President Mackenzie Allen commands respect, and yet she is likeable. I would follow her lead and still enjoy throwing back a beer with her after a hard day of work in the White House.

Most women are damned-if-they-do and damned-if-they-don’t when it comes to communicating in the male-dominated worlds of politics, business, and education. In order to compete, they must find a delicate balance between authority and likeability.

All great communicators possess what I call “the terrific triad,” credibility, likeability, and authority. While many women want to claim their authority, they are concerned about appearing too domineering or abrasive, and thus losing likeability. “We are in a double bind,” one female executive shared.

To make matters worse, our culture associates authority with men. When we think of those traits we consider authoritative, we immediately think of tall, solidly built, and a lower pitched voice – all characteristics associated with men, not women.
In today’s world, women are expected to be both authoritative and feminine. “That’s very hard,” most women agree. In my experience as a communications trainer and coach, most women have to sacrifice some likeability for authority, and that is okay.

Many women naturally have high likeability factors and can ramp up their authority and not lose all their likeability.

I worked with a young woman in her twenties whose public relations career had derailed due to her poor presentation skills. When she stood up to present, she acted like a little girl, losing all credibility and authority.

I asked her to pretend she was a tough-talking member of a women’s motorcycle gang. “Spit out the words!” I demanded. As she did, her voice got louder and deeper.

By getting in touch with her anger, the timid, little girl was transformed into a powerful woman.
Her coworkers were impressed and their positive feedback helped her overcome her discomfort in acting out her authority. From then on, she remembered the “motorcycle mama” whenever she presented and reclaimed the authority she already possessed.

Along with attitude, stance, eye contact, pausing, and vocal quality signal authority. When they present, many women I coach assume a dancer’s pose with one toe pointed out at a ninety-degree angle. While this stance may be pretty and feminine, it holds no authority. I counsel both men and women to stand in their full power by placing their feet shoulder-width apart and equally distributing their weight.

The eyes have been called the “windows of the soul.” As such, they are one of our greatest assets in winning audiences. I coach executives to begin their presentations by standing in silence, finding a friendly face, establishing eye contact, taking a deep breath, and then beginning their talk. This simple tip helps speakers become grounded and start their presentations with authority.

Many presenters talk while moving their heads from person to person like a sprinkler system, or worse they lose all connection with their audience by staring at one person, the slide screen, or into space. I train presenters to pick one person and maintain steady eye contact with that person until they have delivered a complete thought.

Like intensive eye contact, pausing signals authority. I teach students that there is power in the pause and recommend that pauses be used to emphasize important points.

Thirty-eight percent of our power as a presenter is determined by vocal quality. To maximize vocal quality, I suggest that women consider:
1. Raising the volume and projecting their voice.
2. Lowering the pitch of their voice, if needed.
3. Avoiding letting the intonation rise at the end of a sentence, or what Jerry Seinfeld termed “up-talking.” Up-talkers often appear uncertain about what they are saying, thus losing all authority and credibility.

Stance, eye contact, pausing, and vocal quality enhance a businesswoman’s authority when she speaks, but nothing creates a more powerful impression than conviction. While many women have strong convictions, they often have a difficult time expressing them. Most women have a conversational style that strives to make others feel comfortable. To accomplish this, many women position their beliefs as opinions and use disclaimers before they speak, such as, “I may be wrong about this, but….” While this conversational style is extremely effective in building consensus, it can undermine the authority of the speaker.

When women speak with absolute certainty, claiming their full authority, their likeability factor may decrease, but it is worth it if they are able to garner the respect and recognition they deserve.

that I could watch at anytime. I’ll try to keep it fun by telling you what I didn’t like about

them and their characters, some great lines from the shows, maybe some interesting things you

didn’t know, and more – anything but just the usual top ten list.

1. The Rockford Files

Cool theme song. Cool car (gold Firebird, which crashed innumerable times). Great cast with

Rocky, Angel & others. Cool trailer on Malibu beach with a handy bar for rendezvous and drops,

etc. Great cases, mostlly believable. Lots of good guest stars, like Lyndsey Wagner at her most

beautiful. I’ve said all this without even mentioning the lead: James Garner, the consummate cool

actor.

Gimmicks and or quirks, etc.:
Now-dated answering machine from which we hear something amusing before the theme song kicks in.

James Garner’s brother Jack in cameo roles as, often, a bailiff, a bartender and the like.

Great line:
Angel: “Just do (kill) Jimmy, and I’ll spread the word (tell what might happen to others should

they doublecross these thugs like Jimmy did).”

2. Gunsmoke

What a great cast, with Matt, Doc, Kitty, Chester, Festus, Sam and others. This show began as

thirty minutes but was expanded to an hour. Some of the early shows were tightly scripted and

regular works of art. Ran twenty years (1955-75).

Gimmicks and or quirks, etc.:
Early on, old Doc was often drunk as a skunk, but he sobered up as the years passed. The Bull’s

Head saloon as a rougher alternative to Miss Kitty’s Longbranch. The house near the pond, which

was often used in scenes set out of town.

Great line:
“Becasue we’re gonna bushwhack em,” as said by a very early and very un-Matt Matt, to Chester,

when Chester asked him why they were hiding out in a cabin with some thugs nearby.

3. The Andy Griffith Show

This show has always been very therapeutic for me to watch . . . just something about it I can’t

put my finger on; let’s just say that if it’s an episode I’ve already seen, I don’t care, I’ll

watch it again, because I just want to be in Mayberry, and it doesn’t matter to me what they’re

doing there.

Gimmicks and or quirks, etc.:
Drunk Otis having access to the keys as he’s locked up weekly for being lit up. Andy being a lot

more “countrified” in the earlier episodes, his pants sometimes stuck clumsilly down his nerdy

boots. Barber Floyd being nearly mad . . . as in crazy. Goober saying “Yo.” Gomer saying “Tell

‘em Gomer says hey.” Very fake downtown Mayberry drawn as background mural outside the courthouse

door. Different love interests for Andy: Elinor Donahue, Joanne Moore (Tatum O’Neal’s mom), Julie

Adams, Anita Whatever who played Helen for a long run. (I was more of a Thelma Lou fan; she

looked remarkably like Olivia De Havilland.)

Memorable lines:
Goober: “Judy, Judy, Judy.”
Gomer: “Shazam!”

4. M*A*S*H

Great ensemble cast. We’ve all seen it, so let me just blurb about the characters:

Hawkeye: Great except for when there was too much Hawkeye, like when he was trying to stay awake

by babbling to this Korean family unfortunate enough to be housing him. Don’t get me wrong – I

love the role.

Trapper:
Annoying to me, a bit too precious with the raised eyebrows and shoulder shrugs.

B.J.:

Better before he got the mustache, after which, he seemd to have a chip on his shoulder as

if unsure of his manhood should anyone get beneath the cheese of the mustache.

Klinger:
Better before he became “Christianized” – I think you know what I mean if you’ve watched; just a

tad too nice, a bit too eager to please.

Hot Lips:
I surrender. Lead me to Margaret in her tight sweater and tight britches, especially when her

hair was parted in the middle, and before she got too thin and lost most of the Hot Lipsishness.

There is, however, a nasty scene with her, when she and Charles were eating some canned bird and

they became sick because of it – her teeth were quite yellow and she looked kind of gross gorging

herself on it.

Father Mulcahey:
The excitement level dropped a foot when he was given a line. Sorry.

Charles E. Winchester:
Great role; very noble at times … but justy barely, as when he admitted some general molested

Hot Lips and not the other way around.

Radar:
The Zen and Taoist center of the cast, always trying to hide his poor deformed left hand, often

behind a clipboard, as if any of us would think anything of it. (Pat Hingle, who guested as

General Daniel Webster Tucker, was missing a pinky and didn’t try to hide it.)

Henry Blake:
Laugh riot; could have cried when he was killed off.

Colonel Sherman T. Potter:
One of the most annoying roles ever, one of those old grumps who thinks he’s a natural treasure

and that people want him to be regurgitating arid cliches. Pretty much played the same dumb role

in Dragnet (see below).

5. Alias Smith & Jones

Great show because of the charming leads, Pete Duel & Ben Murphy. Pete, who committed suicide

during the run of the show, was replaced by Roger Davis, who did the original narration of the

lead-in theme. Mr. Davis wasn’t nearly as likeable as Mr. Duel, though he was adequate in the

role. There were some great guests, like Burl Ives, and some beauties like Michelle Lee, Claudine

Longet, Susan Strasberg & Sally Fields. The show is said to be a takeoff on the popularity of the

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid film.

Gimmicks and or quirks, etc.:
The promise of amnesty for their crimes always being just on the horizon but somehow always

beyond reach; the recurring Devil’s Hole gang.

6. Law & Order

We all know this show that has run for years and has the most twisting and interesting plots, so

let’s get down to the good stuff: the rating of the female ADAs as to their attractiveness. (The

list below shows the best as being #1.)

1. Angie Harmon – that voice, the withering looks with which she could emasculate any male perp,

her model looks, & heck, she comes from Texas!
2. Carey Lowell – the word adorable was created for this fresh-faced, earnest Bond girl; if she’s

good enough for Richard Gere, she’s good enough for you.
3. Jill Hennessey – another model-quality gal with a husky voice, the exqusite bobbed hair; oh,

how brutally they killed her off!
4. Annie Parisse – maybe the most beautiful of all, but her run seemed brief to me; related by

marriage to Sam Waterston in real life, I believe; another of them killed off, she choking on her

own vomit.
5. Alana de la Garza – haven’t seen that much of this girl, but she’s a stunner with sculpted

features.
6. Elisabeth Röhm  – oh, dear, this girl was nice and pretty enough but, whereas she was

attractive, the other girls mentioned above were absolutely magnetic; it’s probably the blond

hair, and she looks to me pretty much like every other blond.

7. Dragnet

This cop show was so earnest and corny, it was wonderful, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. I

only had much exposure to the later (reborn) color issue of it beginning in the sixties. I think

producer and star Jack Webb was trying to do the LAPD a big favor with this show, back in that

crazy era, in trying to show that cops weren’t so bad; but it was often pretty heavy-handed

stuff, with the hippies being pretty much evil and the bad cop being as rare as platinum. Lots of

square and cornball drug use allusions. Be warned, the grating Harry Morgan (who just turned 94!)

was his sidekick (see M*A*S*H note above).

Gimmicks and or quirks, etc.:
Jack Webb barely moving his arms as he walked stiff as a board. “Just the facts,” “Howzat?” Watch

for Kent McCord as officer Jim Reed, without Martin Milner, of Adam 12. Watch for Bobby Troup (as

a bartender, perp, etc.), who penned song classic “Route 66″ and was married to Jack Webb’s ex-

wife Julie London, with whom Bobby later starred in Emergency.

8. The Waltons

This show was born from the excellent and now classic Christmas movie The Homecoming. Seven kids

living in 1930s-40s Virginia with their parents and paternal grandparents. Lots of heartwarming

episodes. Slow episodes always concerned a moody Olivia. I had a big crush on Erin! My favorite

episode was about a class reunion of John’s (Ralph Waite’s) high school class, in which several

of his old classmates gave the warmest tributes to John; John was my favorite character.

Gimmicks and or quirks, etc.:
The old family truck, which seemed to be held together with chewing gum and chicken wire. Daddy’s

(Ralph Waite’s) old longjohns looked like they might stand up by themselves if he ever took them

off and stood them in a corner. The woodenness of the replacement John Boy when Richard Thomas

left the show. Did you know that Mama (Michael Learned) wasn’t really old enough to be John Boy’s

(Richard Thomas’s) mother in real life, because there were only twelve years’ difference in their

ages?

9. Dallas

This wasn’t just a show around my house on Friday nights, it was an event! We would pop popcorn

and all gather around the set. Let me just blurb about some of the characters:

J.R.: Who shot this guy? As evil as a lead came, but he had a deep sense of family . . . unless,

of course, that family member stood in his way of something he wanted. Someone please set him up

with a quenching bourban and branch, please.

Jock: This patriarch always seemed to be way too rugged for the sissy settings, like breakfasting

around the pool; one would rather expect to see him sniffing out an oil well or busting a bronco.

He died too young, taking some of the heart of the show with him.

Bobby: The pretty boy. Too nice until he learned to get right down in the dirt with J.R. Got to

do love scenes with a youthful and exquisite Victoria Principle as Pam. Aside: My family and I

sat next to his table at a Louise Mandrell concert, and she pointed him out in the audience and

had him take the stage and do a number with her; and he obliged her, good sport that he was. His

Buddhism helped him cope with the brutal, real-life murder of his parents.

Pam: Tons of sex appeal but needy and moody.

Sue Ellen: Beautiful ex Miss Texas. Drunk. Would hook up with Cliff Barnes & Dusty Farlow to get

back at a cheating J.R. I thought shows with her battling the bottle were snoozers. Had sexy

May/September fling with Chris Atkins (as Peter).

Miss Ellie: Boring character. You will wonder what Jock and Digger Barnes . . . or anybody, for

that matter, ever saw in her. Could kill the excitment level of any episode with one of her

audible sighs.

Lucy: Sex kitten deluxe. Drove the much older Ray Krebs wild in the early days of the show, by

seducing him in his truck as he drove her to high school, which led to their locating the nearest

hayloft.  She was built like a brick dollhouse and she knew it. Scenes she was in seemed to have

a potential for fireworks, because she might say something that could be embarrassing to just

about anyone.

10. The Situation Room

I better list a news program before you know I’m a complete idiot. The hard-working Wolf Blitzer

hosts this show. Grouchy Jack Cafferty is always amusing.

Do drop in at the author’s homepage just to say hello.

Well as I was sitting by a community pool last night in Tampa, Florida, looking up into the beautiful night sky at the North Star, the answer came to me almost instantly. The fastest and easiest way to prevent your advancement towards your success of any kind is to make excuses! In the words of a good friend Kerwin King, “the only thing stopping progression is excuses.” So what exactly does the North Star have to do with this concept? Take a second to think about the past in the days of slavery.

As I glanced up at the North Star, I could only shake my head in disappointment at the tons of excuses our wonderful generation makes these days. As an honest friend, allow me to politely inform you that it matters not how horrible you may think your life is going, or what you think you can and can’t do, your current position in life is undoubtedly a wonderful blessing from God, and you have absolutely no excuse in the world as to why you can’t reach your success and be your best.

Stop complaining, making excuses, and blaming others and outside situations for the lack of your success. These days, I usually hear members of my generation complain about things such as: not getting paid enough, a job, enough clothes, sneakers, a supporting boyfriend/girlfriend, support for their children, and so forth. It is crucial that you don’t play the victim in your own life. Anytime things don’t go your way, always appreciate where you stand and remember that others had and have it much worse.

We’re all running for more satisfying, comfortable, and fulfilling lives, while slaves had to use a star in the sky as guidance while running for their lives! We have all the freedom and opportunity to chase our goals and dreams, while slaves used a star in the sky to chase the opportunity of minimal freedom while being chased by those who would stop it nothing to keep them from it. They were running from dogs while we’re simply running from our true potential by making excuses and living life to at least half the potential it deserves.

For the young single mothers who are spending most of their time complaining, using the ‘I’m a female and should be taken care of’ excuse while trying to fight useless baby fathers, follow the North Star for success. My mother used to walk the streets and pick up old furniture, work many jobs simultaneously, and make many sacrifices just to raise myself and my two older sisters in the streets of Bronx, New York. If she can do it, you can do it better.

For the young aspiring individuals looking to be successful, but complaining using the ‘I’m too young, I don’t have what it takes, I don’t have enough money, no one will believe in me’ excuse, follow the North Star for success. My family moved down to Florida in search of a better life for me because I was heading down the gang life road in the Bronx, and when we moved down, I basically raised my two little sisters all while going to school because my father couldn’t move down with us and my mother worked 24/7.

When I discovered my life’s mission to do my best while in existence to reduce poverty, and lead my generation towards their success, happiness, and prosperity in college, life, and business, I had to go against my family’s wishes to go to college for the employee route. I was misunderstood for not following the normal path, but heavily respected for following my own. I’ve lived out of my car for weeks, literally went without eating for weeks as well, pursued my passions and worked for free for over a year, but those were all blessings which contributed to my success.

I cried, became frustrated, and questioned my ability at times, but never did I complain or make excuses as to why I couldn’t continue to strive for greatness and save the world by helping them discover their true potential and making everyone happy, successful, and prosperous. I live by the principle that tomorrow’s not promised, and it’s never too early to be what you think you might be later. I’m following the North Star for success. If I can do it, you can do it better.

Wyclef Jean stated at the 2009 BET Awards when he won the humanitarian award, “I went from a hut, to the projects. I went from the projects, to a mansion. You guys out there have no excuse!” He follows the North Star for success. Be grateful for everything you have, and be persistent with everything you want. No matter what you may say to me, I can confidently tell you that your life is not that bad at all.

If Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Dr. Martin Luther King can do it then you can do it better. The reality is that you have opportunity and freedom so make the best of both. In life, it doesn’t matter where you come from. It only matters where you are headed. Head for the North Star. Follow the North Star for success. I wish you the best. I love you. God Bless You!

Detailed information about raising INT and LUK can be found on the Builds page.

Be patient at the start, It’s kinda hard

Maple Island

At the beginning, your damage will be severely limited. The best training enemy for the beginning Magician are Green and Blue Snails. Try not to use healing items now. Save them for later. If you die now, your experience stays the same. Later, during the first job, exp decreases if you die. Now since the BIG update, it will be a lot easier for mages to lvl up. Luckily, the Magician’s advancement level is only 8, whereas the other classes have an advancement level of 10. Also, a Hand Axe appears to be the best weapon for a Beginning Mage, since it has a higher tendency to strike for 3 damage.

The first few maps have an abundance of green snails. Beyond that are the two towns on Maple Island. If you wish, there are also quests on Maple Island that can be completed. One gives a helmet equip, and another gives a weapon. The second quest may require a lot of patience, as it asks for 10 orange mushroom caps (orange mushrooms have 80 hp!) as well as 30 blue snail shells. Fortunately, if you have the patience, there are safe spots you can jump and hit mushrooms without taking damage, but your hits tend to be extremely low (1). The reward for the quest is either a fruit knife or a razor, which is useless for a magician, so if you want to sell it then loot or buy orange mushroom caps.

Once you hit level 8 and if you have at least 20 points of INT (which you should if you have read this guide so far), go to Southperry and take the ship to Lith Harbour at a cost of 150 mesos. You may also want to have at least 2100 mesos after to buy a wooden wand and to get the taxi to Ellinia.

Victoria Island

First things first. By now, hopefully you should have at least 2,200 meso remaining, enough to get to the Mage town, Ellinia, and buy the first weapon that adds Magic Attack. If you have more, go to the Lith Harbour Weapon/Armour store and purchase the level 11 Common-Class top/bottom. These have more Weapon Defense than more your level 8 and 13(Male) Mage-specific equips, and no monsters apply Magic Defense to their attacks yet. The level 13(Female) Mage-specific equips have a slightly higher Weapon Defense than the level 11 Common-Class equips, but the slightly higher Weapon Defense is not worth the additional cost. Also, it may be easier for beginning mages to simply forgo clothing and invest their mesos in weapons, Red Potions and the important Blue Potions.

When you are ready, either talk to the man in the ticket booth near the ship, and choose to go to Ellinia or walk to Ellinia. Walking is a good way to train, but running into high level monsters is more or less inevitable. If you walk, make sure you do not advance to level 9 before getting to Ellinia. Also, before you leave, there is an easy quest you can do in Lith Harbor. Talk to Olaf, who is near the right of the city, in the lower level. Once you’ve answered his questions correctly, you can choose the next quest from him. Choose path of the Magician. Once you’ve become a magician, you can go back and talk to Olaf again (whenever, doesn’t have to be right away)and get a reward.

Once in Ellinia, head to the house at the VERY top of the map and go inside. Talk to Grendel. Assuming you are level 8 with at least 20 INT, advance from a Beginner to a Magician. Grendel will also increase your max MP by a large amount, and give you 1 Skill Point (SP) to use. Using that SP in magic bolt would most likely be the wisest, as it doesn’t use too much MP, so you can really start fighting.

Three Snails
Putting a point or two as a Beginner into Shell Throw can make fighting larger monsters a bit easier as Beginner and early Magician, albeit a sacrifice of a snail shell or two. It loses its usefulness when your Magic Bolt actually hits over 25-40(the end limit of the technique), but for taking down Mushrooms FAST, it’s worth the sacrifice of a pair of Red Shells.

First Job: Magician

Welcome to the way of the Magician. For detailed information about what each skill does, refer to Skills. For detailed information about how to allocate skill and ability points, refer to Builds

1st job, low level magician training spots:
Magician – First job
Magician – First job

The Tree that Grew 1,2 or 3 (no. 3 has green mushrooms. For all you low level magicians, WATCH OUT), the place that people call the Slime Tree and Henesys hunting ground (all) However, as you are still pretty low leveled, it could be wiser to stay close to Ellinia until at least level 10. Henesys Party Quest is a good option (if you can get there!).

After you reach level 20 or so, Perion (which is ironically the Warrior’s town) is a relatively good place to train, since the monsters, which are mostly stumps and their variants, have low magical defense and slow, good for magicians.

LEVEL 8-13 (2-5 hrs/lvl; Can be done under 6 hrs with party)
With Magic Bolt(1), you will have faster training now, but stick to Snails and Shrooms in the “Henesys Hunting Ground I” or the snails in the “The Tree That Grew I”.

Victoria Island

The Tree That Grew I [Snail] [8-13]
Henesys Hunting Ground I is excellent if you manage to have a party willing to assist.
At level 10, go to Henesys PQ. you get 1600 exp per round. Very useful for leveling up fast.

LEVEL 13-21 (2-5hrs/lvl)
At Lvl 13 with Max MP Increase maxed and new armor and weapon choices, the Slime can be added into the hunting list. At Lvl 20, with Magic Claw (MAX), one can effectively handle Pig, Ribbon Pig, Orange Mushroom effectively.

Victoria Island

The Tree That Grew I [Snail, Slime] [13-15]
Henesys Hunting Ground I [Shroom, Blue Snail, Red Snail, Slime] [13-17]
Henesys Hunting Ground I [Red Snail, Orange Mushroom] [17-21]
Kerning City Construction Site [Orange Mushroom] [17-21]
Pig Beach [Pig, Ribbon Pig] [20-23] *Beware of the lone Iron Hog

With high level magic claw can kill Pig and Ribbon Pig quickly

LEVEL 21-30 (3-6 hrs/lvl)
At Lvl 21, Party Quest is available, and as a Magician, one will be invited readily for the quest. Bubbling, Green Mushroom, Horned Mushroom, Zombie Mushroom are also viable options if one is capable of 1-hit or 2-hits KO. Bubbling drop ‘Scroll for Cape INT 100%’, Green Mushroom drop ‘Pan Lid’. At lvl 23 or so, if you feel like burning HP pots, go to Subway Line 1 Area 2 and kill Stirges, but only if you can 1-hit KO them. They give 33 exp and will most likely kill you very fast (they do 50 dmg to mages), so bring along a lot of orange potions. Even with that though, if you’re fast, you will level pretty quickly. They even drop Garnet Ore, so Mrs. Ming Ming’s 2nd Request will be easier for you.

Victoria Island

Party Quest [21-30] *Kerning City
Subway Line 1 Area 1 [Bubbling] [24-30]
Subway Line Transfer Area [Stirge] [24-30]
Henesys Hunting Ground I [Green Mushroom] [24-30]
Tree Dungeon, Forest Up North II [Green and Horned Mushroom] [24-31]
Dungeon: Ant Tunnel I [Horned and Zombie Mushroom] [29-33]

Second Job advance preparations

At this point, you’re a Magician, you’re at level 30, and you’re currently much more powerful than the other classes. Return to Ellinia and converse with Grendel. He will give you a compliment, and then send you to the 2nd Job Advance Instructor in The Forest West of Ellinia. He’ll talk to you as well, and then send you into the darkness. Inside this tree, you will find several Horned Mushrooms and Curse Eyes. Kill them. Instead of EXP and Items, they give you Dark Marbles. Collect 30 of these marbles, and then talk to the Instructor. He will give you the Proof of a Hero, and then send you back to Grendel the Really Old. Here, he will inquire as to which path you wish to take…

You have three roads before you, each with a myriad of puzzles and adventures that await you. The least common choice is the Fire/Poison. This does not mean that it is inferior, of course. By level 38, you’ll be capable of dishing out more damage faster than any other class. Or, you could become an Ice Mage, and quickly freeze and kill your enemy. Lightning comes along with ice, and Lightning gives you the ability to kill of a pack of 6 monsters all at once (Ice/Lightning are placed in the same job, so you get both eventually as an Ice/Lightning Wizard). The third, and possibly most common choice is the Cleric. As a cleric, you do the least damage, but you eventually become (literally,) the life of the party. You’ll eventually end up very wealthy as a cleric. This is because Clerics can cheat the system; they can gain MP from killing monsters, and HP from their MP-consuming skill, heal. Nowhere in this process is money drained.

Holy, Fire, Ice, Poison, or Lightning?

There are several paths from which this single choice can take you. Be sure to pick the one that won’t bore you to death!

* Fire/Poison Wizard: Fire Wizards (or Fizards, as they seem to be commonly known) tend to spend most of their time in Ossyria, since Fire-Friendly (Or Fire Abnegant) monsters roam the beautiful white snowbanks of El Nath and the areas encompassing it. Poison is also an option in this job, but most simply choose to stay away from it and place their SP into more useful skills, as this is phased out instantly in the Third Job Advance. Leveling with a Poison Wizard is difficult. The highest level Poison Wizard on beta only reached level 42. Fire Wizards spend most of their time sniping ice monsters from afar with their magical instruments of burning death. They tend to Teleport from monster to monster, killing from afar and near when strategically advantageous. Slow is an essential skill to them as well, as it allows Fire Arrow the time it needs to destroy mobs of, say, Jr. Yetis.

A note on maxed Poison Breath: Only after Fire Arrow has been maxed a Fire Wizard might consider the option of maxing out Poison Breath. With a base damage of 70, a 60% mastery, and a magician with roughly 175 m attack and about 35 luk this skill can deal about 347-578 Poison damage while actual poisoning does 70 hp damage or 1/40th the enemies hp. This can allow a Fire Mage to deal with some Fire creatures they normally would not be able. There are roughly 12 enemies weak to Poison.

In the third job, these Mages undergo a nice power boost. Explosion has a range that rivals Fire Arrow, and a power that is equal to Fire Arrow, rendering it useless, seeing how Explosion is a mob skill, whilst Fire Arrow is stuck to one target at a time. (Explosion is, however, painfully slow) Though, Fire Arrow may find solace in the fact that it gets an upgrade in the form of the Fire Mage’s Magic Composition spell! This attack is a fusion of Fire and Poison placed into an ethereal bow. When launched, this attack strikes with a Base Damage of 150, and also a 70% chance of Poisoning the enemy for 40 seconds. Fire Mages also get Poison Myst which is a poison based mob skill that initially hits one monster for damage and then creates a mist with 70% chance of poisoning for all monsters that travel within the mist.

* Ice/Lightning Wizard: Ah, yes. The ultimate in icy and electrical crowd control is now at your fingertips! As a Lightning Wizard, you can wander about the country side, scaring noobs and vets alike as you massacre groups of up to 6 monsters with Lightning! Statistically, Lightning is no more powerful than Magic Claw, but the compound damage on the six monsters that Lightning strikes add up to be more. And, if you choose Ice first, you are allowed the power to freeze monsters, rendering them immobile. Though Cold Beam is 17% weaker than Fire Arrow, it’s ability to freeze enemies makes up for it. Together, with ice and lightning, you will roam the countryside, laughing at the frozen forms of large monsters and burnt (electrified) carcasses of smaller creatures. Forget about slow… who needs to slow enemies down, when you can either zap them to nothingness or make them wish the Fourth Vial Judgment (Random Bible Reference) is upon them?

In the Third Job, Ice/Lightning Mages are the pinnacle of crowd control. Although their Ice Strike is 10% weaker than Cold Beam, it allows Wizards to attack and freeze up to six enemies at once. They also get Thunder Spear, the strongest (currently, at least) spell among all Magicians, with 170 Base Damage maxed. Compare that to the Fire Mage’s 150 Base Damage Magic Composition and a Cleric’s 105 Base Damage Shining Ray. The drawback to this, like Explosion, is it’s slow casting time (Some say that you should put points into Slow to prepare for this attack, but from what I have seen, the freeze time Composition grant you is more than enough). The Ice/Lightning Mage’s Magic Composition has a Base Damage of 140, but it only strikes one enemy and freezes only one target, rendering this skill much weaker when compared to Thunder Spear and Ice Strike. However, it serves as an excellent replacement to Cold Beam, and a faster alternative to Thunder Spear.

* Cleric: The weakest of the three wizards, even when this mage has an elemental advantage, Fire Wizards beat it out in damage. However, Clerics have become quite popular in the Maple Story crowd with their “Heal” skill. With this skill, you can easily heal some 2000 hp for each party member while using only 24 mana. Additionally, Heal can damage undead enemies, such as Wraiths, Jr. Wraiths, Zombies and Zombie Lupins. Also, when Heal is coupled with the skill “MP Eater”, a Cleric becomes very low maintenance in the Zombie areas, allowing for them to attack with Heal, and thusly take no damage, and absorb the MP needed for the spell from other monsters via MP Eater. In other words, Clerics can just walk into a crowd of zombies, cast heal for about an hour, and take absolutely no damage in terms of neither HP nor MP. This combination is how Clerics manage to become the richest class in the game, as they tend to have no need for potions, thus allowing them to retain all of the mesos they find as pure profit. Since Clerics mainly cast Heal over and over to level on these undeads, they tend to become boring after level 45. Try your hardest to stick through, as they pay off in a big way.

Looking ahead to 3rd job, Clerics continue to be weakest in terms of damage, due to their lack of Booster or Element Amplification. However, instead they get skills that all parties will love. Holy Symbol increases the amount of exp gained for every person in the party (finally giving parties some uses), and Mystic Door creates a 2-way doorway to the closest town and where you are, allowing travel to the farthest corners of Ossyria in a single step. Not to mention Doom, which allows a Priest to turn up to 6 of it’s adversaries into Blue Snails for up to 20 seconds for the price of a Magic Rock, which is comically effective when you’re surrounded by a mob of tough monsters. The Summoning Rock can also be used by Priests to activate their skill Summon: Dragon, in which a blue pet dragon appears and follows you around for 2 and 1/3 minutes, attacking your enemies and making your life easier. They also have a very potent mob attack, Shining Ray, with a base attack power of 105 which is only a little weaker than the explosion but stronger than ice strike still, when not factoring in Mage-specific skills. Clerics are also the most popular 2nd job in MapleStory, as their party-benefiting skills are widely welcomed by all 3 jobs.

* Teleport and MP Eater are both skills shared by all three magician variations.
* Slow and Meditate (magic attack boost) are both skills shared by the Fire/Poison and Ice/Lightning variations, although only Fire/Poison has the need to max it.
* In the third job, Fire/Poison and Ice/Lightning Mages both receive Partial Resistance, Element Amplification, and Magic Booster. These three spells improve the elemental resistance, the elemental power, and the Spell Casting speed of the user, respectively. Another skill, Seal, locks enemies from casting spells of their own.

The Second Job

Ahah! Elemental Power! Holy, Ice, Lightning, Fire! For the next 40 levels, you will raise and discover your own, true power. Become one with nature, harness it’s power, become stronger so that you can kick Grendel’s floating Butt when it’s time to reach the Third Job! Your goal is in sight, young mages, more power is at hand!

For Ice/Lightning Wizards

As depicted before, Ice/Lightning Wizards have the highest versatility out of all mages classes, and possess the most efficient group-attack skill amongst all 2nd job advance classes.

Training Grounds

* Level 30-34: Train where you have trained before. Ant Tunnel is a good choice, and so is Land of Wild Boars. Jr Sentinels and those green and horned mushroom tree dungeons at Ellinia are profitable alternatives. With Aqua Road out, Fish Resting Spot is not a bad choice as well.

* Level 35-39: Ice mages can now go kill Fire Boars with ease, so do so at Burnt Land II. They can also go to Sand Castle Playground to train on Flower Fishes if they want. Lightning right now is still too weak for your purposes, so boars are a good source of exp and money for now (use magic claw, not lit!). Lightning mages can also train well on White Ratz in Floor 100 of EOS Tower. Standing on a slide allows one to rain down lightning while not getting hit.

If you start with Lightning, you can also keep it at level 15 when you reach level 35 (assuming you put 1 pt in Teleport at level 30), and train on the hamsters on the 99th floor of Helios tower. This will be a lightning wizards’ fastest XP gain until at least level 55, if you work it correctly. (to compare for around level 50, better to kill 4 hamsters @ 78XP each every 6 seconds, than 1 fire drake at 200XP each, and the hamsters spawn en-masse at one spot, while larger rarer monsters like Fire Drakes require you to travel….and suffer plenty of damage). Then just work the hamsters until you get enough points stored (save at least 9) to raise Lightning to level 24 directly from 15. This is because the spell doubles in cost from 20 to 40, at spell level 16, making it very hard on your potions. At about lightning level 24, the damage increase should be worth the doubling of MP, but if you’re unsure, you can wait until you get 12 skill points. It’s also very safe to train at the Hamsters as you can’t get hit unless you are grabbing loot. You can possibly gain 2-3 levels a day at low experience levels this way if you’re a hardcore grinder.

If you are careful with your lightning to mob at least 4 hamsters per cast, and pick up all the loot and seeds, you should at -least- break even in mesos/potion use, unlike lorangs, which will drain your mesos like water…

* Level 40-49: If you’re an ice mage, now would be a good time to move up to Jr Celions (the red kitties) at Ossyria, and Fire Boar is a solid (but less rewarding) alternative. Thunder Mages can consider Lorang, can also train on Jr Cellions or Grupin if Lorang costs too much money. You’re going to lose money on pots wherever you go anyway, unless you work the hamsters, so why not lose them on monsters that give good exp and decent drops? Party with cleric at Hot Sands occasionally if you’re feeling bored.

Note: for lightning mages, 78XP hamsters are much faster XP than the lorangs, as they spawn in mobs, and travel time is reduced to near nothing. It’s strongly advised to continue working the hamsters unless you are really bored. If your ice is maxed, and you’re a hybrid, but poor, don’t train at hamsters; go kill fire boars or Jr Kitties for safe, fast loot until you get enough mesos to have a good stock of potions. Unless you are more concerned with getting rich (item drops) as opposed to leveling fast, Hamster mobbing is -highly- recommended, and thus Hybrids/lit mages will have a big advantage over those who don’t raise Lightning until after meditation.

If you started with Ice and are hybriding, continue training on fire boars and Jr. Kitties until you raise lightning to level 15 at around experience lvl 45. (assuming you are becoming a hybrid). Then use the same advice as above, for the hamsters in Helios tower. Being a hybrid is STRONGLY advised, as working the hamsters will let you level as fast, or faster, than any other class for now.(Yes, that includes bandits).

* Level 50-59: If you have both Ice and Lit, Hot Sands is a very good choice, but Hamsters are still your fastest XP gain. With only Ice, Red Drake should now be what you’re training on (you can also go for Celions and Lioners if Red Drakes hurt too much), while with only lit, Hamsters are still your best bet right now, even though you’re earning less than 0.01% exp per kill, mobbing them should let you level every 6-8 hours until you reach level 55. Move to hot sands if you’re going for Ice after med, when you have level 15 ice. With the new lands coming out, Platoon Chronos in The Road of Time is also a good choice. Many still recommend Lorangs, but due to the travel time required (lots of walking), plus the constant damage you will take, Hamsters are your best choice if you want to gain mesos. You should level 3-4x as fast on Hamsters as you would on Lorangs.

At around level 55, you should be getting sick of Hamsters by now, and may have more fun tossing ice around at Clangs or freezing Red Drakes. Although hamsters will *still* give you the fastest XP, but all but the most dedicated will be immensely bored of sitting in one spot. And since the hamsters don’t give good item drops, you should visit red drakes/Celions often for the drops.

* Level 60-69: Celions, Lioners, Red Drakes, Hot Sands, Helios Tower, the old spots. You can TRY to train at Buffoons if you like, but that’s not generally a good idea. If you’re not so obsessed with big damage, electrifying some jr yetis may not be a bad idea, as with freezing up some hectors and zombies.
* Level 70-75: Same old, same old. Zombies, Hot Sands, Red Drakes. Buffoons might be more practical to hunt right now, but there isn’t much change in training. If you’re still doing hamsters, you must be a masochist
* Level 76-83: IS mages can start killing Death Teddies now, since there are some sniping points present where you can hit them without worrying about getting hit. It’s not great on your wallet, but it’s very fast training. If you need money, Zombies are your friend again. You can also try Buffoons. Comp Mages should just stay at Zombies or Buffons right now.
* Level 83-88: IS mages got some options now. Bains are a pain to get to and there aren’t many sniping spots, but they’re like Death Teddies with more money, though the map isn’t pure Bains and poison geysers are annoying. Death Teddies are as good as always. If you feel bold, you can try Vikings. Comp mages should probably go for Bains now, or Vikings if you’re bold.
* Level 88+: Vikings are the best target for you now, at least in GMS and MapleSEA. JMSers could probably go for Bains in Weapon Storage (the map after Anego), while KMSers could probably try the red centaurs in Riprey (though I’m not sure about their spawns).

LEVEL 31-35 (6-8 hrs/lvl)
Due to insufficient of SP into the new skills, the earlier levels will be focusing on earlier monsters for efficient leveling. Any monsters that gives you the highest EXP with 1-hit KO are recommended. If one’s INT and equipment are desirable enough, Wild Boar are an alternative choice to the Mushrooms.

Victoria Island

The Land of Wild Boar II [Wild Boar] [33-38]

LEVEL 35-40 (8-9 hrs/lvl)
At Lvl 35, with Cold Beam (15), one is still too weak to take on Fire Boar for effective training. Thus, it is recommended to return to earlier training grounds for efficient leveling till one is capable of 2-hits KO Fire Boar. Fire Boar drop good amount of meso and ‘Kumbi’.

Choosing hamsters should let you level at 4hrs/lvl if you started with Lit. Victoria Island

The Burnt Land II [Fire Boar] [35-45]

Ludi

Helios Tower [Hamsters] [35-55]

LEVEL 40-50 (7-10 hrs/lvl)
At Lvl 40, with Cold Beam (MAX), all should continue to take on Fire Boar till one can efficiently 1-hit KO Jr. Cellion/Jr. Lioner; average damage of 1100 and above. Due to the map layout, it is more efficient to train at Garden of Red, as compare to Garden of Yellow. Jr. Lioner drop ‘Ore of Wisdom Crystal’ and ‘Kumbi’. Jr. Cellion drop ‘Ore of Power Crystal’.
This is the 2nd most boring period of Ice/Lit Wizard, so as again, endurance will see one through.

Victoria Island

Dangerous Valley I [Fire Boar, Copper Drake] [40-45]

Ossyria

Garden of Red [Jr. Cellion] [40-55]
Garden of Yellow [Jr. Lioner] [40-55]
Helios Tower [Hamsters] [40-55]

LEVEL 50-70 (9-10+ hrs/lvl)
On average, one will hit Red Drake 100% at Lvl 55. With Meditation (MAX), Red Drake will require an average of 4 hits to fall. At around Lvl 65, Red Drake will always fell at 3 hits. As of now, “Dangerous Valley II” will be the most economical map for training without fear of KS from other class. Red Drake drop ‘Steely’ and ‘Diamond Ore’. Copper Drake drop ‘Dark Scorpio’ and ‘Black Crystal Ore’.

Victoria Island

Dangerous Valley II [Fire Boar, Copper Drake, Red Drake] [53-70]

For Fire/Poison Wizards

Fire/Poison Wizards are also often called Fizards, since Poison is a rather meh-ish skill that does not represent the power of the wizard. Despite the lack of versatility, Fire Wizard has the highest damage power out of all mages.

Training Grounds

* Level 30-34: Train where you have trained before. Ant Tunnel is a good choice, and so is Land of Wild Boars. Jr Sentinels and those green and horned mushroom tree dungeons at Ellinia are profitable alternatives.
* Level 35-39: The Jr Grupins in Ossyria are a good choice as you should be able to 2 or 3 hit KO them with minimum MP usage per attack (especially since level 1 MP Eater recovers 14 MP). You could also go clawing up Boars, which might be more profitable. Also, Jr Wraiths in the sewers of Kerning City provide good experience because they are very weak to fire. They also give 5 more experience each than Jr Grupins.
* Level 40-48: Kill things you can OHKO. Jr Grupins and Jr Wraiths are good initially, then eventually you can 1HKO Jr Pepes semi-consistently.
* Level 49-60: Jr Yetis, or Grupins. Jr Yetis are for the lower levels of this stage while Grupins are better for when you can two-hit KO them. They both give a lot of meso so profits aren’t a problem
* Level 61-70: This period is often consider “Fizard Hell”, as very few training places are offered. Grupins are the best exp you can get at this point. White Pangs are all right, but they have the most HORRIBLE maps to train on. Poison Wizards at this point should be leveling at the same place if they have Fire Arrow. If not, they should either be training on Dark Stone Golems or Werewolves. Yetis and Pepe are pretty decent as well, but when they separate, they are a pain to kill.>;0 If you have Poison, you can also kill Death Teddies as you approach 3rd job. During the late 6xs, Fire users can go to Ghost Pirates or Death Teddies, though be warned: YOU WILL BURN POTS FAST. The Three-Tailed Foxes are good exp, and provide excellent funding, dropping NPCable (items that sell for a good price at NPCs) drops often.

For Clerics

Although Clerics are the weakest in terms of damage, their high wealth and the fact that they are virtually invincible more than makes up for it. Clerics are one of the more sought after classes in Party Quests and are never absent during tough raids.

Training Grounds

* Level 30-34: Train where you have trained before. Ant Tunnel is a good choice, and so is Land of Wild Boars. Jr Sentinels and those green and horned mushroom tree dungeons at Ellinia are profitable alternatives.
* Level 35-39: Zombie Mushrooms should about do right now. Your Heal is still too weak to 1HKO Zombie Mushrooms, or any other undeads for that matter, but you can hurt a large amount of them at once.
* Level 40-48: At this point, try to stick to hunting with parties as opposed to hunting alone. The PQ in Ludibrium is a nice option and so are raids to difficult dungeons with high damaging monsters (more damage you Heal, more exp you get). For healing Clerics, if you have the patience and skill, it is possible to train on zombie lupins with heal at around level 42.
* Level 49-60: Wraiths, Jr. Wraiths, and Zombie Lupins. Your Heal should be maxed out by this point, so you should have no trouble killing a mob of Jr. Wraiths and Zombie Lupins with 2 hits flat. Wraiths should be a bit tougher than that, but they give more exp and you can still kill a large gang of them at once.
* Level 61-70: At this point, you should be able to kill most undeads out there. El Nath dungeons and the Golem Hunting Grounds are recommended because they have dark type monsters that take extra damage from holy attacks like Holy Arrow although they are not damaged by Heal. Clerics were made for parties, so try to limit your times hunting solo and try to hunt more in parties with high leveled users in more difficult hunting grounds. Both Balrogs are dark type monsters, so you may consider them as well, although Crimson Balrog is probably still too hard right now. also wraith is a good training spot, if u party a priest with max HS the exp can go really high
* level 71-78 you could go train anywhere that you think is good exp, grim phantom watches are still too hard to fight but ive seen lv 7x train there
* level 79+ your holy symbol should be nearly maxed and you should be able to train with dragon knights at grims easy, i personally gain around 800k exp per hour at grims and im lv 87 at the moment, others might train somewhere else, and by now you should be able to hit crimson balrog, but don’t get too confident that you can solo it

Training Locations

LEVEL 70-80 (10-20+ hrs/lvl)
One can continue at Dangerous Valley II or choose to travel to El Nath. Coolie Zombies are an excellent choice during this period due to the map layout and the spawn rates. Do take note of the varsities of attacks they possess, esp. poison. KS is commonplace at the Coolie Zombie maps among ALL classes.

In the Hawaiian Islands tattooing was common prior to 1800 and would indicate what tribe or district you came from. The material used for coloring in native tattooing was vermillion, carbon, gunpowder and indigo. These were embedded in the skin with sharp knives or hand-made needles. Members of the Tucanoe tribe were known for three vertical blue lines tattooed on the body. This was an indication they belonged to that tribe.

In the South China Sea area where Borneo, the Philippines, Sumatra and Java are, tattooing was also common among the natives. In Borneo, members of the Kyan, Pakatan and Kermowit tribes were the only tribes where everyone was tattooed. Oddly, they were considered the least brave tribes in the area. Still their tattoos indicated they were part of a particular group. Another Borneo tribe, the Dyaks, tattooed all of the married women, usually on the hands and feet and possibly the thighs. It was considered a privilege for the married woman and a sign of dignity.

In the Polynesian Islands such as Tahiti, a tribe known as the Otaheites appeared to tattoo themselves for religious significance. Common tattoos among them were squares, circles and crescents, along with men and dog tattoos. In this tribe every person was tattooed without exception as they reached adulthood. In Fiji only women were tattooed in a tradition dating back hundreds of years. It was believed that they were tattooed more for adornment than any other reason. A tattoo was seen as a decoration that beautified the women in preparation to find or keep a husband.

Among native Australian tribes it was common, and is today, to tattoo yourself with the group’s totem, Otherwise known as a Wingong. A totem was a creature, plant or animal that the tribe believed they descended from. It could be a turtle, elk, owl, Cray-fish or snake, for instance. It might be considered the tribe’s logo.

In Burma tattooing has always been a sign of manhood. Early explorers of the islands saw almost no man without a tattoo. The leg was a popular spot to have one. It was witnessed that tattoo artists would go around with books of designs which contained every symbol for warding off any kind of evil or for bringing good luck.

Native American tribes were advocates of tattooing. The married women of the Apaches and Yumas in Arizona traditionally were distinguished by a tattoo consisting of several blue lines from the lower lip to the chin. It was also known that when a young female was wishing to become a mother, she would tattoo the figure of a child on her forehead. As well, Mojave women, after marriage would tattoo vertical blue lines on their chin.

Within native tribes and in specific geographic locations, the art of tattooing has been a long tradition. In the modern world the tattoo is used more for personal decoration of the body, and personal meaning than it is for customary ‘tribal type’ purposes such as designating a group, although violent gangs many times have a common tattoo. For most it is popular to merely acquire a tattoo that has a personal meaning, and for others it is simply a fancy adornment.

Ecoterra Intl. – SMCM (Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor) Part I

Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release

2009-02-08 12h55:13 UTC

EA Illegal Fishing and Dumping Hotline: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) – email: somalia@ecoterra.net

EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979

The Chinese fishing vessel F/V TIAN YU 8 has been released yesterday afternoon at 16h30 local time after a release-money drop, local marine observers reported yesterday. Confirmation was received an hour ago from the Chinese Authorities. All 24 crew consisting of 15 mainland Chinese, four Vietnamese, three Filipinos, one Taiwanese and one Japanese fishing officer are said to be safe and sound, while one of the captors had died on board due to illness and missing treatment. The illegal fishing vessel was captured on 13. November 2008 in Southern Somali waters with 53 tonnes of tuna, 25 to of lobster and 35 to of shark-fins as well as illegal ivory on board. While the vessel first was kept near Koiyama Island in Southern Somalia, it then started an Odyssey, because the proposed and possible legal prosecution faced difficulties from the Islamic Courts in Kismayo and Merka. The captors took the ship at one time up to Garcaad (north of Eyl in Puntland) but then arranged for the release near Harardheere. The illegally harvested marine products were sold locally and the vessel released against a substantial amount. Previously the vessel had taken supplies from Mombassa, but it is believed that it was operating with a group of vessels from the Seychelles. It first had been reported as fishing in Kenyan waters, but so far no confirmation for any legal operation in the area could be obtained. The waters off Somalia are targeted since years by an armada of illegally fishing vessels from mainly Far East as well as European countries.

Seychelles: a pirate hub

The Indian Ocean and fugitive paradise of the Seychelles turns more and more into an illegal fisheries hub. Mahe now even fights for the defence of pirate ships. The International Maritime Tribunal for the law of the sea in Hamburg (Germany) was on December 8 hearing a submission filed by the Seychelles government against France which has demanded FRF 54 million in compensation from a Spanish ship owner whose vessel is registered on the Seychelles to return his ship seized while it was allegedly fishing illegally in France’s TAAF (Terres Australes et antartiques francaises, Southern and Antarctic Territories) waters.

Ecoterra Intl. – SMCM (Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor) Part II

Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release

2009-02-12 19h40:15 UTC

EA Illegal Fishing and Dumping Hotline: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) – email: somalia@ecoterra.net

EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979

MT CHEMSTAR VENUS, sea-jacked on 15. November 2008 was released this evening. Last minute conflicts among the pirates as well as between the captors of the vessel and the owner could be solved. The last of her captors left around 22h30 local time (19h30 UTC) after having received a ransom delivered by tug-boat. The Japanese owned chemical and oil products tanker under flag of convenience from Panama, had been seized by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden and was held together with its unharmed 23 crew of 18 Filipino and 5 South-Korean ever since near Eyl at the Indian Ocean coast of the breakaway republic of Puntland in North-East Somalia. Seafarer Roger Arroyo, the father of a daughter who has cancer and needs an urgent bone-marrow transfer to combat her Leukemia, therefore is also free and safe and will be able to fly back to his daughter and family with highest priority as soon as the vessel docks at its next harbour. The tanker carries 20,000 tonnes of oil products. Reluctance from the side of IINO MARINE, the owner-manager on the one side and an aggressive and ignorant gang of pirates who often where in disagreement also with their backers had prolonged the negotiations for the release.

MV FAINA, the ill-fated weapons transporter owned by the Israeli-Ukrainian Vadim Alperin, one week after her release finally reached Mombassa harbour in Kenya under US naval guard, which usually would only be a 2-3 days trip away from her place of release near Hobyo in Somalia. The public does not really believe that the voyage had to take so long due to engine problems but think that the time-delay was required to spin numerous stories as well as to allow for preparations to stage a public welcome in Kenya derailing the public attention from the crucial questions of the 134 day long hostage saga as well as the true destination of the weapons comprising of 33 ex-Sowjet T-72 battle tanks with 125mm ammunition reportedly of the 3BM-32 type, which contains a penetrator made from depleted uranium. Neither the World Health Organization or UNEP nor IAEA, the three organizations tasked with surveillance of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, to which Kenya is a signatory, showed up to inspect the ammunition. Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudswoman and member of Parliament, who arrived with a special flight from Ukraine in Mombassa is gathering detailed information concerning the saga, which is subjected to investigations by parliamentary committees in Kenya and Ukraine as well as in the flag-state of the vessel Belize.

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 11 foreign vessels with a total of 173 crew members accounted for (of which 34 are Filipinos) are held in Somali waters and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. the presently held) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 17 averted or abandoned attacks and 6 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as one wrongful attack by friendly fire on the side of the naval forces. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures.

Dutch authorities confirmed Tuesday they had taken custody of five suspected Somali pirates rescued off the east African coast after they allegedly tried to ambush a Dutch vessel in January, dpa reports. The five suspected pirates were arrested inside the Yemeni EEZ by the Danish navy after the boat under attack fired flares back at the Somalis’ vessel, causing it to catch fire and the men to ditch into the sea. The Danish patrol boat had also fired warning shots at the suspected pirate skiff. Spokesman Wim de Bruin of the Dutch national public prosecutor’s office in Rotterdam told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa the suspects, who were handed over in Bahrain, had now arrived in the Netherlands. De Bruin said that the five will first go before a judge on Wednesday. ‘The five are suspected of maritime robbery,’ De Bruin said, ‘which can lead to a maximum sentence of 9-12 years under Dutch law.’ A later panel of three judges will later rule on how long the men can be held whilst the Dutch public prosecutor prepares its case against them. The Danish navy vessel Absalon has been deployed in the waters off Somalia since early September, patrolling international shipping lanes in the region, following a spate of high-profile piracy attacks. The Absalon, which had been used to hold the five men in custody without being formally charged by the Danish Government, is now returning to the Gulf of Aden to resume patrols, according to commanding officer Dan Termansen. The January alleged attack took place against MV SAMANYOLU, registered in the Dutch Antilles – a colony of the Netherlands. A helicopter from the Danish warship Absalon fired warning shots at the pirates’ vessel. The crew of the ship under attack also fired emergency flares which caused the pirate craft to catch fire, forcing the five men to jump into the sea. The crew of the Absalon then rescued the suspected pirates from the sea and later sank the burning vessel to prevent possible danger to other ships.

You wonder why every fish poacher on earth tries to get his hands on Tuna from Somalia? Why they risk being arrested or even face death? The answer is very clear: The low-mercury tuna fish from the waters of the South-Western Indian Ocean and especially from Somali waters is a high priced though not high enough priced commodity in rich countries ranging from the Middle East through Europe and North America to top buyer Japan, where the mercury levels in their own fish-stock are so high that the local catch actually should be handled as toxic substance. Action against the mercury contamination especially in Asia, Europe and the US is long overdue according to UNEP’s assessments. Mercury’s impacts on the human nervous system has been known for over a century’ the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland fame was so called because hat-makers used the liquid metal to strengthen brims, breathing in the poisonous fumes. Eating advisories relating to fish consumption such as tuna remain in place in many countries targeted at those at risk including pregnant mothers and babies. In Sweden, for example around 50,000 lakes have pike with mercury levels exceeding international health limits. Women of child-bearing years are advised not to eat pike, perch, burbot and eel at all, and the rest of the population only once a week.

A recent study in West Bengal found fish with mercury levels in excess of food safety limits. One study in the United States has found that about 1 in 12, or just under five million females, have mercury levels above the level considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Other potential impacts on the population include impaired thyroid and liver function, irritability, tremors, disturbances to vision and memory loss and perhaps cardiovascular problems. Scientists and the NGO Sharkproject are now also flagging yet another cause for concern – the increased consumption of shark meat in some parts of the world. By some estimates these foods contain up to 40 times more mercury than recommended food safety limits and perhaps a great deal more. “Thus prevarication and inaction over the global mercury challenge is no longer an option ‘we owe it to pregnant women and unborn children everywhere and to artisan miners and their families. We owe it to anyone who has an interest in a healthier, less polluted world,” stated Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director and this month the world’s environment ministers meeting in Nairobi, Kenya can take a landmark decision to lift a global health threat from the lives of literally hundreds of millions of people. A strategy to begin seriously dealing with the heavy metal mercury and its highly toxic compounds is to come before the UN Environment Programme’s Governing Council when it meets from 16 February. The ‘policy framework’, a result of seven years of intense discussions spearheaded by UNEP, represents the first, coordinated global effort to tackle mercury pollution.

The amphibious transport dock San Antonio, which has been the flagship for the Navy’s new anti-piracy group CTF 151 launched in January, was relieved Wednesday by the guided-missile cruiser Vella Gulf. The group, known as Combined Task Force 151, operates in the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. Rear Adm. Terry Mc-Knight’s transfer from the San Antonio to the Vella Gulf was a regularly scheduled turnover, said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain. The San Antonio left Norfolk on Aug. 28 on its first deployment, which was interrupted by malfunctions that required repairs in a shipyard in Bahrain. The Vella Gulf’s commanding officer, Capt. Mark Genung, said the ship’s SH-60B Seahawk helicopters give it an “unparalleled” ability to spot possible pirate ships.

1. Kirsten Dunst. Age: 22. WHY SHE’S A ONE BILLION DOLLAR WOMAN? Though ”Spider-Man”’s teen dream Mary Jane is a veteran actress with three dozen movies on her résumé, starring in the biggest hit of 2002 gave Dunst extra cred. That upside-down kiss is now seared into the brainpans of moviegoers and Sony executives, who upped her price for the sequel to a reported $8 million.

2. Jennifer Lopez. Age: 34. WHY SHE’S A ONE BILLION DOLLAR WOMAN? Multitalented J. Lo has a knack for releasing hit albums and hit movies at the same time, as she’s done most recently with her CD ”This Is Me…Then” and her current movie ”Maid in Manhattan,” her biggest hit yet, grossing $78 million and counting. She’s been the highest-paid Latina actress since her $1 million payday for 1997’s ”Selena”; she now commands a reported $12 million per picture. Plus, fascination with her marital status is on an Elizabeth Taylor level, which should help her next two releases, both of which costar fiancé Ben Affleck.

3. Cameron Diaz. Age: 32. WHY SHE’S A ONE BILLION DOLLAR WOMAN? Along with her ”My Best Friend’s Wedding” costar Julia Roberts, Diaz is the only other member of the $20 million actress club, reportedly earning that sum for this summer’s ”Charlie’s Angels” sequel. Even better, she reportedly scored $10 million for a week of voice work as Princess Fiona in next year’s ”Shrek 2.” She’s unflappably charming, whether wearing Ben Stiller’s ”hair gel” in ”There’s Something About Mary” or picking pockets as a grubby thief in ”Gangs of New York,” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Maybe she can pocket an Oscar, too.

3. Drew Barrymore. Age: 27. WHY SHE’S A-LIST? Since 1998’s hit ”Ever After,” she’s been the queen of girl-power movies, setting an example both as a star and as a producer with 1999’s ”Never Been Kissed” and 2000’s ”Charlie’s Angels.” As a driving force behind ”Angels,” she was rewarded with a $125 million gross and a bump in her salary to a reported $15 million. In addition to the recently wrapped sequel, for which she lured Demi Moore out of retirement, she’s also hoping to revamp another cheesecake-action classic this year, ”Barbarella.” Meantime, the Flower Films chief is charming viewers as the flower-child love of Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell, whom she helped put on the map in ”Charlie’s .

4. Reese Witherspoon. Age: 26. WHY SHE’S A One Billion Dollar Woman? After turning 2001’s ”Legally Blonde” into a sleeper hit, Witherspoon proved her bankability last fall with the $125 million gross of ”Sweet Home Alabama.” Her salary jumped accordingly, from a reported $1 million for ”Legally Blonde” to $15 million for its ‘03 sequel. Plus, she retains indie and critical cred from her role as high school overachiever Tracy Flick in 1999’s ”Election.” No wonder that, for Entertainment Weekly’s 2001 If We Ran Hollywood issue, the magazine put her on the cover with the headline ”Why We’d Hire Reese Witherspoon for Everything.” #3. Renee Zellweger. Age: 33. WHY SHE’S A One Billion Dollar Woman? She earned an Oscar nomination last year when she pulled a De Niro/Streep-style makeover, playing the titular tubby Brit in ”Bridget Jones’s Diary” (and she drove the film to a $71 million U.S. gross, to boot). Now, she’s proving she can sing and dance as well in ”Chicago,” where her murderous vamp may well earn her another chance at Oscar. Though it’s been awhile since she won over audiences in ”Jerry Maguire,” is showing Zellweger the money to the tune of a reported $10 million per picture.

5. Nicole Kidman. Age: 37. WHY SHE’S A ONE BILLION DOLLAR WOMAN? She is one of the most intelligent actresses in the business. In addition to her unsurpassed talent, Nicole Kidman is a woman with depth and human substance. Multitalented and Hollywood multifaceted, Nicole Kidman can play any role from the sexiest to the most melodramatic. It all started in 2001, when Kidman proved her versatility with the one-two punch of ”Moulin Rouge” (helping to save the movie musical from extinction) and cerebral horror hit ”The Others” (which grossed $96 million). As a result, she earned herself a raise to the $12 million-$15 million territory and became EW’s Entertainer of the Year. Currently, she’s wowing critics and earning strong Oscar buzz for disappearing completely into the role of Virginia Woolf in ”The Hours.”

6. Julia Roberts. Age: 37. WHY SHE’S A ONE BILLION DOLLAR WOMAN? The first female member of Hollywood’s $20 million club, she has remained the town’s highest-paid actress for years, having starred in more $100 million movies (seven) than any other actress. In 2000, she proved she was more than just another pretty woman with her ”Erin Brockovich” Oscar. Recently, she shifted gears again, earning raves as a sexy spy in ”Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.” She’s also moved into film and TV production (her 1998 movie ”Stepmom,” CBS’ new series ”Queens Supreme”). Plus, she’s a newlywed. No wonder she loves her life. Many critics believe that Julia Roberts has more luck than talent. Meaning when you watch her on the big screen, you will be watching 10 Million Dollars rolling every hour, and 5 Million Dollars every 30 minutes. How long it will take you to make one million Dollar? Or 5 Millions? Maybe never in your lifetime. Well, Roberts can do in a heart beat. Imagine now Roberts starring in 2 or 3 movies a year? That’s a lot of money folks!!

7. Julianne Moore. Age: 44. WHY SHE’S A ONE BILLION DOLLAR WOMAN? Age did nor diminish one ounce from the explosive charm of this woman. She is still hot and in demand and laughing all the way to the bank. Having displayed her fearlessness in such films as ”Boogie Nights” and ”The End of the Affair,” earning Oscar nominations for both, she may rack up two more nods this year by showing her range in two very different 1950s-housewife roles. Her starring turn as the taboo-breaking homemaker in ”Far From Heaven” is a lock for a Best Actress nomination, while her self-destructive mom in ”The Hours” has a good shot in the Supporting Actress category. Her ”Heaven” costar Dennis Quaid recently told the insiders ” I think she’s America’s best actress right now, like Meryl Streep is for her generation.”

8. Halle Berry. Age: 36. WHY SHE’S A ONE BILLION DOLLAR WOMAN? Berry bookended 2002 with monumental achievements: To begin with, she won a historic Best Actress Oscar for ”Monster’s Ball,” and to close it out, she goosed the 007 franchise back to life (to the tune of $146 million and counting) in ”Die Another Day.” Her Jinx may become the first Bond babe to have her own spinoff; in fact, Bond studio MGM is banking on Berry with about four upcoming movies. Her asking price, reportedly in the $5 million-$10 million range, makes her the highest-paid African-American actress in the business.

By our active movement, it is documented as International Mother language Day on 21st February in every year through out the whole world and it is consecrated by swaging flowers and holding the memories in the highest regard to those language martyrs who had laid down their lives for the cause of launching the dignity of our survival as a nation uprising our heads like other nations virtually. The 21st February is a red-letter day in the history of our mother tongue. It is a very significant day in view of good verdict that we have been able to pioneer our mother tongue as our state language. It is our glory and inspiration that we have accomplished freedom from the movement of this day. We think that we could not achieve our freedom if 21st February was not emergent in 1952. Due to the movement of this day, we have shown our agitation against the rulers of the then Pakistan. To speak the truth, the 21st February, as a symbol of blaze illumination is our rectitude for which our survival as Bengali nation has been reproduced through out the whole world. As compared to socio-economic condition of the erstwhile Pakistan, the recent economic profile so far data have been collected in due course has been enumerated as follows:

A monetary profile of Bangladesh

• The Country : The People’s Republic of Bangladesh

• Brief history : Documentation history is traceable to the fourth century B.C. with clear facts of prosperous society, consisting of cities, palaces, temples, forts, seats of learning and monasteries: 1200 A.D. – introduction of the Muslims; 17th century – a time of fiscal well beings; 1757 – beginning of British colonial rule; 1947-departure of British from Indian Subcontinent and Bangladesh becomes East Bengal/East Pakistan as part of Pakistan; 1971-emergence of the sovereign state of Bangladesh through a bloody and devastating armed struggle against the Pakistani force.

• Geographical location South Asia; between 20 degree 34 and 26 degree 38 north latitude and between 88 degree 01 and 92 degree 41 east longitude; consists of flat fertile alluvial land.

• Boundaries North – India (West Bengal and Meghalaya)

West – India (West Bengal)

East – India (Tripura and Assam) and Myanmar(Burma)

South – The Bay of Bengal

• Area : 1,47,570 sq. km. (Territorial water – 12 nautical miles)

• Administrative divisions : The country is divided into 6 divisions (Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet), 64 Districts and 460 Thanas (Sub-districts).

• Capital City : Dhaka

• Standard time : GMT +6 hours

• Climate : Sub-tropical monsoon

• Climate variation : Winter (December – February) temperature: average maximum 29oC, average minimum 11oC.

Summer (April-June) temperature: Average maximum 32oC, average minimum 21oC.

Unfortunately, Bangladesh has to face, quite frequently, natural disasters of great magnitude. Being located at the mouth of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra delta, Bangladesh often gets submerged by abnormal floods during July-September and severe tropical cyclones accompanied by tidal waves during October to mid-December and during the April-May period causing very heavy loss of human lives, physical infrastructure and production, both in agricultural and industrial sectors.

• Rainfall : 1194 mm to 3454 mm (average during monsoon, June – August).

• Humidity : Highest: 99 per cent (July)

Lowest : 36 per cent (December & January)

• Vegetation : Grassland, mixed evergreen and evergreen

• Population : Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country and one of the most densely populated countries in the world. According to the results of the 1991 census, the total population of Bangladesh was 111.4 million (March 1991) and the population growth rate was 2.17 per cent. In January 2000, the total population stood at 130.2 million and the population growth rate was 1.5 per cent. The percentage of population living in rural areas is about 80 per cent (2000).

• Adult literacy rate (15 years+), (2000) : 60 per cent (compulsory and free primary education)

• Birth rate (per 1000 persons), (1999) : 23.60

• Death rate (per 1000 persons), (1999) : 8.00

• Infant mortality rate (deaths per 1000 live births before one year), (1999) : 66.00

• Total fertility rate per woman (1997) : 3.30

• Contraceptive use rate (1998) : 51.50 per cent

• Life expectancy (1999) : Male – 60.80 years

Female – 59.60 years

• Average age of women at first marriage (1998) : 20.2 years

• Population per hospital bed (1999) : 4251

• Population per doctor (1999) : 4599

• Percentage of family using safe drinking water (1998) : 96.2 per cent

• Ethnic groups : Predominantly mixed group of Proto Austroloids/Dravidians, Mongoloids and Aryans

• Language : 95 per cent Bangla (State language) and 5 per cent other dialects

English is widely spoken.

• Religion : Muslim (88.3%), Hindu (10.5%), Buddhist (0.6%), Christian (0.3%) and Animists and believers in tribal faiths (0.3%).

• Food : Rice, wheat, potato, sweet potato, vegetables, pulses, fish and meat.

• Principal crops : Rice, wheat, potato, spices, pulses, jute, tea, tobacco and sugarcane

• Principal rivers : Padma, Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Meghan, Karnaphuli, Teesta, etc. Total 230 rivers including tributaries.

• Mineral resources : Natural gas, limestone, hard rock, coal, lignite, silica sand, white clay, radioactive sand, etc. (There is a strong possibility of oil deposit).

• Human resources : Bangladesh boasts of a substantial manpower reserve _ trained, skilled, engineers, technicians, physicians, lawyers, economists, accountants, administrative and managerial personnel. There is abundance of low cost, easily trainable and adaptable and hard working intelligent labour force.

• Employment and labour force (as per Labour Force Survey, 1995/96) : Civilian labour force: 56.0 million; Male – 35.0 million and female – 21.0 million. Percentage of labour force: Agriculture – 63.2, Industry (manufacturing, electricity and gas) – 7.7, Others – 29.1.

• Form of government : The country has a parliamentary form of government headed by the Prime Minister. The President is the constitutional head of the state. The number of seats in the National Parliament is 300.

• Principal industries : Garments, textile, jute, tea, paper and newsprint, fertilizer, leather and leather goods, sugar, cement, ceramic, fish processing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering and ship building, iron and steel, oil refinery, paints, colors and varnishes, cigarettes, electric and wires and electrical goods and accessories.

• Traditional export items : Raw jute, jute manufactures (hessian sacking, carpet backing, carpets), jute products, tea, leather and leather products, etc.

• Non-traditional export items : Garments, frozen shrimps, other fish products, newsprint, paper, naphtha, furnace oil, urea, etc.

• Principal imports : Petroleum products, food grains, oil seeds, crude petroleum, raw cotton, edible oil, fertilizer, cement, staple fibers, yarn, iron and steel, machinery and capital goods, medicines, motor cars, etc.

• Principal partners of foreign trade : USA, EU, Japan, India, Pakistan, Canada, China, South Korea, Russia, etc.

• Bangladesh in international forum : Bangladesh is a member of many international and regional organisations including United Nations, Commonwealth, SAARC, OIC, World Bank, IMF, IFC, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR, FAO, WHO, ILO, ADB, IDB, SAPTA, WTO (formerly GATT) and so on.

• Tourism : With growing international interest in traveling through Asia, tourism is taking roots in Bangladesh. Bangladesh offers a variety of historically significant and culturally unique sites for tourists. Sylhet’s tea gardens, Cox’s Bazar sea-beach, the Royal Bengal Tiger, deer and the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world with unique bio-diversity offer tourist attractions. Ancient mosques, Buddhist monasteries, Hindu temples, monuments and other landmarks dot the countryside.

• Currency : Taka (TK)

1 US Dollar = TK 49.37 (as on September 22, 1999).

• Central Bank : Bangladesh Bank

• Bank rate : 8 per cent

The Economy:

• GDP at current price, 1999-2000 (provisional) : TK 2412.78 billion

US $48.56 billion (approximately)

• Annual per capital GDP, 1999-2000 : TK 18528

US $373 (approximately)

• GDP growth rate at constant price, 1999-2000 : 5 per cent

• Inflation rate (consumer price index), 1999-2000 : 6 per cent

• Gross domestic investment/GDP, 1999-2000 : 22.41 per cent

Public – 6.73 per cent and

Private – 15.68 per cent

• Gross national savings/GDP, 1999-2000 : 21. 8 per cent

• Exports, 1998-99 : US $ 5324 million

• Imports, 1998-99 : US $ 8018 million

• Foreign remittances, 1998-99 : US $ 1706 million

• Government revenue income/GDP, 1999-2000 : 10.01 per cent

• Government revenue expenditure/GDP, 1999-2000 : 14.99 per cent

• Deficit/GDP, 1999-2000 : 4.98 per cent

• Foreign exchange reserves (as on 4 May, 2000) : US $ 1622 million

• Annual Development Programme, 1999-2000 : TK. 155 billion

• Debt service/exports : 12.1 per cent

• Sect oral contribution to GDP, 1999-2000 (provisional) :

- Agriculture : 31.9 per cent

- Industry : 11.1 per cent

- Construction : 6.4 per cent

- Electricity, Gas, Water and Sanitary : 1.7 per cent

- Transport and Communication : 12.4 per cent

- Trade and other services : 10.2 per cent

- Housing : 6.8 per cent

- Public Administration : 5.7 per cent

- Bank and Insurance : 1.7 per cent

- Profession and miscellaneous services : 12.1 per cent

• Foreign aid : Total foreign aid received (from 1971-72 to 1998-99): US $ 34753 million

Balance of repayable debt (at the end of 1998-99): US $ 14840 million

• Food grains production (1999 2000) : 20.16 million MT (net)

• Total demand for food grains (1999-2000) : 21.36 million MT

• Forest : Forestry accounts for 2.3 per cent of GDP (1999-2000). Total forest land covers an area of 2.5 million hectares (about 17 per cent of the total land area). Out of this only 45 per cent area is covered with trees and plants. Principal forest products are timber, firewood, golpata, bamboo, sungrass, honey, wax, and cane and rattan. The Sundarbans is the national forest. The famous Royal Bengal Tiger is found here.

From the above view point, it is clear that after the emergence of Bangladesh such profile of economy either Micro or Macro has been achieved due to active intervention of our people in different sectors of development. This identity whatever we posses were not possible if 21st February was not created to retaliate the tyrannical boom of the then rulers of Pakistan. And as such, in this day some young persons of our country have declared indomitable movement to create confrontation against the conspiracy of our mother tongue. They have intensified the movement by degrees and being polemical, the then rulers have invaded them and ultimately they had shot them dead. This is such a movement where our heroes have laid down their lives for the cause of dignity of our mother tongue. In the whole world, such unparalleled movement has never been taken place. Like each year, this year has carried out this day with due somber mood and prominence and as such we celebrate this day with honour according to the heritage of the country. This day is mixed with our Independence Day as if it is mixed with our blood. The heroes who have laid down their lives for the cause of our equality, liberty and national prestige of our country shall remain ever memorable to us.

But the achievement of 21st February is being hampered to uphold with the heinous touchwood of terrorism and there is no denying the fact that being poverty based country; we are passing through a great threadbare against terror campaign, bribing, and dishonesty and embracing a cause of policies of disingenuous the people. The creator has sent people to the land with all crucial things fundamentally imperative for their endurance. God has also imparted upon them some rules for leading our lives controlled and cleanly and as such God has accordingly conferred upon some rules and directives so that human beings can show the way his life by following these instructions like complete code of every well beings of eternity virtually and ideally. If they go out of these rules, they become nonplussed what to do. Corruption may exist in rendering services in the field of private, public sectors and in leading normal flow of life. When a man degenerates himself, he stigmatizes himself by entering into the world of dimness as well as fallacious from where he can never get rid of. He commits crime, such as smuggling, robbing, murdering, snatching and dilapidation etc. Failure waits for him everywhere and even if, he is attracted by innumerable but deadly forbidden things. Being educated, he becomes addicted to evil works in society. He knows that it is the transient and allusion of worldly affairs, which has no eternal value in the real sense. In many times, it is observed that he becomes ambitious and many harmful activities are performed in social life. He knows that being corrupt and heinous work, the society cannot consider him as an evil person; never the less; every body is in the way to run after such forbidden things. In many times the terror leaders welcome him and encourage him to do the forbidden things. Thus a person becomes the leader of the country and occupies a very influential position in the society by doing all the forbidden things like bribing, mal practicing and thieving. Hence forth, it is seen that from every branches of the Government corruption is a common phenomenon for which the nation would like to lead a healthy life. Bangladesh is a highly populated country and as such the double entendre among her resources and needs are prevailing every time to a great extent. Due to shortage of wealth, here one-fourth people cannot satisfy their daily needs for which no one is satisfied with his family life. It is a very difficult thing for someone to get a job, as there are fewer vacancies in offices, industries and so on. When people cannot find any occupation or job for earning their livelihood, they do not get any alternative measures except committing crimes. So unemployment is a reason for being a criminal and the opportunist apply this sense in evil manner and influence him to do the job of mischievous and heinous deeds for which he remains depleted through out his whole life. In this world everyone needs a companion to live with society, friendship and love. That is why; people make friendship in the hope to have good fortune to deal future life. But every friend might not stand beside another friend in weal and woe. He sometimes pushes him towards danger and inspires him for doing anti-social activities, which is called ‘crime’. Therefore, being a criminal, he may be infected with the misleading people. Suffice it to say that due to frustrated socio-economic conditions prevailing in our country, our society of youths is leading very miserable life. They are creating hindrance and preventing the people from dealing normal life as they are sometimes no longer lost to play a role of terrorists as well as miscreants. Due to the fact that poverty is the indispensable reason for doing criminal assault on the part of the youths. Any person belonging to a poor family has to pass his days through hard struggle. He surely wants to develop his condition. On the other hand, for being poor, he does not get opportunity to be educated properly. Consequently, he cannot have any respectable occupation. At last, finding no other alternatives, he commits crime as his profession. If we are able to reach our goal as expected, it is universal that glory of success must wait for us in future. But we must have to work arduously for that golden opportunity. Otherwise our all hopes and aspirations will be nipped in the bud. No one cannot get salvation of ideal love and peace from God by following the path vices and misfortune. Dr. Faustus was an uncommon genius but by committing seven deadly sins with the exchange of his soul into the hell by taking 24 years kingdom in the eternal world had been thrown to the hell. Lucifer, the owner of the hail grew jealous of him for his talent and geniuses and made a deed by way of Mephistopheles with Faustus. Later, Faustus became lamented but due to his colossal crime, he was thrown to the hell for his misdeeds for long 24 years. That is to say, if a man is addicted to bad habits during childhood, he cannot get rid of from such criminal assault for which he has to repent on through out his whole life. Youth is the best season of good harvest and as such it is likes mild mud and henceforth, he needs to precede his life very carefully. Fundamentally, for these three reasons, we are loosing many brightly illuminated resource personnel to place them on the basis of ‘Right man for the right place’ of our country. We need to end all these frolicsome activities. We must come across some way to get rid of mischievous debris and save the bewildered people of our country. The Government also should take actions against such awful activities. First of all, the people here should be aware of the explosion of population and they must not possess more than two children. Secondly, we need to be careful about making friendship, so that we don’t have any bad company. And at last, we must have to recognize the importance of education and the teachings of 21st February. No matter how poor we are, we have to try our level best to gain knowledge. In this context, Socrates said,” Knowledge is virtue, from knowledge, virtue and goodness flourish; from ignorance, he said, all that is evil.”

We want all the ends of such mischievous activity from the social life. We should memorize the great sacrifice of the martyrs who had hoarded our mother tongue by dedicating their lives. Consequent upon this, we achieved the 21st February as an ‘International Mother Tongue Day’ in 1999. This is a great achievement in the world to show our best regards to our Bengali Language. It is a rare example in the history of mankind. Furthermore, the dignity of our mother tongue is worthy of achieving the highest honour as the poet in this language has been awarded ‘Nobel Prize’ and even in many European and American countries such language is taught and a certain part of the people in the world this language of their own accord. Many great men have been born in this beautiful land which is the best contribution of the world. There is a great history in the background of our mother language and this is highlighted through struggle in the history and for this reason our mother tongue has been mixed as if in our heart and soul through thick and thin.

In fine, it is evident that the 21st February was undoubtedly a call for restoration of democracy which is promulgated by the people, for the people and of the people. The Pakistani hoarders tried to loot our economy and freedom of survival; if we would like to preserve the prestige of Bengali nation, we need to pay great eulogy praise to the martyrs. They had laid down their lives for the restoration of democracy and freedom of economics. Their activities are undoubtedly of heroic deeds. If we dedicate ourselves for the cause of equality and liberty of our country, their departed souls will be peaceful and effulgence. In every year, we celebrate this day by showing homage to them and shower the flowers to the ‘Shaheed Minar’ in order to solemnize their memory and achievements contributed to the dignity of our mother tongue.

Real love has no conditions, there is only love. Therefore there should never be any situation that arises that calls for you to prove your love for him. None! Anyway, this statement is not about real love but rather more about showing how much more you love him than he you.

He is really saying that if you love him so much more then you love yourself then you should be willing to humiliate, disrespect, degrade or brand yourself to show it.

This is especially true of young impressionable women whom have yet to understand that they are most times being manipulated by men who really are only passing through their lives and have no real intention of being with them long term.

The sad thing is that it’s hard to explain to someone on the threshold of adulthood that the decisions you make today, can and will haunt you for years to come. One of the sad truths of life is that we cannot go back and change the past. Whatever is done is done, so you my dear young lady really need to think about whatever it is that he’s asking. If it’s something that makes you pause and have to carefully think about it, it probably shouldn’t be done period. After this point it may be wise to also evaluate your relationship as a whole because he probably isn’t the right man for you, or any other woman for that matter.

Before I get the the list of things that you should not allow men to talk you into, I would like to take this time to tell you a true story about a friend of mine and a terrible guy that she was convinced loved her.

I had been in the Middle East for approximately three weeks when one morning my phone rang and it was a young female family friend. We exchanged pleasantries and then she got down to the reason for the call.

She worked as a sales associate for a leading retailer in Torrance California and had been arrested for theft of merchandise from the store. This really threw me for a loop because she came from a very affluent family, and she was always so level headed despite being a young 20 years old.

To make a long story short, after probing I discovered several interesting facts. She had met a guy who was in his mid 20’s several months before I had left the Country. I had no idea about this relationship and therefore I hadn’t the opportunity to meet him. Her parents of course also hadn’t met him at this point, which I found interesting.

She also went on to tell me that she had recently discovered that she was 9 weeks pregnant. I was really disappointed by this revelation, however she’s an adult and I had to respect that. Of course her parents also knew nothing of this either.

Digging through all this I finally convinced her to tell me what happened to make her get arrested. What she told me really upset me and at the same time I felt sorry for her. This is why: Her new boyfriend talked her into working a scam at her store in order for him to make some cash. The scam was that he would walk into the store, select an expensive item and then take it to her register where she would enter the item into the register as a return. He would then be issued cash in the amount of the item for merchandise that he had never purchased.

In retail they call this “Theft by deception”, and it happens to all associates from time to time. However, when it occurs too often then Loss Prevention gets involved and identify that no associate is that unlucky. They review the tapes and realise that the same guy is making these false returns to the same associate and “Boom”, the associate is arrested because she is a willing participant in the theft. This is what happened in her case, red flags, ending in her arrest.

I inquired as to who’s idiotic idea it was for this reckless act to occur? Knowing her, I already knew the answer. Her new boyfriend had lost his job and convinced her that with a child coming he needed to make some cash until he could get another job. He ended the conversation with, you guessed it, “If you love me you’ll help me with this.”

Above I stated that I was disappointed in her, and I of course let her know that in a very stern tone of voice. I also was very sorry for her because she was going to have a child with a man who had no real love for her whatsoever, which meant that she would have him in her life for a minimal of the next 18 years.

I don’t even have to mention that this man over the course of a few months had taken a young woman with a bright future and gotten her pregnant, cost her her job, made her a felon and ruined her parents dream of her completing College in the near future. How? All this was accomplished with false “LOVE.”

Needless to say that I informed her that she was to contact her family attorney, inform him of how and why this situation occurred. I instructed her to inform him of who’s idea it was and then ask him to attempt to cut a deal with the prosecutor. The last thing she needed in life was to go through it with a felony record.

I also informed her that she needed to inform her parents (who were paying for her education, apartment and car) of the relationship and pending grandchild. It was only fair for them to know what was going on in their daughters life and how it would affect them.

The last I heard (she won’t call me because she thinks I’m pissed at her), her family is raising the child (their choice). She finished the degree she started, she got off with probation and the ex-boyfriend is nowhere to be found as expected. She was lucky to have caring and understanding family, otherwise this could have been an even worse disaster. Hopefully she learned something from all this, just because a man says he loves you, doesn’t make it so. Make sure his actions match his words, please. Oh, and for the thousandth time, if he says, “if you love me” he really doesn’t!

Now, lets get down to “Things no woman should allow men to talk her into”, shall we?

1) Tattoo his name on your body: I see this walking down the streets of Vegas everyday. I cannot help but to wonder what the hell do some women think about. What happens if he leaves you? Or you leave him? Do you think that the next man you meet really wants to read another mans name on your body? Any man that suggests such a thing is really only interested in showing the world that you are his property. Is that what you want to think of yourself, someones property? Children’s (yours) names are acceptable, but some guy that you’re going out with, one who doesn’t have the decency to even make you his wife? Not a chance in hell. To be honest with you, men shouldn’t do this either. It’s not a true expression of love, it’s an expression of ownership!

2)Video taping your private moments: I think Kim Kardashian is possibly one of the most beautiful women on the planet, I really do. With that said, it was no surprise to me that she and Reggie Bush are no longer together. When that video of her and Ray J hit the Internet many people speculated that it was for publicity. It may have been, but at what price?
Men are fickle characters, we do not even like to think about what women have done with previous lovers. How do you think we feel when we know that there’s a video of your sexual activity making the rounds? Regardless of how hard we try it’s simply not really possible for us to block that out of our minds.
Even though we know you may not be a virgin the day we meet you, in our minds we convince ourselves that you are a virgin to us. We constantly remind ourselves that before us there was no one, we block your former relationships out of our mind. Unless there’s a tape which becomes a testament that there was sex before us.
So unless you’re doing it for publicity (if you think it’s worth it) then you should never ever allow any man to film your sexual romp with him.
Why would you anyway? That’s what we have memory for, tell him to utilize his if he wants to remember what it was like, but don’t give into his pleads to film it. Once that tape is completed it could eventually land in any ones hands especially if you two end the relationship on a bad note. Many women have been blackmailed with these same tapes that they so readily agreed to do, under the thought that no one would ever see the tape except them. I can assure you that if he made the tape, some of his friends have seen it as well. Why? Because unworthy men love to brag about their exploits, even at your expense.
Sending graphic text photos are the same thing. You only think he’s the only one that will see it. Wrong! He’s likely to brag that he can talk you into doing anything, even something as degrading as sending him nude photos for he and his friends to oogle over.

3) Have his baby out of wedlock: When a guy you’ve been dating for a short time begins to talk about having a child, you should be weary. He’ll start talking about how much he loves children and cannot wait to have one of his own. It may sound sweet to you because you’d never been with a man who expressed himself this way. Generally most men are not so forthright about having kids until they are married.
Now do we have kids before marriage? Sure we do, but generally they are not planned. In these instances we accept it for what it is and some of us man up and become the father we’re supposed to be. Others, they run, telling people that the child is not theirs and that you were sleeping with other men as well. In short, they simply don’t know how to be men and don’t want the responsibility of being a father or pay child support.
So when you have this man talking about you having his baby, red flags should erupt! Why? Because this is rare in a man. If he talks about getting married to you and then having a child, good for you, he’s probably sincere. If it’s simply lets have a baby, he has an ulterior motive. What he really wants is to cement his place within your life. He figures if you have his baby you’ll never leave him. These men tend to be insecure, abusive and extremely jealous with bouts of kindness in between.
If you have a man like this and you’re only utilizing condoms for protection against pregnancy, you may want to get a back-up such as pills as well. If he really wants to cement his place in your life, punching a small hole in a condom is a easy way to get what he wants and pass it off as a miracle baby.

4)Having an Abortion: It is no mans place to tell you to have an abortion. Men have no idea the trauma women suffer from undergoing this procedure. I know more than my share of women who have confessed to me that they would do anything to have not had that situation have happened to them. They regret it years later, they have experienced depression and guilt over it.

The strange thing is that although they do not know one another they both informed me that they only had an abortion because the man they were with at the time talked them into it. Telling them things such as, “We’re not ready for a child” or “We have plenty of time to have a child later.”

They thought these men would be with them forever. Now, years later these men are gone and they are left with the memory of this experience that they cannot shake.

No man has the right to make that decision. As the late great Tupoc said, “No man has the right to tell women when to create one.” If this situation arises, the decision should be your own, not his. You have to live with it, he doesn’t. He doesn’t have to go through the procedure and many times he will be absent anyway. Men most times create all these excuses why you should have an abortion but he never tells you the real reason he wants you to. Most times it’s because he is a sorry ass excuse for a man, who enjoyed the activity that led to the pregnancy but refuses to accept the responsibility that comes with it. He is unwilling to commit to being tied to you for the next 18 years and therefore he wants to eliminate the possibility.

So if you are in this situation, it’s your decision to make. Yes you can listen to what he has to say, but the final decision should be yours and yours alone.

5)Believing that his baby’s mother is crazy: I read a quote by a woman once who stated that there is a special place in hell for women whom do not help other women. If there is it’s bound to be filled with women whom allow men to convince them that the mother of his child was a crazy b**ch!
If you as a woman are confronted with this situation, it is in your best interest to investigate for yourself.
If you allow him to make you believe this to be true, soon it could be you that he is telling his next woman is crazy. You should start by taking a look at how much if any interaction he has with his child? Then look at what type of financial and emotional support he’s providing?
I can assure you that if these two things are absent, his only recourse is to convince you or any other woman he becomes involved with that she’s the culprit. Where in reality he’s actually a sorry excuse for a man. Do you want or need a man in your life like this? If he will not provide and accept responsibility for his own child, what makes you believe he’ll do those things for you and God forbid you make the same mistake and have a child with him as well.

6)Sleep with his friend: Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But it happens, especially in younger women. It goes hand in hand with that statement, “If you love me.” Again this is a situation where he knows that you love him a lot more then he cares for you and you’re willing to do any and everything he asks to remain with him. I saw this play out many times when I was in College and thought it only appropriate to list it here.
No man should make such a request of you, for any reason. If this request is made you should reflect back on your relationship and pin point the time you allowed him to stop respecting you as a person and a woman. He didn’t just suddenly feel he could make this request, he’d built up to it over time by doing other disrespectful things to you.
If this has happened to you, chances are there is a video of you floating around somewhere as well as nude photos. This man has no respect for you and probably never did. If you are with him now, chances are you have little respect for yourself as well. The longer you stay in this relationship the better the chance that you’ll eventually lose any remaining respect you may have and lower your already rock bottom self esteem.

6) Steal or help him steal: Oh, we already covered this in the beginning of the post.

7) Co-sign for him: Credit is an important factor in our everyday lives and keeping your clean is paramount in everything from buying a home to getting a job in some instances.
Co-signing for anyone is a risky adventure and for a boyfriend it’s even more so. One of the best signs of irresponsibility is credit rating. Why allow your life to be disrupted by his inability to be responsible? You shouldn’t and he shouldn’t even ask you to, however he may. Why? Because he feels that if he’s sleeping with you, then you owe him something.
You owe him absolutely nothing, in essence, he owes you for allowing him the opportunity to be with you. Now, what you can do if you chose is to assist him with repairing his credit so he can get his life on track. Don’t do it for him though, simply show him how its done and see if he’s responsible enough to follow through with taking care of it. If he doesn’t, then you may want to cut your losses and move on to a man more stable.

Believing he will leave his wife for you: No he won’t, he may tell you he will but really it’s to give you false hope so that he can either sleep with you or continue to sleep with you. Men who are married understand that if they are not happy in their marriage there is this thing called divorce.
If he really was going to leave her he would have done so long before he met you and convinced you to listen to his bulls**t! He simply wants to have his cake and eat it too. He is simply playing the numbers game, seeing how long you’ll hang on and continue to let him have his way with you before you wise up and move on.
Why would you want a man that’s married to someone else anyway? Especially one that is willing to cheat on his current wife with you. What type of character does he have? None! He’s dishonest, untrustworthy, a liar and a cheat. You my pretty can rest assured that he has no respect for you or his wife and as one intelligent person so eloquently put it, “Any man who divorces his wife to marry his mistress, leaves a vacancy in that position.” Is that what you want for your future? To eventually be with a man that you know is incapable of being loyal? I really hope not!

9) Sleeping with him without some form of protection: I wish I had a nickle for every child born into this world for one night of unprotected passion. I’d be wealthy beyond my dreams and yours as well. As a single woman you should always have some type of protection, there is no excuse for being ill prepared.
Many men like the thrill of throwing caution to the wind, unfortunately it’s at your expense. To take this chance is much too risky for my taste, as it should be yours. Pregnancy is the least of your worries. Ever hear of STD’s, particularly HIV?
As a single woman you should have in your purse at the very least a small pack of condoms. This way when things get hot and heavy unexpectedly and he goes into the mode of saying that he doesn’t have any protection, you do. All men have said and will continue to tell women that they will not make a mistake and they don’t need any protection. They make promises that they’ll get up in time or the overall biggest lie of all time, “I’m stirile or had a vasectomy.”
Either way you need to always be prepared, because if not and you allow him to talk you into this reckless behavior not only will you be taking a chance of creating a life, you may unknowingly be taking a chance of losing your life. With that said, do you still think it could be worth it? I didn’t think so. Always be prepared for the unexpected, carry your own protection.

10) Assisting him with doing anything illegal: I know some of you have those boyfriends that lend excitement to you and your life now. However, years later when you look back on this time in your life you’ll try to offer it up as youthful indiscretion. Assuming that you are afforded the opportunity to look back on this time.
So many women have gotten into fixes that they cannot get out of based on the man of their choosing. They’ve been talked into assisting in drug sales, carrying unlicensed weapons, receiving stolen property and more.
What happens when you decide to become an adult? It’s difficult when you have a felony record over your head, trust me. How do you tell the right man when he comes along that he cannot take you to Paris on your honeymoon because you cannot get a passport because of a felony record you picked-up during your youthful indiscretion years? It happens!
I remember in LA in the mid 90’s when a female decided to date a member of one of the cities gangs. For whatever reason she after a period of time decided to severe the relationship. He of course had other ideas and while she and her sister were on their way to work at prominate jobs on a Military installation, he and some friends pulled along side them and fired a single shot.
This single shot killed her sister instantly!
Just thought you may want to know that these things do happen and if you fail to select the right man it can just as well happen in your life.
If he is living a life of crime, albiet a interesting one it comes with a terrible price. You need to deciede if you’re willing or able to pay this price when the day comes to settle up the debts.

Hopefully some of you can take some of the things I’ve wrote here and learn from it. For those of you that chose to ignore these things, I wish you luck. All of us seek someone who will appreciate us for who we are and not who we were. This is made easier when we identify people who mean us no ill will and respect us as people.
As a woman you may deal with many men before you meet that right guy, hopefully those that you spent time with before this meeting will not have left any negative residue on your soul and spirit.
Please be careful and never allow any man to talk you into anything that can be considered degrading or disrespectful to you as a woman and a human being. You deserve better then to be minipulated by someone under the guise of love. Remember, what you do today can affect you and your future for life.