Watch the video, DL LINK: http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/download-office-professional-plus/default.aspx?u1=12110__2_9__

Comment for help

“I would have been breaking the law. I wasn’t worried about her suing me, but I think she would have asked ‘what do I have to do to tell you what my wishes are?’” – Consultant Renal Physician, Dr Alexander Heaton.

In the first suicide note of its kind, a troubled young woman handed Norwich doctors her living will, ordering them not to interfere or risk legal punishment.

The premature death of 26-year-old Kerrie Wooltorton brought comment from all aspects of UK and international society. An inquest ruled that doctors had obeyed the law and had no choice but to make Ms Wooltorton comfortable as she slipped away.

“These situations are extremely difficult for doctors. The Mental Capacity Act has clarified matters because it establishes the legal framework for such decisions. However hard doctors find this issue, their ultimate aim is to act in the best interests of their patients, normally this means following competent patients’ wishes,” said Dr Vivienne Nathanson, Head of Ethics and Science at the British Medical Association.

Living wills, or advanced decisions, were introduced under the Mental Capacity Act in 2005.
They allow persons, in advance of mental incompetence, to make informed decisions regarding the level of healthcare applied in the event of medical problems.

Ms Wooltorton’s case was the first recorded instance of a living will being used to assist suicide. After being diagnosed with a rare medical condition that halted her ability to conceive, Ms Wooltorton began to self harm amidst a deteriorating mental health.

On September 15th she sought legal advice and a living will was written up instructing clinicians of her refusal of medical support. Three days later she drank a dangerous level of antifreeze and phoned for an ambulance. Her one request was that doctors make her comfortable.

This was the ninth time Ms Wooltorton had been administered for poisoning this year, but the first in which she had legal protection.

While the law was being considered in 2005, Catholic leaders raised their concerns over the use of living wills as suicidal helpers. Assurances were offered that suicidal individuals would have their living wills disregarded, a point that has become lost in the furore following Ms Wooltorton’s death.

“If the person is clearly suicidal, this may raise questions about their capacity to make an advance decision at the time they made it,” reads the code of practice attached to the 2005 Act.

“We think that it is very tragic indeed and we made a warning before the legislation went through that this exact thing would happen,” argued ProLife Alliance Chairman, Dominica Roberts.

Subsequent campaigns for more clarification of the law have seen further damnations from the Church over the Act’s apparent grey areas.

“We urged the government to make clear on the face of the bill that advance refusals of medical treatment, that were manifestly suicidal, should have no legal force,” offered a spokesman for the Bishop’s Conference.

Coupled with the recent guidelines on assisted suicide, introduced in late September, the tragic death of Ms Wooltorton and subsequent fallout will add fuel to the issue’s already intense flames.

While her actions cannot be condoned or supported, the process of taking out a living will can prove comforting for those contemplating their future with terminal illness.

A living will allows a patient full disclosure over what treatment they would and wouldn’t be happy to have, and a direct contact to be consulted over treatment when a medical situation arrives. They can prevent legal battles and promote honest conversations between family members over the concept and arrangements of death.

Living wills should be regularly updated, as attitudes towards death can no doubt change with age, and they can always be cancelled as long as the individual concerned is still of a sound mind.

Your local solicitor can always be approached on such a sensitive subject, opening an understanding door to the difficulties faced by families through troubling times.

Gross lending in the buy-to-let mortgage market grew in the third quarter for the first time in two years, according to data published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

At £2.1bn, lending was 10% higher than in the previous three months. Buy-to-let loans also saw their first increase in two years, from 21,600 to 23,700.

The number of outstanding buy-to-let loans grew to 1,205,000, representing 11% of all mortgages by the end of the quarter and the value of outstanding buy-to-let mortgages increased by 2.5% to £144.2 billion.

However, the number of properties taken into possession rose in the third quarter, from 1,400 to 1,600. Over the same period though there was a sharp decline in the number of arrears cases in which a receiver of rent was appointed, from 2,500 down to 1,700.

”At this stage, the recovery is modest – but the figures show that buy-to-let is here to stay,” said CML’s Director General, Michael Coogan. “Buy-to-let lenders are among those facing some of the biggest challenges in raising mortgage funding, so the improved figures are all the more welcome.

“With funding for social housing under pressure, the private rented sector has a strong future. Mortgage lenders will have an important role to play in it, and will continue to help improve choice and standards for private tenants.”

This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy. ~Douglas Adams

Funny thing, colours. You would think that with all the negative associations we have for BLACK, that Black Friday would be a day to stay at home as the flyer opposite (promoting books) suggests.

It turns out that the first association of the word had to do with a financial crisis in 1869, which makes sense.

So then there was a bit of a jump to the next sense, which  was to describe the traffic in Philadelphia on the day after Thanksgiving. Having never been to Philadelphia, I can’t say what it’s like, but still, it seems reasonable. After that we get to the modern definition, still the day after Thanksgiving, but now the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season and therefore the time for all shops to climb out of the red (making a loss) into the black (making a profit).

To take advantage of this day, many stores open their doors at times that would make you go “Urggghhh” and offer special “doorbuster” offers of articles at a crazy price (certain similarity here with that great British phenomenom, the “January” Sales).

Here’s an example from last year in Salt Lake City.

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

The other side of the coin is the Adbusters Media Foundation, based in Vancouver, Canada. (It appears that many Canadians also take advantage of the sales, as this insurance website claims). Adbusters organises a BUY NOTHING DAY to coincide with Thanksgiving and Black Friday, in an attempt to “opt out of consumer culture for 24 hours and send world leaders gearing up for the Copenhagen climate summit a message.”

Whatever you decide to do (or not to do), we hope you have a safe Friday and a great weekend!

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Strange Random Language Fact:

In Chinese, the words crisis and opportunity are the same

It is good to see that some Speed Dating companies care about their clients more than others, though in my opinion they only care about their clients cash, like the people at Speed Dating Events and I would like to thank them for their comment on my blog about Speed Dating which describes why I think that Speed dating is a terrible way to find a partner. The comment, if you want to read it, appeared on the www.easilyfriends.com website.

However in spite of their comment, I haven’t change my mind and my point remains and that is because not all Speed Dating is either well organised or well thought out.

I still maintain that you are never going to find someone to develop a long term relationship with when you are hustled from one quick chat to the next, even in a nice venue with careful professional staff in attendance.

And just quickly on the subject of venues Speed Dating event companies tend to use smelly, dirty and outdated public houses to arrange their ‘quicky’ events! Am I the only person in the world who hates pubs because they are not nice places? Thank goodness no, because I read everyday of another town or village pub closing.

The best you can hope for from a Speed Dating event is to fill your Filofax with cards and numbers from people you know you won’t call because you won’t remember who they were and of course they won’t ring for the same reason.

Really, the only thing you can expect to get out of a speed dating event is to get back into the swing of talking to people in a social situation, frankly I would choose the bus, or better still if you want an evening out go to the theatre or the ballet and in the interval find people to chat to.

As I have said before, if you talk to people even if they are in a relationship it is very likely that they will have friends like you who are looking for a relationship, but of course, first of all they are looking for a date and importantly so are you!

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Comment, Dating, Public Houses, Pubs, Relationship, Speed Dating, Theatre, Filofax

As many may know, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Latin America and spoke with the countries that welcomed him (not many) and many things were said and commented. In Venezuela, each “ruler” kissed the other one’s ass to no end and both stated that all they want is peace and prosperity to their respective countries and regions. Some detractors, such as myself, suspect (or know for a fact) that all those peace talks are just a pile of bull and just an intent of gathering filth of their own and trying to throw it back to their “enemies” hoping it sticks.

Now I read and article that just, once again, confirms how this Ahmadinejad and his mandate are as shady as his intentions with his foreign relations. Under Ahmadinejad regime, meaning recently, Iranian authorities confiscated the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize given to human rights activist Shirin Ebadi. In the report it is explained that when they say confiscated the nobel prize, it means everything, the money, the diploma and even the medal. The nobel prize was appointed to her thanks to her work in human rights and struggle to improve women and children’s status in society, but the government have determined now that such prize is unfit and has, as I said before, confiscated it, they even “respectfully” beat up the winner’s husband and of course imprisoned him (No real detail on this is mentioned). The fact is that for the first time in the history of the Nobel prize has one of them been confiscated by the winners national authority. *

So this is just another proof of the way this ruler work, no wonder why so many members of the population were stunned when he was re-elected even after the votes were recounted, no one, not even the voters in Iran could believe that this man was again back in power. Just to mention some of the most polemic actions and policies this man has taken:

A. The VERY shady nuclear program that he insists is for peaceful goals but always is very evasive with answers to simple questions and making up bad excuses when requested proof. Half the world is scared shitless that if nothing is done they might build a nuclear missile and start the feared nuclear war.

B. His laws against freedom for women and homosexuals is rigid and even considered as reactionary.

C. I am not very font of the Israelis and their modus operandi but I wouldn’t go as far as “hoping they are erased” or claiming that the holocaust is as fake as Chavez’s “peace mongering words”. On 14 December 2005, Ahmadinejad in words that have been changed, eased out or excused by saying it was a misinterpretation, he actually described the holocaust from WWII as being a “myth” and on 26 October 2005 Ahmadinejad also said Zionists (Or jews) should be wiped out from the pages of history with some other spice that could easily be interpreted as a plan to commit genocide.

D. His constant violations to human rights against political prisoners (SOOO very similar to Chavez and the Castro bros) who are mistreated and tortured just for being in the opposition and doing “acts of treason”. Also he is pro-abolishing or at least crippling the freedom of speech, even in the universities his regime tried avoiding women studying in large quantities arguing  “that there are not enough facilities such as dormitories for female students” or “presence of women generates some problems with transportation”. How charming.

The rising of so many “socialist”, and “revolutionary” countries is worrying, because their policy is rather simple “Either you join us or you are against us”. Knowing history, we can forsee that extremist causes result in massive killings, wars and hunger…we shall see

*Extracted from the CNN webpage

Though I love politics – and openly state that I detest politicians – there is a time when you really, really have to wonder where those in power get their ideas from.

I could understand it if it were a matter that they believed in an alien invasion, the world coming to an end in 2012 or something that would should they had some form of mental deficiency – but this is not the case.

From the link:

The Senior Salaries Review Body review followed claims some peers abuse the £174-a-night overnight allowance.

It says overnight claims should be cut to £140 but daily allowances for office costs and food, worth up to £161.50, be replaced by the £200 attendance fee.

So – if I am not mistaken – if you have abused the expenses system, and as a rebuke, you get a 60 quid a day raise!?

And they, those parasites in power oft ask why people will not vote for them or understand that the “Upper” chamber is loathed and detested even more.

Can they not understand that it is because of moves like this? It is, as always – taking the piss and passing it off and reform.

Peers who attend the House of Lords every day it sits – an average of 150 days a year – could receive up to about £30,000 a year if they claimed the maximum attendance allowance.

When, oh when are we going to get some leaders – or just your average MPs with some balls who can see, and do something about this abuse? Managerial politics is killing the very art, and I know many-a-person who are getting very, very pissed off at what is going on within the walls of parliament.

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Here are Ways #s 4 and 5 from the last post which promised you 5 Ways to Be More Great-full (Boost Your Gratitude Attitude)…

#4: FAMILY (or couple’s) GRATITUDE BOOK
We just spent a very pleasant hour doing this great art & writing interactive project. So simple and yet so meaningful and fun! Quality family time!

We do not watch television, nor do our children. We are dedicated to parenting consciously and strive to support a vibration of love in our household. Yet, given that my husband and I are both entrepreneurs, with seven businesses between the two of us, and given that our children are still quite young, we know how important and sometimes challenging it can be to come up ideas (not to mention time, energy and materials) for positive family experiences.

I myself am about the least craftsy person you will ever meet and can draw a stick figure on a good day! So believe me when I tell you: Yes, you CAN do this project, and probably with what’s already available in your home. It really ranks high on simple, high on fun, high on memorable, and low on expense. (I can NEVER do those Origami things, puuleeeeeazzze, can we talk?)

Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time to do this Family Gratitude Book…but of course so is any day that ends in “y.” Monday, Tuesday…. Enjoy!

Materials:

All you need is:

Some blank paper (we used printer or copy paper, white)

Construction paper

Ribbon or brass brads to secure the book

Markers, pencils, hole punch and/or scissors

Optional: Stickers, stamps, other art supplies, scrapbook, photos

Definitely: A little bit of time and lots of love!

We started by making a brainstormed list of everything we are grateful for. You can do this any way you like; follow your own creative impulses & inspiration. We have four family members, so I decided to color code what we wrote on this collective page or you could just all write and draw without attributing who said/drew what, or make a chart, have sections of the page, etc. The things my 6-year-old called out first were written in yellow, my 10-year-old chose blue, I picked purple and my husband green. We made a color key on the page and wrote and drew various things we are thankful for: Our dog came first, followed by a lovely torrent such as family and friends, food, a good home, music, the Earth, music, health, God, life and so on.

Then I gave each family member a separate page on which to do whatever they like, the only requirement being that whatever is on the page relates to or represents what they are thankful for. We stuck in some more blank pages, so we can add more later as we are inspired.

The kids each got to pick a color for the front and back covers. The older did the words, the younger did the drawings. We punched holes, added brads, all signed the masterpiece and voila! A Family Gratitude Book.

Not only a wonderful way to spend part of our Thanksgiving Day, but a precious keepsake, and, I trust, a new family tradition as well. We will be sharing this book with family all weekend long and inviting them to add to it as well. And of course, it can be done any day! Every day bears its own gifts if we just open the package.

Today we focused mainly on what we are thankful for in our current lives (now), but we could also include wonderful memories (past) and gratitude for all the blessings on the way! (future)

Alternative for Couples: You can also do this as a Couple’s Gratitude Book or Journal, a beautiful way to show appreciation and deepen connection. So few marriages last or are happy, as we all know, and I am blessed to have a deliriously, deLIGHTfully ecstatic marriage, 12 years strong and better every day. One of the reasons is of course, the selection of the right mate; but in order to do so, we had to do the necessary self-healing and inner preparation to bring whole, healthy individuals to the relationship. Much of this work is presented in my book: The Radical Self-Love Workbook. But it is also essential to nurture even the best of relationships, and my husband and I do so daily in many creative ways such as this.

More tips on love and relationships are at

www.LoveandSpirit.org

and at my love blog: loveandspiritblog.wordpress.com.

Whether you do the Gratitude Book as a homemade book like we did today, like a scrapbook or journal, and whether you do it as a family activity or a couple’s relationship-enhancer, it will help you see your life through the eyes of love and gratitude, and bring you even closer with those you love. Enjoy! And I welcome you to send me a comment or email to share your experience.

#5: Honor the 4 Directions and 4 Sacred Elements:

Earth, Air, Fire, Water

You do not have to be Native American to appreciate one of their traditions, which is to honor the Medicine Wheel, facing each of the four directions, thanking each one for their gifts. This is also a tradition in all indigenous cultures including pre-Christian Europe (a.k.a. Wicca, Druidry, paganism, et al.), Africa, Australia, Hawaii and South America.

In fact, if you scratch the surface beneath contemporary religions on any part of the Earth, you will find an ancient shamanic tradition that honors all the directions and all of nature as sacred.

All things follow this cycle of birth, growth, fruition and quietude, whether we are looking at seasons, a lifespan, a day, or a garden. The beauty of Medicine Wheel ceremony and the paradigm itself is that it can be applied to our lives in so many ways.

So how do you honor the directions and elements, to give thanks for what they give to us so generously? Here are a few ideas:

* Altar: Create an altar to each direction or a Medicine Wheel altar encompassing all the directions/elements. This can be in your home or outside. My husband specializes in creating Medicine Wheels as a sacred practice on the land, and has helped others to do this as well.

* Cherokee Dance of Life – You would need to learn this in person from someone who has learned it, oral tradition. This is an incredible moving meditation to all 4 directions, peoples, and elements which also honors Mother Earth and Father Sky, balances their energies as sacred partners in our hearts, and helps us give away the gifts of Spirit that are our special medicine to share with the world through our right work and service. Occasionally my husband and I share this Dance with our community. If you live near Sacramento, and would like to experience this dance, let us know so we can invite you. Or perhaps Spirit will guide you to another teacher of this beautiful tradition.

* Drum, chant, play flute to each direction

* Give offerings such as cornmeal, tobacco or sage smoke to each direction

* Speak aloud from your heart to each direction and give thanks

* Sweat lodge

* Vision quest

If you do either sweat lodge or vision quest, please do so with the guidance of a Native elder to be sure you do it properly and safely.

* Journal or journey (shamanic meditation) to discover what power animals comprise your personal Medicine Wheel of your own energy field. I love to lead these meditations when I am called to do so. Honoring your own inner Medicine Wheel supports a strong aura and keeps you connected to your spirit guides, if this resonates for you.

Associations with Each Direction

Depending on which culture or even which tribe you consult, there are somewhat different associations with the directions, colors, elements and meanings, the medicine or power that direction helps us receive and embody. The one I am most familiar with follows but this is not dogma, merely a summary of what I have found to be the more universal associations. Follow your own heart and work with any spiritual practice in the way that resonates for your own heart and inner truth.

While I have a small amount of native blood, I was adopted and was not raised in that tradition. I discovered shamanism after my initiation and spiritual awakening 15 years ago. I do not claim to be a tribal elder or teacher of any one tradition. I am an interfaith minister, meditation teacher, hypnotherapist, energy healer and intuitive life coach. I have been on the path of Spirit, studying, practicing and sharing healing and wisdom teachings from many cultures for several decades, so I offer here a simplified summary as a starting point for your discovery journey. You would do well to study more in depth with a local teacher steeped in the particular tradition that calls to your spirit, and of course feel free to research further on the Web, in books, classes, and listen to your own inner guidance. I always say the best way to pray, do ceremony or ritual is the way that feels best to you, with harm to none, of course. But we do need to honor the specific traditions so they are not all diluted through multiculturalism.

From the East we have the yellow people (Asia) and the gift of Air, Brother Wind, clarity of vision, inspiration, the new day, new beginnings, establishment of purpose and intention, and springtime.

From South, we receive the wisdom of the black people (Africa), Fire. The tools, strength, perseverance and energy to follow through and manifest, midday/ noon, summer, also humor and passion, innocence and trust.

The West gives us the culture of the Red people (such as Native Americans), the setting sun, Water, emotions, the fall season, self-evaluation toward completion, looks-within time, peace, rest and healing.

And the North represents the White (European) people and all their cultural gift. The sacred mountain, winter, midnight, time to slow down, go within and be still to receive guidance for what comes next. Completion, what you keep from the past cycle and all that you have accomplished and learned. It is also associated with the Spirit and wisdom.

Note: You can also honor the other 3 directions: Earth (below), Sky (above) and Center (within).

I hope you enjoyed these five creative ways to give thanks and I wish you abundant blessings on your journey!

Finally, in the spirit of Sufi mystic poet Rumi, I invite you to kiss the ground. Blow kisses to the sky. Bow to everything. Everything is sacred.

With Love,

Sage

More resources for your path, including free special reports on abundance, love, transformational classes, soul and energy healing sessions, intuitive readings, matchmaking and more are at:

www.LoveandSpirit.org

Taylor@LoveandSpirit.org

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

- Rumi

No GPS for Polanski

Act dumb: The Swiss have no GPS to control Polanski who can simply walk away to France. Below: Polanski’s new one man jail in Gstaad.

If Roman Polanski -awaiting extradition for sentencing in the USA for raping and drugging a 13 year old- is moved from jail to house arrest with an ankle monitor he will have little problem fleeing his Swiss chalet in trendy Gstaad, easily crossing into France. After his fame as film director he will be infamous as the first ankle monitor escapee in Swiss history. Switzerland has yet to introduce GPS electronic monitoring so that, if Polanski leaves his luxury retreat, the Swiss have no way of locating him (Search Hollywood’s Polanski).

The federal criminal court has accepted that Polanski be electronically tagged under house arrest, although an ankle monitor “cannot prevent flight, rather only discovered later.” Electronic monitoring is only operative within the confines of his chalet. The ankle transmiter sends a signal to an in-house receiver which connects to a central computer over the telephone line. If the “prisoner” takes off his ankle bracelet an alarm is raised. The same happens if he leaves the house without authorisation. But if Polanski decides to flee he cannot be located through his ankle bracelet.

(“Kein GPS: Polanski könnte über grüne Grenze nach Frankreich fliehen,” by Iwan Städler. Tagesanzeiger, 26 November 2009).

Polanski sense GPS

La nova presó individual de Polanski a Gstaad. Primera foto: Acte estúpid: els suissos no tenen GPS per a controlar Polanski que pot simplement escapolir-se a França.

Si Roman Polanski – pendent d’extradició per sentenciar als USA per violar i drogar una nena de 13 anys- és transferit de la presó a l’arrest domiciliari no tindrà cap problema en fugir del seu xalet suis a la pija Gstaad, fàcilment creuant la frontera amb França. Després de fer-se famós com director de cine, ara tindrà el mal nom de ser el primer fugitiu de monitor de turmella a la història suissa. Suissa encara no ha introduit el monitor electrònic per GPS, així que si Polanski abandona el seu refugi de luxe, els suissos no tenen cap medi per localitzar-lo (Veure search El Polanski de Hollywood).

El tribunal criminal federal ha acceptat que Polanski porti un testimoni electrònic sota arrest domiciliari, malgrat que el monitor de turmell “no pot impedir la fugida, només certificar-la després.” El monitor electrònic només funciona dins dels límits del xalet. El transmissor al turmell envia un senyal a un receptor a l’interior de de la casa  connectada amb un ordinador central via telèfon. Si el “presoner” es treu el seu braçalet del turmell salta l’alarma. Igual passa si surt de casa sense permís. Però si Polanski decideix fugir no hi ha manera de localitzar-lo via el seu braçalet al turmell.

(“Kein GPS: Polanski könnte über grüne Grenze nach Frankreich fliehen,” per Iwan Städler. Tagesanzeiger, 26 novembre 2009).

October saw the commercial property market grow for the third month in a row, according to yet more positive research into the sector.

Investment Property Databank (IPD) found a 1.9% growth in the market over the last month, making the total growth since August 3.2%, according to IPD’s Monthly Index report.

Malcolm Hunt, Head of UK Client Services, added: “While there has been appreciation across the three main property sectors, capital growth in the retail sector has been the driving force, gaining 2.6% in September.

“This is the second largest monthly figure in IPD’s 22-year-old Monthly Index Databank and the largest since December 1993. The sector’s growth is driven by notable investor appetite for retail warehouses.”

But, as is common with modern optimistic news on the UK’s economy, there are still factors halting a full recovery.

Vacancy rates, measured as a percentage of the Databank’s rental income supposing all properties are fully let, has reached a record high for the second time in recent months, at 12.6%, largely due to vacant office buildings.

“As long as the negative rental cycle persists so too will the concern that the upward trend in capital values could be broken,” added Mr. Hunt.

The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit is one of the elixir’s of sustainability and we have been trying to find an easy way to relate it to foodservice.

The meeting is the deadline to negotiate the successor to the Kyoto protocol, with the aim of preventing global warming. The biggest and most developed nations emit by far the most carbon thus have a responsibility to cut these significantly. Although emerging markets such as India and China are surging ahead in their emissions; per person emissions are relatively small (by way of example 400 million Indians live without electricity). The argument of these emerging markets is that pollution will be necessary to improve citizens lives. Nevertheless, cuts of 25%-40% rising to further cuts of 80%-95% by 2050 will be the focus of the Summit.

So, the richest nations are going to have to pay and this is exactly where foodservice comes into play. Gordon Brown and other EU leaders are suggesting figures in the realms of $100 billion by 2020.

But who’s going to pay this domestically? One would think those that utilise the Earth’s natural resources the most! Companies operating in the foodservice industry are significant stakeholders of natural resources and therefore will feel the impact of Copenhagen Climate Change Summit over the coming years. Whether by means of taxation or sanctions remains to be seen.

So, those still doubting the significance of climate change should brace themselves!

Martin Hickman, The Independent’s Consumer Affairs Correspondent has been named Journalist Of The Year at the Foreign Press Associations Media Awards.

His report on the environmental effects of palm oil beat news reports from the BBC, Channel 4, Wall Street Journal and even the Daily Telegraph’s coverage of the MP’s expense scandal.

The report revealed palm oil is destroying rainforest and is threatening the survival of the orang-utan, yet is still found in best-selling food brands.

The report prompted Nestle, Marks & Spencer, Cadbury and Mars into moving to sustainable supply.

Milan – Thiago Silva mengatakan bahwa pola ofensif yang diterapkan AC Milan membuat para pemain belakang relatif kelelahan. Namun pemain asal Brasil tersebut mengaku tak masalah, karena Milan tampil apik sekaligus menghibur.

Milan saat ini cenderung menerapkan formasi 4-3-3. “Formasi 4-3-3 yang disukai Leonardo akan menjadi dasar kami dari sekarang, meskipun melawan tim-tim besar,” ujar Galliani lagi kepada Sky Sport Italia beberapa waktu yang lalu.

Dengan pola ini Milan memenangi tiga laga secara berturut-turut di pertengahan bulan lalu, masing-masing melawan AS Roma, Real Madrid dan Chievo Verona.

Terhitung sejak kemenangan atas Roma hingga akhir pekan kemarin, Milan tak pernah kalah di laga resmi. Total 16 gol dijaringkan pasukan Leonardo ke jala lawan.

Penampilan ofensif Milan membuat barisan bertahan mereka harus bekerja lebih berat. “Pola yang kami pakai membuat kami lebih capek,” demikian kata Thiago Silva seperti dilansir dari Football-Italia.

“Barisan bertahan harus paham bagaimana mengatasi keadaan-keadaan darurat dan menangkal serangan balik. Kami harus tahu dan bisa memutuskan kapan untuk memperpendek jarak dengan barisan taengah dan kapan untuk kembali hingga ke depan penjaga gawang,” lanjut pemain asal Brasil itu.

Namun ucapan Thiago bukan berarti ia mengeluhkan formasi dan strategi yang dipakai Leonardo. Sebaliknya sang bek justru sangat senang dengan strategi ofensif ini.

“Saya sangat senang dengan fakta bahwa semua pemain bisa menyerang. Sebab ini merupakan bentuk kepercayaan mereka kepada saya dan Alessandro Nesta. Alessandro merupakan pemain yang luar biasa. Kerjasama kami bagus karena kami bisa saling mengerti,” tutupnya.

Firstly i need to say a really big thank’s all you guy’s for your support it means a lot, secondly why the hell are you all not following me on twitter? www.twitter.com/scoopemag. Now that’s over,  let’s get down to business.

Would it be wrong of me to say “That the UK is the best?”  Hell no, from food straight through to music we have it all. But for once i’m going to stick purely to music. While it is common knowledge that i love Grime; (i play it 24/7 and  if you spot me on road you can almost guarantee that it’s a Grime track im listening too.) However im not purely a Grime fan i love music end of. If you go through my pc or laptop i have a lil of everything and i do mean everything. Just a quick glance and i can see Grime, Pop, RnB, Classical, Bashment, Funky house, Country, alternative and even folk. Yes i said it ‘folk’, good, bad, and in-between if it has a beat i want to hear it. Music has and alway’s will be my first love.

Recently i’ve been through different regions on the look out for underground artists that are doing something different, i’ve even enlisted the help the priest at the church around the corner from me. (Before you snigger i have to say he has to be the coolest priest i know, when i was listening to Griminal and P Money he not only knew who they were but he actually knew the barz word for word.)

So where have i been in my quest for the unknown?  I put out feeler’s and this is where i ended up:  Luton, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Leeds, Colchester, Kent and Milton Keynes. Was i impressed with what i came across? No doubt, my recent trips have confirmed what we all know anyway. That the UK is the best when it comes to music.

The diversity that is present is absolutely crazy, never have i seen or heard so many different sound’s. I spent  two week’s looking for Grime artist’s only and i can honestly say that i was left speechless; one music genre and i must have come across at leat 30 different sound’s. With this much individuality in one genre alone it doesn’t take a genius to see that the UK music scene is alive and buzzing.

So with this said im asking, actually no im telling you support the UK music scene. No matter what the genre is your in to make sure you show love. Buy the music, download the free links artists post, watch the video’s, buy the clothing, gigs and concerts make sure youre there and lastly but probably the most important, make sure you use youre mouth and spread the word. If your loving someones music then tell a friend to tell a friend.

Check out a few of the artists im listening to at the moment; Layz, Page, Ny, dotstar and maxie priest.

Till next time stay bless K xx

This trax right here got me shaking my ass on the regz, so make sure you check out my Boi Layz n show him ur support.

♦♦♦♦♦

Along with Halloween, Thanksgiving is one of those events in the US that people elsewhere seem to know very little about, except from what we see on the TV and in the papers.

Currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863, but did not become a federal holiday until 1941.

Modern Thanksgiving tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation. The Pilgrims were unable to cultivate their usual crops and were saved from almost certain starvation by Squanto, a Patuxet Native American who resided with the Wampanoag tribe. He taught them how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them (Squanto had learned English while enslaved in Europe and during travels in England). After their first successful harvest, the Plymouth settlers held a feast to celebrate the event and to give thanks to God for helping them survive the brutal winter. At the time, this was not regarded as a Thanksgiving observance; harvest festivals existed in English and Wampanoag tradition alike. This “First Thanksgiving” lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Indians. The feast consisted of fowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash. However, the traditional Thanksgiving menu often features turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.

You can read more about the different traditions here.

To end with, two different views of Thanksgiving, firstly, from Mark Twain:

Thanksgiving Day, a function which originated in New England two or three centuries ago when those people recognized that they really had something to be thankful for — annually, not oftener — if they had succeeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previous twelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, the Indians. Thanksgiving Day became a habit, for the reason that in the course of time, as the years drifted on, it was perceived that the exterminating had ceased to be mutual and was all on the white man’s side, consequently on the Lord’s side; hence it was proper to thank the Lord for it and extend the usual annual compliments.

and a more modern cultural observation from The Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger:

I love Thanksgiving turkey… it’s the only time in Los Angeles that you see natural breasts.

Have fun!

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Strange Random Language Fact:

In Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, the tourist welcome sign is written in both English and Klingon (alien language from “Star Trek”).

Most followers of this blog will know the overarching importance of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference starting on the 7th December.  Governments, thought-leaders, politicians and lobbyists from across the world will be coming together to develop a consensus on international commitment to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing this planet. As the conference approaches,  there seem to be a number of (very creative) campaigns launching aimed at petitioning the attendees. A couple of these include The Wave and Baby Creative’s The Solution Is Simple.

The Wave Campaign

Both are great ideas in their own way, one a collective social media campaign, the other a sweetly made viral film featuring some celeb talking heads.  We like them in different ways, and appreciate the sentiments of the originators.

However, at Believe’s core is the principle that collective action is not about passing the buck to governments or international organisations. As important as Copenhagen is, the focus should still be on what we, as individuals, can do every day to change our own consumption and action.  Governments are more than aware of the consequences of failure. However, elected officials will always be looking ahead to the next polling day, rather than the next generation – it’s the nature of democratic systems. Consumers and Voters are the driving force behind any change. The CBI know this, and in December will be hosting a conference on how to engage consumers in Carbon Reduction? It’s all very well Governments regulating Business, but Business need to engage consumers in ways that don’t damage profitability. Likewise, Governments need to change the behaviour of the millions of people in their electorate, but will always stay clear of anything that will make them feel worse off and switch allegiances.  So, as much as Copenhagen is a focus for commitment from the top, the real change needs to come from those people who make up the base.

About newspapers, journalism, music industry, movie industry and book writers and publishers and its frenemies.

Ken Auletta (c) WNYC

Mr Auletta (author homepage, Wikipedia article), an American journalist and long-time commentator on the media industry, dismisses claims that Google’s programming wizards are to blame for putting a jinx on the media world. Instead, he places the blame squarely, and correctly, on the publishing and movie executives who failed to appreciate the speed with which the internet would sap their companies’ fortunes. They were also slow to spot that, although Google presented itself as a friend, it had all the hallmarks of a powerful enemy too. Now the frenemy has become a scapegoat for many of the industry’s self-inflicted wounds.

Mr Auletta does a respectable job of reviewing the media companies’ predicaments. He also rehearses some of the well-known elements of Google’s culture that have helped transform it from a start-up launched in a garage 11 years ago to a colossus with ambitions to become the world’s first media company with revenues of $100 billion. Among other things, these include lavish stock options, perks such as free meals and massages, and a rigorous and sometimes quirky recruitment process. (In one passage in the book, Sergey Brin, one of Google’s co-founders, asks a candidate for a senior legal position to draw up a contract for the sale of Mr Brin’s soul to the devil.)

More compelling are the book’s insights into the relationship between the members of the triumvirate that runs Google—Mr Brin, Larry Page, his co-founder, and Eric Schmidt, the chief executive, who arrived at Google several years after its launch. Brought in at the behest of venture capitalists that have backed the firm, Mr Schmidt found himself treading a delicate path between the sensibilities of the brilliant but socially awkward founders and the demands of the impatient financiers. With the help of a veteran Silicon Valley executive who acts as a coach, the three men ultimately developed an effective working relationship. (Source (c): The Economist.com)

All the talks and very interesting conversations are below.

• Video – Authors@Google: Ken Auletta // November 11, 2009 // AtGoogleTalks

• Ken Auletta on Charlie Rose // 11/05/09 // Search for ‘Auletta’, the whole experience is in Flash and you can’t link to content. Bummer.

• Video – Eric Schmidt in Conversation with Ken Auletta // June 11, 2008 // Google

• Video – Ken Auletta on Google // November 05, 2009 // WYNC.ORG complete interview.

• Video – Q&A: Ken Auletta // November 02, 2009 // CSPAN

• Video – Lindsay, Auletta Discuss News Corp, Microsoft and Google // November 23, 2009 // Bloomberg

• Video – Web 2.0 Summit 08: Ken Auletta (The New Yorker), Joel Hyatt // November 10, 2008 // OreillyMedia

PS: Best thing from the Authors@Google talk is that at the end he just says that they made a bid for Twitter ‘as you know’. Couldn’t end any better than that.

Update: November 27th – Review in the NYTimes.

Maybe in the end, even on the Internet, you get what you pay for.

The Rise and Fall of the Arts

It’s a known fact that many artists have or experience difficulty balancing their work with commercial gain.

Mozart ,Van Gogh and others ,were geniuses in their own right.But when it came to monetary matters they …………..

When we look at todays’ arts industries,the issue of commercial success can not be ignored.May be that’s why we have managers, agents and publicists.

Now, moving back in time, we had the cave man art ,rock art ,religious art….etc. These early artists didn’t have the excessive “modern world” baggage that we have to carry nowadays.

Sometimes I envy little children with their infant art.At least they don’t “care” about the baggage around them………

I had initially thought I will do this at the end of the group phase. But we have achieved qualification and top spot, so it seems worthwhile to have a look at other groups as well. Here are some highlights from the group tables after 5 games,

• Arsenal on 13 points are joint leaders in points terms with Chelsea and Bordeaux.
• These three teams are also the only unbeaten teams in the tournament. Even Barcelona and United have lost.
• Arsenal with 12 goals are joint leaders in scoring terms. Madrid and Fiorentina are the other teams on 12. United have scored 7, Chelsea 9 and Barcelona 5!
• Arsenal’s 8 is the best goal difference in the tournament so far. Chelsea are next with 7.
• Liverpool have crashed out. Inter, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Milan can still go out.

I know our group was relatively easy. But so was Chelsea’s. If the likes of Olympiacos and Alkmaar are not considered tough opponents, the same can be said for Rubin Kazan, Marseille, Besiktas, and Dynamo Kiev.

United haven’t looked convincing at all, have they? Their second string lost at home to a team like Besiktas who had 1 point in four games. Their first team conceded 3 at home against CSKA. Chelsea have only managed two 1-0 victories away from home.

Madrid have spent hundreds of millions but they haven’t set the football world on fire. Juventus have spent big on the likes of Diego, Melo etc. But they aren’t dominating any competition. Barca have spent enormously on Zlatan but they too have to live with a couple of scoreless draws.

I know we have a habit of conceding sloppy goals. I also realize we have let ourselves down a few times. But the improvement over last season is clear for everyone to see. We can certainly do well to improve our attitude and desire at times. There is room for improvement in maintaining the shape of the team, defensive tactics and developing a killer instinct. But these are all achievable as long as all concerned have genuine belief and will to win.

Some fans still don’t think this squad is good enough. I am more worried if some of the players also think that way. I guess that is an argument that can only be countered by actually winning something.

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