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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (62437)	4/2/2010 4:37:57 AM
From: Snowshoe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218083

I'm sure I could out-compete you at daydreaming. It took me 36 months to get one master's degree. ;) As usual I procrastinated on some important matters to the bitter end, so my last day of graduate school was rather intense. Had to meet with thesis committee, get signed approvals, get thesis copied (including fancy new-fangled color Xerox pages for the whiz-bang computer graphics), get thesis copies bound, then deliver copies to committee members and repository library. Last step was to submit myself for a final checkout review with one all-powerful gatekeeper named, naturally, Gladys. She occupied a bastion in the dark and foreboding 19th-century gothic relic known as Science Hall... Entering the Gladys redoubt was a really strange trip... everything was in miniature! The room was a broom closet, Gladys was a little old lady sitting at a tiny desk, and the waiting room chairs were child-sized. As I sat there looking up at her frowning face from that low, tiny seat, my entire misspent childhood passed before my eyes and I recalled all those times I'd been called on the carpet, judged, and punished by omnipotent adults. Like the time Mrs. Schulte kicked me out of the local Carnegie Library for chewing a jawbreaker, like the time my homemade gunpowder experiment exceeded its objective, like the time... oh, never mind! ;) The methodical Gladys went thru her checklist with me: thesis copies filed, library fines paid, forwarding address on file, acknowledgement of my duty to repay student loans, etc. At last she signed off to authorize my MS degree, and that was it... my last memory of college life. I left town the next day and had the diploma mailed to me. We must pity Elmat. Just look what he has missed! :0)

To: TobagoJack who wrote (62437)	4/2/2010 8:42:33 AM
From: dvdw©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218083

Bingo (ii). (yesterday we had multiples) "talk to people, for they generally want to help, and they do help each other everyday, without any pretense or need of plausible deny ability. So keep talking might be the best takeaway...someone is always listening.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (62437)	4/2/2010 11:50:13 AM
From: energyplay	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 218083

Wow. Wow. That's scary.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (62437)	4/2/2010 12:47:33 PM
From: TH	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218083

TJ, You have shattered completely my construct of "you". Somehow, I like you even more. GT TH

To: TobagoJack who wrote (62437)	4/2/2010 3:02:56 PM
From: yard_man	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218083

to make this complete we need another story -- something like this: 1st job out of school -- you had to do hard labor under some jerk and then some serendipitous circumstance brought you "out on top" and it just "seemed" like pure dumb luck to you that it happened at all ...

To: TobagoJack who wrote (62437)	4/3/2010 9:35:19 AM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 218083

Message 26434503

To: TobagoJack who wrote (62437)	4/4/2010 1:49:59 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 218083

In Dubai for Easter Holidays. Report will follow. Dubai is no Greece. More like a struggle between two sheiks. Too busy enjoying the holiday.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (62437)	4/4/2010 2:03:41 AM
From: Snowshoe	1 Recommendation Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 218083

If Elmat doesn't return we'll know what happened... Dubai Briton faces jail over 'middle finger salute' A British expatriate in Dubai is facing jail and deportation after being accused of making a single-finger gesture in an argument. telegraph.co.uk

To: TobagoJack who wrote (62437)	4/4/2010 2:20:05 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218083

What Abu Dhabi’s Looming Power Struggle Means for Dubai By DEVON PENDLETON The sudden, tragic death of Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahayan in a plane crash in Morocco has cast a pall over the UAE in more ways than one. The intensely-private 41-year-old was not nearly as high-profile as his half-brother, UAE president and Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Khalifa (as in Burj Khalifa) bin Zayed Al Nayahan, but he was arguably more powerful. As Managing Director of ADIA, Abu Dhabi’s main sovereign wealth fund- the largest in the world- he oversaw an estimated $627 billion in oil-derived government money. Despite his own reclusiveness, Sheikh Ahmed presided over some very public investments by ADIA in recent years, including stakes in Gatwick Airport, the Chrysler Building and an ill-timed bet on Citigroup (now the subject of a lawsuit). He also reportedly was a driving force behind the fund’s move toward quasi-transparency: after numerous requests from suspicious politicians and investors, ADIA published its first annual review earlier this month. The loss of such a low-key, progressive government exec could not come at a more sensitive time for Abu Dhabi. The city-state and its mysterious ruling family has been under an intense spotlight the past few months during its awkward, stilted showdown with debt-laden fellow emirate, Dubai. Though Abu Dhabi did fork over $10 billion and Dubai seems to have worked out a stop-gap deal with creditors, no outside party- that is to say, no one who is not an Al Maktoum or an Al Nahayan- knows what exactly went down. Are relations tense? Fine? Warm and fuzzy? The answer matters to many- Dubai’s creditors (including major banks), small-time investors, other GCC residents- pretty much anyone who would stand to lose if Dubai were to implode. So far, creditors have warmly welcomed Dubai’s proposed repayment plan based largely on their sense that it has Abu Dhabi’s (aka Uncle Money Bags) tacit approval. But no one knows for sure. The crucial process of filling Sheikh Ahmed’s shoes at ADIA will be similarly murky- though no doubt dramatic for those rare few privy to the political machinations of the Al Nahayan clan’s competing factions: As ADIA’s managing director, Sheik Ahmed, who was the son of Sheika Mouza, another wife of Sheikh Zayed, held one of the few pillars of the oil-soaked emirate’s economy not dominated by the powerful crown prince and his full brothers. Christopher M. Davidson, senior lecturer at Durham University and author of Abu Dhabi: Oil and Beyond, says that with Sheik Ahmed out of the picture, the crown prince and his brothers are likely to move on ADIA. “Then they will control virtually all of Abu Dhabi’s economy,” he says. via Sheik Ahmed Body Found; New Power Struggle in Abu Dhabi? – TIME. Davidson is referring primarily to Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahayan, another ambitious, powerful royal who hit the limelight twice in recent years- first, in September 2008 when he splashed out $300 million for hard-luck UK soccer team Manchester City and again one month later when he fronted Abu Dhabi’s controversial investment in Barclays. Mansour also heads up the emirate’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund, the International Petroleum Investments Co. or IPIC. A dual leadership role at both funds could give an inordinate amount of power to one individual- possibly creating a benign dictatorship- one that resembles Dubai’s imperfect political structure. Relatively speaking, Sheikh Mansour is a high-flying Emirati. Comfortable in public and open to taking risks, he’s someone, Davidson notes, Dubai feels would look out for their best interests when it comes to loans down the road. Davidson says “there’s no doubt” that he’s the one member of the al-Nahayan clan that Dubai would like to see take charge. But Sheik Mansour already controls IPIC. Will he be given the reins of both of the emirate’s massive kitties? In all likelihood, Dubai is betting its bottom dollar the answer will be yes.