Wonderful quote! When we make mistakes, we land hard and feel the pain. It's often our incentive to find ways to never experience that pain again. So, we adjust, we learn and move forward. Of course, once and a while we fall back again, but still we have the courage to move on. Most of the time this results in great progress again!

If you are not allowed to make mistakes, you direct your energy to what you know, to what is safe and secure. This means that there is no room for exploration, research or innovation.  Playing around, having fun and making mistakes are no longer part of your life. Your learningcurve is reduced to void. This woud be a life without freedom for me, so Ghandi is right!

By the way, who's perfect? Right, everyone makes mistakes!

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute

Marian Anderson at the Ghandi Memorial

It was no surprise to learn today that many players, only a day from the first match, are yet to receive copies of their signed contracts or a deposit in their bank accounts. It appears that much of the business side of the IPL is being managed on the run and that does not garner confidence considering the sums involved.

The enormous hype surrounding the competition is clouding much that is clear to the neutral observer. Even though every franchise has paid many millions assembling their squads it will be seldom, except in commercial advertisements, that they will all appear together.

The Australian and West Indian stars will only play a few weeks, the Kiwis even less. The Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are arriving late as are several South Africans including tearaway Dale Steyn. So desperate are some teams to boost their squads that even unfit, overweight, retired veterans like Darren Lehmann are getting a guernsey.

While it is heartening to see Indian cricket finally adopt a more professional structure it does seem perverse that in a country where the average wealth per capita is under $US2000 (Davies et al 2006) cricketers can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for at most 14 Twenty20 matches. To highlight the absurdity further a young bowler like Ishant Sharma will be paid close to $US17,000 an over or more simply, in excess of $US2800 a delivery.

Additionally, it is concerning that some teams are owned and managed by other entertainers with massive egos and question marks over their business acumen. Another owner, brewer Vijay Mallya, is outrageously flaunting India's licensing and advertising laws by using the Bangalore team as advertising boards for his brand of liquor.

As the margins tighten and economic reality dawns expect desperate measures by the franchisees to somehow recover their outrageous costs. Before a ball has been bowled there are complaints about stadium hire and tax rates and it is difficult to see the enormous fees for the world's best cricketers continuing beyond the IPL's third season.

I'll be enjoying the show while it lasts yet I do not expect much passion from the overseas players in many contests. We all know why they are there, and it isn't to wear their hearts on their sleeves. It is to fill their suitcases with easy rupees.

I wonder what Mahatma Ghandi would make of this extravagance in his beloved homeland. It would seem that his wisdom has been perilously neglected. Did he not teach that the rich must live simply so that the poor may simply live?

Tomorrow and Beyond: Daily match reports from the most expensive cricket tournament in history.

Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indian confederacy, marries English tobacco planter John Rolfe in Jamestown, Virginia. The marriage ensured peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several years.

In May 1607, about 100 English colonists settled along the James River in Virginia to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. The settlers fared badly because of famine, disease, and Indian attacks, but were aided by 27-year-old English adventurer John Smith, who directed survival efforts and mapped the area. While exploring the Chickahominy River in December 1607, Smith and two colonists were captured by Powhatan warriors. At the time, the Powhatan confederacy consisted of around 30 Tidewater-area tribes led by Chief Wahunsonacock, known as Chief Powhatan to the English. Smith's companions were killed, but he was spared and released, (according to a 1624 account by Smith) because of the dramatic intercession of Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan's 13-year-old daughter. Her real name was Matoaka, and Pocahontas was a pet name that has been translated variously as "playful one" and "my favorite daughter."

In 1608, Smith became president of the Jamestown colony, but the settlement continued to suffer. An accidental fire destroyed much of the town, and hunger, disease, and Indian attacks continued. During this time, Pocahontas often came to Jamestown as an emissary of her father, sometimes bearing gifts of food to help the hard-pressed settlers. She befriended the settlers and became acquainted with English ways. In 1609, Smith was injured from a fire in his gunpowder bag and was forced to return to England.

After Smith's departure, relations with the Powhatan deteriorated and many settlers died from famine and disease in the winter of 1609-10. Jamestown was about to be abandoned by its inhabitants when Baron De La Warr (also known as Delaware) arrived in June 1610 with new supplies and rebuilt the settlement--the Delaware River and the colony of Delaware were later named after him. John Rolfe also arrived in Jamestown in 1610 and two years later cultivated the first tobacco there, introducing a successful source of livelihood that would have far-reaching importance for Virginia.

In the spring of 1613, English Captain Samuel Argall took Pocahontas hostage, hoping to use her to negotiate a permanent peace with her father. Brought to Jamestown, she was put under the custody of Sir Thomas Gates, the marshal of Virginia. Gates treated her as a guest rather than a prisoner and encouraged her to learn English customs. She converted to Christianity and was baptized Lady Rebecca. Powhatan eventually agreed to the terms for her release, but by then she had fallen in love with John Rolfe, who was about 10 years her senior. On April 5, 1614, Pocahontas and John Rolfe married with the blessing of Chief Powhatan and the governor of Virginia.

Their marriage brought a peace between the English colonists and the Powhatans, and in 1615 Pocahontas gave birth to their first child, Thomas. In 1616, the couple sailed to England. The so-called Indian Princess proved popular with the English gentry, and she was presented at the court of King James I. In March 1617, Pocahontas and Rolfe prepared to sail back to Virginia. However, the day before they were to leave, Pocahontas died, probably of smallpox, and was buried at the parish church of St. George in Gravesend, England.

John Rolfe returned to Virginia and was killed in an Indian massacre in 1622. After an education in England, their son Thomas Rolfe returned to Virginia and became a prominent citizen. John Smith returned to the New World in 1614 to explore the New England coast. On another voyage of exploration in 1614, he was captured by pirates but escaped after three months of captivity. He then returned to England, where he died in 1631.

"Pocahontas marries John Rolfe." 2008. The History Channel website. 5 Apr 2008, 02:41 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=6858.

1792 - U.S. President George Washington cast the first presidential veto. The measure was for apportioning representatives among the states.

1887 - Anne Sullivan taught Helen Keller the meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the manual alphabet.

1908 - The Japanese Army reached the Yalu River as the Russians retreated.

1930 - Mahatma Ghandi defied British law by making salt in India.

1941 - German commandos secured docks along the Danube River in preparation for Germany’s invasion of the Balkans.

1951 - Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for committing espionage for the Soviet Union.

1955 - Winston Churchill resigned as British prime minister.

1998 - The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan opened becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world. It links Shikoku and Honshu. The bridge cost about $3.8 billion.

Benjamin Franklin publishes “An Open Letter to Lord North”

On this day in 1774, Benjamin Franklin writes an open letter to Great Britain’s prime minister, Frederick, Lord North, from the Smyrna Coffee House in London. It was published in The Public Advertiser, a British newspaper, on April 15, 1774.

"Benjamin Franklin publishes “An Open Letter to Lord North”." 2008. The History Channel website. 5 Apr 2008, 02:41 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=453.

For the actual letter: http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/north.htm

"I'm not afraid of dying. But...living...is such a scary thing to do"
-Mitsuki, Arina Tanemura, Fullmoon Vol 5

"The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is."
-Desiderius Erasmus

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
-Mahatma Ghandi

"Nothing endures but personal qualities."
-Walt Whitman

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you."
-Maya Angelou

"My favorite thing is to go where I've never been."
-Diane Arbus

"I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up."
-Rosa Parks

"Do not fear going forward slowly, fear only to stand still."
-Chinese Proverb

"Use what talents you have; the woods would have little music if no birds sang their song except those who sang the best."
-Reverend Oliver G Wilson

The Smile by William Blake
There is a Smile of Love,
And there is a Smile of Deceit,
And there is a Smile of Smiles
In which these two Smiles meet.

And there is a Frown of Hate,
And there is a Frown of Disdain,
And there is a Frown of Frowns
Which you strive to forget in vain,

For it sticks in the Heart's deep Core
And it sticks in the deep Backbone;
And no Smile that ever was smil'd,
But only one Smile alone,

That betwixt the Crade & Grave
It only once Smil'd can be;
But, when it once is Smil'd,
There's an end to all Misery.

Possuidora de peitos enormes, a mega pop-star top-model Gisele Bündchen resolveu essa semana, junto com sua amiga de trabalho Kate Moss, vender suas fotenhas de orkut onde aparecem nuas, nuazinhas, como vieram ao mundo. Eu, que não sou um budão como o Dalai, não perdi tempo e fui conferir de perto.

Apesar de "miserarem a micharia", as fotos serão leiloadas, valendo em torno de 60 mil reais cada, sendo este o lance inicial. Até agora, pelo que pude constatar é que a bündchen da Gisele é muito boa, mas com R$12,50 eu compro uma Playboy da Jaqueline Khury e me dou por satisfeito. E até por que, a foto da Gisele Bündchen pelada já está no antro de putaria que é a internet.

Até porque, se eu tivesse essa grana disponível, eu não precisaria nem de revista de mulher pelada, por muito menos consigo uma noite garantida do mais puro sexo selvagem sem amor, com alguma na esquina do Taj Mahal.

Além das modelos, as atrizes Brigitte Bardot (uma ex-gostosa que já passou da fase de milf faz décadas) e Lauren Hutton (atriz sex... sexagenária!) e o grupo Beatles (pelados também?!) terão retratos leiloados.

Que as mãos de Shiva sejam as mãos de Onan.

Fonte: Quem (te perguntou alguma coisa?)

Toma una lágrima, ponla en el rostro de quien nunca ha llorado.
Toma la valentía, ponla en el ánimo de quien no sabe luchar.
Descubre la vida, nárrala a quien no sabe entenderla.

Toma la esperanza, y vive en su luz.
Toma la bondad, y dónala a quien no sabe donar.
Descubre el amor, y hazlo conocer al mundo.

Mahatma Gandhi

Lorsque nous faisons une analyse de la façon dont les grands hommes ont changé le monde, nous constatons qu'ils partent d'un certains nombre de principes. Ces derniers sont simples et applicables par tout le monde. Les voici :

1- Ca démarre par nous

Bien que la dynamique du changement a souvent besoin d'un groupe, tout part d'une seule personne. Cette personne planifie, motive, coordonne, catalyse, centralise les compétences et fait avancer les troupes. Un groupe sans leader ne peut rien faire. Un leader, tout seul, ne peut faire que peu. Mais ce dernier, entouré par des suiveurs peut avoir de grandes réalisations. Le point de départ est donc une seule personne. C'est elle qui cherche à se faire entourer par les personnes nécessaires pour ses projets. Elle fait tourner chacun sur une orbite selon ses compétences et ses aptitudes. Un leader est proactif et sait créer de la synergie.

2 - Savoir ce qu'on veut  

Les personnes qui ont mené le monde dans de grands virages savaient pertinemment ce qu'elles voulaient. Elles avaient une vision claire de à quoi elles s'attendaient. On parle de rêve qui, dans leurs têtes était déjà une réalité. Elles croient tellement à leur vision qu'elles n'envisagent pas d'autres alternatives. Et c'est ce qui les rend des leaders déterminés, focalisés, confiants, forts, inspirants, charismatiques, motivants et dynamiques. Ils vivent tellement dans leur vision du futur qu'ils y font vivre leurs suiveurs.

3 - Agir sur notre cercle d'influence

Pour changer le monde, il faut s'attaquer à un nombre incroyable de problèmes. Cela peut aller par exemple de la problématique de la couche d'ozone, à la liberté d'expression en passant par la pauvreté, l'équilibre monétaire et les ressources naturelles. S'ajoute à cela les petits soucis de tous les jours que personne ne peut éviter. Et donc, c'est pour cela que pas tout le monde envisage de changer le monde. Et les grands hommes ne sont pas à l'abri de l'ensemble de ces obstacles. Comment font-ils dans ce cas là ?

La couche d'ozone, les problèmes politiques, la pauvreté, la mentalité de la société, le SIDA etc., font partie de votre cercle de préoccupations. Si vous tentez d'agir directement sur ces préoccupations, vous allez échouer. Vous allez être dispersé. Après peu de temps, vous n'allez pas voir de résultats ce qui va vous décourager. Ceci en sachant que parmi ces problématiques, il y en a ceux dont nous n'avons aucune idée pour la solution. Cela va vous frustrer. Le sentiment d'être incapable de faire quelque chose tuera votre prise d'initiative. C'est ce qui pousse beaucoup de personnes à se contenter de critiquer.

Au centre de ce cercle de préoccupations, vous avez votre cercle d'influence. Il s'agit des petites choses que vous êtes capable de réaliser aujourd'hui. Votre cercle d'influence est régit par vos talents et vos compétences. Qu'est ce que vous êtes capables de faire aujourd'hui ? Tout ce que vous pouvez faire peut être est d'adhérer à une association, faire des petites recherches à l'école, lancer des initiatives innovantes, écrire sur votre blog, réfléchir au sein d'un groupe, travailler avec des amis, donner un peu d'argents, etc. Lorsque vous faites le premier pas, vous n'allez pas vous limiter qu'à cela. Petit à petit, vous allez apprendre et être capable de faire plus de choses. En se concentrant sur ces éléments de votre cercle d'influence, ce dernier grandira progressivement. Pas à pas, vous allez passer à d'autres préoccupations de plus en plus grandes.

Pour élargir notre cercle d'influence, nous avons besoin de développer plus de compétences et surtout profiter de nos talents. Cela peut être notre capacité à communiquer par écrit ou oralement, notre force d'analyse, notre charisme, notre sens de l'observation, etc. Nous devons aussi accepter le fait de commencer par des choses qui sembleraient être banales. Cela paraît trop simple. C'est vrai mais ce n'est pas pour autant facile. Pour comprendre comment cela marche, voici quelques exemples :

Muhammad (PSL), le prophète de l'islam 

C'est le personnage le plus influent de toute l'histoire de l'humanité selon le célèbre classement de Michael H. Hart. Le prophète (PSL) n'a reçu l'ordre divin pour prêcher qu'à l'age de 40 ans. Et dés les premiers jours de sa mission, il savait qu'il devait changer la terre entière et ceci jusqu'à la fin du monde.

Son contexte : il vie dans une petite tribu, il ne sait ni lire, ni écrire, il n'a aucun pouvoir, il a rarement voyagé, il vivait une vie ordinaire de commerçant. Sa petite tribu était entourée de grandes puissances mondiales de l'époque : les romains et les byzantins. Comment a-t-il pu faire pour atteindre sa vision ?

Il a commencé par son cercle d'influence : sa petite famille, son meilleur ami et quelques autres personnes. Il a profité du respect et de l'admiration que ces personnes avaient pour lui. Il a ainsi élargit doucement et soigneusement son cercle d'influence. Au bout de 10 ans, il n'a pu aider à se convertir qu'environ 300 personnes ! Mes tous ces hommes et femmes ont été bien sélectionnés. Ils étaient de très haut « calibre ». Il a pu ensuite être accueilli par une autre petite tribu dont il a pu élargir le pouvoir et ainsi de suite.

Mahatma Ghandi

C'est un exemple très célèbre.

Son contexte : étudiant médiocre, marié à 13 ans, marginalisé sous la colonisation, pauvre et sans aucun pouvoir. Pour arriver à son objectif, Ghandi a démarré par son cercle d'influence. Il a utilisé deux de ses forces : sa capacité à fédérer et sa simplicité. Pour cela, il a quitté son post au gouvernement pour mettre des sandales et un drap et voyager d'un village à l'autre. Il a pu convaincre les villageois de ses idées. Il est parti en effet de son cercle de préoccupations pour se concentrer sur son cercle d'influence. 

Il a élargi ce cercle pendant des années avant d'arriver à sa vision qui était la libération de l'Inde.

Comment découvrir notre cercle d'influence ?

Quels sont vos compétences aujourd'hui ? En quoi êtes vous fort ? Avez-vous découvert vos talents ? Comment pouvez vous les développer ? Comment pensez-vous utiliser vos compétences et vos talents pour atteindre vos objectifs ? Sachez que la première personne sur laquelle vous avez la parfaite influence est vous-même, vient ensuite votre entourage et enfin le reste. Que pensez-vous faire aujourd'hui et tous les jours pour ensuite réaliser un grand exploit dans les 10 prochaines années ?

Rappelons-nous qu'avant le cercle d'influence, il y a la vision échafaudée par notre volonté et notre conviction. Avant de commencer à élargir notre cercle d'influence, nous allons tout d'abord décrire avec le plus de détails possible quel est le changement auquel nous nous attendons. Et là, vous pouvez vous lancer.

Olá, amigos.

Estou usando meu Laboratório para divulgar o blog de um ex-papa católico que virou papa discordiano. Karol Wojtyla e seus amigos do peito Mahatma Ghandi e Dalai Lama começaram um blog: Infernato.
O que esperar desse blog? Muitos trocadilhos, tiração de sarro e lógico, putaria.

Visite! O endereço é http://infernato.wordpress.com.

Bem vindo ao Infernato!
Quem lhes dá as boas vindas sou eu, o ex-papa Karol Jozéf Wojtyla.
Mas o que um ex-papa, um indiano anoréxico e um tibetano com um prêmio nobel da paz tem em comum? Todos somos figuras públicas (e não púbicas), mas não somos figuras pudicas.
Pra sair do marasmo, nós resolvemos mexer nossas bundas e criar um blog pra falar do que a gente mais gosta: filmes, tv, quadrinhos, além de falar de política (?), mulher gostosa (eu particularmente gosto de peitos enormes) e etc. e tal. E com certeza, também falaremos o que sabemos de melhor: bobeira, trocadilhos, piadinhas... Ah, e religião se sobrar tempo.
Enjoy the ride!

Mahatma Ghandi