Two friends had died, one of whom, ‘used all his health while earning his wealth. Then when he found he was wealthy, spending all his wealth to recover his health.’ To find it was to no avail. He had lost his Perspective. It is being said right now that the Australian Prime Minister is doing the same thing. Pushing not only himself but the Civil Servants employed By the Australian Government, to work longer hours.

A great friend is currently undergoing all the bad treatments of Breast cancer. Another dear old friend almost lost her eyesight with blood pouring out her eyes. She endeavoured to contact me, to get her to the doctor urgently. Alas Val and I were sitting in a Hospital for more than six hours. Phones must be turned off. In all, not the greatest week, I have had.

Last night I could not sleep, so I switched on my own automatic magic way of getting to sleep, as it is easier and much better than counting sheep. Apart from the fact I enjoy it more.

Before long I was rolling along setting up a totally new Franchise, and the phones went mad, so many people wanting to get involved and the future was looking really great, and we had set up more Franchises than MacDonald’s had ever imagined.

The really sad part was, when I woke up Six hours latter 98% of this incredible concept of a new Franchising ability had disappeared completely from my mind. The good part was that I remembered the name, but not what it was about. Obviously I will have to put more effort into part two.

Achieving perpective in the World We live

As I was preparing to pull all my hair out, I opened an email from a friend and this email, which led to the belief that everything in Life should be put into Perspective. Put my dream into perspective. It is true that man proposes and God disposes. I knew at that moment this conquest was not to be mine, I must leave it to someone more capable.

The good part was I had had more than Six hours of sleep, as normally I only manage three or four hours. That was excellent.

There is now a new lilt to my steps and I am moving with a lot more vigour. Get everything into perspective and that what this hub is all about.

From out of space

Like Sigmund Jähn said, “Those who have gone into space have come back with a changed perspective and reverence for the planet Earth. Gone are the political boundaries. Gone are the boundaries between nations. We are all one people and each is responsible for maintaining Earth's delicate and fragile balance. We are her stewards and must take care of her for future generations. “

Our perspective on Earth can be very narrow. We may not see the effects of one tree that is cut down. Only by expanding our perspective can we see entire rain forests that have been devastated. Humans can destroy in a matter of days that which nature took thousands of years to create. We might ask what harm one factory can do to the environment by not meeting proper pollution controls. The effect from space is obvious. Pictures taken by Gemini astronauts almost 30 years ago are much clearer than those taken by space shuttle astronauts today.

KYONDAH, Burma - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon flew over Burma's flooded Irrawaddy Delta on Thursday, where the ravages of a cyclone stretched as far as the eye could see: Villages were empty of life, flattened huts dissolved into vast areas of water and people perched on rooftops.

Nearly three weeks after the storm, life was grim even at a refugee camp showcased by Burma's junta during the carefully scripted tour.

World rages at Burma generals

On the front pages, the homeless of China following last week's horrifying earthquake - currently estimated at three million and climbing - has eclipsed the tragedy of the flood victims of Burma - 134,000 dead and climbing.

Comparative statistics cannot begin to tell the story of personal shock and loss and pain. What the numbers - and the shift in coverage - tell us, is the world is engaged and agonizing over what can be done to assist the hungry, the homeless, the ill and the dying in both countries, but will go where it can do the most good. China has almost never been a country that sets an example of humanitarian activity. Indeed, only a few weeks ago China was almost universally condemned for its harsh action toward Tibet as the Olympic Torch Relay got underway.

But Western attitudes have taken a dramatic turn. The attention now being paid internationally to the Chinese earthquake victims tells the tale of the importance of an open society. China itself has rushed to the aid of its nationals in this very real tragedy. It has accepted proffered international assistance and even sought it, and has not discouraged news coverage, both inside and outside its borders, as the drama unfolded.

No doubt, cynics would say, there is propaganda value in this course of action. Maybe so, but in the meantime, lives are being saved.

The differences with Burma are sad, and instructive. Since the story of flooding initially broke, only sketchy information has been added. The military regime quickly and effectively closed its borders, refused assistance and cut off the flow of information. Even the Secretary General of the United Nations was refused.

There has been little to add to the original information as the story and the capacity to gauge the impact of the floods, to determine an international course of action, and humanize events as they develop has effectively been shut down. All we do know is only a trickle of foreign aid workers, medical specialists, engineers and emergency supplies, including food, have been allowed into the areas devastated by the flooding and its aftermath.

International agencies and Western governments have been frustrated and angered on behalf of the Burmese people, at what has been done to them through the deliberate inaction of their own government. If the military regime continues its brutal disregard for the people under its stewardship, are there international protocols that can be invoked? Are there international laws that can be enforced? Is there finally an international political will, after years of military repression and cruelty on the part of Burmese leaders, to push back and relieve the suffering of the Burmese people?

At the moment, we are left only with rage and frustration, which, of course, are not much use to the suffering Burmese people, although airlifts and other desperate but likely inadequate measures are not off the table. The only glimmer of hope long-term, is this may be the disaster that finally breaks the power of the generals in some as yet unforeseeable way, in which case, international proceedings may be aggressively pursued to see that they are, finally, well and truly punished.

Barbara J. McDougall is advisor to Aird and Berlis, LLP, and a former Secretary of State for External Affairs.

"I'm very upset by what I've seen," U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said, visibly shaken by the firsthand look at the devastation, even though the areas to which he was taken were far from those worst-hit by Cyclone Nargis.

Before his helicopter flyover, Ban had said he was bringing a "message of hope," to Burma's people after the May 2-3 cyclone, which killed more than 78,000, according to government figures, and left more than 56,000 missing.

Burma's military rulers have been eager to show they have the relief effort under control despite spurning the help of foreign disaster experts, and much of the tour was taken up by statistics-laden lectures to make that point.

The United Nations says up to 2.5 million cyclone survivors face hunger, homelessness and potential outbreaks of deadly diseases, especially in the low-lying areas of the Irrawaddy Delta close to the sea. It estimates that aid has reached only about 25 percent of victims.

By John Heilprin

Associated Press

Article Launched: 05/23/2008 01:32:15 AM PDT

Let The eat cake

China and Burma showed force of nature. China showed a Spirit of help. Burma’s Generals indicated they could not have cared less about their own people. As that famous voice in the French Revolution said “Let them eat Cake.”

Let them eat cake? Perhaps a little innocent laugh may be fruitful at this stage amidst all that horror, in Burma

Posted by CATHERINE DELORS at 4/6/2008 3:09 AM and is filed under Countess de Boigne,Madame Campan,Madame Victoire,Marie Antoinette

That is one of the questions I am often asked: did Marie-Antoinette really say Let them eat cake? Actually the full sentence in French is Qu'ils mangent de la brioche! or, literally, Let them eat brioche! I guess cake was more familiar to English speakers than brioche, a form of French bread enriched with eggs and butter (delicious, by the way.)

Whenever people ask, my answer is no, Marie-Antoinette never said that, or at least it is so unlikely as to be impossible. For one thing, the phrase is first found in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, completed in 1770, when Marie-Antoinette was fourteen and barely engaged to Louis XVI. Rousseau attributes it to an unspecified "great princess."

Filed in archive corporate crime by leon on December 13, 2006

It wasn't that long ago that Conrad Black, who stood trial for fraud and plundering Hollinger International, was claiming that he wasn't a crook but a freedom fighter.

His self-delusion has continued with Lord Black of Crossharbour comparing himself to a French aristocrat during the Revolution, reports Bloomberg.

According to the document detailing the prosecutors' case against Black and other defendants, Black defended his spending of the company's money. "I am not prepared to re-enact the French Revolutionary renunciation of the rights of nobility,'' he said.

Black said it was only fair. After all, the "beleaguered" company owners deserved nothing less, reports BusinessWeek. "We have to find a balance between an unfair taxation on the company and a reasonable treatment of the founder-builder-managers. We are proprietors, after all, beleaguered though we may be."

Poetic License: -

The Generals self-delusion has continued with Lord Black of Crossharbour comparing himself to a French aristocrat during the Revolution, reports Bloomberg.

According to the document which detailed the prosecutors' case against the Generals and other defendants, the Generals defended their spending of Burma's money. "We are not prepared to re-enact the French Revolutionary renunciation of the rights of poor and needy,'' They said.

The Generals said it was only fair. After all, the "beleaguered" Country population deserved nothing less, "We have to find a balance between an unfair deprivation on the Country and a reasonable treatment of Generals-builder-managers. We are the Country, after all, the poor and needy of the population will live as we decree, when we give them our benevolence."

Still the World does not revolve around Burma.

An Oscar for Oscar

AN athlete with no legs has been banned from this year's Olympic Games because he has a "significant advantage" over able-bodied competitors.

South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius, who runs with carbon fibre blades attached to his legs, will not be allowed to compete in Beijing.

John Mehaffey

January 15, 2008 09:00am

Oscar Pistorius, a 21-year-old South African double amputee sprinter, won his appeal to compete in the Beijing Olympics this summer. It was alleged that his prosthetic legs gave him an unfair advantage. That and they look like the legs from the creepy sentient robot dog. It's becoming self-aware!

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled today that Pistorius is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes, overturning a ban by the IAAF, track and field's governing body, which said carbon fiber prosthetic blades are more efficient than human legs and therefore give him an unfair mechanical advantage.

From The Times

May 17, 2008

Amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius allowed to compete in Beijing

Back in the running for an Olympic place

Kevin Eason, Sports News Correspondent

He had become a curiosity and was in danger of becoming a sporting sideshow, but Oscar Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated as a child, was finally cleared yesterday to compete at the Beijing Olympics against the fastest men in the world.

A ban on Pistorius, 21, competing against able-bodied athletes, because it was feared that he might gain an advantage from running on his carbon-fibre blades, was thrown out by an historic legal decision that marked the end of a long quest for acceptance by the South African.

The IAAF, the governing body for world athletics, had even changed the rules last year, producing new competition regulations banning any athlete using “technical devices that incorporate springs or wheels”.

Most athletes would have given up and remained content with performing in the Paralympics. Not Pistorius, who challenged the athletics establishment all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, which yesterday overturned the ban.

n a relatively brief career, Pistorius has engaged experts and fans as one of the most charismatic emerging athletes. He has triumphed over the adversity of being born with no fibulas, which led to the amputations below the knee as a baby. By the age of 11 he was playing rugby for the Pretoria Boys’ High School as well as water polo, tennis and wrestling. It was not until 2004 that he took up running but he immediately made his impact, winning gold in the 200 metres sprint at the Paralympics in Athens.

A year later, he was competing against able-bodied athletes in South Africa. But his artificial legs were regarded with deep suspicion by the authorities, who questioned whether they gave him an advantage. The prosthetics, called the Cheetah Flex-Foot, were said to allow Pistorius to make longer strides and use less energy. The claims were vigorously denied and rejected by the Court in Lausanne.

Pistorius does have an example to follow. His fellow South African Natalie Du Toit will compete in Beijing in the open water swimming event. But Du Toit, an established athlete when her left leg was amputated after a road accident in 2001, uses no prosthetics. Now the fastest man on Earth with no legs has the chance to become part of Olympic history as the first disabled athlete to challenge able-bodied competitors for medals.

Two Questions?????

Is Oscar Pistorius a more uplifting subject to close on than The General of Burma?

Should his legs prevent him from being in the 2008 Olympics?

A fitting note to ponder "Oscar's s will to win and China's will to help her People are both of the highest perspective ."

Now we are getting everything into perspective.

When you look at the moon at night,

People in living in countries

On the other side of the World,

like the United States and Japan,

are living in day light

When they have night, we have day.

No matter where we all live on Earth.

The same Sun and Moon