Food for Thought
Compiled by Shane Drew April, 2011 - Vol 21, Issue 4 |
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| Greetings! | |
Welcome to a very late April 2011 edition of Food for Thought. Please accept my sincerest apologies.
By the time you get this in your inbox, I'll be away visiting family and friends interstate.
If you need to contact me, at this point in time I can't tell you if my phone will get a signal as we are with Vodafone and they are not known for having a strong signal anywhere away from the city. It may be best to send me a text message to my mobile, and I should get it when I get within range.
I am pleased to report that I have two new staff coming onboard too.
Most have probably spoken to my sister at some time in the past, so I am pleased that she has decided to join my business to help with the finance and accounting side on a casual basis. Kerry has her own consultancy business administering other small businesses, and is well versed in liasing with creditors and debtors. Any account enquiries should be directed to her via kerry@dsi.net.au.
The other new employee is my son. Ashley has been working with me on his holidays and weekends for some time now, and has been keen to make it a full time position. He knows how my machines work, and he has an understanding and knowledge of my customer base, as well as a healthy respect for my clients.
Whilst I'm easing him in to the big wide world of employment slowly, hopefully the three generations of Drew's will be better placed with the workload than we have been in the recent past.
Ashley also gets his learners permit in the next few weeks, so if you see me and I'm looking pale, it may be that I've given him a driving lesson. I've had several clients who are driving instructors offer their services, so I've just got to decide which ones have the strongest heart and nerves of steel. |
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Nexus Collections update.... |
Provision of Judgment Information in QLD & NSW.
Nexus Collections are our Debt Collection agency. They have issued the following update, and I thought it was prudent for me to share.
Clients should be aware that information in relation to Judgments obtained from November 2010 in Queensland against both individuals and companies will not appear on credit reports obtained from Australia's credit reporting agencies such as Veda Advantage and Dun & Bradstreet. The Queensland Magistrates Court ceased providing judgment information to credit reporting agencies on November 16th 2010 as a result of concerns over "legal issues" which we can only presume refers to privacy related concerns. A similar situation exists in relation to judgments obtained in the NSW courts, this has been in effect since July 2010.
What this means in short is that you can run a credit enquiry on a company or an individual and if that company or individual has had a judgment filed against them since 16/11/10 then their credit file will not reflect this action, they may appear "clean" even if they have had court action taken against them.
We have spoken with Veda Advantage again this morning for an update and were advised that the matter is ongoing with no immediate resolution in sight. In NSW the matter will not be dealt with until some time after the upcoming election. We have also asked Veda Advantage to investigate whether or not we and other members can provide judgment information directly to Veda to be recorded on the debtors credit file. Veda are currently taking legal advice on that question.
This is a curious decision by the courts during such difficult economic times, it goes without saying that businesses who provide goods and services on credit to their customers really didn't need anything else stacked against them in terms of their ability to make properly informed credit decisions.
Information in relation to company insolvency remains available as does any other information that is provided by the District, Supreme & Federal courts.
Steve DownsMAICD, MICM, C.Dec
Director - Nexus Collections Pty Ltd
Mob: 0448 656629 | Ph: 07 3360 9800 | Fax 07 3422 1611
email: steved@nexuscollect.com.au | www.nexuscollect.com.au
[source - Nexus Collections Pty Ltd] |
| Homer Simpson breaches alcoholic laws ... |
 You'd be excused for thinking that I'm making this up, but the Lithuanian publisher of the official "The Simpsons" comic was fined for breaching anti-alcohol advertising laws after authorities took offense to Homer's drinking habits.
In both the original TV cartoon and the comic, Homer Simpson rarely resists his favorite drink - Duff beer.
However, it has been revealed that the Lithuanian watchdog has taken umbrage to the alcoholic nectar, and said that because unlicensed Duff beer was sold in countries including Mexico and Spain, the publisher breached rules banning the advertising of alcohol.
You read that right.
The publisher was fined $3838 and promptly froze publication of the monthly comic while they figured out how to handle the Duff issue.
Bongo Comics, the US company which licenses international versions of the comic, does not allow content changes. It remains to be seen how they will resolve the issue.
Perhaps they need to go to the pub and contemplate it over a beer.
[Courier Mail] |
| A Chinese Shakespeare? |
A HIGH-profile Chinese author is planning to spend more than $150,000 on plastic surgery to make himself look like William Shakespeare.
Zhang Yiyi will undergo 10 surgeries over a 10-month period to sculpt his face into the spitting image of the British playwright, the Shanghai Daily reported.
"Life is a process of striving to become a better person. I think the surgeries are worth the money," Zhang was quoted as saying.
The surgeon set to perform the procedures said it would not be too difficult because Zhang already has a sculpted face with a sharp nose and deep eyes, similar to Shakespeare. The work would focus on his chin and eyes, the report said.
Zhang's plan, first reported by China National Radio, was dismissed as attention-seeking by many Chinese internet users. Zhang is a controversial figure who once compared himself to China's great sage, Confucius.
Reminds me of the quote: "God has given you one face, and you make yourself another" by William himself. Of course, Aristotle also said: "There is no great genius without a mixture of madness. |
| Crime may make you famous .... |
 | | A recent winner. |
Joe Arpaio, probably Americas toughest Sheriff, has come up with a bizare way of giving the public a voice in law enforcement. The opportunity is via his concept of the Mugshot Of The Day (MOD) online competition.
The site at mcso.org also gives tips on crime prevention, what to expect if you visit or go to jail, as well as statistics on immigration arrests and illegal activity.
In terms of the MOD, the top picks are typically the most disheveled, unusual-looking suspects among those booked in to jails in Maricopa County, Arizona
Mr Arpaio said he hoped the increased online traffic would highlight the work of his employees and uncover more crimes.
The competition is the latest publicity stunt for the sheriff, known for his uncompromising stance on crime and for making inmates in jail wear pink underwear.
He rose to fame in 1993 when he started a Tent City prison, which now has nearly 2,000 prisoners serving their sentence under canvas. For those that complain about the heat, he reminds them that the soldiers in Iraq have hotter days, and they are wearing heavy clothing and carrying heavy backpacks.
You can go to the site here and choose a specific crime, then vote for your mug shot of the day.
When you enter the site, you are asked a question whether you think the Mug Shot of the Day is something that you support. To date. 65331 people say yes, 6306 say no. I'm guessing a lot of the no's are family members.
For those that complain that these criminals still have rights, and those rights are being abused, Mr Arpaio has made it clear on many occasions that criminals gave up their rights when they committed their crimes. It may explain his popularity with the voters since 1992, as sheriffs are elected officials in America
Wikipedia points out that Joe Arpaio is currently the subject of FBI, United States Department of Justice, and Federal Grand Jury investigations for civil rights violations and abuse of power, and is the defendant in a federal class-action suit for racial profiling.
Arpaio has become controversial for aggressive publicity-seeking retaliation against political enemies, abuse of power, civil rights violations, and financial mismanagement. As has already been stated, he was widely popular among voters in Arizona however, according to wikipedia, his popularity has apparently waned since 2007.
In 1995, Arpaio reinstituted chain gangs. In 1996, he expanded the chain gang concept by instituting female volunteer chain gangs. Female inmates work seven hours a day (7 a.m. to 2 p.m.), six days a week. He has also instituted the world's first all-juvenile volunteer chain gang; volunteers earn high school credit toward a diploma.
My advice to criminals in his town? Make sure you comb your hair and wash your face. Criminals may get reformed, but I suspect winning the MOD competition is forever, for all the wrong reasons.
[source wikipedia, Metro.Uk] |
| A quote to remember |
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. - Winston Churchill
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| Finally... |
In conclusion, we'd like to thank Leisure Pools for giving us the opportunity to wrap their iLoad van and small tipper. The artwork was supplied via the Leisure Pools in-house designer, Katy Breslin. They are a great organisation to work with.
We used 3M380cv3 premium material on the vehicle because the iLoad is not the easiest vehicle to cover, and the 3M product was designed for deep crevices which are an issue with this vehicle.
That's about all for this edition.
Thanks again for your support.
A reminder that we have a facebook page as well. Either go onto our website and click 'like', or click the 'find us on facebook' link below.
You can see the latest post on my blog site at http://shanedrew.com/. Submit comments (keep them clean as the site is moderated) or post it to your facebook wall. We have also included a contact form if you want to communicate with us directly.
Until next time, take care
Shane Drew
3M Accredited Applicator - Silver Level, Certificate Number AUS1028 |
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Shane Drew
Drews Sign It Pty Ltd
4 William Street
Waterford West Q 4133
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