Step1 Choose clothing all in one color to give yourself a long, lean look.
Step2 Wear black. It gives a look that is especially slimming.
Step3 Try to avoid shapeless clothing. No one is fooled, and loose clothes often make you appear wider or heavier.
Step4 Avoid tight clothing that will emphasize your heavy areas.
Step5 Choose softly tailored pieces that define but don't constrain.
Step6 Steer clear of horizontal stripes, which make you appear wider, but consider vertical stripes, which make you look longer and leaner.
Step7 Wear blocks of color that draw the eye away from less-than-perfect areas. Wear a red shell or royal blue jacket, for example, to draw attention away from your legs.
Step8 Wear shoulder pads and wide necklines to balance wide hips.
Step9 Choose pants that have narrow or tapered legs to hide a large midsection. Flat-front pants and side or back zippers will flatter your figure, while pockets, pleats and tight pants will only draw attention to your midsection
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
LIPSTICK JUNGLE
A few weeks ago, I helped my 18-year-old sister move into her freshman dorm at Hillsdale College in Michigan. I was anxious for her -- I worried that the female culture at her school would be similar to that at my own alma mater, Tufts University in Medford, Mass.
As a reserved evangelical from Colorado Springs, Colo., I was shocked by a lot of things at Tufts when I entered in the fall of 2003. What shocked me more than anything, however, was the way women treated other women. I regularly heard young women refer to each other using the most obscene and degrading insults. I observed females encouraging others to binge drink and then berating those who couldn't hold their liquor. At breakfast on the weekends, I often overheard young women discussing their shame after feeling pressured by their girlfriends to participate in a degrading activity, such as a lingerie-themed or "secretaries and bosses" party. One year, a sorority actually commanded its pledges to strip to their underwear and allow fraternity brothers to mark the physical flaws on their bodies with permanent ink.
My junior year, a controversial joke about rape was published in the student humor journal while a woman was editor in chief.
Such a hostile environment is not unique to Tufts. The Delta Zeta women at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., last year asked unattractive and unpopular sisters to leave the sorority. In her memoir, "Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood" (2005), Koren Zailckas, a recent graduate of Syracuse University and a recovering alcoholic, sets a scene of young women at that upstate school not only encouraging one another to drink to the point of illness or blackout as a way to forge friendships but also competing with one another to be the most sexually adventurous.
Ms. Zailckas's bitter experiences and those of countless others should dispel the notion that binge drinking on college campuses -- which inarguably leaves women more vulnerable to sexual assault -- is spurred on solely by frat boys. Step onto just about any college campus on a Saturday night and you will see that women are just as much the culprits.
Ask Ariel Levy, a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., and the author of "Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture" (2005). She details the emergence of what she terms the "nouvelle raunch feminist," a woman who gleefully participates in group sex and attends hook-up parties. Such degradation, Ms. Levy argues, is something that young women are learning in school and are forcing on one another. She writes: "If Male Chauvinist Pigs were men who regarded women as pieces of meat, we would outdo them and be Female Chauvinist Pigs: women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves."
A male friend who attended the University of Michigan wrote to me in an email last month: "I, perhaps unconsciously, observe women to try and determine how they want to be treated. When I see girls at a party who seemingly have no self-control, I'll admit that it's really tough to visualize them as 'ladies.' It's as if they, solely through their own actions, have lowered my expectations, lowered my standards of behavior."
Upon arriving with my sister at Hillsdale, a school known for attracting conservative and religious students, I noticed a contrast immediately. I began chatting with a rising senior, and she and I quickly discovered an acquaintance in common. Referring to this woman, the Hillsdale student said: "She is such an amazing woman. I just have so much respect for her." I was speechless. I was simply not used to hearing college women speak about their peers with such esteem.
A walk around the Hillsdale freshman girls' dorm confirmed my suspicion that young women at the Michigan college had more respect for one another and lived in a happier and healthier environment than what I had experienced at Tufts. The posters on the walls in my all-female freshman dorm at Tufts offered information about eating disorders, what to do if you think you have been sexually assaulted, and suicide and depression hotlines. The Hillsdale walls that I saw were covered with advertisements for quilting clubs, charity opportunities and a listing of local churches.
My female friends who have gone to schools similar to Hillsdale fondly recall their campus culture. A friend who attended Wheaton College, an evangelical school just outside of Chicago, wrote to me that "there were times when my girlfriends and I banded together at the expense of guys. We knew that our real support came from one another." She still gets together with those friends for a support group in which they pray for one another and sustain each other through struggles.
At Patrick Henry College, a Purcellville, Va., school where traditional marriage and family roles are emphasized, the culture is similar. A graduate told me: "My wing of girls made a 'gossip pact' to refrain from slandering others and to encourage others to do the same. We're working hard to create a culture of honor that stands above the fray of cattiness and competition." The institutions of higher education that endorse the vision of "modern" feminism as the key to women's happiness -- namely, the sexually aggressive female -- could learn a lesson from these more conservative schools.
There are some who will say "girls will be girls," regardless of a school's culture. Two years ago, I might have agreed, however sadly. But college girls and the high-school students who will soon join them should know that there are alternatives.
Ms. Samelson is director of development at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
As a reserved evangelical from Colorado Springs, Colo., I was shocked by a lot of things at Tufts when I entered in the fall of 2003. What shocked me more than anything, however, was the way women treated other women. I regularly heard young women refer to each other using the most obscene and degrading insults. I observed females encouraging others to binge drink and then berating those who couldn't hold their liquor. At breakfast on the weekends, I often overheard young women discussing their shame after feeling pressured by their girlfriends to participate in a degrading activity, such as a lingerie-themed or "secretaries and bosses" party. One year, a sorority actually commanded its pledges to strip to their underwear and allow fraternity brothers to mark the physical flaws on their bodies with permanent ink.
My junior year, a controversial joke about rape was published in the student humor journal while a woman was editor in chief.
Such a hostile environment is not unique to Tufts. The Delta Zeta women at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., last year asked unattractive and unpopular sisters to leave the sorority. In her memoir, "Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood" (2005), Koren Zailckas, a recent graduate of Syracuse University and a recovering alcoholic, sets a scene of young women at that upstate school not only encouraging one another to drink to the point of illness or blackout as a way to forge friendships but also competing with one another to be the most sexually adventurous.
Ms. Zailckas's bitter experiences and those of countless others should dispel the notion that binge drinking on college campuses -- which inarguably leaves women more vulnerable to sexual assault -- is spurred on solely by frat boys. Step onto just about any college campus on a Saturday night and you will see that women are just as much the culprits.
Ask Ariel Levy, a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., and the author of "Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture" (2005). She details the emergence of what she terms the "nouvelle raunch feminist," a woman who gleefully participates in group sex and attends hook-up parties. Such degradation, Ms. Levy argues, is something that young women are learning in school and are forcing on one another. She writes: "If Male Chauvinist Pigs were men who regarded women as pieces of meat, we would outdo them and be Female Chauvinist Pigs: women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves."
A male friend who attended the University of Michigan wrote to me in an email last month: "I, perhaps unconsciously, observe women to try and determine how they want to be treated. When I see girls at a party who seemingly have no self-control, I'll admit that it's really tough to visualize them as 'ladies.' It's as if they, solely through their own actions, have lowered my expectations, lowered my standards of behavior."
Upon arriving with my sister at Hillsdale, a school known for attracting conservative and religious students, I noticed a contrast immediately. I began chatting with a rising senior, and she and I quickly discovered an acquaintance in common. Referring to this woman, the Hillsdale student said: "She is such an amazing woman. I just have so much respect for her." I was speechless. I was simply not used to hearing college women speak about their peers with such esteem.
A walk around the Hillsdale freshman girls' dorm confirmed my suspicion that young women at the Michigan college had more respect for one another and lived in a happier and healthier environment than what I had experienced at Tufts. The posters on the walls in my all-female freshman dorm at Tufts offered information about eating disorders, what to do if you think you have been sexually assaulted, and suicide and depression hotlines. The Hillsdale walls that I saw were covered with advertisements for quilting clubs, charity opportunities and a listing of local churches.
My female friends who have gone to schools similar to Hillsdale fondly recall their campus culture. A friend who attended Wheaton College, an evangelical school just outside of Chicago, wrote to me that "there were times when my girlfriends and I banded together at the expense of guys. We knew that our real support came from one another." She still gets together with those friends for a support group in which they pray for one another and sustain each other through struggles.
At Patrick Henry College, a Purcellville, Va., school where traditional marriage and family roles are emphasized, the culture is similar. A graduate told me: "My wing of girls made a 'gossip pact' to refrain from slandering others and to encourage others to do the same. We're working hard to create a culture of honor that stands above the fray of cattiness and competition." The institutions of higher education that endorse the vision of "modern" feminism as the key to women's happiness -- namely, the sexually aggressive female -- could learn a lesson from these more conservative schools.
There are some who will say "girls will be girls," regardless of a school's culture. Two years ago, I might have agreed, however sadly. But college girls and the high-school students who will soon join them should know that there are alternatives.
Ms. Samelson is director of development at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
UN - Best poem
The best poem of 2006This poem was nominated by UN as the best poem of 2006, Written by anAfrican Kid
When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in Sun, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black
And you white fellow
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you gray
And you calling me colored?
When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in Sun, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black
And you white fellow
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you gray
And you calling me colored?
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Rights of a wife - Middle Eastern society
A lady enters the marriage contract through her absolute free choice. No marriage is instituted without her consent.
Where the husband is assigned the right to divorce, wife has the right to seek separation, called khula'. If the husband does not agree to separation, it can and should be enforced through court's intervention.
The household expenditure is to be met by the husband. Wife is not obliged to share, even if she is rich.
She has the right to have a separate dwelling, particularly if the husband possesses means.
She has the right to own property, received through various sources of inheritance, earned or enhanced through gainful investment.
She has the right to ask for a maid/servant to do household chores, and can not be compelled to do these job as a matter of obligation.
Like her property, she is the "owner" of her body, which legally means she can not be compelled even to breast-feed her baby. That arrangement is the responsibility of father. But she can never deny bed-sharing unless it was physically not possible. This is just one area in which Shariah compels her to comply with her husband's desire.
As mother, she enjoys priority over her husband to be looked after and served by the children (sons).
Where the husband is assigned the right to divorce, wife has the right to seek separation, called khula'. If the husband does not agree to separation, it can and should be enforced through court's intervention.
The household expenditure is to be met by the husband. Wife is not obliged to share, even if she is rich.
She has the right to have a separate dwelling, particularly if the husband possesses means.
She has the right to own property, received through various sources of inheritance, earned or enhanced through gainful investment.
She has the right to ask for a maid/servant to do household chores, and can not be compelled to do these job as a matter of obligation.
Like her property, she is the "owner" of her body, which legally means she can not be compelled even to breast-feed her baby. That arrangement is the responsibility of father. But she can never deny bed-sharing unless it was physically not possible. This is just one area in which Shariah compels her to comply with her husband's desire.
As mother, she enjoys priority over her husband to be looked after and served by the children (sons).
Monday, September 22, 2008
DRESSING TIPS
Flattering colours :
It's a known fact that darker colours are more slimming and that brighter colours can draw the eye to the bits you like. "Black is slimming but a bit safe. Wear monotone but dress it up with a coloured scarf in different shades.
Accessories :
A coloured scarf or stunning bold necklace will give your face the attention it deserves. Loose transparent clothes with something tight underneath give a flattering look that de-emphasises weight. If you haven't got a waistline, don't try and pull it in to make one
With bigger legs, don't wear mini skirts. Wear trousers in either a shorter or longer length
'Too tight' is not good whatever your size
It's a known fact that darker colours are more slimming and that brighter colours can draw the eye to the bits you like. "Black is slimming but a bit safe. Wear monotone but dress it up with a coloured scarf in different shades.
Accessories :
A coloured scarf or stunning bold necklace will give your face the attention it deserves. Loose transparent clothes with something tight underneath give a flattering look that de-emphasises weight. If you haven't got a waistline, don't try and pull it in to make one
With bigger legs, don't wear mini skirts. Wear trousers in either a shorter or longer length
'Too tight' is not good whatever your size
Saturday, September 20, 2008
ROMANCING UR HUSBAND
How to Romance Your Husband
By Susan H Pardoe
How to Romance Your Husband
'You\'ve been married for a few...ok, several years, but you\'d like to find ways to romance your husband. First, is the romance still there or will you need to start from scratch? Does your stomach still flutter when he walks into the room? Does he still flash you that smile that says, "I love you!"? Romance does NOT have to die once you\'ve been married for a time. Ladies, there are ways to ignite the spark and romance your husbands all over again. It just takes a bit of thought, time, and a desire to put a bit of spark back into your marriage. Here are a few thoughts on how to romance your husband.';
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
A bit of thought on what it is that speaks to your husband's heart.
A bit of creativity
A bit of your time throughout the week
Candles/matches
A favorite dress or ensemble
His favorite meal
Paper and pencil
Colored pens or pencils
Step1What speaks to your husband's heart? This is where romance truly begins. Our husbands need to know and feel they are respected by their spouse. Do you honor him with the manner in which you handle the monthly budget? Does he feel you appreciate him working hard to support the family? Does he hear praise from your lips about his work ethic, being a great husband or a terrific father? Do you cook his favorite meal now and then, "just because"? If we show our husbands respect and love, they are more likely to feel romantic toward their wives.
Step2Romance your husband by doing special little things throughout the week. For example, when you're sitting on the couch watching a movie together, hold his hand. I know, the remote may be in one, but if he has the other available, grab it and hold on! Give him a smooch on the cheek now and then just to remind him you're there.
Step3Does he take a lunch to work? Does he have a planner he opens each day once he reaches his workplace? Use even scrap pieces of paper and write notes to him that will brighten his day. Get creative, if that's your thing, and color little hearts or what-not on there. Maybe it's a note that tells him how great he is or that you'd like to spend time with him. If you typically wear a scent he likes, lightly spritz the paper with it so he can think on you throughout the day.
Step4Romance your husband by taking him on a date night. Date nights are so important! Even if you have children, TRY to have a date night at least twice a month, if not once a week. Date nights don't have to cost much either. In warm weather, walk and talk in a park. Take along a picnic lunch/dinner with you to enjoy while you sit in a quiet setting. Try to talk about each other...not so much about the little ones at home. They probably get enough of your talk time already, yes?
Step5Cook him his favorite dinner. My husband's favorites consist of pork chops, sauerkraut and potatoes or hamburgers, beans and applesauce. I know, it doesn't sound very romantic, but HE loves it and that's what matters. Have dinner by candlelight now and then and romance your husband over his favorite meal.
Step6Greet him at the door, dressed to the nines (yes, hair and makeup too!), and whisk him off to a hotel for the evening. Or, ask a trusted family member or friend to take your children for the evening and spend the evening at home together with no distractions.
Step7Anything we do ladies to show our husbands they are special will go a long way toward making them feel loved, respected and (in turn) romantic toward us! Romance your husband in ways only he would understand and appreciate. Speak his love language and you can't miss
By Susan H Pardoe
How to Romance Your Husband
'You\'ve been married for a few...ok, several years, but you\'d like to find ways to romance your husband. First, is the romance still there or will you need to start from scratch? Does your stomach still flutter when he walks into the room? Does he still flash you that smile that says, "I love you!"? Romance does NOT have to die once you\'ve been married for a time. Ladies, there are ways to ignite the spark and romance your husbands all over again. It just takes a bit of thought, time, and a desire to put a bit of spark back into your marriage. Here are a few thoughts on how to romance your husband.';
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
A bit of thought on what it is that speaks to your husband's heart.
A bit of creativity
A bit of your time throughout the week
Candles/matches
A favorite dress or ensemble
His favorite meal
Paper and pencil
Colored pens or pencils
Step1What speaks to your husband's heart? This is where romance truly begins. Our husbands need to know and feel they are respected by their spouse. Do you honor him with the manner in which you handle the monthly budget? Does he feel you appreciate him working hard to support the family? Does he hear praise from your lips about his work ethic, being a great husband or a terrific father? Do you cook his favorite meal now and then, "just because"? If we show our husbands respect and love, they are more likely to feel romantic toward their wives.
Step2Romance your husband by doing special little things throughout the week. For example, when you're sitting on the couch watching a movie together, hold his hand. I know, the remote may be in one, but if he has the other available, grab it and hold on! Give him a smooch on the cheek now and then just to remind him you're there.
Step3Does he take a lunch to work? Does he have a planner he opens each day once he reaches his workplace? Use even scrap pieces of paper and write notes to him that will brighten his day. Get creative, if that's your thing, and color little hearts or what-not on there. Maybe it's a note that tells him how great he is or that you'd like to spend time with him. If you typically wear a scent he likes, lightly spritz the paper with it so he can think on you throughout the day.
Step4Romance your husband by taking him on a date night. Date nights are so important! Even if you have children, TRY to have a date night at least twice a month, if not once a week. Date nights don't have to cost much either. In warm weather, walk and talk in a park. Take along a picnic lunch/dinner with you to enjoy while you sit in a quiet setting. Try to talk about each other...not so much about the little ones at home. They probably get enough of your talk time already, yes?
Step5Cook him his favorite dinner. My husband's favorites consist of pork chops, sauerkraut and potatoes or hamburgers, beans and applesauce. I know, it doesn't sound very romantic, but HE loves it and that's what matters. Have dinner by candlelight now and then and romance your husband over his favorite meal.
Step6Greet him at the door, dressed to the nines (yes, hair and makeup too!), and whisk him off to a hotel for the evening. Or, ask a trusted family member or friend to take your children for the evening and spend the evening at home together with no distractions.
Step7Anything we do ladies to show our husbands they are special will go a long way toward making them feel loved, respected and (in turn) romantic toward us! Romance your husband in ways only he would understand and appreciate. Speak his love language and you can't miss
bans chinese MILK PRODUCTS
Asian states ban Chinese milk goods
Tainted milk powder has killed four babies and made more than 6,000 sick [AFP]
Malaysia has joined Singapore in banning the import of all Chinese dairy products after China's contaminated-milk scare widened.
Malaysia imposed the ban on all baby milk formulas, milk and milk products from China on Saturday, a day after Singapore initiated a similiar move.
Four babies have died, nearly 160 have suffered acute kidney failure and more than 6,000 have suffered illness after drinking products containing melamine.
The moves came after it was revealed three of China's biggest dairy firms sold milk contaminated with the chemical.
The chemical is used to make industrial products and plastics but can also be added to milk to make it appear to have a higher protein content.
In the United States, inspections have been stepped up at ports on shipments of bulk food ingredients from Asia that are derived from milk.
Shelves emptied
The US Food and Drug Administration warned consumers on Saturday not to buy milk products from China over the Internet.
Tainted milk powder has killed four babies and made more than 6,000 sick [AFP]
Malaysia has joined Singapore in banning the import of all Chinese dairy products after China's contaminated-milk scare widened.
Malaysia imposed the ban on all baby milk formulas, milk and milk products from China on Saturday, a day after Singapore initiated a similiar move.
Four babies have died, nearly 160 have suffered acute kidney failure and more than 6,000 have suffered illness after drinking products containing melamine.
The moves came after it was revealed three of China's biggest dairy firms sold milk contaminated with the chemical.
The chemical is used to make industrial products and plastics but can also be added to milk to make it appear to have a higher protein content.
In the United States, inspections have been stepped up at ports on shipments of bulk food ingredients from Asia that are derived from milk.
Shelves emptied
The US Food and Drug Administration warned consumers on Saturday not to buy milk products from China over the Internet.
REASONS FOR THE CRASH !!
How Did We Get Here?
Posted By:Lee Brodie
Topics:Stock Market Stock Picks
Companies:TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation Freddie Mac American International Group Inc Fannie Mae
From homeowners facing foreclosure on Main Street to bankers on Wall Street who find themselves suddenly jobless, how did we get here?
You can point the finger in many directions, but it’s probably best to start with the banks. Blinded by big returns in a booming real estate market, many handed out home loans to virtually anyone: "no income, no assets, no problem."
Those loans were packaged or bundled up by Fannie
cnbc_comboQuoteMove('popup_FNM_ID0EEG15839609');
[FNM 0.69 --- UNCH (0) ]
and Freddie
[FRE 0.55 --- UNCH (0) ]
and peddled on Wall Street by the likes of Bear Stearns, Lehman and Merrill then insured by AIG
cnbc_comboQuoteMove('popup_AIG_ID0EYHAC15839609');
[AIG 3.85 1.16 (+43.12%) ]
cnbc_quoteComponent_init_getData("AIG","WSODQ_COMPONENT_AIG_ID0EYHAC15839609","WSODQ","true","ID0EYHAC15839609","off","false");
.
At the time they looked extremely profitable… if homeowners couldn’t make their payments, not to worry. They’d just refinance because down the road surely their homes would be worth more.
But the bubble burst. Housing prices plummeted and homeowners began to default. Now, holding their mortgages was anything but profitable, in fact it was toxic.
But what did we expect from a system built on unprecedented amounts of risk, leverage, and yes – greed. The fate of Main Street and Wall Street became intertwined like never before. And now this house of cards has come tumbling down.
What now?
I’m not sure that this is a fundamental change, muses Karen Finerman. I think it’s unclear where we are. For home investors, I think it’s okay to do nothing.
I can’t understand why the government has to be a buyer of last resort of CDO’s (collateralized debt obligation). There’s a market for them, adds Carl Icahn. What the government should do is loan them money and tell them to go sell it.There are now policies in place that provide a different kind of backstop, but that doesn’t remove the risk all together. However I’ve gotten net longer just out of fear of the short covering, adds Time Seymour.
Posted By:Lee Brodie
Topics:Stock Market Stock Picks
Companies:TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation Freddie Mac American International Group Inc Fannie Mae
From homeowners facing foreclosure on Main Street to bankers on Wall Street who find themselves suddenly jobless, how did we get here?
You can point the finger in many directions, but it’s probably best to start with the banks. Blinded by big returns in a booming real estate market, many handed out home loans to virtually anyone: "no income, no assets, no problem."
Those loans were packaged or bundled up by Fannie
cnbc_comboQuoteMove('popup_FNM_ID0EEG15839609');
[FNM 0.69 --- UNCH (0) ]
and Freddie
[FRE 0.55 --- UNCH (0) ]
and peddled on Wall Street by the likes of Bear Stearns, Lehman and Merrill then insured by AIG
cnbc_comboQuoteMove('popup_AIG_ID0EYHAC15839609');
[AIG 3.85 1.16 (+43.12%) ]
cnbc_quoteComponent_init_getData("AIG","WSODQ_COMPONENT_AIG_ID0EYHAC15839609","WSODQ","true","ID0EYHAC15839609","off","false");
.
At the time they looked extremely profitable… if homeowners couldn’t make their payments, not to worry. They’d just refinance because down the road surely their homes would be worth more.
But the bubble burst. Housing prices plummeted and homeowners began to default. Now, holding their mortgages was anything but profitable, in fact it was toxic.
But what did we expect from a system built on unprecedented amounts of risk, leverage, and yes – greed. The fate of Main Street and Wall Street became intertwined like never before. And now this house of cards has come tumbling down.
What now?
I’m not sure that this is a fundamental change, muses Karen Finerman. I think it’s unclear where we are. For home investors, I think it’s okay to do nothing.
I can’t understand why the government has to be a buyer of last resort of CDO’s (collateralized debt obligation). There’s a market for them, adds Carl Icahn. What the government should do is loan them money and tell them to go sell it.There are now policies in place that provide a different kind of backstop, but that doesn’t remove the risk all together. However I’ve gotten net longer just out of fear of the short covering, adds Time Seymour.
Friday, September 19, 2008
GO ON, SEE ROCK ON
Rock On!! is the story of 4 friends who put together the greatest band this country has ever seen, but never make it. Years later, fate conspires to bring them together again and set them on a journey back to where they left off... a soul-searching pilgrimage into their past.
Highly recommended for viewing.
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Nicolette Bird, Prachi Desai, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, Arjun Rampal, Shahana Goswami
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Nicolette Bird, Prachi Desai, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, Arjun Rampal, Shahana Goswami
Genre: Drama
Thursday, September 18, 2008
CRASH, CRASH
Its only been few months since I got involved part time into stock trading............& already I have seen the worst . I hope..............
The Wall street came crashing down thanks to the AIG issue............
Qatar saw the lowest in last few days.............just started to pickup & bounce back.............
Hopefully things will settle soon..............
Iyooo, kadavulae............One guy in Indore commited suicide after the market plunged.........he probably had invested quite a lot in the stock market............one life wasted......
Saas, Bahu & sensex is a movie releasing soon..god knows what message it has for the Indian audience............the busy Indian homemaker vs the modern Indian investor homemaker..............I am looking forward to it.
The Wall street came crashing down thanks to the AIG issue............
Qatar saw the lowest in last few days.............just started to pickup & bounce back.............
Hopefully things will settle soon..............
Iyooo, kadavulae............One guy in Indore commited suicide after the market plunged.........he probably had invested quite a lot in the stock market............one life wasted......
Saas, Bahu & sensex is a movie releasing soon..god knows what message it has for the Indian audience............the busy Indian homemaker vs the modern Indian investor homemaker..............I am looking forward to it.
Derivatives
A nuclear winter?
Sep 18th 2008From The Economist print edition
The fallout from the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
WHEN Warren Buffett said that derivatives were “financial weapons of mass destruction”, this was just the kind of crisis the investment seer had in mind. Part of the reason investors are so nervous about the health of financial companies is that they do not know how exposed they are to the derivatives market. It is doubly troubling that the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the near-collapse of American International Group (AIG) came before such useful reforms as a central clearing house for derivatives were in place.
A bankruptcy the size of Lehman’s has three potential impacts on the $62 trillion credit-default swaps (CDS) market, where investors buy insurance against corporate default. All of them would have been multiplied many times had AIG failed too. The insurer has $441 billion in exposure to credit derivatives. A lot of this was provided to banks, which would have taken a hit to their capital had AIG failed. Small wonder the Federal Reserve had to intervene.
The first impact concerns contracts on the debt of Lehman itself. As a “credit event”, the bankruptcy will trigger settlement of contracts, under rules drawn up by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). Those who sold insurance against Lehman going bust will lose a lot. But Lehman had looked risky for some time, so investors should have had the chance to limit their exposure.
The second effect relates to deals where Lehman was a counterparty, ie, a buyer or seller of a swaps contract. For example, an investor or bank may have bought a swap as insurance against an AIG default, with Lehman on the other side of the deal. That protection could conceivably be worthless if Lehman fails to pay up. Until the Friday before its bankruptcy, Lehman would have posted collateral, which the counterparty can claim. After that day, the buyer will have been exposed to price movements before it could unwind the contract.
The third effect will be on the collateralised-debt obligation (CDO) market, which caused so many problems last year. So-called synthetic CDOs comprise a bunch of credit-default swaps; a Lehman default may cause big losses for holders of the riskier tranches.
Insiders say the biggest exposure may be in the interest-rate swaps market, which is many times larger than those for credit derivatives. In a typical interest-rate swap, one party agrees to exchange a fixed-rate obligation with another that has a floating, or variable, rate exposure. Depending on whether floating rates rise or fall, one will end up owing money to the other. Again, those banks that dealt with Lehman should have been fine until Friday, when the bank was still posting collateral. But not afterwards.
Although there are ISDA rules to cover such events, the sheer size of Lehman in the market (its gross derivatives positions will be hundreds of billions of dollars) makes this default a severe test. There will inevitably be legal disputes as well. The good news is that the swaps markets did not utterly seize up after it went bust on September 15th. But the reaction may be a delayed one. Mr Buffett’s WMD could leave behind a cloud of toxicity.
A nuclear winter?
Sep 18th 2008From The Economist print edition
The fallout from the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
WHEN Warren Buffett said that derivatives were “financial weapons of mass destruction”, this was just the kind of crisis the investment seer had in mind. Part of the reason investors are so nervous about the health of financial companies is that they do not know how exposed they are to the derivatives market. It is doubly troubling that the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the near-collapse of American International Group (AIG) came before such useful reforms as a central clearing house for derivatives were in place.
A bankruptcy the size of Lehman’s has three potential impacts on the $62 trillion credit-default swaps (CDS) market, where investors buy insurance against corporate default. All of them would have been multiplied many times had AIG failed too. The insurer has $441 billion in exposure to credit derivatives. A lot of this was provided to banks, which would have taken a hit to their capital had AIG failed. Small wonder the Federal Reserve had to intervene.
The first impact concerns contracts on the debt of Lehman itself. As a “credit event”, the bankruptcy will trigger settlement of contracts, under rules drawn up by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). Those who sold insurance against Lehman going bust will lose a lot. But Lehman had looked risky for some time, so investors should have had the chance to limit their exposure.
The second effect relates to deals where Lehman was a counterparty, ie, a buyer or seller of a swaps contract. For example, an investor or bank may have bought a swap as insurance against an AIG default, with Lehman on the other side of the deal. That protection could conceivably be worthless if Lehman fails to pay up. Until the Friday before its bankruptcy, Lehman would have posted collateral, which the counterparty can claim. After that day, the buyer will have been exposed to price movements before it could unwind the contract.
The third effect will be on the collateralised-debt obligation (CDO) market, which caused so many problems last year. So-called synthetic CDOs comprise a bunch of credit-default swaps; a Lehman default may cause big losses for holders of the riskier tranches.
Insiders say the biggest exposure may be in the interest-rate swaps market, which is many times larger than those for credit derivatives. In a typical interest-rate swap, one party agrees to exchange a fixed-rate obligation with another that has a floating, or variable, rate exposure. Depending on whether floating rates rise or fall, one will end up owing money to the other. Again, those banks that dealt with Lehman should have been fine until Friday, when the bank was still posting collateral. But not afterwards.
Although there are ISDA rules to cover such events, the sheer size of Lehman in the market (its gross derivatives positions will be hundreds of billions of dollars) makes this default a severe test. There will inevitably be legal disputes as well. The good news is that the swaps markets did not utterly seize up after it went bust on September 15th. But the reaction may be a delayed one. Mr Buffett’s WMD could leave behind a cloud of toxicity.
ALL MOTHERS TO READ
China’s baby-milk scandal
Formula for disaster
Sep 18th 2008 SHIJIAZHUANGFrom The Economist print edition
The politics of an unconscionable delay
“QUALITY and safety are the foundations of social harmony,” proclaim posters at the headquarters of the Sanlu Group in Shijiazhuang, capital of China’s northern province of Hebei. Sanlu was until recently one of China’s biggest producers of milk powder. Now, dozens of people, many clutching infants, queue in the hot sun outside to return powder that could be contaminated with a potentially lethal chemical. The harmony of China’s consumers has rarely been so tested.
The safety scandal engulfing not only Sanlu, fingered as the main culprit, but much of China’s dairy industry, is an embarrassment to China’s leaders. In July last year, after widespread complaints at home and abroad about tainted Chinese-made food and medicine, the authorities executed a former head of the country’s food-and-drug safety agency for taking bribes. This year, to improve monitoring, the agency was put under the Ministry of Health. The sale of tainted milk powder, which has so far made more than 6,000 infants ill and killed four, shows contntrols remain dangerously slack.
The government blames middlemen who collect milk from dairy farmers. They allegedly added water to increase its volume and, to disguise this, mixed in melamine, a chemical used to make plastics, which can deceive inspectors about the milk’s protein content. Melamine gained notoriety last year when several pets in America died after eating food contaminated with it by Chinese-made additives.
The central government has boasted it was quick to react to the latest problem. But the chronology revealed so far suggests otherwise. It has fuelled speculation of a delay to make sure the Olympic games in August were not marred by a food scare.
The government of Gansu province in China’s west says it told the Ministry of Health on July 16th about an unusual upsurge of kidney stones among infants who had all drunk the same brand of milk. It was not until September 1st that the ministry says its experts tentatively concluded that the powder had caused the sickness. Still, nothing appeared to happen.
Prodding from the government of New Zealand may have been what eventually goaded the Chinese authorities into action. On September 8th it told them what it had learnt from Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy company that owns 43% of Sanlu. Fonterra says it was told by Sanlu of a problem with the powder on August 2nd, six days before the games.
Helen Clark, New Zealand’s prime minister, said Fonterra had tried “for weeks” to persuade local officials to allow a public recall. Instead, in an unpublicised recall, powder was withdrawn from shops. Fonterra has defended its decision to keep its information under wraps for so long. “If you don’t follow the rules of an individual market place then I think you are getting irresponsible”, says the company’s chief executive, Andrew Ferrier.
Eventually, on September 11th, Sanlu announced a nationwide recall of 700 tonnes of powder. Two days later the Ministry of Health gave its first news conference on the crisis and the cabinet declared a national food-safety emergency. A government investigation found smaller traces of melamine in milk powder from 21 other companies, including leading brands such as Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group (an Olympic sponsor, though the government says no melamine got into the dairy supply for the Olympics or the Paralympics, which ended this week).
Heads are now rolling. Several milk dealers have been arrested. The mayor of Shijiazhuang has been dismissed. Sanlu’s boss, Tian Wenhua, has been fired and arrested. Around the country, milk powder is being withdrawn from shelves, leaving, as one Western expert on China’s dairy industry puts it, “not much but Nestlé”, a Swiss group whose milk powder is not implicated in the scandal. Sanlu’s production has been halted. Some other companies are recalling their milk powder too. The government has extended its investigations to a variety of dairy products.
But officials still appear nervous about public reaction to the news. Chinese journalists say the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department has ordered all but the party’s most trusted media to refrain from investigating the story. At Sanlu’s headquarters people lining up to return their powder complain that the local press has barely covered the issue.
Extra police have been deployed around Sanlu’s headquarters and the city’s main children’s hospital. Across China, anxious parents are flocking to have their infants tested for kidney stones. One grandparent blames the scandal on corrupt collusion between dairy businesses and local officials. “It would not have happened in the days of Mao Zedong,” he says. Harmony has yielded to discord.
Formula for disaster
Sep 18th 2008 SHIJIAZHUANGFrom The Economist print edition
The politics of an unconscionable delay
“QUALITY and safety are the foundations of social harmony,” proclaim posters at the headquarters of the Sanlu Group in Shijiazhuang, capital of China’s northern province of Hebei. Sanlu was until recently one of China’s biggest producers of milk powder. Now, dozens of people, many clutching infants, queue in the hot sun outside to return powder that could be contaminated with a potentially lethal chemical. The harmony of China’s consumers has rarely been so tested.
The safety scandal engulfing not only Sanlu, fingered as the main culprit, but much of China’s dairy industry, is an embarrassment to China’s leaders. In July last year, after widespread complaints at home and abroad about tainted Chinese-made food and medicine, the authorities executed a former head of the country’s food-and-drug safety agency for taking bribes. This year, to improve monitoring, the agency was put under the Ministry of Health. The sale of tainted milk powder, which has so far made more than 6,000 infants ill and killed four, shows contntrols remain dangerously slack.
The government blames middlemen who collect milk from dairy farmers. They allegedly added water to increase its volume and, to disguise this, mixed in melamine, a chemical used to make plastics, which can deceive inspectors about the milk’s protein content. Melamine gained notoriety last year when several pets in America died after eating food contaminated with it by Chinese-made additives.
The central government has boasted it was quick to react to the latest problem. But the chronology revealed so far suggests otherwise. It has fuelled speculation of a delay to make sure the Olympic games in August were not marred by a food scare.
The government of Gansu province in China’s west says it told the Ministry of Health on July 16th about an unusual upsurge of kidney stones among infants who had all drunk the same brand of milk. It was not until September 1st that the ministry says its experts tentatively concluded that the powder had caused the sickness. Still, nothing appeared to happen.
Prodding from the government of New Zealand may have been what eventually goaded the Chinese authorities into action. On September 8th it told them what it had learnt from Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy company that owns 43% of Sanlu. Fonterra says it was told by Sanlu of a problem with the powder on August 2nd, six days before the games.
Helen Clark, New Zealand’s prime minister, said Fonterra had tried “for weeks” to persuade local officials to allow a public recall. Instead, in an unpublicised recall, powder was withdrawn from shops. Fonterra has defended its decision to keep its information under wraps for so long. “If you don’t follow the rules of an individual market place then I think you are getting irresponsible”, says the company’s chief executive, Andrew Ferrier.
Eventually, on September 11th, Sanlu announced a nationwide recall of 700 tonnes of powder. Two days later the Ministry of Health gave its first news conference on the crisis and the cabinet declared a national food-safety emergency. A government investigation found smaller traces of melamine in milk powder from 21 other companies, including leading brands such as Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group (an Olympic sponsor, though the government says no melamine got into the dairy supply for the Olympics or the Paralympics, which ended this week).
Heads are now rolling. Several milk dealers have been arrested. The mayor of Shijiazhuang has been dismissed. Sanlu’s boss, Tian Wenhua, has been fired and arrested. Around the country, milk powder is being withdrawn from shelves, leaving, as one Western expert on China’s dairy industry puts it, “not much but Nestlé”, a Swiss group whose milk powder is not implicated in the scandal. Sanlu’s production has been halted. Some other companies are recalling their milk powder too. The government has extended its investigations to a variety of dairy products.
But officials still appear nervous about public reaction to the news. Chinese journalists say the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department has ordered all but the party’s most trusted media to refrain from investigating the story. At Sanlu’s headquarters people lining up to return their powder complain that the local press has barely covered the issue.
Extra police have been deployed around Sanlu’s headquarters and the city’s main children’s hospital. Across China, anxious parents are flocking to have their infants tested for kidney stones. One grandparent blames the scandal on corrupt collusion between dairy businesses and local officials. “It would not have happened in the days of Mao Zedong,” he says. Harmony has yielded to discord.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
मेरे यहाँ ........
कुछ दिन पहले मैंने अपने कुछ दोस्तो से पुछा," वो कौनसी परेशानी है जो आपके इलाके में सबके चर्चा में है?"
आपकी क्या कहानी है ,मुझे लिख कर बताईये । आपके सुचाव का इंतज़ार रहेगा।
- अरुणा जो अमेरिका में रहती है , उसके अनुसार........... हर वो नागरिक जो खूब सारा उम्मीद लेखर अमरीकी ज़मीन पर आते है, उन्हें रियल इस्टेट के दाव बहुत बड़ी मुसीबत खड़ा करती है। ज़मीन और घर का दाव, आसमान चूने को आया है। वहां इंसान जो भी कमाता है, उसकी आधी पूँजी उसी ज़मीन पर खर्च हो जाती है।
- सीमा जो अभी कुच्छ दिन पहले ही दुबई से वापस कोच्ची में रहने लगी हे, उनके अनुसार.........पहले उन्हें कोच्ची की यातायात और ट्रैफिक बहुत सताती थी। मगर अब आदत सी हो गयी है।
आपकी क्या कहानी है ,मुझे लिख कर बताईये । आपके सुचाव का इंतज़ार रहेगा।
Sunday, September 14, 2008
onam finish
Another onam is over.
The sms's were boring since people were wishing " happy onam" ( repeatedly). I don't know what it ACTUALLY means since it has got to do with the harvest and being with parents .
However we had a nice lunch . Preetha and the kids were the guests. Then there was
Muthappan and meera aunty
sathen uncle rekha aunty , saritha and ammu
vinod, roopa and appu
kishore uncle and shyma aunty
Really sumptuous with three " payasams"
The sms's were boring since people were wishing " happy onam" ( repeatedly). I don't know what it ACTUALLY means since it has got to do with the harvest and being with parents .
However we had a nice lunch . Preetha and the kids were the guests. Then there was
Muthappan and meera aunty
sathen uncle rekha aunty , saritha and ammu
vinod, roopa and appu
kishore uncle and shyma aunty
Really sumptuous with three " payasams"
Thursday, September 11, 2008
expat onams
parents away in india , to call definitely for wishes ( happy onam !!! says all). but is it really happy?
children trying to recreate a bygone way of living in kerala ( where is the harvest nowadays)
childrens children - confused about the harvest , but a good day to enjoy
children trying to recreate a bygone way of living in kerala ( where is the harvest nowadays)
childrens children - confused about the harvest , but a good day to enjoy
ramadan musings
Ramadan the holiest month of the calendar wherein the words of god was told to the Prophet
It is a month for introspection , prayers and good deeds. Fasting is obligatory and in a sense the driving force for the cleansing of the mind and realising the hunger of millions of unfortunate poor people around the world.
It is a month for introspection , prayers and good deeds. Fasting is obligatory and in a sense the driving force for the cleansing of the mind and realising the hunger of millions of unfortunate poor people around the world.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
MY OLYMPIC DREAM
Beijing Olympics 2008 did magic to the thoughts & actions of millions of Indians what probably neither Nehru or Gandhi could do. Yes, We as people of this nation have started to dream & think that in near future India could see more heroes coming back with that beaming smile with a medal handing on their neck.
Well, that's what has made me sleepless, dream more & turn over a hundred times . This is what my dream looks like- picture this please.............
Anju & me (don't frown, of course I had to be part of it or why would I be so restless) have to qualify for the finals of the long jump with a 6.75.........
Anju's first jump is a good one with 6.65 but the other 3 a foul............
my first jump is a staggering 6.5 but the last & final jump is 6.76............I QUALITY.......ANJU DOESN'T. All the major channels give a flash news of the latest & Iam ecstatic.
In that emphatic mood, I jump up on the bed, loose all my senses......kicks my better half ( a kick that even David Beckham would be proud off) and runs out of the room in total madness.
I dreamed this so many times that every time the phone rings these days, I feel its from the IOC( Olympic committee of India).
NDTV recently showed how P.T.Usha is struggling to keep her dream alive of an Olympic athlete from India by 2012 . She is in desperate need of corporates from anywhere to help her create a synthetic track whereby our youngsters can be at par with athletes from around the world.
Well, that's what has made me sleepless, dream more & turn over a hundred times . This is what my dream looks like- picture this please.............
Anju & me (don't frown, of course I had to be part of it or why would I be so restless) have to qualify for the finals of the long jump with a 6.75.........
Anju's first jump is a good one with 6.65 but the other 3 a foul............
my first jump is a staggering 6.5 but the last & final jump is 6.76............I QUALITY.......ANJU DOESN'T. All the major channels give a flash news of the latest & Iam ecstatic.
In that emphatic mood, I jump up on the bed, loose all my senses......kicks my better half ( a kick that even David Beckham would be proud off) and runs out of the room in total madness.
I dreamed this so many times that every time the phone rings these days, I feel its from the IOC( Olympic committee of India).
NDTV recently showed how P.T.Usha is struggling to keep her dream alive of an Olympic athlete from India by 2012 . She is in desperate need of corporates from anywhere to help her create a synthetic track whereby our youngsters can be at par with athletes from around the world.
Monday, September 8, 2008
ONAM FEST
Hi there,
Onam will be here in just a few days time. My friends dropped in today to decide what would be the menu for the big day. Gone are the days when one person of the house toils in the kitchen producing some of the mind boggling dishes from gods own country. We from the new generation instead make a group & share our work something called delegation in management terms.
The end product is fully finished Sadya with less effort & more job satisfaction.
Whats your plan for the day?
Share your views & sent them across.
Onam will be here in just a few days time. My friends dropped in today to decide what would be the menu for the big day. Gone are the days when one person of the house toils in the kitchen producing some of the mind boggling dishes from gods own country. We from the new generation instead make a group & share our work something called delegation in management terms.
The end product is fully finished Sadya with less effort & more job satisfaction.
Whats your plan for the day?
Share your views & sent them across.
BIG BOSS..............
Hi,
The latest that has made my eyes roll back is this program called the BIG BOSS season 2 on channel - Colors.
Its about the days and lives of 15 people who are put in the house of BIG BOSS. Once a member of that house, you have no contact, what so ever with the outside world, which means no newspaper's, mobiles, TV or any other modern time pass gadgets. Nobody enters your premises , hence you end up doing all the house work yourself. As a member of that house, you have to gel well with other house members and earn their respect & love. If you achieve that to some extend ( it appears to be impossible), then you get to stay in that house for longer period or else you get nominated & voted out by the house members itself. The only people who can save you is the general public who try to save Ur grace through SMS.
What makes this program worthwhile (ie for guys) is that the hostess is SHILPA SHETTY( who won accolades all the way up to England except in India). The popular house members are some unknown actors, comedians & actresses from bollywood & Balaji telefilms, Rahul Mahajan ( aka son of late Pramod Mahajan) and Monica Bedi ( needs no prior intro I suppose).
Don't watch it if you wonder how people can survive under a 24/7 scrutinised camera that records your every word and action.
The latest that has made my eyes roll back is this program called the BIG BOSS season 2 on channel - Colors.
Its about the days and lives of 15 people who are put in the house of BIG BOSS. Once a member of that house, you have no contact, what so ever with the outside world, which means no newspaper's, mobiles, TV or any other modern time pass gadgets. Nobody enters your premises , hence you end up doing all the house work yourself. As a member of that house, you have to gel well with other house members and earn their respect & love. If you achieve that to some extend ( it appears to be impossible), then you get to stay in that house for longer period or else you get nominated & voted out by the house members itself. The only people who can save you is the general public who try to save Ur grace through SMS.
What makes this program worthwhile (ie for guys) is that the hostess is SHILPA SHETTY( who won accolades all the way up to England except in India). The popular house members are some unknown actors, comedians & actresses from bollywood & Balaji telefilms, Rahul Mahajan ( aka son of late Pramod Mahajan) and Monica Bedi ( needs no prior intro I suppose).
Don't watch it if you wonder how people can survive under a 24/7 scrutinised camera that records your every word and action.
WELCOME ALL !!!!!!
Hi,
I was always a PC friendly person, hence starting my own blog was always in my mind.
But it took loads of thinking from the bottom of my brain (its an overloaded pit- pot you see), some time management and continous persuasion from my better half to really pindown something worthwhile.
This ia a space not just for me , but for all those who are in someway or the other a part of my thoughts and actions.
You are most welcome to share and portray your experiences & thoughts and also give your valuabe suggestions.
ONCE AGAIN WELCOME ONE & ALL.
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