Random Jottings from (",)::~~~ the Absolutely Hilarious, Fabulously Wonderful Guy!

Now this is funny...

Try it... it really does work... it's hysterical



This is too much!



1) Go to http://www.google.com
2) Type in (but don't hit enter): "weapons of mass destruction"
3) Click the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, instead of the normal "Google Search" button.
4) READ CAREFULLY what appears to be a normal ERROR message. Make sure you read the whole error message.
Someone at Google apparently has a sense of humour.

Try this soon, before someone at Google removes it.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dr Robert Williams
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 15:49:10 +0700
Subject: Strictly Confidencial From Robert Williams
To: azlan

Dr Robert Williams
Director Foreign Operations
HSBC Bangkok Thailand

Dear friend,

This letter may come to you as a surprise due to the
fact that we have not yet met. The message could be
strange but real if you pay some attention to it. I
could have notified you about it at least for the sake
of your integrity. Please accept my sincere apologies.
In bringing this message of goodwill to you, I have to
say that I have no intentions of causing you
any pains.

I am Dr Robert Williams, the Director of Foreign
Operations HSBC Bangkok Thailand. I have urgent and
very confidential business proposition for you. On
June 6 1997, an American oil consultant/contractor
with theThailand National Petroleum Corporation, Mr.
Barry Kelly made a numbered time (Fixed) deposited
for twelve calendar months, valued at US$25,000,000.00
(Twenty-five Million Dollars) in my bank. Upon
maturity, I sent a routine notification to his
forwarding address but got
no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and
finally we discovered from his contract employers,
Thailand National Petroleum Corporation that Mr.
Barry Kelly died from an automobile accident. On
further investigation, I found
out that he did not leave a WILL and all attempts to
trace his next of kin were fruitless.
I therefore made further investigation and discovered
that Mr. Barry Kelly
did not declare any next of kin in all his official
documents, including his Bank Deposit paperwork. This
sum of US$25,000,000.00 is still sitting in the Bank
and the interest is being rolled over with the
principal sum at the end of each year. No one will
come forward to claim it. According to the Thailand
Law,
at the expiration of 5 (five) years, the money will
revert to the ownership of the Thailand Government
if nobody applies to claim the funds.

Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a
foreigner to stand in as the next of kin to Mr.
Barry
Kelly so that the fruits of this old man's labor will
not get into the hands of some corrupt officials.
This is simple, I will like you to provide me
immediately with your full names and address so that
the attorney will prepare the necessary documents and
affidavits, which will put you in place as the next
of kin. We shall employ the services of two attorneys
for drafting and notarization of the WILL and obtain
the necessary documents and letter of
probate/administration in your favor the transfer. A
bank account in any part of the world, which you
provide, will then facilitate the transfer of this
money to you as the beneficiary/next of kin. The money
will be paid into your account for us to share in the
ratio of 60% for me and 40% for you.

There is no risk at all as all the paperwork for this
transaction will be done by the attorney and my
position as the Bank Foreign Operations Director
guarantees the successful execution of this
transaction. If you are interested, please reply
immediately via the private email address below. Upon
your response, I shall then provide you with more
details and relevant documents that will help you
understand. Please observe utmost confidentiality, and
rest assured that this transaction would be most
profitable for both of us because I shall require your
assistance to invest my share in your country.

Please consider that i am still serving in the office
and keep this very confidencial, my intergrity is at
stake if you decided to share this transaction with
any one...please keep it very secret untill we get
this transfer succesfully into your account.

Awaiting your urgent reply via email : Thanks and

God bless you

Dr Robert Williams
Director Foreign Operations
HSBC Thailand

# posted by (",)azlan::~~~ @ 22:12

Copyright 2003-2004 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice

A woman is having an affair during the day while her husband is at work.

Her 9-year-old son comes home unexpectedly, sees them and hides in the
bedroom closet to watch. The woman's husband also comes home. She puts
her lover in the closet, not realizing that the little boy is in there
already.

The little boy says, "Dark in here."

The man says, "Yes, it is."

Boy - "I have a baseball."

Man - "That's nice."

Boy - "Want to buy it?"

Man - "No, thanks."

Boy - "My dad's outside."

Man - "OK, how much?"

Boy - "$250"

In the next few weeks, it happens again that the boy and the lover are
in the closet together.

Boy - "Dark in here."

Man - "Yes, it is."

Boy - "I have a baseball glove."

The lover remembering the last time, asks the boy, "How much?"

Boy - "$750"

Man - "Fine."

A few days later, the father says to the boy, "Grab your glove, let's
go outside and have a game of catch."

The boy says, "I can't, I sold my baseball and my glove."

The father asks, "How much did you sell them for?"

Boy - "$1,000"

The father says, "That's terrible to overcharge your friends like
that... That is way more than those two things cost. I'm going to take
you to church and make you confess."

They go to the church and the father makes the little boy sit in the
confession booth and he closes the door.

The boy says, "Dark in here."

The priest says, "Don't you start that shit again..."

Dear All

I'm starting an Insurance Agency in Putrajaya offering a full suite of insurance and financial services and am actively seeking and recruiting Insurance Trainees to be trained to become my agents at my new agency.

My agency is expected to be fully operational from January 2, 2005 and I'm looking for Insurance Trainees to commence training now. Applicants need to have a minimum of SPM with 6 passes, including BM, BI and Maths. Suitable candidates will be required to undergo training in Menara AIA/Wisma AIG in Kuala Lumpur for six months, during which time they will be paid a monthly training allowance of RM1,550 and given EPF and SOCSO benefits. Upon completion of their training, they are expected to work for my agency in Putrajaya. A bonus of RM3,000 will be given to those who meet an excellent Standard of Performance and pass the mandatory exams conducted by the Malaysian Institute of Insurance by the end of their training.

While no previous sales experience is required, preference will be given to those with customer service experience.

If you know of dependable, friendly, highly-motivated and affable young people with own transport and driving and/or motorbike licence, interested in building a profitable insurance career, please have them send me their CV.

The American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is one of the world's largest insurance firms and the leading US-based international insurance and financial services organisation. Our extensive network has operations in over 130 countries throughout the world. AIG holds the highest possible ratings - AAA from Standard and Poor's, AAA from Moody's and A++ from A.M. Best Company. With our financial strength and security, be assured that we will be there for you, fully committed to meet your needs.

Would it interest you to discover how YOU can be part of the American International Group, Inc. (AIG) and be professionally trained to build a profitable insurance business?

ASK ME!

Azlan Adnan, MA International Business and Management
Distribution Management
American Home Assurance Company Malaysia (991951-W)
Level 4, Wisma AIG
99 Jalan Ampang
50450 KUALA LUMPUR
H/P: 012-383 1324
Fax: 03-2058 5349
E-mail: azlan.aig@gmail.com

Copyright 2003-2004 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice

By ZACHARY G. BEHR
August 22, 2004


ABOUT a year and a half ago, my college friend Flo Pesenti and I
finished first in the CBS-TV reality show ''The Amazing Race.'' The
show follows teams of two as they race around the world for a
million-dollar prize. During the race, we traveled 41,000 miles and
visited 13 countries in 30 days.

The show appears to have tapped into a vast national sense of
wanderlust: it recently began its fifth season, with ratings among the
top 10 prime-time shows, and has already outrun its reality-genre
competitors to an Emmy award.

Any trip that compresses so many airline flights, mad-dash cab rides
and rocky train trips into so short a time would seem to be a crash
course on how to deal with the vicissitudes of modern travel. For Flo
and me, that's exactly what it turned out to be.

Flo and I had a large degree of spontaneity forced on us by the nature
of the race, but even on a well-researched trip, it doesn't hurt to
assume everything you think you know is wrong. That wasn't hard, since
we usually didn't know much about our next destination.

Besides, we couldn't possibly carry all the necessary guides, even if
we knew in advance where we were headed. Instead, we came up with a
topographical solution: When in a new city without a clue where to go,
start walking uphill. When you feel you have reached the highest point
around, usually there will be a church or mosque or some other site
with an equally impressive view of the surrounding area. From this
vantage point, you can usually plot out the rest of your day.

Staying healthy is crucial to any vacation, but with us it was
especially so. Besides the typical bottled-water precautions (I was
usually lugging a gallon of it in my backpack), we learned to let the
locals be our guide when it came to cooked food. Near the finish line,
on a train in Vietnam, a wonderful smelling cart full of chicken
skewers and noodles passed by, and the Vietnamese passengers
immediately flocked to it for a helping of one of their traditional
dishes.

While our competitors passed up such delicacies, for fear of stomach
troubles, I dug in. Luckily, there were no gastric consequences to the
delicious, cheap fare. I now make it a point to follow the local crowd
when hungry in a foreign land, on the theory that where throngs
gather, there is good, clean food.

Airports were the scenes of the most stressful moments of the race,
since we never found out what our destination was until we began each
leg of the race. On one segment, we had to jet from Casablanca to
Munich, and a few days later made the leap from Zurich to Kuala
Lumpur, and most of the time we had no idea how to map out a trip
based solely on speed. This led to the next epiphany: the
knowledgeable airline ticket agent.

Initially, it didn't seem to make sense, given the archaic, mouseless
computers many agents were using, but they helped us to an
unfathomable degree. Naturally, they had the most up-to-date
information on flights, delays and weather conditions, but they also
seemed invariably to know the airport layout in our destination city.

When we explained that we were racing around the world, ticket agents
would always give us their full attention and -- the best part --
crucial information on all the other airlines' flights as well. And
agents can work incredibly quickly under absurd amounts of pressure,
although few may be as agile as the Mexicana ticket agent in Cancun
who booked our seats to London in 10 minutes while telling us the
precise departure, arrival and layover times of every other flight
going from Mexico to England that day.

In the air, flight crews become another information source if you
befriend them, as we took pains to do. They were particularly helpful
for driving directions to sites off the beaten path, which the TV
show's producers seemed to take a twisted delight in sending us to. On
our way back to the United States, we had to find ''The Big Kahuna''
on a rocky bluff somewhere on Oahu, and the attendants helped us find
our man.

What flight attendants did not know, some homeward-bound fellow
passenger usually did. On our way to Malaysia, a woman gave me some
critical time-saving advice about express-train service to our next
destination. Any reservations we had about striking up conversations
with complete strangers had evaporated by the end of the race.

Cabdrivers, too, were often a key support. Sometimes, it was
surprising -- even a little frightening -- to see how far cabbies
would go to satisfy our need for speed (and we were always demanding
that they go faster and faster, through some of the tightest, most
crowded streets in the world). Driving through the medina in
Marrakesh, packed with freely roaming cattle, assorted hawkers and the
occasional bewildered tourists, we pleaded with one cabdriver (and
tipped him generously) to cut around cars, and he obliged every one of
our requests without hesitation.

On average, though, taxis were about as much of a crapshoot as they
are in New York -- a different Moroccan cabby took two of our
competitors way off the route into a scary situation involving a local
government official and their being temporarily detained. They were so
shaken by the incident, they wound up being eliminated soon after.

My partner and I were traveling light in the linguistic department.
Together, we were fluent in just English, Italian and Spanish. But
communication in any tongue, I am now convinced, is as much about tone
and facial expression as it is about grammar and pronunciation.
Gesture, grunt and moan: you'll feel like an idiot, but most often get
what you want. The real universal language, however, remains a flash
of a smile and some cash -- it gets the lines of communication
humming, as it did with a Vietnamese train conductor, the only guy
standing between us and a place to sleep in an air-conditioned car on
the 24-hour trip from Saigon to Hue in 90-plus temperatures.

And when the cash runs out, just try asking. While driving through
Spain in the middle of the night on the way to a ferry that would take
us to Morocco, I mistakenly put regular unleaded gasoline into our
diesel car. I thought for sure I had put an end to the race for us.
Instead of giving up and going to a hotel for the night as another
team did (which got them eliminated), we trekked half a mile back to
the station, where I pleaded with the attendant to get help. He made a
phone call and woke up a mechanic friend; a few stressful hours later
we were back on the road.

In general, getting help was easy. Flo would walk up to strangers on
the street, wearing a look of desperation, and beg for directions or
some other form of assistance. Manage your finances properly, and you
won't have to walk into a Munich pizza shop and ask for a free slice,
as I did (the shop owner handed one over). But when you have no other
choice, you would be astonished by how generous people can be to total
strangers.

Flo and I didn't get along -- she was constantly threatening to quit.
And I wouldn't let us spend more than a few dollars on food, which I
somehow deemed unnecessary. In fact, the tension between us eventually
became one of the main subplots of the show that season. Yet
interpersonal dynamics, I have come to believe, are overrated. Our
friction-filled dynamic was perfect because it led us to victory. We
excelled because our roles were defined. I was the driver and
navigator and eternally optimistic one; Flo was in charge of creating
instant relationships with strangers and getting crucial bits of
information along the way, as well as doing much of the legwork at
airports. We focused on the journey, and not on each other, and what
we got out of ''The Amazing Race,'' besides the million-dollar prize
money, was this: Sometimes, you need to let the trip take you, instead
of the other way around.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company


Are you an Intrepid Traveller?

AIG Assist
is Travel Insurance Coverage that provides
Global Travel Protection

Call Azlan Adnan for details:
012-383 1324

I shall be conducting the following roadshows to sign up customers for credit cards, balance transfer, Flexi-3 (Personal Protection, Medical Care and Critical Illness insurance), motor insurance, houseowner insurance and householder insurance, life insurance and investment-linked insurance.

Do drop by if you are interested to find out more.

Wednesday, September 22
6 pm to 11 pm
Klinik Zahida
Kg Tunku, PJ

Thursday, September 23
11 am to 4 pm
Tanglin Community Polyclinic Cafeteria & Kantin Kelab Kesihatan
Ministry of Health
Jalan Cenderasari, KL

Friday, September 24
11 am to 4 pm
Tanglin Community Polyclinic Cafeteria & Kantin Kelab Kesihatan
Ministry of Health
Jalan Cenderasari, KL

Monday, September 27 (postponed)
11 am to 5 pm
PUSB Kafeteria
Statistics Department
PUTRAJAYA

Thursday, September 30
11 am to 4 pm
Kompleks Kejiranan Presint 16
PUTRAJAYA

Monday, October 4
11 am to 4 pm
Attorney-General's Chambers
Block C3, Parcel C
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62512 PUTRAJAYA

Tuesday, October 5
11 am to 4 pm
Kompleks Kejiranan Presint 16
PUTRAJAYA

Thursday, October 7 (cancelled)
11 am to 4 pm
Attorney-General's Chambers
Block C3, Parcel C
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62512 PUTRAJAYA

Friday, October 8 (cancelled)
11 am to 4 pm
Attorney-General's Chambers
Block C3, Parcel C
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62512 PUTRAJAYA

Monday, October 11
11 am to 4 pm
Tanglin Community Polyclinic Cafeteria & Kantin Kelab Kesihatan
Ministry of Health
Jalan Cenderasari, KL

Tuesday, October 12
11 am to 4 pm
Tanglin Community Polyclinic Cafeteria & Kantin Kelab Kesihatan
Ministry of Health
Jalan Cenderasari, KL

Thursday, October 14 (cancelled)
11 am to 4 pm
Attorney-General's Chambers
Block C3, Parcel C
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62512 PUTRAJAYA

Monday, October 18 (to be confirmed)
10 am to 5 pm
Wisma Denmark
86 Jalan Ampang
50450 KUALA LUMPUR

Tuesday, October 19, 2004 (to be confirmed)
11 am to 5 pm
Malakoff Berhad
Level 13, Block 3B
Plaza Sentral
Jalan Stesen Sentral 5
50470 KUALA LUMPUR

Wednesday, October 20
6 pm to 11 pm
Klinik Zahida
Kg Tunku, PJ

Monday, October 25
11 am to 4 pm
Tanglin Community Polyclinic Cafeteria & Kantin Kelab Kesihatan
Ministry of Health
Jalan Cenderasari, KL

Tuesday, October 26
11 am to 4 pm
Tanglin Community Polyclinic Cafeteria & Kantin Kelab Kesihatan
Ministry of Health
Jalan Cenderasari, KL

Tuesday, November 2, 2004 (tentative)
11 am to 5 pm
Menara Maxis
KLCC, off Jalan Ampang
50088 KUALA LUMPUR

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 (tentative)
11 am to 5 pm
Balai Berita
31 Jalan Riong
Bangsar
59100 KUALA LUMPUR


If you would like to make suggestions as to where I should conduct roadshows,
do let me know. Of course, I don't pay rental (can't afford-lah!)

warm regards

Azlan Adnan
012-383 1324

TRUST is a very important factor for all relationships. When trust is
broken, it is the end of the relationship. Lack of trust leads to
suspicion, suspicion generates anger, anger causes enmity and
enmity may result in separation.

A telephone operator told me that one day she received a phone call.
She answered, "Public Utilities Board." There was silence. She
repeated, "PUB."

There was still no answer. When she was going to cut off the line,
she Heard a lady's voice, "Oh, so this is PUB. Sorry, I got the
number from my husband's pocket but I do not know whose number it
is." Without mutual trust, just imagine what will happen to the
couple if the telephone operator answered with just "hello" instead
of "PUB."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

NO POINTING FINGERS

A man asked his father-in-law, "Many people praised you for a
successful marriage. Could you please share with me your secret?" The
father-in-law answered in a smile, "Never criticise your wife for her
shortcomings or when she does something wrong. Always bear in mind
that because of her shortcomings and weaknesses, she could not find a
better husband than you."

We all look forward to being loved and respected. Many people are
afraid of losing face. Generally, when a person makes a mistake, he
would look around to find a scapegoat to point the finger at.

This is the start of a war. We should always remember that when we
point one finger at a person, the other four fingers are pointing at
ourselves.

If we forgive others, others will ignore our mistake too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

CREATING PERFECT RELATIONSHIPS?

A person visited the government matchmaker for marriage,
Social Development Unit (SDU), and requested
"I am looking for a spouse. Please help me to find a
suitable one."

The SDU officer said, "Your requirements, please." "Oh, good looking,
polite, humorous, sporty, knowledgeable, good in singing and dancing.
Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour,
if I don't go out. Telling me interesting stories when I need
companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest."

The officer listened carefully and replied, "I understand you need
television."

There is a saying that a perfect match can only be found between a
blind wife and a deaf husband, because the blind wife cannot see the
faults of the husband and the deaf husband cannot hear the nagging of
the wife.

Many couples are blind and deaf at the courting stage and dream of
perpetual perfect relationship. Unfortunately, when the excitement of
love wears off, they wake up and discover that marriage is not a bed
of roses.

The nightmare begins.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

NO OVERPOWERING

Many relationships fail because one party tries to overpower another,
or demands too much. People in love tend to think that love will
conquer all and their spouses will change the bad habits after
marriage.

Actually, this is not the case. There is a Chinese saying which
carries the meaning that "It is easier to reshape a mountain or a
river than a person's character."

It is not easy to change. Thus, having high expectation on changing
the spouse character will cause disappointment and unpleasantness.

It would be less painful to change ourselves and lower our
expectations...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

RIGHT SPEECH

There is a Chinese saying which carries the meaning that "a speech
will either prosper or ruin a nation." Many relationships break off
because of wrong speech. When a couple is too close with each other,
we always forget mutual respect and courtesy. We may say anything
without considering if it would hurt the other party.

A friend and her millionaire husband visited their construction site.

A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted, "Hi, Emily! Remember
me? We used to date in the secondary school." On the way home, her
millionaire husband teased her, "Luckily you married me. Otherwise
you will be the wife of a construction worker." She answered, "You
should appreciate that you married me. Otherwise, he will be the
millionaire and not you."

Frequently exchanging these remarks plants the seed for a bad
relationship.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

PERSONAL PERCEPTION

Different people have different perception. One man's meat could be
another man's poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On
the way home, a boy commented, "Very stupid. Why neither of them ride
on the donkey?"

Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey.

He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, "The
husband is the head of family.

How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?"
Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on
the donkey.

Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How
can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no
gentleman."

The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey.

Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you
hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you."

Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the
donkey and carried it on their shoulders. It seems to be the only
choice left.

Later, on a narrow bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled.
They lost their balance and fell into the river.

You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn
you.

Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.

Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is
clear...

--------------------------------------------------------------------
BE PATIENT

This is a true story which happened in the States.

A man came out of his home to admire his new truck. To his
puzzlement, his three-year-old son was happily hammering dents into
the shiny paint of the truck.

The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's
hands into pulp as punishment.

When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.
Although the doctor tried desperately to save the crushed bones, he
finally had to amputate the fingers from both the boy's hands.

When the boy woke up from the surgery & saw his bandaged stubs, he
innocently said, " Daddy, I'm sorry about your truck." Then he asked,
"but when are my fingers going to grow back?"

The father went home & committed suicide. Think about this story the
next time someone steps on your feet or u wish to take revenge. Think
first before u lose your patience with someone u love. Trucks can be
repaired.. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't.

Too often we fail to recognise the difference between the person and
the performance. We forget that forgiveness is greater than revenge.

People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the
actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Pause and ponder. Think before you act. Be patient. Forgive & forget.

Love one and all.
If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

Thank you for your time reading this.

This email, including any attachments, is confidential and for use only by
intended recipient(s) for the purpose for which it has been sent. Its
contents may be privileged and if you are not the intended recipient of this
email, you must not use, disseminate, print or copy this email or any part
of it or take any action in reliance on it. If you have received this email
in error, please contact the sender immediately by return email or telephone
and delete/destroy the message.

We do not accept liability for any corruption, delay, interception or
unauthorized amendment of the e-mail or their consequences.

never a dull moment!
(",)azlan::~~~
The Absolutely Hilarious, Fabulously Wonderful Guy!

VIRGO
September 20, 2004

One thing follows another. You know the drill, although you may have questions about the current process. Stay the course no matter how rough the ride. Instead of calling this a race, your objective should be arranging it so that everybody wins. Avoid possible distractions and false impressions from spectators -- much of it is just background noise. Cope with this instead of making it go away. If you need quiet time now, you're out of luck.

If you're patient, you'll find some peace later.

~~~ (",) ~~~

LIBRA
September 20, 2004

Nudge an ongoing project a little closer to completion. With the end in sight at last, it would be a shame to stop now. You feel good about yourself in many areas of your life. You're not afraid to announce yourself to the world at large. Whether through language skills or calculated movements, you're unusually expressive when it comes to getting your point across. Your partner is willing to give in on certain issues that have been a sore point between you. Understand that this is about equality, not victory.

Everything you do is destined to bring you closer together.
Copyright 2003-2004 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice

an introductory guide


This is an introductory guide to help you understand insurance and takaful. It gives you some information on the types of insurance and takaful business, the basic principles of insurance and takaful, what to do in the event of loss and avenues for complaints.

What is insurance?
Insurance is the transfer of risk by an individual or organisation, known as the policy owner, to the insurance company. In return, the insurance company receives payment in the form of premium. In the event of loss suffered by the policy owner, the insurance company will compensate for the loss or damage.

Types of insurance
There are two main types of insurance i.e. life and general insurance:

Table 1


Basic principles of insurance

The four main principles of insurance are:

1) Insurable interest
You would have an interest in the insured item or life such that, a loss or damage to the item or life insured, would result in a financial loss to you. For example, if you have sold your car, you should also stop insuring it because you no longer have any insurable interest. If you continue to insure it, the insurance company will not pay you in the event of loss or damage to the car.

2) Utmost good faith (Uberrimae fides)
An insurance contract is a contract of utmost good faith. You, as the policy owner, must disclose all material facts when buying a policy. If you fail to disclose any material fact, the policy may become invalid.

3) Indemnity
Only applies to the physical damage to a property (e.g. damage to a building or motor vehicle) where the loss can be quantified in monetary terms. You cannot 'profit' from an insurance policy. In the event that you suffer a loss, the insurance company will pay or 'indemnify' you to the position you were in before the loss.

4) Contribution
It is not necessary to buy more than one policy to protect a particular property. If you do buy more than one, in the event of loss or damage to the property, you can only make one claim. The amount payable will then be contributed by the insurance companies involved. However, if you wish to cover your life, you can buy more than one policy.


What is takaful?
Takaful is a protection plan based on Shariah principles. You contribute a sum of money to a common takaful fund in the form of participative contribution (tabarru'). You undertake a contract (aqad) to become one of the participants by agreeing to mutually help each other, should any of the participants suffer a defined loss.

Sharing of surplus
. One unique feature of a takaful plan is the sharing of surplus of the fund between you and the takaful operation based on a pre-agreed ratio.

. The surplus is arrived at after deducting expenses such as claims, re-takaful, technical reserves and management expenses.

. You are entitled to this surplus if you had not made a claim during the period of takaful.

. For example, a takaful operator has total surplus (S) of RM4 million and total general contribution (GC) of RM10 million. Your contribution (C) for the year is RM1,000 and surplus will be shared between you and the takaful operator at a pre-agreed sharing ratio (PSR) of 50:50. The share of surplus that you will receive is calculated as follows:

Equation 1


Shariah Supervisory Council
To ensure compliance with Shariah principles:
. Takaful operators are required to set up Shariah Supervisory Councils, which advise management and ensure that their activities comply with Shariah principles.

. The National Shariah Advisory Council on Islamic Banking and Takaful has been set up at Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to advise BNM on the Shariah aspects of the operations of Islamic banking institutions and takaful operators, as well as of their products and services.


Takaful products and services

There are two types of takaful business:

Table 2


Basic principles of takaful
. You must have a legitimate financial interest in the subject matter to participate in a takaful plan.

. A takaful contract is based on the principle of utmost good faith (trust), whereby you need to disclose all material information required.

. You can only recover your financial loss and not gain any profit as a result of a quantifiable loss.

. In determining the compensation, the takaful operator will identify the actual most important cause that brought about the loss.

. After you have been compensated for your loss, the takaful operator has the right to claim from any third party responsible for your loss.

. If a loss is covered by more than one takaful plans or insurance policies, the takaful operator that has made payment to you may call upon other takaful operators or insurance companies to contribute proportionately to the payment.

Where can I get an insurance or takaful product?

You can buy an insurance policy or participate in a takaful plan:
. directly from insurance companies or takaful operators;

. through registered agents or licensed brokers;

. from banking institutions having bancassurance arrangements with insurance companies or takaful operators; and

. via the internet.


Useful pointers when buying an insurance policy or participating in a takaful plan
. Understand the policy or plan including product features, conditions, benefits limitations and exclusions.

. Ensure that the premium or contribution payable is affordable.

. Ensure that the amount of coverage taken is adequate and suits your needs.

. Ensure that all material facts are fully disclosed.

. Deal only with registered agents/licensed brokers or directly with an insurance company or takaful operator.

. Monitor the period of coverage and time for payment of premium or contribution.


How to make a claim?
. Check your policy or certificate

. Check whether the loss or damage is covered.

- Check on items excluded or any proportion of loss that you will have to bear (excess).

- If you are in doubt about the proper procedures you should seek advice from your insurance company or takaful operator, your agent or broker.

. Notify your insurance company or takaful operator

. Notify your insurance company or takaful operator about the accident as soon as possible.

- Request for a claim form and seek advice on the documents required to support your claim.

- In some cases, a police report may be required. For motor accident, a police report must be made within 24 hours.

. Provide complete and correct information

- Be cooperative and give all the information requested by your insurance company or takaful operator or its representative (usually an adjuster).

- Incorrect or incomplete information will cause delay in processing your claim.

. Keep copies of all documents

- Keep copies and records of all documents such as bills, reports and correspondences.

. Communicate frequently

- The insurance company or takaful operator should acknowledge receipt of your claim within seven days.

- Keep in regular contact with your insurance company or takaful operator until the claim is resolved.

- If the offer made does not meet with your expectation, you may negotiate with your insurance company or takaful operator. Both parties should undertake negotiations in good faith.

How to make a complaint?
If you are unhappy with your insurance company or takaful operator, or you feel that you have been unfairly treated, you have several avenues for redress before going to court.

Avenues for resolving complaints

Complaints Unit of the insurance company or takaful operator

. You should first submit your complaint to the Complaints Unit.

. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint resolution, you can submit your complaint either to the Insurance Mediation Bureau (IMB) or BNM. The Complaints Unit should advise you on the next proper avenue to deal with your complaint.

. When forwarding your complaint to either IMB or BNM, attach a copy of the decision letter of the insurance company or takaful operator.

. To allow your complaint to be handled effectively you need to:

- make your complaint in writing;

- state essential information of your case clearly such as the name of the insurance company or takaful operator;

- relay your complaint in a sensible order and include relevant dates and reference numbers, e.g. the policy or certificate number and vehicle registration number, if relevant;

- give your contact address and telephone numbers;

- attach copies of relevant documents and retain the originals; and

- retain a copy of your complaint letter for reference.

Insurance Mediation Bureau
. IMB is an independent body established by the insurance industry with the support of BNM to resolve disputes arising from an insurance policy or takaful certificate.

. If IMB makes a decision in your favour, the insurance company or takaful operator must abide by the decision. The insurance company or takaful operator will pay the mediated settlement sum directly to you within 30 days.

. If you are not satisfied with the IMB's decision, you may take the case to court.

Types of complaints handled by IMB
. Disputes/claims involving amounts up to RM100,000.

. Disputes on claims involving terms and conditions of policy or certificate.

. Cases referred must be within six months after receiving the final decision of the insurance company or takaful operator.


Types of complaints not handled by IMB
. Cases involving claims above RM100,000.

. Complaints involving third party claims.

. Complaints involving underwriting issues.

. Complaints that have been referred to a court of law (or arbitration).


Address:

Insurance Mediation Bureau
4th Floor, Wisma Harwant
106, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman
50100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2693 9419/2693 9623
Fax: 03-2693 6816


Bank Negara Malaysia

You may forward your complaint to BNM if it is not under the jurisdiction of IMB or the complaint cannot be resolved by the Complaints Unit of the insurance company or takaful operator.

Types of complaints not handled by BNM
. Complaints that have been referred to IMB.

. Complaints that have been mediated and decided by IMB.

. The case has been referred to your solicitors or legal actions have been instituted.

. The case pertains to institutions not under BNM's supervision, such as repair workshops and managed care organisations.

. The complaint is made by agents against their principals or on employer/employee relationships or other matters not related to insurance or takaful.


Address:

For insurance matters

Customer Service Bureau
Insurance Regulation Department
Bank Negara Malaysia
P.O. Box 10922
50929 KUALA LUMPUR
Tel: 03-2698 8044
Fax: 03-2694 5986


For takaful matters

Islamic Banking and Takaful Department
Bank Negara Malaysia
P.O. Box 10922
50929 KUALA LUMPUR
Tel: 03-2698 8044
Fax: 03-2693 3826



Table 3
Other Complaint Bureaus

	Hello Random Jottings, Azlan Adnan has sent you this article from RichDad.com. Please enjoy this exclusive Rich Dad Content with our compliments: Click this link to view this page inside RichDad: Go to Rich Dad... A note from Azlan Adnan: Chapter One Rich Dad, Poor Dad As narrated by Robert Kiyosaki Thank you, Your friends at RichDad.com

What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--
That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

Chapter One

Rich Dad, Poor Dad
As narrated by Robert Kiyosaki

I had two fathers, a rich one and a poor one. One was highly educated and
intelligent; he had a Ph.D. and completed four years of undergraduate work in
less than two years. He then went on to Stanford University, the University of
Chicago, and Northwestern University to do his advanced studies, all on full
financial scholarships. The other father never finished the eighth grade.

Both men were successful in their careers, working hard all their lives. Both
earned substantial incomes. Yet one struggled financially all his life. The
other would become one of the richest men in Hawaii. One died leaving tens of
millions of dollars to his family, charities and his church. The other left
bills to be paid.

Both men were strong, charismatic and influential. Both men offered me advice,
but they did not advise the same things. Both men believed strongly in
education but did not recommend the same course of study.

If I had had only one dad, I would have had to accept or reject his advice.
Having two dads advising me offered me the choice of contrasting points of
view; one of a rich man and one of a poor man.

Instead of simply accepting or rejecting one or the other, I found myself
thinking more, comparing and then choosing for myself.

The problem was, the rich man was not rich yet and the poor man not yet poor.
Both were just starting out on their careers, and both were struggling with
money and families. But they had very different points of view about the
subject of money.

For example, one dad would say, “The love of money is the root of all evil.�
The other, “The lack of money is the root of all evil.�

As a young boy, having two strong fathers influencing me was difficult. I
wanted to be a good son and listen, but the two fathers did not say the same
things. The contrast in their points of view, particularly where money was
concerned, was so extreme that I grew curious and intrigued. I began to start
thinking for long periods of time about what each was saying.

Much of my private time was spent reflecting, asking myself questions such as,
“Why does he say that?� and then asking the same question of the other dad’s
statement. It would have been much easier to simply say, “Yeah, he’s right. I
agree with that.� Or to simply reject the point of view by saying, “The old man
doesn’t know what he’s talking about.� Instead, having two dads whom I loved
forced me to think and ultimately choose a way of thinking for myself. As a
process, choosing for myself turned out to be much more valuable in the long
run, rather than simply accepting or rejecting a single point of view.

One of the reasons the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle
class struggles in debt is because the subject of money is taught at home, not
in school. Most of us learn about money from our parents. So what can a poor
parent tell their child about money? They simply say “Stay in school and study
hard.� The child may graduate with excellent grades but with a poor person’s
financial programming and mind-set. It was learned while the child was young.

Money is not taught in schools. Schools focus on scholastic and professional
skills, but not on financial skills. This explains how smart bankers, doctors
and accountants who earned excellent grades in school may still struggle
financially all of their lives. Our staggering national debt is due in large
part to highly educated politicians and government officials making financial
decisions with little or no training on the subject of money.

I often look ahead to the new millennium and wonder what will happen when we
have millions of people who will need financial and medical assistance. They
will be dependent on their families or the government for financial support.
What will happen when Medicare and Social Security run out of money? How will a
nation survive if teaching children about money continues to left to parents –
most of whom will be, or already are, poor?

Because I had two influential fathers, I learned from both of them. I had to
think about each dad’s advice, and in doing so, I gained valuable insight into
the power and effect of one’s thoughts on one’s life. For example, one dad had
a habit of saying, “I can’t afford it.� The other dad forbade those words to be
used. He insisted I say, “How can I afford it?� Once is a statement, and the
other is a question. One lets you off the hook, and the other forces you to
think. My soon-to-be-rich dad would explain that by automatically saying the
words “I can’t afford it,� your brain stops working. By asking the question
“How can I afford it?� your brain is put to work. He did not mean buy
everything you wanted. He was fanatical about exercising your mind, the most
powerful computer in the world. “My brain gets stronger every day because I
exercise it. The stronger it gets, the more money I can make.� He believed that
automatically saying “I can’t afford it� was a sign of mental laziness.

Although both dads worked hard, I noticed that one dad had a habit of putting
his brain to sleep when it came to money matters, and the other had a habit of
exercising his brain. The long-term result was that one dad grew stronger
financially and the other grew weaker. It is not much different from a person
who goes to the gym to exercise on a regular basis versus someone who sits on
the couch watching television. Proper physical exercise increases your chances
for health, and proper mental exercise increases your chances for wealth.

My two dads had opposing attitudes in though. One dad thought that the rich
should pay more in taxes to take care of those less fortunate. The other said,
“Taxes punish those who produce and reward those who don’t produce.�

One dad recommended, “Study hard so you can find a good company to work for.�
The other recommended, “Study hard so you can find a good company to buy.�

One dad said, “The reason I’m not rich is because I have you kids.� The other
said, “The reason I must be rich is because I have you kids.�

One encouraged talking about money and business at the dinner table. The other
forbade the subject of money to be discussed over a meal.

One said, “When it comes to money, play it safe, don’t take risks.� The other
said, “Learn to manage risk.�

One believed, “Our home is our largest investment and our greatest asset.� The
other believed, “My house is a liability, and if your house is your largest
investment, you’re in trouble.�

Both dads paid their bills on time, yet one paid his bills first while the
other paid his bills last.

One dad believed in a company or the government taking care of you and your
needs. He was always concerned about pay raises, retirement plans, medical
benefits, sick leave, vacation days and other perks. He was impressed with two
of his uncles who joined the military are earned a retirement and entitlement
package for life after twenty years of service. He loved the idea of medical
benefits and PX privileges the military provided its retirees. He also loved
the tenure life and job benefits seemed more important, at times, than the job.
He would often say, “I’ve worked hard for the government, and I’m entitled to
these benefits.�

The other believed in total financial self-reliance. He spoke out against the
“entitlement� mentality and how it was creating weak and financially needy
people. He was emphatic about being financially competent.

One dad struggled to save a few dollars. The other simply created investments.

One dad taught me how to write an impressive resume so I could find a good job.
The other taught me how to write strong business and financial plans so I could
create jobs.

Being a product of two strong dads allowed me the luxury of observing the
effects different thoughts have on one’s life. I noticed that people really do
shape their life through their thoughts.

For example, my poor dad always said, “I’ll never be rich.� And that prophesy
became reality. My rich dad, on the other hand, always referred to himself as
rich. He would say things like, “I’m a rich man, and rich people don’t do
this.� Even when he was flat broke after a major financial setback, he
continued to refer to himself as a rich man. He would cover himself by saying,
“There is a difference between being poor and being broke. Broke is temporary,
and poor is eternal.�

My poor dad would also say, “I’m not interest in money,� or Money doesn’t
matter.� My rich dad always said, “Money is power.�

The power of our thoughts may never be measured or appreciated, but it became
obvious to me as a young boy to be aware of my thoughts and how I expressed
myself. I noticed that my poor dad was poor not because of the amount of money
he earned, which was significant, but because of his thoughts and actions. As a
young boy, having two fathers, I became acutely aware of being careful which
thoughts I chose to adopt as my own. Whom should I listen to – my rich dad or
my poor dad?

Although both men had tremendous respect for education and learning, they
disagreed in what they thought was important to learn. One wanted me to study
hard, earn a degree and get a good job to work for money. He wanted me to study
to become a profession, an attorney or an accountant or to go to business
school for my MBA. The other encouraged me to study to be rich, to understand
how money works and to learn how to have it work for me. “I don’t work money!�
were words he would repeat over and over, “Money works for me!�

At the age of 9, I decided to listen to and learn from my rich dad about money.
In doing so, I chose not to listen to my poor dad, even though he was the one
with all the college degrees.

A Lesson From Robert Frost

Robert Frost is my favorite poet. Although I love many of his poems, my
favorite is The Road Not Taken. I use its lessons almost daily:

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads onto way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost [1916]

And that made all the difference. Over the years, I have often reflected upon
Robert Frost’s poem. Choosing not to listen to my highly educated dad’s advice
and attitude about money was a painful decision, but it was a decision that
shaped the rest of my life.

Once I made up my mind whom to listen to, my education about money began. My
rich dad taught me over a period of 30 years, until I was age 39. He stopped
once he realized that I knew and fully understood what he had been trying to
drum into my often thick skull.

Money is one form of power. But what is more powerful is financial education.
Money comes and goes, but if you have the education about how money works, you
gain power over it and can begin building wealth. The reason positive thinking
alone does not work is because most people went to school and never learned how
money works, so they spend their lives working for money.

Because I was only 9 years old when I started, the lessons my rich dad taught
me were simple. And when it was all said and done, there were only six main
lessons, repeated over 30 years. This book is about those six lessons, put as
simply as possible as my rich dad put forth those lessons to me. The lessons
are not meant to be answers by guideposts. Guideposts that will assist you and
your children to grow wealthier no matter what happens in a world of increasing
change and uncertainty.

Lesson #1 The Rich Don’t Work for Money

Lesson #2 Why Teach Financial Literacy?

Lesson #3 Mind Your Own Business

Lesson #4 The History of Taxes and the Power of Corporations

Lessons #5 The Rich Invent Money

Lesson #6 Work to Learn – Don’t Work for Money

September 12, 2004
THE GREAT DIVIDE | RURAL WASTELANDS
Rivers Run Black, and Chinese Die of Cancer
By JIM YARDLEY

HUANGMENGYING, China - Wang Lincheng began his accounting at the brick
hut of a farmer. Dead of cancer, he said flatly, his dress shoes
sinking in the mud. Dead of cancer, he repeated, glancing at another
vacant house.

Mr. Wang, head of the Communist Party in this village, ignored a June
rain and trudged past mud-brick houses, ticking off other deaths,
other empty homes. He did not seem to notice a small cornfield where
someone had dug a burial mound of fresh red dirt.

Finally, he stopped at the door of a sickened young mother. Her home
was beside a stream turned greenish-black from dumping by nearby
factories - polluted water that had contaminated drinking wells.
Cancer had been rare when the stream was clear, but last year cancer
accounted for 13 of the 17 deaths in the village.

"All the water we drink around here is polluted," Mr. Wang said. "You
can taste it. It's acrid and bitter. Now the victims are starting to
come out, people dying of cancer and tumors and unusual causes."

The stream in Huangmengying is one tiny canal in the Huai River basin,
a vast system that has become a grossly polluted waste outlet for
thousands of factories in central China. There are 150 million people
in the Huai basin, many of them poor farmers now threatened by water
too toxic to touch, much less drink.

Pollution is pervasive in China, as anyone who has visited the
smog-choked cities can attest. On the World Bank's list of 20 cities
with the worst air, 16 are Chinese. But leaders are now starting to
clean up major cities, partly because urbanites with rising incomes
are demanding better air and water. In Beijing and Shanghai, officials
are forcing out the dirtiest polluters to prepare for the 2008
Olympics.

By contrast, the countryside, home to two-thirds of China's
population, is increasingly becoming a dumping ground. Local
officials, desperate to generate jobs and tax revenues, protect
factories that have polluted for years. Refineries and smelters forced
out of cities have moved to rural areas. So have some foreign
companies, to escape regulation at home.

The losers are hundreds of millions of peasants already at the bottom
of a society now sharply divided between rich and poor. They are
farmers and fishermen who depend on land and water for their basic
existence.

In July and August, officials measured an 82-mile band of polluted
water moving through the Huai basin. China rates its waterways on a
scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being too toxic even to touch. This water was
rated 5. For fishermen, it may as well have been poison. "If I had
wanted to, I could have gone on the river and filled a boat with dead
fish," said Song Dexi, 64, a fisherman in Yumin. "It was smelly, like
toilet water. All our fish and shrimp died. We don't have anything to
live on now."

The Huai was supposed to be a Communist Party success story. Ten years
ago, the central government vowed to clean up the basin after a
pollution tide killed fish and sickened thousands of people. Three
years ago, a top Chinese official called the cleanup a success. But
the Huai is now a symbol of the failure of environmental regulation in
China. The central government promotes big solutions but gives
regulators little power to enforce them. Local officials have few
incentives to crack down on polluters because their promotion system
is based primarily on economic growth, not public health.

It is a game that leaves poorer, rural regions clinging to the worst polluters.

"No doubt there is an economic food chain, and the lower you are, the
worse off your environmental problems are likely to be," said
Elizabeth C. Economy, author of "The River Runs Black" (Cornell
University Press, 2004), a study of China's environment. "One city
after the next is offloading its polluting industries outside its city
limits, and polluting industries themselves are seeking poorer areas."

China is facing an ecological and health crisis. Heavy air pollution
contributes to respiratory illnesses that kill up to 300,000 people a
year, many in cities but also in rural areas, the World Bank
estimates. Liver and stomach cancer, linked in some studies to water
pollution, are among the leading causes of death in the countryside.

"Over the past 20 years in China, there has been a single-minded focus
on economic growth with the belief that economic growth can solve all
problems," said Pan Yue, the outspoken deputy director of China's
State Environmental Protection Administration. "But this has left
environmental protection badly behind."

Too Poor to Flee, or to Get Well

Few places bear that out more than eastern Henan Province, which
includes Huangmengying. The isolated region has tanneries, paper mills
and other high-polluting industries dumping directly into the rivers.

One of the biggest polluters is the Lianhua Gourmet Powder Company,
China's largest producer of monosodium glutamate, or MSG, the flavor
enhancer. But the company's political influence is so vast that
environmental regulators who have tried to challenge the company have
done so in vain.

The Huai River basin has neither the history of the Yellow River nor
the mystique of the Yangtze. Yet the Huai, with its spider's web of
canals and broad tributaries, irrigates a huge swath of China's
agricultural heartland.

Farmers once spent lifetimes tilling the same plot of corn or wheat.
But in the past decade, millions of farmers, unable to earn a living
from the land, have left Henan for migrant work in cities, leaving
behind villages of old people and young mothers.

One of those mothers is Kong Heqin, 30, who was the last stop on Mr.
Wang's cancer tour in June. She stumbled into her dirt courtyard,
disheveled and groggy from an afternoon nap. Her face was bloated and
her legs were swollen. She had already had three operations for
cancer, and new tumors were growing in her large intestine.

Earlier in the year, doctors had prescribed chemotherapy. But
treatments cost $500 a series, nearly a year's income. She had
borrowed $250 to pay spring school fees for her two sons, and she
worried that chemotherapy would drain the family's meager resources
away from her children.

So she stopped chemotherapy.

"We've wasted so much money on medical treatment," she said. "I think
the best thing would be to give up on it."

Her rising medical bills were one reason her husband left a few years
ago for construction work in a northern metropolis, Tianjin. He
returns twice a year to plant or harvest crops. On good months, he
sends home $60, but Ms. Kong says months go by with nothing in the
mail.

Her illness shapes family life. Her elderly mother tends her husband's
fields because she is too weak. Her sons wash the clothes. She grows a
ragged garden in her courtyard because the pesticides coating
vegetables at local markets make her sick. The plate of boiled eggs on
her dresser was a gift from sympathetic relatives.

Asked about pollution, she seemed confused, as if unaware of the
concept. But she has noticed that her well water smells bad and has
changed in taste. She knows that others are sick, too. "There's a
family next door with a case of cancer," she said. "But they don't
like to talk about it. People here are scared to talk about these
things."

Epidemiological research for cancer in the Huai basin is scant. None
has been done in Huangmengying. Nor does any scientific evidence prove
that pollution is causing the rising cancer rate. What is clear is the
wide range of pollutants, from fertilizer runoff to the dumping of
factory wastes.

But Dr. Zhao Meiqin, chief of radiology at the county hospital, said
cancer cases in the area rose sharply after heavy industry arrived in
the 1980's and 90's. Before, the area had about 10 cases a year. "Now,
in a year, there are hundreds of cases," she said, putting the number
as high as 400, mostly stomach and intestinal tumors. "Originally,
most of the patients were in their 50's and 60's. But now it tends to
strike earlier. I've even treated one patient who is only 7."

Dr. Zhao said most cancer patients came from villages close to the
factories along the Shaying River, a major tributary in the Huai
basin. Mr. Wang, the village party chief, also said the highest
concentrations of cancer were found in the homes closest to the
village stream, which draws its water directly from the Shaying.

Polluters Hiding in Plain Sight

Health problems began appearing slowly in the early 1990's. Mr. Wang
said he learned that the water was severely polluted after an
environmental official came on a personal visit. Farmers also began
complaining that their fields were producing less grain because of
polluted irrigation water.

Today, pollution corrodes daily life here. Farmers too poor to buy
bottled water instead drink well water that curdles with scum when it
is boiled.

Xiao Junhai is 57 but looks two decades older. In June, he shivered
under a quilt in a dark room, summer flies flitting at his head,
cancer knotting his stomach. He could not lift himself from his crude
bed.

"I grew up drinking the water here, and I still drink it," he said. "I
don't know what pollution is, but I do know it means the water is
bad."

His daughter, Xiao Li, 24, anguished over the dilemma that her
father's illness had thrust upon her. She says her father takes
traditional Chinese remedies and eats rice porridge because the family
cannot afford treatment. If she returned to her migrant job on the
coast, in Hangzhou, she might earn enough money to pay for it. But no
one else can care for him. So she has stayed.

"The water in the river used to be clean, but now it's black and
changing colors all the time," she said. "The water is being
destroyed."

The Lianhua Gourmet Powder Company is based in Xiangcheng, upstream
from Huangmengying. It is the area's largest employer, with more than
8,000 workers, and the largest taxpayer in Xiangcheng.

For Henan Province, Lianhua Gourmet is a signature company, the
biggest producer of MSG in China. An analysis by a Chinese credit
rating service, Xinhua Far East, found that in 2001 the factory
produced more than 133,000 tons of MSG and has plans to raise
production to 200,000 tons.

Under any circumstances, the company's sheer size would translate into
significant political clout. But Lianhua, basically, is the
government. Lianhua is traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, but
according to the credit analysis, its majority stockholder is a
holding company owned by the Xiangcheng city government.

This type of government-controlled enterprise is not unusual in China,
but the potential for a conflict of interest is glaring. The
production of MSG leaves potentially harmful byproducts, including
ammonia nitrate and other pollutants that are supposed to be treated
to meet environmental standards.

A damning report last year by the State Environmental Protection
Administration blamed local officials for lax enforcement. The report
said Lianhua had dumped 124,000 tons of untreated water every day
through secret channels connected to the Xiangcheng city sewage
system. The water eventually flowed into the Shaying River, almost
quadrupling pollution levels.

"This constitutes a grave threat to the lives and livelihoods of
people downstream," the report stated.

Officials at Lianhua did not respond to repeated written and telephone
requests for interviews. Neither did officials in Xiangcheng nor with
Henan Province.

But one retired local Communist Party official said party cadres had
always protected Lianhua. He said a son-in-law of a Lianhua chief
executive once even headed the city's environmental protection bureau.

"There are a lot of officials who don't care about pollution," said
the official, who asked not to be identified. "Some leaders are just
interested in making money."

He said the company often broke promises about cleaning up. "What they
said and what they did were different things," he said. "They even
said they would stop production if they weren't able to meet pollution
standards. But they never did that."

A Stream of Black Water

This June, a reporter saw a noxious liquid flowing from a waste outlet
into a stream near a Lianhua factory on the outskirts of Xiangcheng. A
sign above the outlet said, "Lianhua Company, No. 3 Waste Outlet.''
Another sign said the outlet was under the oversight of the city
environmental bureau. The acrid smell was so strong that it was
difficult to stand nearby.

Less than a mile downstream from the waste outlet, Wang Haiqing
watched his seven goats chew on weeds. Mr. Wang lived on the other
side of the stream, in Wangguo, and said several neighbors had
contracted cancer or other intestinal ailments. He said his goats
vomited if they drank from the blackened water.

To reach clean drinking water, he said villagers must dig wells 130
feet deep. Most cannot afford to do so.

"It's been so polluted by the MSG factory," said Mr. Wang, 60. "It
tastes metallic even after you boil it and skim the stuff off it. But
it's the only water we have to drink and to use for cooking."

The rains of June in Huangmengying had given way to boiling humidity
by the middle of August. Mr. Wang, the village chief, wore shorts and
sandals as he again walked beside the village stream. He said four
more people had died since June, two of cancer.

But much had also changed in the two months.

The 10th anniversary of the government's promise to clean up the Huai
had become a major embarrassment for the Communist Party. Roughly $8
billion had been spent to improve the basin, but the State
Environmental Protection Administration concluded this year that some
areas were more polluted than before.

China's press, often given freer rein on environmental issues,
published critical articles over the summer. The newspaper operated by
the State Environmental Protection Administration blamed local
officials for allowing powerful companies, including Lianhua, to
continue polluting. Even tiny Huangmengying got attention: a crew from
state television visited in July. Officials, fearing a humiliating
exposé, hurriedly started digging a deeper well for the village.

But the gesture was dwarfed by what Henan officials did for Lianhua.

For more than a year, the company had been in financial trouble,
suffering from bad investments and a slowdown in the MSG market. For
months, banks pressured it for roughly $217 million in unpaid loans.

The Henan Province government stepped into the breach. The Henan
governor, Li Chengyu, organized a meeting at Lianhua headquarters in
July to devise a plan to save the company. The Henan government also
gave the company more than $25 million.

"The government is confident and the business is confident that
Lianhua Gourmet can be brought around," Mr. Li said, according to the
Chinese financial press. "The banks should support Lianhua Gourmet."

The signal was clear. Henan's government would make certain Lianhua survived.

In Huangmengying, Mr. Wang again visited Ms. Kong, the young mother
with cancer, who was also struggling to survive. Her resolve in June
to forego chemotherapy had withered with her health by August. She was
pale and coughing as she explained that she had again borrowed money
for more treatment. She would leave in a few days.

But it meant that she could not pay her sons' school fees for the fall
semester. Her husband could not find work and had no money to send.
And the friends who had loaned her money said they could loan her no
more. "I'm scared," she said.

Only an hour earlier, Mr. Wang had been walking to visit Ms. Kong when
a woman rushed toward him and knelt in a formal kowtow, touching her
lips against the dirt. Her husband had dropped dead. Doctors had
examined the body and discovered a tumor. She needed Mr. Wang to help
with funeral arrangements. He asked where she and her husband lived.

In a small brick hut, about 50 yards from the village stream, answered
the woman, Liu Sumei.

Ms. Liu, 50, led Mr. Wang to a friend's home, where her husband's body
lay in a coffin under a large poster of Mao Zedong.

Ms. Liu had not known her husband had cancer, only that he was in poor
health. But in Huangmengying, she said, poor health is not unusual.
"Every family has someone who is sick," she said. "All the neighbors."

Chris Buckley contributed reporting for this article.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/international/asia/12china.html

September 14, 2004
FDA Links Drugs to Being Suicidal
By GARDINER HARRIS, NY TIMES

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 13 - Top officials of the Food and Drug
Administration acknowledged for the first time on Monday that
antidepressants appeared to lead some children and teenagers to become
suicidal.

Dr Robert Temple, director of the F.D.A.'s office of medical policy,
said after an emotional public hearing here that analyses of 15
clinical trials, some of which were hidden for years from the public
by the drug companies that sponsored them, showed a consistent link
with suicidal behavior.

"I think that we now all believe that there is an increase in suicidal
thinking and action that is consistent across all the drugs," Dr
Temple said, summarizing the agency's presentation to a special
advisory committee. "This looks like it's a true bill.''

The acknowledgement, made after the hearing, comes a year after the
agency suppressed the conclusions of its own drug-safety analyst, Dr
Andrew Mosholder, who first found a link between the drugs and suicide
in teenagers and children. Agency officials wrote in internal
memorandums that Dr Mosholder's analysis was unreliable, and they
hired researchers at Columbia University to re-analyze the same data.
That study recently reached conclusions nearly identical to Dr
Mosholder's.

The testimony came before an advisory committee of 31 independent
experts that the F.D.A. has charged with making a recommendation about
the labeling and use of antidepressants in children and teenagers.

Family members of suicide victims at the hearing angrily denounced
agency officials for the delay in admitting the risk of
antidepressants in children. The British health authorities decided in
December to ban the use of most antidepressants in children and
teenagers.

Mathy Milling Downing of Laytonsville, Md., whose 12-year-old daughter
hanged herself in January, said: "Candace's death was entirely
avoidable had we been given the appropriate warnings. The blood of
these children is on your hands."

Agency officials said that they had no regrets about the months of
study. "I don't think the data were at that time reliable," Dr Temple
said. "Scaring people needlessly" or overdoing a warning is
worrisome," he added.

The most popular pills are Zoloft, made by Pfizer; Paxil, made by
GlaxoSmithKline; and Prozac, made by Eli Lilly & Company. In 2002,
nearly 11 million children and teenagers were prescribed
antidepressants.

The risk of suicide among patients given the pills is very small. If
100 children and teenagers are given antidepressants, 2 or 3 will
become suicidal who otherwise would not have had they been given
placebos, agency officials said. None of the children in the trials
committed suicide, but some thought about or attempted suicide,
researchers found.

In March, the agency required antidepressant manufacturers to include
on labels a warning that therapy with antidepressants could lead some
patients, both adults and children, to become suicidal. The committee
must decide whether this warning is strong enough or whether the drugs
should be banned for children. The advisory committee is expected to
make a decision on Tuesday. The F.D.A. normally follows
recommendations of its advisory committees.

It is a complex task. Most studies of the drugs have failed to show
that they have any effect on depression in children and teenagers. But
the drugs have proven effective in adults, and studies suggest that
teenage suicide rates have dropped in countries where use of
antidepressants is widespread. A large study of depressed teenagers
conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health recently found
that Prozac was far more effective in treating depression in children
and teenagers than was talk therapy.

Several speakers noted that clinicians would have almost nothing to
offer depressed teenagers and children if antidepressants were banned.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers, trailing
only homicide and accidents. Without treatment, many more teenagers
will die, several experts said. If the committee suggests an even
stronger warning, some patients will resist therapy and could perhaps
die, some speakers said.

The issue has roiled the agency and is likely to transform the way the
drug industry markets its products. Committees in both the House and
Senate have begun investigations following disclosures that Dr
Mosholder's analysis had been suppressed.

The New York State attorney general Eliot Spitzer, filed suit against
GlaxoSmithKline, charging the drug maker with fraud for failing to
disclose the results of clinical trials of Paxil that found no benefit
while promoting the drug to physicians. The company settled the suit
this summer by promising to disclose the results of all of its
clinical trials of its marketed products dating back to 2000.

Editors of the nation's top medical journals have said they will not
to accept for publication trials that have not been publicly
registered, and legislation is expected to be offered in both the
House and the Senate requiring the disclosure of the results of all
major drug tests on humans.

For some bereaved parents, Monday's hearing was a chance to take drug
makers and the F.D.A. to task.

Mark and Cheryl Miller of Overland Park, Kan.,, told the committee
that their 13-year-old son, Matthew, had committed suicide seven
months ago while taking Zoloft.

"Why haven't parents like Cheryl and myself and countless others been
told the truth?" Mr Miller asked.

But others said that antidepressants had helped millions. Dr Suzanne
Vogel-Sibilia of Beaver, Pa., said that she had brought her
15-year-old son, Tony, to the hearing to represent what she said were
the vast majority of patients who had been helped by the drugs.

"Please help me preserve my future," Tony told the committee. "Don't
take away my medication."

Claims that antidepressants cause patients to become acutely suicidal
have been made since 1991, just three years after Prozac was
introduced. But drug makers and regulators long dismissed these
claims, saying they were anecdotal reports without any basis in
rigorous clinical trials.

Then last year, GlaxoSmithKline announced that tests of Paxil had
found that teenagers and children who took the pill were more likely
to become suicidal than those given placebos. The announcement was
quickly followed by a similar one from Wyeth, the maker of Effexor,
another antidepressant. Suddenly, the anecdotal reports were being
confirmed by clinical trials.

Still, just how the drugs may lead some people to become suicidal
remains the subject of fierce debate. Many of those at the hearing
said that the pills had brought a change in the personalities of their
friends and relatives. Alice Erber said that Paxil caused her
21-year-old son, Jake Steinberg, to throw himself in June from the
24th floor of a Manhattan office building.

"If he had not taken Paxil, he would be alive today," Ms Erber said.

But Dr Temple speculated that some people taking the pills become
suicidal because they are actually getting better. As their depression
improves, he said, they gain the energy to act on suicidal thoughts
that their illness had suppressed.

"I think the work is cut out for us tomorrow," Dr Wayne Goodman,
chairman of the advisory committee, said at the end of Monday's
hearing.

The Maine Man
Some friends were on vacation in Maine, and while watching fireworks heard their small son say, "Oh, God!"

The father quickly cautioned his son, "Please don't speak the Lord's name in vain."

The boy nodded but obviously mis-heard, because he asked quietly, "Is it OK if I speak his name back in Minnesota?"

---

The Pope's Surprise

Many years ago, a beloved Pope died and went to heaven. Saint Peter greeted him in a firm embrace. "Welcome your holiness, your dedication and unselfishness in serving your fellow man during your life has earned you great stature in heaven. You may pass through the gates without delay and are granted free access to all parts of heaven."

St Peter continued: "You are also granted an open-door policy and may, at your own discretion, meet with any heavenly leader including the Father, without prior appointment. Is there anything which your holiness desires?"

"Well, yes," the Pope replied. "I have often pondered some of the mysteries which have puzzled and confounded theologians through the ages. Are there perhaps any transcripts which recorded the actual conversations between God and the prophets of old? I would love to see what was actually said, without the dimming of memories over time."

St Peter immediately ushered the Pope to the heavenly library and explained how to retrieve the various documents. The Pope was thrilled and settled down to review the history of humanity's relationship with God. Two years later, a scream of anguish pierced the quiet of the library. Immediately several of the saints and angels came running.

They found the Pope pointing to a single word on a parchment, repeating over and over: "There's an 'R'. There's an 'R.' There's an 'R'... It's CELEBRATE, not celibate!"

---

Good Question!

And Moses looked upon the Lord and said: "We are your chosen people and you want us to cut the tips off of our WHAT?"

---

A Yogi Walked into a Pizza Parlour...

What did the Yogi say when he walked into the Zen Pizza Parlour?

"Make me one with everything."

When the Yogi got the pizza, he gave the proprietor a $20 note. The proprietor pocketed the note.

The Yogi said "Don't I get change?"

The proprietor said, "Change must come from within."

The New 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLK350

Mercedes's Baby SL Builds Up Its Muscles
By KEITH MARTIN, NY Times

TESTED: 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLK350

WHAT IS IT? Sporty two-seater with a retractable hardtop.

HOW MUCH? Starts at US$46,220.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT? Guy-friendly styling; a new 268-horsepower dual-cam V-6.

HOW QUICK? Zero-to-60 m.p.h. in 5.4 seconds (manufacturer's estimate).

ALTERNATIVES: Audi TT 3.2, BMW Z4 3.0i, Porsche Boxster

FIFTY years ago, Mercedes-Benz gave birth to its first baby SL, which looked like a scaled-down version of its awe-inspiring 300SL sports car. While the resemblance was notable and the price attractive, enthusiasts regarded the little 190SL as a harmless, underpowered car.

From 1963 to 1997 Mercedes produced a single SL model, which evolved from the petite 230SL to the ponderous celebrity-mobile cars of the 1990's. But with the debut of the 1998 SLK230 Kompressor, the company reinstated its practice of offering a smaller version of its flagship roadster.

The SLK was relatively peppy, thanks to its supercharged engine, and its retractable hardtop set it apart, but its styling was rather tame. It was rarely mistaken for a serious sports car.

That car's replacement, the SLK350, which goes on sale this month, is a different story. It has a very aggressive stance and an attention-grabbing appearance, with design cues that hint at the US$450,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren supercar. The lines of the new SLK sweep upward from front to rear, somewhat reminiscent of the short-lived Lotus Elan of the early 1990's. The car still has a retractable hardtop, which provides a choice between open air and an enclosed weatherproof cabin.

The all-new 3.5-liter V-6 engine has four valves per cylinder and dual overhead camshafts, in contrast to the V-6 of the 2004 model, which is a three-valve, single-cam design. Horsepower is rated at 268 (up from 215 for the SLK320). A new six-speed manual transmission is standard, and a seven-speed automatic - Mercedes says it is the world's first - is an option.

Despite the improved performance, the base price is just US$450 more than that of the previous V-6 model (no 4-cylinder model will be offered in the United States), although some equipment that was standard, like power seats, is now optional.

I drove the SLK350 on winding roads through the Columbia Gorge in Oregon, on freeways and at Portland International Raceway. On the road, it is a winner, a cut above the previous SLK. The handling is predictable, with negligible body lean in turns, and even with the optional sport suspension the ride was comfortable.

The seven-speed automatic was superb, always finding the right gear and shifting quickly, and the new manual transmission is vastly superior to the one previously offered. My only complaint is that its ratios are widely spaced, causing the engine speed to drop out of its ideal range on gear changes.

The cup holders are good for a German car, which is to say they are mediocre by American or Japanese standards. They pop out from the dashboard above the navigation system, ensuring that the air-conditioning will cool your hot drink.

Mercedes did a better job of positioning a new option it calls the air scarf, a heating system built into the seat that blows warm air onto the base of your neck. Odd as it may sound, it proved effective on chilly mornings when the top was down.

While the current SLK has a reputation as a sports car for those who don't quite know what a sports car is - the commonly heard but impolite term is "chick car" - the new SLK350 can be considered alongside the Audi TT, BMW Z4 and Porsche Boxster in performance and appearance. But the retractable hardtop gives it an edge over all its competitors.

---

2005 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class Compact Convertible

Available: September 2004

Preview

What Edmunds.com Says: With the release of BMW's new Z4, Mercedes has some catching up to do and this new SLK looks like it has the performance and features that will close the gap.

First Drive: 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLK
Roadster Reborn

By Ed Hellwig, NY Times
Date posted: 03-15-2004

When the original SLK debuted in 1998, it was hardly your typical Mercedes. With its convertible hardtop, reasonable price tag and pint-size dimensions, it looked like it left a factory in Japan not Germany. It was often labeled as "cute," a moniker that no doubt inspired fits of frustration among Mercedes' more traditional designers. "It is not cute, just smaller," they probably lamented.

As shocking and unexpected as it may have seemed at the time, it proved to be a successful combination of personality and performance, selling well against rival roadsters like the BMW Z3 and Audi's TT. But like any breakthrough design, the time comes when the originality wears thin and the quirks of old age start to wear through. After seven years on the market, the SLK was beginning to show such symptoms, so in an effort to keep it relevant in a cutthroat market Mercedes gave its entry-level roadster a full redesign for 2005.

With a dramatic new design inspired by Mercedes' Formula One race cars, the second-generation SLK is every bit as eye-catching as the original. It's also slightly larger and more powerful than its predecessor, two traits that will likely earn it a little more respect from serious roadster enthusiasts. It still has the fun-to-drive character that made it so likable in the first place, but as we found out during a brief introductory test-drive, this SLK is more than just a cute convertible with a luxury badge.

With a body that's nearly three inches longer and two and a half inches wider, the second-generation SLK gained just enough size to make the interior livable without distorting the compact design of the exterior. While the previous version had the feel of a leather-lined bobsled, the larger cabin of the '05 version gives you plenty of room to move about. Even taller drivers can stretch out without using up all the available seat travel, and having a passenger aboard no longer entails getting up close and personal with every turn.

Even more impressive than the added room is the redesigned dashboard with its more cohesive layout, cleaner gauge cluster and higher-quality materials, the latter constituting a real plus given the fact that Mercedes has been criticized in recent years for skimping on its interiors. Good-looking soft-touch material covers the top of the dash, glovebox and doors while plastics of similar quality fill in the rest. The climate control layout varies depending on whether you add a navigation system (now DVD-based), but both arrangements use easy-to-decipher dials that are usable at a glance. Taken together, the long list of improvements creates a more upscale, tasteful-looking cabin that far exceeds the previous model's.

In addition to looking good, the SLK feels good as well with soft and supportive seats that remain comfortable even after several hours of continuous driving. Keep the windows up while the top is down and there's minimal wind buffeting. If that's not enough, consider the new Airscarf system that channels warm air to your neck and shoulders via dedicated registers in the headrests. It actually works quite well, and when combined with traditional seat heaters the SLK becomes one of the most useful all-weather convertibles on the market.

If the improvements to the interior aren't enough to convince you that this SLK is indeed a step above its predecessor, one full-fledged stomp on the throttle should be enough to seal the deal. With 268 horsepower on tap courtesy of an all-new 3.5-liter V6, the SLK can sprint to 60 miles per hour in just 5.6 seconds, according to Mercedes-Benz. Repeated floggings on wide-open back roads inspired little doubt in M-B's numbers. The power kicks in early and remains solid throughout thanks to variable camshafts and a two-stage intake manifold. As an added bonus, the stout V6 pours out a satisfying wail that inspires flat-footed runs to the redline at every opportunity.

Complementing the impressive new power plant is a pair of transmissions that offers excellent flexibility and performance whether you go with the standard six-speed manual or new seven-speed automatic. Last year's manual gearbox suffered from a vague, hollow shifter that inspired little confidence through the gears, but the reworked linkage in this year's model delivers a solid feel and smooth action that transforms the six-speed into a gearbox worthy of consideration. Then there's the seven-speed automatic that offers up serious performance (Mercedes claims that the automatic-equipped SLK is a tenth-of-a-second quicker to 60 than the manual) along with the everyday drivability of a traditional automatic.

Other notable improvements under the skin include a new rack-and-pinion steering system and more powerful brakes. The recirculating-ball steering system used in the previous model was often chastised for its heavy feel and inconsistent feedback, but the new setup is not only lighter to the touch, it returns enough road feel to maintain the car's sporting demeanor during aggressive driving. The revised brakes could still use a better feel through the pedal, but their ability to bring the SLK to a halt in a hurry is never an issue.

If you get the sense that Mercedes adequately addressed nearly every fault in the previous model, you wouldn't be far from the truth. The SLK now has the power to go head-to-head with a Porsche Boxster and the handling to keep pace with a BMW Z4. It may not be as wholly satisfying in terms of pure performance, but it's no longer a distant third either. Its revamped interior is arguably better than both the Boxster and the Z4 while its unique hardtop configuration gives it an edge when it comes to safety and security. It's not a perfect car by any means, but in the thinly populated world of entry-level luxury roadsters, the SLK now offers one of the most compelling combinations of style, performance and comfort available anywhere. It's still not your typical Mercedes, but that's the way the boys in Stuttgart like it, cuteness and all.

Click here for photos of the New 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLK350

VIRGO
September 07, 2004

It can be all too easy to lose yourself in other people's business. Be careful what you say and to whom you're saying it -- remember all that stuff about discretion and valour. A question of trust might rear its head at this time; rely on your instincts and don't do something you don't feel is right out of politeness or a feeling like you should oblige someone else.

The World's #1 Success Coach

Copyright 2003-2004 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice

Dedicated to Baizura Kamal, a true friend, forever

Sometimes in life,
You find a special friend,
Someone who changes your life
Just by being a part of it

Someone who makes you laugh
Until you can't stop
Someone who makes you believe
That there really is good in the world

Someone who convinces you that
There really is an unlocked door
Just waiting for you to open.

This is a Forever Friendship.

When you're down,
And the world seems dark and empty,
Your forever friend lifts you up in spirit
And makes that dark and empty world
Suddenly seem bright and full

Your forever friend gets you through
The hard times, the sad times, the confusing times

If you turn and walk away
Your forever friend follows

If you lose your way,
Your forever friend guides you
And cheers you on.

Your forever friend holds your hand
And tells you that everything
Is going to be okay

And if you find such a friend,
You feel happy and complete,
Because you need not worry
You have a FOREVER FRIEND for life
And forever has no end.

Copyright 2003-2004 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice

Barrister Vincent's Chamber
22 Market Road, Zongo Lome,
Lome- Togo
BP 1210
Lome-Togo .
Te/Fax : 00228 222 22 52.
Email: vincentmark_2004@yahoo.com

ATTN ; Azlan Adnan ,

I am Barrister Vincent Mark,a solicitor at law, personal attorney to
Engineer David Adams Adnan, a national Of your country,who was
Contracted Engineer to Togo Refinery. Here in after shall be referred
to as my client. On the 21st of April 2001, my client, his wife and
their only daughter were involved in a car accident along Nouvissi
express Road.

All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost there lives. Since
then, I have made several inquiries to your embassy here to locate any
of my clients extended relatives,this has also proved unsuccessful.
After these several attempts,I decided to track his last name over the
Internet, to locate any member of his family, hence I contacted you.

I have contacted you to assist in repartrating the fund valued at US$
23 million left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or
declared unserviceable by the Bank ( UNION TOGOLAIS BANQUE) where this
huge amount were deposited. Sincerely Speaking, only a foreginer of
your kind indeed is highly needed for payment.Therefore, only you is
the option because of your last name.

The Bank has issued to me a notice to provide the next of kin or
have his account confiscated within 14 working days. Since I have
been unsuccesfull in locating the relatives for over 2years now, I
seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased
since you have the same last name, so that the proceeds of this
account can be paid to you at once.Therefore, on receipt of your
positive response, we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and
modalities for transfer.

Also, for your kind information, I have all Sophisticated information
and legal documents needed to back up the claim. All I require from
you is your honest co-operation to enable us see this transaction
through. I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate
arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Please, quickly get in touch with me for more vibrant details
information for commencement. Infact, based on my reputation in this
country , never will this affair attract publicity at all. My word is
my bond and i need your immediate co-operation assistance to champion
the transfer within a period of 3 to 5 working days .

Remain Blessed .

Best Regards.

Barrister Vincent K. Mark Esq.
vincentmark_2004@yahoo.com

Birth Data for Azlan Adnan:
Birth Date and Time..... September 5, 1958 10:36 PM
Birth Location............. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sun Sign.................... Virgo

Sun Aspects Mars

Mars symbolizes the energy necessary for successful accomplishments. When Mars aspects the Sun, it is a good time to work on a project that requires a great deal of energy to complete. Success can come in the form of personal or professional achievement, or with defense.

Relationships tend to be competitive, and you need to balance self-centered drives with the needs of others. Learning to deal with aggression, conflict, and anger in an effective rather than detrimental way can enable the individual to handle negative situations positively. Less spiritual themes involve destructive or self-destructive urges. Prolonged anger creates blockages which waste energy in a cycle of negative emotions that have no real purpose or goal.

It is better to direct efforts into positive endeavours.

---

September 05, 2004

Wake up and smell the coffee -- and while you're at it, take a big drink! You've been sitting on the answer to your question without even knowing it. Don't waste a moment -- put it into action. Now your dream assumes a new and exciting shape. Do whatever it takes to get a head start on changing your world.

---

Daily Couple's Love
September 05, 2004

Something's not quite perfect, but you can make things right if you apply your big brain to the problem. On the other hand, who needs perfection?

Copyright 2003-2004 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice

Unhappily Married and on a Low Road

By STEPHEN HOLDEN

September 3, 2004

Directed by Cedric Kahn; written (in French, with English subtitles) by Mr Kahn, Laurence Ferreira-Barbosa and Gilles Marchand, based on the novel by Georges Simenon; director of photography, Patrick Blossier; edited by Yann Dedet; music by Claude Debussy; production designer, Francois Abelanet; produced by Patrick Godeau; released by Wellspring. Running time: 106 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Jean-Pierre Darroussin (Antoine), Carole Bouquet (Helene), Vincent Deniard (Man on the Run), Carline Paul (Waitress) and Jean-Pierre Gos (Inspector).

he brilliant, sinister French thriller "Red Lights," which opens today in New York, is a twisty road movie in which every sign points toward catastrophe. As night falls during the journey of Antoine (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), and Helene (Carole Bouquet) Dunan, an unhappily married couple on their way from Paris to Bordeaux, the highway takes them into descending levels of psychosexual hell.

Antoine, a mousy, balding insurance salesman who suggests a dilapidated version of the 60's James Mason, hates his job, and whines out loud that he wants to "live like a man" and "be free." He complains to Helene, a sleek, far more successful corporate lawyer whose success galls him, that's she's too consumed with work. The Dunans are headed south to pick up their two children from summer camp. But even before they leave Paris, the tension between them hangs in the air like stale, sour static with nowhere to escape.

"Red Lights," adapted from a Georges Simenon novel set in America, sustains an appearance of realism even while embracing symbolic and surreal elements. Its eeriness is enhanced by its soundtrack's repetition of excerpts from Debussy's "Nuages." Above all, it is a chilly study of an uncomfortably common breed of male paranoia. A major reason the marriage has turned rancid is that Antoine feels himself less than an equal partner. And with a sly, malicious humor, the film dramatizes his alcohol-fueled rebellion, which precipitates a grisly solution to his masculinity crisis.

The film was directed by Cedric Kahn, whose 1998 film, "L'Ennui," immersed itself in a different kind of sexual paranoia. Based on a novel by Alberto Moravia, "L'Ennui" followed the descent into pathological obsession of an arrogant middle-aged philosopher who strikes up a casual affair with a woman barely out of adolescence toward whom he feels infinitely condescending. Sexually compliant but emotionally impenetrable, she slowly drives him mad with his desire to possess her out of pride that curdles into abject desperation.

Mr Darroussin's depiction of Antoine as a glowering textbook example of passive-aggression is so uncompromising that Antoine often infuriates you. One way he vents his hostility toward Helene is by secretly drinking during the trip. As you watch him tanking up at rest stops and stoking his resentment while she waits impatiently in the car, your sympathy for him ebbs, and you want to taunt him as a gutless, drunken milquetoast busily destroying himself. Yet the marriage is not lost. There are signs that a core of loyalty still exists between the two.

As Antoine finds himself stuck in crawling traffic, with episodes of gridlock, "Red Lights" reminds you of Jean-Luc Godard's "Weekend," and Claire Denis's "Friday Night," movies in which traffic jams are disquieting metaphors for something bigger. Antoine quickly succumbs to road rage, which escalates the more he drinks. Against Helene's wishes, he impulsively turns off the highway onto a darker route, and soon they are lost. Reports on the radio warn of an escaped convict from a prison in Le Mans and that roadblocks have been set up. The tension between the Dunans reaches the breaking point when Helene warns her husband she's going to take the train. Stopping at another bar, he angrily takes the car keys with him.

Inside he is distracted by an English hippie who tells him he's driving in the wrong direction. When he returns, Helene is gone. Driving like a maniac, he desperately tries to catch up with her train but misses each station by minutes.

In another, more ominous bar, he meets a mysterious, silent hitch-hiker (Vincent Deniard) whom he suspects may be the escaped convict, and offers him a lift. The implicit danger in which Antoine puts himself brings out a reckless bravado. Eventually they land inside a forest where Antoine endures a life-changing ordeal that becomes a Hemingway-esque rite of male passage.

The film captures the claustrophobic terror of an unstable driver and hostile passenger trapped in a speeding vehicle. It also conjures a primal dread of violence lurking in the night in strange territory. But its most suspenseful scene takes place the following morning in a diner. Shaken and hung over, Antoine desperately calls every railroad station and hospital in the area for news of his wife.

With a central character who at his most comically disoriented suggests Jacques Tati, "Red Lights" also owes much to Alfred Hitchcock's gallows humor. But it is completely its own movie. And the reverberations of its deceptively easygoing ending should set off debates among analysts of sexual power games in film for years to come.

Anwar Freed As Court Quashes Sodomy Conviction

Bernama.com
Malaysian National News Agency

General
September 02, 2004 16:17 PM

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was freed Thursday after nearly six years in jail when the Federal Court upheld his appeal against conviction for sodomy.

Federal Court judges Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Datin Paduka Rahmah Hussain and Tengku Datuk Baharuddin Shah Tengku Mahmud decided with a 2-1 majority to overturn Anwar's conviction and nine-year jail sentence imposed on Aug 2, 2000.

Anwar, 57, was sentenced on April 14, 1999 to six years' jail on four counts of corruption relating to abuse of power by interfering in police investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct.

Anwar's release from prison Thursday comes exactly six years after he was sacked from the Cabinet.

The court also overturned the conviction and six-year jail sentence on Anwar's adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja.

They were found guilty of sodomising Anwar's family driver, Azizan Abu Bakar, at Sukma's Tivoli Villa apartment in affluent Bangsar here between January and March 1993.

Anwar thanked the judges for quashing his conviction and sentence, saying: "May God Bless You."

Outside the courthouse, he told reporters: "Thank God that it is over. But I remain committed with my struggle for justice.

"I also give credit to the Prime Minister."

Wearing a neck brace, Anwar arrived at the courthouse in a wheelchair. He was accompanied from Hospital Kuala Lumpur, where he was being treated, by police cars and motorcycle outriders.

The vehicle which brought Anwar headed straight for the underground carpark behind the courthouse but waiting journalists and photographers were unable to follow as the entrance was then locked.

Gathered outside the courthouse were about 400 of Anwar's supporters including from Parti Keadilan and PAS, some who came as early as 7am.

Among those spotted there were Keadilan Vice President Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, PAS Secretary General Nasaruddin Mat Isa and the DAP Member of Parliament for Seputeh Teresa Kok Suh Sim.

In an 88-page judgment, Justice Abdul Hamid said the prosecution had failed to prove the case against Anwar and Sukma beyond reasonable doubt as required by the law on admissible evidence and in accordance with established principles of law.

Even if the court were to find evidence to confirm Anwar and Sukma were involved in homosexual activities and were more inclined to believe that the alleged incident did happen, the court might only convict them if the prosecution had successfully proved the alleged offences beyond reasonable doubt, he added.

He said that the issue to be determined by the court was whether, at the end of the prosecution's case, it had proven beyond reasonable doubt that Anwar and Sukma had sodomised Azizan at the Tivoli Villa one night between January and March 1993, and in Sukma's case, whether he abetted the offence committed by Anwar.

Justice Abdul Hamid said the essential part of the offence had not been proven by the prosecution as Azizan, being the only source for the date of the offence, showed inconsistency and contradiction when giving evidence and was, therefore, not a reliable source.

He said Azizan's evidence on the date of the incident was doubtful as he had given three different dates in three different years, the first two covering a period of one month each and the last covering a period of three months.

In the charge, dated Oct 5, 1998, against Anwar regarding Tivoli Villa, the date of the commission of the offence given by Azizan was May 1994.

When Sukma was charged on April 23, 1999, the date of the offence was given as May 1992 and the charge against Anwar was amended from May 1994 to May 1992.

On June 7, 1999, the charges were again amended from May 1992 to "between the months of January and March 1993".

Justice Abdul Hamid said Sukma's confession was inadmissible as it appeared not to have been made voluntarily. Even if admissible, it would not support the date of the commission of the offences alleged, he added.

The court ruled that it was incumbent on the trial judge to hold a confession inadmissible if there appeared to be suspicious circumstances surrounding the making or recording of the confession.

Justice Abdul Hamid said that there seemed to be so many unusual things that happened regarding Sukma's arrest and confession, before and after the confession was made.

The confession came after 10 days of intensive interrogation and 12 days of detention (up to the time he made the statement to a magistrate) when for all intents and purposes he was arrested as a witness but interrogated as an offender and ended up as an accused, twice.

Indeed, he was charged two days later for allowing Anwar to sodomise him, the record of which was introduced as evidence in his trial.

Justice Abdul Hamid also found Azizan to be an accomplice. Therefore, corroborative evidence of a convincing, cogent and irresistible character was required, he said.

By Azizan's own evidence, he was sodomised 10 to 15 times at various places, including in Anwar's house, over a number of years. He never lodged any report, never complained about it and he did not leave the job immediately after he was sodomised the first time.

Justice Abdul Hamid said while the testimonies of Dr Mohamed Fadzil Man who examined Sukma on Nov 10, 1994 and former Inspector-General of Police Tun Haniff Omar and Anwar's conduct confirmed both their involvement in homosexual activities, such evidence did not corroborate Azizan's story that he was sodomised by them at the place, time and date specified in the charge.

In the absence of any corroborative evidence it was unsafe to convict them on the evidence of an accomplice alone unless his evidence was unusually convincing or for some reason was of special weight which the court found it was not, he added.

He stressed that the prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt before the defence might be called.

He said the High Court had misdirected itself in calling them to enter their defence. Instead, they should have been acquitted at the end of the prosecution case.

In her dissenting judgement, Justice Rahmah Hussain said that even though there were discrepancies in Azizan's testimony relating to the date of the offence, that did not straightaway make Azizan an unreliable witness and the whole story of his evidence unacceptable.

The discrepancies were not fatal to the prosecution's case since, in sexual offences, the date was not a vital ingredient of the charge.

As to the issue of voluntariness of Sukma's confession, she found no good reason to disagree with the concurrent finding of the High Court judge and the Court of Appeal. She agreed that details in the confession rendered an inevitable conclusion that it must be given voluntarily.

She also agreed with the finding of fact by the High Court judge that Azizan was not an accomplice.

There was nothing to suggest that Azizan "concurred fully in the criminal designs of another for a certain time, until getting alarmed or for some other cause, turn against his former associate and gave information against him."

She said Azizan was no more an accomplice than a rape victim and was ashamed and afraid to lodge a police report against both of them.

"Therefore, since Azizan was not an accomplice, no corroborative evidence was required before the court could make a finding that Azizan was credible," she said.

-- BERNAMA

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Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim set free
Malaysian former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been set free from jail after the country's highest court overturned his sodomy conviction

The decision came six years to the day after his mentor-turned-rival, former leader Mahathir Mohammed, sacked him following a row over the economy.

Mr Anwar has always argued that charges against him were politically motivated.

He told the BBC he would now travel to Germany for treatment for back problems he says resulted from a police beating.

As news of his release filtered out of the court, a roar went up from supporters outside.

ANWAR'S LEGAL BATTLE
Sept 1998 - Sacked and arrested
April 1999 - Jailed for six years for corruption relating to alleged sodomy
July 2000 - Sentenced to further nine years for sodomy - alleged to have had sex with five men
July 2002 - Loses appeal against corruption conviction
Sept 2004 - Wins appeal against sodomy conviction

Mr Anwar, looking frail, sat impassive in a wheelchair in the dock, but when faced with his jubilant supporters, who held him aloft on their shoulders, he was overcome with emotion.

"Thank God, after six years I am now free," he told the BBC.

His original trials had been widely condemned as flawed and Malaysia's federal court accepted that his sodomy conviction was unsafe.

The court was reviewing an earlier rejection of Mr Anwar's appeal - but decided to quash the original conviction by a vote of 2-1.

"We allow the sentence and conviction to be set aside. We find the High Court misdirected itself. He should have been acquitted," said Judge Abdul Hamid Mohamad, head of a three-judge panel.

'Unreliable witness'

In reviewing the evidence, the court decided the prosecution's key witness was unreliable and in effect an accomplice.

Azizan Abubakar alleged he had been sodomised by Mr Anwar in May 1994.

The date was later amended to May 1992, but when it emerged that the condominium where the alleged act supposedly took place did not then exist, the charge was amended a second time.

The court also concluded that Mr Anwar's co-accused did not appear to have confessed voluntarily, and expressed concern that the police had been heavy-handed.

The judges therefore concluded that Mr Anwar should have been acquitted without having to enter a defence as the prosecution had not managed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

Mr Anwar was sacked from his post as deputy in 1998 following a rift with Dr Mahathir over how to run the country's economy.

Mr Anwar responded by leading a massive anti-government protest. That evening police broke down his door and arrested him.

In 1999 he was jailed for six years for corruption, and in 2000 he received a further nine years for sodomy - to be served concurrently with his corruption sentence.

Mr Anwar had already failed to reverse the first of those convictions and finished serving his sentence for corruption last year.

Thursday's appeal to Malaysia's highest court over the second sentence was the last legal opening for the former minister.

The BBC correspondent in Kuala Lumpur, Jonathan Kent, says Mr Anwar's continued imprisonment had posed problems for the government of current Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who succeeded Dr Mahathir in November.

"You've got to recognise the fact that his predecessor wouldn't have made this judgment possible," Mr Anwar told reporters on Thursday.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/3619790.stm

Published: 2004/09/02 07:55:05 GMT

© BBC MMIV

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Malaysia's Anwar freed from jail after shock appeal victory
Thu Sep 2, 5:36 AM ET

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AFP) - Malaysia was rocked by a political shockwave as former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was unexpectedly freed from nearly six years in jail after winning a last-chance appeal against a sodomy conviction.

AFP Photo

The popular and charismatic Anwar, 57, immediately vowed to carry on his battle for political reform, as huge cheers rang out from hundreds of his supporters outside the Federal Court, the country's highest.

"I'm committed to the struggle with the opposition parties that are committed to reform. I'm starting it right away," Anwar told reporters.

He said, however, he believed he had Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to thank for the fact that the court had overturned his conviction and nine-year sentence -- a move which took most Malaysians and Anwar himself by surprise.

"I must thank Badawi for the decision," he said, adding: "Of course you have to remember his predecessor would not have made this judgement."

This was a reference to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who sacked Anwar on September 2, 1998, sparking street protests by thousands of his supporters.

Anwar was jailed shortly afterwards on corruption and sodomy charges, which he says were trumped up to prevent him mounting a political challenge to Mahathir. The trial was heavily criticised by human rights groups.

He had completed the corruption sentence and started serving time for allegedly sodomising an official driver before Thursday's victory.

Outside the court supporters held banners reading "Welcome back", "Long live Anwar" and "Arrest Mahathir". Anwar said, however, he had no malice against Mahathir, who retired in October last year after 22 years in power.

The man who was once seen as Mahathir's heir apparent appeared in court with medical braces on his neck and back after ignoring the advice of doctors who declared him unfit to attend the hearing. He left the court in a wheelchair.

He was admitted to hospital in July after suffering complications from a damaged spinal disc which he blamed on a police beating after his arrest.

Anwar said he would leave soon for surgery in Germany. A spokesman said the Saudi Arabian government had offered the use of a private jet to fly him to Munich and he would most probably leave Friday.

Anwar sat calmly during the one-and-a-half-hour court judgement, but smiled widely afterwards as he spoke to reporters and took congratulatory phone calls, saying: "It's good to be free."

Anwar called on Abdullah to bring to court or free all suspects held under the feared Internal Security Act, which allows detention without trial, including more than 90 alleged Islamic militants suspected of links to terrorist groups.

Anwar's Islamic links -- he founded the Muslim Youth Movement in 1971 -- and charismatic style gave him a strong following among Malaysia's Muslim majority while he was deputy prime minister.

At the same time his smart suits and free-market credentials helped his image in the foreign press and in international financial circles. In 1998 Newsweek magazine described him as "Asian of the Year."

But his support appeared to have faded over the years he spent in prison, and the National Justice Party (Keadilan) formed to press his cause was almost wiped out in elections in March, with only his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, winning a seat in parliament.

Anwar thanked his "great wife, great lady, great friend" and his supporters "all over the world".

The United States, which considered Anwar a political prisoner, issued a statement welcoming his release, as did Amnesty International.

Judge Abdul Hamid Mohamad, head of a three-judge bench which reached its decision by a two-to-one majority, said: "We allow the sentence and conviction to be set aside. We find the High Court misdirected itself. He should have been acquitted."

The Federal Court in 2002 rejected Anwar's appeal against the corruption charge, which accused him of abusing his official powers to cover up the allegations of sexual misconduct.

---

Malaysian High Court Voids Convictions of Ex-Deputy Premier
By JANE PERLEZ
Published: September 3, 2004

Reuters
Anwar Ibrahim, center, with supporters after his conviction on sodomy charges was overturned yesterday.

SINGAPORE, Sept. 2 - The high court in Malaysia overturned the sodomy conviction of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday and allowed him to go free after serving six years in prison.

The decision, which took many Malaysians and officials in surrounding countries by surprise, was the clearest sign yet of a new era since Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's election victory six months ago.

Mr Anwar, who attended the court session on Thursday in a wheelchair and a neck brace because of a serious back condition, was abruptly fired in 1998 by the Malaysian leader at the time, Mahathir Mohamad, over differences about how to handle the Asian financial crisis.

Soon afterward, Mr Anwar was arrested, tried and convicted on sodomy and corruption charges in what the deputy prime minister's supporters interpreted as personal revenge by Dr. Mahathir against the man who was his likely successor.

Mr Anwar, 57, emerged Thursday morning from the courtroom in Putrajaya, the Malaysian administrative capital, with a shout of "Reformasi!" the rallying cry of the demonstrators who supported him against Dr. Mahathir in 1998.

"Thank God it's over," Mr Anwar said. "I have to give credit to the new prime minister for not interfering with judiciary. I appeal to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to make the necessary reforms."

Surrounded by several hundred supporters, Mr Anwar then went to his father's home. He planned to apply for a new passport on Friday so he could go to Germany for surgery, according to his lawyer, Sankara Nair.

Mr Anwar's health is "very bad," because of a back condition that has put his "spine in jeopardy," Mr Nair said.

After losing two earlier appeals, Mr Anwar's legal team argued the appeal before the federal high court in April, Mr Nair said. "This was the final appeal," he said.

A leading Malaysian newspaper columnist, Karim Raslan, said the ruling on Thursday represented the end of what had been a nightmare on the Malaysian political conscience. "A lot of people were deeply disturbed by the treatment of Anwar,'' Mr Raslan said. He added that Mr Abdullah had shown professionalism by allowing the court to make its decision without interference.

The decision, by a three-judge panel, was welcomed by the United States. "It was gratifying to see that justice has now been served," the United States Embassy said in a statement.

Mr Anwar began serving a nine-year sentence on sodomy charges in 2000. His six-year sentence on corruption charges ended last year after he was given one-year reduction for good behavior.

Mr Anwar's arrest in 1998 soured relations between the Clinton administration and Malaysia, especially after Vice President Al Gore rebuked Dr Mahathir and championed the cause of the former deputy prime minister and his supporters.

At a meeting of Pacific Rim leaders in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, Mr. Gore said Malaysia needed more reforms like those proposed by Mr Anwar, who at the time was on trial.

For that censure and for other reasons, Dr. Mahathir maintained a solid wall of criticism against the United States until his retirement last October after 22 years in office.

Mr Abdullah, who took over as prime minister last November and then won his own electoral mandate in March, patched up relations with a visit to Washington this summer. He told President Bush that he would be prepared to send a team of Malaysian medics to Iraq.

Soon after Mr Anwar was freed Thursday, Mr Abdullah said the court's ruling had been made purely on legal merits. "Those who want to rejoice or whatever they want to do must also understand the law," he said.

While few could challenge the prime minister's statement that the court ruling had not been influenced by politics, the sudden release of Mr Anwar buoyed the Malaysian stock market. Analysts said the release would reverberate well among foreign investors.

In their ruling, the appellate judges decided 2 to 1 that the evidence used to convict Mr Anwar of sodomy was unreliable. The prosecution's chief witness, Azizan Abu Bakar, a driver for Mr Anwar's wife, changed the dates on which he alleged that Mr Anwar had committed sexual acts with him.

"We don't think it is safe to convict based on his evidence alone," Judge Abdul Hamid said of the driver's testimony. "We are not prepared to uphold the conviction."

The question uppermost in many minds in Kuala Lumpur, the official capital, on Thursday was whether Mr Anwar, who is considered a canny politician, could still make a comeback in opposition to the governing party. His arrest and his sentencing set off demonstrations against the Mahathir government.

His lawyer, Mr Nair, said he expected that Mr Anwar would want to rest after his operation before deciding on his future.

Prime Minister Abdullah built on his election victory by encouraging an opening of the economy and calling on Malaysians to show the world that their country could show a moderate face of Islam.

Although he is viewed as a consensus politician, many supporters of the governing party remember that it was Mr Abdullah who, as Dr Mahathir's foreign minister, criticized Mr Gore for what he called interference in Malaysia's domestic affairs.

Whatever policy differences may have existed between Mr Abdullah and Mr Anwar then, they are likely to be much more muted now. Noordin Sopiee, chairman of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur, said it would probably be difficult for Mr Anwar to make a comeback.

"Politics in Malaysia is merciless,'' he said. "Once you're out of circulation you can't make a comeback.''

Dr Mahathir remained defiant.

"My conscience is clear," the former prime minister said after the court's announcement. "As far as I am concerned, I'm convinced that what I know is right. I still believe he is guilty."

Greengage Plums

September 1, 2004

OISSAC, France


WHEN I was a child an ancient, solitary tree stood near the driveway of my family's home on Long Island. It was hard to tell that it was a plum tree, because it rarely fruited, but when it did, the small, greenish orbs filled the air with perfume. I would pluck as many as I could, and their syrupy sweetness inspired a rapture that has haunted me ever since, though the tree died long ago.

Decades later I learned that this fruit was a greengage, universally acclaimed by experts as the finest of plums. Over many years roaming the globe searching for flavorful fruit, I have often been asked which one was my favorite. That tiny green plum I first tasted in my yard, I've decided, is the best fruit in the world.

Once prized and widely grown in the United States, greengages virtually vanished as farmers chose less finicky varieties. As I searched for sources, the elusiveness of the quarry made rare discoveries all the sweeter, but still left me tantalized by the vision of full-scale orchards.

And so, early last month, I made a pilgrimage here, 40 miles northwest of Toulouse, to see how the French manage to grow this defiantly anticommercial fruit. Renowned for its Romanesque sculptures, Moissac is a main commercial center (along with the nearby town of Montauban) for growers of the Midi, who tend 4,700 acres of greengages and related varieties, yielding three-quarters of France's crop. At the convergence of Mediterranean and Atlantic climatic zones, this district enjoys summers with plenty of hot sun to sweeten the greengages, but also cool nights that help them hang on the trees to develop full flavor. Extensive apple orchards flourish in the flatlands of the Tarn and Garonne river valleys, but greengage cultivation centers on small family plantings in the rolling hills north of here, particularly on sunny south-facing slopes.

"It's the terroir," said Norbert Breil, a grower in Lizac, just east of Moissac. "The chalky clay soil of the hillsides produces the best greengages."

To prove the point, he offered a ripe fruit with greenish-yellow skin speckled with carmine dots and tender golden flesh packed with distinctive honeyed flavor. I squeezed a drop of juice on my refractometer, a device for measuring sweetness, and it registered 30.5, almost off the scale.

Mr Breil said he grew about seven acres of greengages, a relatively large planting, along with cherries and the region's celebrated Chasselas table grapes. He and his workers packed right in the orchard, making several passes over 10 days to harvest at optimal maturity.

His orchard seemed a corner of paradise, but Mr Breil recited a daunting litany of the greengage's commercial drawbacks: The trees take up to seven years to come into bearing, far longer than most plum varieties; they require fastidious care but crop erratically, with full harvests alternating with scanty ones; the small, delicate fruits are expensive to pick; and when it rains they crack and rot.

"The greengage is the most bizarre, capricious tree," Mr Breil said.

The original greengage, called Reine-Claude Dorée in French, is a natural hybrid of European plum, Prunus domestica, and P. insititia, a species that includes certain small-fruited plums like damsons and mirabelles. Brought to France during the reign of King Francis I (1515-1547), it was named in honor of his queen, Claude. Over the centuries dozens of new seedling varieties arose from the pits, many larger, more reliable and different in season from the original, but none superior in flavor.

Brought to England by the early 17th century, the original variety was named before 1724 for Sir William Gage of Suffolk, whose gardener imported a tree from Paris but lost the label. In England, the prototype is often called Green Gage, or Old Greengage, and its progeny, later hybrids, are known as gages, as in Cambridge Gage.

True greengage trees cannot pollinate themselves and need to grow near other European plum trees to bear fruit (whence my family tree's meager cropping). Walking through his orchard, Mr Breil pointed out three of those plum varieties — Stanley, Monsieur and Royale de Montauban — interspersed to ensure proper pollination of the greengages.

The next morning Mr Breil drove his van loaded with boxes of greengages to the wholesale plum market here, which started at 7 with the blast of a horn. Buyers walked by rows of vans with open back doors, inspected the fruit and proposed a price to the owners; if it was accepted, they shook hands. After 15 minutes the horn sounded the close, and many of the participants repaired to a nearby brasserie to drink café express and gossip about weather and prices.

At one table, Gerard Salord, the president of both the regional and national associations of fresh plum producers, held forth on a pet peeve, the confusion of the true greengage with other gage varieties at retail markets. "The half-sisters are sold for the original," he fumed. "Consumers don't know what they're getting. It's reprehensible."

In the Unites States and England I had tasted other gages that approached the original, but none of the sister varieties I tried over 10 days in France came close. Both the large, creamy yellow Oullins Gage and the purple-skinned Count Althan's Gage were bland. I sampled many specimens of Transparent Gage, legendary among connoisseurs for its diaphanous skin and exquisite flavor, but even the ripest, with apricot-gold flesh, tasted insipid. The one "half-sister" respected and widely grown in France is the Reine-Claude de Bavay, a large, firm variety harvested in late August and early September. Clearly, the type of plum and its terroir make the difference.

The other crucial component is maturity. "In no fruit is supreme ripeness more necessary," wrote Edward Bunyard in his classic 1929 book, "The Anatomy of Dessert."

But producers often harvest too early, to avoid losing their crops to rain, and so that the plums ship and keep better. Underripe fruit softens and improves somewhat, but never realizes its potential flavor.

"Buyers for supermarket chains know nothing about fruit," said Franck Giusti, head of sales at Sofruitex, a shipper based in Montauban. "The best greengages go to wholesalers serving small shops with pickier customers."

One night lightning lit the skies and it rained three inches, a freakish downpour. The next morning when I met Mr Salord, 64, at his farm in Durfort-Lacapelette, north of here, he thrust out his hands in anguish. The rain had split 90 percent of his fruits, all the ripest ones, he said, and he had sent home his workers. The greengages could go to jam, a major use, but processors rarely paid enough to justify picking.

"For plums, as for men, it's always the best that die first," he said. "This is my worst harvest in 40 years. I'll lose 30,000 to 40,000 euros." His normally sparkling eyes darkened, and he added: "But in Algeria and the army I've seen much worse than this. I've lost much more than greengages."

We visited several of his neighbors who somehow still had enough to harvest. On our way through a countryside unfrequented by Americans, we saw brilliant fields of sunflowers; pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain; and the medieval hilltop fortress town of Lauzerte, built of local white Quercy stone. Back at the farmhouse, Mr. Salord's wife, Josiane, served lunch, including tapenade, a stew of wild boar shot by her husband, and a splendid greengage tart she baked herself.

Mr Salord also grows Asian-type plums, the kind prevalent in the United States because they are larger, higher-yielding and quicker-bearing than European types. In recent years Asian plums from Spain have flooded European markets, and French farmers have tried to grow them too. But, Mr Salord said, pointing to a sickly orchard, the trees often succumb to a bacterial disease. Greengages, which do not get the disease, are the plum farmers' best option.

Fruit production in France is very political. While I visited Montauban, farmers dumped melons and peaches in the streets to protest low prices. With little direct competition, French greengage growers have fared better, but most customers are over 50 years old, and plantings have declined in recent decades. Trees live 40 years, so the reign of the Reine-Claude will not end soon, but it may gradually fade before the onslaught of more practical plums.

Meanwhile, French greengage growers have updated their techniques to increase production and remain competitive: They have selected high-performing clones of Reine-Claude Dorée; irrigated; even changed the shape of their trees, which they said hastens production. Since 1998 they have used a marketing program, Label Rouge, to promote greengages that meet high standards.

"The greengage's flavor is our only defense," Mr Salord said.

On the last day of my trip, near the end of the harvest, I visited Denise Vergnes, reputed to be one of the best greengage growers, in Montastruc, north of Montauban. The plums were burstingly ripe, with thin cracks encircling their tops and blushes on their sunward cheeks. The workers carefully picked by the stems to preserve the bloom, the natural waxy layer that seals moisture within, while the Vergnes family meticulously hand-sorted the fruits and packed them into small paperboard containers. For the last time I gorged on perfect greengages to my heart's content.

Alas, France does not export greengages to the United States. No one has applied for the necessary permit, and even if they did the subsequent study of problematic pests might take years. But each year, in late February, New Zealand exports to the United States small batches that fetch premium prices at fancy markets.

Gages were the standard of quality in the United States a century ago, and they could be grown again. Varieties like Jefferson, raised near Albany, and Washington, from New York City itself, testify to their adaptation to American conditions, but after a decade of searching, I have found fewer than 100 gage trees in commercial production in this country. Varieties have become confused, and most of the technical knowledge has been lost.

Yet in the last few years there has been a rekindling of interest. Joe Nicholson Jr. of Red Jacket Orchards in Geneva, New York, recently planted more than 500 trees, and a few fruits were available last year at Greenmarkets and stores in New York City. This year the crop failed because of bad weather, but he said he hopes he will learn how to grow the fickle queen of plums.

"I'm ready to take on the challenge," Mr Nicholson said.

Meanwhile, just last week I ordered three gage trees for my family's home on Long Island. It will take time, but the rapture may yet return.

NY Times
September 1, 2004

If your mother ever told you that eating sweets would spoil your
dinner, she was right. The government should heed her wisdom - and pay
less attention to the sugar lobby - when it issues revamped nutrition
guidelines next year. The preponderance of scientific evidence, much
of it cited in a report issued last week by the advisory committee on
the new guidelines, shows that the more sugar you
consume, generally in the form of "added" sugars like high-fructose
corn syrup, the less likely you are to eat adequate amounts of
nutritious food. The report also persuasively connects obesity to
sugar, especially sugar-sweetened beverages.

And yet, when the 13 doctors and professors on the panel distilled the
evidence into nine tips for healthy eating, they didn't mention sugar.
Instead, they proposed a guideline that reads, unhelpfully, "Choose
carbohydrates wisely for good health."

To achieve this level of obscurity, the committee in effect had to
break with five sets of guidelines, dating to 1980, that addressed the
sugar issue with direct injunctions like "Avoid too much sugar."

This curious avoidance of the growing evidence about the dangers of
added sugar would be inexplicable but for the fact that seven members
of the panel - which was chosen by the Health and Human Services
Department - have major financial and organizational connections to
the food, drug and dietary supplement industries. It strains the
imagination to believe that the sugar industry did not have undue
influence this time around.

The government will collect public comments on the panel's
recommendations until September 27, 2004. Public health advocates are
generally satisfied with its other recommendations, which encourage,
for example, eating more vegetables. But it's crucial that unambiguous
advice about sugar consumption be in the final guidelines in early
2005.

The guidelines shape many decisions on such things as the content of
school lunch programs, food labeling and government dietary education.
The government's food-guide pyramid must also conform to the
guidelines.

More important, with obesity an epidemic, the public desperately needs
authoritative advice. The government could restore some of the
credibility it lost when it selected panel members with ties to
industry, and fulfill its mission to promote health - not the sugar
lobby - by rewriting the advice on sugar. How about this: "Reduce
added sugars."

CITES has halted exports of caviar

September 1, 2004
By CHRISTOPHER PALA and FLORENCE FABRICANT, NY Times

The United Nations agency that controls trade in endangered species has halted exports of caviar until the countries where it is produced comply with an agreement to protect sturgeon, an official of the agency said yesterday.

The main exporting countries, those that border the Caspian Sea, have failed to provide an accurate measurement of how much much sturgeon is illegally harvested, the official, Jim Armstrong, deputy secretary general of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), said in an interview at the agency's headquarters in Geneva. The countries had not complied with a conservation agreement signed in 2001. It took affect this year, and the agency has not issued new permits since January.

As a result of the ban, the legal supply of Caspian caviar in the United States -- the osetra, beluga and sevruga that sells for up to $3,000 a pound in the West -- is likely to dry up once the 2003 harvest is consumed. Prices are already rising.

International trade in the world's 20-odd varieties of sturgeon has been regulated by the agency since 1998, after a drastic rise in poaching. Last year, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan exported 150 tons of beluga, osetra and sevruga caviar from the Caspian.

The agency has also frozen much smaller exports of those species from the Black Sea; of Amur River sturgeon from China and Russia; of Canadian sales of four Great Lakes varieties to the United States and even of American exports of paddlefish roe to Japan.

The agreement, which was signed in 2001 and came into force this year, does not affect the international trade in caviar taken from farmed sturgeon, a tiny but fast-growing industry in California, France and Italy. Nor does it affect domestic markets, including that in Russia, where most illegal caviar is consumed.

Exporters cannot legally ship caviar without a permit from the agency. In the United States, the Customs Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service check incoming shipments for the necessary export permits and other paperwork.

Officials of the United Nations agency do not believe that there is much illegal sturgeon fishing in Iran, the other major exporter of Caspian caviar, but as a signer of the 2001 agreement it is subject to the ban.

Dr Armstrong said the illegal trade in Russia may be so great that there might not be any legal quotas issued in the foreseeable future if the total catch was counted accurately.

He also said the reasons for denying the export quotas outside the Caspian Sea varied. For the Great Lakes sturgeon, he said it was because the United States and Canada had failed to submit a joint management proposal.

All the high-quality fresh beluga, osetra and sevruga in importers' warehouses is from the 2003 catch. Paramount Caviar in Long Island City, Queens, received some 2003 Iranian two weeks ago and Hossein Aimani, the owner of Paramount, said he has enough caviar on hand to tide him over through the holiday season.

Fresh caviar, when properly cured and then shipped under refrigeration and stored at about 29 degrees Fahrenheit, has a shelf life of about 18 months. The expiration date on tins of 2003 Iranian osetra that Rod Mitchell of Browne Trading in Portland, Maine, received last week is May 2005.

But plenty of black-market caviar is available in this country, as well as caviar that may have been frozen or is two or even three years old. Caviar listings on eBay show unbelievably low prices, like $34 for four ounces, for Russian caviar that is best avoided.

Reliable wholesalers who also sell caviar to consumers -- like Browne Trading, Petrossian and Paramount, to name a few -- are probably the safest sources, in terms of quality and dependability.

Fresh caviar can vary in color from jet to pale gray to gold and even to ivory. The individual eggs can also vary in size, but should be consistent within an individual tin.

They should be glistening and moist, but not soupy or broken, which might indicate that they have been stored poorly or frozen. They should also not be excessively hard or dry, which means they may have been pasteurized or may simply be too old.

A mild sea-breeze aroma is typical, but a strong odor or any offensive smell is reason to reject the caviar.

Chefs say they will make do. "If we couldn't get imported caviar in the restaurant," said Jonathan Benno, the executive chef at Per Se in the Time Warner Center, "we'd probaby use American farmed sturgeon caviar from California."

Some chefs, including Rick Moonen of RM, already rely on farmed American sturgeon roe and roe from other kinds of fish.

Some dealers are trying to be optimistic, saying sources, especially in Iran, expect the agency may soon allow exports of the 2004 catch, and that the delay is due mainly to bureaucratic problems in Russia. But Dr Armstrong held out little hope for that.

"We had a similar case in Jamaica," he said about poaching. "They had a quota of 1,200 tons of queen conch. When we asked them to take into consideration the poaching by fishermen from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, they estimated that was worth 800 tons. So we cut their quota from 1,200 tons to 400 tons, and that gave them the incentive to crack down on the poachers. This year we increased them to 550 tons."

But cutting down on poaching in Russia and Kazakhstan will not be as easy as chasing off foreign fishermen from coastal waters.

In both these countries, according to fishermen, traders and local officials, poaching, negligible during the Soviet period, has become a way of life in the past 15 years of economic upheaval and widespread corruption. Most estimate the illegal catch at many times the legal one.

The universe looked a little more familiar and friendlier yesterday

September 1, 2004
By DENNIS OVERBYE, NY Times

The roll call of planets beyond the solar system swelled significantly with the announcement of a trio of newly discovered worlds much smaller than any previously discovered around other stars. The masses of these new planets are comparable to those of Neptune or Uranus in our solar system, ranging from about 14 to 20 times the mass of Earth.

The previous planets found around living stars other than the Sun have been giants like Jupiter or Saturn, at least 50 times the mass of Earth, composed of gas at crushing pressures and scorchingly high temperatures and unlikely abodes for life. Astronomers said the new planets might be "ice giants" like Uranus and Neptune, or even giant hunks of iron and rock dubbed "super-Earths."

Like those previously discovered planets, the new ones are circling too close to their stars to be viable for life. But their discovery, astronomers said, is an encouraging sign that planets are plentiful and varied in the galaxy and that a new generation of planet-hunting space missions planned for the next decade will find planets as small as Earth.

"We're getting closer to answering the golden question of whether there is life out there," said Dr Geoff Marcy, an astronomer and longtime planet hunter at the University of California, Berkeley. "We're trying to find our own roots, chemically and biologically, in the stars."

Dr Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington said, "We are prepared unexpectedly for the next step in planetary science, finding truly Earth-mass planets."

One of the new planets is part of a system around a star 55 Cancri, already known to harbor three larger planets, making it the first quadruple-planet system to be found beyond the solar system, and a likely target for research. Dr Barbara McArthur of the University of Texas said, "We're on the way to finding the first extra-solar planet Earth, and it's an exciting road to be on."

Dr Butler and Dr McArthur were the leaders of two overlapping teams who announced the discovery of two of the planets at a news conference at NASA headquarters in Washington yesterday.

A third team, composed of European astronomers led by Dr Michel Mayor of the Geneva Observatory in Sauverny, Switzerland, announced the discovery of a third small planet in a news release issued last week from the European Southern Observatory, a consortium based in Garching, Germany, which operates telescopes in Chile.

A pair of papers by the American teams have been approved for publication in the Astrophysical Journal in December. The European group has submitted a paper to Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Other astronomers hailed the results as an example of how fast research is progressing. Dr David Spergel, an astronomer from Princeton who is involved in a NASA project to find and study terrestrial planets, said: "This is an exciting result. Given the existence of these super-Earths, I am willing to bet that there are Earth-like planets around nearby stars."

Dr Marcy said that as a result of the new work, he and his longtime collaborator Dr Butler were revamping their planet searching strategy with the goal of finding planets as small as 10 Earth masses or less, before the space missions to find planets put them out of business.

Dr Butler's team discovered a planet about roughly 20 times the mass of Earth, orbiting a star called Gliese 436, a reddish dwarf about 41 light years away in the constellation Leo, every 2.64 days. It was found as part of a survey of nearby stars using the giant 400-inch diameter Keck I telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

The second "Neptune" discovered, by Dr McArthur's team, is about 18 Earth masses, the astronomers said. It was discovered by combining data obtained with the new 360-inch diameter Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the University of Texas with observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and others. It circles 55 Cancri every 2.8 days, far inside the orbits of the other three Jupiter-like stars.

The European team asserted that they had found the lightest planet yet on record. It orbits the star mu Arae, in the constellation Ara, about 50 light years from here. It completes a revolution every 9.5 days.

The new planets join more than 100 others that have been detected around other stars in the past decade. Like a vast majority of their predecessors, they were discovered by the gravitational tugs they exert on their parent stars.

The gravitational wobble technique is most sensitive to giant planets orbiting lethally close to their stars - they give the biggest kicks - so it is not surprising that the first planets discovered were in such orbits, astronomers say. Longer observations are required to discern the effects of smaller planets in more comfortable orbits. Indeed, two of the new planets were discovered by continuing to refine the data from stars where giant Jupiter-like planets had already been detected.

Both the mu Arae systems and the 55 Cancri system were already known to have Jupiter-like planets. The 55 Cancri system has drawn interest because one of its "Jupiters" has an orbit, about 13 years in duration, similar to that of Jupiter in our own solar system.

Dr McArthur, who has organized a campaign to study the 55 Cancri system, said: "This is the closest analogue we have to our solar system. All these things make it the premier laboratory for studying planetary systems."

The Gliese 436 discovery is important, astronomers said, because so-called red dwarfs are the most abundant stars in the universe. About 70 percent of the 200 billion stars in the galaxy are red dwarfs, known technically as M dwarfs, but because they are so dim, only a few percent as bright as the Sun, they are hard to study. The new planet is only the second one found around a red dwarf.

Dr Spergel said, "The detection of these planets is definitely good news for T.P.F. The worry has been that we build this exquisitely powerful telescope and then find that there are no Earth-like planets for it to observe."

That worry now seems unnecessary. As Dr Marcy said, "We can't see Earth-like planets yet, but we can see their big brothers."

Superbabe

Haylie, Eos, Gay-Yee & Tania