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• Dixon Nissen posted an update 4 days, 21 hours ago

    In Sweden, “Swedish massage” is just generally known as “classic massage”. And that’s precisely what it’s – an antique treatment addressing the western standard for massage. The five main techniques used in Swedish massage – stroking and gliding; kneading; massaging; tapping or pounding; vibration – are usually what spring to mind if you look at a “typical” massage.

    what’s Swedish massage best for?

    The Swedish massage methods are built to boost your circulation, soothe muscle tissue consequently feel more relaxed.

    Swedish massage uses softer strokes around the bonier plus more delicate portions of the body, and stronger strokes where there’s thicker muscle coverage. This adjustment of pressure makes it a perfect massage for relaxation.

    In addition to the calming benefits, Swedish massage is assumed to become good for:

    Easing muscle strain by flushing out toxins

    Improving circulation by increasing oxygen circulation through the blood

    making an effort to keep tendons and ligaments supple

    Reducing emotional and physical stress.

    Before heading, seek advice from the spa in what you ought to wear: the spa might offer underwear. When the considered removing all of your garments enables you to blush, don’t worry: your therapist will be a painter of professional draping methods. The oils and lotions found in massage can stain fabrics, so it is a great idea to opt for something if you’re wearing your own garments.

    Like all treatments, notify your therapist of any medical ailments you might have and inform them if you’re – or simply think you may well be – pregnant.

    It’s far better to avoid heavy meals and alcohol within the hours before your massage.

    What to expect from the massage

    Your massage can last around 60 or 1 hour 30 minutes. Your therapist may give you time for it to undress and sleep the night on the massage table, which can be generally padded for additional relaxation, where you could pay yourself with towels. You don’t should be entirely vulnerable at any point; your therapist may uncover one little you at the same time based on the region she is centering on. If you’re interested in anything, don’t be afraid to express so.

    Your therapist might evaluate your complexion at the outset of your treatment and judge essential oils or lotions to fulfill your skin. She’ll massage these into your body with a group of strokes and processes particular towards the section of your system and just what you desire to achieve; for instance, this is long, gliding strokes across the back to work with you unwind, or kneading or massaging the shoulders to unwind any knots. The procedure thinks about the delicate or tender regions of the body, so it should be soothing and comfy.

    The same holds for talking. Most therapists are very extra responsive to the amount their customer wish to communicate and may restrict or encourage conversation so. Many people want to chat a bit; others don’t. It doesn’t matter provided that you’re relaxed, comfortable and receptive.

    Beyond this concept, you’ll likely feel totally relaxed and perhaps even tired, so allow plenty of time to unwind. Savour the impression of getting every muscle in your own body gently stretched and smoothed out.

    Various Swedish massage

    Since Swedish massage is amongst the classic varieties of massage, a unique techniques and strokes from the grounds for a number of other treatments. Check to determine what your selected spa supplies, but here are a few therapies which might include Swedish massage:

    Dual massage for couples

    Aromatherapy massage

    Hot stone therapy

    Seated chair massage Thai massage

    Hot tip!

    All massage makes you feel thirsty and needing to go to the toilet more than ever before – the reason being the massage has your lymph circulation going plus your person is getting rid of toxins. Drink plenty of water afterwards because you float to earth.

    To read more about MASSAGE IN CAMBRIDGE just go to this popular web portal:

    look at this now

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Friday, April 9, 2010

How to Use Google Buzz to Promote Your Online Business

Google Buzz is a new social network site. It is just few month old but already attracted tons of people joining it. Certainly this is going to be another social networking platform that you can take advantage to promote your website and business and generate traffic.

If generating traffic through social networking site is your favorite traffic-generating method, Google Buzz is going to be interesting to you. I'm sure you want to make use of Google Buzz for marketing and branding. Joel Comm has recently written a report about how you can use Google Buzz for your online business. The report is just 31 pages with useful content and it's easy to read. Good for you if you want to learn more about marketing with Google Buzz.

You can download a free copy of Joel's Google Buzz report right away at:

There is no opt-in needed to get the report. Just click the above link and you'll see the download button. Click the button and the report will show up.

Enjoy reading!

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Shiitake bombs

Delicious fusion croquettes.

  • The Real Fact

    The best of traditional Spanish croquettes with an Asian twist

  • How We Do

    Secret fusion bechamel sauce for an explosion of flavour.

  • Ingredients

    Shiitake mushrooms, garlic, onion, bechamel sauce, breadcrumbs.

  • Price

    60.000 VND

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 Tabcorp is Heading Lawsuit For Money Laundering
Home | Gambling News | Tabcorp is Heading Lawsuit For Money Laundering

Tabcorp is Heading Lawsuit For Money Laundering

23.07.2015 | Antoan Tok

Things and life seem not to be so sunny and successful for the Australian betting website Tabcorp. The bookmaker is about to face its worst nightmare – a lawsuit. The case is common to the niche – money laundering doubts that the Australian authorities have been suspecting and investigating for months.

Finally, the police have discovered enough evidence to put Tobcorp in front of the judge as to the money laundering accusations. Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre – AUSTRAC – though, was the one that took the initiative as to the whole investigation and in the beginning of this week the agency has finally made it to dill a civil suit in the national Federal Court that is located in Sydney and that takes most of money laundering cases in this region. There are no special statements or announcements from the chief management team in Tabcorp as to the accusations and the future lawsuit. We remind you that the first signs for money laundering that were linked to the betting online operator appeared back in 2010 year. The police, then, have put the beginning of the whole case, but only now the real facts are enough to put Tabcorp in court.

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Sunday, 25 January 2009

Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller has legs amputated below knees

Longtime Utah Jazz owner Larry H.

Miller's legs were amputated 6 inches below the knee on Friday. Jazz spokesman Jonathan Rinehart said Friday's surgery was the result of complications from Type 2 diabetes.

Get the low-down here:

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Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Acetate Effects #4

Tonight's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Fall In Love With A Puppy!

Our friends adopted a new puppy from the shelter on Sunday and today we met her for the first time...What can I say?  I'm in love! :)  There's something about puppies that just puts a smile on my face and a whole lot of love in my heart!  Puppy therapy is the best!

Tonight's card is for tomorrow's sketch challenge on SCS - it was posted early so I got to play before heading off to bed!  It uses my new Acetate Effects technique!  (You can see the video HERE).  I stamped the butterfly image on a whisper white panel and adhered it behind the acetate.  I crimped all of the background panels.  I hope you like it!

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

2 weeks... and loosing count

It's hard to believe how quickly time is flying now that our sweet M and B are home. They've only been home for 10 days, yet they are fitting into our family beautifully. That's not to say that it's been an easy road, but it HAS been beautiful.

Just to recap a bit... I know that I've shared with a few of you our experience in Ethiopia when we went back to get our kids after Embassy FINALLY cleared us, but have yet to blog about it... so here goes.

We arrived in Ethiopia on Tuesday morning, Nov. 15th. After dropping our luggage and brushing our teeth, we headed over to the Transition Home to see our littles and take them to be with us... forever. Okay, gonna be honest here: I had HIGH expectations. I did. I know that I shouldn't have, but I did. I didn't have any expectations on our first trip, as it was there first time meeting us... and other than a few care pkgs, they really didn't know us. But for THIS trip, my expectations were high... like in the sky-high.

Now, let me explain. They were high because we had sent NUMEROUS care pkgs., videos of us talking to them (thanks Vermes and Marshalls), pictures etc. between July -when we met them- and November when it was time to bring them home. AND, they had clearly bonded to us well when we were there in July. So, I just assumed that when they saw us there, that time would slow down, the music would begin to play, the angels would sing and we would run to each other in slow motion with open arms and tears streaming down our faces. um... okay. so I was a little off base. What can I say, I'm a dreamer.

Well, here's how it REALLY went down. B was still at the older Transition Home, so he would be coming through the front gate. M was getting her pants changed, so she would be coming through the front door on the famous porch (any of you that have adopted through AWAA know that famous porch). How were we supposed to greet both of them coming from 2 different areas??? Did we stand at the gate waiting for B?? or at the porch waiting for M?? and what about pictures. How could we possibly get the best angle and pictures if our back was to B... or to M as they were coming out to us. Yes, I know, pretty ridiculous the things that went through my head. But this was BIG, people. It needed to be captured on film! Don't forget the singing angels!

Thankfully our dear friends, Aaron and Nichole Marshall were there and were kind enough to wait to bring their boy out so that they could take video and pictures of our "gotcha day".

Back to my expectations... the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, but I'll add commentary just in case you need it.

Here we are... waiting... dreaming... expecting those angels to sing.

M came out first. There were no singing angels, except in my head... that stopped the minute I heard M screaming and running the other direction to avoid me! The only tears were her tears streaming down her face out of sheer panic and fear. Yeah. It actually could've been comical, if I wasn't soo heartbroken. Not comical - the fact that she was terrified, but the fact that I had such grandiose ideas of how it would play out.

B came in and he seemed happy, yet a bit overwhelmed so he just ran around... then was thrilled to see that we brought him a backpack loaded with treats/toys. He was in heaven.

And still M continued to cry. Scream really. The thing is: our agency has an AWESOME group of nannies that cared for our kids. They have an incredible bunch of travel guides (Yonas, Eyob and T) as well as one kick butt driver (Dawitt) that the kids absolutely adored. They know these guys well. They bonded with them and the nannies over the months that they were in their care. It was HARD for them to say goodbye.

Things got better once we left the Transition Home... well, a little better. M stopped crying... as long as Jeff was holding her, and I wasn't. Seriously. She was bonding with him, and pretty much punishing me. Again, comical, yet clearly her heart was aching. and although it wasn't about me... it's NEVER been about me, inadvertently it ended up affecting me... I had stored up soo much love for these two precious kiddos, and couldn't wait to draw them in. and well, one in particular was kicking me to the curb.

This was honestly crushing to my heart... and it was such an intense look into M's wounded heart. It broke me. I was sad... for her, for me for us. I gave her space... for 2 days.

At the end of the two very long days, Jeff said, "it's time... she needs to know that you're her mom. that you're never leaving." So... I put on the handy dandy sling and slipped her in... for 8 hours I wore her on me.

It was the BEST thing EVER. She started to show signs of at least tolerating me. Then signs of liking me. YES! There was hope!

Jeff just kept reassuring me, "we just need to get home. Once we get home it will be so much better." Well, as usual, he was right. It did get so much better.

Each day gets better and better. I am in love with these two cuties, as much as if I had them naturally... they have grown in my heart over the last several months and they are a beautiful addition to our family.

Our bio kids have been amazing with them... hugging on them, loving them. It's as if they've always been a part of our family.

I am reminded daily of God's faithfulness to us. Through this journey I've seen just a glimpse of what it must look like to our Father when we are grafted into His family. Sometimes we kick and fight Him, yet He holds us through it all... loving us unconditionally. It's a beautiful thing.

I feel honored to be chosen to walk this journey. I'm the one being blessed. M and B are enriching our lives more than we ever could've imagined... and we are changing in ways that are beautiful. I never want to go back to the way things were.

I am happy to say that after only 2 weeks, M and B call me Mommy and Jeff Ababa (daddy).
 They let me comfort them when they are hurt and giggle when I snuggle them. I am one blessed mama. They are bonding well. We are making strides... as a family.

I love seeing how adoption is bringing our family closer together. Forever. Psalm 68:6  God sets the lonely in families...

Monday, November 14, 2011

As we wait to board our plane carrying us from DC to Addis Ababa, my mind is swirling with thoughts of joy, hope, eagerness, excitement... as well as feeling nervous, humbled, scatterbrained and giddy. We would be remiss if we didn't take a moment to thank you, our friends and family, and even complete strangers for all of the various ways that you've been supportive to us over the last 18months, when we began this journey.

I think it has finally started to sink in that we are on our way to get our children!! and bring them home with us. When we first saw the sweet faces of M and B back in May, I had no idea how grand my love for them would be. Of course, I knew that it would grow, but I didn't realize the fierceness to which it would grow. It is just a glimpse of how very much my God must love me. It's incredibly humbling to say the least.

I realize that once we get in country, I will have VERY little time to update as our hands will be full of two little brown eyed beauties, but I DID want to take a quick minute to say THANK YOU!

We began this journey with a seed that was planted in Jeff's heart, lots of enthusiasm, and little funding to make it happen.

Thank you for stepping up to the plate in soo many different ways... words of encouragement, an ear to listen, prayers and more prayers, as well as soo many that have give to us financially to make this happen.

We knew that if this truly was a calling that God had ordained, that He would have to provide... and He did.

Thank you!

We realize that our journey is really just beginning, as we will have our own "after the airport" experience... so PLEASE continue to pray. If you feel led, please call and encourage us. send us a quick note. All of these things mean soo very much to us.

God is soo very faithful! Thank you for being a part of our journey!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

a time to fly and a time to bond...

Hey there friends and family,

Katie and I are really excited with nervous anticipation as we look to bring B and M home. Although it has been heart wrenching at times, we are eager to reach the next chapter of the process, and we are nearly there.

We wanted to share with you a couple of things related to how life will be "after the airport" as they say. It involves something quite important in the adoption process. It is called attachment. We've poured over books, blogs and counseled friends and others on how we should create an environment of attachment for B and M and this is our plan. We are asking that you pray along side us and respect the decision we've made in bonding with them in these early stages.

What is attachment?
Attachment is the process of having adopted children bond to the family unit.

Why attachment?
Attachment is a critical step in the adoption process. Without clear attachment, adopted children especially, are left with an unclear picture of where their security, trust and affection lie. This stage is an important part of ensuring they understand who their parents and siblings are and that we will be there for them...forever.

What is our attachment plan?
  • TIMELINE: For the first 4-6 weeks, We will not be welcoming any visitors into our home at this time - family or otherwise - and we will not be going out much. Exceptions will be made for doctor appointments we have scheduled for them and/or other important events. This may sound drastic, however, they need to understand that WE are their parents...it can be very confusing to a child who has had different people coming in and out of their lives to understand having many visitors over....even as biological children require a common routine and environment, adopted children need time to understand what their new routine and environment involves to a much greater degree.  After this initial phase, we are truly praying that the bonding process will be well established and we can begin the moving back to "normalcy". We are unsure of what that looks like, however, it will most likely involve limited trips out, having friends over for lunch, etc. But we really believe that the more we can have them at home, in familiar surroundings with their parents and siblings the better. We believe this may take anywhere from 3-6 months. Ultimately we will take our cues from them and adjust accordingly.
  • COMMUNICATION: We are also requesting that if you would like to get in contact with us, that you send email. We will be focusing all of our attention on being with our kids. ALL of them. We also feel it is very important to have B and M attach and bond with their siblings. This will involve creating activities they all can be involved in and interact with one another in a healthy positive way.
  • VISITORS: As we stated above, we are kindly requesting no visitors for the first 4-6 weeks after our return. Trust us when we say that this will probably more painful for us than for you. However, there are many things that we will be working on that will require our full attention. Language: B and M have very limited English vocabulary. It will be important for us to being the process of educating them on specific words that will help them communicate with us, and us to them. Bonding: We will be the only people that will hug on, play with, and comfort our new family members. This does not mean that you won't ever get to connect with them in this way, but again, it is important that WE are seen as their primary caregivers...their Mom and Dad. We are praying that during the last couple of weeks of this bonding period, we will see great gains and possibly begin to introduce family and friends sooner than we expect.

What does this mean to you?
We have read a lot of material and read lots of stories of families and the attachment of their adopted children. There are often many deep seeded issues that need resolved in the hearts minds and spirits of these precious children. It is our plan to ensure these needs are met and will take the appropriate amount of time to ensure it does. We are simply asking for your understanding and more importantly, your continued prayers.

You all have played a vital role in bringing B and M home, and know that you're support will continue. We are so thankful for our friends and family.

If you are so inclined, we would greatly appreciate meal support upon our return...because you know, jet lag can be awesome. With six children.  Please visit the Take Them a Meal website for more information.

God bless!

If you have any questions, let us know. We are more than happy to answer them.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

How to be the Village by Jen Hatmaker

 This post is actually written by Jen Hatmaker, who happens to be an incredible writer, storyteller. You can view her blog here.

 If you've ever wondered what to say to us through this LONG adoption journey, what to say now, or after we bring our kids home, please read this.
Sometimes being ever-so-slightly in the public eye is rough. With a mouth and discernment problem like mine, you can imagine. I basically offer my life on the altar of criticism daily, then douse the sacrifice with plenty of fuel to make disparagement a lay-up.

For instance, Brandon and I attended a Halloween party last weekend with the theme “Heroes and Super villains.” Our friends came in such costumes as Captain America and the Joker and Kim Possible. They were all very polished and adorable. We came as washed-up, possibly strung out Superman and Supergirl complete with ripped fishnets, smeared makeup, and pistol tattoo drawn with Sharpie. We may or may not have had unlit cigarettes dangling from the corners of our mouths.

These choices are often met with disapproval from the watching masses, as you might well guess. I know you wish I would only dress up as Little Bo Peep or Mary Mother of Jesus, but Brandon and I are very, very silly and immature, and I’ve been trying to tell you people this for some time.

But usually I am grateful for the connection to the greater world, if only through social media and the miracle of emails (plus embarrassing transparency). For example, just a few days ago, I received this email:
Our good friends just returned from Ethiopia last night with their two little boys. Ok, they've had their "airport" moment and we were right there with them. What are some things we can do now to support them in the "real life" journey without overstepping our boundaries? Thank you so much for your transparency and honesty. Everyone can benefit when you share from your heart.

I was so moved by this email. Having benefited from a community that practically smothered us with support throughout our adoption journey, I am so grateful for all the other good friends out there, loving their people and asking how to help. Since reading this email, I’ve been marinating on her question, and I’ve decided to write this Field Guide to Supporting Adoptive Families. (And it will be brief because I will try to remember that this is a blog and not a manuscript and the rules of blogging include succinctness, so that is exactly how I’ll proceed today, except for the exact opposite of all that.)

Let’s break this down into two categories:

Supporting Families Before the Airport

Your friends are adopting. They’re in the middle of dossiers and home studies, and most of them are somewhere in the middle of Waiting Purgatory. Please let me explain something about WP: It sucks in every way. Oh sure, we try to make it sound better than it feels by using phrases like “We’re trusting in God’s plan” and “God is refining me” and “Sovereignty trumps my feelings” and crazy bidness like that. But we are crying and aching and getting angry and going bonkers when you’re not watching. It’s hard. It hurts. It feels like an eternity even though you can see that it is not. It is harder for us to see that, because many of us have pictures on our refrigerators of these beautiful darlings stuck in an orphanage somewhere while we’re bogged down in bureaucracy and delays.

How can you help? By not saying or doing these things:

1. “God’s timing is perfect!” (Could also insert: “This is all God’s plan!” “God is in charge!”) As exactly true as this may be, when you say it to a waiting parent, we want to scratch your eyebrows off and make you eat them with a spoon. Any trite answer that minimizes the struggle is as welcomed as a sack of dirty diapers. You are voicing something we probably already believe while not acknowledging that we are hurting and that somewhere a child is going to bed without a mother again. Please never say this again. Thank you.

2. “Are you going to have your own kids?” (Also in this category: “You’ll probably get pregnant the minute your adoption clears!” “Since this is so hard, why don’t you just try to have your own kids?” “Well, at least you have your own kids.”) The subtle message here is: You can always have legitimate biological kids if this thing tanks. It places adoption in the Back-up Plan Category,
where it does not belong for us. When we flew to Ethiopia with our first travel group from our agency, out of 8 couples, we were the only parents with biological kids. The other 7 couples chose adoption first. Several of them were on birth control. Adoption counts as real parenting, and if you believe stuff Jesus said, it might even be closer to the heart of God than regular old procreation. (Not to mention the couples that grieved through infertility already. So when you say, “Are you going to have your own kids?” to a woman who tried for eight years, then don’t be surprised if she pulls your beating heart out like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.)

3. For those of you in Christian community, it is extremely frustrating to hear: “Don’t give up on God!” or “Don’t lose faith!” It implies that we are one nanosecond away from tossing our entire belief system in the compost pile because we are acting sad or discouraged. It’s condescending and misses the crux of our emotions. I can assure you, at no point in our story did we think about kicking Jesus to the curb,
but we still get to cry tears and feel our feelings, folks. Jesus did. And I’m pretty sure he went to heaven when he died.

4. We’re happy to field your questions about becoming a transracial family or adopting a child of another race, but please don’t use this moment to trot out your bigotry. (Cluelessness is a different thing, and we try to shrug that off. Like when someone asked about our Ethiopian kids, “Will they be black?” Aw, sweet little dum-dum.) The most hurtful thing we heard during our wait was from a black pastor who said, “Whatever you do, don’t change their last name to Hatmaker, because they are NOT Hatmakers. They’ll never be Hatmakers. They are African.”
What the??? I wonder if he’d launch the same grenade if we adopted white kids from Russia? If you’d like to know what we’re learning about raising children of another race or ask respectful, legitimate questions, by all means, do so. We care about this and take it seriously, and we realize we will traverse racial landmines with our family. You don’t need to point out that we are adopting black kids and we are, in fact, white. We’ve actually already thought of that.

5. Saying nothing is the opposite bad. I realize with blogs like this one, you can get skittish on how to talk to a crazed adopting Mama without getting under her paper-thin skin or inadvertently offending her. I get it. (We try hard not to act so hypersensitive. Just imagine that we are paper-pregnant with similar hormones surging through our bodies making us cry at Subaru commercials just like the 7-month preggo sitting next to us. And look at all this weight we’ve gained.
See?) But acting like we’re not adopting or struggling or waiting or hoping or grieving is not helpful either. If I was pregnant with a baby in my belly, and no one ever asked how I was feeling or how much longer or is his nursery ready or can we plan a shower, I would have to audition new friend candidates immediately.

Here’s what we would love to hear Before the Airport:

1. Just kind, normal words of encouragement. Not the kind that assume we are one breath away from atheism. Not the kind that attempt to minimize the difficulties and tidy it all up with catchphrases.
We don’t actually need for you to fix our wait. We just want you to be our friend and acknowledge that the process is hard and you care about us while we’re hurting. That is GOLD. I was once having lunch with my friend Lynde when AWAA called with more bad news about Ben’s case, and I laid my head down on the table in the middle of Galaxy Café and bawled. Having no idea what to do with such a hot mess, she just cried with me. Thank you for being perfect that day, Lynde.

2. Your questions are welcomed! We don’t mind telling you about the court system in Ethiopia or the in-country requirements in Nicaragua or the rules of the foster system. We’re glad to talk about adoption, and we’re thankful you care. I assure you we didn’t enter adoption lightly, so sharing details of this HUGE PIECE OF OUR LIVES is cathartic. Plus, we want you to know more because we’re all secretly hoping you’ll adopt later. (This is not true.) (Yes it is.)

3. When you say you’re praying for us and our waiting children, and you actually really are, not only does that soothe our troubled souls, but according to Scripture, it activates the heavens. So pray on, dear friends. Pray on. That is always the right thing to say. And please actually do it. We need people to stand in the gap for us when we are too tired and discouraged to keep praying the same words another day.

4. If you can, please become telepathic to determine which days we want to talk about adoption and which days we’d rather you just show up on our doorstep with fresh figs from the Farmer’s Market (thanks, Katie) or kidnap us away in the middle of the day to go see
Bridesmaids. Sometimes we need you to make us laugh and remember what it feels like to be carefree for a few hours. If you’re not sure which day we’re having, just pre-buy movie tickets and show up with the figs, and when we answer the door, hold them all up and ask, “Would you like to talk for an hour uninterrupted about waiting for a court date?” We’ll respond to whichever one fits.

Supporting Families After the Airport

You went to the airport. The baby came down the escalator to cheers and balloons. The long adoption journey is over and your friends are home with their new baby / toddler / twins / siblings / teenager. Everyone is happy. Maybe Fox News even came out and filmed the big moment and “your friend” babbled like an idiot and didn’t say one constructive word about adoption and also she looked really sweaty during her interview. (Really? That happened to me too. Weird.)

How can you help? By not saying or doing these things:

1. I mean this nicely, but don’t come over for awhile. Most of us are going to hole up in our homes with our little tribe and attempt to create a stable routine without a lot of moving parts. This is not because we hate you; it’s because we are trying to establish the concept of “home” with our newbies, and lots of strangers coming and going makes them super nervous and unsure, especially strangers who are talking crazy language to them and trying to touch their hair.

2. Please do not touch, hug, kiss, or use physical affection with our kids for a few months. We absolutely know your intentions are good, but attachment is super tricky with abandoned kids, and they have had many caregivers, so when multiple adults (including extended family) continue to touch and hold them in their new environment, they become confused about who to bond with. This actually delays healthy attachment egregiously. It also teaches them that any adult or stranger can touch them without their permission, and believe me, many adoptive families are working HARD to undo the damage already done by this position. Thank you so much for respecting these physical boundaries.

3. For the next few months, do not assume the transition is easy. For 95% of us, it so is not. And this isn’t because our family is dysfunctional or our kids are lemons, but because
this phase is so very hard on everyone. I can’t tell you how difficult it was to constantly hear: “You must be so happy!” and “Is life just so awesome now that they’re here??” and “Your family seems just perfect now!” I wanted that to be true so deeply, but I had no idea how to tell you that our home was actually a Trauma Center. (I did this in a passive aggressive way by writing this blog, which was more like “An Open Letter to Everyone Who Knows Us and Keeps Asking Us How Happy We Are.”) Starting with the right posture with your friends – this is hard right now – will totally help you become a safe friend to confide in / break down in front of / draw strength from.

4. Do not act shocked if we tell you how hard the early stages are. Do not assume adoption was a mistake. Do not worry we have ruined our lives. Do not talk behind our backs about how terribly we’re doing and how you’re worried that we are suicidal. Do not ask thinly veiled questions implying that we are obviously doing something very, very wrong. Do not say things like, “I was so afraid it was going to be like this” or “Our other friends didn’t seem to have these issues at all.” Just let us struggle. Be our friends in the mess of it. We’ll get better.

5. If we’ve adopted older kids, please do not ask them if they “love America so much” or are “so happy to live in Texas.” It’s this simple: adoption is born from horrible loss. In an ideal world, there would be no adoption, because our children would be with their birth families, the way God intended. I’ll not win any points here, but I bristle when people say, “Our adopted child was chosen for us by God before the beginning of time.” No he wasn’t. He was destined for his birth family. God did not create these kids to belong to us. He didn’t decide that they should be born into poverty or disease or abandonment or abuse and despair aaaaaaaall so they could finally make it into our homes, where God intended them to be. No. We are a very distant Plan B. Children are meant for their birth families, same as my biological kids were meant for mine. Adoption is one possible answer to a very real tragedy… after it has already happened, not before as the impetus for abandonment. There is genuine grief and sorrow when your biological family is disrupted by death and poverty, and our kids have endured all this and more. So when you ask my 8-year-old if he is thrilled to be in Texas, please understand that he is not. He misses his country, his language, his food, his family. Our kids came to us in the throes of grief, as well they should. Please don’t make them smile and lie to you about how happy they are to be here.

6. Please do not disappear. If I thought the waiting stage was hard, it does not even hold the barest candle to what comes after the airport.
Not. The. Barest. Candle. Never have I felt so isolated and petrified. Never have I been so overwhelmed and exhausted. We need you after the airport way more than we ever needed you before. I know you’re scared of us, what with our dirty hair and wild eyes and mystery children we’re keeping behind closed doors so they don’t freak out more than they already have, but please find ways to stick around. Call. Email. Check in. Post on our Facebook walls. Send us funny cards. Keep this behavior up for longer than six days.

Here’s what we would love to hear or experience After the Airport:

1. Cook for your friends. Put together a meal calendar and recruit every person who even remotely cares about them. We didn’t cook dinners for one solid month, and folks, that may have single handedly saved my sanity. There simply are not words to describe how exhausting and overwhelming those first few weeks are, not to mention the lovely jetlag everyone came home with. And if your friends adopted domestically right up the street, this is all still true, minus the jetlag.

2. If we have them, offer to take our biological kids for an adventure or sleepover. Please believe me: their lives just got WHACKED OUT, and they need a break, but their parents can’t give them one because they are 1.) cleaning up pee and poop all day, 2.) holding screaming children, 3.) spending all their time at doctors’ offices, and 4.) falling asleep in their clothes at 8:15pm. Plus, they are in lockdown mode with the recently adopted, trying to shield them from the trauma that is Walmart.

3. Thank you for getting excited with us over our little victories. I realize it sounds like a very small deal when we tell you our kindergartener is now staying in the same room as the dog, but if you could’ve seen the epic level of freakoutedness this dog caused her for three weeks, you would understand that
this is really something. When you encourage us over our incremental progress, it helps. You remind us that we ARE moving forward and these little moments are worth celebrating. If we come to you spazzing out, please remind us where we were a month ago. Force us to acknowledge their gains. Be a cheerleader for the healing process.

4. Come over one night after our kids are asleep and sit with us on our porch. Let me tell you: we are all lonely in those early weeks. We are home, home, home, home, home. Good-bye, date nights. Good-bye, GNO’s. Good-bye, spontaneous anything. Good-bye, church. Good-bye, big public outings. Good-bye, community group. Good-bye, nightlife. So please bring some community to our doorstep. Bring friendship back into our lives. Bring adult conversation and laughter. And bring an expensive bottle of wine.

5. If the shoe fits, tell adopting families how their story is affecting yours. If God has moved in you over the course of our adoption, whether before the airport or after, if you’ve made a change or a decision, if somewhere deep inside a fire was lit, tell us, because it is spiritual water on dry souls. There is nothing more encouraging than finding out God is using our families for greater kingdom work, beautiful things we would never know or see. We gather the holy moments in our hands every day, praying for eyes to see God’s presence, his purposes realized in our story. When you put more holy moments in our hands to meditate on, we are drawn deeper into the Jesus who led us here.

Here’s one last thing: As you watch us struggle and celebrate and cry and flail, we also want you to know that adoption is beautiful, and a thousand times we’ve looked at each other and said, “What if we would’ve said no?” God invited us into something monumental and lovely, and we would’ve missed endless moments of glory had we walked away. We need you during these difficult months of waiting and transitioning, but we also hope you see that we serve a faithful God who heals and actually sets the lonely in families, just like He said He would. And even through the tears and tantrums (ours), we look at our children and marvel that God counted us worthy to raise them. We are humbled. We’ve been gifted with a very holy task, and when you help us rise to the occasion, you have an inheritance in their story; your name will be counted in their legacy.

Because that day you brought us pulled pork tacos was the exact day I needed to skip dinner prep and hold my son on the couch for an hour, talking about Africa and beginning to bind up his emotional wounds. When you kidnapped me for two hours and took me to breakfast, I was at the very, very, absolute end that morning, but I came home renewed, able to greet my children after school with fresh love and patience. When you loved on my big kids and offered them sanctuary for a night, you kept the family rhythm in sync at the end of a hard week.

Thank you for being the village. You are so important.

Adoptive friends, what can you add? What has been helpful or hurtful? How has your community helped you raise your children? What do friends and family need to hear?


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77-year-old Trinity woman charged with murder in shooting death of 86-year-old husband

Rochelle Scarlett Hoover

ASHEBORO, N.C. — A Trinity woman has been charged in the shooting death of her husband earlier this month, according to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.

Rochelle Scarlett Hoover, 77, was taken into custody on Friday after she was released from a local hospital and has been charged with murder in the death of 86-year-old Harold Levette Hoover.

Deputies, EMS and members of the Guil-Rand Fire Department were dispatched to 4020 Shannon Road in Trinity on Dec. 11.

Upon arrival, they found Harold Hoover deceased.

Rochelle Hoover was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Rochelle Hoover is being held with no bond allowed.


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Thursday, January 10, 2008

Eating Bread and Honey

Very poor painting today. One step forward, two steps back. I tackled the pivotal "queen" figure in the painting and she's been a challenge. The turn of her head, the look of her eyes, the shape and angle of her arm to her mouth, the texture of her dress, nothing has gone smoothly. Here is what little headway I've made this week. On top of everything else, my pictures are blurry, as it was getting very dark and I can't use a flash.
Her eyes ought to convey rude arrogance, haughty indifference, and it must be her eyes alone that carry it because she is sucking her fingers. I've really set myself a task.

I wanted to make the gown a very shiny golden satin, as if she were clothed in a gown of flowing honey. But I'm no Rubens fer Chrissakes! I hacked away at this thing today for six hours. I'm pretty happy with the half of the gown I've finished, but I should have done twice as much in half the time!

Craig Photography said...

If you get a chance please check out the question on my blog today. I would be very intrested in your view..

Peace ~ John

Derek C. F. Pegritz said...

Girl, I could pick you out of a line-up of clones.

Julie Schuler said...

heheh. It's that toucan-like profile that will give me away. Stupid big Polish nose. And thanks for calling me "Girl". It's mostly ma'am these days.

Derek C. F. Pegritz said...

Hey, I *like* women with distinctive facial features! Remember, *I* certainly don't have a tiny beak, either...and, in fact, I find tiny little noses on weak, all-too-American features to be completely offputting. I don't like my women resembling small Chinese dogs.

And you'll always be "Girl" to me, toots....Even though you're only, like, a year younger than me. :) YOU still look young and vibrant and cool and stuff. *I* just look like a worn-out old drunkard anymore. He he heeeee. (It's funny because it's true.)

Julie Schuler said...

derek christopher francis pegritz is a widdiful flatterer.

You know what makes you youthful? Spending time with children! And I happen to have a few. You should come watch them while I get some painting done.

Niall said...

You photograph very well julie..such a piercing gaze..I feel quite naked!

Derek C. F. Pegritz said...

Children make me itch. :) Well...not always. I seem to get along really well with kids around the ages of seven and up--I like that age because they're old enough to talk, and they've discovered social interaction at school, but their minds are still wide-open and voraciously hungry for information. Plus they like to play with G. I. Joes and Transformers.

The thing is, I still feel young and, to some degree, vibrant because I never allowed myself to grow up. I still think I'm fifteen!

Julie Schuler said...

niall- Naked! It's all right if you take it out. I hear it's nice out.

derek- oh,no. Once they start talking then they get that sassmouth. I like 'em when you can shake keys at them as entertainment.


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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Where Am I?

Once upon a long long time ago, within a period of three months I moved from Chicago to New York to San Diego and then back to Chicago. You may wonder why I moved so many times in one season. The truth is, I was trying to find myself. Yes, I am from the generation where finding ourselves was of utmost importance, and I was determined to find ME.

So there I was, on the beach, looking out across the Pacific Ocean, deep in thought, trying to figure out my purpose in life. In despair, because I couldn't answer my own question, I wrapped my arms around my legs, put my head on my knees, closed my eyes, and asked myself the questions of all questions: Who AM I? Where AM I?

After several minutes (maybe longer – I might have fallen asleep) I gave up asking. Apparently I would never know. When I opened my eyes, absolute pitch-black darkness surrounded me, providing the answer to my question. I had no idea where I was – I was utterly lost. I couldn't even find my way back up the slope, because I could see nothing.

Then one day I realized that finding myself meant just figuring out WHO I was meant to be (and yes, I know I should have written whom). The WHERE didn't matter, because wherever I was, I had to learn to be comfortable with ME.

Over the years I continued to move a lot, though for the past five years I have managed to stay in the same location (I really like it here), sharing my home periodically with numerous family members who move in and out. However, once everybody moves out permanently, I will have to figure out how I can afford to stay in my home by myself, even if staying means finding a company that will streamline refinance rates so that I can afford my currently outrageous mortgage.

Unless (always has to be an unless) one of my screenplays or teleplays sells. Then I might have to move to Hollywood and it won't be an issue :)

So the answer to the question, "Where Am I? is, "I am where I am until I am somewhere else."

1 comment:


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Friday, July 23, 2010

Oh grief, you are exhausting

I have been so tired since losing Jacob. I didn’t sleep well for about 3 weeks after he was born, but it has almost gone back to normal…now I just go to sleep about an hour or 2 later then I used to, which wouldn’t be bad if it only happened once in a while, but it happens almost every night. I just feel tired all the time. I have been crying when I go to bed for the last few days. Crying usually makes me even more exhausted, but it doesn’t help me go to sleep.

Other bad side effects of grief:

• Obviously, just feeling sad all the time. Will I ever feel truly happy again?

• Not being able to concentrate on things. I couldn’t watch a movie, a TV show or even a commercial and have any idea what was going on for about 3 weeks after we lost him. I would drift off into my thoughts during conversations, unless the conversation was about Jacob or about the Monday or the Tuesday when we found out he died and when he was born. Reading a regular book was out of the question. I could only read things about baby loss, grief, etc.

• Feeling more fragile in general. Nothing will ever disappoint me more than Jacob dying, and I thought that would make the everyday disappointments in life not even register with me anymore. But I actually find some things more upsetting than I would have in the past. Something that doesn’t even matter that much in the grand scheme of things, but I will think about it for days. Maybe my mind just needs to think of something other than my baby dying, although I am always thinking about that underneath it all.

• Anxiety – I haven’t had an anxiety attack yet, but on Wednesday night I was making dinner and suddenly I felt really nervous, like something bad was about to happen. Nothing did of course, my heart was just racing and I felt a little bit nauseous. It passed after a few minutes. I’ve never felt like that before unless I was waiting to write an exam or go for an interview or something like that.

• Appetite – mine has returned to normal mostly, but the first 2 weeks I didn’t eat unless food was put in front of me. Then I ignored my hunger because I was so mad at my body, I wanted to punish it for letting my baby die.

• Crying, of course. The constant crying for the first week, then the crying every hour or so the second week and a gradual decline since then. The crying could be a few tears or, most of the time, it was a huge one. Sometimes I would just sit on the floor wherever I was and cry my eyes out, I didn’t even have the strength to get to the couch or bed. The past few days I lie in bed with Jacob’s blanket and cry while looking at his ultrasound picture. Seeing myself in a mirror, with no belly, also sets me off most of the time.

• The guilt, oh the overwhelming guilt.

I’m sure there are more things to add here.

Jacob, I miss you especially bad this morning. I realized last night while trying to go to sleep that I would have been 28 weeks pregnant yesterday. Our lives could have been so different.

Elaine said...

All of these are completely normal. Not only are you suffering a huge loss but you also gave birth. Your body is also handling all of the hormones and exhaustion from that. It will take time, lots of time to heal. It's been more than 3 months for us and I'm not even near close to any type of healing. I hope you have good people in your life taking care of you and making sure you can focus on you.

Julie said...

sending you hug, dana...

Angela said...

I'm sorry, Dana. You're right, grief is so, so exhausting. You're not even two months out yet. At the eight week mark I had my first day where I didn't fall apart at least once. The week and a half before the eight week mark was really hard for me. Thinking of you today. Sorry it's so painful for you right now.

Emily said...

Grief is exhuasting. It drags on all your energies, mental, phyiscal, emotional. I have no words of will feel better when you feel better and not before. Until then just keep being gentle with yourself.

Michelle said...

yes, grief is exhausting...I have the same sleeping pattern..I go to bed one or two hours later than I normally would have before Liam died. I have to fall asleep to the television and then wake up and walk up to bed with my hubby already sleeping. I'm afraid If I didn't do that, I would lay awake in my bed and think all night long. Even if my sleep I am grieving...last night I had a dream that my baby was alive and I started to nurse him, but even in my dream I somehow knew it wasn't true.

Jennifer said...

My heart goes out to you. It's been tough for me too and there are times I feel debilitated by grief. I can't function when the full wave hits me and I just feel lifeless inside. It is really exhausting and heavy to carry. Sometimes we need to share the load to our loved ones and close friends to find some relief. Sending you peace of mind.

Danae said...

Grief is exhausting. I'm still not sleeping without taking a pill, and I am almost out of them, and no refills. Plus, my Dr. wants me to wean myself off since we are trying again.

Thinking of you my friend!

Violet1122 said...

Oh, Dana! Grief completely breaks you down - and I know what you mean about being utterly exhausted. Unfortunately, I think all of those things you mentioned are a "natural" part of baby loss. There is just no way around it.

Sending you big hugs!!

Drew's Parents said...

You described the frustration and exhaustion so well. I had no idea that I could feel this alone, isolated, and sad. The sense of loss is absolutely overwhelming. Seconds turn into hours and hours into days. Time passes so slowly, and each moment is a cruel reminder of what I lost.
I hope that you have found some moments of peace this weekend. I am sending you healing thoughts!

Kairos said...

Grief is like this. It comes in waves and sometimes it is harder than others. I hope you get a moment of peace between waves.


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Sunday, January 16, 2011

The Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (w...Image via Wikipedia
Medicinal pot patients might get protections | Northwest News - The News Tribune

Medical marijuana patients in Washington could have protection from arrest in 2012 if the Legislature adopts a bill making reforms to the voter-approved law authorizing use of the drug for some terminal and debilitating illnesses.

What it does is provide protection from....Read more:

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My Newz 'n Ideas

It is my intent to express my opinion and to discuss current events. Feel free to make suggestions to fields you would like to see covered, and I will consider them. Please leave your name with comments. Thank you. Arabic: عربي.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Oregon Army NG Sgt. Nathaniel “Brad” Lindsey

Heroes in the War On Terror

Sgt. Lindsey and his convoy were attacked when Taliban fighters set up a false checkpoint in Afghanistan on Sept. 9, 2006. The enemies hit the convoy with either a roadside bomb or a rocket-propelled grenade, and then opened up small-arms fire on the vehicles. Lindsey, a gunner who had recently switched from a desk job at a secure base in Kandahar to a job training Afghan soldiers, died in the attack. He had volunteered for deployment to Afghanistan after having already served in Iraq and during Hurricane Katrina to protect an officer he had driven for since June 2004. Lindsey was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medals on Sept. 22, 2006.


text:
My Newz 'n Ideas

It is my intent to express my opinion and to discuss current events. Feel free to make suggestions to fields you would like to see covered, and I will consider them. Please leave your name with comments. Thank you. Arabic: عربي.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Our Military men and women are Americans, too

I am coming to the conclusion that the Left does not care how Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Pilots or National Guardsmen die oversees. It does not affect them except to add to their joy. What do I mean by this? Numbers, numbers, numbers.

Ever since we began this GWOT, they have been counting. Are they aware that during the Battle of the Bulge that we lost over 100,000 men in one battle? We have lost almost 3,000 in this war. How could we not know? They tell us every news report, top of the news to ya.

Is it good to know? No. This is why we do not know that we have killed over 10,000 al Qaida terrorists. Oh, you didn't know this? All you have to do is pay attention and add. Why are you not doing this, press?

It has been concluded that the press, even the American press, is an arm of al Qaida. When you print enemy propoganda, when you print classified American secrets, when you avoid reporting all the good we are doing all over the world, what else could you conclude? And you wonder why it APPEARS that we're not winning?

The only reason people in Iraq are not stepping up to the plate like you idiots want them to is because they are not stupid. They read what you write. They do not want to die. If we leave, they surely will. You keep convincing them that we are leaving because we cannot win. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A CLUE. Leave the green zone, would ya? As long as they believe we're leaving not only do not they hold back but more of our AMERICANS die.

Do you grieve for the almost 3,000 people who died on September 11, 2001? Then you should stop getting more Americans killed. Yes, I am saying, "Shut the hell up." They are fighting for your freedom as well. The least you could do is have the decency to respect them and help them by stop you previous behaviour. Thanks a lot.


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Entries to Win Afghan

From now till March 31, pre-order the set of the first three Dubois Files children's mysteries, signed and at a discount. Go to Books Leaving Footprints and look in the left column.
panel of three covers for Dubois Files children's mysteries

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Notes On the Alphabet

the letter GThere have been some questions about the Alphabet series, so I thought I'd make a few comments today. A couple of people asked which letter was the hardest to find. Well, it wasn't G. I thought that would be one of the difficult ones, but on the hike with Marilyn Hoogstraten, there it was, on a tree, in lichen!

the letter XI have to say that the letter X was very difficult because I was determined to not just use any old two crossed sticks. I kept hoping for two crossed jet trails in the sky, but that never happened. The first time I saw this vine twining around a tree, the pictures I took weren't in focus. So this was the very last letter I got.

the letter VThis V was just dumb luck... well, and a lot of looking at the sky. I wanted to find SOME letter up there! I took a lot of lousy Js and Cs and even an F. But they were all displaced by the better choices you've seen.

the letter RThe most frustrating one was the R. There was an R that I could see in the Geometer moth's wings. But the moth was so small that I couldn't get a picture large enough to use. I just can't seem to make the Super Macro on my camera work right yet. So I had to go hunt up just this silly juxtaposition of sticks. You could find all the letters easily doing that.

the letter SThe one that I feel is the biggest cheat is the S. The trail makes a nice S shape, but is a mowed trail really a feature of nature? I really wanted to use the stream. Did you notice the S when I blogged Remember the Creek? the letter S But I used the creek for the C and the Z, so I didn't want to use it for the S too.

All in all, this was a fun assignment. Maybe I'll let you all give me another one over the winter. Meanwhile, there will be a guest post tomorrow. Someone, someone that many of you know, emailed me with a very interesting picture, and I asked him if he would like to tell you about it here. He would... and he did send me a nice article.

See the entire alphabet at Sharkbytes' Photos

RNSANE said...

Nice to hear about your difficulties in tackling the alphabet...not as easy as learning it! Am looking forward to tomorrow's post.

rainfield61 said...

It must be a challege to collect all these letters.

(I may try silently).

wenn said...

Secondary Roads said...

Now THAT was an ambitious project!

Icy BC said...

It must be challenging in finding the letters, but this series turned out great.

VanillaSeven said...

I should try my own series one day... yeah.. one day :)

Ann said...

I've tried something similar to this before and it's not easy. It takes quite a bit of imagination and patience, something I run short on quite often.
Looking forward to your guest post.

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

Hi Carmen- The whole thing was much easier than I thought it might be. And it was fun. I am always seeing things in other things.

Rainfield! I hope you try it... just for fun, if you like.

wenn- thanks

Chuck- I like anything that makes me look at the familiar in new ways.

Icy- I had great fun, and am glad you enjoyed it.

Vanilla- sure, why not?

Ann- hey anybody who does serious scrapbooking has way more patience than I do. I do some not-too-fancy notebooks with family pix and those take enough time for me!

Glynis said...

I love the alphabet series of pics.

Ratty said...

I think you did a great job with the alphabet. I would have had trouble getting only a few of the letters. Even if you think you cheated something like that trail, nobody else does.

bathmate said...

I liked it.

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#2-11 Nowhere to hide [Oct 15th, 2011]

Nowhere to hide [Oct 15th, 2011]
Oct 23rd 2011 10:00-12:00 Ichigaya Renoir My space
Ono, Ogawa, Tomozawa, Saito, Kurasawa, Sotani, Miyabe and Yamazaki

Articles we discussed
[Leaders][Solar Power] Thou orb aloft full-dazzling
[Asia] Branding Japan as “cool” No limits, no laws
[International][Tax havens] Trouble Island
[Finance and Economics][Economic Focus] Realism rewarded
[Science and technology] Transporter of delight

We reserved a meeting room at Renoir for the first time. Members of the group increases so we are anxious about securing seats and comfortable environment for discussion. Renoir have meeting rooms around Tokyo so last week Ono, Ogawa and Yamagata decided to use a meeting room in Ichigaya for the study group. We had new comers this week. Miyabe, who is a friend of Tomozawa, working in a consulting firm and Yamazaki, who is a colleague of Ogawa came to join.

 We started from a solar power article Saito chose to discuss. The article insists two things. One is that solar power is now taking off and the other is that solar subsidies are wasteful. Tomozawa specialized in solar power inhis graduate school and Sotani is now struggling with renewable energy on her job so they leaded the discussion with various new ideas and information.

Second article we picked up was about “Cool Japan”. They introduce a striking picture of girls who are walking on Takeshita Street wearing strange colorful fashion, attached with words ”where Toyota failed...” I think this article is ironical because even though the headline “beautiful people join hands with bureaucrats” has a positive meaning, they don’t think the girls looks beautiful. The article introduce Japan’sThe Cool Japan Promotion Strategy Programme” promoted by METI. The whole context is favorable but as the title “No limits, no laws” suggests, they are doubtful of the strategy of bureaucrats who usually make regulations and rules.

Let’s follow remaining articles. Ogawa chose the third article about tax haven. “Haven” is different from “heaven”. But both meanings can be understood when we consider tax haven so we often take haven to heaven by mistake. Firstly we got ideas of the havens in shape. Then we made a brief debate about whether we should accept existence of tax havens or not. What would you say if you are “No” to tax havens? Debate was experimental but it was fan.

Ono picked up a column about two Novel Prize winners latest studies. He made a lecture of the winning and answered our question why they got prizes. He used a white board for the lecture. It was also new for us.

During his lecture the time was up because we had two hours reservation of the room but we still had one article from science and technology section. Kurasawa picked up “Transporter of delights”, which is about the genetics of happiness. She chose the article because we had discussed Brazilian optimistic attitude based on the article of Brazil economy. We moved to have a lunch and during the lunch we continued to discuss the topic. Most of us have curiosities and eager to learn new things.

#2-10 The magician [Oct 8th, 2011]

The magician [Oct 8th, 2011]
Oct 16th 2011 10:00-12:00 Osaki Saint Marc Cafe
Ogawa, Ono, Iino, Tomozawa, Yamagata, Shimada, Saito, Kurasawa, Oshida and Nakamuea

Articles we discussed:
[Leaders] The magician
[Leaders][Echoes of 2008] Here we go again
[Leaders][Hope in Myanmar] A Burmese spring
[US][Free trade and the yuan] One step forward, one back
[Asia][Radiation in Japan] Hot spots and blind spots
[Finance and Economics] [Shorting China] Panda bears
[Science and technology] [Stem cells] The nuclear option

    This week we gathered at Osaki because Ogawa and Iino joined another The Economist readers group held in Osaki. It holds meetings from 8 a.m. on every Sunday. Goto-san introduced the group to us so we woke up a little early and joined them for the first time. The discussion was held only in English and the members were diverse. I will write about the experience on a next opportunity but it was so impressive and simulative experience for us and we got several ideas to improve our study group. In the earlier group, I met Oshida-san, who works at a governmental financial organization. We know each other because he held a study group a year ago and I joined it. Oshida-san came to join our group either as an observer. Nakamura-san, he was another observer, came to join us for the first time.

    We followed 7 articles this week. 7 articles are too much to discuss only in 2 hours. We should rethink how to manage our discussion when we have so many articles. The cover of this week was a photo of Steve Jobs, who died at the age of 56, presenting his new products at a conference. The impressive cover title was “The magician” from which we start our discussion. Tomozawa picked up it and made a brief presentation in English. He presented us his two discussion points: Where the strength of Jobs? (Why he was born in US?) And who are the next Jobs? (How about the future of Apple?) He had an anxious feeling of the current situation of Japan. Innovative people seem to be born in US not in Japan but why? We discussed the difference of Jobs and US from others and we shared several reasons. But I thought this reasoning was a trivial because a lot of possible reasons we can think of but none of them were certain. The only thing we could agree is that he was the magician and attracts the people in all over the world.

    Three articles on world economy were chosen this week. Ono picked up the first article, “Echoes of 2008”, which we already discussed the same kind of topics last several weeks. We followed up the current situation and discussed whether ECB lend to EFSF or not and what would be the problems they face when they decide to do it. Yamagata chose “One step forward, one back” from US section, which focused on a free trade principle and a trade relationship between US and China. His points at issue were the importance of economic partnership comparing to monetary policy and protectionism in US. He also pointed out a fact that The Economist didn’t take up discussions of TPP. Third article “Shorting China” was from Shimada. He said he would like to discuss the influence of fiscal crisis in developed economies on emerging economies including China. He pointed out a short selling on China is accelerated on the current situation.

    Other three members chose more diverse issues. Kurasawa picked up the case of Iidate, which is located 45km north from Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant. The article introduces that contaminated soil and trees in Iidate affects them for a long time. Kurasawa asked us what we do think of pulling up the standard of safe exposure. Ogawa picked up the article of Myanmar. Myanmar is changing their politics dramatically for the first time in decades. Ogawa insisted that even if the country had a potential of business and economical development, we should be in mind of their attitude toward human rights. Iino chose “stem cells” from Science and technology section. He is working at Bio department in his ministry so he is interested in the topic. We got to know the difference between cloning, ES cells and iPS cells from his explanation.

    At first we were going to gather Renoir in Osaki but we couldn’t find it so we changed café to Saint Marc Café. 10 people gathered and most of them had their articles so it is difficult to discuss all of these articles in a short period of time. At previous group, we discovered several ideas to manage meetings in which over 10 people join. We have to make improvements in our group introducing their ideas.

Big society, not big government

私たちの集まりを次のステップへと進めていくには、どんなことをしたら良いだろうか？　英国の政治家の話が参考になった。マーガレット・サッチャーは「小さな政府」構想を実現するため、自身が政権を担うずっと前より「小さな政府」に関する勉強会を続けていたそうだ。それが、彼女が首相として政策を矢継ぎ早に実現していくときに大変役に立っている。何事も大きなことを実現するためには、それなりの準備と時間がかかることを肝に銘じておくべきだ。今回は、一つのアイデアを提示したい。

１）The Economistが取り上げる話題は単発的ではなく、時間をかけていくつかの話題を追っている姿勢が感じられるため、各々の記事を関連させて読み進めるべきである。

「財政再建と経済成長の両立」→「大きな社会（the Big Society）の実現」

#2-9 Asia’s new model company [Oct 1st 2011]

Asia’s new model company [Oct 1st 2011]
Oct 9th 2011 10:00-12:00 Yebisu ANTICO CAFFE AL AVIS
Ogawa, Ono, Iino, Tomozawa, Yamagata, Shimada and Kurasawa

Articles we discussed:
[Leaders] [The world economy] Be afraid
[Leaders] [Vladimir Putin] The once and future president
[Economics & Finance][Economic Focus] Tinker, tailor
[International] [The changing adult business] At a XXX-roads
[Europe] [Charlemagne] Keep the fire burning
[Economics & Finance] [Tobin taxes and audit reforms] The blizzard from Brussel

We had a various kind of articles this week from Russia’s politics to an adult business. Two of us picked up the same article about Russia. Ono prepared his discussion paper based on his argument about growing industries and the role of government so his paper was favorably received. Yamagata made his discussion paper about EURO crisis handwritten. Iino bravely chose an article about adult business and he made a presentation in a loud voice in a refined Italian café. Shimada chose a column of EU. Impressive discussion we had this week.

Firstly we focused on the return of Vladimir Putin. As we all know, Mr. Putin is the leader of Russia even though he had resigned president once in 2008. Now he will win the election again. He told his United Russia party conference on September 24th that he would run for the presidency next march. We discussed mainly about the future of this “managed democratic” country. How will Russia change? What should Japan do? Kurasawa focused on their favor of dictatorship and controls on freedom of speech. She doesn’t think a dictator state can prosper for a long time and at some point they have to change their political system. There was a cold war in her mind when she mad her opinion. Tomosawa more focused on economic point of views. He was interested in the origin of power of Russia as a resourceful country, which he think is dictatorship.

Ono made his opinion based on the article from economic focus. He insists that not a public sector but a private sector pick growing industries and a public sector should more focus on deregulation than pick-the-winner policy. What matters is not whether governments can pick winners –they cannot- but whether they have the good sense to let losers fall by wayside. Fiscal reform and growing strategy both are the most important subjects we manage to do with. We should keep continue the discussion.

The article Iino picked up looks like he chose to make a joke but it was serious topic about adult business and IT. He was interested in it because an adult business is deeply rooted in human desire so it is one of the large industries so he wanted to know the circumstances. The article introduced us about “.xxx” domain. We mainly discussed influences of the domain on adult industry. The interesting point was that new types of technologies are also introduced and make developments in the industry.

Finally we follow the current situation of EURO crisis based on two articles; “The world economy: Be afraid” and “Keep the fire burning”. Many kinds of metaphors are used for the crisis. On these articles, these are a fire and a black hole. The economist always criticizes the absence of leadership among European leaders. What matters the most is to take a strong leadership to put out a fire by making consensus among people and countries.

We gathered at Yebisu for the first time. This town was refined and felt good when we sat on a table at a open café. We ate lunch in Udon restaurant near from the station. We talked about “Goucon” -parties with men and women. We concluded that to be friend with the opposite sex, activities such as golf, hiking and cycling are better than holding a drinking party.

#2-8 Hunting the rich [Sep 24th 2011]

Hunting the rich [Sep 24th 2011]
Oct 2nd 2011 10:00-12:00 Yoyogi Renoir
Ono, Ogawa, Tomozawa, Saito, Nagao, Yamagata, Shimada and

Articles we discussed:
[Leaders] Hunting the rich
[Leaders] Catching up is so very hard to do
[Special report] The game of catch up
[The Americas] [Protectionism in Brazil] A self-made siege
[Economics & Finance][Buttonwood] Pensions, Ponzis and Pyramids
[Leaders][Israel, Palestine and the United Nations] Yes to Palestinian statehood

    Almost a year has passed since I met Ono and Fujisaki in a restaurant in Marunouchi and decided to start reading the newspaper. The first discussion on October was held in Yoyogi, which is famous for Yoyogi cramming school. All the members of this week were male and most of them were strangers each other. Macro economical issues were the main topic of the discussion especially about catching up emerging economies. One article about Palestinian statehood Ogawa picked up raised a different type of discussion on this week.

    The article Ono picked up was “hunting the rich”. It mainly focuses on the hunt for more tax from the wealthy in developed countries. From this week, we changed the style of discussion according to Mr.Goto’s advice. So Ono first presented reasons for picking up the article and showed us his suggestion. He emphasized that it is a basic policy to make economic growth and fiscal reconstruction compatible with each other. He objected to the abolition of taxation on naphtha and the enlargement of base of taxation. We picked up “Buffett rule”: ensuring that no house hold making more than $1m a year pays a lower average tax rate than “middle-class ” families do. We cannot avoid discussing tax reconstruction when we really want to make fiscal reconstruction so we should more focus on this topic in the following discussions.

    “Catching up is very hard to do” and “The game of catch up” are both about the problems of emerging economies. Yamagata said the reason of choosing this article that was to summarize the problems of emerging countries. He also picked up “Middle-income country trap” (tricky middle-income stage of development). Saito asked us an influential map in 2031. Why these articles are interesting is that these are focusing on weakness of emerging economies. We tend to focus on strangeness of these because it is attractive. But there are two sides on things so the balance is important. Tomozawa picked up a related article from Americas section. “A self-made siege“ is focusing on protectionism in Brazil. Brazil is popular as an object country of investment. Investment trusts for Brazil become so popular these days and the currency came to be strong. As investments for the country come to be hot, the government becomes cautious against a bubble. We also looked at rankings of trading and investment.

    Shimada picked up an interesting column, ”Pentions, Ponzis, and Pyramids ” from Bottomwood. This article looks upon Social Security as a Ponzi scheme or as a Pyramid scheme. Shimada asked us where this analogy was correct or not, especially in Japan’s case. He also focuses investment policies of pension-fund in western countries. The article criticizes that these funds invests not in emerging markets but only in their countries’ markets. Social Security system is related to tax issues as we saw at the first article. We should continue to discuss with it either.

    Lastly we followed today’s Israel and Palestine issue. Ogawa picked up the article to make clear the situation. We know there is an international issue on the region but we don’t know so much about who involves and how the problem is complicated. Following the core of international relationship we could understand foreign affairs better than before.

    This week we gathered at Renoir in Yoyogi. I don’t like the café so much because of smoke and old-fashioned interior but it is convenient to stay for a while to discuss or to study. Moreover they have meeting rooms with whiteboards in several café around Tokyo. We are thinking to use them next time.


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Good People Good Work
Dr. Habiba Sarabi: Afghanistan’s Peacemaking Governor (In Dari)
Today’s Good People, Good Works will be presented in Dari and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Greetings, cheerful viewers, and welcome to another edition of Good People, Good Works on Supreme Master Television. Imagine a scene where businesses are thriving along a town’s main street, people meet and greet one another with warm hugs, and children happily walk to school. This is a common sight in Bamyan, one of Afghanistan’s safest, cleanest provinces, and this pleasant lifestyle owes much to the wise leadership and efforts of the first and only female provincial governor in Afghanistan’s history, Her Excellency Dr. Habiba Sarabi. Today we’re pleased to feature our interview with Dr. Sarabi, who will share her ideals and vision for a more peaceful, green Afghanistan.

My name is Habiba Sarabi. I am the governor of Bamyan Province, and I trained as a pharmacist. My background is medical, but I’m involved with politics due to my commitment to the people of Afghanistan.

Dr. Sarabi was born in Mazari-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan in 1956 to an ethnic Hazara family. In medical school, she specialized in hematology. After graduating, she was awarded a fellowship by the World Health Organization and did further training in India. She left Afghanistan with her children and went to Peshawar, Pakistan when a Taliban-led government took control of Afghanistan in 1996.

When the Taliban regime ended, Dr. Sarabi returned to her homeland and immersed herself in politics, serving in His Excellency President Hamid Karzai's government as Minister of Women's Affairs and Minister of Culture and Education. Having visited Bamyan Province previously, Dr. Sarabi was deeply impressed with the region and the people and sincerely wanted to help them build new lives. In 2005 she was appointed Governor of Bamyan by President Karzai.

I made a request to President (Karzai) if I could go to Bamyan and work and help the people, and of course it was difficult at the beginning, but he accepted and I went there and when I saw everything over there, the environment, the (World) Heritage site and everything, I thought it’s better to have a plan. Without a plan we cannot do anything. So I started to make a plan with UNESCO, the Culture Master Plan for Bamyan. I worked with the Ministry of Urban Development to make the city plan for Bamyan, and after that the Management Plan for the Culture Master Plan was another issue that with the support of UNESCO we did.

The picturesque city of Bamyan, the capital of Bamyan Province, lies in a remote, mountainous valley through which the ancient Silk Road passes and is where the famous 1,500-year-old statues called the Buddhas of Bamyan once stood. The city is located about 240 kilometers northwest of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul. Under Dr. Sarabi’s guidance, needed infrastructure has been built in the region and various social needs have been addressed.

I was appointed in 2005, and now it’s the sixth year that I am working there. There are a lot of changes in Bamyan. For example, the big change that we have, there was no asphalt road in Bamyan before, so we have big changes there, an asphalt road. You can see the asphalt road inside the city and also our national park. And also Bamyan will be connected very soon to Kabul by an asphalt road. This is the biggest change.

Of course, at the moment we have the City Master Plan and the new town is growing up, and our education system is set up. And we have some 320 schools, and with these 320 schools, 119,000 students are studying and out of these 119,000 students, 43% of them are girls. We have one provincial hospital, we have three district hospitals, we have more than 65 health facilities. So I have made hundreds of kilometers of road in Bamyan Province. These are the biggest changes that I was able to bring to Bamyan.

Determined to preserve the region’s environment and natural wealth for future generations of Afghan children, Dr. Sarabi has embarked on a cause to turn Bamyan into a model green city in Afghanistan with the help of many non-governmental organizations.

The landscape of Bamyan is unique, something very beautiful and the nature of Bamyan is very beautiful. So we as human beings, we should keep it, we should protect it. So there were some organizations involved with the environment, so I thought that it’s better to encourage these organizations to work with us. So I supported them and they were very happy and of course this support made us stronger. And some of the organizations used to do some vegetation, especially the watershed programs.

Now we have plenty of watershed programs around Bamyan to have more trees and more green areas. Bamyan Valley has a nice and beautiful landscape. Bamyan is on the list of World Heritage sites, and eight sites are included in this list. I made the Eco-tourism Program in Bamyan. This Eco-tourism Program is running very well. And the Ecotourism Program organized two times this year and last year the Silk Road Festival, and thousands of people came and visited, enjoyed, and participated in the Silk Road Festival.

Comprised of a chain of six beautiful turquoise lakes, Band-e Amir, in the western part of Bamyan Province, is a major tourist attraction. In 2008, in cooperation with the US Agency for International Development and the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Afghan government declared Band-e-Amir the first national park in Afghanistan.

During the 1960s there was a plan to announce Band-e Amir, the lakes, as a national park, but it didn’t happen. And 2008, I was able, with the support of the international community and some other organizations, to announce Band-e Amir as the first national park in Afghanistan.

Dr. Sarabi’s commitment to safeguarding Band-e-Amir’s ecology has won her recognition from the global community. She was named one of the “Heroes of the Environment 2008” by the prestigious American news magazine Time.

The first time when I went there I was with my family and nephew, and he was young, very young, about six, seven years old. When I saw all the rubbish around the lakes, I became very sad and started to clean and there were some young boys, but they were watching me. And I talked with them (and said) that it’s a shame that if you just watch and we have the responsibility to clean our environment.

And after that I thought that Bamyan is very clean, and it’s my responsibility as a governor, a person responsible for the province to not allow damage to this clean environment, so I announced for the municipality, for the mayor, and the Department of Environment to announce to the public and also to the market to collect all the plastic, especially the black plastic, and then don’t allow plastic anymore. This is another interesting thing that I always encourage the youth and some volunteer organizations to do, campaigns for the environment.

Dr. Sarabi has even traveled internationally to promote environmental protection.

And we did work with some other women from different countries, a lady from Thailand, the other one from the Caribbean. The name of the campaign was Women and Environment, Women’s Role in Environment. So we conducted a good campaign in the United States in Washington DC. And we had so many meetings with the decision-making people and even with the (US Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton. We had the meeting and asked them to care about the environment and make environmentalism a global strategy.

As the first and only female provincial governor in Afghanistan’s history, Dr. Sarabi is indeed a strong role model for Afghan women in a male-dominated society.

Afghan women have gotten a lot of things since 2001. One of the things that Afghan women got was political rights. For example, in Afghanistan we have a quota of 26% of women that can participate in the parliament. This is something that I think is quite unique in the region. So for women the rights for education, rights for health service, these are the things that Afghan women are getting gradually and women to be in the public, women being included in the decision-making bodies, these are the positive things that Afghan women have been getting since 2001.

Dr. Habiba Sarabi believes true leadership includes taking into account the people’s views and conducting open government.

I was able to continue to stabilize all the peace in Bamyan because I built up a trust between the people and the local government. And I shared everything with the people. And so people, they should know about everything that’s going on in Bamyan. So that’s why when we share everything with the people, and take advice or get some feedback from the people, there will be trust-building between the community and also the local government. If we can build this trust, sustainable peace will be everywhere in Afghanistan too. I'm praying to have prosperity and peace in Afghanistan.

We salute you, Your Excellency Dr. Habiba Sarabi, for your determined, selfless commitment to creating a cleaner environment and enhancing community welfare in Bamyan Province. May Allah forever bless Afghanistan with stability and prosperity.

Thank you for joining us today on Good People, Good Works. May Divine love shine in all corners of our planet.

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