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Dedicated to a character who SHAW (sic) made my life under communism very colourful ...
The man who put a price on my head back in 1980 is nicely captured by Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky who make it clear, it's the KGB that rules the roost in Putin's Russia A land fit only for crooks and killers

A new look in Putin's eyes Exclusive: Vlad the Impaler - What Is the World to Do with Putin
The intelligence community has its share of suck-ups, political assassins, incompetents and outright traitors.

A few months after he was sworn into office, President Bush flew to Slovenia where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The meeting was closely watched around the world because Bush had talked tough about missile defense plans and relations with Russia during his presidential campaign.
Coming out of their first meeting, Bush embarrassingly told the world, "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul."

• Smiling assassin: No friend of freedom ; [Putin; The Age of Assassins: The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin: How Scary Are Russia's New Rulers? ]
• · The future of Russia now looks even gloomier, and The Age of Assassins provides an admirable background to what we should expect in the years ahead. SSS Assassins; In The New Cold War, Edward Lucas says the fate of Politkovskaya and Litvinenko symbolises the Kremlin's plans for the rest of the world in a new Cold War that the West is already losing, "having barely noticed that it has started". Vladimir Putin and his corporate gangsters
• · We delve into the world of corporate recruitment of the best and brightest students in Australia. In a new book journalist and former law student Lisa Pryor asks why so many of our achievers end up studying law when they mean to pursue other careers? She argues this represents a brain drain away from jobs that potentially have greater value for the public good. The pinstriped prison; Booked in
• · · Australian journalist and blogger Antony Loewenstein explains that blogging is not the sole domain of pornographers or Hollywood gossips and that a previously voiceless Saudi Arabian female can now, by blogging, explain the realities of her life and culture with readers in Sydney. The Blogging Revolution, ; Bloggers of the world, let's shop!; Internet mapping is wiping the rich geography and history of Britain off the map, Britain’s most senior cartographer warned yesterday. Web
• · · · Dangerously Addictive Addiction Memoir Thanks for the memoirs: Costello sells his story An extensive author tour; Biden's memoirs suddenly becomes a best-seller
• · · · · With the contemporary serious novel in such a mess, travel writing, like biography, offers many of the traditional pleasures of the novel: story, character, good dialogue, development, resolution. Memoirs are made of this; The crackdown on memoirs came after the publication of Sir Christopher Meyer’s book DC Confidential book. The former British ambassador to the US used his . A ban on civil servants writing 'warts and all' accounts about their time in Government is "unduly restrictive", a committee of MPs have warned. Gagging order on civil servants' 'warts and all' memoirs is too strict, MPs warn

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I don't care what anybody says, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, to come close to our dreams and dreams we have for our loved ones … The Olympics are in full swing, and we can once again marvel at dedicated people from all parts of the world aspiring to achieve the very pinnacle of human transformation. My girls Sasha and Gabbie spent four years at Redcliffe swimming with Kylie Palmer (aka Kyles) and Jessicah Schipper as well as Liesel Jones
… I reckoned we need more memory today because Olympic memories and songs have so many more images and words in them ;-)
Kevin Roberts noted last week that it could not have been easy for a New Zealand television reporter to get a word with Michael Phelps, the Olympic superstar, but through good luck, good management or sheer grit, she did it: What advice would you give young people at home in New Zealand who are just starting out in the pool? Now I watched a lot of sport on television and most athletes talk about the hard work involved and the commitment needed. All very true. However, Michael Phelps didn’t reach for train harder, faster, longer or any of the other 'er' words. He didn’t even hesitate. He simply looked her in the eye and said, Dreaming. That’s right, dreaming. He went on to say Go for Gold: When I first got into the pool…I dreamt I would be at the Olympics…anything is possible
PS She ran not for just a medal - Cathy Freeman had to run for her life = The dark side of the Olympic spirit

Hot, Hotter, Hottest: One World, One Dream Trust

An interview with Stephen MR Covey, (son of Stephen R Covey), whose latest book 'The Speed of Trust' argues that trust is an economic measure, enabling organisations to move faster and at lower cost.

• Why does corporate decision making largely take place in what could be called the men's room? The economics of trust; [Ben Stein is also a true believer in the power of love. His extended piece on love in the The New York Times is well worth reading An economist by trade, ; - According to AFR research, The Australian Public Service Commissions website includes a list of speeches, mostly by agency heads, of special interest to senior executives (at www.apsc.gov.au/sesmedia.htm). But only four out of 40 were made this year, which might say something about life under Kevin 24/7. I say, I say, I say ]
• · The rape of the Olympic spirit: For the rest of China's netizens, the China's Great Firewall and monitoring will remain firmly in place Emotional heat: One World, One Dream; Protest rallies and online blogging are increasingly popular outlets for young Australians seeking a political voice, a new study shows. Study shows young Aussies not apathetic
• · Italian Film Festival is in Sydney - Filippo Costa (Michele Lastella), a young tax officer of modest social origins has enormous ambition that isolates him from his colleagues and his background. Initially aspiring to climb the career ladder, once he has come face to face with corruption he realises that he can set his sights much higher. In his unstoppable social climbing, he is helped by Caterina (Fanny Ardant), a beautiful, cultured and well-connected gallery owner. Before long, Fillipo is mingling in high society and rubbing shoulders with the mighty. But will his reach exceed his grasp? Rush Hour: Tax evasion is a national pastime ; Mal and I love this movie shown in Sydney in June at the French Film Festival – Like As it is in Heaven it deserves to be seen by one and all of us ;-) Only Titanic has taken more money at the French box office than this comedy and it is poised to become the most successful French film ever released in France. This is a comedy that is directed at exposing French prejudices among communities that live in separate regions of France. North is magnetic as French flick sinks ship
• · · One of the experiences I love in Italy (one of the many experiences) is eating alfresco. There is something about the open air and food that brings a whole new dimension to flavor and good company. It’s a kind of paradoxical intimacy – the outdoor space seems to draw you closer to your fellow diners. A bread roll on a park bench does it. So do sandwiches at the beach or a barbecue in the backyard. But for a truly great alfresco experience, nothing beats a long table punctuated with bottles of wine and platters of food, good friends, perhaps some vines overhead and a light breeze. Alfresco ; Never underestimate an intimate gesture. In today's digital world of email and texting, the traditional postcard seems to be holding its own and indeed experiencing something of a revival... The Power of Postcards
• · · · Educational Advancement (IDEA) is a non profit organisation working to improve the ways people interact with technology. Finding information: factors that improve online experiences; For reasons of accountability and integrity, I start from the position that as much information as possible about government decisions and actions should be in the public domain. In other words, the more transparent the actions of governments are: the cleaner they tend to be-the higher their ethical and administrative standards; and the more comfortable the public will be that they are getting value for money, that policy challenges are being dealt with effectively, and that their personal information is open to scrutiny by them Climate of disclosure: the public service and the right to know ; This book examines the changes in the culture of the Australian Public Service including the purported loss of traditional public service values of impartiality, intellectual rigour and the willingness of public servants at all levels to offer frank and fearless advice to their superiors and their ministers Whatever happened to frank and fearless? the impact of new public management on the Australian Public Sector
• · · · · Companies and governments around the world are spending more and more on management consultants - but are they getting what they want? More bang for your buck ; FEDERAL public servants are systematically sanitising the Wikipedia entries for federal politicians and have shown MPs how to change their entries Politicians' Wiki entries altered

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Sydney is a modern city but many of its traditional values remain, including some of the best restaurants in the world all of which have been around for 20 years or so. Master chef Tetsuya has now moved into new beautiful premises and is still cooking up incredible contemporary Japanese seafood. Loving Sydney
Let the love flow at Clareville Kiosk Dining Remembering the past in images


August is a month peppered with swims at the Iceberg, slow dinners at Dial's or June's. Three weddings to celebrate on a certain busy weekends, but slow enough to drive from Revesby to Manly but stop halfway at Coogee to watch the whales, mother and the baby play 75 meters from the sand where Mal's eyes could not get enough of the scene. Amazing to watch them from our balcony during the week spraying salt water in the distance yet ... soo soooo close. It makes the routine dictated by lecturer who calls herself a bitch at work rather bearable ... The month is filled with great movies - The Square - as good as Lantana; The Bank Job - almost as good as smuggling inside Cold River; the Married Life, the Edge of Love; The Visitor - Amerika can do sensitive movies these days.

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The death of Russian Nobel Prize-winning author Alexander I. Solzhenitsyn clearly marks the end of an era Cold War River; Like my father Jozef, Alexander (Sasha) survived Civil War, World War and Cold War. However, only few suffered as much as Alexander who suffered Stalin's camps and Brezhnev's repressions; he fought cancer when exiled without possessions in remote Kazakhstan, and resisted Western materialism to concentrate on his writing as a rich exile in his Vermont estate. As he himself had predicted, he lived to see the sorry collapse of Soviet Communism, and returned to his homeland in triumph. As a youth, he believed in the promises of Marxism-Leninism, but was brutally disillusioned when arrested as a young officer fighting Nazi Germany, turned to Christianity, and roundly defeated the legions of Soviet stool pigeons, security police and censors who tried to suppress the revelations which poured from his acerbic pen. Solzhenitsyn's truth outweighed the world; Without individual conscience, argues Solzhenitsyn, both Communist and capitalist societies have repulsive aspects. ALEXANDER Solzhenitsyn took millions of readers inside the horrors of Stalin’s prison system – and by extension, ripped the mask off the brutal regime which I escaped in 1980 A soul in exile

Literary Giant, Solzhenitsyn inspired many Chinese who will tear the wall down just like the Ztmbabweans will … Alexander Solzhenitsyn is the man who put the writing on the wall for Leninist totalitarianism. In a country that employs a vast bureaucracy to monitor all types of internet activity and where posting a comment critical of the authorities can land you in re-education camp, people have to choose their words very carefully Chinese netizens rail against Great Firewall

The face of 'human rights The Great Writer Who Buried Communism: The wealth manifesto
Ehrenreich's skill, apart from the sheer quality of her writing, is to illustrate her opinions with wave after wave of examples of unglamorous labour disputes and everyday injustices that don't get much of a look-in elsewhere.

There's this powerful myth that America doesn't have classes; that they're an ancient English or European thing that we abolished. And that if you're not rich, it's your own damn fault

• Warren Buffett recently said that he thought the effects of the financial crisis were far from over… A hunger for anything except more of the same in Sydney Society; [They came in a trickle rather than a flood, but raw emotions were never far from the surface To Russians, 'a ray of light' is now dimmed ; 'SOUL-DESTROYING" has become a cliche for life in a Soviet prison camp. He lived not by lies. Solzhenitsyn: exiled then exalted in Russia Of Good and Evil - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]
• · Read SPIEGEL's final interview with Alexander Solzhenitsyn, my teenage hero, the last given to the Western media. I Am Not Afraid of Death: SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN; Solzhenitsyn -- a prophet the West must prove wrong
• · Evil is all too real and had to be confronted – why be afraid of death? One Day in the Life of Jozef Imrich; Solzhenitsyn and piercing pens
• · · There is this belief that all those other worlds are only being temporarily prevented by wicked governments or by heavy crises or by their own barbarity or incomprehension from taking the way of Western pluralistic democracy and from adopting the Western way of life. Countries are judged on the merit of their progress in this direction. However, it is a conception which developed out of Western incomprehension of the essence of other worlds, out of the mistake of measuring them all with a Western yardstick. The real picture of our planet's development is quite different. Other worlds are only being temporarily prevented by wicked governments or by heavy crises ; Harvard Class Day Afternoon Exercises: Without any censorship, in the West fashionable trends of thought and ideas are carefully separated from those which are not fashionable; nothing is forbidden, but what is not fashionable will hardly ever find its way into periodicals or books or be heard in colleges. Legally your researchers are free, but they are conditioned by the fashion of the day. There is no open violence such as in the East; however, a selection dictated by fashion and the need to match mass standards frequently prevent independent-minded people from giving their contribution to public life. There is a dangerous tendency to form a herd, shutting off successful development. I have received letters in America from highly intelligent persons, maybe a teacher in a faraway small college who could do much for the renewal and salvation of his country, but his country cannot hear him because the media are not interested in him. This gives birth to strong mass prejudices, blindness, which is most dangerous in our dynamic era. There is, for instance, a self-deluding interpretation of the contemporary world situation. It works as a sort of petrified armor around people's minds. Human voices from 17 countries of Eastern Europe and Eastern Asia cannot pierce it. It will only be broken by the pitiless crowbar of events. A World Split Apart

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Some wonders of the world are just that. Wonderful. See it by moonlight or during the day, the magic is always there. A friend saw the Australian Taj Mahal the Iceberg lit by lightning recently. You and I should be so lucky...

What fate for Tim Porter. I hope he is successful as another Tim - Tim Russert who in 2004 wrote a memoir BIG RUSS AND ME and the 2006 followup WISDOM OF OUR FATHERS was in serious demand after the Meet the Press host died of a heart attack last Friday. "We sold out in an hour," Richard Klein, co-owner of the Book Revue in Huntington, told Newsday's Tom Beer. "We probably could have sold 100 if we'd had them." Random House started shipping an extra 100,000 paperback copies of WISDOM while Hyperion has gone back to press for an additional 100,000 copies of BIG RUSS.
High Demand for Organic Stories

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What can you buy for $100 billion in Zimbabwe? Not quite one loaf of bread ...

With the amount of violence that has gone on, with the total denial of access to the media, with the fact that we have not had an opportunity to look at the voter rolls yet, there is just no way that a free and fair election can be held.
- David Coltart quote

This week I had the strange dejavu when I touched a 25 billion banknote which came from the wallet of David Coltart. John, Gina and Richard and I found David's stories from the cold face very disturbing. Like under communism the theatre of the absurd under totalitarianism in Africa does make my blood boil. Wherever one goes there seem to be some ironic central european connection or disconnection. The Mugabe regime’s final lifeline is a small Vienna-based software company that helps it to keep printing the money it relies on for its survival Blood Diamonds - Blood Democracy with licence to print Mugabe's money ; Gideon Gono - Zimbabwe’s equivalent of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke - issued a $100 billion note Hyperinflation: The Inevitable Result of Government-Manged Money


David with Jennifer and their four children

David Coltart: Human Rights Making a Difference Cry for freedom in Zimbabwe: Movement for Democratic Change
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says Mr Mugabe is on a much tighter timetable than it to find a resolution because of the economic freefall.

Today, with annual inflation officially at 2.2 million per cent, Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank will introduce a currency that wipes 10 zeros off the previous notes - $Z10 billion will be worth $Z1 in the new currency. But as the regime has done nothing to improve economic fundamentals, the inflation will continue. "We would like to see the speedy conclusion of the talks … and a successful outcome so that we can focus in the future our attention around our economy," Mr Mugabe said this week in Harare. He voiced his "total commitment" to a successful conclusion to the negotiations in South Africa between his ZANU-PF party and the two factions of the MDC.
David Coltart, a senator-elect for the smaller MDC faction, said the speed of the talks was being driven by what was happening in the economy. "I think Mugabe understands he has no solution to hyperinflation and the looming problem of him not being able to pay the military and police has put enormous pressure on him to reach a settlement," Mr Coltart said in Sydney in July 2008.
A lot of cold water flowed under the bridge of injustice since David came to Australia back in 2005 Interviews, speeches and papers: New Africa

The Shadow Minister for Justice from Zimbabwe, Mr David Coltart briefed Law Council President John North and Secretariat staff on the current situation in Zimbabwe. He reported on the ongoing settlement demolitions which resulted in more than 700,000 people being displaced over the last 7 months. Mr Coltart advised that the displacement of the people is a retribution and intimidation tactic by the Mugabe Government to secure its power. There have also been more than 300 political murders in the past 5 years but no one has been convicted to date. The reason for this is that the judiciary in Zimbabwe has collapsed and is not working at all. Mr Coltart himself was the subject of an assassination attempt but was able to escape against all odds.
Mr Coltart further noted that the Law Society of Zimbabwe has about 400 members. The Law Society is still strong and is opposing the Mugabe Government together with the Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights, which made a submission to the UN that was included in the —Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina“. This report and more background information regarding the situation in Zimbabwe can be downloaded at www.zwnews.com Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe

• Pressure on Mugabe to pay troops; [David and his stories about lack of food and real money; But a lack of food isn't the only danger: More and more people are getting killed and beaten up in both rural and urban areas. The culprits are members of the ruling ZANU-PF party; the victims are mostly supporters of the Tsvangirai-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The general population has become hopelessly fearful. This terror campaign by ZANU-PF is already estimated to have claimed 500 lives. David Coltart, the opposition senator and a human-rights lawyer, has described this as a deliberate and systematic attempt to wipe out an entire political group in order to permanently cripple the MDC. We're hungry, angry, and depending on a sovereign God; David Coltart, the legal affairs secretary of the Mutambara-led MDC, said a GNU would be viewed with extreme scepticism by most Zimbabweans who fear that it would draw in unscrupulous political leaders.The fear is that those leaders are then compromised and that they will fail to deal with the fundamental problems facing Zimbabwe, Coltart argued. It is for this reason that a transitional authority should be agreed to. Coltart is of the view that civil society should play a crucial role in some aspects of the TG. During the transition, civil society will have to play a major role in certain aspects of the transitional authority’s mandate, especially regarding the process which should culminate in a new democratic constitution, he suggested GNU, TG Which Way For Zim? Losing billions in Zimbabwe; Senator tells: Why the fight is still ahead for Zimbabweans ]
• · The phrase Tear Down This Wall was as powerful in Cold War era as David’s headline is now in the context of Africa - That vision reaches out to gather in the desires and hopes most ordinary Zimbabweans carry for peace, freedom and justice in their country. The coming weeks are not a time for empty leadership, nor is it time for a process of arranging the chairs of power to comfort the padded fundaments of power-brokers. Zimbabwe has seen enough of this. We need leaders who listen to human-scale policies Ditch this old dictator; David Coltart, in a very thought-provoking article, has described the long history of state sponsored violence in Zimbabwe and the resulting idealisation of violence, ‘kragdadigheid’ and the gun. It’s time it ended - in Zimbabwe and in South Africa too. Until we are brave enough ; Question what has happened to all our patriots? It seems to me that our nation has been blighted by a succession of leaders who are more concerned with their personal interests or the narrow interests of their own political parties and supporters than they are in the great nation state of Zimbabwe Towards A Negotiated Settlement In Zimbabwe ; Obama In Berlin, U.S. Mideast Policy, and Zimbabwe's National Unity
• · HOPES for a breakthrough in talks to establish a unity government in strife-torn Zimbabwe … UN troubleshooter Haile Menkerios ; Under a gracious exit plan, Robert Mugabe will become Zimbabwe's ceremonial president during the forthcoming transition, after which he will retire as the Founding President and father of the beleaguered nation, protected under a blanket amnesty. Amnesty plan for Mugabe
• · · A few years ago, the United Nations published a list of Zimbabwean politicians and businessmen that it accused of plundering the riches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Mugabe cronies reportedly stashing US dollars into foreign accounts; Attempts to tame Zimbabwe’s multimillion percent inflation rate is beginning to have a negative effect on banks in that country.
Zimbabwean banks cash strappe
• · · · For money, one can safely substitute might. RBZ Currency Reforms Futile, Say Economists; Zimbabwe Rolls Out New Bank Notes
• · · · · Stolen crude oil Vs blood diamonds ; Diamonds have scripted a typical rags to riches story for Bonny, 35, who spent most of his life on the streets before the discovery of the gems three years ago, near the eastern Zimbabwe town of Mutare, transformed his life. I have, over the last two years, acquired a fleet of 12 cars and several houses in Mutare and in the capital, Harare - Bonny told IRIN. ZIMBABWE: Diamonds are Mutare's best friends ; It is the fact that Mr. Mugabe has been quietly doing business, a lot of it, with the one country which has virtually unlimited need of strategic raw materials Zimbabwe can provide -- China. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe is, along with Sudan, on the central stage of the new war over control of strategic minerals of Africa between Washington and Beijing, with Moscow playing a supporting role in the drama. The stakes are huge. Mugabe’s biggest sin ; The Austrian firm, Jura JSP, provided the Mugabe's Zanu PF party with software that allows the regime to print forgery-proof bank notes back in 2001. As it is Zimbabwe’s economy is being propped up by foreign investors who are taking advantage of cheap resources. Mugabe’s man unmasked: Arms ship exposes Robert Mugabe’s link to Chinese firm
• · · · · · Tanyaradzwa Mutola is now losing hope that life will change for the better and give her a well-deserved rest after years of “hard” labour. Cry for freedom in Zimbabwe; They are pouring money into the pockets of the cronies of Mugabe, Mahmoud Ahma-dinejad and the Burmese generals. The recent drift from general sanctions Sanctions are a war waged by cowards; US looks at more sanctions against Zimbabwe

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Guevara had a charismatic attraction in real life, long before he became a Mantegna icon in death and a hypnotic image on a pop art poster in the age of Andy Warhole.
Richard Gott

Kieber's action has now triggered tax probes across 14 countries relating to 1400 individuals. This is looking familiar to followers in Australia of the Offset Alpine Printing saga that came to light in 2003. That involved broker Rene Rivkin explaining to a Swiss district attorney in 2002 details of how he had been operating Swiss bank accounts for decades, which more recently had involved Kennedy and Richardson. Tax haven secrecy tests staff loyalty and ethics … In many cases, holding money in an offshore tax haven is perfectly legal. [ UK -New deal offered on tax haven cash ]


Can we change the heartbeat of death and taxes? RICH PICKINGS: Nothing New Under the Sun and Cold River
Frank Lowy spent 10 years on the Reserve Bank board, from 1995 until 2005. Precisely the period during which we are now told according to allegations

Experience has shown that many taxpayers who use these tailored financial structures in tax havens are engaging in tax evasion." There had been "difficulties" in applying Australian taxation laws to non-common law entities such as Liechtenstein foundations, it said. Bank accounts, corporations, trusts, and foundations in tax havens are shrouded in secrecy because they can’t stand the light of day. It’s long past time to shine the light on tax haven abuses and stop the tax dodgers from offloading their tax burden onto the backs of honest citizens …

• Lowy and tax havens; [; Silo Breaker ; Sydney Stories; The tax affairs of the Lowy family are again being investigated. In the mid-1990s, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) audited the Lowys' Westfield Group. Lowy, a turncoat and mystery $48m ; Google line up ]
• · Lowy is actually the second Aussie billionaire to be investigated by the Australian government in recent years. In October, Richard Pratt, worth $2.1 billion, apologized for his role in a price-fixing cartel between his Visy corrugated box company and its main competitor, Amcor. In that case, Visy paid the Australian government a $33 million fine. In the latest update of that saga, Pratt is now facing charges he lied during the price-fixing probe. His lawyers' reported retort: The Australian government regulator is abusing power Visy Forbes ; Many of the world's richest people have been suspected of tax evasion, but only a few have actually been convicted of cheating the government out of revenue--and nearly all have involved U.S. taxpayers. That could be changing, particularly in Europe, where the German government is going after clients of a bank in the tax haven of Lichtenstein. Here's a list of some of the world's richest tax dodgers in recent years. In Pictures: The World's Wealthiest Tax Cheats ; Wealthy Americans are hiding about 1.5 trillion dollars in overseas tax havens in a "deceptive" partnership with top foreign banks …The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has long had an investigative interest in U.S. taxpayers who use offshore tax havens to hide assets and evade taxes. Tax Professor; I broke the story of Frank Lowy’s first costly punch-up with the Australian Taxation Office, writes Alex Mitchell. Frank Lowy, my part in his tax bill
• · beSpacific is in great company along with the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, The Volokh Conspiracy, and the International Economic Law and Policy Blog among a wide range of outstanding topical blogs well worth your review. Media Dragon: Top 100 Law and Lawyer Blogs Law blogs; A big target with another battle to fight. Australian Financial Review, 24/07/2008 Last year the Howard government passed what some called the Lowy amendment. As part of the new tax treaty with the US, Australian real estate investment trusts gained the ability to offer capital gains tax rollover relief to potential targets across the Pacific Money Race Widget Empowers Bloggers
• · · A survey of U.S. journalists by Brodeur, a unit of Omnicom Group suggests that blogs are not only having an impact on the speed and availability of news, but also influence the tone and editorial direction of reporting. (pdf) Brodeur Journalists Survey Identifies Blogs’ Influence on Traditional News Coverage; Science 2.0: Great New Tool, or Great Risk?
• · · · Heather A. Phillips reviews a new book whose main focus is on uses on six major criminal cases of the 1990s, as well as one that concentrates on the details of what really happens when the media circus invades the courthouse, and the effect it has on both the trial participants and the verdict. Like many others who watched the news in the 1990s, the authors were dismayed by the thousands of hours devoted to “infotainment” stories such as the O.J. Simpson trial, the JonBenet Ramsey case, and the Lorena Bobbit trial. They coined the phrase ‘tabloid justice’ to describe these cases and their impact on journalism. The move away from descriptive reporting toward journalistic practices that focus on the sensational, marginal and personalized aspects high-profile legal cases, the authors contend, has done the viewing public no favors Tabloid Justice: Criminal Justice in an Age of Media Frenzy and The Star Chamber: How Celebrities Go Free and their Lawyers Become Famous ; Staying current on the latest cases and news in the area of class actions can be challenging, but Scott Russell's guide to reliable subscription based publications, free legal sites and blogs that offer timely news, analysis and selected copies of court filings, is a valuable resource Keeping Up with Class Actions: Reports, Legal Sites and Blogs of Note
• · · · · Meet the American daily newspaper of 2008. It has fewer pages than three years ago, the paper stock is thinner, and the stories are shorter. There is less foreign and national news, less space devoted to science, the arts, features and a range of specialized subjects. Business coverage is either packaged in an increasingly thin stand-alone section or collapsed into another part of the paper. The crossword puzzle has shrunk, the TV listings and stock tables may have disappeared, but coverage of some local issues has strengthened and investigative reporting remains highly valued The Changing Newsroom: What is Being Gained and What is Being Lost in America's Daily Newspapers? ; Project for Excellence in Journalism, Sydney Journalists Food Authority Penalty Notices issued: the outlets you should know about
• · · · · · There is an element hypocrisy in Western society when it comes to polygamy Polygamy: lust or love ; Crikey can exclusively reveal that the secretive Christian sect, the Exclusive Brethren, has gone to great lengths to obtain parliamentary lobbying status for two of its leading Sydney members. Because parliament was in recess pending the March 24 election, it is unclear whether they co-signed authority for the passes or it was processed by the clerks, Russell Grove (Legislative Assembly) and Lynn Lovelock (Legislative Council). Love of Lobbying; Politicians toing -and- throwing overseas ; Russell Grove has been Clerk of the Legislative Assembly since 1990, having entered Parliamentary Service in 1971. As CEO of the Legislative Assembly he is the principle adviser on parliamentary law, practice and procedure to the Speaker, the Hon. Richard Torbay. He was awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM) for services to the NSW Parliament in 2000, and made a Paul Harris Fellow in 1997 for service to the international community particularly in the area of developing countries. Russell has been a member of the Parliament’s Artworks Committee since its inception. Controversy Erupts in the Public Service Association

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A book released in Poland on Monday by historians Slawomir Cenckiewicz and Piotr Gontarczyk claims to offer evidence that political leader and Nobel laureate Lech Walesa was an informant for the country's secret service in the 70s. Co-author Gontarczyk said in an interview, "Life is complicated sometimes. He was a young deckhand then."
A German newspaper says Walesa "has denied the allegations and called the institute's authors 'fanatics' with libellous claims. He has threatened legal action and said he will soon release his own book to tell his side of the story." The paper notes that "during his presidency in 2000, Walesa won a court ruling that said he was not a spy. But opponents, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski, say they know he had worked for communists. New Book In Poland Claims Walesa Was Communist Informer

When communist fiction is not enough Professionals Get Publicity and Opportunity Through Blogs
We've mentioned it before as a by-product of a good blog, but it's becoming more and more prevalent. News media, book publishers, and trade organization publishers are reading professional service firm blogs and like what they see. Accountants and lawyers are getting visibility they never anticipated.

Two accounting bloggers I know have been contacted by Wiley about working on books!
One is Tracy Coenen of Sequence Inc whose http://www.sequence-inc.com/fraudfiles/ Fraud Files blog has been around for awhile and is excellent! She wrote me recently:
"Just wanted to let you know that all my blogging and marketing has paid off! I just got a contract with Wiley to write a book on fraud!
Who'da thunk that a little person like me would get a contract with a great big publisher for Wiley, for a book that I've not even written yet!!! The book is "Essentials of Corporate Fraud Management." It's geared for C-Level executives, attorneys, and other professionals who need quick knowledge on a particular topic.

I have been doing so much cool stuff. writing articles all over the place, getting involved in a high-profile investigation....business has never been better. (And has never been more fun too!)

• through blogs, professionals can even bypass the cutting room floor, and get their message out to their target audience on their own terms. It's exciting stuff! Practioners are better able to develop media relationships. ; [Online newspaper journalists offer networking & PR opportunities to blogging lawyers ; You may think you have the worst boss in the Western Hemisphere, but if you've never had to dodge a cell phone, been fired over a breakfast pastry or had your work referred to as "a complete and utter mess," you probably have it better than you realize. Famously (and famous) bad bosses ]
• · Blog father - Rick of the the Prelinger Archive; Online digital environments are inviting all of us to participate actively in our own learning No longer tuned in to master's voice
• · The issue of parliamentary salaries, allowances and benefits generates public discussion and attracts media opinion. This background note provides relevant data, hyperlinks and documents pertaining to the entitlements of Australian federal parliamentarians. Parliamentary allowances, benefits and salaries of office ; Who's to blame for the sorry state of Question Time Dorothy Dix meets Harry Jenkins; Who is to blame for current housing fiasco? Did you know that 71% of people cite the housing crisis, debt and financial difficulty as the primary reason they are currently homeless? More than a bed: Sydney's homeless speak out
• · · Private equity player Luke Johnson at Risk Capital Partners, "buyer" of Borders UK, is rumored to have bid for Border's Paperchase unit--though the rumor has his 40 million pound bid well below the price sought. A UK retail trade publication notes that "Paperchase operates 40 percent of its outlets as concessions within Borders UK stores, so a deal without Mr. Johnson seems unlikely." But WH Smith is among others thought to have offered. Bids Begin for Paperchase ; More Books by ABCtales Authors ; Chasing the Dragon's Long Tail Kangaroo a.k.a. Klokan: The Kindness of Strangers
• · · · Blogs can make, or unmake, your brand Kryptonite ; The lesson here is clear: if you want to create a proactive blog that is going to lead to the creation of value for your brand, be very, very careful. … Be careful with so10 cial news sites like Digg or Reddit. They may crash your server and/or cost you lots of money by driving tons of useless traffic in short ... Steps to Success on the ’Net Without SEO
• · · · · When your blog is up and running, you can register it with blog directories such as Amatomu or Afrigator. But be careful. You might run the risk of ruining ... BLOGGING has become the latest craze among young and internet-savvy people, but is it something you should consider as an alternative way to get your business’s name out there? Blogging allows anyone to download software and run their own newsletter online. It has become so popular that there are now over 70 million blogs on the internet Blogging: an alternative marketing method ; What good is link love if you don’t know how many links love you? Today I want to talk to you about some of the places where you can go to track down your links. We are going to look at two traditional search engines and two blog search engines How Many Links Could a Link Lover Love? ; "You really want to be careful about your personal use of the company's email system," Flynn said. "A growing number of employers are putting policies in ... Work and Net
• · · · · · A jealous husband is believed to have murdered the mother of their two children and then killed himself after she told the world via Facebook that they were splitting up Facebook murder rocks 'perfect little family' ; Feeling blue? Mung beans, lobster, turkey, asparagus, sunflower seeds, cottage cheese, pineapple, tofu, spinach and bananas could lift your spirits 10 foods to make you happy

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Jonathan Coe explains his writing process
I stare at the computer until I get bored, which takes about five minutes. Then, if I'm feeling energetic, I'll get up and make a cup of coffee, or, if I'm feeling lazy, I'll start randomly messing around on the internet or playing card games on screen. I've just discovered Spider Solitaire and can sense a whole new world of distraction opening up for me.
-Sf author Thomas M Disch committed suicide at his apartment on July 4. Patrick Nielsen Hayden's eulogy paints a picture of a man who was brilliant, noble, foolish, difficult and angry. I only knew him through his fiction, from which I learned a great deal…
- This whole romantic myth of the artist the person laying around at midnight with a fag and half a bottle of scotch, it's just bulldust
-Since mid April, there have been 943 reported cases of salmonellosis nationwide caused by Salmonella Saintpaul - Salmonellosis Outbreak in Certain Types of Tomatoes

I just discovered that Dubravka Ugresic has a website. I am slow. And it is stylish and functional, it's like a goddamn miracle. Dubravka Ugresic

You Don’t Know Me: But Is the Sky Falling? Pour Some Sugar On Cold River
Ira Glass, host of the radio and television program This American Life, claims that nonfiction is the most important and impressive art form of our day: "We're living in an age of great nonfiction writing, in the same way that the 1920s and 30s were a golden age for American popular song. Giants walk among us, Cole Porters and George Gershwins and Duke Ellingtons of nonfiction storytelling.

To commemorate and canonize this golden age, Glass compiled an anthology of some of the best nonfiction writing. The paperback original, published last fall, with proceeds benefiting a nonprofit tutoring center, received prime display space in many bookstores. Its title: The New Kings of Nonfiction.

• Where Are the Queens of Nonfiction? The New Kings of Nonfiction. ; [Maybe Book sections in newspapers are just dated. Lee Abrams' Permanent Cloud; God’s Law—is tricky to keep—born again you must be, yeah - Wrapped in its peculiar atmosphere, as if draped in clouds, I walked entranced to my desk at about 4am and typed it on to the screen. The story was called "Nadine at Forty". In its subject matter, in its tone, its setting, it bore no relation to anything I have ever written before or since. It extended itself easily into paragraphs, requiring little correction and not really admitting any; how could my waking self revise what my sleeping self had imagined? Hilary Mantel writes about the time she dreamt a story.]
• · Critics have become bemoaners. Nobody's a Critic ; While publishing Opium ; Tree House Media Project Debuts. Self-reliance for angry journalists, preached by a former member of the tribe. Plus: Last gasp of the curmudgeon class. Big Daddy Newspaper Has Gone and Left Journalism
• · China’s economy will surpass that of the United States by 2035 and be twice its size by midcentury, a new report by Albert Keidel concludes. China’s rapid growth is driven by domestic demand—not exports—and will sustain high single-digit growth rates well into this century. In China’s Economic Rise—Fact and Fiction, Keidel examines China’s likely economic trajectory and its implications for global commercial, institutional, and military leadership (vis Bespacific) China Will Surpass U.S. Economically by 2035, Double by Midcentury ; Like many others who watched the news in the 1990s, the authors were dismayed by the thousands of hours devoted to “infotainment” stories such as the O.J. Simpson trial Tabloid Justice: Criminal Justice in an Age of Media Frenzy and The Star Chamber: How Celebrities Go Free and their Lawyers Become Famous;
• · · I guess it’s gaining currency from the book of the same name by the ex-Amazon customer service guy Bill Price and David Jaffe. I get the idea. If you eliminate all the problems around customer service, your customers won’t have to contact you and that will be a good thing. You transform any customer relationship you’ve created back into transactions and save costs. There's a thought out there that the best service is no service at all ; I am a great believer in and/and. When two seemingly opposing ideas appear in the market or a couple of paradoxes seem to conflict your business, I say give room to them both. It’s by embracing paradox that a new third idea may develop that could move us all forward. I’m not talking about convergence here but the process of change. The paradox in its simplest form: paper v digital
• · · · We're actually projecting this year that the North Pole may be free of ice for the first time [in history] National Geographics: North Pole May Be Ice Free for First Time This Summer Arctic won't see its first completely ice-free summer until somewhere between 2013 and 2030; amazon drought nearing climate tipping point
• · · · · Blogging and citizen journalism provides an alternative to the media delivering government and corporate spin as news.Raging against rising Internet repression; Modern media is tailor-made for propaganda, spreading often unchallenged values for financial profit or political influence. Learning rites and wrongs
• · · · · · Slovakia joins the eurozone next year, becoming only the second ex-communist country to do so – an achievement many thought unlikely and one that continues to elude its former Soviet-bloc neighbours. For a small, export-oriented economy, the coming years could be difficult, but Slovakia has already beaten the odds by becoming one of Europe’s most striking success stories Economy: The tiger that beat the odds ; George W. Bush once got Slovakia and Slovenia mixed up. Infamy, in the two capitals Bratislava and Ljubljana, but understandable elsewhere in the world, where these two benign, pretty countries must compete for a place on the tourist map. The Slovak capital (pop. 450,000), while immeasurably more attractive than when the communists handed it over in 1989, is merely “cute” by comparison with nearby Prague, Budapest and Vienna. The High Tatra mountains, while scenic, stretch for barely 50 kilometers; the highest peak, Gerlach, is fully 2,000 metres short of Mont Blanc. And so on. You can sell the Tatras. Nowhere in Europe is there a lowland airport so close to a mountain chain. You can be at your hotel in 15 minutes, whereas in the Alps you may have to drive for an hour or more. Our plan is to rebuild the Tatras, or perhaps to reclaim them from the ashes You can sell the Tatras

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Many Happy Returns - Happy Birthday to Steve M and Christopher as well as Lydia C - the pillars in my life ...

In the early days of this blog, I posted a link to Wikipedia and its founder Jimmy Wales in The Guardian: IGNORANCE and poverty, which go hand in hand with totalitarianism and control, continue to be widespread. Yet it turns out that as we have given a voice to millions of people with a mission to build "the sum of all human knowledge", nearly all of them are able to do so with kindness, compassion and thoughtfulness. Each of us, coming to a project like Wikipedia for our own reasons, can help to build something that, I think, shows the promise of the future, our dreams of peace, to be within reach …

The old management rule to measure what matters is a good one. The problem is that the stuff that matters is always the hardest to measure, but we can't let that stop us. Let's measure up, rather than measure down... The Happiness Challenge

Birth of Joy The Power of the Personal: Peak Performance

The consolation of philosophy is needed as much now in the corporate world as it was in the time of Aristotle and Socrates and possibly more so. Lessons in ethical decision making and business ideas from the great philosophers. Articles includes discussion of example of courses run for the executives of the Dutch tax office (Tax and Customs Administration).

• Philosophers,; [; On the back of a belief that lessons learned in one area may be applicable in others experts in differing fields were canvassed for their vies and practical recommendations on improving efficiency and productivity in the key areas of management, staff, individual growth, process and energy use Lessons in efficiency and productivity ]
• · In this companion to last year's white paper, IDC again calibrates the size (bigger than first thought) and the growth (faster than expected) of the digital universe through 2011 The diverse and exploding digital universe: an updated forecast of worldwide information growth through 2011; When most people think about the Internal Revenue Service, the terms user-friendly and accessible are not the first ones that spring to mind. However, Richard Spires, IRS' deputy commissioner of operations support, hopes that will change after the service completes its massive information technology modernization effort to integrate older systems and make its filings electronic. Spires is leading an effort to take the tax agency online through a series of modernisation efforts that are projected to have all IRS forms on the agency's e-platform by 2014 IRS modernisation webpage; IRS bullish about modernization ; The line between work and play is becoming increasingly blurred. So it's a good idea to be careful about the personal information you allow to go online. Information published on the internet is there for a very long time and you have very limited control over it. It's about who knows you
• · · CIOs who are serious about developing leaders in their group have to be willing to invest time in their people and to give them opportunities to grow, even if that means letting them fail sometimes How to develop the next generation of IT leaders ; To successfully embed corporate responsibility and sustainability within organisations, there needs to be a focus on developing the mindset and skills of individual managers, rather than simply introducing new policies and procedures (pdf) Leadership for sustainable organisations
• · · · By increasing openness and collaboration at the management level and bridging communication gaps, management teams, particularly in IT, will lead by example. This will have a trickle down effect that increases communication throughout the entire organisation Secrets of successful IT teams: socially connected employees ; Workplace communities have the potential to transform knowledge work and talent management - the cornerstones of our knowledge based economy. From the anointed few to the collective many
• · · · ·, Vicki Culpin, 360º - the Ashridge journal, Spring 2008, 5p. Adequate memory allows an individual to function within a fast and ever changing business world, but a really good memory allows an individual to excel - in terms of impact, learning and decision making. This article recommends proven strategies to improve managers' memories. From goldfish to elephant - make your MARC in business: memory techniques; The Greater Manchester Police force is looking for friends - on Facebook British police use Facebook to gather evidence; Strategy draft signals intent on cybercrime
• · · · · · Newly appointed New Zealand government CIO Laurence Millar made his first post on the State Services "In Development" blog yesterday, sharing his ideas about transformed government. Millar writes that technology has always been disruptive and that information technology can be a catalyst for change in government. New government CIO posts first blog entry ; Laurence Millar ; This study defines the emerging discipline of 'customer strategy' in the 21st century, and shows how the insights of citizens can help your agency make more informed decisions, design and deliver more successful policies and programs, and improve customer service (PDF) One size fits few: using customer insight to transform government

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It's like water torture. You're left to hang and hang. I've got a couple of people who are on the verge of suiciding

I thought that bullying took only place at Czechoslovak army and NSW Parliament House, but how wrong one can be … AMBULANCE management had been grossly negligent and dismissive in handling complaints by a female officer about bullying at Cowra before she eventually committed suicide Bullying concerns fell on deaf ears CHRISTINE HODDER, 38, was a much-loved woman with a husband and a three-year-old daughter Every high-ranking ambulance person I spoke to was quite happy off the record to say this is really, really bad

Rats in the ranks: ALP in turmoil
T HE war within NSW Labor has intensified with senior ministers turning on the ALP general secretary, Karl Bitar, and his followers, accusing them of attempting to "tear down" the State Government.

The criticisms come after the Treasurer, Michael Costa, pulled out of a Labor fund-raiser citing an "unprecedented and underhanded campaign" by Mr Bitar and the NSW head office to destabilise the Premier, Morris Iemma.

• A new Labour chapter?; [; ]
• · The way we select our "leaders".... "Every noble work is at first impossible"...Thomas Carlyle..... "The driving passion that has overwhelmingly governed my life, is the unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind - caused by people for their own personal gain, regardless of how severe the pain - intentionally and maliciously inflicted on innocent others."...UOJ Memoirs. Arts Journal Blog ; All great people are only "one" person!
• · The film industry in Australia is a high-risk industry. Most films produced in Australia are only marginally profitable. Eighty percent of films released
each year in the United States lose money. The Vice President of the Bank of
America in 1981 was even more blunt: [T]ake any 160 pictures and 7 will
lose money, 2 will break even and 1 will make money The art of being in two places, and 11 jobs, at once ... ;
• · · SO WILL Peter Hall buy The Bulletin, the 128-year-old magazine that was finally killed off in January after a lingering circulation illness? New Bulletin if Australia wants it, too ; Peter Hall puts his money where his mouth is, writes Steve Meacham. From environmental pioneer to party faithful … Peter Hall has applied to become a Conservative candidate in Britain, where he spends eight months of the year. He is the millionaire fund manager whose company invests only in ethical enterprises that don't harm the environment. The Australian who gives away a quarter of his personal income to charities and other worthy causes. The save-the-rainforest pioneer who organised an anti-whaling protest outside the Japanese Embassy in London this year, "which got a bit scary". The Paul Keating fan who denounces Brendan Nelson's plan to cut petrol excise as "idiotic".. The Conservative conservationist
• · · · A FRIEND of the family of late motor racing champion Peter Brock has been linked to a series of allegedly illegal investment schemes which have netted more than $35 million from 350 investors Peter Brock and Tax Haven; Book review: 'The Trillion Dollar Meltdown' reveals the failings of some can have devastating repercussions on many. A whole new level of crazy
• · · · · THE Rudd Government has finally revealed that it will impose limits on Chinese takeovers of Australian mining companies as it grapples with a $30 billion wave of Chinese foreign investment proposals Treasurer slams gate on Chinese raids ; WAYNE Swan has signalled his readiness to block acquisitions of controlling stakes in Australian resource companies by Australia's resource customers, a move that comes amid an unprecedented run of foreign investment applications from Chinese state-owned companies Swan warns off sovereign clients who seek to own suppliers

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What do I like most about blogging? Moving on. Being part of the flow of ideas and inspiration. Sometimes it feels as though I’m on a ship leaving posts behind in my wake as I keep my eyes on the horizon for what’s coming up. I am sure I’m not the only one to respond to blogging in this way Blogging with Wal-Mart

July 08 Australia rated tourist hotspot by US travellers Sydney is voted fourth best city in the world
Indeed Australia is the hearty gift to the world. With Mal we have covered the country far and wide – Molong where June was born is the best kept secret as are places around the Blue Mountains such as Blackheath’s Glenella BB and Restaurant Gareth and Kate of Glenella fame

Australia has again been rated a tourist hotspot by US travellers, with Sydney voted fourth best city in the world in a new magazine survey. US travel magazine Travel + Leisure released the results of its World's Best Awards today, with Bangkok taking out the top spot on the World's Best City list. Buenos Aires and Cape Town were voted second and third, while Sydney came in fourth after being ranked fifth last year.

• Lucky Country: Sydney climbs back up the ladder of tourist popularity; [World tourism growth continues to outstrip a stagnant Australian industry Where the bloody hell are they?; THEY packed their Bibles and rosary beads along with their bedrolls, sleeping bags, guitars and woolly beanies. Loudly and proudly they proclaimed their nationalities, wearing vibrant national colours and carrying flags with the broadest of smiles. [The mobile device dubbed the Jesus Phone is about to have its second coming. The iPhone 3G, the new incarnation of Apple's first foray into the mobile handset business, will go on sale in 22 countries on Friday] The flock descends from everywhere - The 'Jesus' phone has a second coming]
• · Courtesy of Polish Victor - Made Mal Smile … Sikh dancing; Compliments of Polish Christopher Aboriginal Zorba
• · The Income Tax department and RBI would perhaps like to know from where Pankaj Oswal got all the seed money, especially when his father’s group has been a loan defaulter for long Oswal; Legal doubts cloud the rise of the awesome Oswals
• · · Nothing deters Abhey Oswal from talking big--not even the size of his past failures. A Team BT investigation. Sinking at home, Abhey Oswal beefs up son’s Australian plant ; The Dreambagger
• · · · In the Attraction Economy, design is King. Well, Queen too, for that matter. We are way beyond modernism’s rubric of ‘form follows function’ Design to feel for; The Daily Telegraph just published their ranking of the world's top 50 restaurants. I believe restaurants are totally personal (eating is an emotional experience after all) and, as I've been to a few on the list, here's an assessment based on my personal experience.. Restaurant Review: The Best of the Best
• · · · · How I Realized that Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s E-Reader Were Exceeding Sales Estimates Looks Like a Million To MEdia Dragon; Publishers (and fans) increasingly expect and hope that top fiction authors will issue a new book on regular basis, but the Boston Globe says writers are complaining about the pressure. Patricia Cornwell says : "The Scarpetta [manuscript] that's due out Oct. 7 is due in a few weeks, because they have to reserve the storefront real estate and pay for it. If I don't get the book turned in on time, they'll be freaking out. If I miss my deadline, I miss the entire year. Sometimes there's an overwhelming feeling of panic. It's like a rock 'n' roll concert, and what if I don't show up?" Top Authors on Annual Deadline Pressures

• · · · · · If you haven’t tried our sister site which deals in social networking for reader BOOKTRIBES and DRAGONS; Rose Tremain Wins Orange Prize

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So few and far between are my books like Cold River or my entries on the Media Dragon … I love the moments when I do come up with an entry. Flowers like blogs grow out of dark moments. Therefore certain spirit of the moment – moments are vital as they affect the whole. Writer’s life is a succession of such inspiring moments …

Speaking of inspiring moments, I feel very lucky as I tend to come across many characters who know so much about inspiration and challenges. One such a character is a friendly lawyer who is also an iceberg swimmer - few people can claim to be as True Blue Blokes born and bred at Bondi as Mike Malley is ... So if you are exchanging contract or need a lawyer to represent you on almost any matter under the sun - czech Out the services of Michael Malley of Malleys Lawyers As Media Dragon is ranked £ 5 on Google lets hope the ranking is being helped by this entry ... Malley on Google

Today is exactly 28 years since I escaped across the Iron Curtain. Who can count how many liters of water flowed under the bridges of the Morava River Written exclusively for Beautiful Minds and Hearts

Is Eternal vigilance the price of freedom? Wise people store up knowledge Prv 10:14 NKJV

28 Years On and East Meets West Where Iron curtain and Cold Morava River used to flow ...

Water Bridge in Germany.... What a feat!

Six years, 500 million euros, 918 meters long.......now this is engineering!

This is a channel-bridge over the River Elbe and joins the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. The photo was taken on the day of inauguration.

To those who appreciate engineering projects, here's a puzzle for you armchair engineers and physicists. Did that bridge have to be designed to withstand the additional weight of ship and barge traffic, or just the weight of the water?

Answer:

It only needs to be designed to withstand the weight of the water!
Why? A ship always displaces an amount of water that weighs the same as the ship, regardless of how heavily a ship may be loaded.

Remember your high school physics, and the fly in an enclosed bottle project? Similarly, the super sensitive scale proved that it didn't make any difference whether the fly was sitting on the bottom, walking up the side, or flying around. The bottle, air, and fly were a single unit of mass and always weighed the same.
German Bridge That Is For Boats-Truth!

CODA: Learn a communist language before the badly awarded Olympic Games of 2008 AD
- Learn Chinese in 5 minutes (You MUST read them aloud)
English – Chinese
Small Horse - Tai Ni Po Ni
I think you need a face lift! Chin Tu Fat
It's very dark in here! Wai So Dim
Your body odour is offensive - Yu Stin Ki Pu

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I'll be the featured guest on Stirring the Cauldron with Marla Brooks (the acclaimed Hollywood personality) to talk about ghosts, my favorite investigations, animal communications, my books, publishing in general or anything else you'd like to chat about. Just go to the link: and follow it thru Listen Live option - the chat room at 9 pm EST tomorrow night-Thursday, June 26th to hear me make a fool of myself! DINAH ROSEBERRY Editor at Large and her Radio show

Hungry Media Dragon Zell Aide on Book Pages Reminding the world to get a little CREATIVE
A memo from Tribune chief innovation officer Lee Abrams is being widely quoted. This snippet speaks to his view on book pages in newspapers: This is seriously the craziest Lee Abrams post ever.

Heard a conversation about how Book reporting doesn't generate revenue and may have to go away. WAIT! Maybe Book reviews and coverage are one of those things that don't generate revenue right now, BUT--are trademarks for newspapers and elicit high passion from readers. At XM, we had Opera channels. Low listenership...HIGH passion...AND--it was one of those things that even if people didn't listen or even like Opera, it was one of those things you had to have for completeness. Maybe Book sections in newspapers are just dated. Not the idea...but the look and feel. Maybe they're modeled after a book store in 1967 whereas we're in the Borders, Amazon, B&N era. Maybe they are too scholarly. Maybe they avoid genres like Christian books, Celebrity books and Popular novels, opting instead for reviews of the Philippine Socialist Movement in the 1800's. The point here is maybe Book sections need to be as dramatically re-thought as Borders re-thought retail. Not dumbing down--but getting in sync with the 21st Century mainstream book reader."

• Zell Aide on Book Pages ; [; ]
• · Not surprisingly, yesterday's news that former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil has agreed to buy PFD from CSS Stellar generates more attention in the UK news media. Neil, the current chief executive of the Spectator, explained his decision to buy the troubled literary agency, which is only just recovering from last year's mass defection that created United Agents, stemmed from its back catalog: "If you were an asset-stripper you would be prepared to pay this price to close the company down and live off its back book, though that is absolutely not what we want to do." Michel attempts to draw line at PFD; The PFD Saga Continues
• · · · · Tragic Novel Hopes For Happy Ending Today's advance spotlight is on Andrew Davidson, a Manitoba native whose debut novel THE GARGOYLE has attracted considerable attention since Doubleday signed North American rights for $1.25 million last year. (The book publishes here in August, and also in 22 countries, including Davidson's native Canada.) Despite planned "title star treatment" from Borders and B&N (is the newspaper not allowed to use the term "co-op" in an article?) some doubt readers will want to turn past the first 75 pages of apparently explicit content. "It's too graphic, too sexual," said Rainy Day Books' Vivien Jennings, speaking of readers in the vicinity of the bookstore's Fairway, KS home. "It's not going to float here." But Davidson brushes off such concerns: "I am no more concerned about readers in the Midwest embracing the book than I am about readers at either coast, or abroad." Another Potential Debut Fiction Bestseller Preview from the WSJ ; Poets & Writers prints an extended version of Jofie Ferrari-Adler's interview with former Houghton Mifflin publisher Janet Silver, now at Nan Talese/Doubleday as an Editor-at large. Agents & Editors: A Q&A With Editor Janet Silver
• · · · · · The Wall Street Journal looks at how David Wroblewski's debut novel THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE (Ecco) benefited from being championed by Amazon.com. The 566-page literary novel has already gone into its seventh printing -- a reported total of 90,000 copies -- a week after its publication. Driving that unexpectedly heavy demand has been strong reviews and promotional support from Amazon.com, which chose the book as one of the best books of June, kept it on its home page for two weeks at a 40% discount before the book hit stores, and posted an essay written by the author at Amazon's request. "We also had a preorder banner in May, which is something we do for books that we think will have significant interest for our customers," says Tammy Hovey, an Amazon spokeswoman. Amazon's Clout Helps Debut Novel ; Amazon's enthusiasm, combined with strong reviews in national newspapers, has helped other retailers take notice. "It's doing fabulously well and we've already reordered," B&N fiction buyer Sessalee Hensley told the WSJ, and Costco increased its initial order to 18,000 copies from 3,000 Amazon Shows Its Clout: Written exclusively for Beautiful Minds and Hearts