and Tobago
Tanganyika
Sierra Leone
Nigeria
Ghana
Ceylon (Now Sri Lanka)
South Africa

Although in the present day the Queen now only reigns over 16 of these countries. The Queens family have reigned the longest over the United Kingdom where they have reigned for over a thousand years.

On top of being the Queen, Queen Elizabeth also holds the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Head of the Commonwealth, Duke of Normandy, Lord of Mann and Paramount Chief of Fiji.

Given the Queens length of reign, 55 years, and the huge amount of titles bestowed on her it is amazing to see how gracefully she has carried out her duties to her people under the scrutiny of the media. To me the Queen is a person who has truly inspired many and carried out her position with dignity.

I do believe in the Royal family while many do not, what are your thoughts?

UK Gas suppliers and their lies

UK gas suppliers are businesses that you would imagine are very well controlled and efficient in their manner of supplying customer with gas for their boilers, cookers and other appliances, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The gas suppliers of the United Kingdom lie and cheat on a regular basis so their customers believe they are getting a better deal than they really are, but how do they do it?

Firstly and most importantly they lie about prices on their adverts. I am sure you have seen the adverts which advise that the gas supplier has lowered their prices and want customers to move over to them. The truth behind it is they raise their prices up to six or seven times in a year and only make a small reduction once for advertising purposes....overall this means the actual price could of been raised upwards of 15% through the year.

Secondly is the issues you have when you try to ring the gas supplier in the case of an emergency. When you ring a gas supplier you tend to end up on hold for ten or twenty minutes at a time, this is unless they have pulled out one of their secret tricks to keep their service levels within targets. To keep their service levels within target some of the gas suppliers do the following...

Automatically put you through to National Grid gas emergency services so they don't have to handle the call saving their agreed service levels - Scottish Power

Every option you choose except one tells you they are closed at weekends when they are open, and when you do get through they put you through to National Grid gas emergency services - British Gas

Now for those who are not aware National Grid are the gas suppliers to the suppliers, in other words National Grid take the gas from the source and move it around the UK in its network of pipes to peoples homes. National Grid owns your gas meter and will work on any gas pipes and the meter itself if there is an issue BUT National Grid cannot work on your internal pipework, your appliances such as your boiler or put money on your pre payment meter.

A third lie that gas suppliers from Britain use is the stand alone service products they offer where they will send an engineer to come and mend your gas appliances when they fail. Recently a British Gas advert showed that in eight out of ten cases they would have someone out the same day to look at your appliance, but there is something they didn't say.

What they don't tell you is that if you have managed to realise they are open and not closed as the phone system tells you, and you have waited patiently to get to the front of the queue....yes you will get someone out the same day but they will just poke around find out what is wrong then book in another engineer to come out after a few days or even later in the week to fix the problem. This is all a publicity stunt to say they get engineers out when an appliance breaks, which they do but not with the plan of fixing it on the day which as a consumer you are expecting.

Summary

These are just a few of the different ways that gas suppliers show they are providing a good service when in fact they are not, even though they raise their prices every few months or so.

It is important to note that the National Grid gas emergency service does provide a great service to those who have genuine gas emergencies by getting an engineer out with one to four hours dependant on how dangerous the situation may be.

The Secret Asian Holocaust

In 1943 the Japanese forces wished to build a railway joining the existing railway lines in Thailand to those in Burma, to do this meant a whole railway network being built from Bangkok in Thailand to Rangoon in Burma.


As you can imagine this project was something huge and needed a lot of man power to create, something the Japanese could not afford as they were too busy using all man power for their war effort. The Japanese decided to use British and Australian prisoners of war and conscripted Asian labourers to create their vision.

British and Australian POW's

We know of the awful living conditions the British and Australian POW’s had to endure through historical documents and films like The Bridge on the River Kwai. These awful conditions involved working long hours moving soil day and night to create embankments and only living off rice, salt and water. During the project of building the railway twelve thousand British and Australian prisoners of war perished due to exhaustion, malnutrition and disease.

What we do not know and has been hidden for decades is the Asian holocaust of the Asian labourers the Japanese used.

Asian Labourers

While POW's were working on certain parts of the railway the Japanese had taken Asian labourers that used to work for the British before they were over run and put them in to working camps to build the railway. These Asian labourers were not just men but also women and children, in a lot of circumstances they were actually whole families working on the railway.

The Asian labourers worked hard in similar conditions to the British and Australian POW's and many perished due to the conditions they had to endure. Children died due to their small frames not being able to cope with the hard work they were forced to carry out, women passed on due to the exhaustion of working many hard hours carrying endless baskets of soil and men fell as they work due to the staggering effort that was put in to the railway.

Overall ninety thousand Asian labourers died during the building of the railway and the embankment and bridges that support it. Today only three of these 90,000 labourers have graves to mark their passing, and these are shown as unknown names. No one knows just where the ninety thousand bodies lay but it is known that mass graves lay not far from the embankments of the railway and that the British and Australian POW's were made to dig these mass graves to bury the Asian labourers.

A lot happened in the 2nd World War and while we know so much about the attrocities caused it is important to investigate and remember parts of history like this so these ninety thousand Asian labourers souls are not forgotten for what they had to endure.

The Putin Debate

Russia is the largest country in the world, in fact it is nearly twice the size of the second largest country Canada. Not only is Russia so vast in size it is also spread over Europe and Asia providing a gateway to both continents.

Russia - 17,075,400 square kilometres
Canada - 9,976,140 square kilometres

Putin has long been a leader that has split the thoughts of the western world because of his political stance and his distrust of governments from other countries.

Recent History of Russia

If we look back at history without going to far back we can see the Stalin regime of the second world war, a regime that is estimated to have killed forty million people (more than Hitler and Nazi Germany).

Post the second world war came the cold war with the Soviet Union and USA playing in competition of military superpowers causing tension across the world. The cold war lasted from the end of world war two to the early nineties when the former Soviet Union collapsed and its satellite states became independent once again.

From the fall of the Soviet era until recent times there had been a period of calm between Russia and western countries, but one man has started to change this....Vladimir Putin.


Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin is liked in Russia by the public as he has built up the Russian economy that failed under the break up of the Soviet Union under Boris Yeltsin, but this does not stop leaders outside of Russia watching him with caution.

Putin and Europe

During the row over Andrei Lugovoi who is suspected of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko in London, Putin went on record to say that British proposals were "a relic of a colonial-era mindset". This response was in relation to Britain wanting Andrei Lugovoi to be extradited to the UK for trial, which has caused issues as Russian policy does not allow any extradition of Russian nationals to other countries.

Putin and Russia have also been causing issues for former Soviet countries like Ukraine and Lithuania by stopping the flow of Gas to these countries due to issues with gas pricing.

Estonia has met the wrath of Putin's Russia by seeing cyber attacks happen on various government and prominent sites in the country due to Estonia's decision to remove a Soviet statue of the bronze soldier.

Vladimir Putin is also trying to restore the old Soviet Union view of Russia, one where it is independent and strong. To do this he has restarted cold war tactics like showing military presence world wide through long range bombing runs where bombers come close to the air authority of the UK and other allies.

Putin has also made it clear he wishes Russia to gain influence over its former satellite countries in Eastern Europe like Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and others even if these countries do not wish for it.

Putin has also started breaking down the pacts signed to stop military build ups on Russia's European border. Russia's view is that as European countries are supporting America by letting them use their land to support a missile defence shield, something Russia sees as a threat, they should be able to defend its borders more closely.

Putin and America

America is wishing to build a missile defence shield that will give a massive protection to America and her allies with Satellites and radar systems making up a huge network that is ready to intercept any threats from rogue States in the middle east.

As you can imagine Vladimir Putin is not happy with this as he sees it as a huge threat to Russia, due to this American and Russian ties have become strained. Due to a mind grown from the Cold war Putin believes America is building the missile defence shield as a way of neutralizing Russia's nuclear potential from a military stand point which is shown through a speech by Konstantin Kosachev (Russian Law Maker) ...

"if the Americans reject Russia's offer under some pretext, we will know for sure that their true goal is not only to stave off a potential threat from Iran or North Korea, but also to neutralize Russia's nuclear potential, which we could have assumed earlier."

Putin on home politics

There is also a belief that under Putin Russia has moved into an autocratic state with Putin controlling a lot of the media and those of the opposition being arrested and in some cases believed to be murdered (this is debated currently).

One thing is for sure, Putin will have to relinquish presidential power next year as Russian Constitution does not allow a president more than two consecutive terms in power. It does seem that Putin has already started putting things in to place to counter this as he is standing for Prime Minister and his party, through Putin, are putting forward someone who is relatively unknown and a friend of Putin's for presidency.

It is believed that the elections are biased and the outcome is already known before it happens with Putin becoming Prime minister and Putin's choice becoming President. Further beliefs are that Putin has rigged this so in four years he will be able to stand as president again while still retaining power over Russia in the interim period.

Summary

Europe and America keep a wary eye on Russia and Putin due to their volatile nature in politics and foreign policy BUT they also keep cordial relationships with Putin and his motherland....maybe the old saying is true, keep your friends close and your enemy's even closer.

300 What a film!!

I really needed to get this one off my chest, have you ever seen the film 300? The film 300 is probably one of the best I have seen in years, it is THE film of the year in my view as it has everything a man (yes women also) needs to enjoy.

300 is full of amazing fight sequences, a few naughty love scenes and humour, not forgetting quotes that you will keep saying for a long time to come...THIS... IS... SPARTA!

The film starts off with a narrative about Spartan life and how children grow up, especially the King Leonidas. After this opening sequence it opens up to King Leonidas playing with his son before Perisan messengers come to Sparta telling him to give up his throne and lands....needless to say these messengers do not last long in the film.

300 then goes on to tell the story of Spartan life and the will of the gods before Leonidas and his 300 men move off to stop the oncoming Perisan army of millions. The Persian army arrive and huge battle scenes ensue which not only get you on the edge of your seat but also get you pretending your one of the Spartan warriors...very much like you used to do as a kid after Star Wars lol.

Although the story of 300 is not one I would say is historically accurate, this is an amazing epic that really gets the heart racing. I think it is the CGI graphics which enable battle scenes that many people have never seen before which gives it something special.

My wife bought me this film as a special gift to say congratulations on a promotion I had at my place of employment and I can certainly say it is one of the best gifts I have ever received. It may be sad to say but I have already watched it FOUR TIMES!!

Here are my favourite quotes from the film 300

King Leonidas - THIS... IS... SPARTA!
King Leonidas - Spartans! Prepare for glory!
Dilios - We did what we were trained to do, what we were bred to do, what we were born to do!
King Leonidas - Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty... For tonight, we dine in hell!
King Leonidas - Give them nothing! But take from them everything!

Time to go and watch 300 again I think!

The Google Machine

The Google machine is one we all know and either love it or hate it....for those haters out there you should sit up and listen to why you should love the big G.

Firstly Google is not some big corporation that has been around for years like some of the stuffy banking companies of the UK that have been in business since seventeen hundred and something. Google started out in life as research project in 1996 by two students in to the relationship between sites on the Internet and how the amount of links from related sites gives a site higher relevance.

By 1997 the Google.com domain was purchased and a year later Google Inc was created in a garage. Over a short time Google grew to become a major search engine due to the quality of websites search terms returned and the simple layout of its index page.

Since its inception Google has grown to become more than a simple search engine by offering Email, advertising, applications, Youtube, the wonderful blogging site Blogger that this site is created on and more.

People dislike Google because of its sheer size and monopoly on the Internet, but you have to give Google credit where it is due as they do try to be innovators in moving the Internet forward. Not only this many people don't realise that Google is actually a big investor in small companies that have innovative ideas but don't have the collateral to get these ideas off the ground. Oh and another small addition.....they also employ over 15,000 people world wide and help many businesses grow through their many advertising outlets both paid and organic.

Overall Google has not only built itself in to a huge business but has also had a huge impact on the business world on a global scale with many, many business now having clients across the world. These same companies who employ many thousands of people from India to Bulgaria, the United Kingdom to China are helping reduce employment and build local economies just because of Google power.

Now many wont agree with this post, but you have to admit Google has had a positive impact no matter how much you love or hate it.

What makes a good manager

Many of us may recall a manager we liked, many may remember managers that were well respected, but what truly makes a good manager?

Many people think they have what it takes to make a good manager and lead from the front but the truth is that most managers are not as good as they believe they are.

So what makes a good manager in today's society....after all I'm not talking about the stiff upper lip of a bank manager from the 1950's, the ideas behind managing people have moved on leaps and bounds since those days.

First of all you have to understand what the position of a manager is, it is not to walk around cracking a whip to make people work harder, it is a position where you support and train your staff to better themselves thus improving their workload output while keeping them satisfied and happy within their working environment.

It is important to acknowledge your staff when they do well, a little praise goes a long way as it makes them realise that you see when they are achieving well. Likewise you should never ever, ever...ever put down a member of staff in front of others, if you have an issue with a member of staff due to their behaviours take them somewhere quiet and talk to them about what the issue is and how they can change this behaviour in a civil and supportive manner.

Remember the little details as well, remember birthdays, the goals each staff member has, how they take their morning cup of coffee, every little detail counts.

Admit your own failings. This is something many managers do not do but if you can admit when you do wrong it will improve your image with your staff. Also promoting an area where mistakes are okay and are part of the journey to success is important. No one ever achieved success without mistakes...just ask Bill Gates or Richard Branson.

Be approachable, listen intently to what your staff have to say and offer advice where you feel you can. If you think back to when you were not in a management position I imagine that it was a daunting task talking to your own managers. It is important to note here that you should not get too close to the staff so they view you as a close friend, there does still need to be that fine line they should not cross.

Be clear in what you expect from your staff but likewise let your staff be clear in what they expect from you. Offer expectancy exchange meetings with your staff where you all talk frankly about what support they need from you and what you expect in return, this can be a liberating experience and can also help in your own personal development as well as theirs.

Lastly and most importantly treat people how you wish to be treated, do not fall in to the trap of becoming stressed and taking it out on your staff. Remember everyone you come in to contact with within the company you work is actually a customer who you are serving, due to this you need to treat them as customers whether they are agents that answer phones or the Director.....this will build your respect.

I have been a manager of people since I was 18 when I managed two shops, in this time I have learnt from my own mistakes. While I still make mistakes today I do know that the staff around me do respect what I say and do.

Writing a book for all

I have pondered on many occasions the idea of writing a book, something I know many bloggers have contemplated but never really took the initiative to do.

There are many stumbling blocks to overcome when thinking of writing a book, I should know I am still trying to overcome them....but why do we let these stepping stones to achieving our goals overcome us?

The first stumbling block that I came up against was my own confidence in my writing. My confidence in having the ability to supply original content that many will enjoy to read so much so that they will pay for it.

So block number two, content....what will I write about and what style will I write it in. This one is no problem as my idea comes through a book of my life told through a fictional character rather than in the first person as a biography. Honestly you would think my life as something similar to the Forest Gump film.

Once I gained the confidence to write a book the third stumbling block took hold. This stumbling block is the ability and drive to make time to start writing the book in my head. You cannot write a book without creating time to sit down and pen the contents of it...which can be alot of writing given the amount of content ina good best seller.

Okay so I got past stumbling block one, two and three, so whats the deal why haven't I wrote a book yet? Well block four took over....why spend so much time writing a book if you have no way to publish it as many publishers are likely to look the other way. Well, well this one is easy to overcome, you just need to publish it yourself at somewhere like Lulu, am I right? Of course I am, self publishing is becoming extremely popular.

So now I am passed all these four blocks why have I not started my dream book?

Well I am back to stumbling block number one, I have the ideas and opportunity to create and deliver them through a perfect outlet at Lulu BUT my confidence is stopping me once again.

Have you ever considered writing a book yet hit any of the stumbling blocks above? If so how did you overcome them....do you think I should write this book?