What Would Henry Ford Think About The War In Iraq?

Henry Ford (1863 – 1947), Founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production, made many interesting statements in his insightful, business-savvy 1922 Autobiography, "My Life and Work".

In chapter 17, he addresses the first World War, what war is all about and who really benefits from war. His words are quite interesting on this topic and still very relevant in 2007, especially in light of the current war in Iraq. Many would not even draw a parallel between World War I and the current war in Iraq, however, the undeniable common denominator is the heavy loss of lives in both of these wars (and the loss of lives in Iraq is still ongoing!).

He states about World War I:

"Nobody got an advantage, honourable or dishonourable, out of that war. I had hoped, finally, when the United States entered the war, that it might be a war to end wars, but now I know that wars do not end wars..."

One has to ask, is the current war in Iraq going to be a war to end wars? Absolutely not.

Below he expresses what 'patriotism' really means. You can very well be against war and still be patriotic:

"When our country entered the war, it became the duty of every citizen to do his utmost toward seeing through to the end that which we had undertaken. I believe that it is the duty of the man who opposes war to oppose going to war up until the time of its actual declaration."

Notice he states "...up until the time of its actual declaration." Even if the reasons for going to war in the first place are wrong (think 'WMD'), your patriotism for your country should not be given up or abandoned. When war begins, you should stand behind your country.

Notice also that Ford states "I believe that it is the duty of the man who opposes war to oppose going to war...". Where was 'war-activist' Cindy Sheehan between 9/11 and the start of the war in Iraq in 2003? If she is so 'anti-war', then she should have stood up tall after 9/11 and declare that President Bush and the United States should not invade or strike any country to create another war. She did no such thing or made no bold statement until 2005 when she decided to camp outside President Bush's Texas Ranch - more than a year after the tragic death of her son in the line of duty in Iraq in early 2004. If she became actively 'anti-war' only after the war started (and loss of her son), then it simply means she was 'for' the war in the beginning - despite her claims otherwise. Actions will always (and forever) speak louder than words.

Below Ford discusses why war never resolves issues:

"My opposition to war is not based upon pacifist or non-resistant principles. It may be that the present state of civilization is such that certain international questions cannot be discussed; it may be that they have to be fought out. But the fighting never settles the question. It only gets the participants around to a frame of mind where they will agree to discuss what they were fighting about."

Below he shows how much he contributed and supported the United States in its war effort, once the war started:

"Once we were in the war, every facility of the Ford industries was put at the disposal of the Government. We had, up to the time of the declaration of war, absolutely refused to take war orders from the foreign belligerents. From April, 1917, until November, 1918, our factory worked practically exclusively for the Government."

Henry Ford's Autobiography, "My Life and Work" is a brilliant book for anyone involved in any type of business today as it highlights the real principles of creating and managing a business and what all business should be about - not 'profit', but rather 'service'. You can pick up a copy of "My Life and Work" here.

WWE's Biggest Mistake

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was hit with yet another tragedy yesterday when one of its Superstars, Chris Benoit, was found dead in his new Georgia home - along with his wife Nancy and 7-year old son, Daniel. Details are still sketchy on how and why this gruesome tragedy took place as investigations are still underway, but Police believe Benoit murdered his wife and son over the weekend and then committed suicide sometime on Monday. On Sunday night Benoit was supposed to take part in a WWE Pay-Per-View event, but he cancelled due to a "family emergency". The next day their bodies were found in separate rooms.

Only last week the WWE lost another Superstar, Sherri Martel, who was found dead in her mother's home under suspicious circumstances (Police believe her death was "un-natural").

Are you ready for the kicker? WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, has been "pretending" to be dead in recent weeks as part of a new storyline to garner higher ratings for his shows - complete with a realistic death-scene in which McMahon's white limo blows up as soon as he enters it. Firefighters were then shown trying to extinguish the blazing inferno.

A mock press conference was also shown where a WWE Representative announced the death of "Mr. McMahon" and that a "Federal investigation" was underway. WWE even went as far as to show a mock memorial with McMahon's picture, letters and signs from "WWE fans". One touching sign in particular read "You will always be our champion". WWE's official website also posted this story as breaking news. Another mock press conference was aired later on depicting a Federal Investigator giving an update on the case.

We're not done yet folks - McMahon's own daughter, Stephanie, took to the wrestling ring to give a tearful tribute to her beloved father! At the beginning of one of the shows, bells were rung in McMahon's memory and Ring Announcers were choked up by McMahon's "death".

You can well imagine what viewers thought when they tuned in to this elaborate plot.

WWE assaulted its fans with this utterly over-the-top, fake story about Vince McMahon being killed and left many scrambling to check news stations and websites. Many fans, needless to say, have been outraged by this. It's one thing to suggest a "character" in a show has been killed, but quite another when you suggest the same about a real person (WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon). Unfortunately, McMahon cannot pass the blame on to someone else for this highly un-tasteful publicity stunt as he is directly involved in it.

In the ultimate ironic twist, last night's "WWE Raw" was supposed to be a 3-hour tribute to "Mr. McMahon", but instead was devoted to the real tragedy that took place earlier - the death of Chris Benoit and his family. McMahon was forced to reveal that he is in fact alive as he opened the 3-hour tribute to remember Benoit and his career.

It would appear the WWE wanted to create a cloud of controversy, mystery, publicity and ratings - it received all that plus one extra thing it didn't bank on - a dark cloud over its head and now Sherri Martel, Chris Benoit, his wife and his son are all dead in a matter of weeks since the announcement of McMahon's "death". Coincidence?

This is all very similar to faking you have a serious illness - never a good idea. You can bring evil to your doorstep.

Alec Baldwin - The True "Thoughtless Little Pig"

Alec Baldwin has really crossed the line with his recent hate-filled outburst on 11th April - to a 11-year-old child - his only daughter!

The "TMZ" website has released an audio message that Alec Baldwin recently left for his daughter, Ireland, in which he lambastes her for apparently not answering his phone call.

Below are some quotes from the audio message:

“I don't give a damn that you're 12 years old or 11 years old, or a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn't care about what you do..."


"Once again I’ve made an ass of myself getting to a phone to make a phone call … I’m tired of playing this game with you. You have insulted me for the last time …You’ve made feel like shit and you’ve made feel like a fool over and over again … I’m going to straighten your ass out … You are a rude, thoughtless little pig..."


"This crap you pull on me with this goddamn phone situation that you would never dream of doing to your mother...and you do it to me constantly over and over again...."



"You better be ready Friday the 20th to meet with me..."

Listen to the actual audio here.


Who the hell does Mr. Baldwin really thinks he is? Is this proper "parenting"? Does anyone believe this is the FIRST time he has verbally abused his child?

Imagine how this child felt listening to this message - from her own father.

Criminal charges should be brought against him, he should lose all visitation rights to his child and his films should be boycotted. A strong message has to be sent to people like him - being a "rich" parent doesn't mean you can treat your child any way you feel like - at any time you feel like.

Even though he and ex-wife, Kim Basinger, is in the middle of a nasty custody and visitation battle over daughter Ireland for the past couple years, it certainly does not give him the right to off-load his frustrations on his own child in this manner. There is simply NO excuse for it. Kim Basinger should, at all costs, protect her daughter from this type of abuse.

Is there any wonder that Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner, Maren Nelson, has temporarily barred Mr. Baldwin from having any contact with his child - after she heard his hate-filled outburst. The Commissioner should be highly commended for taking this action (he would not be able to see his child on "Friday the 20th") and at a court hearing on 4th May, Mr. "Thoughtless Little Pig" could lose all contact and visitation rights, permanently.

When you listen to the actual audio, you can clearly tell he is not simply "angry" or even "drunk" - he seems to really believe in what he says and feels.

Talk show host, Don Imus, recently called players of the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team "nappy-headed hos" and after overwhelmingly negative responses from various groups and corporations, he was suspended and then fired. He was made to feel the consequences of his actions - even though he apologized for his remarks several times.

After Mel Gibson's well-publicized anti-Semitic tirade and drunk-driving arrest in July 2006, he was made to feel some of the consequences of his actions - but not much - as his directed-film "Apocalypto" still topped the box office back in December 2006, with U.S $14.2 Million.

I certainly look forward to Mr. Baldwin also "feeling" the consequences of his actions.

How To Use An Image In Your Gmail Signature

As of the time of this article, Gmail still does not allow you to use images in your signatures - which is really for security reasons as placing HTML codes in signatures can lead to abuse and the transmission of viruses. So for the time being, Gmail will only allow you to use plain text as your signature - which many people use right now.

There is however, a manual way to add an image to your existing text signature in Gmail, or even as the header of your email.

Here's how:

1) First create your image and upload it to any free image hosting service, such as Photobucket.

2) When your image is uploaded, simply copy the entire image itself as you see it on the page.

3) Create a new message in Gmail and paste in the image anywhere you want. Make sure the image is loading properly.

4) Type in a subject line such as "Email Sig" or anything else that will identify the contents of the email.

5) Click "Save Now", which saves the message as a "Draft".


Now, anytime you want to send out an email with your special image, all you have to do is first open up the draft message, copy the image and then paste it anywhere in your new message.

There may be other ways to accomplish this in Gmail, but the above method works and does not take very long to set up.

Now go ahead and spice up those Gmails!

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How To Configure ZoneAlarm Free Edition For Use With A Network

ZoneAlarm Free Edition works well on a stand-alone PC and is an excellent personal firewall. However, if you connect that same PC to a network (with another PC or laptop) you'll soon realise that ZoneAlarm will not let you see or access your network. ZoneAlarm is in fact doing its job - blocking "unauthorized" incoming attempts to access your PC. The key word here is "unauthorized". To get ZoneAlarm to recognise your network and allow access between PCs, you will have to give ZoneAlarm information about your network so it will then become "authorized".

This sounds simple enough, but it is in fact very tricky for the "average Joe" to configure this when you are using ZoneAlarm Free Edition. (ZoneAlarm Pro Edition is better suited for use on networked PCs).

Here are complete instructions on how to authorize your network on ZoneAlarm Free Edition.

We will be using 2 PCs on a simple home-network for this tutorial and a dial-up internet connection. The instructions and explanations will be as non-technical as possible and you can read more about networks here.

The gateway PC is running Windows XP Home and the Client PC is running Windows XP Professional. Both PCs have been connected via network cable and the Gateway PC has been configured to share it's dial-up internet connection with the Client PC, along with file and printer sharing.

1) Install the very latest version of ZoneAlarm Free Edition on both PCs. When you then try to share / access files on the network, it fails right away. The Client PC is also unable to access the internet through the Gateway PC.

2) You will need to find out the IP address (or range of addresses) for each of the PCs. On our Gateway PC, we were able to find this out by right-clicking on our network connection (Control Panel > Network Connections) and selecting "Properties". In the "General" tab, we then clicked on "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and then clicked the "Properties" button. We saw an IP address in this format - 192.xxx.x.x. We will be using this as the IP address for our Gateway PC.

3) We then tried to follow the same procedure on the Client PC to ascertain its IP address, but we ran into a problem. The Client PC was set to "Obtain an IP address automatically" and therefore this did not help us to see its IP address. We went back to the Gateway PC where ZoneAlarm was already running and looked at its log file (double-click the ZoneAlarm icon near your PC's clock, click on "Alerts & Logs" and then click the "Log Viewer" tab). We were able to see that a particular IP address was consistently being blocked. This, we figured out, belonged to the Client PC. So we now have IP addresses for both PCs.

4) Open ZoneAlarm on the Gateway PC, click on "Firewall" and then "Zones". This is where we will enter in the IP address of the Client PC, thereby giving it permission to access the Gateway PC. Then click on the "Add >>" button and (in our case), click on "IP Address". If you have an "IP Range", you would select that instead. In the dialog box that comes up, be sure that the Zone is set to "Trusted" and then type in the IP address of the Client PC. Then you must also type in a description (example: Home Network). If you do not do this, you will be unable to proceed. You have now successfully added the Client PC to the "Trusted" Zone of the Gateway PC. At this point we went over to the Client PC and tried to access files from the Gateway PC - success. We then tried to access the internet through the Gateway PC - failure.

5) The next step we did was to open ZoneAlarm on the Gateway PC and click on "Firewall" and then "Main". Set the "Internet Zone Security" to "Medium" (which allows your PC to be visible but still be protected) and then do the same for the "Trusted Zone Security".

6) We then went back over to the Client PC and tried accessing the internet - success! We have now successfully configured ZoneAlarm Free Edition on our Gateway PC - allowing the Client PC to gain access to it and share files, printer and internet. Once your Gateway PC is protected and providing you with useful alerts, it is not necessary to have ZoneAlarm running on the Client PC. However, we will go even further for this tutorial and configure ZoneAlarm on the Client PC as well.

7) At this point, we went over to the Client PC and followed step 4) making sure we typed in the IP address of the Gateway PC instead. We then wrapped up by following step 5).

Both PCs were then restarted and complete tests were done.

ZoneAlarm Free Edition was running successfully on both PCs which were networked together. The Gateway PC can access files on the Client PC and vice-versa. The Client PC can utilize the printer connected to the Gateway PC and it can also access the internet through the Gateway PC.

As stated earlier, this process is tricky - but not impossible to accomplish.

Based on your particular network setup and the number of computers involved, the steps outlined above may not work for you, but it is worth the effort to have ZoneAlarm's firewall protection.

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