I was quite happy to see JM’s number on the caller ID……. it’s been a while since we last spoke, and I was anxious to see how the Pirates had treated him. Thankfully, they didn’t touch so much as a hair on his head (as you will see), and he was lucky to come out unscathed.  His captors allowed him to take this souvenir photo before handing him off to negotiators.  “The only positive part of the whole adventure was being able to stay outside for more than 5 minutes at a time”  he said.

Hahahaha…. he is of course, referring to the nasty inhumane (shoot me, I hate to be cold) winter weather conditions in one of my favorite cities; Montreal.  I asked how he and Janice were fairing in such rigid cold.   “Well, we’ve gotten used to layering ~ it’s a necessary part of life here”.  ’It is’, I agreed.  Did that mean they had been spending all their time indoors? “Oh no, I’ve been working hard to fit into the Montreal art community, so far with no success”.

When I started to laugh, he said “I’m serious. Almost daily, I commute from my home to the city, and hit another part of the art scene.  While I have not yet succeeded,  I will keep trying to fit in”.  ’Try something different’ I said laughing. “Absolutely”  he replied.  ’So, the arts and the Documentary…..anything else?’ I wondered.  “Other than that, we’ve just been spending a lot of time by the fire ….it’s COLD outside”

LMFAO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks John.

I just received a ransom note from the North Somalian Pirate League.   They have John. He’s being held captive in an undisclosed location, and will be released unharmed…….. provided he complies.   They have a list of demands that he will be forced (at gun point) to read on air tomorrow.   As long as he engages the listeners and pronounces all the words correctly, they have assured me he will be set free.   I have contacted the appropriate Authorities, who have urged me to maintain an open line of communication and agree with everything they say or want.  I will keep you updated.

Tune in tomorrow

And please join me in praying for his safe return, I’ve heard this is a pretty rough bunch.

WEB  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

©WEB~2014 ☮

  It is easy to get stuck in a rut in our current society. We wake up each morning  and do the same  thing we did the morning before.  We wake -up.  We get breakfast.  We go to work. We fight  traffic. We go to lunch.  We spend the day tolerating the    office . We wait for the end of the day  and go home in in the reverse traffic that we came to work in. We eat dinner.  We play with the  family.  We go to bed. We create lives of safe predictability. We even create predictability for the  natural functions of our bodies. Exercise, which in more fundamental societies is taken care of,  without concern, by running after food, running from predators, building shelters, wrestling enemies etc, is, in our society, regulated by science, and allotted to a given hour of our day.

If you find deep meaning in this overwhelming predictability, then first, I am in awe of your fortunate condition, and second, you need read no further.  If however, you perceive some gaping hole in your existence, like an emptiness that cannot be filled by anything around or in you, then perhaps I can advise you and give you hope in this New Year.

Trying something truly new involves great risk. The greater the risk, the greater the potential rewards. I will give you a few suggestions from my own experience that can perhaps guide you in your quest for new experiences.  I recommend them highly.

You may think that I am making up, or exaggerating the following examples, but, God’s truth, I lived through them all.   Here we go:

1.  Ask your wife to sleep on the living room sofa after you bring home  a strange  woman that you met in a bar.  Make sure that you have  never before given your  wife any indications that you’re anything but  a model husband, who would  never dream of straying. Although I  Have Never Experienced it, bringing home a  gay man that you had  found in a gay bar might prove to be equally as enlightening.  You  women in the audience could achieve the same effect by bringing  home a  Chippendale dancer, and asking your husband to sleep in the  garage.

2.  Go into work early and sit in your boss’s office. When your boss arrives, tell him firmly that he’s fired.  Do not back off.  If he refuses to leave, call security.

3.  Go naked to church with a sign around your neck that reads “only the poor  shall enter heaven”.  I have only tried this in a fundamental Baptist environment. I would be interested in hearing your experiences with different faiths.

4.  Rent a loudspeaker truck or car and drive through suburban neighborhoods saying over  and  over into the microphone:  “I’m  mad as hell and I’m not going to take it  anymore”,   with the  volume set to full blast.

5.  Buy airtime on your local AM rock radio station and, while speaking live, confess every dark secret of your life.

6.  Spend a day listening carefully to every sound your dog makes.  Imagine it is a two year old child trying to quote Shakespeare, but unable to form the syllables properly.  Your dog really is trying to speak to you. Get back to me on this one.

You can easily come up with your own experiments.  I promise you, if they involve great risk, you will receive great rewards.

*************************
©WEB~2014 ☮

My third recommendation:  TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE IN IMPROVING THE ECONOMY OF OUR COUNTRY

My second recommendation:   STREAMLINE YOUR LIFE – A ZEN APPROACH TO LIVING 

 One of the fundamental problems of our existing socio-economic structure is that our perceived  obligations frequently motivate us to take on far more responsibilities, activities and interests  than we can properly attend to. We take on a large portion of these responsibilities without  giving them much thought. It is easy to take on a given responsibility but frequently extremely  difficult to drop it. And there’s our problem. We should all take advantage of this New Year to  try to drop those responsibilities which can be more appropriately taken up by others and to  streamline our lives so that we have more time to pay attention to those things that need  attention, and to care for those people that are dear to us in our lives.

We all need to sit down and fearlessly look at each and every responsibility and activity of our  lives and without pre-judgement drop those that are obviously burdensome, or that we are no  longer interested in attending to – responsibilities that could more easily be handled by others.  Let’s look at some obvious examples that most people might overlook:

Knowledge of the impending arrival of children into this world often takes us by surprise.  Yet most of us bravely take up the responsibility for these children even though the children were not exactly asked for.  Years later we may think differently. It would be nice to simply buy food and clothing for all  our children and let them do as they will.  However, the modern-day  structure of our legal system demands that we take full responsibility  for our children’s actions.  This is a daunting thought and one which  causes us to pause .  However, there is a new organization that has  recently been established that will, for a substantial fee, take full legal  responsibility for your children and contract them back into your  care.  You may therefore enjoy them or ignore them at will, and can  without any worries whatsoever, be completely unconcerned with  whatever damage they may or may not do in this world.  The  abdication of responsibility for your children, whether they were wanted or unwanted, is one of the most freeing sensations a human being can feel.  You should contact the organization in question – the McAfee Freedom Foundation – if you have any interest whatsoever in relieving yourself of responsibility for your children.  The friendly staff at the foundation can point you to other viable options if the cost of our program is prohibitive.  We are far more interested in your freedom than our profits. Viable options range from selling your children outright to any number of Asian agencies, (which, depending on age and other factors, will frequently pay handsomely), to sending them off to one of a list of recommended British boarding schools which we have vetted. Some of the options might be interpreted by overzealous agencies as bordering on statute violations in some venues, but we are certain that a competent lawyer could easily counter these claims.

We can all recognize that the energies poured into child rearing rank way up there.  However, that does not mean that the little habitual activities that we engage in on a daily basis should be ignored.  On the contrary, this is usually where we gain the greatest benefit for the least effort.  Ask yourself – who benefits from the energy that you put into your daily bathing?  It is certainly not yourself.

 The process depletes essential skin oils, abrades the skin, removes micro parasites whose  presence is necessary for bio-balance and health, and wastes precious water.  Abandoning  the practice would place any residual burden, such as dealing with olfactory  unpleasantness, squarely on the shoulders of your family and coworkers – a concern you  need not worry about.  Likewise, in this age of digital imaging and laser printing, which has  given rise to a burgeoning cottage industry in cheap but undetectable fake ID’s, have you  questioned the value of adhering to traffic laws? A questioning mind might run the numbers  and acquire a drivers license in the name of Zaphod Beeblebrox or Christopher Gollum, and then unburden the mind from having to comprehend and commit to memory the tedious and often conflicting laws governing driving a car.

Getting back to big issues, and let’s use marriage as an example.  People frequently get married because they are simply unaware of the multitude of options available to them.  Many come to mind right off the top of my hat, such as sawing your leg off at the knee.  I am certain that many of my readers would agree that if this were the only option to marriage available, they would unquestionably reach for the saw.  Preferable options would certainly occur to even the casual observer if some small thought was put into it.  If you’re already married then all is still not lost.  Many of you, of course, will have already considered the old standbys such as offing your spouse and turning yourself into the police, or shoving ice picks into your own ears so that you no longer are forced to listen to your spouse’s annoying drivel, and due to the extreme nature of the solution, have abandoned hope.  But history has provided countless creative solutions to this archetypal problem, many of which are quick and simple – the problem merits a bit more of your thought.  I personally favor paying some hugely attractive, intelligent and charismatic person to steal away your spouse’s heart and convince them to run away with them.  Once out of the house, tweet everyone you know and alert them to your plight, change all the locks in the house and, if children are involved, collect them up and buy them each a one way ticket to the country to which your spouse has run off, and then soundly congratulate yourself.  As a precautionary practice, you might want to sell all of your spouse’s belongings which they left behind so that any attempt on your spouse’s part to legally return can be more effectively countered.

JM:   I will give you my Seven Recommendations to have a Better 2014.  One a day for the next week – well, as long as I’m not taken hostage by Somalian Pirates.

This is my first recommendation:   EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD

The most important thing a person can do is to more completely familiarize themselves with the world around them.  Your world is composed primarily of the things immediately around you.  Your wife, your boss, your children, your neighbors, and all of the people and things that you interact with on a daily basis.  As for children, we should not concern ourselves too much.  As long as they are out of the house and out of our hair we should be happy.  Our greatest concern should be with our spouses.  Wives or husbands can be serious problems from time to time.  In rare cases they can be deadly problems.  So we must first and foremost concern ourselves with the doings of our husbands or wives.  Since everyone has smart phones these days and since there are hundreds of spy ware applications available on the web at reasonable prices – and since these applications can be installed in a matter of moments,  I recommend strongly that each of you purchase such applications and surreptitiously install them on your spouses phone. These applications allow you, from a distance, to turn on the microphone or the video camera, allowing you to listen to phone conversations or visually monitor anything within range of the phone’s camera.  The software also allowed you to read any texts that are sent and received, even if they have been deleted.   

By making yourself more knowledgeable about your spouse’s whereabouts and activities you become closer to your spouse and see things far more objectively.  This objectivity allows you to make decisions more effectively and to have a happier and healthier life with your spouse.  It also gives you greater control in the relationships and allows you to take charge in situations where you previously would have had no power.

The next most important relationship in the average life is the relationship that you have with your boss.  In a normal boss/employee relationship the employee has limited power and limited flexibility.  What is necessary is to make friends with your boss, at least enough to allow you in some circumstance or other to ask to borrow his phone, because yours may have run out of battery power or some other thing may have happened, and your call is critical so your boss will understand.  While using the phone you surreptitiously download the appropriate software and do the same thing that you have done with your spouse.  It’s amazing what will be discovered when one starts monitoring one’s boss’s activities.  A person will soon discover that their boss is as imperfect as they are, or indeed as is anyone.  It is very, very important, in this context, to record and save all communications because bosses are notoriously disbelieving when it comes to certain employee presentations. Appropriate documentation in these situations can be enormously helpful.  

You must be judicious in your application of the knowledge that you learn about your boss.  There are appropriate and inappropriate times to talk to your boss about information that you have learned and appropriate and inappropriate goals that you might hope to achieve.  Appropriate times are when you need a raise, when you would like a promotion, or day off.  Your wish to work at home – never coming to the office, or demands that your boss never call you and double your salary may only be possible if your boss’s activities fall into the category of “extraordinary”.  It may indeed be possible under rare circumstances.  This will depend, of course, upon your diligence and perseverance in establishing a closer relationship with your boss through a deeper understanding of his person.  Such a relationship, like the blossoming relationship with your spouse, can be enormously harmonious.  

This same principle can be applied to all of your relationships, depending upon their perceived importance.  Once you have embarked upon the path of improving your knowledge of the world around you, you will be actually surprised at the changes in your life and the enormous freedom you will feel.

****************************************

As anticipated, John has provided us with highly insightful words of advice to keep in  mind as 2014 throws obstacles in our paths. His long list of new endeavors will make it impossible for him to slow down,  so we’ll just have to keep watching.  I thank John for taking time out of his Holidays just for us, and of course, for never disappointing.

First from WEB: I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or any other day special to you.  If you’re one of the lucky ones,  you’ve gotten an extended vacation because the holiday fell in the middle of the week.  Hopefully, that’s given everyone lots of family time, reminding us all of Christmas’ when we were young.  Maybe it allowed you the time to volunteer for a cause dear to your heart.   Or perhaps you got that long awaited, much needed vacation.  At our house, we’re still in mellow mode, which personally, I’d like to stick around for awhile …….morning coffee and Kahlua will be greatly missed when things get back to normal.  But back to ‘normal’ is exactly where we all must head soon…..the New Year is here, and thoughts of upcoming responsibilities will sneak into our minds as the days go on.  My best wishes for a great 2014 go out to each of you. ☮

Of course there were parties, and firework-filled celebrations around the World to ring in 2014.  Some made resolutions (I never do),  many drank too much (I’ve been known to),  but ultimately most of us have wishes of good things in the year ahead  (I always do).  Be it health, wealth, love, success or ‘world peace’☮, we approach every January 1st with an optimistic view of all that could be.  But never in my wildest imagination did I anticipate the events of the last year.  No way.  My family remains healthy and happy, for which I am extremely grateful, and certainly wished for.  What was extraordinary were the other events that occurred throughout the year….events that hadn’t even existed in my slightly-hung-over thought process of Jan. 1st, 2013.

~An Internet education……the good, the bad, and the ugly.

~More computer knowledge in several months than my entire life to that point.

~A blog….not a familiar territory then, just like home now.  Thanks for reading.

~Exclusive conversations with John McAfee….for McAfee Weekly.

~New friends…..after weeding out the freaks, there really were some.

~An amazing job offer….and a totally cool job

~Never knowing what will be next…..and liking it.

~And more….

And so, my thoughts turn to John, and what feelings he has about the year ahead.  After all, without him, none of this would be happening.  Last year at this time JM was deep in the Heartland, making his way to Portland, and couldn’t have possibly anticipated the roller coaster ride he’s been riding.  It seems to me that he’s paid his dues, and should be allowed the luxury of this New Year being more peaceful….if that’s what he wants ;)~ .   Honestly, when I stop and think about what it must be like, I’m not sure how people in the public eye do it.  Being under a microscope wouldn’t fly for me….. but back to JM’s thoughts on the New Year….. I think we need some McAfadvice. I wonder if he’ll be available. *Big smile*….he’s got some time for us.

WEB:  We’re starting 2014 with a New Moon (fairly rare – last was 19 yrs. ago), which is said to bring good luck and new beginnings.  What, if any, ‘new beginnings’ are you looking forward to in 2014?

JM:  I have initiated a number of new projects that, hopefully, will improve my deteriorating public image and re-focus my energies into more conservative and acceptable pursuits.

The first one is my Somalia Marketing Initiative.  It is clear that the powers that be have no real intention to address the huge issue of piracy on the high seas and the piracy profession will continue expand at an exponential rate for the foreseeable future.  As things stand now, Somalia Pirates, as a collective, earn more yearly revenues from piracy than the GNP of Brazil, and approximately 98% of this revenue stream is spent outside the country.  While this may in fact create a dangerously lopsided trade imbalance that could burden future generations of pirates and devastate the pirate profession at large, it represents for the moment a huge untapped market that should bear fruit for a dozen or more years if properly managed.  

Since there is no current marketing plan to address the buying needs of pirates, this enormous wealth is currently being siphoned away by world class scam artists and unscrupulous opportunists, to the detriment of both the the pirates and the world economy as a whole.

My approach to mining this untapped resource is two-fold: 

First there needs to exist a country-wide education program to help the pirate community develop safe, sane and effective purchasing programs to help protect themselves from those con men and scam artists that currently have a stranglehold on the buying public in Somalia.  The pirate community needs to understand its purchasing options, and formal purchasing procedures need to be established to weed out people and organizations whose whole intent is to take advantage of the Pirates’ naiveté in accepted ethical business practices.  

The second thing that needs to be produced is a comprehensive buyers catalog that can be distributed for free to all pirates that meet certain minimum buyer criteria.  The catalog addresses both their professional and their personal buying needs.  Since Internet access in Somalia is either non functional or non existent, depending on geographic area, and since the majority of pirates are illiterate, the catalog will be distributed on a simple touch screen video device that will display pictures linked to explanatory videos dubbed in the Somali language.  For example: the opening screen has only two pictures.  The first depicts a large cargo ship being chased by speedboats filled with men brandishing a variety of weapons.  When touched, a screen appears with pictures of each class of appropriate weapon, interception and boarding devices, and the chase and escape vehicles that would be needed in the effective carrying out of the pirate profession.

The second photo depicts a contented pirate at ease, in front of a large estate wearing sophisticated clothing and surrounded by scantily clad Nubian women and attentive servants.  When touched, photos depicting the standard classes of recreational and entertainment products and services appears.

The catalog comes with a custom satellite phone with one single button.  When pressed, the buyer is instantly connected to his area sales representative who takes orders and arranges for expeditious delivery and secure payment.

If you have a product or service that you feel merits inclusion in our catalog, please contact myself, or my associate Edward Snowden at your earliest convenience.  Space is limited.

My other new projects include “Opinions inc.”, which addresses a growing problem today; knowing what to think about the huge and growing number of issues in the world.  Subscribers will have full time access to a personal advisor who will guide them as they navigate the delicate business and social interactions that present themselves throughout the day.

My third initiative is “Decisions Inc.” – the next logical step for subscribers to Opinions Inc.   Decisions Inc. subscribers can relieve themselves of any responsibility whatsoever for their own lives by turning over all decision making responsibility to us.  Thus, the truly difficult or intimidating choices we all must face, such as whether or not to approach a particular someone at a singles gathering, or whether or not to propose marriage to someone you already met (or would like to meet), will be decided by our professional decision makers.  All subscribers will wear a full time, nearly invisible earpiece and will be equipped with a tiny wearable video camera and microphone.  Professional decision makers will monitor the subscriber’s every action and will prompt them in each and every situation requiring a decision. 

Those interested in becoming a subscriber should apply early.  Numbers will be limited for the first few years. 

WEB:  (must stop giggling) From what we’ve all read, you’ve lived a pretty exciting, and colorful life.  It seems you live every moment to the fullest, and frankly show little signs of slowing down…..your above answer makes that clear.  Over the last year there have been countless comments made on whoismcafee.com by people who either want to be you or hang out with you.   So, with that in mind, what advice would you have for us mere mortals to make the most of this New Year?

Upon realizing the magnitude of the question, John offered to provide not one but seven responses to my query.   I have created a new post so his answers will all be under one heading, and will add to them daily.  Enjoy.

In closing, as 2014 starts it’s ‘New Beginning’, I would like to (publicly) thank John McAfee and Francois Garcia/Impact Future Media for having the confidence (the smart ass me says ‘insight’.. lol) to offer me, an unknown, such an amazing job.  To say the last 6 months have been a pleasure would be an understatement.  Last year at this time I could never have imagined I’d be sitting ‘here’ right now.  It’s been a blast this far, with so much more to come, and my deepest gratitude goes to both of you.  Cheers to New Beginnings.

This year has me really, really excited….it’s going to be FAN-f*c%ing-TASTIC.

Bring on 2014……I’m ready.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

©WEB~2014 ☮

HAIL TO THE CHIEF…………

Never say Never. That, ladies and gents, is exactly how I feel each and every time someone inserts John McAfee into any venture. Does he want to be Microsoft’s CEO as voted by the Tech community?  Or how about JM for President of the United States, a suggestion that has been made time and again, either online or by direct contact?  Should he pick a State, and run for Governor?  Or maybe work with the Government to fix this Healthcare debacle? Just kidding on that one…we already know the outcome of that.  The people had spoken, now I had to know what John himself thought of all this.

We had some catching up to do.  He’s been busy lately, with seminars, TV interviews, and a new company; Future Tense.  It was good to hear his voice on the other end of the phone, and we were quickly back to our normal rapport.  We shared a huge laugh over Toronto Mayor, Rob Ford’s latest comments, which (after almost falling over with his ‘plenty to eat at home’ comment) ultimately led us to honesty….. or the lack thereof.  If JM ran for President, there would be no need for anyone to do much more than Google him to get “the dirt”.  He told me about a funny conversation he recently had when the topic of him being a Presidential candidate came up….. “They asked me”.… ‘Mr. McAfee, have you ever smoked marijuana?’ ‘Have you ever been unfaithful to your wife?’  ’Have you taken any other types of illegal drugs?’  ’Have you ever……?’ “YES, Yes, yes……and YES“  he replied  “There are countless articles where I have openly admitted my past behavior” “I have taken more drugs than you collectively can all carry”. All the time, money and nastiness spent trying to dig up shit to smear on him, would be for nothing. “The opposition would be helpless….there is no smear campaign they could mount against me without looking completely ridiculous”   It’s out there already…..exposed to the world by him.  “No one would have any doubts about my honesty….really, who would you trust?…..the guy who said he didn’t inhale, or the guy who said he’d been unfaithful, sold drugs, and done it all?”  I know which one I would trust.  Quite frankly, I’ve never understood the “attempted cover up” of past behavior.  We’re all human……lay the cards on the table, let’s see your hand.  For every piece of dirt found on a potential candidate, there are probably two more they’re still trying to bury.  And when the sordid details are exposed, their apology is hollow, making “I’m sorry” really mean “I’m sorry I got caught”.  That is not the kind of leader I want.  “Then they told me  ‘the thing that Americans need most in a leader is charisma and excitement’  and I realized they were completely serious”.  Agreeing wholeheartedly that he possessed both those qualities, I added that with those character traits, he would be able to talk to all people, and find amicable solutions.  ”That’s right, it was actually one of the points they made to me” .

There have been blog comments, and Tweets, all stating ‘McAfee for President’.  In an email,  a member of the Patriots Freedom Network told JM he is  ”One hell of an American”, and encouraged him to think about running for President.  His reply:  “I thank you for your kind vote of confidence, however, I am not sure that America is ready to take an unflinchingly honest look at itself.  I have no interest in half measures- life is too short for such nonsense, and the full measure of my participation would require such profound changes that I fear the powers that be would not let me live long enough to enter office.  I am not afraid – please be assured of this – but it would be tragic to waste the time of your organization and yourself when you might easily find some candidate who may have some possibility of succeeding.”  

More proof that McAfee for President is taking hold, is this obvious ‘left tongue in right cheek’ video, where the host lists the reasons why John McAfee would make a great Republican candidate.

1.  A true entrepreneur             2.  Wildly successful             3.  Hates paying taxes

4.  Loves guns                                5.  Not gay                                6.  White male

So I wanted to know…..’hypothetically’ what actions John McAfee would take if he was our President.  “I have no interest in being President, however……….

If I were the president, my first act in office would be to declare product packaging made of that indestructible, virtually impossible to open, clear plastic material illegal.  I would further have the NSA track down the inventors and other perpetrators of said packaging and charge them with crimes against humanity.

My second act would be to identify the person within the Commerce Department who came up with the idea of placing annoying tags on mattresses that say ‘Do not remove under penalty of law’, and require them to undergo therapy.

My third act would be to randomly fire a good three quarters of all federal employees, give the remaining one quarter a fifty percent raise, and then demand that everyone start doing real work for a change.  

My fourth act would be to lobby Congress and the Senate to please stop working on Government issues, or on any issues they had previously deemed relevant to their jobs.  I feel that a ‘hands off’ approach to Government can’t hurt us for a while.

My fifth act would be to sit quietly in a corner and read a pile of good books, until the unlikely event that a President was really needed presented itself. 

But what about a more traditional position, like CEO of Microsoft?  One online poll had JM voted as the best candidate (28.4%) for the job, beating out Bill Gates (21.5%).  Over at Computer World, blogger Jonny Evans thinks the idea is fantastic.  He lists a multitude of reasons why it would work;  ”The company doesn’t need some corporate fat cat to lead it into its last battles, it needs a leader with charisma and excitement – someone who may be prepared to do the unexpected thing”  he says.  He gives a plethora of reasons, and speculates on the amazing things JM could do for the company.  ”He could bring danger and excitement, scandal and a sense of unpredictability.  Microsoft would seem exciting and interesting and the world’s press would reel in manufactured shock and awe as the Maverick Microsoft McAfee threatened to turn the world upside down.  This personal excitement would make Apple seem uptight, and Google seem dishonest in comparison”  and he continues… “The company’s public image would transform–it would be talked about, criticized, discussed, slammed and praised from all directions.  The usual po-faced moralists would say one thing, the usual utopian pleasure seekers another”.  Read the whole article, it’s really good.  I wondered out loud how difficult it would be to deal with the political bullshit that comes with Positions of that magnitude.  ” It would not be something I was interested in dealing with.  I  would get bored of the whole thing rather quickly”  His current venture will keep him busy, and provide lots of excitement, so I’m glad that’s where he’s focusing his energy…..for now.  And to Toe Knee, who asked about Quorum Sensing…… NEVER SAY NEVER.

And so, with this and much more going on behind the scenes, I just want to say, what a difference a year makes.  Yep, that’s how long it’s been since JM first put pen to paper, and began to chronicle his horrors in Belize, and necessary escape to safety.   Oh, I almost forgot:  his advice for the Rob Ford’s of this world “Don’t mix crack cocaine with Politics”    LMFAO.

Thanks John…….

©WEB~2013

Thanks to Sandwillow for the graphics.

ORIGINAL SOURCE

By WhoisWeb?    Ever mindful of the rights of others, I made sure before we started that John knew he was being recorded.  What? lol…. At least I told him.  Chuckles aside, I asked about the whistle blower actions that still have Edward Snowden ’hanging out’ in a Russian airport transit zone.

“Whistle blowing is troublesome to me.  It sounds on the surface to be a very good thing because it enlightens us and brings us information…..  maybe, or maybe not. But here’s why it troubles me; the concept of praising whistle blowers is exactly how Germany, under the Nazi regime, got children to tell on their parents, and then the parents were shot.  It creates a horrible, horrible state.  Obviously, if you found out your neighbor was killing children you would turn him in, or intervene in some way to stop it.”  

While John takes a breath, I agree it goes without saying that being a rat….a snitch, is absolutely not a good character trait, but it’s much different from taking actions to prevent harm coming to an innocent person.  And really, couldn’t we look at this particular instance under the guise that we, the citizens of America are in fact the innocents, when up against any government entity?  So no, I don’t like the idea of praising or rewarding someone simply for ‘telling’ either, but without people like Snowden…..

“Right, I don’t want to be kept in the dark.  If someone had documents they could publish, that could prove the statements, then that might not be a bad thing.  But some people blow whistles because they’re

bored, and they want some public attention, and then, it ends up that we don’t know what the truth is anyway.  So I’m not going to say it’s a bad thing, just that the possibilities trouble me.”

  And now, living in a world of instant everything, I worry about huge number of people who blindly read and believe almost anything posted, pinned, linked or Tweeted.  It scares me.  What ever happened to ‘Question Authority’ ~ ‘Question Everything’ ??  Unfortunate as it may be, I have now gotten to a point where believing even 50% of what I hear on MSM or from the Government is pushing my limit.  I’ve never thought of myself as cynical, but a steady diet of bullshit, with a side of propaganda has me questioning that assessment.  When I express this to John he laughs.  I think he wonders what took me so long.  

“You’re not alone, I’m sick of it too.  Now obviously, those same doubts must be applied to anything leaked by a whistle blower too…….there are no guarantees.  And when we start talking about documents, the validity of which no one has any concept, we must consider what the whistle blower will get.  In Snowden’s case, that poor bastard didn’t gain anything. Nothing except being on the run, stuck in Russia.    And we didn’t learn anything new, did we?  There isn’t a sane adult in this Country who doesn’t know the American Government has been using sophisticated technology to eavesdrop on us for years. And, the Governments of many other countries too.  It is not unique to the USA by any means. “But as I said, many whistle blowers simply want public attention, they get their name in the paper many, many times, they get appearances on ‘Good Morning America.”  They have an agenda.  That makes me doubt what they’re saying.”  

I still want to find out what he thinks about all the people who claim they didn’t know what was going on right under their noses?  I don’t want to be rude, but what has happened to common sense in this country?  How is it that so many people are no longer free thinkers I ask him.  

“Well now, that’s something that goes far deeper than whistle blowing….. it goes into the mindset that creates sheep out of individuals, and yes, I’d like to talk about that another day.”

 I’m already looking forward to it, and have to steer my mind back to the topic at hand.

Okay, so we conclude that the free thinkers weren’t shocked by the revelations that the US government was listening to a lot more than they wanted to admit to, and the sheeple blindly believed official statements about it being merely a ‘safety measure for our own security’.   How do those feelings change, or what other emotions come into play when we talk about ‘classified’ information being leaked to other countries then ?  Would he feel any differently about the whistle blower?  Should all nations be aware of what they are doing to each other?

 “Wow, these are very, very deep questions.  Okay, I am standing right beside John Lennon…..when he wrote ‘Imagine’.  “Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for”.   I believe that Countries just need to disappear.  We don’t need them do we?  What purpose do they serve other than protect the vested interests of the powerful people of the region.  Well that doesn’t interest me.  They create a society that suits them, and in the Country next door, the powerful create a culture that suits them, but is much different than their neighbor.  I don’t care what suits the wealthy, or the powerful, I care what suits the people.  So, is it worse to give information to another Government?  I don’t know.“  

But doesn’t it switch from whistle blowing to treason once it leaves our borders and involves another nation?

“Treason is a legal term, and treason is not something you want to be charged with, they will hang you.  However,  I still believe the World would be a better place without Countries”   One Society? I ask.  It seems inconceivable to me.  “Half of me says ‘why don’t we just collapse this whole big mess, and start over as one World?’ The other half knows it will never happen, but it’s a good dream…..it would equalize everything”.  

At this point, we start talking about way too many things at once….war, good, bad, black, white, propaganda, media, circumstances and more …. PHEW.  I promise I will get John back on these subjects soon, he has some very interesting views (no surprise), that will surely get people talking.   There is still more with the whole leaki thing, so I read John a statistic I had just found, that quite frankly blew me away.  ”Since hearing the NSA’s explanation (or reasoning) for their actions, 58% of Americans approve of the spying”

” Well then, 58% of Americans are idiots, what can I say?”   

Took the words right out of my mouth.

On one of the many pages I visit, amid all the comments, I found one that seemed perfect to mold into a question.  This person had suggest that John open a school to teach all these wiki ‘greenhorns’ the proper way to successfully come out alive from a potentially life threatening/dangerous situation.  I thought I would ask what his advice to Edward Snowden would be.  “

First and foremost, as I said on Fox News, Hong Kong was the perfect place to be, and I never would have left there as he did.  I would melt in to the back alleys and get lost.  Learn Chinese, dye my hair, dress like a native, marry a local girl, get a job – cook noodles, get on with life.  Hong Kong would have been an extremely safe place …..the Chinese Government wasn’t going to go looking for him, and never would have sent him back the the United States.  It’s such an international city, with wall to wall people.  I wish he’d called me, that I’d been able to talk to him.  He’s less than half my age, and what kind of life has he got in front of him?  I would never have gone to Russia, not even as a transit country.   Look what has happened…….he has been sitting there for days”.

Has he been detained?  I hate to say this, but the Russians are notorious crooks, the country is run mostly by the KGB, and the KGB are a bunch of gangsters.  I cannot imagine how anyone would think they would find a safe haven at a Russian International Airport.  Russia’s going to do what it wants to do”.  

 I don’t know how he ended up in Russia….is he just waiting for transport to Ecuador?  I ask JM.   Hmmmm…..  And why Ecuador?  

“It’s a gorgeous country, on the equator, with the Andes Mountains running through it, so for that reason, I can understand Ecuador.   From a security standpoint, if he can get there safely, he’s out of the reach of American authorities.  I don’t believe the Ecuadorian authorities will co-operate with them at all”.  

 I mention the story I heard about a trade agreement between Ecuador and the USA, set to expire the end of July.  As the story was reported, they depend on America by way of that export treaty, for a majority of their revenue.  It seems likely that they’ll use this as a carrot,  to pressure Ecuador to not allow Snowden asylum.  John doubts Ecuador’s reliance on American money, but states that he could be wrong…….agreeing there are too many unknowns,  we decide to wait and see.  Because Snowden was not the only one mentioned in that comment,  I asked what he knew about KimDotcom

” I don’t know him personally, but if I had been able to give him advice, I would have told him he was way too successful, and that having a reported 5% share of Internet traffic was troubling to the powers that be.  And how was he using that huge share?  By giving it away.  He brought too much attention to himself, which of course, is one of the curses of being ultra successful.  As more and more people knew his name, it became  virtually impossible to step away from the fame for the sake of common sense.  He should have split his company into 10, maybe 20 smaller businesses, and he would never have gotten the attention of Big Business or the Government.  He was too solid, and too unified.  The powers that be want to see you fragmented and helpless.  And that would have been my advice to him….concentrate on quietly growing your company, not gaining name recognition.  The problem is that so many people want to grow their legacy…… to be a big power.  As far as his future, I don’t see New Zealand ever turning him over to the US….. I believe he has promised to buy a laptop for every man woman and child in his new country.  New Zealand is now his home.”  

Maybe the ‘McAfee Conspiracy Consultants and School of Espionage Etiquette’ should be John’s next business venture?  I bet they’d be lined up around the block for a chance to get a one on one with him, lol.   Edward Snowden and KimDotcom are both intelligent individuals who should never have ended up in the predicaments they’re now in.  I don’t know their circumstances, nor the options that were available to them, so I’m not making a judgement, I’m trying to understand.  It just seems to me, that great intelligence should not be void of common sense, and it causes me great confusion when it appears it is.   I know, I know……another day.

****Since speaking with John, there have been several updates.  Things have changed, and this Huffington Post article gives a good rundown on Snowden’s current situation.  After a German paper cited Snowden as the source for the report detailing surveillance on EA offices in Washington, New York and Brussels, Julian Assange had this to say ” There is no stopping the publishing process at this stage.  Great care has been taken to make sure that Mr. Snowden can’t be pressured by any State to stop the publication from proceeding”  This story may have just begun…..we will see.

©WEB~2013                                                                                                                                                                     Top image by Hawk of the Night.