This case exemplifies all that is wrong with the international drug covenants and conventions to which New Zealand is a signatory.

Recent hangings in South East Asia, firing squads in China, and most recently two Kiwi’s arrested (and presumed guilty) for 3.5oz of cannabis between them in India, (the home of Ganja, a plant named as sacred along with the river Ganges) all happen because we as a nation collectively give licence to kill and incarcerate cruelly and inhumanely.

Where is the legal profession on drug policy?

Or is the substantial legal aid grift and perpetual social mayhem an incentive for a silence closely resembling stupidity? NZ’s own National Drug Intelligence Bureau chief along with the BERL Drug Harm report (though much criticised) states that the revenue ‘churn’ through the legal system is a DRUG HARM.

The LEGAL profession are beneficiaries of the unintended consequences. So when are you collectively going to talk about that?

To the Law Commission? Yeah Right!

Curiously, in Christchurch’s sister city Seattle, it was the law profession that lead drug policy law reform. see King County Bar Association – http://www.kcba.org/druglaw/

“The principal objectives of this effort are: reductions in crime and public disorder; improvement of the public health; better protection of children; and wiser use of scarce public resources.”

sig Blair Anderson, Christchurch. 027 2657219
http://www.leap.cc http://mildgreens.blogspot.com

Abyss
Pronunciation: \ə-ˈbis, a- also ˈa-(ˌ)bis\
Etymology: Middle English abissus, from Late Latin abyssus, from Greek abyssos, from abyssos, adjective, bottomless, froma- + byssos depth; perhaps akin to Greek bathys deep
1 : the bottomless gulf, pit, or chaos of the old cosmogonies
2 a : an immeasurably deep gulf or great space b : intellectual or moral depths

I haven’t written a post in a long time. Until recently, things haven’t been going very well. I hadn’t intended on this blog ever getting this dramatic, but I feel like I need a place to communicate the struggles which I am faced with. I started my BCom in 2005. I withdrew from my first semester due to a severe depression triggered by intense procrastination. I then withdrew from my second semester because of substance abuse. I’m an addict. I dropped out of school. Lost all support and financing from my family. Found an apartment and a job. Things just kept worsening until, I finally agreed to enter rehab. I spent 7 weeks there. I came out a new man. It was truly the best thing that ever happened to me. I built back trust with my family. I took some time to get better. I got a new apartment and a good job, but my goal was always to go back to University. I then returned to school for all the wrong reasons. I felt I had to prove to myself that I could overcome the one thing I believed I had failed at. I should have gone to culinary school instead, which was something I truly was interested in. My journey back to University is truly a difficult one. I constantly have to deal with depression and important procrastination problems. I didn’t do any work for the whole second half of my first semester and then had to catch up on everything the week before all my finals. It was hell. Pretty much the same thing happened the next semester. All through this hellish process, I still managed to obtain a cumulative GPA of 3.92. I still don’t know how I did it. This semester started off just like the other ones. I then had another severe depression halfway through. I just couldn’t deal with going through the same end of term madness once more. The pressure to keep my grades where they were also became unbearable. I had to take three weeks off school and I began a treatment of anti-depressants and anti-psychotics. I also should add that I started drinking again last summer, which has lead to on and off periods of heavy binge drinking. I have been closely followed by a psychologist since coming out of rehab, but the journey back to good mental health has been a very difficult one. All this to say, that I am now coming out of a behavioral relapse. This is why things haven’t been going well. I have hit rock bottom once again. In an odd way, I am proud of myself, because through all these hardships, I have always gotten up and kept trying to better and improve myself. I believe that I have hit rock bottom in order to better leap up towards my objectives. Since coming out of rehab, I have been like a climber in the middle of a crevasse. I’ve been struggling to make it out of the abyss, sometimes making my way up and sometimes falling back down. But I now understand how important it is for me to get out. I stopped monitoring my daily activities because it had become annoying. But as soon as I stopped, things deteriorated severely, while they were slowly improving while I was doing the monitoring. Even though I do not enjoy it, it is truly the one tool that has brought positive changes to my life and if I want to finally conquer these problems I understand that it is imperative that I keep doing it.

I recently saw Invictus. There’s a particular scene in the movie which really made me reflect. It’s when Nelson Mandela brings Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African rugby team, to his office for tea. Mandala first asks him about his leadership style. He then says that he believes the team lacks inspiration. He says some thing like: “how do you get your men to do things they didn’t think they were capable of?” I feel I have lacked inspiration in my life. Mandala said he turned to other inspirational men, writers and poets during his time in jail, in particular, the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley. I found a copy of the poem online and I have made a commitment to read it every day as soon as I wake up. I actually put it as my computer background along with a photo of Mandala and a quote from him I found which said “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Every time I read these words I get filled with hope. It makes me want to surpass myself. It makes me want to become a better man. I began this yesterday and yesterday was by far the best day I had in a long time.

I’ve also been thinking about the last passage from Gay Hendricks’ A Year of Living Consciously which I posted. I think it’s an amazing goal to try to learn as much as we can, everyday of our life. I have so many books at home which I have never read (I know, really not environmentally friendly…).  But I’d like to take this to another level. I’d like to read books that will truly help me become a better person. I want to be inspired to “do things which I didn’t think possible”. My goal is to read the autobiographies of the great men who have made their mark in history or who have made the world a better place. I want to understand what has made them the way they are. (When I say men, it’s obviously both men and women) The first book which I have decided to read is Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom. I tried to borrow it at my University’s Library, which is a big deal for me since I NEVER get books at the library (I’m really trying to be more environmentally conscious),  but both copies were out until mid January. So instead, I ordered it on Amazon. My best friend, which is EXTREMELY well-read and knowledgeable, also just suggested that I read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. He said “I don’t say this to many people, but, as a friend, if there’s one book you absolutely MUST read, it’s The Art of War.” So I’ll read The Art of War while I wait for Mandela’s book.

I haven’t been filled with so much hope in a long time. I really believe that I will finally conquer my demons once and for all. I don’t think it will be easy, but I will persevere.

Camera: Panasonic FZ5
F-stop: f/2.8
Exposure: 1/80
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 6mm
Max Aperture: 3

Two people are dead in North Bay, Ontario, after a police pursuit. The vehicle was stopped at a drinking and driving road block. Officers initiated a drug investigation and attempted to arrest the occupants. However, they fled in the car, causing minor injuries to one of the officers. During the ensuing pursuit the suspect vehicle drove over a spike belt, continued driving and collided with an oncoming car. Both drivers were killed.

We’ve mentioned these pursuits before on the Law Enforcement Against Prohibition blog. And we’ll surely do it again.

It will be interesting to find out the amount of drugs involved, since that wasn’t provided in the initial press release. As Dave Dale notes in his column, “My only hope is that the initial arrest wasn’t over a relatively minor infraction. Someone please tell me two people didn’t die over a joint of pot.”

A separate article by The Globe and Mail misses the point entirely, as they don’t even mention the drug investigation. I guess the fundamental question is: should we even be arresting people for possessing drugs?

On another topic, the Court of Appeal for Ontario criticized Judge J. Elliott Allen for stating the obvious: criminal penalties do not deter drug traffickers.

Judge Allen expressed his views on Oct. 14, 2008, while sentencing Zeyu Song to a conditional sentence for producing 1,400 marijuana plants at a large-scale grow operation near Brampton, Ontario.

Judge Elliott spoke at length about the fallacy of believing that harsh penalties for marijuana have any effect on its use and production.

“Nobody has been deterred,” he said. “People have been going to jail for drug offences for – for a couple of generations now and the drug – the drug plague is worse than it ever was … If something doesn’t work, do I try doing it again and again to see if it does work? Isn’t that the definition of insanity?”

Perhaps when Judge Allen retires from the bench he will consider becoming a speaker with LEAP.

I’ve been thinking lately about crime, in general, and more specific the gangs that are out of control in this country. And while the Gangs are a real problem and commit a lot of crimes, their total carnage pales in comparison to the so called White Collar criminals. The big difference between those two faction is the violence involved. The word Outlaw popped up and it got me to thinking maybe, just maybe it’s time it made a come back.
If the legal system was doing its job, if it was working the way it’s supposed to I wouldn’t need to even suggest this idea. But it isn’t, it’s a failed institution riddled with its own problems.

Gangs are the violent problem, after watching some of the Gangland series on the History Channel, I had no idea it was this bad, that such out of control brutality is allowed to exist.
Well if they system can’t deal with the problem then maybe we need to look back in time at the root of the word Outlaw. I’m going to borrow from, Wiki for this.

Outlawry was a formal judgment that a person was an outlaw, or literally “outside the law”. This is different from the modern usage of “outlaw”, i.e., a criminal who is evading custody.

An outlaw or bandit is a person living the lifestyle of outlawry; the word literally means “outside the law”.[1]
In the common law of England, a “Writ of Outlawry” declared the subject to be “Caput gerat lupinum” (that is, “Let his be a wolf’s head”), and it followed not only that, since the subject was no longer human, he had no legal rights, but also that he could be killed on sight as if a wolf or wild animal. Outlawry was thus one of the harshest penalties in the legal system, since the outlaw could not use the law to protect himself if needed, such as from mob justice, and could be robbed or even murdered with impunity.[2]

In the common law of England, a judgment of (criminal) outlawry was one of the harshest penalties in the legal system, since the outlaw could not use the legal system to protect them if needed, e.g. from mob justice. To be declared an outlaw was to suffer a form of civil death. The outlaw was debarred from all civilized society. No one was allowed to give him food, shelter, or any other sort of support — to do so was to commit the crime of aiding and abetting, and to be in danger of the ban oneself. An outlaw might be killed with impunity; and it was not only lawful but meritorious to kill a thief flying from justice — to do so was not murder. Because the outlaw has defied civil society, that society was quit of any obligations to the outlaw —outlaws had no civil rights, could not sue in any court on any cause of action, though they were themselves personally liable. In effect, (criminal) outlaws were criminals on the run who were “wanted alive or dead”.
The way I understand it, when a person chose a criminal path and became a real problem, but couldn’t be dealt with using ordinary means, refused to comply with the law and justice system. They were declared to be an Outlaw, which also meant they were then living outside the protection the law affords. The old wanted Dead or Alive posters we all know from Western movies and books reflect that designation. Anyone could kill an outlaw without fear of reprisal or punishment; probably get a reward of some sort. Kill a bad enough one you could get a parade and become famous enough to land your name and deed in the history books..

So what would happen if we did that today, here in this country. Tag all those outlaw gang members and let the people have open season. The people are certainly well armed, except in States like California, where Ironically they have some serious gang problems. California may even be the source of gang expansion. That would go back to the Bloods and the Crips, one wore red the other wore blue bandannas. That kinda pissed me off years ago because I was a big fan of red and blue bandannas for work and at other times. Well they are after all a useful thing to own, there are whole lists of things you can do with a bandanna, especially if you are out in the desert or the woods, the wilderness.

Back to the subject here before I get too far sidetracked.
Outlaws, should we or shouldn’t we? These are not just good boys gone bad, they have gone past bad into wild animal territory. I think they should be met with the same force and brutality they inflict on others. Especially the random killing for sport. What’s up with that anyway? Anyone that goes out and just kills at random is a rabid animal that needs to be put down fast and hard. Take a few dozen or hundred down and I’ll bet it will get the full attention of the rest. Better yet once they are declared officially as Outlaws, post their photo’s everywhere, on posts and fences, poles and billboards, and everywhere online. Force the Media to give up space to list them, be it in a newspaper or on TV or Radio, magazines, the whole full spectrum. Plaster their faces and everything known about them everywhere people can see and or hear.

Let the people be Deputized as Outlaw Hunters. Bring out the long rifles with the big scopes. Let 500 People go out together and drive them into a killing zone where the long rifles can pick them off. What ever it takes.
And for you Namby Pamby Pussies and all the Do-Gooder coddlers out there who might read this someday. I’ll remind you of an old traditional saying that also needs a come back, ALL is Fair in Love and War. This is War, we didn’t start it but we sure as hell can finish it. If they wish to live among the rest of us then they need to change their ways.
One other thing that would help us rid ourselves of these outlaw thugs, and that’s end the war on drugs. Yep I said Legalize all drugs. That is not as crazy an idea as you are thinking. I refer you to LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, their Web site is www.LEAP.cc Leap is primarily Law Enforcement people retired and active. The people that have been on the front lines of this failed War on Drugs Richard Nixon started. They know it isn’t working and isn’t winnable. Plus prison doesn’t work. They are and have been getting a much larger success rate with counciling and other treatments.
Will the whole country sudden;y go drug crazy if they are legalized, not hardly. All the people who won’t use drugs now still won’t if they are legalized. If you look at history you see the proof that only a small portion of the population indulges in drugs outside of Alcohol and Caffeine on a regular basis. Alcohol causes far more problems and damage than all the rest put together. And millions upon millions are speed addicts, Caffeine is speed, it may be the low end of the spectrum but it’s still speed. Try taking away Coffee and Tea as well as certain soft drinks and you would tempt riots in the streets in every City and State. Caffeine offers some nasty withdrawals to anyone quitting cold turkey.
Do that and the Prisons would empty the bulk of their populations. The Black market for drugs would dry up over night. And that would cut off the money the gangs depend on. There would be no profit in smuggling a legal product, nor in selling questionable drugs when the guaranteed real thing sans pollutants or who knows what they cut it with, can be bought at every corner drug store for less.
\
Plus we get to tax it all. The revenues stream on Pot alone would be in the Billions. And it has to be the safest drug on the planet, as well as having many legitimate medical uses. Read the book Jack Herrer wrote, The Emperor Wears No Clothes and you will get a good education in the truth, as compared to the lies you have been told all your life by the Government. The whole War on Drugs is rooted in two very troubled men Harry J. Anslinger and Richard M. Nixon. Both of whom would have benefited from some good long term therapy. Harry was the first Drug Car and a dedicated Liar as well as a racist and biggot. The really troubling part of Harry and his lies is that there are a lot of people that even today still believe everything he said was absolute truth. If you ever saw the movie Reefer Madness, it’s a page right out of Harry’s twisted mind. One puff off a reefer and you turn into a maniac murderer, or a Heroine addict prostitute, depending on your Gender. It makes Black men want to have sex with, rape if necessary, all white women. It makes people aggressive enough to run around murdering any and everyone they see. It also turns them into pacifists to laid back to hold a gun or fight in the military. That’s right he told both lies, one out of each side of his twisted mouth. And he told them to Congress. Harry also told Congress that the AMA, the medical community was 100% behind making Marijuana criminal. The truth was the medical community said no such thing, they were in fact of just the opposite opinion. But since they were calling the plant by it’s real name Cannabis, they didn’t kn ow that the Marijuana Harry was spouting off about was the same plant. Marijuana was the Mexican slang term for Cannabis Sativa. Harry went so far as to convince Congress that it’s cousin Cannabis Hemp, which doesn’t contain enough THC to get a Gnat high, or a human even if they smoked a whole Semi-Truck load, but does provide the raw material for hundreds of useful products, including some of the best oil for health, or fuel on the planet, should be banned right along with the will get you high kind.

The point here being that We need to do something to put this country back on track, to rid ourselves of the problems that threaten our security from within. I guess we could also consider declaring the Gangs as domestic terrorists. Let Homeland Security at them under the Patriot Act. That would be enough to scare me into walking the straight and narrow path of legality.
There is more to this, more information you need to make an intelligent and informed decision. I’ll let you go find that on your own, it’s all right there at your finger tips.

Let me ask you again, Would you spend a Dollar to buy back your country? Would you spend a Dollar a month, or a week? If we could get every man woman and child living in this country to donate just a single dollar we could buy back our country. I would first use that money to buy back our jobs. Re-open business or start new ones that hire people. Creating jobs is a must do first step. Once we have our jobs back the revenue will start flowing. Then if we start using our power of the vote to elect good people and stop re-electing the same old problem politicians term after term, if we start doing what the system was designed to do, we pay off the debt and spend our money where it needs to be spent. We could cure cancer and other nasty diseases. I’ve heard it said that a cure could cost up to 200 Billion dollars. Ok, that’s not chump change, but think about how much money Obama spent already, and it’s not even been a whole year since he started spending, on the War and on Bailing out the Greedy Corporations; several times that amount. The so called War on Terror is Black Hole for money and time. We can’t win a religious war, unless we are willing to kill them all, as fast as possible. And we know that will never happen. Maybe old Ronnie Reagan was right when he said what we need to pull this planet together is a common enemy, like an Alien invasion, from the Stars not someplace like Mexico. If we faced such a global threat the petty squabbles here would be just that in comparison.
There is a solution to ending this War, I’m just not 100% sure what that is or how we get the Industrial Military Complex to find and use one, but we better at least try.

You have a few things to think about. You come up with a workable solution, post it in the comment section. The email me part isn’t working until I give it a new address.
Until the next Ramble, Happy Trails,
Ho

From the Overdrive blog…

Earlier this year, OverDrive shared with many of our library partners our commitment to accessibility in a memo from Steve Potash, OverDrive CEO. As part of this commitment, OverDrive is working to provide alternate or updated eBook software with read aloud and text-to-speech services built-into every title. While these efforts are underway, OverDrive has developed a new program entitled Library eBook Accessibility Program or LEAP.

LEAP is the result of a partnership between OverDrive and Bookshare.org, a non-profit agency that provides individuals with print disabilities timely access to print materials in digital formats. Please see: http://bookshare.org. Under the partnership between Bookshare.org and OverDrive, LEAP will provide accessible eBooks and extend the Bookshare.org service to print impaired U.S. public library patrons serviced by OverDrive. OverDrive is fully funding this program and offering LEAP to your qualifying patrons at no cost to the library and at no cost to your patrons.

Read more

“There are those who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

–Matthew 19:12

Ever since I read this yesterday I’ve been contemplating its meaning- whether in the shower or watching Pee Wee Herman with my little boy, or even staring into the fridge wondering what I’m having for lunch. 

Like the metaphorical eunuch, can I cut off my false dreams, painful thoughts, and delusional fantasies?  I’m intrigued.  I’m scared.  I’ve crushed some thoughts to my chest like an old rag doll – doesn’t matter if it’s coming apart at the seams.  Doesn’t matter if it offers nothing in return for my devotion… I don’t want to let go.

Looking back, I see how loss was never as terrible as I thought at the time.  Intellectually, I know that.  Emotionally, I feel bereft; unsure of how to proceed.  And yet there is something in me that needs to know the truth.  Is reality trustworthy or not??  Maybe eunuchs know. 

Maybe I can know.

(photo by Xtream_i)

There was a funny SNL bit a few months back where Andy Samberg went postal on a cell phone and smashed it on the ground outside the Farmer’s Market in Union Square. Well, this morning, Wall Street did their best Samberg impression by dumping all over two cellular companies: “I didn’t like the business model …….SO I THREW IT ON THE GROUND!” 

First, pre-paid cellular provider MetroPCS got hit from two directions when both Deutsche Bank and Barclay’s told their clients to sell the stock. Barclay’s didn’t stop there as they prodded investors to also sell the stock of Metro’s competitor, Leap Wireless. In turns out Barclay’s doesn’t think too highly of a business model that is collapsing under pricing pressure.  

For those unfamiliar, PCS and Leap offer unlimited, pre-paid cellular plans. These plans allow unlimited talk and texting for flat rates that just keep on falling and falling and falling. The going rate now …..$30! So while Verizon and At&T continue to hold ARPU (Ave revenue per unit) steady, companies competing at the low end of the cellular totem pole – PCS, Sprint, Leap and T-Mobile – are seeing their ARPU’s crater.

The problem for these companies is really pretty simple. ARPU’s are coming down faster than costs can be cut. Churn is stubbornly high. The costs of acquiring new subs is actually rising. CAPEX is material. Balance sheets aren’t great. In sum, race-to-the-bottom pricing is causing a giant shit storm at the bottom of the cellular world.

So Barclay’s call is Leap is a $16 stock, which is where it now trades. And DB is out with a $7 price target on PCS. To this, I ask: “why seven?”

It strikes me that PCS has very little valuation support so why stop at seven? This thing could easily circle the drain if pricing continues down this path. The way things stand now, PCS is going to see negative Free Cash Flow in 2010, perhaps flat FCF in 2011 and a small trickle of cash (~100M) pour in during 2012. There is 1.1B of cash on the balance sheet but there is also $3.6B of debt. There isn’t any imminent threat here as the 9.25 percent notes aren’t due until 2014, but it seems to me that the stock should be trading considerably lower and here is why …….

I have been following telecom stocks off and on since 1998. And do you know how many times I have seen an income model break and then recover? Once! Time Warner Telecom. Those folks went through hell and yet they are still alive today. But that is the only example I can muster and believe me, I have been watching (Level 3 is still alive, but barely).  I can’t emphasize this enough ….. when telco models break, history tells us that the slides are almost impossible to arrest. Analysts almost always caveat their pessimism with talk of stabilization, but in the world of telecom, said stabilization almost always proves illusory.

My experience and my gut tell me that even today’s bearish calls are too optimistic. And I am not faulting the work of either analyst. It’s just that I’ve seen this story a dozen times. And in almost every instance, the “bottom” never turns out to be the bottom. That is what I expect here. Further ARPU hits. No relief on churn. Competition for customers will keep customer acquisition costs high. And at the end of the day, the income statements will continue to shrink and those balance sheets will continue to grow more ominous. And as people realize that growth is slowing and the NPV of each customer is much lower than the stock implies, you will see further stock erosion.

As such, I would make one change to DB’s report. Instead of stopping at seven, I would have lowered the bar to $5.

To say there was a little trepidation as I took what was one HUGE leap of faith is about as accurate as calling the weather in Los Angeles slightly sunny! Looking back, I recognize that I had absolutely no idea what I was jumping into, and what I would learn along this path.

Consolidating and releasing my stuff was one of the first, and maybe hardest, steps. Getting the rest of my “stuff” out of my friend’s apartment and into storage was the first hurdle, and I had a head start as the majority of my “stuff” was in storage already. Yet, that process continued to teach me detachment and flexibility as I shed and released what at one time I had thought was essential.

Giving up a consistent, relatively stable and reliable place was a huge initiation that opened (and continues to open) new lessons, understanding and growth for me. These blog posts are another level of growth as I “expose” myself! OK, I expose my own perceived self-image, powerful lessons, truth of my journey to the world. My beliefs about perfection and being proper are crumbling as I write this!

The first house-sit (taking care of a friend’s place while they were on vacation) was perhaps the most challenging to adapt to. Yes I was, and am, hugely grateful for this space and all that followed (and still continue at this writing). I will share about the gratitude in another post. The emotional shift, mental self-talk, and physical adaptation hit harder than I had planned. Not that I had really planned that far ahead to be honest!

Looking back from 15 months down that road, I recognize how much I have grown, released, matured, deepened, and more (and that will be posted in my next entries, coming shortly!).

In the past, I have taken leaps of faith that were often way more powerful than I had anticipated. Moving to the United States back in 1981 with just one bright yellow Samsonite suitcase from England, not knowing what was ahead, was the biggest leap I had taken to that point, and there have been quite a few before and since that one.

Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane at over 10,000 feet was a more physical and literal leap of faith! I did have a parachute attached, although for the first 5,ooo feet it stayed nicely tucked in the pack on my back! I have jumped out of trees (on belay) to grab the proverbial golden ring (it was actually black in this case!). I have changed careers multiple times and lived in four different countries. On reflection, I guess leaps of faith are not so rare in my life! Each time, though, I have been changed for the better. Even so, it doesn’t seem to get any easier each time I get to the edge!

To quote Guillaume Apollinaire:

“‘Come to the edge,’ He said.
They said, ‘We are afraid.’
‘Come to the edge,’ He said.
They came.
He pushed them…
and they flew.”

I know from my own experience, this to be true. And perhaps you can relate, getting to the edge, and stepping/leaping over the edge are two very different experiences. Once again, I leapt, on faith, and I have been initiated, once again! I begin this blog series with initiation and I have a few more up my sleeve to share with you, so stay tuned, there’s more to come! I do invite your comments and feedback.

Dear Charlie

I am sure that isn’t your real name.  I don’t know your name.  Perhaps you do not have one yet – who knows if you have even been born yet.  So I will call you Charlie.  It is a friendly name, don’t you think?  Not at all formal like Charles.  Also, Charlie can be a name for a boy or a girl.  This is important as you could be either!

You see I haven’t met you yet.  I don’t know whether you are a boy or a girl.  I don’t know your age or your birthday – if you have one yet.  I don’t know if you are tall or short.  Blond or brunette.  I have no idea whether you are clever or sporty, funny or shy.   Are your eyes blue or brown or green?  I have no idea.  I don’t know what country you were born in yet.  I don’t know if you are white, or brown, or yellow.  And as I said, I don’t know your name either – so until I do I will call you Charlie.

I don’t know much really do I?  But I do know this.   I will love you with all my heart.  I promise you that.

In this first letter to you, let me tell you a few more things you should know.  I promise you that I will love you for who you are.  I will make every effort to get to know you, to understand what makes you tick.  To find out what you enjoy and make sure you get plenty of it.  To understand what you fear and help you overcome those fears. I will make it one of my goals in life to give you a good childhood.  To make sure you feel secure and know that you are loved.

I have no idea what struggles you will face in life before we meet you?  I have no idea why it is that your natural mum and dad could not bring you up themselves.  Perhaps they tried but found that too hard or were overcome by life’s struggles?  Perhaps they had no idea what a unique and beautiful person you would be and chose to give you up?  Perhaps due to some tragedy you are now an orphan.  Whatever your story, I really hope life has not been too hard for you.  I hope you can find happiness in your future – I will give my very best to make sure you do.

I really look forward to introducing you to my wonderful family.  In fact I look forward to making my family your family.  You see Charlie we are planning to adopt you!  I think that is just amazing and I just can’t wait to meet you!

Why am I writing to you now?  A bit premature perhaps?  Yes perhaps.  But yesterday I made a phone call.  It only lasted about 5 minutes.  I asked a social worker for an information pack about the adoption process and enquired about whether your Mum and I could book on an information evening to find out more about the adoption process.  I told her a little bit about our story so far and she said we might have to wait a bit longer.  You see it has been less than 6 months since we were told we couldn’t have another baby ourselves.  But we are probably going to meet with the social worker to discuss the process in the new year and see what they think!  Exciting huh?

Charlie, any journey however long, begins with one small step.  Insignificant by itself but loaded with significance because of the journey which follows.  I have no idea how long this journey will take.  I have no idea how hard it will be for me and for your Mum.  I have no idea what knocks and blows, what joys and sorrows we will meet along the way.  But I am committed to this journey.  I am committed to you.

One small step – yes.  One giant leap – absolutely.

I’ll write again soon.

These are this Tuesday’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from early Wall Street research calls:

American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) Raised to Buy at UBS.
BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) Cut to Underweight at HSBC.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) Reiterated Sell at Auriga.
Leap Wirless (NASDAQ: LEAP) Started as Outperform at Bernstein.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Reiterated Buy at Auriga.
News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Wendy’s/Arby’s Group (NYSE: WEN) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.

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Jon C. Ogg

Brilliant!

I could try and be that person who’s never seen the sunless lands,

Who keeps thinking that love is made to last,

And looks down and think “it’s not that far” or “what’s the worst that can happen?”

And just jumps.

And while  in mid air don’t regret a thing but thank life for this opportunity

And when I land I’ll make a crater as big as my heart

for all the world to see

and they’ ll come and say “look! look! that is where he landed!”

while the waters of the world make a small lake out of my fall…

It was early in October before earnings season kicked off into full thrust when we first reviewed many large or actively traded stocks which had not participated in the stock market rally of 2009.  At the time, the DJIA was up 12.75% for the year, and the S&P 500 Index was up more than 19%; as of Friday’s post-jobs data close the DJIA is up over 18% and the S&P is up 22%.  To add an even more extreme measure since the March 9 close that traders use as the official pivot close before the great bull market of 2009 started, the gain the the DJIA is up over 58% and the S&P 500 is up over 63%.  Yet it is amazing.  Some of these stocks that have been left behind n the rally have still been left behind.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ), Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), Orbital Sciences Corp. (NYSE: ORB) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).  Two similar situation stocks that are Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) were all the underperformers of the time.

We have broken these into two groups with the first being the ones that have managed to spark a recovery and rallied more than the markets.  Since the cut-off date of October 9 used for these prices, the DJIA is up 5.3% and the S&P is up 3.2%.  The first group is the winners and we won’t spend much time there other than how they have performed since the October 9 cut-off date:

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) has actually outperformed the market since October 9 with gains of 8.2%, but this still is lagging some key peers in performance.  This is on top of what was a 10% rally in the month before our October cut-off.  Because estimates were raised by analysts, Abbott now trades at only 10.6-times 2010 earnings.  This has still been a success, because guess which stock hit a 52-week intra-day high on Friday at $37.50.

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) participated in the gains as well.  Shares are up 6.9% since  October 9 and is now up over 35% from the March lows. The Big-Mo is actually still cheap at 10.3-times 2010 earnings and its dividend yield is about 7%.  The Big-Mo is now only 1% under a 52-week high, but still lags if you go back about 15 months.

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) has recovered by over 11% since October 9, one of the better performers.  Despite being dead money since its IPO, the largest US water utility is only about 3% shy of 52-week highs and still yields 3.9%.  It also seems as though it needs much gain in earnings power to justify a considerable run further from here as it trades at over 15-times 2010 earnings estimates. Still, not bad at all… particularly as RWE unloaded more shares since the past reference.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) had been just sitting quiet despite being the go-to retail winner and champion of America during the recession.  On October 9, its shares were at $49.97, but they now have rallied 8.5% to $54.24. The stock would have to run close 10% more before a 52-week high alert would go off like we saw with other major retailers in November.  The stock is technically still ‘left behind by the rally’ because it is still down 1.6% for all of 2009.  It is hard to call this an overall market catcher-upper, but it has risen by a better rate than the DJIA and the S&P 500 since the October 9 period.  Analysts have an average target of roughly $60.00 on the stock and its 13.7-times Fiscal Jan-2011 earnings estimates is actually still mid-range compared to competitor valuations today (18.4-times for Costco and 12.8-times for Target).

There is still the lot of underperformers or those which have lackluster returns.  It seems that the stocks that the rally left behind may still have value investing rewards ahead.  But there are some with added risks as well.  We wanted to re-review forward valuations based on Thomson Reuters consensus, relative performance to the market and peers, and what each prospects seem to be for the coming months or out into 2010.

Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) is probably not that exciting with a 4.6% gain since October 9 with shares now at $18.27.  It is still a gain, but lackluster even if compared to market averages.  The stock is still down 40% from post-IPO highs and is technically back close to its IPO price.  This fast-food chain is supposed to be among the winners, yet that crazy looking king character in commercials isn’t luring in investors.  Burger King would have to run over 50% before it makes many of the post-IPO investors whole again.  The good news is that it trades at only 11.5-times 2010 estimates and its 1.4% dividend yield has a lot of room to be raised.  Problems aside, this still has much room to go if it can get back to earnings upside and if it decides to get more shareholder friendly.

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) is down another 6% from the October 9 cut-off, yet the stock immediately ran up over 20% after we covered it the first time.  It seems that the woes here are not going away nor are they getting better. Analysts now expect Fiscal 2010 (June) AND Fiscal 2011 to have losses, much worse than before.  We think the only issue that may help the company is if oil prices suddenly rocket or if any of those buyout rumors can resurface.  This is down by about two-thirds from a 52-week high with shares now at $10.17, but this was an $80 stock at the peak of the solar bubble.  Yes, it was a bubble.  And internal opportunities seem few.

Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ) has remained a serial disappointment as shares are only about 6% off the 52-week lows and at $49.98.  While the stock has recovered, it rolled back over and is now down over 10% from October 9.  Serious manufacturing and contamination issues are not what a biotech drug companies wants to be trying to correct, and now there IS more likely competition.  The stock still trades at a deep discount to large biotech stocks and it would now take more than 50% gains before it reached its 2008 highs. Earnings estimates have continued to be brought down, and the stock now trades at under 14-times normalized 2010 earnings.  There are continued risks here, and we’d probably wait to see if one more shoe drops.  It is cheap, for a reason.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) had just recovered almost 10% before that October 9 cut-off and shares did go another 10% up before coming back down.  Shares were at $22.22 at the time and are still $22.50 as of Friday. That is a 1% gain compared to a gain in Safeway (NYSE: SWY) of over 4%; and Kroger is still up only about 16% since March’s lows.  The stock trades at 10.6 times Fiscal Jan-2011 earnings estimates and it would still have to rally over 30% before its 52-week highs came back into play.  The rally left it behind, but it seems investors do not care one way or the other.  The stock is cheap for value investors and probably has very limited downside based on all of the available data, but there is just no excitement to be found here.

Orbital Sciences Corp. (NYSE: ORB) is one of the key stocks for investors who want to invest in the development of outer space.  Yet something isn’t working here.  On October 9, this was at $14.73, yet shares are down over 11% since then at $13.05.  This stock is also the riskiest of all these underperforming stocks as its main operations are in small space and rocket systems, as well as GEO satellites for communications and broadcasting and LEO spacecraft that perform remote sensing and scientific research.  Orbital is now only up 7.7% from the March lows and it would have to run 50% to hit 52-week highs and could still double before hitting highs of 2008.  Earnings estimates have come down substantially, on what appears to be based upon guidance from its last earnings.  Loral Space & Communications (NASDAQ: LORL) is a comparable stock, and it is up both exponentially from recent lows and almost at 52-week highs.

Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) are thought of in almost the same light by the investment community.  The market has not favored telecom stocks, and both are in the prepaid or no-contract segment of the economy.  Based upon how many people have made poor and/or cash- strapped over the last 24 months, both companies should have a mountain of subscribers to fight over.  Yet there is now major carrier competition and they are probably dwindling each other in some markets.  Leap’s shares were at $16.15 on October 9, and they are down over 5% at $15.28 now.  MetroPCS is even worse as shares were at $8.07 on October 9 and are now at $6.60 for an added 18% loss.  There was a merger attempt here once which failed, and it seems that price might need to get a gut-check.  A stock-for-stock deal would keep holders from being forced into a loss position if the merger were all-cash.  This may be a time of need rather than a time of choice for these two.

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JON C. OGG
December 7, 2009

As a kid one of my favourite tv shows was quantum leap. Every week our hero (one Sam Becket) ‘leaps’ through time into the bodies (all living I feel I must point out – otherwise it would have been a much different show) of people in need of help (whether they know it or not)

Only now, some 15 years after I was a regular viewer, do I hear of a game so pointless, so stupid yet so unbelievably fun it simply has to be tried. It’s very simple u don’t need any tools or props, you just need to wear a stupid face (like the one your pulling now reading this).

At the start of every episode our hero having just leaped finds himself in yet another failing actor, astronaut wannabe or disabled stunt man (i may have made that last one up). Then he’d start looking confused (well you would) before finding the nearest mirror to see ‘who he is’ this week before saying the classic line ‘Oh Boy!’

The game involves recreating this first scene in front of unsuspecting friends, family and if your a bit mental, random passersby. If you get to say that classic ‘Oh Boy’ line before anyone guesses what your doing you win. (Sorry no real prize just the chance to wear a smug grin)

Now here’s the tricky bit, you can’t just blurt out the line, you need to drag it out a bit. Try doing it when you in the middle of a sentence, just randomly stop talking and look confused (should be easy if you’ve read this far) then start looking around for a minute or to then ask a few questions about where you are. Make your way to a mirror and then utter the winning line. If you haven’t been arrested and sectioned by this point well done! You will have successfully completed the quantum leap game!

This post is actually a rather long reply to a question about flash photography in a heritage forum Midland Heritage, so it may read a little strangely.

Blimey now this is a big can of worms. Firstly I would really recommend the strobist blog as an excellent resource lighting 101 this will take you straight to the first page of their (rather long) lighting tutorial which will give you all the info you could possibly want.

One way to use these flashes  is  to fill shadows   when you are lighting a dark dingy room, I would suggest that a set of triggers is a good first purchase for this and will help immensely, especially if you havent got any of the shiny flashes that will trigger wirelessly.

I always find it easier to work from an example and I quite like this one as it is not immediately apparent that I have used a lot of flash.

I have just used the one unit which has been placed just behind the door on the left and bounced off a silver reflector (though the wall would also work).

The reason I needed to light this was that the difference between the sunlight streaming down the stairs and the door which was deep in shadow and rather gloomy, so I metered for the stairs and used a process of trial and error to find the correct fill.

With this shot there is some evidence that I may have used a flash, first the colour of the light is different, cool the side where I have used the flash and warm on the other where the sunlight is coming down the stairs. Secondly the light is concentrated at the bottom of the door which is a giveaway that a small light source has been used (firing two or more flashes through a diffuser or large bedsheet may have helped lessen this but it is not really the most practical or portable of solutions).

I will often use a flash to highlight a section of detail aswell, this shot is the usual long exposure on a tripod which people are used to 1.3 seconds at iso 100 and an aperture of f13. the flash here is lighting the foreground and bringing detail to the “thing” at the front.

In this shot the flash would have been firing at quite a high power despite the long exposure, this is due to the aperture being so small and the way that flash lights a picture.

Put simply the flash only cares about aperture as the burst of light is emitted for roughly 1/10000 sec, only one burst is emitted during a normal exposure so it doesnt matter what the shutter speed is to the flash.

Having said this the ambient light obviously cares about both so in a long exposure the flash may not appear as evident but this is only due to the natural light taking over as the dominant light source and stifling the light from the flash.

Going back to the picture the flash is very evident here because the area it is lighting is in shadow allowing the flash to be the dominant source of light, it needed the high power to allow enough light to hit the sensor through a small hole in a very short space of time.

This was the part of flash photography I always struggled with but the best way is really to experiment.

Another way I will often use flash like this is to kill all the ambient light in a room and allow the flash to light the scene on its own.

The geek info for this image is: 1/250 sec at f10.

It would make sense for me to increase the shutter speed further to something like 1/1000 as this would allow me to reduce the aperture and put less strain on the flash units, however the flash will not sync at this speed 1/250 being the maximum on my camera. So I am stuck with f10 which isnt so bad as it allows me to keep everything nice and sharp.

Without the flash the frame is black, the little detail you can see on the background is due to spill from the lights

To light the picture I used two lights, one on a stand right in front of where the model was jumping at around chest hight on the model. This flash was zoomed in towards the model as I wanted to concentrate the beam of light on her (this also reduces the power needed as more light goes where you want it) doing this makes the beam harder and narrower and is a great way to bring attention to a specific point in an image.

The second light was low down right below the camera and bounced off a silver reflector, this light was as wide as I could make it and lower power than the first as I wanted a soft light just to fill the shadows left by the main beam (it is also this light that caused the spill).

The only problem with lighting this way is you are forced to blend the light, filling any unexpected shadows and keeping the light from becoming a distraction.

You are not restricted to darkness for these techniques either and they can be a viable and interesting alternative to a HDR image. This shot was exposed for the sky on a bright day with the sun at my 5 o’clock. This caused the top of the Helicopter to be exposed, but left the detail at the bottom dark and in the shadow. To counter this I used two lights one either side of the helicopter (my 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock), these lights were used to give the bottom of the helicopter a little more exposure than the light hitting the top, bringing your focus to the front of the helicopter and giving the picture more impact than a normal exposre could allow.

I hope this has been somewhat useful to some people, and sorry about the length, this is a technique I use in most of my images at work and while it may take some getting used to, once you have an idea about what the light will do it becomes a very powerful tool that can be set up quickly and easily

A note on my kit: All the above were taken with a Fuji S5 Pro, a Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 lens and one or two nikon speedlights. I use an old Sb26 connected to a trigger and an sb800 which fires wirelessly when it detects the light from the first flash (or any other flash for that matter) my bag also contains a silver/gold reflector and a cheepo Jessops tripod which I use as a stand. All fairly cheap and most importantly very portable

I regularly put images using this technique on my Flickr page and include a brief description of the lighting used.

The Urban Guru Cafe remains the most creative and nondually cutting edge interview show.

Richard Miller is himself an interesting character who often gets intimately, emotionally, physically involved in his interviews. The most fun guy to watch. nevernothere.com

Chris Hebard is the most professional of the video producers and marketers. Chris could be the subject of one of his own videos in which he interviews the cream of the cream. StillnessSpeaks.com

Conscious TV is another producer of fine nonduality videos.

The Leap Guys are other major players at interviewing and videotaping nonduality teachers and personalities.

I’ve been asked whether I would ever get into video production. I’m not interested in that, at this point. I am currently producing a radio show intended for syndication and Internet broadcast which would focus on nonduality in all its forms of expression.

My introduction of the genre Cinema Nondualite’ is being brought to life in an upcoming film festival.

I’m going to be involved more in transformative entertainment. I want to see radio, tv shows,and feature films with strong nondual themes.

As the nonduality continues to ooze through the streets, that ooze will take the shape of radio and tv airwaves, and film.

We have seen some unusual options trading today.  As you would expect, some is around today’s 4:00 PM close  with today being options expiration date.  But some bets are way out into 2011 and we have some around merger rumors.  All have links with full details on the options trading analysis at VSInvestor:

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) are both seeing very active trading around expiration date today, and the closest strikes are acting as magnets.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) has seen a very bullish bet in options out to 2011.

There is some elevated Dec-2009 Call options activity in both Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) and MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) on today’s re-rumor of a potential deal coming back up.

DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) is very active in the stock after an increased convertible note offering, yet the options activity seen today seems muted.

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) has a big bet out in January 2011 options expiration.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 20, 2009

“Otis always told me love is a leap. Lamentably, I was never inspired to jump” – Leopold, in Kate and Leopold

Had to post a simpler tab to play along with Glee's version of Defying Gravity,
some of the other tabs out there are misleading.  I'll make it as simple as pie.
I like to add9 to the G's but either way's fine.  The only chord I'm unsure of is
the Am before the 2nd chorus but it sounds really good.

CAPO 6

VERSE

G             D
Something has changed within me
G            C
Something is not the same
G                D              Em
I'm through with playing by the rules
   C
Of someone else's game
F            G
Too late for second-guessing
F                      G
Too late to go back to sleep
F            G
It's time to trust my instincts
C                 D
Close my eyes and leap

---CHORUS

             Em
It's time to try
  C     G      D
Defying gravity
             Em
I think I'll try
  C     G      D
Defying gravity
            Em
Kiss me goodbye
      C     G      D
I'm defying gravity
                      G
And you won't bring me down

VERSE 2

G             D
I'm through accepting limits
Em             C
'Cause someone says they're so
G             D
Some things I cannot change
    Em                F
But 'till I try, I'll never know
F             G
Too long I've been afraid of
F             G
Losing love I guess I've lost
C               Em
Well, if that's love
            Am              D
It comes at much too high a cost

CHORUS
           Em
I'd sooner buy
   C    G      D
Defying gravity
            Em
Kiss me goodbye
      C     G      D
I'm defying gravity
             Em
I think I'll try
   C    G      D
Defying gravity
                       F
And you won't bring me down

CHORUS 2nd time
           Em
I'd sooner buy
   C    G      D
Defying gravity
            Em
Kiss me goodbye
      C     G      D
I'm defying gravity
             Em
I think I'll try
   C    G      D
Defying gravity
                       G
And you won't bring me down
         F                    G
Bring me down, Oh oh oooooooh oh