Friday, January 10, 2003

"The Eye of the Storm" (part two)* Part one was posted 1/5/03 April 9 -- Combined Islamic Alliance forces move into Iraq from all directions. Palace coup occurs in Saudi Arabia, an Islamic Republic is declared. April 11 -- Mindonesian (Indonesia-Mindanao) Islamic Republic declared. The MIR declares war against Australia and the Philippines. Small border clashes reported between Pakistan and India. Tension is also rising along India-China frontier. April 14 -- Treasury announces that the deficit for 2003 will exceed 220 billion dollars, and could rise. April 15 -- President Bush suffers a brain embolism and dies in the late hours of the day. The Dow drops another 695 points. April 18 -- America mourns the passing of President Bush. President Cheney assures the nation that he will stay the course, and praises Bush as a visionary leader. April 19 -- Fighting is fierce in Iraq, as the US-British forces fight a controlled retreat towards Kuwait. American Aircraft Carriers prove to be an invaluable asset in maintaining the corridor that allows "Coalition 2" troops to make good progress. April 21 -- Islamic Alliance forces declare the Iraq Islamic Republic, after the area around Baghdad is occupied. Coalition forces continue controlled retreat. April 25 -- Suicide bombers kill the Pope during a Papal Mass. Over the next two days 12 Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish religious figures around the world are killed by various means. April 27 -- US and British ships complete the evacuation of Coalition forces from Kuwait. May 1 -- Congress passes the Wartime Selective Service Act. All men under the age of 25 are required to submit for a lottery to serve a mandatory two years in the military. Riots break out in several cities. May 5 -- Slavic Alliance (SA) is formed from most eastern European and Balkan nations. While not a political union, it is a military and mutual defense alliance. May 13 -- Japan announces that at the request of the United States and the EU, it has agreed to temporarily suspend its Non-Aggression Clause in its Constitution. Riots break out in many cities in Japan. May 14 -- At 9:00 p.m. Tokyo time, the Emperor goes on national TV to calm the people. He reassures them that Japan is a nation of peace, but that given the extraordinary circumstance it has no choice but to assist it's friends and allies around the world against the threat of Islamic Fundamentalism. May 15 -- Tens of thousands of Japanese begin volunteering for military duty. Germany announces in a joint meeting with France, and Britain that it will participate in all EU military action. May 19 -- Holy Islamic Republic is formed out of the nations of North Africa. May 27 -- SA troops enter Bosnia and Albania to suppress the growing call for an Islamic Republic. June 6 -- At 9:24 a.m., a small nuclear device goes off in San Diego harbor. Over 120,000 are dead, and more then twice that number are expected to die over the next five years due to radiation. At 6 p.m. eastern time, President Cheney goes on national TV, declares martial law, and the temporary suspension of Constitutional rights. June 7 -- Rioting breaks out in Berkley California protesting 'Denial of Rights' day. The National Guard are called out to suppress the riots. June 8 -- Riots break out in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, and Kansas City. Bay Area Riots spread to surrounding cities. National Guard troops are sent into each city and begin operations to end unrest. June 9 -- San Francisco suffers massive unrest. Mayor Willie Brown dies late in the day, as a result of respiratory failure caused by Riot Pacification Gas. June 10 -- National Guard troops end the 'Rights Rebellion' riot, leaving more then 300 dead, and over 2000 wounded. 22 square miles of Berkley, Oakland, San Francisco and surrounding cities are left in smoking ruins. Otherwise most Americans go back to work, read their newspapers, and wonder what will happen on Friends next season. June 20 -- Trading on the NYSE is suspended as the Dow moves below 5000. Newspapers report that the Deficit is now rumored to be projected at over 300 billion dollars for Fiscal 2003. June 24 -- Meeting in emergency session Congress passes the 'America United Act'. It grants extraordinary powers to the executive branch. It also grants the President the right to suspend all rights during a State of Emergency. Legal analyst call it the greatest single power grab ever by a US President. Late that evening President Cheney signs the Act into effect. June 25 -- The Democratic Party files an emergency request to the Supreme Court requesting an emergency review of the constitutionality of the 'America United Act'. Within a matter of hours the High Court agrees. July 5 -- Early Saturday morning; while most of the country sleeps, The Supreme Court rules by a 6-3 majority that the 'America United Act' is in fact constitutional. The three dissenting Justices in their response call this the greatest travesty of Justice in American history. Justice Ginsberg calls it the establishment of an American dictatorship. July 8 -- President Cheney declares a State of Siege. SA forces complete mop-up of Bosnia and Albania. Rumors of large scale massacres are circulated, but this time no one cares. July 12 -- I cross the Canadian border at Blaine Washington. Before crossing I spend 15 minutes sitting at the Peace Arch. July 15 -- The United States military takes control of both the Canadian and Mexican borders. National Guard troops are stationed at all border crossings. July 17 -- President Cheney signs an executive order under the 'America United Act' that approves secret military tribunals for dealing with the many national security legal cases. July 18 -- The first defendant is executed as a result of a tribunal ruling. This will not be the last. The story is leaked and reported in some newspapers. July 26 -- Canadian Government suspends relations with the US to protest the execution of five Canadian citizens. President Cheney deplores the act, and states that the regrettable deaths of these terrorist was necessary for the safety of this great country. Aug 1 -- US begins the creation of a no-mans land along it's southern border. Construction of fortified zones and the laying of anti-personal mines begins. The Mexican government protest the action, calling it "The Second Berlin Wall." Aug 15 -- Supreme Court rules 6-3 in the landmark Cooper vs. Johnson case, that the State of Missouri has the right to outlaw Abortion. It further rules that life begins at conception. Within two weeks 27 states have passed restrictive Abortion laws. Aug 17 -- I am officially granted Asylum in Canada as a Political Refugee of Conscience... End Part two...mj 5:22:14 PM

How not to market a product... A couple years ago I was really excited because Creative announced that they would release a Soundblaster Live card for the Mac. I was great because Mac users would get to have the kind of sound that PC users have gotten used to over the past five or so years. The first bad sign was that the card was delayed. In July of 2001 the cards started to arrive in Mac owners hands. The first issue was incomplete drives and no OS X drivers. Keep in mind that OS X was released months before that. Then there were the other issues, Like not working, incompatibilities, and weak drivers. Some of the features just didn't work. Rumors of OS X drivers circulated. Creative was unwilling to say when they would release the OS X drivers. Based on that I never bought the card, and many others didn't. I like many of the very people most likely to buy the card had already moved on from OS 9 to OS X, why buy a card that didn't work? In May of 2002 Creative release OS 9 driver version 1.1. It did fix many of the issues for OS 9 users and allowed then to get some use out of the card. The OS X drivers never appeared, and the product is no longer listed on the Creative web site, except in Support. Today I looked at two new products that provide enhanced audio for OS X users. Creative has vanished from the Mac marketplace and has no one to blame but themselves. They did everything wrong that they could have done. In the end they left and missed an opportunity. I am sure that they will tell you that there just wasn't a marketplace, it's an easier excuse to blame Mac owners then to realize that you screwed up...mj 4:55:16 PM

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