Spot the fake £1 coin

Fake coins are most definitely not easy to spot, but here are ten tell-tale signs you should always look out for:

• The coin has been circulating for some time according to its date of issue, yet it looks surprisingly new.
• The design on the back of the coin doesn’t match the official design for the year it was issued. You can check which designs were used in each year at the Royal Mint website. £1 coins were first introduced in 1983 and the design has changed every year since. Check out Britain’s £1 Coin Designs which shows the designs that should appear on the reverse of the coin for every year from 1983 to 2010. Remember, if the date and the design don’t match up, you’ve got a fake.
• The lettering or inscription on the edge of the coin doesn’t match the corresponding year. Take a look at the Counterfeit Coin Guide which will show you the correct specifications and inscriptions on £1 coins according to their year of issue.
• The designs on both sides of the coin aren’t well defined compared with a real coin.
• The alignment of the design is at an angle. Hold the coin so that the Queen’s head is upright and facing you. The design on the back should be upright too.
• The ribbed edge of the coin is poorly defined.
• The lettering on the edge of the coin is uneven, badly spaced or indistinct.
• The colour of the coin doesn’t match the genuine article. Fake coins are often more yellow or golden than the real thing.
• Fake coins are often thinner and lighter.
• Remember, most counterfeit coins won’t be accepted by vending machines unless the forgery is particularly good. This is a clear indication that you have a fake.

Steps

So...the end of the pre-IB...

Dream it
Believe it
Visualise it
Work for it
Achieve it

May 26th 9 plays : £3.50

Questions Cameron won't answer

Nicola Blackwood came to my house, canvassing for the Tory party. I gave her the questions below and she said she would try and get Cameron to reply. From then on, silence - that was a month ago.

What will they be like in office?

1. Why won’t you discuss the many suggestions that you have used illegal drugs? The assertion that you are entitled to a ‘private past’ is open to question because your attitude to such drugs is also a question of public policy. One of the few strong policy positions you have ever taken was to put your name to a Home Affairs Committee report recommending highly liberal polices on cannabis and some other substances. Your fellow Tory on the committee, Angela Watkinson, refused to sign that report because she believed it was wrong, so your support cannot be written off as a passive act. Aren’t voters entitled to wonder if your ‘private past’, and the fear that it may emerge into public view, may have influenced your public policy? Wouldn’t you be freer to take a strong line against this major menace if you came clean and – if appropriate – expressed regrets?

2. You say you like Britain as it is, not as it was. Yet you also say that it is a broken society. How can you square these two positions? Surely Britain was broken mainly by the cultural revolution which swept away stable marriage and respect for the law, and encouraged the spread of drug-taking and drunkenness? And surely it was better as it was rather than as it is? One or the other. But not both.

3. You have strongly condemned the misuse of Parliamentary expenses by many of your MPs, and quite ruthlessly forced the early retirement of several of them on these grounds, though some others who are friendly to you have escaped this treatment. You have made it plain that the fact that a claim was ‘within the rules’ does not excuse greed. Yet you are by any standards a wealthy man. Your constituency is within commuting distance of London, and many who vote for you make this journey daily. So how can you justify asking taxpayers – teachers, school dinner ladies, bus drivers, nurses – to give you £20,000 a year in mortgage relief, close to the maximum permitted claim, to help you pay for what you yourself described as ‘a very large mortgage’ on a spacious country house worth around £1million?

4. Do you believe that, by holding a poorly-advertised lunchtime meeting in Witney, when most voters with jobs could not get there, by stationing officials at the door with lists to give it the appearance of a members-only gathering, and by cramming it with your own supporters, that you properly exposed yourself and your expenses claims to public scrutiny?

5. You frequently say you are in favour of decentralising power in this country. How do you square this with your increasingly centralised control of the Conservative Party and above all of the selection of candidates?

6. You favour the selection of women and ethnic minority members as candidates and have even toyed with the idea of women-only shortlists. Do you believe that women can only be properly represented by women and members of ethnic minorities can only be properly represented by members of the same minorities? In which case how can you, for instance, speak for the women and ethnic minorities of your Witney seat? Or are you, in fact, just Politically Correct?

7. You refuse to support those who want to restore selection on grounds of ability in state secondary schools. Yet you must be aware that most alleged comprehensives select on other grounds – mainly by catchment areas which close the better schools to the poor, who cannot afford to live in them. Your own child attends a heavily over-subscribed primary school which selects partially on the basis of religious commitment. When your children reach the age for secondary school, it is most unlikely that you will send them to bog-standard comprehensives. In that case you will presumably have to use wealth or faith to save them from this fate, routes closed to most people. Surely ability is a better and fairer basis on which to select pupils, in which case why not say so?

8. You made a ‘cast-iron guarantee’ of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. You must have known that there was a strong chance, verging on a certainty, that this treaty would be ratified by all EU nations before you were in a position to fulfil the pledge. Yet when this predictable event happened, you had no serious alternative policy. Weren’t you pretending to be tough on the EU, while in fact supporting the ‘ever-closer-union’ which is a condition of our membership?

9. You once said you were the ‘Heir to Blair’? Isn’t that exactly the problem?

The Build-up to Voting Begins

I don't care about voting in the Conservatives.

I want Labour to be punished, punished on a very large and damaging scale.

PUNISHED FOR;

> traducing democratic government in all its forms

> overwhelming dishonesty and venality

> squandering the nation's wealth, making an absolute scallops of the economy and then blaming the Americans

> incompetence in all spheres of administration

> taking the country to war on a false prospectus and for badly letting down the armed services

> trying to run every aspect of our lives including what we think and say

> for deliberately changing the face of the nation in terms of unfettered immigration - which has encouraged the BNP

> for making education standards so depressingly low

> for making young Britons dependent on welfare in mind as well as substance

> for politicising the police

> for reneging on the EU referendum

> for being lying, avaricious, acquisitive hypocrites, and then turning socialist again

> for appointing disgraceful bullying and despotic figures like Harman, Prescott, Smith, Martin, Balls, Reid and Straw to high office

> for appointing useless mediocrities like Beckett, Hewitt, Hoon, Browne, Ainsworth, Kelly, Hain and Blunkett to office at all

> for appointing unelected storm-troopers like Campbell, Whelan, McBride and Mandelson to positions of high influence

> for having Blair and Brown as leaders

BUGGER WHAT THE TORIES HAVE TO OFFER - JUST GET LABOUR OUT

Playwriting Course

Just click here for full details

Loving April

‘Loving April’ by Melvin Burgess, was published in September 1996. It is currently available at Amazon from £0.01 upwards. Giles Croft adapted the novel for the Oxfordshire Theatre Company who are currently on tour. I saw the 2 hour play at Chipping Norton Theatre on March 23rd.

‘Loving April’ stars Sarah Thomas-Lane (Outside Edge, Cat and No Mouse, The Emperors Clothes) as April, a deaf and dumb girl who is mistreated by boys in her village. This ‘mistreatment’ includes sexual abuse (including rape). It doesn’t matter that April can just about make noise – no-one is listening. Brilliantly played by Sarah, the pathos, the humiliation, the sadness is conveyed to the audience. In the final few seconds we even suspect that the tears shown by April are also the tears of the actress playing her, such is her commitment to the role.

To counter-balance April we have Tony, the rich boy. Admirably played by Daniel Naddafy (Snow Dragon, A Tourists Guide to Terrorism) we meet someone else who needs a friend.

But a friend from the same class, not the daughter of a char-lady.

As their relationship deepens so do prejudices surface until finally……no, I’ll not say any more.

Go and see the play – wherever and whenever you can. Read the book, immerse yourself in the story. Experience the strict social setting, imagine the beauty of April’s swan and feel repulsed by the attitude of some of the characters played by Jack Hughes (Stovepipe, Easy Virtue) and Tracey-Anne Liles (Und, Hanako, 4:48 Psychosis.)

Special praise too, to Helen Barford (Salome, ad campaigns for Tesco and Actimel) as Mrs Piggott.




Using this play as a yardstick, also go and watch Vertigo and Handful of Henna.

A Play to See....

It's called Reflections in a Distorted Mirror.


FRIDAY NIGHT!

THIS WEEK

Go to the Oxford Fringe!

Here is the site.....





These are the plays I am going to:

The Big Bite-Size Soirée

The Big Bite-Size Soirée

Reflections in a Distorting Mirror

Life is fair after all

What have these three got in common?

TWO OF THEM did extra essays for me - which I marked.

The other one did a daily blog.



So what did they all do?
WHAT THEY WERE TOLD TO DO.

And they all got grade A !

Only one other person got grade A - and he taught Economics!

Outburst

First play being performed!

My first play takes place at the Semper theatre, next week...

Sunday reading

Do not read whilst eating

also read this...

Laws

Law of Mechanical Repair:
After your hands become coated with grease,
your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.

Law of Gravity:
Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped,
will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of Probability:
The probability of being watched . . .
. . . is directly proportional . . .
. . . . . . to the stupidity of your act

Law of Random Numbers:
If you dial a wrong number,
you never get a busy signal . . .
. . . and someone always answers.

Law of the Alibi:
If you tell the boss you were late for work because . . .
you had a flat tire; the very next morning you will have a flat tire.

Variation Law:
If you change lines (or traffic lanes),
the one you were in will always move faster
than the one to which you switched . . . (works every time).

Law of the Bath:
When the body is fully immersed in water . . .
. . . the telephone rings.

Law of Close Encounters:
The probability of meeting someone you know . . .
increases dramatically . . .
when you are with someone . . .
.. . . . you don't want to be seen with.

Law of the Result:
When you try to prove to someone . . .
. . . that a machine won't work . . .
. . . . . . it will work fine.

Law of Biomechanics:
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional . . .
. . . to the reach needed to scratch it.

Law of the Theater and Hockey Arena:
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle,
always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave their seats
several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet and who leave early,
before the end of the performance or the game is over.
The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once,
have long gangly legs or big bellies, and stay to the bitter end
of the performance. The aisle people are also very surly folk.

The Coffee Law :
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee . . .
your boss will ask you to do something which will last . . .
. . . until the coffee is cold.

Murphy's Law of Lockers:
If there are only two people in a locker room . . .
. . . they will have adjacent lockers.

Law of Physical Surfaces :
The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich . . .
landing face down on a floor . . . are directly correlated . . .
. . . to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.

Law of Logical Argument:
Anything is possible . . .
. . if you don't know what you are talking about.

Brown's Law of Physical Appearance:
If the clothes fit, they're ugly.

Oliver's Law of Public Speaking :
A closed mouth gathers no feet.

Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy:
As soon as you find . . .
. . . a product that you really like . . .
. . . . . they will stop making it..

Doctors' Law :
If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor,
by the time you get there you'll feel better.

But, don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick.

Easy money

Funk all those “How to become a Millionaire” books – I’ve got a blinder that’ll cost you no more that 2 rats and will make you a mint in a night. All you need for this is a group of mates, a Snickers bar and half a pint of cider. That’s your only investment. Here’s what to do.

So, you’re in a pub chilling with your pals – a warm Snicker in your pocket and half a pint in your hand. Go to the toilet, drop the chocolate bar in to the half-pint and place the glass on the shelf above the urinals. Return to your pals.

Within a few moments nature will call and one of the group will need to go for a piss. Thirty seconds later he returns in a shock “Some dirty scrubber and coiled one in a glass and pissed all over it!!”. (The Snickers has begun to stagnate and mix with the cider and a few peanuts are bobbing on the top – Artwork!)

Go and retrieve your concoction, slam it on the table and in your half-cooked state deliver the line “£100 and ill knock it back”

Out comes the money, down goes the food and drink and you’re not only £100 better off but also a mad-f**k in your mates minds! BOOM….Seeeeeya, on to the next pub…

Spotting Liars

EYE CONTACT: A bad liar feels uncomfortable with deception and may use tactics such as rubbing their eyes to avoid eye contact. If a pal does this while they're telling you about how fit last night's date was, you can assume they're being dishonest.

The opposite of avoiding eye contact is the fixed stare and this can also be a giveaway. This liar is determined to convince you they are telling the truth. If they hold eye contact for more than SIX seconds be suspicious about what they are telling you.

The fact liars can't look victims in the eyes is a myth. A liar often overcompensates eye contact in an attempt to convince the victim they're not making things up.

WHERE THEY LOOK: When right-handed people are lying, they tend to look right. With left-handers it's the other way round.

WHAT THEY SAY: How liars answer questions can also expose them and you should look out for what is called "a contraction". So for example if a truthful person is asked: "Did you falsify this report?" they will reply "No, I didn't."

Whereas a liar will have no time to think about the process and simply mirror the questioner's language and stretch out the sentence, such as: "No, I did not do that."

HOW THEY STAND: Liars will tend to cross their ankles or arms - but a lot of people are aware of that body language and will try to keep a more open posture to put victims off the scent.

Observing a person's stance when they're standing up can be a good indicator. A liar may deliberately position their posture at a right angle to avoid standing in an open position. If they do, they could be telling porkies.

WATCH THEIR HANDS: When kids tell a lie, they will usually cover their mouth and this is worth remembering.

Any kind of gesture from someone's hands towards the upper chest, face or head area - like scratching their head - can mean untruths.

Also, if somebody is holding something like a coffee cup or folder between themselves and you, watch out. They could be using it to create a subconscious barrier to hide behind.

WATCH THEIR LIPS: People's lips will go pale in times of stress. And if they are red-faced or white as a sheet while speaking to you this can be a giveaway too. This happens in response to the body's natural flight or fight response in times of pressure, which can be sparked by lying.

TWITCHES: Liars often twitch which can be one of the easiest signs to spot. Often it's the liar's eyelids which twitch or it could be a tiny muscle in the cheek or neck.

Males have an area at the bottom of the nose which actually twitches when we know we haven't told the truth.

WHEN WOMEN LIE: The biggest girlie giveaway is blushing and can be a sign your missus is lying.

Down the chute!

Doomed...

More Muslim hatred in Sweden

It's all so sad, this . Naivety, sloth, ignorance on behalf of Western governments. Read....and weep

Poster

Haiti: millions suffer while the elite gain

Elites as always, gain

Have yourself a cultural week

Saturday

The Philanthropist Submit review ‘Bourgeois comedy’ by Christopher Hampton. Oxford dons continue sexual and semantic squabbles against a backdrop of political murder and anarchy.
7.30pm, £5(£4)
Burton Taylor Studio (www.burtontaylor.co.uk), Gloucester Street, (between Beaumont Street and Gloucester Green), Oxford OX1 2BN; Tel. 01865 305305.

Sunday

Drugs, Science and Politics

Tuesday

Dr Stephen Law - "What's It All About Then? Life, the Universe, and Everything"

- Wadham College, Moser Theatre, OX1 3PN (directions)

IMPerium The Oxford Imps In their most ambitious project to date, the Oxford Imps improvise an entirely new world each night, in which even the most minor of characters has a story to tell.
7.30pm, £5(£4)
Burton Taylor Studio (www.burtontaylor.co.uk), Gloucester Street, (between Beaumont Street and Gloucester Green), Oxford OX1 2BN; Tel. 01865 305305.




Wednesday

Yawn Edward Fish is a great talker, a bad sleeper, predator, automobile enthusiast, admirer of Jane Austen's heroines. Tonight he has to entertain Rachel. And she will like it. Suitable for 12+.
7.30pm, £9 (£7)
OFS Studio (www.OFSstudio.org.uk), 40 George Street OX1 2AQ; Tel. 0844 847 2360.

Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=294536615038&ref=ts

Synopsis: Edward Fish is a great talker, a bad sleeper, predator, automobile enthusiast, an admirer of Jane Austen’s heroines and most importantly Constance’s husband. Tonight, though, he will have to entertain Rachel, Constance’s old school friend. And she will like it. As supper approaches, Edward rehearses for his final charm-assault.

Thursday

IMPerium The Oxford Imps In their most ambitious project to date, the Oxford Imps improvise an entirely new world each night, in which even the most minor of characters has a story to tell.
7.30pm, £5(£4)
Burton Taylor Studio (www.burtontaylor.co.uk), Gloucester Street, (between Beaumont Street and Gloucester Green), Oxford OX1 2BN; Tel. 01865 305305.

Friday

13:00

Poetry Workshop

- Lincoln College, Lower Lecture Room, OX1 3DR (directions)

Everyone is welcome to come and share their atheist/agnostic/irreverent/theological poetry and offer sensitive, constructive feedback - or just bring your favourite piece of Godless verse along to read and discuss. We only ask that you bring something to read (a short piece of prose is fine) and if at all possible around six printed copies so we can read along. Open to writers of all ages and levels of experience. There is no need to register in advance.

20:00

Samantha Stein, Camp Quest UK Director - "Public Perceptions of Atheism"

- Wadham College, Moser Theatre, OX1 3PN (directions)

Founder and director of Camp Quest UK Samantha Stein will be delivering a talk on "Public Perceptions of Atheism".

Samantha Stein, writer, public speaker, and student is best known for her involvement with Camp Quest. After reading about this US secular summer camp in Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion", Samantha volunteered at Camp Quest Michigan in 2007 where the idea for bringing Camp Quest to the UK was first discussed. She is now Camp Director for Camp Quest UK, the UK's first residential summer camp for the children of atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers and all those who embrace a naturalistic rather than supernatural world view. The first camp was held in July 2009, with two more camps planned for 2010. Samantha graduated from York University with a BSc in Psychology and is currently taking an MA in Religion in Contemporary Society at Kings College London.

Show Bio...

21:30

Comedian Iszi Lawrence - "The Experiences of an Awkward Atheist"

- Bar Copa Function Room, OX1 2AU (directions)

Stand-up comedian Iszi Lawrence will be performing a set discussing "the experiences of an awkward atheist". The set will draw on material from her first hour show, the Time Out-recommended "Matter of Tact"

Recent short stories published in The Sunday Times Magazine:

Lionel Shriver - Negative equity

Edmund White - Record time

Julian Barnes - Complicity

TC Boyle - Hands on

John Updike - The full glass

Aravind Adiga - Smack

Targets

This may be interesting for maths students.

This is a target to beat - especially for Oxbridge applicants!

Free Speech

Virtual School

For Lau

For Fanny and Kristian

For Nico, Stella, Richard, Eric, Robin and others

For Wonderboy

The Winners!

So, so true

Yes...

Haiti

new developments

this may appeal to all

Kriss Donald

Is this why people join the BNP?

Food Inc

and

Music to make you happy (Duncan)

Economics

...students like Stella, Veronika and others....


Clarendon Lectures - Economics Oxford University Press The Biological Foundations of Economic and Social Behaviour by Ernst Fehr.
email: michael.burt@oup.com / Tel. 01865 353268
5.30pm, free
St. Cross Building, Manor Road, Oxford


F-R-E-E

Setting up a blog

Challenge

Scary stuff!

click the link...

LSE Lectures

LSE Lectures - visit here for videos

Look for the December lecture by Raj Patel.

two reasons:

a. it's a clear and well thought through lecture

b. Because of this.....

Earthbox

Fooling you

Truth in Humour

Business - video - marketing

This is interesting

Haiti

Buy...give...

Not what it initially seems...

Realistic Hollywood Sex Scene

Think faster

Can YOU imagine a simple self-development tool...... That can help you THINK FASTER and SHARPER than EVER BEFORE?

DOUBLE your ability to learn. THINK like a genius. RELEASE stress. BREEZE through your studies. UNLOCK hidden ability. SOLVE problems quickly.

Well, it's ALL POSSIBLE - when you discover the Brain Evolution System.

The Brain Evolution System is a simple, six-CD program for helping you MASTER your BRAIN - by literally CHANGING your BRAINWAVES.

It works by using special sounds to help influence your brainwaves -which helps to change your mood, your focus, your stress levels, your confidence - and MUCH MORE!

You'll find yourself enjoying LIMITLESS ENERGY and MOTIVATION. Your emotional baggage will simply DISAPPEAR. Your relationships will IMPROVE. Your confidence will SOAR. You'll experience more CREATIVE RUSHES. You'll become IMMUNE to worries and tension.

And all because you spend JUST 30 MINUTES listening to a simple audio recording.

Would you like to learn more about what's being called "the most powerful self-development technology on earth" ... ?

Then click on THIS LINK and download YOUR copy for JUST $0.00 ... TODAY!

http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DLdOp&m=JL9dZXDCMbU05D&b=Won8swTx02FRBYc_F.6k1A

Wake your brain up!

It's simple: close your eyes and visualize in your mind that your head is about one inch bigger all around than it is.

Actually *see* this in your mind's eye.

If you hold this image in your head for about 30 seconds straight it sends your nervous system a signal to pump more oxygen to your brain.

It's a bizarre "brain hack," but it's actually measurable via CT scan.

People who try it usually experience a sense of heightened alertness on the first try. (if it didn't work - try a few times - really *see* your head as being larger in your mind's eye)

Another way to awaken your brain is to train a "dormant" area.

For example, most of us don't know how to draw - yet if we were to train ourselves to (and it's quite easy as demonstrated here ...

http://www.simpleology.com/courses/drawing/

...) we would see a dramatic improvement in our alertness, our confidence, our communication ...

Most people go through life thinking that we either "have it or we don't."

For the most part - that's nonsense.

To use the example of drawing again, for the 99.9% of the population that doesn't know how to draw, it's not that they don't have any talent - it's just that they haven't been given proper instruction.

This part of your brain is "lying dormant" only to be awakened by a good teacher.

Awakening the various parts of your brain that are untapped is deeply rewarding on a great many levels.

An idea

The 'law of attraction' is something that's quoted widely in self help books.

The idea, basically, is that your thoughts are like magnets: bad thoughts create bad situations and good thoughts create happiness, success, wealth and prosperity.

You may believe this to be true.

Some say the theory dates back to 3,000BC. Legend has it William Shakespeare and Julius Caesar believed in the law of attraction. There are many others who will swear blind that the power of positive thought bought love, riches, happiness and abundance into their lives...

Me - I'm not sure about it.

It just seems a bit too... nebulous.

I don't believe that concentrating your thoughts on something is enough to make it happen (or not happen).

In my experience, positive results require ACTION.

But hey-ho.

If it works for some people, then fine. Having a positive outlook on life is never a bad thing, so you won't find me heaping too much scorn on the law of attraction or its advocates.

In any case, whether you believe in it or not is largely irrelevant to today's email. I bring it up merely to highlight the proven profit power of something else...

*******************
Public domain material
*******************

Come on - keep up!

You can make a fair bit of money online selling other people's products on a commission basis.

Your cut can sometimes be as much as 40-50%, net of shipping costs.

But if you sell your OWN product, 100% of the profit is yours.

That's where the real money is. But there's a problem: how do you go about writing your own eBook, producing your own 12-part home study course, or burning and duplicating your own CDs?

Where are you supposed to find the time to sit down and do all that? Isn't it simpler to sell other people's stuff - ready-made products - on a 'cut-of-profits' basis?

Well, yes... but you'll never make really good money doing that.

So what if there were a way to sell someone else's hard work AND keep all the cash yourself?

"Who in their right mind would let you do that?" You ask.

Someone who has been dead for 70 years, I reply.

I'm talking, of course, about works that exist in the public domain.

Public domain is a term that describes literary, musical, artistic and educational works that are no longer - or never were - protected by copyright.

It might be that they were created before copyright law was introduced... or they may have fallen into the public domain because their 70-year copyright term (73 years in the US) has expired.

Because these works are not protected by copyright law anyone can take them, reproduce them, modify them and sell them without paying a penny in royalties and without having to credit the original author or creator.

This is exactly what Australian TV presenter Rhonda Byrne did in 2004.

*****************************************
This secret made one woman $40million in 2 years
*****************************************

Rhonda found a 1910 book called The Science of Getting Rich, by Wallace Wattles in the public
domain.

The book was all about the law of attraction, and how you can use it to bring wealth, happiness and abundance into your life, simply by concentrating your thoughts appropriately.

As the book had fallen out of copyright, Rhonda was free to take it, use it, reproduce it and sell it, in any way she wanted.

She did just that - and a few months later, the global phenomenon known as "The Secret" was born. First, as an Internet-only pay-per-view film, which became a huge viral / underground hit. Then as a book, which has now been printed in 38 different languages. There are further spin-off books and movies in the pipeline.

It's been reported that the success of "The Secret" book, online film and DVD made its creator Rhonda Byrne around $40million in two years.

In 2007, Byrne was listed among Time Magazine's list of '100 people who shape the world'.

Not bad when you consider all of this came from a book she found in the public domain that had fallen out of copyright!

Now I'm sure Rhonda has worked extremely hard for her success. She's a very clever lady. She has repackaged Wallace Wattle's work very well - the marketing for her products is extremely slick, and she's acquired quite a following.

But the point is: she didn't create this work from scratch. She re-interpreted it and repackaged it.

****************
Nico can do this, too
****************

If the idea of making money on the Internet excites you - but you don't have either the time or talent to create your own product to sell, this is virtually on a plate for you.

There's a huge stockpile of public domain works available; hundreds of thousands of books, articles and pages there for the taking... and this cache grows daily.

Whatever kind of information product you want to create: fitness, investing, gardening, self-help, knitting, pets, you name it; there's a huge stash of ready-made content online that you can grab for
nothing, republish on the Internet in whatever format you'd like, sell on as many times as you like for as much money as you like - and, best of all, pocket all the profit!

The information is all there for you. You just need to know what to do with it. Here are three
suggestions - they may not make you the same money as "The Secret" has made for Rhonda Byrne, but we've all got to start somewhere...

1) You could update and rewrite the book, and sell it online - through a website, through affiliate
marketers or through an email, if you have an email list.

2) You could break the work up into chapters and sell each chapter as an eBook / report ... or the
whole thing as a multi-part home study course

3) You could even record yourself reading the book out chapter by chapter - then create a set of audio CDs you can sell as a home study course.

Of course there's some work involved whatever you decide to do - but it's a lot less hassle than having to write the whole thing yourself, from scratch.

A great starting point for finding free-to-reproduce work is Google. Type in "Public Domain books" and hit search.

Or you can visit one of the specialist online public domain depositories. The most famous of these is "Project Gutenberg" - named after the doe-eyed actor from the Police Academy films.

Not really... it's actually named after Johannes Gutenberg, the fifteenth century German printer who propelled the movable type printing press revolution - you knew that, didn't you?

You can visit the Project Gutenberg website by clicking here

A word of advice though - check the copyright laws VERY carefully before you start copying and pasting huge swathes of someone else's work.

Laws governing when works fall out of copyright differ from country to country - so make sure you know where you stand before you re-publish any work.

Ethnic cleansing in Sweden

It's happening....

Australia home to the greatest sinners

Haiti

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone

When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on
Don't let yourself go, 'cause everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes

Sometimes everything is wrong. Now it's time to sing along
When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go, (hold on)
When you think you've had too much of this life, well hang on

'Cause everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts. Don't throw your hand. Oh, no. Don't throw your hand
If you feel like you're alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long
When you think you've had too much of this life to hang on

Well, everybody hurts sometimes
Everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes. So, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on

Everybody hurts. You are not alone

Success!

Here's a New Year Plan!

Write a book in a day

Writing a synopsis

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

For textbooks....

One

Two (Textbook Writing Tutorial)

Three

Four (How to write a textbook)

Five (Writing a textbook)

Writing an Economics textbook

Writing about Economics

How to write an Economics textbook

IB Notes









Five

££ ££ ££

Yet another system of making money online

Ask questions...?

Nico

Maybe this will work

Song

Cain slew Abel Seth knew not why
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:

"Man means nothing he means less to me
than the lowiliest cactus flower
or the humblest yucca tree
he chases round this desert
cause he thinks that's where i'll be
that's why i love mankind

I recoil in horror from the foulness of thee
from the squalor and the filth and the misery
How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me
That's why i love mankind"

The Christians and the Jews were having a jamboree
The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV
They picked their four greatest priests
And they began to speak
They said "Lord the plague is on the world
Lord no man is free
The temples that we built to you
Have tumbled into the sea
Lord, if you won't take care of us
Won't you please please let us be?"

And the Lord said
And the Lord said

"I burn down your cities--how blind you must be
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You must all be crazy to put your faith in me
That's why i love mankind
You really need me
That's why i love mankind"

Food Crisis

"The global deep freeze now striking North America, Europe, China and other regions may lead to severe food shortages and price hikes throughout 2010. Right now, rare freezing temperatures are destroying root crops in their ground, wiping out citrus orchards and devastating food producers around the world. The upshot of it all? Expect food shortages and rising food prices throughout 2010.

This global deep freeze is all part of the extreme weather now being unleashed on the planet due to human beings polluting the world and altering the atmosphere. Scientists can't agree on whether the trend is global warming or global cooling, but no one can argue that something's wrong with the weather.

Rainfall and temperature patterns that used to be reliable are now going haywire. Where there were once reliable seasonal rains, there are alternating periods of drought followed by floods. Where temperatures were once mild and predictable, they're now fluctuating out of control, becoming too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

All this adds up to escalating crop failures that are now poised to have a real, noticeable impact on the global food supply."

Source:

can we grow our own?

"In 1963, we grew around 30 per cent of our own fruit; now it is closer to 5 per cent. Compare this with France, which in 1963 grew enough fruit to feed 90 per cent of the population and still produces enough to feed 80 per cent; or Italy which produced around 110 per cent of its fruit needs in 1963 and still does today. We may not have Italy’s sun-kissed orange groves, but we could still do better with the land we have. Over the past 13 years, our self-sufficiency in food overall has plummeted from 75 per cent to 60 per cent."

From The Telegraph:

"A new report launched on Tuesday entitled Food 2030 gives a warning that Britain can no longer afford to be complacent. "We need to think differently about food," said Gordon Brown in his foreword to the report, produced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Setting out a new food strategy for the next two decades, the report says that the industry needs to prepare for "sudden shocks" such as natural disasters or price spikes. Britain will need to produce more food, we are told, but will have to do so sustainably, "without damaging the air, soil, water and marine resources, biodiversity and climate that we all depend on".

Tim Lang from City University London said we are 'sleepwalking into a crisis' - the lecture notes are here....

In the End of Food, Paul Roberts says that the global food system could be plunged into crisis in any number of ways... including flu pandemics, rises in oil price, or extreme weather conditions....

Check out this site and the graphic below....

Eric ( EricdeCarbonnel@marketskeptics.com ) writes in an article entitled Financial Armageddon:

"Early in 2009, the supply and demand in agricultural markets went badly out of balance. The world experienced a catastrophic fall in food production as a result of the financial crisis (low commodity prices and lack of credit) and adverse weather on a global scale. Meanwhile, China and other Asian exporters, in an effort to preserve their economic growth, were unleashing domestic consumption long constrained by inflation fears, and demand for raw materials, especially food staples, exploded as Chinese consumers worked their way towards American-style overconsumption, prodded on by a flood of cheap credit and easy loans from the government.

Normally food prices should have already shot higher months ago, leading to lower food consumption and bringing the global food supply/demand situation back into balance. This never happened because the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), instead of adjusting production estimates down to reflect decreased production, adjusted estimates upwards to match increasing demand from china. In this way, the USDA has brought supply and demand back into balance (on paper) and temporarily delayed a rise in food prices by ensuring a catastrophe in 2010."

So - what can be done?

Well....

1. Get used to eating less
2. Get used to eating only healthy unprocessed food - maybe a raw food diet?
3. Grow your own
4. Make soup from all vegetable leftovers
5. Eat chicken - use it all

Here's to the rest of 2010!

Final pic

Late night drinkers...

The influence of TOK

This is what happens when you finally understand something!

Landmark Trial

Watch this

Here

Sweden

Just thought you might like to read this...and weep (especially the comments)

They do things differently in Germany

...Celebrity Big Brother, that is...

Deception?

Das Phantomtor von Tiffert @ Yahoo! Video

Haiti

This spreadsheet shows who has given what to Haiti.

Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti, but voodoo may be considered the country's national religion

Note which countries are NOT on the donations list....rich countries...Saudi Arabia.....

It's never too late to be who you might have been

Make your OWN Bucket List

The movie "The Bucket List" features two terminally ill men who each decide to create a list of things to do before they die. While the subject matter is depressing, the concept is intriguing and inspiring to many people, maybe because of the high-pressured, time-starved, money orientated way we live our lives these days.

Few of us have the time to even think about what we really want in life, much less to actually achieve it, but creating a life list can be a way to focus on our true passions and achieve things we would otherwise barely even find time to dream about.

Creating a list of life goals can be done in one short brainstorming session, and once you have your list on paper you're likely to add to it and adapt it as you go through life. The idea of the bucket list is that it's your own personal wish list, so while your career, education and income might feature, it's more about personal goals that are important and meaningful to you as an individual.

If you want to create a meaningful list of life goals for yourself remember the following points:

Don't be influenced by what you think you should want. If you have see the Mona Lisa' on your list and you're not actually an art fan, or your goals involve a lot of world travel when really you hate to fly, you're probably falling into the trap of basing your list on collective values. Take some time to think about your own personal values and start coming up with goals based on those.

It might be useful to just "free write" for a while. Let your subconscious take over and don't think too hard about what you're putting down on paper. You may surprise yourself. There may be things on your list even you didn't know you wanted to do.

Be specific. If you want to go to Italy but don't really know why, think about what you want to see in Italy, where you want to stay, even what you want to eat. Craft a dream trip that will really inspire you to be motivated to achieve it.

Inspire yourself with your past. What did you want to be when you were a child? Is there anything you used to do that you would like to take up again and build on. What was your favorite childhood book or movie and why? What was it about? Where was it set? Clues to your true passions may be hidden in the life you lived before adult rules and responsibilities kicked in.

Make a plan to achieve your goals. Break them down into smaller chunks, especially if they require a big financial investment. Maybe you can't fly to Argentina today but you can start saving towards the air fare. Motivate yourself by setting achievable weekly and monthly goals and celebrating when you get there.

Edit your list regularly. Don't hesitate to add new things or cross off the ones that are no longer important to you. Changing your list can be a sign of personal growth. If your wish list remains static it probably means you're stuck in a rut and not really exploring life's possibilities as they present themselves.

Essentially, the aim of your list is to help you live a more meaningful, fulfilled and happy life, so go ahead and set those goals. Just make sure you believe they are worth achieving.

Also read this....

If you are not a member yet, it's free and easy to join by visiting www.mylifelist.org or if you have already created a Life List pick one goal and add it to the top of your list so others can help you achieve your goal!

Worldview - pre-IB

well done those who have handed in the essays so far.....

Worldview

Crime pays

Well, financially anyway...

Dinner...nudge nudge

I expect people will either wish to bring their ancestor...








Or their girlfriend....








Or their other girlfriend....








.
Or their boyfriend....







Or their ex-boyfriend...








Or even group of boyfriends...








Who knows who you may meet...








42 people now coming - including five surprise guests.

The surprise guests include 3 Russians, 1 Korean, one Vietnamese....

Bring your cameras....maybe I should invite one for Dima....

Haiti

Mind Control

He has come

Remember this:

Highlights of Maitreya's public emergence The existence of great spiritual teachers, known as the Masters of Wisdom, became public knowledge in 1875 through the writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society. Blavatsky, who worked directly with the Masters, revealed that: these perfected beings have guided humanity from behind the scenes of everyday life for countless millennia. Periodically, at times of great human crisis, they send one of their own into the world to show humanity the way forward. We know some of these teachers as Krishna, Confucius, Zoroaster, the Buddha, the Christ, and Mohammed. Anticipation of the imminent appearance of the Master of all the Masters, the World Teacher, Maitreya, grew and waned in the early part of the 20th century. Near the end of World War II, Maitreya announced his intention to physically enter the everyday world at the earliest possible moment, along with a group of Masters, when humanity had achieved a measure of peace and had begun to implement the principle of sharing. Since 1974, information about Maitreya's emergence has been presented to the public by Benjamin Creme, chief editor of Share International magazine. His training for this work, under a Master of Wisdom, began in 1959. July 1977: Maitreya leaves his ancient Himalayan retreat, taking up residence in the Indian-Pakistani community of London. Since then he has lived in London as a seemingly ordinary man concerned with modern problems ― political, economic, and social ― directing his transforming energies to every part of the world. The timing of Maitreya's emergence has been governed by many factors. These include humanity's response to his energies and the need for humanity, through the world's media, to invite him forward, so that our free will is not infringed. March 1978: Maitreya begins to emerge as a spokesman in the community where he lives. He is not a religious leader, but an educator in the broadest sense ― pointing the way out of the world's most critical problems. May 1982: At a Los Angeles press conference, Benjamin Creme reveals that Maitreya lives in London, and invites the media to investigate. Reports of the press conference itself are the extent of the media's coverage. August 1987: Creme announces that "in the coming three or four months, Maitreya will be working intensively to bring about a breakthrough in international relationships in the world." An armaments agreement soon follows between the USA and USSR that no one thought possible. 1988: Maitreya begins to appear, both in person and in dreams, to well-known leaders in various countries, and to many ordinary citizens. World détente, and the ensuing release of tensions, allows more open signs of his presence. Manifestations of crosses of light in the windows of people's homes are reported in the US media and seen by many thousands. Maitreya appears miraculously 'out of the blue' on June 11, 1988, at an open-air prayer/healing meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. He is photographed addressing thousands of people in their own language, who instantly recognize him as the Christ. 1988 - 1993: Through one of Maitreya's closest associates in the Indian-Pakistani community of London, Share International magazine receives a series of articles. These outline Maitreya's teachings and draw attention to developments and happenings which he expects to take place in the world, both in the short and the long term. Outer events have demonstrated Maitreya's insight. As early as 1988, he foresaw the release of Nelson Mandela (in 1990) and the process of détente in South Africa. In the same year he stated that governments everywhere would have to give way to the "voice of the people," a statement which found its most impressive proof in Eastern Europe. Furthermore, weeks or months ahead of time, Maitreya forecast the cease-fire between Iran and Iraq; the global rapprochement between guerrilla forces and national governments; the internal problems of the Soviet Union; the establishment of peace in Lebanon. In early 1988, he also announced that there would be an international stock market crash which would cause governments to re-order their priorities. In 1989 the Japanese stock market lost 40% of its value, and in subsequent years the crisis spread to Eastern Europe, the Asian 'tiger economies', the Soviet Union and Argentina. The financial collapse hit the US hard in 2008 and soon had further worldwide repercussions. 1990, April 21-22: Maitreya calls together about 200 world leaders or their emissaries from the fields of government, business, science, religion and journalism for a weekend conference in London. Many pledge their cooperation to help implement his priorities. 1991 - present: Maitreya appears miraculously before large groups of people all over the world. In most cases, he magnetizes water in the vicinity before his appearance. Many people report healings from this water. In Tlacote (Mexico), Nordenau (Germany) and Nadana (India) healing wells charged by Maitreya attract growing numbers of visitors By means of these and other 'miracles', Maitreya seeks to create a climate of hope and expectancy into which he can emerge as the Teacher for all humanity Upcoming events Television interview: A major American television network has requested an interview with Maitreya, and he has accepted the offer. The interview will take place at a time of Maitreya's choosing, as yet unannounced. Important note Share International will NOT have any prior notification of the time of the interview. As soon as we have additional information about this interview, we will post it as a Special Bulletin on the home page. Star-sign: On December 12, 2008, Benjamin Creme announced that a large, brilliant star ― visible both night and day around the world ― would appear, heralding Maitreya's first interview. In January 2009, reports of extraordinary star sightings began to be reported. See photos and news reports here: Star Sign Day of Declaration Maitreya will be invited by the international media to speak directly to the entire world through the television networks linked together by satellites. On this Day of Declaration, we will see his face on the television screen wherever we have access. The biblical statement, "All eyes will see him," will be fulfilled, in the only way in which it can be fulfilled. We will see his face, but he will not speak. His thoughts, his ideas, his call to humanity for justice, sharing, right relationships and peace, will take place silently, telepathically. Each of us will hear him inwardly in our own language. In this way, he will re-enact on a worldwide scale the true happenings of Pentecost 2,000 years ago. At the same time, the energy which he embodies ― the Christ Principle, the energy of love ― will flow out in tremendous potency through the hearts of all humanity. He has said: "It will be as if I embrace the world. People will feel it even physically." This will evoke an intuitive, heartfelt response to his message. Simultaneously, on the outer, physical plane, there will be hundreds of thousands of miracle healings throughout the planet. In these three ways we will know that Maitreya is the World Teacher, come for all groups, religious and non-religious alike. Our response to this experience will determine the entire future of this planet. Maitreya will present us with a choice: either we continue as we are now, in the old, greedy, selfish, complacent ways of the past, and destroy ourselves, or we accept the principle of sharing, accept that we are one, and begin the creation of a civilization such as this world has never yet seen. Maitreya already knows our answer. He has said: "My heart tells me your answer, your choice, and is glad." As foretold here, and also here, the Maitreya has now come. Maitreya steps forward The way prepared by His Herald the ‘star’, Maitreya, the World Teacher, has given His first interview on American television. Millions have heard Him speak both on TV and the internet. His open mission has begun. He was introduced not as Maitreya, the World Teacher and Head of our Spiritual Hierarchy, but simply as a man, one of us.In this way He “ensures that men follow and support Him for the truth and sanity of His ideas rather than for His status”. He spoke earnestly of the need for peace, achievable only through the creation of justice and the sharing of the world’s resources. This is the first of many such interviews which will be given in the USA, Japan, Europe and elsewhere, bringing His message of hope to the world