When you are purchasing the car, you want to maintain it in top condition, as far, as possible. Unfortunately, it is time out on the road, the weather conditions and regular wear-tear takes its toll. Over time, the shiny coat starts appearing dull with rusted portions and peeled paints. Car detailing services can restore the appearance. When done well, it will work like magic on your overused vehicle surfaces.

The shiny look will beckon you as it did many years before in the showroom. Those looking to save money on repaint work should consider application of sealant or wax on the surface. Thus, with detailing you can save loads of money. The paint aftermarket job is not as high quality as the factory paint. You would want to maintain it as long as possible.

The major benefits of car detailing are as follows.

Proper protection

This of course is the major advantage of procedures like Opti coating, a part of detailing procedure. One can preserve both the resale value and the paint of the car with regular waxing. The shiny top coat and the new like looks will give the prospective buyers the confidence they need. This way they will go on ahead with the transaction.

The detailing procedure will maintain top conditions both outside and inside the vehicle for the complete looks. Mechanical soundness of course is the most important part. However, if you cannot top this up with a stellar appearance, the buyers may feel cheated.

Make the best first impressions

What you want to do with a fantastic car? Make great impressions of course. Now, a dull appearance is going to put off the people. Even the best brands and models do not look good when neglected by their owners. You want to do justice to your investment by maintaining it in top shape as long as possible. Car detailing services can help you in this endeavor. They have the means and the expertise to fulfill your desires. Now, as you drive down the street in your shiny car, everyone is going to give you the looks. The reason for other’s envy becomes a matter of pride for you.

Nowadays, more and more people are keeping their cars longer than before. The reason behind this is simple. Nowadays, the quality of these products has increased. Better build make them work smoothly for long periods. Why would you want to replace a perfectly good car? You do not have too especially when you love to maintain it in top conditions as well. When it runs longer, problems will start appearing. After all, it has to withstand door dings at parking lots, scratches, harsh UV rays, rusting, and chemical exposure. Detailing can make much of these problems disappear. High-quality Opti coat increases the resistance of the exterior surfaces.

They contain ultraviolet inhibitors for effective paint protection.

Decrease in cotton acreage, per hectare yield and imprudent government policies have taken a heavy toll on cotton production. According to Pakistan Central Cotton Committee’s (PCCC’s) report, cotton production target has been missed by 15 percent for the year 2018. The following table shows the cotton area and production targets and achievements for the year 2017-18.

Over the last five years, cotton production has decreased from 13.86 million bales to 11.98 million bales, witnessing a decrease of 14pc which has caused a loss of Rs 535 billion (almost 2 percent of total GDP) to the economy.

Moreover, as the sowing of cotton crop 2018-19 is in progress, only 48pc crop has been sown in Sindh against the target of 0.62 million hectares whereas Punjab has achieved 95pc of the target (2.31 million hectares) till June. Total sowing of country stands at 2.494 million hectares, witnessing a decline of 8.8pc over the last five years.

Apparently the main reason for the decline in cotton crop is low per hectare yield (further decreased by 6.2pc over the last five years), which has left Pakistan with the only choice to import cotton to meet domestic demand. Under these conditions when import of cotton is the last resort to meet excess demand, 11pc cotton duty will worsen the situation and will leave Pakistan globally uncompetitive. Along with high custom duties government is hunting textile industry with non-tariff barriers (NTB).As per the NTB restrictions, cotton importers are not allowed to import cotton in more than one shipment against one permit which inflates the input costs. It will also directly impact the textile and garments exports, 75pc of which are cotton based.

In addition to low yield many other mutually reinforcing factors have also impacted the cotton production. For example better returns of sugarcane because of special policy incentives offered to sugar industry by government, has eventually frustrated cotton growing farmers. So they shifted from cotton to sugarcane which resulted in a 15pc increase in sugarcane acreage and significant decrease in cotton acreage.

Apart from technical and administrative challenges, climate change and irregular rainfall is also adding fuel to the fire. Farmers also blame widespread use of genetically modified Bt. Seeds, seeds mafia and water scarcity for low production of cotton. Farmers claim that Seed mafias are posing a substantial threat to cotton crop by selling fake Bt. seeds which results in a loss of 2-3 million cotton bales every year. The low toxin level (0.2-0.6 per gram) in those fake seeds and outdated Bt. technology has lost its effectiveness against severe cotton diseases like cotton bollworms and other insects.

Water scarcity has also played a major role in shrinkage of cotton production. At present, farmers fear that because of severe water shortage the production of cotton may decline by 35-40 percent further compared to last year. Along with water and energy crisis, the enormous increase in water, gas, fuel and electricity prices have also impacted the yield per hectare.

Besides drop in production, cotton quality is also deteriorating. Fake Bt. seeds with low toxin level and contamination are impacting both production and quality of cotton. Against the international standard of 2.5g/bales, Pakistan produces highly contaminated cotton with an average contamination of 18g/bale which causes a monetary loss of almost $1.4 billion every year.

Besides these issues, low Investment in cotton research is also a matter of high concern. Pakistan’s investment in Cotton R&D is lowest than other countries. It is financed by cotton cess collected by PCCC which has already decreased by 53pc than the previous year causing a further decrease in cotton R&D. This decline in cotton R&D should be revised in order to assure the survival of cotton industry in Pakistan.

To protect the cotton industry from further downfall prudent policies are needed. The cost of cotton inputs should be reduced and new version of Bt. technology seeds should be provided to farmers. In addition to new and updated technology, better quality of seeds should also be provided to farmers. Efforts should also be made to explore the feasibility of cotton production in newly available arable areas e.g. in Baluchistan and KPK. Moreover, a proper lands reform system can be introduces to promote crops that are more important for the growth of the economy.

In the meanwhile, to protect the textile industry, mainstay of our economy, all duties and non-tariff barriers on cotton should be removed till such time when cotton production can meet demand.

To improve quality, campaigns and awareness programs should be initiated to train farmers about proper picking, storing and supply of cotton. Ginning should be modernized and upgraded to meet international standards.

In the absence of the government taking serious notice the imposition of 11pc duty on cotton will be the last nail in the coffin for the Pakistan textile sector as well as any hope of sustaining growth in exports.

Hyderabad, the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has a long history starting from the time of King Ashoka in third century B.C. After the decline of Mauryan Empire, Satavahanas came to power. They ruled the place for about 450 years and in 220 A.D., the power went into the hands of the Andhra Ishvaku dynasty. Buddhism spread in this area during this time. Chaukyas and Kakatiyas set up their kingdom around Warangal until finally the place went into the control of the Delhi Sultanate in 1321. There were frequent wars between Bahmani Sultanate and Vijayanagara Rayas for establishing control over the region.

The ancient name of Hyderabad was Golconda. There is an interesting and romantic story how the place got the name Hyderabad. During the rule of Qutb Shahi dynasty, the fifth king of the order, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah founded the city in 1591. When he was fourteen years old, he was madly in love with the Hindu dancer Bhagmati. He often went to the village of Chichlam across River Musi to meet her. It is said that his father Sultan Ibrahim constructed the Purana Pul or the Old Bridge across the River Musi so that his son would be able to cross it without any problem.

Quli Qutb Shah named the city after his beloved wife as Bhagyanagar. Later Bhagmati converted to Islam and took the name Hyder Mahal. So the name of the city was also changed into Hyderabad. Qutb Shahi kings ruled over Hyderabad between 1518 and 1687. During this period many great buildings and structures were built including Charminar, the most popular edifice. There were totally eight Qutb Shahi rulers and during the reign of the last one, Abul Hasan Tana Shah, Mughal King Aurangazeb captured the place. On 22nd September 1687, Golconda became a part of the Mughal provinces. Aurangazeb built Mecca Masjid in 1693. After Aurangazeb shifted his capital from Hyderabad to Aurangabad, Hyderabad lost its importance.

In 1713, Qamaruddin was appointed as the Governor of Deccan region and in 1724, he declared himself as the Nizam-ul-Mulk. He was the founder of the Asaf Jahis dynasty. The Nizams shifted the capital back to Hyderabad and the place regained its lost glory. They ruled over the place from 1724 to 1948. Qamaruddin was called as Asaf Jah I. Seven generations of rulers of this dynasty ruled over Hyderabad, making it the largest Muslim state in India. The last Nizam was Mir Osman Ali Khan – Nizam VII.

When there was a declaration of Indian Independence given by the British governor, all the independent states were given option to join either India or Pakistan or to stay independent. All the states wanted to become a part of Indian Union except Hyderabad. Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to stay independent and he signed a standstill agreement. However, India insisted that Hyderabad should join Indian Union and to tighten the noose, it imposed an economic blockade in 1948. Finally Sardar Vallabhai Patel the then deputy Prime Minister of India had to take military action against the state and finally on 18th September 1948 Hyderabad surrendered.

On 1st November 1956, the new state of Andhra Pradesh was formed on linguistic lines with Hyderabad as its capital. The Hyderabad photos and Hyderabad videos found online show the magnificent architecture of Qutb Shahi dynasty and Nizam dynasty.

Hindi phrase “Taare Zameen Par” translates to “Stars walking on earth” in English. The movie is a great depiction of each one of us, in our world.

I can explain you the movie in a single line “Ishan is a boy who suffers from dyslexia but is scared to confront his troubles even to his parents because of peer, society and parental pressure!”

The direction of the movie is so awesome that I feel like standing and applauding for the director. The details, each emotion, even a droplet of dew has been so beautifully noticed and more importantly captured, that it is amazing, rare do such masterpieces are seen!!

I saw my own self in that little boy. Not that I suffer from any such disease, but because, we have entangled ourself into chains of social customs, especially in India, that we have stopped living for ourselves. I was always bright in academics, but there was a phase in my life when I wanted to pursue my dreams, which would have lead me into a very different world. I wanted to do journalism, become a writer, go to a war-front and cover, and so much more. I wanted people to know me by my name, wait for my column, and do so much more. I don’t blame my parents what I am now, coz i am still living a dream. But because of social pressures, I couldn’t even dare to ask my parents about my wish. I couldn’t just stand the sight even in my dreams that my parents being faced with comments like “you’re daughter is a ‘news-reader'”! Yes, in our society journalism is still termed as ‘news reader’, designers as ‘tailors’, hair dressers as ‘barbers’ and what not. Basically, the bottom-line is that if you’re not an engineer or a doctor, be prepared to be looked down upon, and I fail to understand why!

The movie made me live a dream for three hours. I saw my weaknesses in that little boy of 9, and also my talents in his’. I always wanted to paint, because I think it brings you closer to God. The ability to imagine, and create! I loved the director’s thought of magnifying the minuteness of our daily life events that many of tend to miss. First drop of rain, the innocence with which we watch anything for the first time, the monotony that contains so many hidden emotions and actions that we miss out upon.

Each person is special in his own way, it is just on how we look at it. Like the famous saying “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder!”

That reminds me there was one beautiful qoute in the movie (I don’t remember of whom) “We do not want cynics who know the price of everything and value of nothing” So true! Its all the game of words!

And yeah, the movie is so bollywood-ish. The extra effort for a happy ending, an angel of God at the right time and at the right place etc. But that didn’t tone down the movie, rather it enhanced its beauty and virtue.

‘Special children’, yes, we all are special, we just need to realize our own worth. We are so used to living for others that we hardly reward ourself for a good action/achievement/accomplishment. There is a star in each one of us, just that we all can’t be noticed.

Great movie!!

Doug Jackson, Reid A. Jackson and Barry K. Downey have been indicted by the US Government for operating e-gold, http://www.e-gold.com private digital gold currency, illegally. They operated in Melbourne having been indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. They are accused of running an unregulated financial network which catered to criminals laundering illegal money.

Jeffrey Taylor, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and other Justice Department. Officials said they expect the three will surrender in Washington DC at a later date.

A four-count indictment was handed down charging E-Gold Ltd., Gold & Silver Reserve Inc. and owners Dr. Douglas L. Jackson, of Satellite Beach; Reid A. Jackson, of Melbourne; and Barry K. Downey, of Woodbine, Maryland. Each was charged with conspiring to lauder monetary instruments; conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business; operating an unlicensed money transmitting business; and transmitting money without a license in Washington, D.C.

The federal, State and local task force operated for 2 1/2-years spearheaded by the U.S. Secret Service in Orlando, along with IRS, FBI and other state and local police agencies. Federal prosecutors obtained a court ordered search warrant and allegedly seized millions of dollars. That resulted in at least 58 account holders being exposed and many thought to be criminals laundering illegal money though E-Gold operations and transactions.

“Douglas Jackson and his associates operated a sophisticated and widespread international money remitting business, unsupervised and unregulated by any entity in the world, which allowed for anonymous transfers of value at a click of a mouse,” Taylor said. “Not surprisingly, criminals of every stripe gravitated to E-Gold as a place to move their money with impunity. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants in this case knowingly allowed them to do so and profited from their crimes.”

The indictment charged that “EGold” digital currency functioned as an alternative payment system and was purportedly backed by stored physical gold. It charged that customers needed only to provide an e-mail address to open an account and that no other customer information was verified. The indictment accused some customers of using fictitious names such as “Mickey Mouse,” “Donald Duck” and “No Name” and could conduct international transactions without any government regulation.

Because of that, it became a “highly favored method of payment” by investment scammers, credit card and identity fraud thieves, and sellers of Internet child pornography, authorities said.

A call to E-Gold and Gold & Silver Reserve offices the founder denies charges. Dr. Douglas Jackson, Chairman and Founder of E-Gold, speaking on behalf of his fellow Directors and both companies vigorously denies the charges, taking particular exception to the allegations that either company ever turned a blind eye to payments for child pornography or for the sale of stolen identity and credit card information.

Dr. Jackson stated, “With regard to child pornography, the government knows full well that their allegations are false, yet they highlight these irresponsible and purposely damaging statements in order to demonize E-Gold in the eyes of the public. During the Inquisition, accusations of witchcraft and heresy were used to sanctify torture and seizures of property. In post 9-11 America, child porn and terrorism serve as the denunciations of choice. E-Gold, however, as a matter of incontrovertible fact, is the most effective of all online payment systems in detecting and interdicting abuse of its system for child pornography related payments. E-Gold Ltd. is a founding member of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) Financial Coalition to Eliminate Child Pornography.

E-Gold is the only member institution to demonstrate with hard, auditable data a dramatic reduction of such payments to virtually zero, while billions of child porn dollars continue to flow through other (heavily regulated) payment systems. [Most members, that is, all the banks and credit card associations are utterly unable to even provide an estimate of the volume of such payments processed by their systems. eBay’s PayPal subsidiary, who may have the ability to make such a determination, has refused to do so and has indicated they destroy payment records after two years.] What is worse, until August 2005 when NCMEC courageously broke ranks with US law enforcement agencies and began directly notifying E-Gold of criminal sites via the CyberTipline, component agencies of the US Department of Justice purposely concealed their knowledge of child pornography abuses from E-Gold’s investigators, subordinating actual crime fighting to a policy agenda designed to dirty up E-Gold.”

Click HERE to read Dr. Jackson’s complete statement of denial.

Habit is the tendency to behave in particular way or do a particular thing regularly are repeatedly over a long period of time.

Basically, your habit describes your personality as such it is the habit that you have imbibed that will show the stuff you are made of, or better still the fruit you bear in life.

Friends there is no doubt that your habit determines the kind of destiny you have to enjoy. Habits can be good or bad. However your habit is a determinant factor in what you become in life hence this calls for us to concertedly address our character failure now.

Wrong habit whether in our private life, national service or in our political life as a nation have been keeping us from growing any further no matter how we pretend? It is evident that the reason thing are the way they are is due to wrong habits of a people who call themselves good ambassadors in Nigeria. The consequences of grabbing bad habits are costly.

It is the time to watch the moral lapses inherent in our society as the real problem both the religious and government institutions should address.

For me, such problems as bribery, kick backs, diversion of public funds, lateness to function or not even keeping to appointment, influence peddling, bribery, fraud, drug peddling, gangsterism, mafia deals, lusting, stealing, robbery, impatience, additions and uncontrollable immoral burning desires, such habits that seek to promote inducements before services to another must be condemned and we must seize to ask for gratifications before we render legitimate services that we are constitutionally employed to do, take root from wrong habit.

The very implications of running a society with bad moral on its own has also kept a lot of people from taking possession of what belongs to us, no matter the effort given the huge human resources and the surplus natural endowment we are blessed with as a nation.

It is not needless to trumpet that great nations have only been built on the platform of good and great habits. So the truth is, your habit describes the original of you. Looking at the scripture, the Bible says that “as a man thinketh so is he”. therefore, you cannot have a bad habit of corruption and laziness but yet expect to get an excellent result at the end. This too is impossible. Nigerians today cannot have leaders who lack the habit and courage to confront negative vices and overcome immorality in public services.

Please, our wrong habits have not been doing us any good and we all know, so why we continue to run a negative life of service to to our country? To posterity it gives no hope, to our present day youths, it leaves a gloomy future for us.

There is a whole lot of good habits as well as there are a whole lot of bad habits. But the good thing is that if you want to get to your promised land of joy, peace, happiness, plenty etc. there is every need for you to develop a consciously but transformed habit which will correct and substitute for the wrong habits you have grown up with that are also sinful before God.

Better habits have the capacity to bring transformation to out country as a nation if at all we can achieve the vision 2020, or even the millennium development goal, we cannot succeed nationally without working on our habits, particularly in the discharge of our duties to our mother-land. No doubt good habits have helped some leaders to access their place in destiny and also contribute to great development in their nations and careers.

I disagreed that your old habits can be over by merely wishing it, and dropping them and remaining empty. Not at all, you must definitely take the extra step to replacing your old habits with new habits to be totally set free.

Let me now say that for us in Nigeria we have kept rendering very wrong stewardship to our count, no matter our placement. And this is based on wrong habits learnt. We have kept withdrawing from our national moral account and this is too far becoming a way of life.

Friends, I tell you, we can comfortably say based on the definition above, our habits when positive has the tendency to promote us to the place of positive heights while bad habits no doubt will lead us to the place of struggles and failure, such a place that we are today.

Therefore in the interest of your country Nigeria, for the sake of the plan of God for our life and the real purpose of this writing, what morality in the nation is encouraging you to do now is to cultivate those good habits that will help you to actualize destiny and overcome corruption in this land.

I want to agree without any prejudice that we can change from what ever habit we have formed that is holding us from rising up. You can change and come out of it now if you wish to do so. Habitual studies proven that you can break loose from any habit in just twenty one days if only you will feed your life and thirst with the positive habits that are good and holy.

Thank you.

Gang stalking is a systematic form of severe harassment performed by multiple people against a target. Traditionally people think of a “stalker” as one perpetrator, whereas gang stalking involves multiple perpetrators using various techniques to severely bother or make a target conform to so-called rules of society. Common methods used by perpetrators include following the target on foot, by car and public transportation, crowding the target’s space in a public place, murmuring insults under the breath so only the target can hear, sitting in the car outside the target’s residence, starting “fights” in public with the target, doing “skits” on the street involving certain information only the target should know but has been found out via surveillance of the target, stealing and vandalizing the target’s possessions, creating and spreading false rumors about a target, slandering the target, taking pictures or videotaping the target, harming the target’s pets, bugging the target’s phone, and mail tampering. The target’s family may also fall victim to gang stalking.

Organized Stalking is a form of terrorism used against an individual in a malicious attempt to reduce the quality of a person’s life so they will have a nervous break-down, become incarcerated, institutionalized, experience constant mental, emotional, or physical pain, become homeless, and/or commit suicide. This is done using well-orchestrated accusations, lies, rumors, bogus investigations, setups, frame ups, trumped-up charges, intimidation, overt or covert threats, vandalism, thefts, sabotage, torture, humiliation, emotional terror and general harassment. It is a “ganging up” by members of the community who follow an organizer and participate in a systematic “terrorizing” of an individual.

Organized stalking gang members are given targets’ names or have the target identified for them. They usually don’t know the target before hand and the gang stalkers are tightly networked with stalking groups in other communities as well.

Gang stalking groups are not youth/ race/ biker or Mafia gangs. Other interchangeable terms used for “gang stalking” include: group stalking, community stalking (wide area supervised local harassment), cause stalking (stalkers use a “cause” for recruitment), mobbing (organized stalking in the workplace) and street theater (harassment skits done in view of the target out in the community). Some victims of organized stalking claim they are also victimized by electronic harassment including: electronic harassment, electronic assault, directed energy weapons (“DEWs”), non-lethal weapons, mind control (the through-wall electronics can affect the mind) and voice to skull (U.S. Army designation “V2K”).

Not all victims will experience the same methods of harassment; some victims are harassed more or less, and some by certain techniques and not others. Victims, or targets, are commonly chosen because they are: government/corporate whistle blowers, involved in an inheritance dispute, going through a hostile divorce, witnessed a crime, saw something they weren’t supposed to, are truth-telling talk show hosts or living an alternative lifestyle. Other victims simply don’t know why they were chosen at all.

The United States Department of Justice gathered data and reported the results on Stalking by Teams or Groups of People. [U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of the General Counsel (Office of Justice Programs, F.O.I.A. No. 10-000169, Source: Office of the General Counsel, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice) via Wikimedia Commons].

Skeptics of gang stalking point their finger at the target claiming he/ she is delusional or paranoid, thus furthering the goals of the perpetrators. It is readily reported by victims of gang stalking that law enforcement will ignore their pleas for help and actually participate in the gang stalking themselves along with fire fighters, various utility workers and post office employees.

The origins of the blaxploitation movie can be found in the need of recognition of the black audience at the end of the Sixties. They were looking for a cinema that reflected their daily life and experiences. The ingredients of this sub-genre includes nudity, violence, funky soul music and are centred around a black protagonist in a world crowded with drug dealers, players, hustlers, pimps (and their striking outfits and cars), call-girls and bounty hunters. Well, on number 10 we have got…

10) Foxy Brown (Jack Hill, 1974)

Like Coffy this blaxploitation movie is modeled after Pam Grier who’s again playing the avenging angel. This time her revenge spree is focused on the mob responsible for the death of her boyfriend, an undercover cop who’s betrayed by her brother. Despite some simplistic plot twists a very amusing picture with some violent action scenes and again a very convincing role of the irresistible Pam Grier as Foxy Brown. The soundtrack was recorded and produced by the well-known R&B artist Willie Hutch.

9) Truck Turner (Jonathan Kaplan, 1974)

In this uncomplicated straightforward action flick Isaac Hayes is the ex-football star, now bountyhunter Truck Turner who’s chasing a sadistic pimp in the dangerous streets of L.A. A tragic accident spoils the game and suddenly the roles are reversed. From that moment Truck is involved in a game of cat and mouse between Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto), the ruthless L.A. crime king and his hitmen Some good performances, nice car chases and a memorable climax in a hospital make this an above average blaxploitation movie. Director Kaplan also made the impressive ‘coming of age’ drama Over the Edge (1979).

8) Superfly (Gordon Parks Jr., 1972)

The drug dealer Youngblood Priest (Ron O’ Neal), so-called because he carries his samples in a cruxifix pendant, has decided to do one last score before quitting the cocaine business permanently. Problems arise when a powerful unknown drug kingpin (his supplier) wants to keep him in business. Although a hugely successful movie with one of the best soundtracks ever used in a blaxploitation movie by Curtis Mayfield it was also unjustly characterized by some critics as a glorification of drug-dealing. Followed by two sequels, T.N.T. Superfly (1973) directed by the former star O’Neal and The Return of Superfly (Sig Shore, 1990).

7) Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (Melvin van Peebles, 1971)

Melvin van Peebles (who starred, directed, wrote, edited, composed and produced the independent picture) is the hustler Sweetback whose hedonistic lifestyle makes a U-turn after he witnesses the brutal beating of a black activist by two xenophobic white cops. He takes revenge on the two cops and is for the remaining part of the movie on the run with the police force on his tail. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is an uncomprimising and experimental blaxploitation movie including psychedelic and hallucinating images, use of split screen and a rather subversive opening sequence involving Melvin’s son Mario. A true original.

6) Black Caesar (Larry Cohen, 1973)

The initial motives of black pusher Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson in his best role) to take over Manhattan controlled by the white man, to give the blacks a better deal, changes when he starts to behave like a “white man’s nigger” himself. Black Caesar, (a.ka. Godfather of Harlem) was directed by the gifted Larry Cohen (Bone, God Told Me To) known for his smart location photography giving his movies a rare authenticity. The original ending with the black Godfather being robbed and murdered by some black streetkids was erased because a black audience would not accept that. Because of the movie’s success Cohen instantly made the enjoyable sequel Hell Up in Harlem. Great music from James Brown.

5) Trouble Man (Ivan Dixon, 1972)

A real gem this rather unknown blaxploitation movie with Robert Hooks (Fast-Walking) as the smooth fixer Mr. T who has multiple business interests. He runs into trouble when he’s hired by two hoodlums to investigate who’s stealing from their gambling operation. Hooks is great as the cool P.I. in this action packed crime movie. Although the movie was a commercial flop at the time, the soundtrack by Marvin Gaye was very successful.

4) Willy Dynamite (Gilbert Moses, 1974)

The blaxploitation movie with the most shameless pimp costumes ever but also a convincing study of the downfall of a hustler. Roscoe Orman (best known as Gordon in Sesame Street) is the successful and merciless pimp Willy Dynamite (Willy D) who rules his group of call-girls with a firm hand. His decline starts when a social worker named Cora (an excellent Diana Sands) convinces one of his girls, who has been mutilated in prison, to leave the “life”. Sands died of cancer shortly before the release of the movie at the age of 39. An engrossing picture from beginning to end.

3) Coffy (Jack Hill, 1973)

A first class revenge movie starring the queen of the blaxploitation genre Pam Grier. Grier plays the nurse Coffy who’s determined to avenge those responsible for her little sister’s heroin addiction. When she penetrates deeper into this degenerated world she finds out that there are people involved that are close to her. It took director Jack Hill and his crew only 18 days to make this violent and subversive picture that launched Pam Grier’s career. Her strong central performance was also Tarantino’s main inspiration for writing his screenplay for Jackie Brown (1997) in which she also starred. Coffy was remade in 1981 as Lovely But Deadly with an all-white cast.

2) The Mack (Michael Campus, 1973)

Max Julien is Goldie, who returns to his neighboorhood after a five year prison sentence, who becomes a calculating and ruthless pimp. His philosophy is that if you want to control a woman’s body, you also have to control her mind (as he does in the amusing Planetarium sequence). In his violent battle against his competitors and the two cops who arrested him the first time, he is accompanied by his loyal friend Richard Pryor (in a memorable role) and his brother (Roger E. Mosley) who’s trying to convince him that he’s exploiting his own people. Probably the most influential blaxploitation movie and best ‘pimp’ movie ever made. The funky score is by Willie Hutch.

1) Across 110th Street (Barry Shear, 1972)

In this fast paced and extremely violent crime thriller directed by the underrated Barry Shear (from the excellent The Todd Killings) a black police lieutenant (Yaphett Kotto) and his racistic colleague (Anthony Quinn, who also co-produced) investigate a robbery committed by three black men on a mafia owned policy bank in which seven men were killed. For different reasons the robbers are also chased by the sadistic Italian mafia lieutenant Nick D’Salvio (a marvellous Anthony Franciosa) and his henchmen. Great performances, excellent use of locations and profound characterisations. The title song by Bobby Womack is also used in Tarantino’s Jackie Brown and Ridley Scott’s American Gangster.

The poet of beauteous Bengal, the hunter of darkness, the poet of loneliness Jibananda Das (1899-1954) is the most romantic poet of twentieth century modern Bengali literature. He mingles myth and mystery in his evergreen poem ‘Banalata Sen’ where his weary soul takes refuge. The poet, an exhausted soul of worldly life, searches for peach and heavenly shelter for thousands of years on the earth and Banalata Sen of Nator,a country-land of the Bengal, blesses his soul with that blissfulness.

The poet-narrator is a weary soul who has been wandering towards the paths of the earth for thousands of years. He roams from the sea of Ceylon to the sea of Malaya, the gray land of the emperor Bimbisara and Asoka and too far city of Vidarbha. He is tired by life’s foamy ocean and gets a momentary bliss from her. As the poet says:

I, a weary soul, surrounded by life’s foamy ocean,

Was given a momentary bliss by Banalata Sen of Nator.

Her hair is like the ancient night of Vidisha, her face is like the charming carving of famous sculptor Sravasti. The poet is a rudderless mariner who loses his way in life’s foamy ocean and gets sanctuary in her nest like eyes. She gives the poet refuge as the rudderless, way-lost, hopeless mariner in the far-off ocean gets the hope of rescue at the sight of green grassy island. She has bird’s nest like eyes that absorb the weariness of the poet saying, “Where were you so long?”. It seems that she was also waiting with her thirsty heart for the poet. It is what the poet thirsts for; it is what a human being desires from his beloved. She is that one who can absorb the weariness of thousands of years, who can be the sanctuary of kestrel after the long sunny day.

All weariness turns into peace and harmony with the soft falling of evening. Then the kestrel wipes its sun-beam off its wings and takes rest in its nest. All colors of the earth melts into manuscript with the blinks of fireflies. All birds return to home, all rivers back to ocean, life’s all proceedings end and then remains nothing but darkness. This time the poet wants to sit facing his idolatry beloved.

Jibanananda Das is excellent in the use of images. ‘Nest like eyes’, ‘green grass land’, ‘foamy ocean’, ‘carving of Sravasti’, ‘rudderless crew’, ‘falling sound of dew’, ‘smell of sun’, ‘sparkle of fireflies’, ‘darkness’ all get life in this poem with the touch of his heart.

He compares the eyes of her with the ‘nest’ that is the peaceful shelter of the bird. ‘The green grass land’ indicates the hope of rescue. ‘The carving of Sravasti’ is the perfection of sculpture. The ‘falling sound of dew’, ‘sparkle’ of fireflies are blessing of love. Like the green grassy island in the eye of a lost mariner, the poet wants a sanctuary in the ‘nest like eyes’ of her who is his refuge in his ‘life’s foamy ocean’.

On the other hand ‘foamy ocean’, ‘rudderless crew’, ‘smell of sun’ all refer to weariness, tiredness, and hopelessness. Though darkness is the end of everything, the poet chooses darkness as the time to sit face to face with her. He says:

All birds return– all rivers– end life’s all proceedings

Remains only darkness, to sit facing Banalata Sen.

Darkness is the end of everything but dream. Why does the poet search in darkness and why does he want to sit before her in darkness? Does she remain in his dream? Does he search for his dream or self? Who knows, she may exist nowhere but in his dream or she might be the embodiment of his own self.

Dean Martin appealed to both men and women. Men liked him because he had that cool, suave demeanor and devil-may-care attitude. Women liked him because he was literally tall, dark and handsome and had that mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

It was often said that Dean looked like a model that just stepped out of a men’s fashion magazine. I remember once hearing someone say that Dean looked as comfortable in his tuxedo as most people do in their pajamas. Relaxed and charming are perhaps two words that sum up his personality. Added to that Greg Garrison his producer once said that Dean had an enduring smile and what you see with Dean is exactly what you get.

If anyone ever wanted to find a celebrity role model, it would be Dean. The entertainment industry has always had its share of scandals but he kept his life private and certainly never contributed to them.

Instead one sees a man who was always kind to the people he worked with, would be on time for his stage calls, and supportive of other entertainers that worked with him. Charles Nelson Reilly was a guest on Dean’s TV show. He said that if they were doing a comedy sketch and Charles got a good laugh, Dean would nudge him with his foot meaning good for you, Charles.

Dean and his partner Jerry Lewis were part of one of the highest rated comedy teams ever. The Martin & Lewis team lasted for 10 years from 1946-1956. Towards the end they were hardly talking to each other except when doing their act on stage.

After several movies, their own TV show which was part of the Colgate Comedy Hour and their many night club appearances, they called it quits. Their last appearance as a team was at the famed Copacabana in New York City.

Even though Dean had an easy-going and relaxed personality he was his own man. For example it was Dean who ended the Martin & Lewis comedy act. Jerry had taken over more and more control of their movie scripts and Dean had grown weary of the roles he was told to play. He wanted to do more serious movies. Dean had enough and said he was ending their act.

Both Dean and Jerry had their own management people and of course there was serious money involved given all their various business ventures. Obviously the lawyers on each team viewed this as a disaster. At the beginning of the huge process of sorting things out one of the lawyers said to Dean ‘you can’t just walk away from 30 million dollars in income’ and Dean replied ‘oh yeah, you just watch me.’

Many of the Night Clubs and casinos on the West coast and East coast in those days were owned or fronted by the Mafia. Dean’s friend Frank Sinatra would kowtow and hang around with certain members of the Mafia but Dean again was his own man. He pretty well did as he pleased and on occasion would do a special benefit show for them if asked but he did not jump through hoops for any of them.

Another example was when Frank was in a partying mood and after the shows wanted to party-hardy. Quite a few of Frank’s friends were ‘yes’ men but Dean was not. If Frank wanted Dean to hang out and party but Dean didn’t then Dean would say no and would catch up with him at a later time.

One of Dean’s passions was playing Golf. If he was going to be playing the following day he would not stay out late at night as he liked to get an early start. Dean’s son Ricci said that his father was actually an early riser for most of his working life. Dean was a really good golfer and played scratch when he was at top of his game.

There have been stories about Dean’s style when singing that said he was influenced by Bing Crosby. But the truth be told is that his main influence was Harry Mills of the Mills Brothers. If one were to see a video of the famed brothers singing it is evident that there are some similarities between Dean and Harry’s style.

Dean had been married three times. His second marriage was to Jeanne Martin and lasted for 20 years from 1949 to 1969 when they went their separate ways. The divorce became finalized in 1973. In later years they were seen together from time to time and the public wondered if they were maybe going to get back together again. Jeanne mentioned in an interview once that when Dean entered a room at a function it was like magic. It seems as though she still had some feelings for Dean.

Jeanne was a firm believer in family. She accepted the four children from a previous marriage of Dean’s to live and stay with them and loved each of them along with the three children she had with Dean.

Dean’s son, Dean Paul was an officer in the California Air National Guard and he died in 1987 when his military F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed in the San Bernardino Mountains. Many people in entertainment and friends said that Dean never recovered from the loss of his son.

In 1993 Dean’s health started to deteriorate and he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died of acute respiratory failure at home on Christmas day morning in 1995.

How could anyone ever forget some of Dean’s songs whose melodies will live on in our mind. Songs such as “Somewhere There’s a Someone” written by my friend Baker Knight, “You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You,” and his signature song “Everybody Loves Somebody” written by Ken Lane will be around for a long time to come. Even to this day I miss Dean a lot but we all still have his wonderful songs to listen to (smile).

And so, Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime and we all love you, Dean. Goodnight.