Monday 24 February 2014

g.Searching for a mate

The last part is here:   衣锦还乡

These few days brought the rarest snow to this white land. It has been snowing non-stopped. To snow at this time is like 六月飞霜. Something bad is going to happen to me.

True enough. My friend just spoken to me and professed that she lobe me deep deep. I swallowed hard. Not again. She said that she intends to settle down in white land permanently. She said in exchange for that, she will cook and care for me. I smiled. Why does this sounded so familiar, almost an worn record repeats itself every few years.

Two things can happen:
  • She keeps me as her pet.   This, my dear, cannot really happen. She is not rich enough to keep me. I am rather high maintenance and have strange habits such as going to funny places for holidays.    
  • I keep her as a pet.   This I presume shall start as trivially as having a good afternoon restaurant lunch and she will just ask me to pay as she has forgotten to bring her purse. 
When I was conducting this convo, Chrysanthemum was lying carelessly beside me and listening intendly to every minute detail of the convo. Gals are like cats, so very curious about possible competition.

Immediately after the convo, Chrysanthemum pounded on me asking for my decision. I just lied that I am going ahead with the plan to "help" a friend.

Chrysanthemum turned in her most glittering inverted doe-eyed look and exclaimed that, "Dear, you can't do that! This is very dangerous." I asked, "Why?"

She replied, "What happen shortly after she settled in, she would ask you to fetch her a towel, while keeping the bathroom door ajar." Such imagination.

I said I wouldn't be interested. Chrysanthemum was adament that no guys can resist free stuff. But, I told her I am not that guy. I prized my sperms.

Throughout the settlement convo, Chrysanthemum showed a rare sadness enveloping her entirely. That's when I decided to give her a little comfort. I told her that I am not a wicked guy. I don't toy gals' feelings.

It is crazy that in this age and time, all kinds of gals wanted to stay clear of that fucken little island at all cost. These gals are never stupid. Not at all. Love is never on their mind, it is just a pretext to get what they needed most, a passport out of that fucken little island.

With the world in doldrums, it is hardly surprising.

Just the other day, I went downtown to look at some stuff. Half the second floor of a very popular shopping mall was unoccupied. Even Chinatown was having greater number of shops unoccupied. Unless the government-of-the-day does something real soon. The city is indeed falling apart.

Sunday 16 February 2014

b.Longevity as a Religion

The last part is here:   Longevity Businesses

I apologize for not being able to blog as frequently as I wanted to. There are simply too many physical world things that I need to take care of.

Nowadays I have accumulated quite a follower-ship of believers. They now just sit quietly by my side and listen intently to my preaches.

I guess this is how Jesus started it all. First, talked cock and then, suddenly he found that people do listen to his cock-and-bull stories. But, as time went by, his cock-and-bull stories cannot hold his audience anymore. He started to dish out his mythology cock god father. Everything he claimed he did, he did it for his father. If there were any mistakes, it was his own, but, his father in heaven would have corrected him in time and he would be rewarded beyond this world.

After a while, even this cock-and-mythology also cannot hold the audience further. He went for the final suggestion that he is god reincarnated. If he had lived, he would probably have to go on further to more bullshit, after his execution at age 33.

I am now in the stage where everyone wants to jump onto this longevity wagon. They literally want to listen more. My appointments for longevity talk are filling up fast. Just today, at one stage, even the waitresses stopped serving and started to listen attentively, oblivion to their master's calling.

At the end, the waitresses thanked me for enlightening their lives with hope. I smiled. I am on my way to become god.

Wednesday 12 February 2014

b.Longevity Businesses

The last part is here:   Passion Business I - Trust 

I felt sad today. The decision to kill off a poisoned branch is made. Although there is a chance of losing another 5%, I guess I have to do it. Right now, the opponent is trying his best to salvage what's remaining. I had given him more than 3 chances in the past to make good, but he failed to do so. He loved to bully a youngling.

Along the way, I met more proprietors that are willing to go on the longevity wagon. Maybe things may not happen, maybe things might happen. At least, I am not bound by the old issues.

The path towards building longevity has so far been met with great comfort. I just met another proprietor having issue of 气. He was hospitalized for it. He was very excited about the prospect of high-value longevity farming. He proposed ideas of meeting more people in the same interest. He simply wanted to commercialize immediately these longevity concepts.  I smiled.

I said if the cost of investment merely managed to make you live longer by 20 years, wouldn't that be sufficient return? Lots of businesses cannot stand the sands of time because the younglings are unable to cope with the continuance of businesses. Say, an old fucken guy in an old fucken island, if he had a choice of living another 20 years, his fucken younglings wouldn't be so hapless. This fucken would have owned the entire enterprise for a long, long time to come.

He finally understood my longevity idea. He now understand that if we ourselves cannot be old fuckens, how dare we preach longevity to others. If what we believed, works. Then, we need not even be trading it. It could be used as a weapon against all odds. A business brewed for another 20 more years under the same stewardship would be scary to our opponents. Imagine you char kway teow, instead of 20-80 years (60 years), it is 20-100 years (80 years), who can hope to punish you in your arena. The last 20 years is to kill off the succeeding younglings of the competition in one single stroke.

The thought is simply mind-blowing.

Another proprietor showed me 2 canisters of honey which she declared of high value. I said that two canisters can't even hope to complete one bottle of mead. She swallowed hard. She had prevented even her kins to consume it like sugar. Imagine what life-giving would a well-fermented and aged bottle of mead will do to her health? She was floored.

I told her. Even with great daily exercises, it is still insufficient to have longevity. One must consume daily supplements. Some of these essential supplements are so expensive that only the kings and queens find them cheap enough, hence, the only way is to get at them is to farm them on a continuous basis.

After she listened to my list of supplements and how I intend to farm them all in all parts of the world. She agreed that she will help me to the fullest.

I smiled.

Sunday 9 February 2014

b.Passion Business I - Trust

The last part is here:   Passion Business I - Taste 

The time has come to decide on trust. The factory is ready. The deals are struck. The labourers are few but capable.

Many opinions have suggested against the new partnership. I think so too.

As in all deals, there would be good parts and bad parts. If the bad parts weigh over the good parts, I guess the decision would be easy. If the weightage is balanced, then the decision making is also easy, just abandon the deal. It is hard if the majority of the deal is good, but with a few bad major parts.

My current decision point is this partnership is weak. But, the greater good part is that I will have company. I guess I need to be strong. Very strong.

Tomorrow would be the day of reckoning. I will have to decide on the issue of trust.

It is ok that I go at it alone. There was nothing in the past of me and there is nothing in front of me. So why be so concerned? I have been so alone. I don't need to be so concerned about loneliness. Yes. Loneliness is sad. Loneliness is draining. Loneliness eats the soul. But, why must I be so afraid? Loneliness is just a state of mind.

Warmth may be a super tempting commodity at all times. But, I needed a trusted partner not someone whom I have to guard against always.

If tomorrow is indeed a good day to negotiate, I will drop all pretence and ask for the one important question - trust.

If the answer is truth, I will go forth with this partnership. Else, I will plot my separation and severence.

I have walked this question of trust before. I shall walk once more.

It is very interesting that now that I have spoken about it, I felt so much better in dealing with it. Thank you.

Saturday 8 February 2014

b.孫子兵法 (虛實篇第六) (Chapter 6 - 1) (Part 29)

The last part is here:   孫子兵法 (兵勢篇第五) (Chapter 5 - 4) (Part 28)

虛實篇

孫子曰:凡先處戰地而待敵者佚,後處戰地而趨戰者勞。故善戰者, 致人而不致于人。
          能使敵自至者,利之也﹔能使敵不得至者,害之也。故敵佚能勞之, 飽能飢之,安能動之。
          出其所不趨,趨其所不意。行千里而不勞者,行于無人之地也。攻而 必取者,攻其所不守也。守而必固者,守其所不攻也。
          故善攻者,敵不知其所守。善守者,敵不知其所攻。
          微乎微乎,至于無形,神乎神乎,至于無聲,故能為敵之司命。
          進而不可御者,沖其虛也﹔退而不可追者,速而不可及也。故我欲戰 ,敵雖高壘深溝,不得不與我戰者,攻其所必救也﹔我不欲戰,雖畫 地而守之,敵不得與我戰者,乖其所之也。
          故形人而我無形,則我專而敵分﹔我專為一,敵分為十,是以十攻其 一也,則我眾而敵寡﹔能以眾擊寡者,則吾之所與戰者,約矣。吾所 與戰之地不可知,不可知,則敵所備者多,敵所備者多,則吾之所戰 者,寡矣。
          故備前則後寡,備後則前寡,故備左則右寡,備右則左寡,無所不備 ,則無所不寡。寡者備人者也,眾者使人備己者也。
          故知戰之地,知戰之日,則可千里而會戰。不知戰之地,不知戰之日 ,則左不能救右,右不能救左,前不能救後,後不能救前,而況遠者 數十里,近者數里乎?
          以吾度之,越人之兵雖多,亦奚益于勝敗哉?!
          故曰:勝可為也。敵雖眾,可使無鬥。 故策之而知得失之計,作之而知動靜之理,形之而知死生之地,角之 而知有餘不足之處。
          故形兵之極,至于無形﹔無形,則深間不能窺,智者不能謀。
          因形而錯勝于眾,眾不能知﹔人皆知我所以勝之形,而莫知吾所以制 勝之形。故其戰勝不復,而應形于無窮。
          夫兵形象水,水之形避高而趨下,兵之形,避實而擊虛,水因地而制 流,兵應敵而制勝。故兵無常勢,水無常形,能因敵變化而取勝者, 謂之神。
          故五行無常勝,四時無常位,日有短長,月有死生。

Let's continue ...

孫子曰:凡先處戰地而待敵者佚,後處戰地而趨戰者勞。故善戰者,
致人而不致于人。

          能使敵自至者,利之也﹔能使敵不得至者,害之也。故敵佚能勞之,
飽能飢之,安能動之。

          出其所不趨,趨其所不意。行千里而不勞者,行于無人之地也。攻而
必取者,攻其所不守也。守而必固者,守其所不攻也。

          故善攻者,敵不知其所守。善守者,敵不知其所攻。
          微乎微乎,至于無形,神乎神乎,至于無聲,故能為敵之司命。

Some translation suggested:
Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him. By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected. An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack. O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands. 
Moran:   Sun Tzu said:   It is always the case that those who first occupy the battlefield and await arrival of the enemy have ample time on their hands, whereas those who arrive later and must scramble to engage will endure toil. PEM: Note that the ideal situation for meeting the enemy may be a pass or other such opening leading to an open space where a strongly shielded ambush has been laid.
So those who are good at warfare will draw in the enemy and will not permit themselves to be drawn in by the enemy. If one is able to cause the enemy to arrive, that is done by offering him some benefit. If one is able to cause the enemy to be unable to arrive, that is done by offering him injuries. PEM: The Sichuan Basin was one part of China that was never conquered by the Japanese during World War II. The reason was that Sichuan was entirely surrounded by mountains except for the water route provided by the Yangtze River. The water flow was very rapid, and the sides of the channel were precipitous. Therefore any forces trying to enter would have had to to go upstream and through miles of ambushing forces on higher ground.
So if the enemy is at ease one can cause him to toil, if he is well fed, one can cause him hunger, and if at rest one can cause him to have to be on the move. [ To do so,] appear out of the places to which the enemy must hasten to defend, and hasten to the places where you will not be expected. Those who go for a thousand li without toil are those who pass through areas where there are no people. PEM: During the Pacific campaign in World War II, one prominent motto (associated with General MacArthur) was: "Hit 'em where they ain't!" Well defended islands were not attacked, but were cut off from being resupplied. Poorly defended islands were captured when useful to the Allies for any purpose. Otherwise, the fleet moved through the open waters.
In cases where one must succeed in an attack, strike the points at which the enemy has no defenses. In cases where one must firmly defend a position, defend a position that the enemy will not attack. PEM: Peaks are easily defended. With preparation, mountains can be hollowed out to provide living spaces for entire armies.
So in the case of those who are good at attack, their enemies will not know where their defenses ought to be located. And in the case of those who are good at defense, the enemy will not know where they ought to attack. PEM: One of the difficulties in guerrilla warfare is that insurgents disappear among the ordinary farmers and other citizens. They have no fortress to attack, no camps to overrun. One alternative to highly concentrated emplacements in mountains and man-made fortifications is to disperse troops so widely that no one point of attack is better than any other. Between these extremes are defenses such as the tunnels constructed by the Vietcong that were hard to find, and sometimes so extensive that defenders could leave by another portal when attackers made entry at any point. This strategy is probably millions of years old. Some trapdoor spiders maintain parallel vertical tunnels, one with the "front door" covered by a carefully constructed plug-like, hinged door, and the other, joined to the first by a short horizontal tunnel with its own door near the bottom and a false top such that the spider would need to dig the last bit through to the surface to escape via the second tunnel.
Subtle, oh subtle, to the point of being formless. Spirit-like, oh spirit-like, to the point of being inaudible. Thereby one is able to function as the grim reaper of the enemy. 

This chapter is about false and real.

孫子曰﹕   Sun Tzu said:
凡先處戰地而待敵者佚,後處戰地而趨戰者勞。:   If one occupies the battlefield first and awaits the arrival of the enemy relaxes, whereas if one arrives later and scrambles to engage toils.
故善戰者,致人而不致於人也。:   Therefore, a good general directs the enemy and not the other way round.
能使敵自至者,利之也﹔   To direct the enemy, offer him bait.
能使敵不得至者,害之也。:   To not attract the enemy, offer him damage.
故敵佚能勞之,飽能飢之,安能動之。:   Therefore, if the enemy is resting, toil him; if well-fed, hunger him; if at peace, disturb him.
出其所必趨,趨其所不意。:   Stay in places where the enemy must hasten to defend, and hasten to places where the enemy must not expect.
行千里而不勞者,行於無人之地也。:   To travel a thousand li and not feel toiled is to pass through areas where there are no defence.
攻而必取者,攻其所不守也。:   To attack and win is to attack places where the enemy does not defend.
守而必固者,守其所不攻也。:   To defend and survive is to defend places where the enemy does not risk attacking.
故善攻者,敵不知其所守。善守者,敵不知其所攻。:   Therefore, if a good general attacks, the enemy would not know where to defend. If a good general defends, the enemy would not know where to attack.
微乎微乎,至於無形;神乎神乎,至於無聲,故能為敵之司命。:   Subtle, oh subtle, to the point of being formless. Spirit-like, oh spirit-like, to the point of being inaudible. Thereby, one is able to function as the grim reaper of the enemy.

Sun Tzu stated in his first chapter in his Art of War is that 兵者,詭道也。Basically, this entire chapter explained the beauty of deceit and termed it the true path to success in warfare.

Sun Tzu suggested that you must arrive at the battle ground early and make preparation. Move thy enemy using bait, but not be tempted nor moved otherwise. Attack the enemy when there is no defence, defend when the enemy has no attack. If the enemy is happy make him sad, if the enemy is sad, made him happy. Be formless and silent always, kill the enemy with the grim reaper.

In business, I also agreed that deceit is the key to success. Sun Tzu had thus far suggested numerous of times that deceit is the way to go. I would like to express a word of caution here. It is not a problem if you are strong to use deceit, because winning is only natural for a stronger force. Therefore, using deceit and trickery is to minimize cost of attack. But, if you are weaker comparatively, using deceit would not be advisable. Concentrate your forces and bear the brunt of the main enemy force truthfully, only then will you have a chance to survive the attack. Do not be swayed by the deceit of the enemy.

In the 48 laws of power, it was also stated in the law 3 that one should not reveal the intention, i.e., be deceitful. In fact, many laws were derived from Sun Tzu's Art of War. So this is a circular argument.

Throughout my dealings in business, I noticed that even at partner level, the partners still probe me for information that will make them break free from my strategic influence. I don't like it. I have expressed no intention to play them out. But yet, they fear me. I am way too strong a potion for their liking. It is both a curse and blessing. A curse because I felt being tested all the time. Blessing because I always formed part of their future equation.

At the end, I still believe I stand by my own conviction - my weapon-of-choice is still honesty. With honesty, it is near impossible for enemy to employ deceit on me. They will fall flat in their face.

From the above Sun Tzu's piece, I concluded that to survive completely, one must dig in at places where the enemy can never attack. This, I believe, I have achieved to some extent for one of my business-types. I am currently not venerable to attacks, but, I need to keep shoring up my defence to ensure absoluteness in power.

My current business-types can survive a thousand years each. Hence, it is near impossible for my enemy to dig me that easily. Take for example, my ginseng farm (passion business II), right now there are already more than 3 strong investors wanting to come in. But, I didn't confirm with them as I feel that to be my partner, one has to show honesty. Only with honesty can we grow our business for a thousand years. I have land, I have a good partner-in-crime, I have money, I have contacts to make the channels and I have great ginseng seeds suppliers. I have absolutely no problem, but, I have not one thing - time. I need opt - other people's time.

My hands are also tied in some business-types, for example, cryptocurrency (passion business VII). My partner-in-crime stated categorically that this business-type is out-of-bound to all other partners. Although the business-type worth $200trn might take a good 20 years to mature, he is willing to wait and he is not willing to share. I understand where he's coming from. We both owe it to ourselves that we are 千古河山棋一局,是真名士自风流。

Thursday 6 February 2014

p.Enemy at the Gate

The last part is here:   Terrible Start of Year 2014 (con't)

A blood relation chided me for being a bastard in the way I treated my adversaries.

I smiled.

I explained to him that you can try your best to be honest and good. You treat everyone fairly and honorably, but not every one will return that honesty. When driven and tested to the extreme, the adversaries will turn vicious and ugly. They have no choice as they were driven by their own higher needs than to be honest. They schemed and they scammed. Although they behaved perfectly in front of you all these times, but once tested, they failed bad.

I have likened this phenomenon to car accidents. On the road, you could have been the most safe pedestrian. You watch your roads and you obey all traffic signs. But, an intoxicated car driver could mount a curb, beat the lights and hit you on the wrong side. Here you are perfectly obedient, perfectly safe, but your adversary is not. He hits you with no better reason than being drunk, which again got nothing to do with you directly. But, you are involved with him in the end with an accident.

What I am trying to say is when the guy turned adversary, you can't reason with him anymore than talking to a raging bull. You have to execute a kill.

In a way, you must always have a drawer plan to execute a kill at all times.

They will turn in the most vicious arguments and disregard any kindness you have extended to them in the past. They have no regard to your good character and might even use that good character to tuck at you making a mistake.

Execute that drawer plan with exact timings and resources. There is no other way.

My blood relation smiled back. He understood the issue at hand.

b.孫子兵法 (兵勢篇第五) (Chapter 5 - 4) (Part 28)

The last part is here:   孫子兵法 (兵勢篇第五) (Chapter 5 - 3) (Part 27)

兵勢篇

孫子曰:   凡治眾如治寡,分數是也﹔鬥眾如鬥寡,形名是也﹔三軍之 眾,可使必受敵而無敗,奇正是也﹔兵之所加,如以碫投卵者,虛實是也。
          凡戰者,以正合,以奇勝。故善出奇者,無窮如天地,不竭如江河。 終而復始,日月是也。死而復生,四時是也。聲不過五,五聲之變, 不可勝聽也。色不過五,五色之變,不可勝觀也。味不過五,五味之 變,不可勝嘗也。戰勢不過奇正,奇正之變,不可勝窮之也。奇正相生,如環之無端,孰能窮之?
          激水之疾,至于漂石者,勢也﹔鷙鳥之疾,至于毀折者,節也。是故 善戰者,其勢險,其節短。勢如張弩,節如發機。
          紛紛紜紜,鬥亂而不可亂也。渾渾沌沌,形圓而不可敗也。
          亂生于治,怯生于勇,弱生于強。治亂,數也﹔勇怯,勢也﹔強弱,形也。
          故善動敵者,形之,敵必從之﹔予之,敵必取之。以利動之,以卒動之。
          故善戰者,求之于勢,不責于人,故能擇人而任勢。任勢者,其戰人也,如轉木石。木石之性,安則靜,危則動,方則止,圓則行。故善 戰人之勢,如轉圓石于千仞之山者,勢也。

Let's continue ...

          故善動敵者,形之,敵必從之﹔予之,敵必取之。以利動之,以卒動之。
          故善戰者,求之于勢,不責于人,故能擇人而任勢。任勢者,其戰人也,如轉木石。木石之性,安則靜,危則動,方則止,圓則行。故善 戰人之勢,如轉圓石于千仞之山者,勢也。

Some translation suggested: 
Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act. He sacrifices something, that the enemy may snatch at it. By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy. When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones. For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if round-shaped, to go rolling down. Thus the energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height. So much on the subject of energy. 
Moran:   Truly, those who are good at moving their adversaries around do so by giving a form to things such that the enemy must follows those structures. PEM: The enemy army is a source of energy in itself. Originally that energy is being directed in ways intended to be hurtful to the defender. The defender, however, can create structures (sometimes little more than illusions) that channel the enemy's energy the way dikes and dams channel the energy of a river.
If I offer something, the enemy must take it. That is using benefit to move him. But one has soldiers in wait for him. PEM: The Zhuang Zi mentions a general Daoist strategy called 兩行. Literally those words mean "two displacements," i.e., going by two different ways. At a deeper level it means doing something that will have two potential outcomes. Both outcomes depend on what one's counterpart does. Consider two different examples. (1) A house is discovered to have been booby-trapped by installing bomb triggers in random places in the cellar. After discovery, the bombs are secretly removed, but the police would like to know which of several aides to the owner of the house has planned the assassination. Questioning anyone would reveal that the plot has been discovered. So the owner of the house is instructed to invite each of the aides to come to dinner with his wife and children on a particular night. Each time, the family dog is in an adjacent room. It has been taught to bark incessantly as soon as people come into the dining room. So soon after dinner starts the host calls out to the housekeeper, "Martha, please put Fido down in the basement." (2) In an unprovoked fight the defender notices that the attacker has a pattern of using a left jab as a feint and following with a solid right. Defender therefore throws a left jab. The opponent then has a choice of treating it as a feint and immediately going in for the kill, or defending. If the left jab is indeed blocked, defender has lost nothing. If, however, the jab is not blocked (perhaps defender made it appear to be a half-hearted attempt), following through will strike the attacker. One does not have to have mastered a three inch knockout blow to create enough damage to permit escape from the whole situation, or at least set one's opponent up for a strong counter attack with the opposite hand.
So those who are good at warfare seek it through power configurations and do not put the onus on individuals. They are therefore able to select individuals to take charge of those power configurations. PEM: — Like the man whose finger pulls the crossbow trigger.
PEM: One example of what Sun Tzu is talking about in this section might be optical illusions. If objects are used, they may be real objects. If lines are drawn they will be real lines. However, the conclusions that eyes draw from optical illusions are incorrect. The arrangement of components forces the eyes to see what is not really there.
Those who are given responsibility for operating a power configuration are warriors, and they are like rotating wood or stone (in the trigger mechanism of the crossbow). The natures of wood and stone are to be still if things are at peace, but to move if they are under duress. If they are square, then they will not turn, but if they are round then they will move. PEM: The trigger mechanism of a crossbow is formed of rectangular elements that are designed to retain their positions in resistance to considerable force, and curved elements that are designed to move without having to be subjected to much force. 
Therefore those who are good at the power configurations of war are like those who can set a round stone that is poised on the top of a thousand rod mountain to rolling — it is a matter of power configurations. PEM: The stone must be round if it is to be easily rolled off its stable perch, but the lever and the fulcrum need to be "square" so that they will hold their positions as force is applied.

Let's discuss:

故善動敵者,形之,敵必從之﹔   Therefore, those who are good at moving their enemy around do so by giving him a military shape such that the enemy must follow this shape.
予之,敵必取之。以利動之,以卒待之。:   If bait is given, the enemy would take it. Hence, use bait to move the enemy, use ambush in wait for him.
故善戰者,求之於勢,不責於人,故能擇人任勢。 Therefore, a good general seeks result from employment of strategic influence and not lay blame on individuals, hence, he chooses the individuals to take charge of these strategic influence.
任勢者,其戰人也,如轉木石。:   Those selected to take charge of strategic influence are called warriors, they rotate like rounded wood or stone.
木石之性,安則靜,危則動,方則止,圓則行。:   The nature of wood and stone is still when rested and move when stressed. Square items resist motion, round items move in the direction of stress.
故善戰人之勢,如轉圓石於千仞之山者,勢也。:   Therefore, a good general adopts influence liken to setting free a rounded large rock down a tall mountain — strategic influence.

Again the translation was not well done.

Sun Tzu basically said here that a good general engages by adopting strategic influence, and not by any other means. Strategic influence if used correctly is like letting a huge rounded rock roll down a tall mountain, its momentum and hence, its outcome is never stoppable. To do that, he suggested luring the enemy to a particular spot by baiting and attack in absoluteness by ambush.

In business, attack must be conducted using absoluteness by overwhelming strategic influence. After the attack there is always retaliation from the fallen enemy. If the defeat is not absolute, its retaliation would be strong and potentially fatal. If the defeat is absolute, its retaliation would be feeble and of no consequence.  Therefore, what Sun Tzu said had great value. Never defeat an enemy feebly. Its retaliation would be so strong that you might lose the subsequent battles and ultimately end in defeat yourself. Hence, assume absoluteness in strategic influence, only then can you be assured of a complete victory.

Tuesday 4 February 2014

b.Passion Business VII - Cryptocurrency Programming

The last part is here:   Passion Business VII - Cryptocurrency (II)

Don't Buy Bitcoins

Don't Buy Bitcoins, Part 2
BITCOIN The Biggest Scam In History?

Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given socio-economic context or country. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past, a standard of deferred payment. Any kind of object or secure verifiable record that fulfills these functions can be considered money.

The videos said it all. Bitcoin or any current cryptocurrencies is just rare but not valuable. It has no intrinsic value. There is no legal power to rule its conduct. There is therefore no chance of this cryptocurrency to take off.

As the videos suggested, the present currencies are enforced by the current governments-of-the-day as legal satisfaction of payment of taxes. Any person found not satisfying the legal obligation of paying taxes would be thrown into jail. With such a powerful requirement, how can one not recognize that the issued currency as a medium of exchange.

Therefore, to properly produce a cryptocurrency, one must rely on two basic properties: a legal infrastructure and a store of value.

Cryptocurrency cannot be just a play on number, even the miners of the coins expending large amount of energy and computational infrastructure to maintain the trust system are not considered economically active. Their efforts are useless in the eyes of the economic market. To be rewarded with coins, the miners must participate in economic activities, not just sit around and crunch numbers. They are no economic activists.

So I really enjoy this whole thing. I have spoken to my partner-in-crime and he fully endorsed this passion business. There is therefore a go for take-off.

One side of the total scheme of things was already being implemented in Taiwan before and was forced to close. When the one-sided scheme of things was implemented in full in Taiwan, the direction of things were excellent, they had proper stores and they had trust, the consumers were extremely happy and they commit in the hundreds of millions. But unfortunately, the trust was misplaced. The companies implementing this one-side of scheme closed down one after another and the consumers were extremely annoyed that their monies were not refunded. This caused a huge retracement of market trust. This one-side of scheme collapsed and never return.

From my assessment, even with the one-side of things, the scheme should have already worked beyond one's wildest dream. But, the schemers were dishonest, they took it as a scam scheme god-sent. They scammed the consumers to no ends.

Business can only be conducted using honesty. Honest business means profits can only come normally and not extraordinarily. The good news is honest business will last and feed one for more than a lifetime. The bad news is honest business will need a long time to establish the trust.

Unfortunately, the Taiwanese crowd couldn't see through the scheme of things. This same one-side of scheme was also implemented and tested in HK. Again, the schemers took it as a scam scheme at its best. This one-side scheme of things again fell flat.

If one were to evaluate this one-side scheme of things, one would realize that the business proposition is indeed a sound one. Everybody is supposed to be benefited in full in the end. It is an absolute win-win situation. But, due to external factors, the schemers couldn't maintain their part of the bargain. The scheme becomes ultimately a scam. The schemers couldn't see through the scheme that it is indeed a scheme that would have given the schemers the ultimate dream comes true.

If the schemers couldn't pull through the first half and if the schemers were to include the second half (this is unique as the second half is invented by me), the scheme would be even hasher to the schemers. There is therefore currently no existing schemers that can implement this scheme in full. This scheme is now perfect.

My partner-in-crime was very cute today. He mentioned that we must never include any third party into the scheme no matter how trusted the third party is. I cutely asked why not? He mentioned that the full scheme is too easy to implement and there is no guarantee that that third party wouldn't play us out by collaborating with another merchant. I smiled.

I must say I respected him a lot. I immediately consulted a Taiwanese to understand the true reason in the failure of the first-half of the scheme. After analysing, I realized that the first-half of the scheme failed because the schemers were made greedy after a while when the scheme was successfully implemented for a while. The schemers let their guards down and start to spend a bit more freely. In short, the schemers assumed the status of god and became fearless. As these were blood money, the schemers fell flat on their face.

If ever the second-half of the scheme is to be implemented (never implemented before in the market), the harshness of the scheme would drive even the best market schemers to shame. This is the key reason why the full scheme was never implemented in the market.

There were so many smart schemers in the market, but many schemers unfortunately believing that they were smarter than the market. Unknowing to the schemers, the market is perfectly intelligent. The market can never be outwitted. The collective wisdom would floor any smart alec. Therefore, the only way to survive in the market place is to follow its rule and toe that fucking narrow path.

My partner-in-crime fortunately understood this principle very well. He also influenced me that if we were to keep to the narrow path, we would be rewarded. Anything simple to implement in the market would be punished for being shallow.

Hehehe ... Why then does he then worries that this full scheme would be so easily copied and defeating us? If so many schemers have failed in their half-part before us, what make you think that this scheme when implemented in full would be so easily defeated?

But, retrospectively, my partner-in-crime has one of the most evil minds on earth. He would be the best person in implementing the scheme in full. Having a partner-in-crime like him is indeed my fortune.

In conclusion, I don't believe the scheme in its full flavour would be venerable to attacks or copies, but I do respect my partner-in-crime's concern. My lips are sealed.

May this full scheme see light in 20 years' time. Welcome to the $200trn Scam.

Sunday 2 February 2014

p.Terrible Start of Year 2014 (con't)

The last part is here:   Terrible Start of Year 2014

The battle was fought and I lost 5% in total. It was a very, very lucky recovery.

New proprietors were engaged. The damage reduced to almost zero.

I have gained in other aspects. So, hopefully, this episode will settle in time as a valuable lesson to me.

Let me repeat the statement:    "故其疾如風、其徐如林、侵掠如火、難知如陰、不動如山、動如雷霆".