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Of course a production within the confines of St.Paul's delightful gardens is likely to have a plus written right through it. Normally, this is the case, but this production has several things that I find worrying. There are a lot of – possibly unconscious – double entendres, which receive titters from some members of the audience but they are not encouraged to laugh. In fact, the first few scenes of this poverty ridden family are deadly serious with not a single chance for the audience to express any pleasure.
A great deal is made of the delight children have in horror but there is a way of handling it. The only sympathetic character is little Gretel played by Rosie Abraham but she gets roasted in the witch's oven during act one. It is upsetting that the real mother is so evil so that she wants to kill her children so she and her drunken husband (Nick Howard-Brown) can use what money there is to have a good time. She persuades her husband to take them out into the forest and leave them to their fate.
To cheer everyone up there is an exceptional scene change by Amber Scarlett as a huge bunch of trees opens up to reveal the gingerbread house. The starving Hansel, (Deshaye Gayle) of course, is tempted by any kind of food and he breaks off a bit of the window frame to eat. Then it is when the mood changes to comedy as the lovely Josie Brightwell as Baba Yaga Korizima emerges through her front door and invites him inside. Then the set opens again and we are in the witches' kitchen. This number one witch speaks in a kind of nursery rhyme verse which is very funny and Josie Brightwell makes the most of her comedy performance – to the relief of the audience after all the solemnity we endured in the previous scenes.
This is certainly the most fun scene in the entire play although even this could do with chopping down.
The plot becomes totally confused during act two. Gretel is now a fairy up a tree and Hansel is in the kitchen of another witch – I think it was Baba Yaga Gorska – or it might have been Baba Yaga Martzanna, who gave him some disgusting sick making things to eat and drink. Maybe that bit was put in for the kids.
The play needs editing and have great chunks removed. It also need to have people smile a little more. It is a heavy show, too intense. I am not a Disney fan but I do like to have one or two pleasant and/or comical characters. The only good person was little Gretel who got roasted.
This is not the Hansel and Gretel we all know and love from Engelbert Humpedinck – I missed the Sandman who could have turned up and put us all to sleep.
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Hansel and Gretel29 May
Of course a production within the confines of St.Paul's delightful gardens is likely to have a plus written right through it. Normally, this is the case, but this production has several things that I find worrying. There are a lot of – possibly unconscious – double entendres, which receive titters from some members of the audience but they are not encouraged to laugh. In fact, the first few scenes of this poverty ridden family are deadly serious with not a single chance for the audience to express any pleasure.
THE KNOWLEDGE13 Sep
At the Charing Cross Theatre
My favourite people are taxi drivers and this play is a sort of memorial to the old days when they were the sole kings of the road. The days before Uber – when minicabs were the only threat.
On a delicious adaptable setting by Nicolai Hart Hansen. The lives of four contestants study for the coveted green badge of the London cabbie. This is a trade that goes back to Oliver Cromwell and is the only city in the world with anything like it. Cabbies must learn every street, every pub, every building, every public toilet, etc. in the whole area of London. When they can satisfy the examiner about this they are given a badge – and advice to carry on learning how to work the suburbs. I have often wondered why some cabbies used to say they cannot go to an address out of town. Now I know why – they don't know the best way of getting there They haven't yet got that bit of knowledge under their belts.
The first story is that of Chris – a young man who has been on the dole since he left school. His girlfriend Janet persuades him to take the course. The next contestant in the group is Ted who is completely confident, has a photographic memory and comes from a Jewish family of cabbies .Gordon Weller is doing it to cheat on his wife. It's an excuse to come home late every night completely knackered. The fourth contender is a girl, Miss Stavely who wants to do a man's job in a man's world to prove she can.
These guys and their partners are all trying very hard, but the biggest bugbear is the eccentric bully, Mr Burgess who seems determined to make them all fail. He is up on the second floor of the set and he calls them one by one to give them hell. He shouts their names three times, and it is amusing that they light cigarettes on the first call and stub them out on the last one.
Obviously, the script is dated but it has been left as it was to get the seventies atmosphere. Sometimes it works, occasionally it misfires.
There are a few great one liners.
'I should have given up and had a go at ballet dancing.'
It is a good cast and it is sharply directed by Rosenthal's widow Maureen Lipman
High nostalgia quotient and a good advert for Taxis and their recent problem fighting the Uber factor.
THE BLINDING LIGHT13 Sep
BY Howard Brenton
AT THE Jermyn Street Theatre.
Under Tom Littler, the new artistic director at Jermyn Street, we are expecting great things – and his first coup is his own direction of a new play by the prolific and highly respected playwright Howard Brenton.
It is a seriously written document about the 'inferno' years of August Strindberg,Swedish writer/painter –and in this play 'natural scientist'
During several years in the 1890s Strindberg became disenchanted both with theatre and his two ex wives, and, renting a room in a squalid Paris Hotel, decided to spend his time in alchemy – finding the formula for making gold.
Cherry Trulock's set design immediately gives the impression of madness with huge splashes of colour on the painted flats. The lighting by William Reynolds is also highly colourful and eccentric .with sudden flashes of light and blackouts in between each scene along with swirls of music (composed by Max Pappenheim). The atmosphere of Stringberg's confused brain has been created perfectly.
Jasper Britton is a wonderful character actor. The play begins with him, with limp shoulder length straggled hair, scruffy clothes and paint covered hands that have been burnt by the acid he is using to make gold. The voices he hears constantly are his own voice and the conversations he has with himself are produced miraculously so that at first it sounds as if they are on voice over.
The play begins with an altercation between the poet and the woman who comes to clean up his sordid apartment. He manages to bar her from the bathroom because the bath is full of the sludge – one of the stages in gold making. Laura Morgan plays Lola and she is a delight throughout the play.An unbeatable combination of beauty, wit, honesty and toughness.
The two wives arrive at different times. Both are trying to get him back to work as a playwright, bring him back to sanity and give up his life as an Alchemist. His first wife Siri played by, Susannah Harker, is a Swedish actress and needs good roles, of the kind that he used to write for her. She tries to black mail him threatening to refuse him visits to the children. The second wife Frida (Gala Gordon) is much younger and wants to take him back to Germany.
As we all know, he recovers f rom his indisposition and goes back to writing with renewed energy.
All very splendid, but I did find that two hours was a little too long to sit still and concentrate in the warmth of the theatre. I thought that the scene with Frida came too quickly after the one with Siri and I felt in need of an interval. This is a purely personal point of view.
DOUBT – a parable11 Sep
DOUBT – a parable.
aline waites
DOUBT a parable at the Southwark PLayhouse. *****
DOUBT – a Parable
By John Patrick Shanley
This riveting taut narrative is set in the sixties when homophobic prejudice was rife. Sister Aloysius – the severe headmistress of a R.C.junior school in the Bronx, is positive that the charismatic priest, Father Flynn has actually fed communion wine to the only black child in the school before molesting him sexually and she wants to get Flynn exposed as a pederast.
The acting in this 'parable' is superb and the scene between Mrs Mullen, the boy's mother and Sister Aloysius is probably one of the most exciting confrontations I have ever seen. There is a completely spontaneous round of applause on her exit. Jo Martin plays this Mumsie lady with passion and the deepest love for her son. She wants him to have a good life and she has no battle with Flynn, her only desire is to get her boy to High School. Sister Aloysius, played by Stella Gonet, believes that what she is doing is completely correct and the will of God, although in the end she is capable of cheating to get her own way. This is yet another brilliant performance and the actress also gets a round of applause after her biggest scene. The young priest is perfectly cast and sympathetically played by Jonathan Chambers. He too is a character who believes in kindness and can admit that it is possible and forgivable to doubt the rightness of everything. The fourth character, played by Clare Latham is a young nun who loves teaching but who is beginning to be disenchanted by the older nun's over strict attitude.
Designed by P J McEvoy, the set is composed of rostra with a central stage and steps on each side so that every scene is available to the audience. The platforms have the look of jewels as they are cut out in shapes and have coloured lights underneath.. McEvoy has worked it out perfectly to adapt to the needs of the script.
The beginning of the play sets up the antagonism between the two main protagonists by having them at opposite ends – just looking at each other while Flynn gives his sermon .
Che Walker wonderfully directs, with high clarity, this is a play of great passion, diverse ethics – and above all –ambiguity. The play is exact and economical. There is not a word to spare in the entire script which is run without an interval.
This is an exceptional evening in the theatre.
jottings9 Sep
creative people want to be perfect and therefore can take criticism even if it hurts a little they will take it on board.they kn0w it is for their own good. It is just good that somebody recognises them and takes the time to talk about them. I am now talking about sincere people who mean well. Not monsters who are not creative but want to destroy whatever they can in order to aggrandise themselves.
They also like criticism because somebody is paying attention to them – and they thing they love best is talking about themselves – especially writer. – Try looking at facebook.
OUTLAWS TO INLAWS5 Sep
At the Kings Head ****
Seven distinguished writers have each a fifteen-minute play about the history of the problems and the persecution of homosexuality, in the past seventy years.
It begins with the Queen's Coronation "Happy and Glorious" by Philip Meeks. Four men in a private club watching and commenting on the wedding. Enter a drag queen who tells them about his encounter with the heavy hand of the law. The play exhibits the obscenity of men being hounded like criminals because they were gay. It also reminds us of how opinions have changed.
Jonathan HARVEY wrote "Mr Tuesday." Mr Tuesday is the lover of a married man, who wants to finish the affair and be faithful to his wife and children. But when Mr Tuesday discovers that his lover is a policeman, he threatens blackmail. People in positions of authority would lose their jobs if the truth were known. This was just two years before Homosexuality stopped being a criminal offence.
Jonathan Kemp – "The reward". Even though being gay is no longer a legal crime, it is still dangerous. A skinhead living in a council block with others of his kind picks up a black middleclass teenager. When the affair is discovered, he suffers a dreadful punishment from one of his erstwhile mates.
In "1984" by Patrick Wilde, Ayds is here and so is Margaret Thatcher. Everyone is afraid of dying even young men who have privileged positions within parliament. Was Ayds considered a punishment? Some people thought so.
"Princess Die" by Matt Harris. A Princess Di look alike wears a sequin frock, jewellery and a blond wig. When the death of Diana is announced. He takes a last look at himself, removes the blond wig and sits alone in his spangled frock.
"Brothas" by Topher Campbell. Early in 2,000 there is still prejudice. Two black boys are looking for a date. Most of the dating places say No Blacks, No Asians. So they are looking online. We see the conversations and pictures on a screen at the back of the stage.
Finally, we are in the modern day 'The Last Gay Play" is an actual wedding. Two young men one black, one white – are getting married by a vicar in a church. Is this the end of prejudice?
All twenty roles in this extraordinary set of plays are performed by six actors, Myles Devente, Paul Carroll, Alex Marlow, Elliot Balchin, Jack Bence, and Michael Duke
They are amazing in their versatility and Mary Franklin of Rough Haired Pointer directs all the plays.
9 to 55 Sep
9 TO 5 The Musical
Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton
Book by Patricia Resnick
Upstairs at the Gatehouse.
Dolly Parton wrote the songs for this. A show that is brash, busty with a loud voice just like her. The book by Patricia Resnick is about a bunch of girls working in an office and comes down heavily on the sexist, bullying, patronising male chauvinist pig of a boss, probably the biggest argument for feminine equality. Three brilliant overlooked young women manage to get the best of this most unpleasant character
The story is taken from the film made by Jane Fonda's production company. Dolly Parton was put into the movie as Doralee at Fonda's suggestion to give a feeling of 'country'. Parton wrote the number 9 to 5 which became a number one hit. She then composed another 14 numbers for the musical. These are the ones we see at the Gatehouse. There were others that have been discarded. One I particularly liked was 'Backwoods Barbie' sung by Louise Olley as she describes herself. One remembers her famous line 'It costs a lot of money to look as cheap as me.' Doralee is almost raped by her boss. He thinks that is all she is good for because of her feminine looks and because she is a hillbilly and spreads the rumour that she is his mistress
Judy, played by Amanda Coutts is the deserted wife with confidence destroyed by her unfaithful husband. She is overdressed and unable to defend herself, feeling she is worthless. Pippa Winslow plays Violet, the top girl who gets most of the work done, but gets overlooked for her well-deserved promotion because the vile Mr Hart gives all the plum jobs to his golfing cronies.
The crunch comes when one of the girls find out that all the men are getting three times the salary of the girls and she gets the sack for telling the others. All women are now aware of this situation. It was always 'vulgar' to talk about money. Now at last people are encouraged to disclose what they earn.
It is difficult to imagine any man with so much unpleasantness as Mr Hart, but Leo Sene convinces. Hart's one admirer is Roz who gets a great number Heart to Hart which is hilariously performed by Samantha Giffard.
The hit song 9 to 5 opens the show and it is sung and danced by the entire company and tells us what jollity to expect. It is hugely energetic and well- choreographed by Chris Whittaker and musically directed by Oliver Hance.
This is a show that can bring joy to the heart of any woman who has suffered from a controlling and humiliating male. Producer Joseph Hodges is on a mission to bring out the most powerful feminist elements in the script as he felt it has been underplayed in previous productions.
It is a joy to watch and listen to and very very funny.
THRILL ME1 Sep
Book Music and Lyrics by Stephen Dolginoff
The musical is based on the story of the Thrill Killers, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. Two handsome young men still in their teens, were both studying law. Richard became excited by the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and began to believe he, himself, was Superman, beyond the law and able to commit crimes without anyone ever suspecting. Nathan who was possessed of an obsessive love for him, agreed to sign a contract to be his partner in crime.
Their story begins with Nathan Leopold still in prison after 34 years, telling the story to the parole board. He reveals his love and sexual passion for Richard, who needs the thrill of crime to accept Nathan's lovemaking. Richard is unable to get aroused without the excitement of breaking the law in obvious ways without ever being found out.
Nobody knew that they were responsible for the great fire in a warehouse and lots of missing precious goods that the boys, having done the robberies, just threw away. But they were nice middle-class boys and no one could ever suspect them.
Inevitably their success in fooling the law gave Richard the idea that they should commit the final crime, The perfect murder. They chose as their victim a young child and organised a false kidnap to make the crime convincing
I first saw this musical at Greenwich a few years ago and found it impressive and strangely beautiful. This time, within the intimacy of the Arcola it is even more fascinating. These characters are completely impossible to sympathise, but both are attractive and the music is strangely heatrending. It is like looking at an ugly painting and finding it beautiful.
The two young men are both handsome. Ellis Dackombe as the irresistible and cruel Richard is dashing and his appeal is understandable. Harry Downes as Nathan has the voice of an angel. It is not surprising that they got away with so many crimes – so many indeed until the very last one. Nathan had a loving father – also a judge -who would have saved him when he told the full story, but Nathan, even if it meant hanging did not want to be separated from his lover, and if not to be hanged, would settle for sharing a cell with him for the rest of their lives.
This is a musical based on a true horror story, the music is sublime and the performances could not be equalled.


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For many hungry ad agencies hit by alleged fraudster Gilbert Solnin, the pitch was promising if somewhat vague.
"I do have a very unique opportunity which I wish to discuss with you and would like to follow up with a telephone call to speak to you about it," he wrote to Maris, West & Baker, a shop in Jackson, Miss. "I am seeking an agency that understands more than traditional advertising and would be of great value to the business I have, which includes managing a unique venture very soon."
For Scott Burke of Mortar Agency in San Francisco, Solnin's offer was just too good to pass up.
"Last year wasn't exactly going gangbusters for anyone, so if we could get some leads, that would be great," Burke explained. Eight-year-old Mortar eventually forked over $10,000 to Solnin in order to secure business which the firm says was never forthcoming.
On Wednesday last week, the U.S. Postal Service issued a warrant for the arrest of Solnin, 61, on charges of mail fraud related to his beverage venture, maintaining that these agencies were just a few of over a dozen that the Long Island resident allegedly bilked out of a total of at least $400,000. In response to the warrant, Solnin surrendered himself to authorities at the federal court house in Central Islip, Long Island. He was released on $250,000 bond.
Solnin, who provided a biography to Adweek stating that he spent 12 years at Seagram in the 1980s revamping and revitalizing the Crown Royal whiskey brand, approached a selection of mid-size and boutique agencies, claiming he was in on the ground floor of a new beverage campaign in the U.S.
A letter that Solnin provided to one agency said that U.K. venture capital group CVC had agreed to bankroll the introduction of three new beverages in the U.S.: Vodka 14 from Colorado, Ronin energy drink from Minnesota and Finn Aqua from Finland. He just needed ad agencies that could handle the accounts.
For many of the businesses, a few kind words helped steer them toward the deal. "I'm really impressed and delighted by our discussions and accomplishments of your agency," Solnin wrote to Kaiser Marketing, a 40-year-old boutique ad and PR firm in Los Angeles.
"They've heard of us. We do good work. We deserve this," said Bryan Ward, founder of the 34-person firm Giant Ideas in Pittsburgh, explaining how the flattery worked.
Interviews with a dozen agencies confirmed to Adweek that Solnin flew to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Dallas, St. Louis, Portland, Ore., and other cities around the country from 2006 to late 2010, on each firm's dime, to pitch his drinks campaigns.
Once the agency expressed serious interest, Solnin offered a contract. The terms were loose. The agreement with Giant Ideas, for example, stipulated that Solnin would be paid $3,500 to $8,000 via direct deposit on the 15th of every month.
Secrecy was paramount. Agencies that reached out to any of these drink companies on their own risked violating the terms of Solnin's contract and blowing the deal. On the flip side, if the agency decided to back out, Solnin had a year to return the fees.
Once the contract was signed and the fees were paid, Solnin was charged with drumming up new business for the agency for the next five years, starting with this beverage deal.
Yet both the USPS complaint against Solnin and the agencies interviewed for this story claim that Solnin's work was never done. Federal court records describe Solnin as an erratic communicator who attributed his lack of progress to a variety of ailments: dizzy spells, complications from a car accident and even multiple sclerosis, which he allegedly had been diagnosed with recently.
Matt Baris, who runs Vodka 14, said that he had a three-month-long flirtation in 2006 with Solnin, who promised to promote his brand nationally and then disappeared.
"We were all going to make a fortune," said Baris. "We gave him all of this information, and then he completely fell off the face of the earth."
Over the next four years, Baris said that he fielded calls from 25 different ad agencies looking to verify his connection with Solnin.
Jeff Nachreiner, who ran energy drink brand Ronin, LLC, until 2007 when it was discontinued, had a similar experience.
He said that he paid Solnin $6,000 to go in on the beverage campaign but, like the others, lost contact.
Nachreiner has also received calls from ad agencies looking to verify his involvement. "[Solnin] was trying to use the Ronin name three years after it no longer existed," he said.
Solnin's history is difficult to verify. He reported in a 1998 bankruptcy filing that he made more than $200,000 in 1996 working at Seagram. He appears to know people in the advertising and beverage fields, according to the ad agencies interviewed for this story, but it's not clear how deep his connections go. One ad executive, who asked not to be named, hired Solnin several years ago to help build his company's relationship with drink manufacturers.
"He really didn't appear to have the connections that he said he had," said the ad man. "He started getting viciously vituperative if people didn't return his phone calls. He seemed to be a guy who was getting frustrated with his life."
The company let the relationship peter out when Solnin did not come through with the promised connection, which the source said is not unusual in the industry.
Eventually, the agencies started talking to each other on the phone and via electronic message boards.
Michael Kaiser of Kaiser Marketing, who retired not long after his dealings with Solnin, started calling around to other agencies that Solnin mentioned during his pitch. He went to the police in L.A. and the FBI but got nowhere because the amount that Solnin had allegedly taken did not reach their threshold for action. Most of the agencies involved credit Kaiser for pushing federal investigators to act.
Dave Newbold, the head of 39-year-old Richter7 in Salt Lake City, posted a warning about Solnin on the Web site Ripoffreport.com, after paying him $10,000 to get in on the deal.
Despite the accusation, Solnin has remained unrepentant. He has boasted to Adweek in previous interviews that he has never been sued by any of the agencies that have complained about him. In fact, he has threatened civil and criminal action himself against some agencies for breach of contract, according to e-mails from Solnin to agencies.
After vodka distiller Baris continued to receive phone calls about Solnin, Baris also posted a note on his Web site in November 2010, alerting people that he was not in business with the pitchman.
That's when Solnin finally rematerialized—after three years of silence—with a threatening e-mail.
"I do not want to have to do something that will harm your brand and you, but will have to do it if you leave me no other choice," Solnin wrote, advising Baris that they were still under contract despite the years of inactivity. He warned Baris to "scrub" his Web site.
Baris took the post down but told Solnin that if he heard of him using the Vodka 14 name in his pitch again, he would repost the warning.
Most of the ad agencies have been reluctant to fight Solnin.
"That's his MO all along: to make these threats," said Pat McGuinness, who runs the startup and turnaround-focused Trumpet Group in New Orleans. "He's right that no one has ever taken him to court. I think that many of these agencies are having an internal conversation about how much it would cost to get their money back—if it's worth it—and if they won [in court], how they would go about collecting it."
McGuinness had a particularly vicious exchange with Solnin. After speaking with some of the other ad agencies that felt they had been taken advantage of, McGuinness e-mailed and called Solnin at home vowing to get back the $10,000 in fees that his business had paid.
Solnin responded via e-mail.
"Attorneys have been notified of your harassment of my wife and son, and the police are on their way over now. The FBI has been contacted as well. Your threats are finished, and I AM taking legal action against you starting tomorrow. You just took a contract dispute and made it into a criminal activity by you. Attorneys are starting tomorrow. You threaten my wife and kid, you sick person," Solnin wrote.
But it was Solnin the feds were interested in on Wednesday, arresting him when he turned himself in on the federal mail fraud charges in connection with his alleged beverage business scam. Under the terms of his bail, the U.S. Attorney's office in Long Island comprised a list of 40 companies that Solnin is barred from contacting.
"The arrest of Gilbert Solnin on Wednesday was the result of a months-long investigation by Postal Inspectors into an advance fee scheme he allegedly conducted," the U.S. Postal Service said in a statement. "Solnin was charged with allegedly defrauding advertising firms across the U.S. of almost a half-million dollars by convincing them to pay fees for a 'unique opportunity' that never materialized."
Despite repeated requests, Solnin declined to comment for this article.

subset: commoncrawl


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DHS -FEMA Updates
* * * Webinar Reminder * * *
Starting Early: Financial Preparation for Disasters and Emergencies
Tuesday, April 9 -- 3:00 p.m. EDT
Next week, on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 from 3:00 4:00 PM EDT, FEMA's Individual and Community Preparedness Division (ICPD) will host a free webinar entitled, Starting Early: Financial Preparation for Disasters and Emergencies. This event will highlight best practice programs and tools to engage local communities on the often overlooked financial aspect of disaster preparedness. Personnel from the federal government and non-profit organizations such as the Consumer Financial Preparedness Bureau (CFPB) and Operation Hope will also be participating and discussing their work in this critical area.
For more information or to register, please visit: http://connect.hsin.gov/financiallita/event/registration.html
Please use this link if you are already a registered HSIN user and simply need to log in to the webinar: http://connect.hsin.gov/financiallita/event/registration_login.html
Reaching the Whole Community in Disaster Preparedness
Earlier this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) marked its 34 th anniversary. As FEMA looks ahead, the agency will continue its efforts to engage with the whole community in disaster preparedness. Effective disaster preparedness means everyone must get involved including underserved populations.
Each person's abilities and needs are different and should be evaluated to fit the unique needs of individuals in disaster plans. A recent webinar highlighted successful efforts at the local level to foster an ongoing dialogue about preparedness and to build inclusive disaster plans in diverse communities.
When developing disaster plans, be sure to:
For more tips, view the webinar recording here .
April Showers Bring Increased Flood Risk
April showers can bring more than just flowers during springtime; it can also bring increased flood risk. Know the flood risk for your home and protect yourself today.
Take these steps to prepare for floods ahead of time:
Just because you haven't experienced a flood in the past, doesn't mean you won't in the future. So don't hesitate and prepare right away.
Follow us on Twitter @Citizen_Corps or visit www.ready.gov/floods for more tips.
# # # # # # # # # # # #
About FEMA
FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate's activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.
The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.


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Maravela & Asociaţii
Press Report 07.2016
Best Lawyers: repeated international acknowledgement for Maravela & Asociaţii lawyers.
The founding partners of Maravela & Asociaţii have been once again listed by Best Lawyers International amongst the most prominent Romanian lawyers. Best Lawyers is one of the oldest and most respected international directories, being a peer based survey of the legal professionals.
Founding partners Gelu Maravela and Alina Popescu were listed in this year's edition of Best Lawyers International in no less than seven practice areas (Arbitration and Mediation, Corporate Law, Energy Law, Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation Natural Resources Law, Project Finance and Development Practice).
Furthermore, Gelu Maravela was designated, along 12 other of the most reputed Romanian business lawyers, as Lawyer of the year 2016-2017 in Romania, this being the second consecutive year when he is earning the title. This year, Gelu has been awarded the distinction for the Insolvency and Restructuring practice area.
Maravela & Asociaţii's Insolvency and Restructuring practice has also been recently ranked by the reputed London based international directory Legal 500 in the second tier nationwide.
The aforementioned international recognition of Maravela & Asociaţii joins a consistent list of awards and rankings the firm has received throughout time. For further information regarding the distinctions won, the team, practice areas covered and services offered, please access Maravela & Asociaţii's official website at http://www.maravela.ro or contact us directly by e-mail, at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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"Great place"
- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Helpful (2)
I have been working at Infusion full-time (More than a year)
Greate people some interesting projects.
You may not like on site consulting.
Helpful (10)
I worked at Infusion full-time (More than a year)
You'll get exposure to the financial industry, all the pain will make you stronger when you finally leave in disgust.
Management will lie to you every step of the way. No promise of training or bonus will be followed up on. Projects are structured to maximize unpaid overtime. Clients are shortchanged by young kids just out of college. Everyone leaves in disgust, it's just a matter of how quickly you wake up.
Advice to Management
Helpful (4)
I worked at Infusion full-time (More than 3 years)
A developer or technologist can get some great experience on exciting emerging technology projects. Multinational company with offices in exciting locations.
The inner circle of management can treat resources a bit like cattle which is a shame.


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Our last set of articles on Uber and Ola got some serious attention – the Economics of Using Uber in India and the Counter Arguments.
Since then things have seen sudden changes:
- Uber and Ola have seen regulation hit them – with Karnataka banning surge pricing, and mandating fees on cabs and sharing services alike.
- Plus, while they can enlist cabs, they can't own the vehicles, or prevent drivers from migrating to other services.
- Karnataka has started to seize cars that have surge charges
- Delhi has managed to arm twist Uber and Ola into removing surge charges while the Odd-Even scheme is going on
The Surge Deal: It Doesn't Really Work in India To Bring Out More Cars
The idea of Surge pricing was that if there aren't enough cars on the road, increasing prices will attract drivers.
It doesn't work like that in India. The rest of this section is pieced together from Uber drivers I've had good conversations with over the last few months.
In India both Uber and Ola "guarantee" certain incentives for drivers. Do 15 rides, we pay you Rs. 3000 extra as an incentive. Do 20 rides and you get Rs. 5000 etc. (The numbers change every week)
The billing is complex – you pay your Rs. 100 per ride (approximately). The driver does 15 such rides and bills Rs. 1500. And he gets another Rs. 3000 as an additional guaranteed incentive. That would add up to Rs. 4500. Then Uber takes 25%. Which reduces what the driver gets, to Rs. 3375. And so on.
Notice that Uber has paid Rs. 3000 extra beyond what you've paid, but taken back 25% of the total, which was Rs. 1125. So they net paid our Rs. 1775, in this example, from their pocket. Why would Uber lose money on every single day? Because they can.
So when there's a surge, let's say at 2.2x, the driver gets Rs. 220. Let's assume he gets this surge for all his 15 rides. Now he's rich! Not really. This sounds great, but apparently, Uber and Ola rough up the calculations here. The extra Rs. 120 isn't something that's directly paid out to the driver – it's considered part of the Rs. 3000 "incentive". So the driver still gets paid Rs. 100 (the non-surge fare) x 15 rides = 1500. Then he gets the surge = Rs. 120 x 15 = Rs. 1800. But since he gets the surge, the incentive of Rs. 3000 is brought down to Rs. 1200 instead.
And the net calculation still works out for him to be the exact same – Rs. 3375 for the day. The only person that benefits is Uber – it tends to lose less when it applies Surge pricing than otherwise. (It still doesn't make money but that's not a bad thing nowadays)
The driver gets no benefit of the surge (but he would if the surge actually goes beyond the guarantee – though that's a far cry). So to a driver, surge or no surge, he gets the amount he's guaranteed, so he's fine.
Therefore drivers don't actually like to be in an area where there is a surge. Because people hate to book cabs in surge times, and drivers don't get anything extra, but they have to keep waiting! And they risk the loss of the 15 ride minimum they have to make every day. But Uber's algorithm creates surge pricing in almost every single area at the same time – so drivers just stay put if they can't find a no-surge area nearby.
So Surge Pricing doesn't really bring out drivers – and this is also why you might find yourself with a number of Uber cars around you, parked and empty, and yet, you see that 3.6x surge that refuses to go down.
Note: This concept has changed over time and is probably going to change further but this is how I understand the billing based on conversations I've had.
Update: Uber Delhi has stated on twitter that Uber maintains incentives separately from surge. I'm not sure how to read the rest of the tweet where incentive structures are different – and my conversations with drivers recently has me convinced that they believe surge doesn't come to them at all.
@deepakshenoy @satish_49 @r0h1n it still is! Partners across India are on different incentive structures, but surge is always passed on
— Uber Delhi (@Uber_Delhi) April 19, 2016
Other people have said Ola doesn't pass the surge on, but Uber does. Yet others have said Delhi drivers have confirmed they get the surge separate from the incentive, but people in Bangalore have tweeted that Bangalore drivers don't make the surge. So it could vary from city to city, or from provider to provider. (Note: I only have feedback from multiple drivers, so take all opinions as such)
Cutting Surge Will Hurt Ola and Uber
As we've noticed, removing surge pricing only hurts the cab aggregators. Not the drivers. Because the drivers get their payout no matter what.
Surge is also crazily heavy. Even at Rs. 7 per km, the total cost is Rs. 15 per kilometer, nearly. Because beyond Rs. 7 per km, they charge you Rs. 1 per minute – and in city traffic, it's a kilometer every five minutes = Rs. 5 per kilometer extra. That's now Rs. 12.
And then you have a minimum of Rs. 35 or so. The meter starts at Rs. 35. For a ride of 10 kilometers that's Rs. 3.5 per kilometer. Add this too, and you get a price of Rs. 15.5 per kilometer.
It's not Rs. 7 per kilometer. It's Rs. 15.5 for a 10 kilometer ride. Even more for a shorter ride.
The maximum you can charge in Karnataka is about Rs. 25 per km (at night) and about Rs. 20 per km in the day. A "Surge" price of even 1.5x takes the total cost up higher than the maximum!
This is probably why the Karnataka Govt has stopped this. In general, if people are angry that the government is trying to dictate prices, please remember that public service prices are usually regulated to an upper limit, and even Airlines have been stopped from charging over certain approved fares. Mutual fund commissions are regulated. The amount a broker can charge is regulated (upper limit). The idea here is that when you have a large population that potentially depends on you, the way for the regulator to build trust is to create frameworks where one doesn't feel cheated – otherwise as a public they will cry for larger regulation, and in India, they will get it. While this may not be great for a person who thinks a sucker and his money should be parted, or that the buyer beware philosophy must prevail, the larger fact is that such situations create a massive trust deficit because you know that people cheat you all the time.
Sure the alternatives are not much better – like autos, who won't even come in the direction you want to go. And you still have the ability to take a Meru or a full service cab. But then, since there are upper limits on those fares, there should be upper limits on the Uber/Ola fares too – just level the playing field a little more.
Fixing it: Charge the Maximum, But Offer Discounts Through The Day
Uber can still charge you a surge – just not as high as they currently offer. They can offer you the ride at Rs. 25 per kilometer and at "good" times, offer a discount of 50%, taking your cost down to Rs. 12.5 per kilometer. As the demand goes up, the discounts can come down.
It's still a surge, but the government will like it better.
Oh, and for the math, Uber and Ola will still lose money, but hey, that's fashionable nowadays. They might make the profit grade if they hit extreme scale and are able to cut driver incentives. This is a tough ask, but like Ravi Shastri says, the game is on and all three results are possible.
Disclosure: I Still Use Uber/Ola, But A Lot Lesser
At a personal level, I've started to use my car much more – I was almost completely on Uber. Because:
- Uber isn't available when you want it fast – and typically takes 15 minutes to turn around, what with the driver asking you for instructions, missing turns and what not.
- And then there's the surge, which just pisses me off especially when I see empty Uber cars around.
- And my car is turning out to be half the expense of Uber, because it's fully paid for (no interest costs), I don't have to pay for parking, and it's right there when I want it.
Uber and Ola are useful to drive into the city where parking is a pain, for trips after a pub visit or when I need to have relatives travel (where I can book and pay). So for that I would love to see these companies continue to make things available for me, and I would happily take other public transport as well.
Please take a minute and answer the poll – Share your opinion with us. You can choose more than one option from below.
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Related Links:
Counter Arguments On Uber Economics: What About The Cost of Owning a Car, And Other Deeply Insightful Questions
Ola & Uber Raised More Money in 2014 That all the IPOs in India! We Tell You how These Companies Work
Here's Why RBI Did Not Allow Uber to Use Single-Factor Authentication to Bill You
The premise of this explanation that surge doesn't lead to more drivers since uber short changes drivers is solely based on conversations with drivers? How far is it advisable to take this as gospel truth considering that this is against uber's general policy and the drivers would always want the rider to feel they arent fleecing them, and the company is making the real money.
I'm not sure if Uber's policy should be considered Gospel truth either :) My conversations with drivers tells me they're very well aware of how the incentive system works…
Do I get to say: "I told you so"?
Ola and uber will force drivers to stage protests… I disagree that drivers have nothing to lose. They will be the ultimate losers.
I think it's just a ploy by politicians in Karnataka govt threatening Ola/Uber to send them some bags of money
I and my family completely rely on Uber & Ola.
We do have a car and rarely take it out.
The convenience of not having to find parking tops everything, but then again, surge and finding cabs in peak times suck. Hopefully more cabs would help bring the supply demand situation down.
In Hyderabad, I see new "yellow plate" cars everyday, Based on my experience at work and conversations with drivers, drivers are quitting "transport companies" to start their own business. Many have come from near by villages as well.
When the incentives do come down, I am scared if all these drivers can really afford the EMI for their cars? Bubble in making?
Ya Hyd is relatively new. BLR has some 100,000 cars now that seem to have either Ola or Uber. This is not yet saturation point, but it will get there. Many people i know just want to make it to the three-four year mark when the EMI will be done with!
100,000? Thats a lot! Even if Uber/Ola were paying out an average incentive (Net of their fee) of INR 500 per car per day (vs the INR 1,775 assumed), they would be losing INR 5 cr a day in only BLR (Thats INR 1,825cr a year!) . Doesnt that seem too much?
Yeah – though 100,000 is the total number of cabs apparently – many must only do Uber or Ola exclusively (you have to, to get the incentives). So I think they are probably losing around 50 cr. a month per city, probably a little more….
I wanted to know more about Uber business as a driver and I did register on their site. I got some calls and told them I am no longer interested. But I do keep getting the sms reg the incentives.
Here is the latest one for Hyderabad
Special Incentive Scheme for you from Monday, 18th April. EARN Rs. 25/- PER KM in peak hours!!. (To qualify min. 4 peak trips per day). Non-peak hrs – earn Rs. 13/- per km on each trip. In peak hours do at least 4 trips and earn extra incentive of Rs. 12/- per km. (Total Rs. 25/- per km). Earn extra on surge trips!! Minimum Guarantees – Rs. 4000 for 11 trips (min. 8 peak trips). Peak Hours: Mon-Fri: 9am-12pm, 3pm-10pm Sat & Sun: 10am-1pm, 3pm-10pm Airport: Peak airport trips will be counted as 2 peak trips and extra on airport trips as they are longer. Your day is counted from 4Am to 4AM. Thank You Uber Hyderabad.
Thanks Ravi. I think this is the kind I've seen in BLR too. The "guaranteed minimum" includes the surge (it's some 3 or 4K for 15 trips now). So technically if they do 11 trips, surge or no surge, they get the 4K. Out of this they need to do 8 tripes in the 10 hours of peak time (In blr that is also up to 10 trips I think).
This article is fundamentally incorrect.
Uber and Ola offer BUSINESS guarantees i.e. they assure the drivers that if they do x number of trips, the company guarantees them y amount of money. If their earning is less than y, the company will top it up. So to take you example – if the guarantee is 3000 for 12 trips, if the driver does 12 trips and makes Rs.2500, the company will add on Rs.500. If the driver does business worth Rs.3300 in 12 trips, the company will not add anything. The commission is cut on the total amount.
Keeping this in mind, it's easy to spot the flaw in your logic. The driver gives himself a target of 12 trips daily because he knows he is definitely going to make Rs.3000 (minus commission). If he gets some surge trips, he might make Rs.3000 even before 12 trips. After that, whether he drives more or not is up to him. A lot of drivers would be happy to pack it in once they have reached the daily target they have set for themselves – it's like leaving office at 3pm. That's the benefit that drivers get from surge – make money faster, and go home early if they want.
Feel free to check this the next time you are conversing with a driver.
No – the guaranteed incentive is on top of the ride earning, but apparently it includes surge extras. Now this may be a recent change (since earlier the surge was separate and not included in the incentive) and varies by city
However my conversations are like this – a driver only wants to make a certian number of trips. Not a rupee amount. All they ask each other (in Kannada on the phone) is – how mmany trips are you done with? at 11 PM a guy was worried he had not reached the number for the day, and many others I've met have even asked me to book a dummy trip (marked as cash) for meeting that number-of-trips target, at the end of the day. Others even told me they quit after the target number is reached – one recent driver was furious at the minimum being increased to 15 a day! (He was making 12 easily by 7 pm, now he has to work till 9-10pm)
Drivers only want to make a certain number of trips because they want to make a certain amount of money. If they can make it in x trips, they will do x trips. If they can make it in x-5 trips, they will do x-5 trips.
NOpe – it's clearly number of trips, unrelated to amount of money. All my conversations with them is only around how many trips…
yes But I guess what Dipesh is saying is that, if the "incentive amount" can be reached by taking up surge trips (assuming surge amount is a part of the incentive amount). Then the driver can call it quits for the day after x-5 trips since he maxed out the incentive amount for the day.
But I am pretty sure the drivers will keep it simple and target 12 trips rather than calculating the surge amount.
I once had a conversation with a driver in hyd who got a new car, his uncle paid the down payment for the car in a profit sharing model. So the driver and his uncle split the profits after deducting all running expenses including the EMI.
I told him he got a very short end of the stick but he still didn't get it. He continues to say that it's his uncle who paid for the car and after his gig, his uncle will own the car. The loan is in the drivers name, he is paying the EMI.. anyways.
True – I agree with that. The problem currently is that the incentive is much higher than the surge chargeable amount – even at 2x surge you might only see Rs. 300 per trip; 11 trips of that is just 3300 and not enough to make up the incentive. And the chances are that less people take the surge, waiting instead for surge to fall (or looking at alternatives). That severely reduces their chances of getting a ride (since somehow the surge doesn't seem to consider that enough cars are available) – and jeopardizes their number of trips goal….
I think drivers are smart enough to gang up and switch off their mobiles so that Uber woudl hit a surge (if surge was that good for them)…
Pause to ask yourself why they care about the number of trips. They do because they get a certain amount of guaranteed money for completing those trips. Now if they could get that money without doing as many trips, do you think they would still care about the number of trips?
Our conversation is continuing because while I am suggesting that the incentive is a 'business guarantee', you are claiming that it is a an amount paid on top of all fare. I would suggest you consider the possibility that my point might be accurate and take just one trip today and ask a driver. You might be working with old data.
Dipesh – my most recent trip was two days ago :) But here's the thing – they care about those number of trips because they know that the money they can earn is only possible through a large number of trips. They know also, both intuitively and by experience, that hoping that surge prices will make the numbers for them simply won't work – for multiple reasons: one, that they don't get riders at surge times (the number of rides goes down substantially according to nearly all people I spoke with). Second, that the calculations change often and if they think that they've made the grade, they might find out later that some stupid thing happened and they didn't. The trip number is a much better metric to target – because they know that if they make it, they get the deal.
I know a guy who meticulously documented how much each trip cost (and he would ask the passenger what fare they were shown so that it was confirmed). He told me in general there has been a 1000 rupees per day difference between what he thinks he should get and what Uber pays him – and he's looking to lose a day fighting this out if it goes to a higher amount.
I get your point about a business guarantee versus an "on the top" incentive. I'm just saying that because of that incentive structure itself, drivers don't care about the surge – mostly because the behavioural isuuse I point out earlier regarding lack of proper knowledge of how much they've earned, and the irregularity of rides during a surge. Given this, drivers want to avoid a surge and do the trip count rather than work the surge numbers. If you're gonna get the numbers by doing trip-counts, then why bother with surge and all that?
You should take a trip, ask a driver – do they like surges, do they go to surge areas to take advantage and do they target trip counts rather than money. Would love to hear what you make of it…
Your understanding of how the driver incentive structure works, is grossly mistaken. Surge pricing is passed onto the driver, unlike you mention and the actual calculations for the driver's daily earnings who takes 15 rides in the day at 2.2x surge would be as follows:
From the trip fare: Rs. 220 * 15 = Rs. 3300
Uber's commission: Rs. 3300 * 25% = Rs. 825
Driver incentive on 15 trips: Rs. 3000
Net driver's earnings for the day: Rs. 5475/-
(On a side note, also notice that Uber's commission of 25% is calculated only on the fare amount and NOT the incentive)
Key notes:
– Does that mean that Uber is actually burning money on every ride, and there's no surge multiple compensating for that? Yes.
More importantly, note that the commission of 25% is earned on all rides, while the incentive is handed out only to the most consistent drivers (approximate that to the top 10%), the commission from the rest is where the money for the incentive comes from.
– So, does surge pricing actually drive up supply to match the demand? Partly.
Unlike the US market, most drivers on Uber platform are full-time registered cab drivers. There are no individuals Ubering for a few extra bucks. So, while surge pricing does not have the same effect as bringing more drivers onto the platform, it does help drive the available supply to the right places (where the demand is). And that's the essence of surge pricing.
Hope this clarifies, Deepak. :)
Feel free to edit your article with these inputs.
PS: I know all of the above with certainty because I work in this industry.
Thanks. I see some clarifications by Uber Delhi on their twitter account as well. My conversations with drivers was about this very concept – where earlier, at least in Uber, the surge would come to drivers – but recently they've been telling me things have changed on the commission front – first that Uber increased the minimum rides for the incentive from 12 to 15 and also that surge was included into the incentive.
Unfortunately nearly all drivers I know have told me it's simply not gonna work out for them if they don't do the incentive limit every day – so I don't believe the top 10% funda at all. I understand you work in the industry, but as an anonymous source I cannot hold your words to a greater truth than inputs from many drivers I've had the pleasure of riding with.
If you're in the industry then you might notice that drivers suddenly move away from surge areas if possible, especially when surge crosses 2x. In the mornings and evenings there's a surge nearly everywhere, so they just wait. (At least in Bangalore). The surge pricing doesn't depend on how many drivers are in the area at the time, but about how the algo determines supply and demand, according to Uber itself – therefore even drivers will know soon that their going somewhere will not reduce the surge (and therefore increase the chances that people will book a ride).
I'm making some changes about Uber's official clarification of course.
The regulator aka Kejri acting on whim is the agent for creating trust? Waah. When an economics blogger misses the point about competition, it's time to throw in the towel. We deserve the shitty services we get
Deepak, Can you please tell me any other businesses which succeeded on the same business model: Increase customer base – Burn investor's money – Wait for tipping point – start charging more – people still use because they are "loyal" – everybody's happy.
I want to know why investors believe in such a model at all?
Well, amazon :) But they were able to charge more in different ways – from free shipping to paid, very low prices due to inventory optimization, adding Amazon prime, etc.
I don't know if this will work in the taxi industry but hey, someone's gotta try!
I use Taxi4Sure for most of the time and very few trips with Ola or Ola Micro just to check their service levels. I don't have a car and I do sometimes face issues like Car didn't turn up when you expect them to. Used Uber just for 2 times just to check their service. I live in Pune & near IT Hub of Hinjewadi. I never paid surge pricing. Almost 20-30 trips since Aug 2015. I feel there is very bright future as Ola/Uber Driver at least in PCMC Area of Pune where Auto don't follow the rules and demand any amount in their head looking at customer. They will definitely kill other mode of public transport if other mode's don't innovate or fall in line. I also chat with drivers about incentives and they definitely get based on number of trips and shorter trips helps them to achieve that target.
I do get into conversation with every cab driver that I meet. I use Uber mainly in Bangalore. Every driver told me that the Surge Price benefit is not passed to the cab drivers.
There you go – so I'm not alone!
Its really a sad part of this system that the Driver doesn't get any Surge Price Benefit. I haven't use their service but have heard it from some of my friends.
Deepak, I have three questions:
1) First one is regarding your claim that surge price benefits don't really go to the cab drivers. Now, starting 15th April, with the implementation of odd-even scheme, surge pricing in Delhi went off the roof, both for Ola and Uber, which ultimately culminated in suspension of surge pricing in Delhi. We can all agree that the introduction of odd-even scheme was an exogenous shock to the demand side which led to an increase in demand for cabs. There was no such shock to the supply of cabs, it somewhat remained the same. Maybe Uber/Ola, preempting this surge in demand, put additional structures in place to meet that demand – we don't know. But it's fair to say that supply of cabs could not have increased as much as the demand increased. Now if we assume that surge priced fares don't go to cab drivers at all, what you're essentially saying is surges as high as 5x which were seen starting April 15th, were just a profit making exercise by Ola/Uber. So you're saying, Uber, a multinational company worth 60 billion USD who has been accused of predatory pricing and driving prices so low that it eliminates competition, used the odd-even scheme, when people in Delhi were dependent on Uber more than usual, to drive up its profits 4x -5x times? And its competitor Ola, which is constantly waging a turf war with Uber, simultaneously used this precise moment to quadruple their profits instead of lowering prices to poach Uber consumers who didn't want to hail Uber at 4x-5x prices? AND both the market players, which have excellent PR and strategy teams, did not envisage a scenario where this sort of exorbitant pricing will result in public outrage and ultimately culminate in regulatory action banning its profit churning arm of operations – surge pricing? There must be something wrong with our assumption that surge pricing is not a mechanism for incentivising the cab drivers.
1) Let's say we buy your argument that the benefits of surge pricing go only to Uber and there is not incremental advantage to the cab drivers. In that case, they would be surge agnostic to the rides they pick up – they won't care if it's a normal ride or a surge ride, since the proceeds are not gonna go to them. Explain to me how you conclude that surge pricing will thus, deter a cab driver from taking the surge rides? Your argument is that cabs in surge areas prefer to run away from there because people don't want to pay more for their rides. But have you thought of the possibility that the unavailability of cabs in a particular area IS the precise reason why surge pricing is triggered in the first place! Hence, there is actually no moment when there are cabs waiting in the surge areas, whiling away time till surge price goes away. Surge pricing kicks in when there are no cabs in that area to induce cab drivers from other places (which are further away) to come to that area.
3) I still fail to see what is wrong with this incentive structure? You have possibly brought out new information to light – the veracity of your surge price claim still remains questionable. But even if this is the incentive structure in play, I fail to understand your conclusion. Uber and Ola have an incentive structure for the drivers: They get the safety of a very handsome, fixed earning a day if they complete x number of rides and no additional earnings if they take surge rides. Let's say the surge pricing algorithm is based on supply of cabs in a 5 km radius around the consumer. If there are no cabs in the radius, the surge pricing will kick in and a cab from, let's say, an 8km concentric circle will come to service you at 1.8x price. Instead of the driver, in that 8km radius, being incentivised by the lure of higher cab fare, he is incentivised by the lure of finishing his target for the day. Uber will pocket this profit on the ride. Now whether Uber/Ola uses that money to further increase incentives for drivers so that surge is driven even lower or whether they choose to give exorbitant perks to its employees, how is that of any concern to us? The consumer got serviced in that moment, but at a higher cost. Now he/she may value the reliability of Uber's/Ola's availability at all times (which a lot of young people, especially women do in Delhi) for which he/she willing to pay. There is welfare gains to the society because I now have a service which has a very short service time (5 mins average) and is always reliable!
1) Are you telling me multinational companies do NOT gouge out their customers for money? My birthdate is not yesterday :) I know how ola operates closely – they keep prices and surges close enough to Uber. Do you know why Shell or Essar, which own private petrol pumps, don't kepe prices of petrol/diesel lower than the pump rates of IOC/HPCL/BPCL, even though their input costs are lower? Shell and Essar are also large companies. The answer is: because they can.
2) Please read my argument about surge. People don't book during a surge. So the cabs are empty. They would prefer to take the ride, but they can't becasue people aren't booking them. I have personal experience of standing in front of five Uber cars in Koramangala, even talking to them, while waiting for the surge to decline. Why does that happen? Obviously because the surge is irrational and doesn't have anything to do with availability – it'sa problem with the algo. But that doesnt matter – the point is: I'm waiting for surge to die, and the drivers are waiting to get a ride, and are wasting time.
3) The very point is this – driver cannot reach his target because people aren't taking rides because tehre's a surge on. It's simple. Customer didn't get serviced – he just chose to wait or take an auto. Women do tend to get pissed off at high surge rates too and even tehy will migrate to alternatives if available (like a Meru, which has a fixed rate no matter what). I have personally taken autos and seen women (in Bangalore) take autos when the surge was high. The lack of alternatives is temporary and will last only as long as Uber and Ola are making losses – when they decide to pass on the cost to the rider, I can guarantee that a number of alternative service players will come in (at least one that I know of is waiting for the crunch and has even enrolled drivers in Bangalore).
Uber or Ola will also face the problem that companies are eventually going to limit surge payments to, say, 2x. Many companies are already doing that. This means if Surge is > 2x (which would put the cost higher than alternatives like Meru or Auto) then an employee will not get reimbursed – so automatically there is an incentive to wait or find alternatives.
Also remember this: if Cabs aren't paid "extra" by Uber or Ola, they have no reason to stay loyal to them and pay them 20%. In rush hour, they will just choose to "pick up" people themselves and use some kind of free metering software at a similar non surge rate – thus bypassing Ola and Uber entirely. Because surge pisses off people, they will be happy to sign up direct too. That's an end-game that Uber and Ola simply do not want.
It unfolds as I had anticipated (see my comment above)
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In a Securities and Exchange Commission ruling handed down last Tuesday, Timothy Miller, former chief investment officer and a portfolio manager for Invesco Funds Group, Thomas Kolbe, the former national sales manager for IFG, and Michael Legoski, a former assistant vice president in the firm's sales department, were ordered to pay penalties of $150,000, $150,000 and $40,000, respectively, and $1 apiece in disgorgement.
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Photo by Samantha Sophia
By Rob Okun
The white male bully temporarily occupying the White House represents the worst expression of manhood the U.S. has ever seen, but that dangerous truth is being obscured by so many of his other treacherous actions. Millions of words have been written excoriating the questionably elected president on a host of topics — from denying climate change to restricting minority voting rights; from sanctioning draconian drug laws to promoting harsh prison sentences for nonviolent offenders. Almost entirely absent in this blizzard of assaults on social progress is the predator-in- chief's misogyny.
A virtual sea of pink pussy hats liberally dotted the heads of millions of women worldwide protesting The Thin-Skinned Tyrant the day after the inauguration. Happily, plenty of men attended. But since then, as a gender, where have men been?
Before the election, a dozen women charged The Thin-Skinned Tyrant with sexual misconduct. The Thin-Skinned Tyrant pledged to sue them all after the election, a promise he has not kept.
Consider: In a sworn affidavit, his exwife Ivana accused him in 1991 of rape. In a subsequent divorce deposition—while still saying her husband had "raped" her—she said she didn't want this to be interpreted in "a literal or criminal sense." Nevertheless, she added, "As a woman, I felt violated." She downplayed her charge to secure a divorce settlement of $14 million in cash. As for The Thin-Skinned Tyrant? He's on record admitting to sexually assaulting women on the infamous Hollywood Access tape.
A simple question—a challenge, actually— for men: Why are we not standing up and speaking out to the effect that as men—sons, brothers, uncles, husbands, fathers, grandfathers—we unequivocally reject The Thin-Skinned Tyrant's denigrating behavior toward women? He is no role model for children or grandchildren. Those of us who are fathers or grandfathers—or mentors, coaches, clergy—need to explicitly reject his misogyny—which his administration's policies and a Republican-majority Congress are promoting. Otherwise, by our silence, are we not normalizing his behavior? To advance women's rights, men must join women on the front lines: for reproductive rights, for earning a hundred cents—not 79 cents—on the dollar, for childcare, family leave, nutrition assistance, for adding, not cutting, afterschool programs, among a myriad of programs in jeopardy.
We face many crises today—from the health of the climate to the health of the Constitution. When it comes to advancing gender equality and justice, men have a singular role to play: modeling a sensitive, aware manhood. Let's start by asking women how we can support them—and really listening to what they have to say. Then, let's talk with other men about how we want to get our voices heard. The renter in the White House is the most visible exemplar of men behaving atrociously; unfortunately, he is not alone. If we want to prevent his minions from feeling emboldened, it is up to men to say yes to a compassionate, nurturing expression of manhood. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.
A summary of the accusations lodged against the president:
Jessica Leeds (1980s) claims The Thin-Skinned Tyrant groped her on an airplane. "[H]e was like an octopus…his hands were everywhere."
First Trophy Wife of The Jack 'o Lantern Cum Blimp (1988) In a sworn deposition, The Thin-Skinned Tyrant's ex-wife accused him of raping her during their divorce in 1991.
Kristin Anderson (early 1990s) was at a nightclub when she felt The Thin-Skinned Tyrant's fingers slide under her skirt, move up her inner thigh and touch her vagina through her underwear.
Jill Harth (1993) claims The Thin-Skinned Tyrant groped her under a table at a business dinner, then months later assaulted her at his Florida mansion. He "pushed me up against [his daughter's bedroom] wall, had his hands all over me and tried to get up my dress…."
Jane Doe (1994) Anonymous accuser filed a federal lawsuit claiming The Thin-Skinned Tyrant raped her when she was 13.
Temple Taggart (1997) claims The Thin-Skinned Tyrant kissed her against her wishes in the 1997 Miss Teen USA pageant. "He kissed me directly on the lips."
Cathy Heller (1997) claims when introduced to The Thin-Skinned Tyrant, he "went for the lips" and kept her there "for a little too long…" despite her turning her head.
Karena Virginia (1998) claims "The Thin-Skinned Tyrant grabbed my right arm. Then his hand touched the right inside of my breast. I was in shock, I flinched." The Thin-Skinned Tyrant asked her: "Don't you know who I am?"
Mindy McGillivray (2003) claims The Thin-Skinned Tyrant groped her at Mar-a-Lago. He "grabbed [her] butt.… All of a sudden I felt a grab, a little nudge…I turn around and there's Donald."
Natasha Stoynoff (2005), charges "The Thin-Skinned Tyrant pushed me against a wall and forcing his tongue down my throat" when she was at his home to interview him and his wife.
Jessica Drake (2005) accused The Thin-Skinned Tyrant of touching and kissing her without her consent, claiming he offered her £8,000 (about $10,000) and the use of his private jet to have sex with him.
Rachel Crooks (2005) claims when she introduced herself and shook hands, he wouldn't let go and "kissed me directly on the mouth."
Summer Zervos (2007) charges that The Thin-Skinned Tyrant "aggressively kissed" her and placed his hand on her breast when she met with him at his hotel to discuss a job after appearing on The Apprentice.
Cassandra Searles (2013) Former Miss Washington was a contestant in The Thin-Skinned Tyrant's Miss USA pageant when she claims that he "continually grabbed my ass and invited me to his hotel room."
For sources for quotes and accounts, see www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/24/documenting-trumps-abuse-of-women; www.thesun.co.uk/news/2059156/donaldtrump-sexual-misconduct-allegations/.


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I saw Jupiter last night, blazing from its velvet of sky.
Sure enough, I had found Jupiter in the Eastern sky, right alongside the Twins, Castor and Pollux. Over to the right, just as I had expected, was Orion. From there, I couldn't see many other stars from my window, but I still waved the phone about, seeing what was out there in space, whether I could see them or not. When I pointed it at Will, I was told that (way beyond him in space) was the constellation of Neptune; above my head was a Pegasus, and over a little I found Perseus. These made me grin, and I told Will that it was a lot more fun looking at constellations when I knew a little mythology. I know what all the names are now! (Thanks Rick Riordan, for getting me interested!)
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The Season Begins
I rolled out of bed at a reasonably early hour on Monday, stumbled out of my red and white pajamas and into my festive plaid for the day; blinked through a bit of Bible reading, and stuck my laptop (now playing Christmas music) into Ben's room to wake him up. Then I headed downstairs to the kitchen. The coffee was made already, so I started tea and bacon, and moved on to pancakes and whipped cream. It was a scrumptious way to start the morning, let me tell you. Ben was under the weather with a cold (which is why there are no pictures of him) but he was soon downstairs wearing his own red plaid (his elf-hat came out later).
|we don't actually have any snow just now, but if it wants to fall, that's fine by me!
|(Because flame-retardant icicles is a revolutionary concept)
Twice-baked potatoes -- a particularly delectable tradition that Ben and I started several years ago. We stuffed ourselves with this rare treat after carrying down countless boxes and bins and setting up the tree. Then we set about with lights and glittering balls, tinsel hanging off our ears and Psych's Christmas episodes on in the background (Ben and I like to add our own traditions to the mix). He and I enjoyed a happy jumble of Bing Crosby, Shawn Spencer, Michael Bublé (of course!), Perry Como, Diana Krall,The Chipmunk song, etc. We would have added the Christmas episodes of NCIS if we had them. We like a little cop-show with our Christmas cheer. ;)
|One must have ginger-spice cake of course
I made this while Nigella's Christmas Kitchen played, and Ben was away at basketball practice. I put more decorations on the tree while it baked. It was dark and rich and treacle-y. Perfect for this chilly weather.
|our German twirling nativity
|~tree is in the diningroom this year
|meatballs and pasta; roast acorn squash, beets, and carrots
Posted by Olivia at 4:25 PM 3 comments: Links to this post
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
At Random
Posted by Olivia at 3:05 PM No comments: Links to this post
Wodehouse Wednesday
"It was one of those days you sometimes get latish in the autumn when the sun beams, the birds toot, and there is a bracing tang in the air that sends the blood beetling briskly through the veins."
~ P.G. Wodehouse
' "That is the mystery which we have to solve. This Honest Patch Perkins, as he called himself, must have borrowed you car . . . with or without your permission."
"Incredible, m'lord"
"Thank you, Jeeves. Incredible! How would I know any Honest Patch Perkins?"
"You don't?"
"Never heard of him in my life. Never laid eyes on him. What does he look like?"
"He is tall . . . about your height . . . and wears a ginger mustache and a black patch over his left eye."
"No, dash it, that's not possible . . . Oh, I see what you mean. A black patch over his left eye and a ginger mustache on the upper lip. I thought for a moment . . ."
"And a checked coat and a crimson tie with blue horseshoes on it."
"Good heavens! he must look the most ghastly outsider. Eh, Jeeves?"
"Certainly far from soigne, m'lord."
"Very far from soigne. Oh, by the way, Jeeves, that reminds me. Bertie Wooster told me that you once made some such remark to him, and it gave him the idea for a ballad to be entitled, 'Way down upon the soigne river'. Did anything ever come of it, do you know?"
"I fancy not, m'lord."
"Bertie wouldn't have been equal to whacking it out, I suppose. But one can see a song hit there, handled by the right person." '
---The Return of Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse
Posted by Olivia at 12:30 PM No comments: Links to this post
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text: there's much more to iran than what's talked about on the evening news. co-hosted by prince claus fund and de nieuwe kerk an evening on contemporary iranian photography is held tonight [8pm] at the latter's grand downtown venue. invited to the event are malu halasa, journalist and co-editor of transit tehran, and photographer newsha tavakolian who will both engage in a discussion on the topic. this event is part of the passion for perfection exhibition that is currently held at the venue. location: dam 12 [centrum]. © newsha tavakolian - listen [2010]


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It was warm...part II
Warning: Graphic content, weak stomachs stop reading now, you will thank me!!
If you haven't read the post "It was warm..." Please do so now before you continue. Ok, now that we are all up to speed let us continue. Jill's mom took our girls this morning over to Orange to play with their cousins for the day since Jill had a bridal shower to go to and I had a ton of work to finish. It was a peaceful but quiet day around the house as I did some homework and checked in on the NFL draft every once in a while. When Jill got back we got in the car and headed out to Orange for dinner with the fam. I made some yummy pollo asado and we also picked up some fresh tortillas, rice and beans from the Mexican market down the street. Just as I was dishing out my girls food, my youngest comes stumbling in from outside coughing and coughing. Her eyes are red and watery and the look on her face told the whole story. Those of you who know the other post know what comes next. There she is in the middle of the kitchen and she pukes all over the floor and all over her self. It was some serious projectile vomit! I started cracking up at this point because seeing that little girl heave is quite a site. She empties her tummy and as Jill and I start cleaning her up she looks up at me and says "Daddy, I 'pilled" (translation: I spilled). "Yep, you sure did honey!" For those of you who have spent time with my youngest, you can almost see it and hear it, hands outstretched, palms up, shoulders shrugged, that raspy high pitched voice saying once again, "I 'pilled, on dah floooor". Now I really start laughing. She was right; she sure did spill all over the place. This time I held back, and let the puke hit the floor and didn't catch it. Well we grabbed the Clorox wipes and cleaned it all up just in time to sit down and eat dinner. What a life I lead and I wouldn't change a thing!!!


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Leased By
- Photos
- 3 Beds
- 2 Baths
- 1 Car
This easy-care, very tidy 3 bedroom home has all the extras. With a big double garage, spacious bathrooms, air conditioning and En-suite to main.
The home is low maintenance with lush turf and covered entertaining area in the fully fenced backyard, just perfect for weekend BBQ's. Inside there is a generous open-plan kitchen, dining and living area, all air conditioned for your complete comfort.
The kitchen is fantastic with plenty of bench and storage space, stone bench-tops and dishwasher. There is also good storage with built-in wardrobes in all bedrooms. All bedrooms also have ceiling fans, plus air conditioning and en-suite bathroom in the master.
Located in a quiet neighbourhood, only 10 mins from Maroochydore, close to schools and shops.
Pets on application.
All of this is ready to rent at just $435 per week. Better contact Bree today and register your interest.
- Air Conditioning
- Built-In Wardrobes
- Close To Schools
- Close To Shops
- Close To Transport
- Secure Parking
- Single Garage
Bli Bli
Do you want to find out more about this suburb? Enter your details to receive a free comprehensive suburb report.


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Dario Chiazzolino is a multi-award winning Italian guitarist and composer. One of Italy's most in-demand jazz musicians , he performs regularly and records with many top European and American jazz musicians.
He has recorded 8 albums as a leader, and 12 as a sideman and an in demand educator, Dario has been teaching in Italy for 15 years, and has held teaching residencies in Italy and Europe. His new album as a leader "Red Cloud" was released in February 2016.
"The Multiamp is something really unique and innovative for all guitar players" —says Dario— "It has an infinite high-profile range of sounds that can make every guitarist feel comfortable while performing live and in studio".
And About DV Jazz 12: "Definitely the best choice for all those guitarists who are combo oriented. The DV Jazz 12 has a warm and deep sound and it's super easy and light to transport. Highly recommended!"
On this video Michael Angelo Batio plays his song Hands Without Shadows live in studio. His DV Mark amp rig is a DV Little 250 M head into a DV Neoclassic 412 cab.
On this video DV Mark artist Michael Angelo Batio plays his tribute to Van Halen live in studio. His DV Mark amp rig is a DV Little 250 M head into a DV Neoclassic 412 cab.
DV Mark Artist Carmine Migliore releases his last single "Maledetta e sola".
On this video Rob Balducci plays the different live presets he created on his DV Mark Multiamp.
On this video the Italian guitar virtuoso Andrea Braido plays his tribute to the great Deep Purole song "Black Night". He used the DV Mark Multiamp recorded from the XLR cab simulated Outputs.
On this video the Italian guitar virtuoso Andrea Braido plays the song Lullaby of Birdland using his DV Jazz 12 combo amp.
DV Mark artist Andrea Braido plays Apache by Shadows using his Multiamp.
This is an interview with Kiko Loureiro about his career, his relationship with DV Mark and his use of the Multiamp.


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Credit: Copyright of iStockphoto. When you're too busy and tired, you feel stressed out it is tempting to grab refined carbohydrates and eat them in uncontrollable quantities. But if a diet regime is invented powiedzce mi jak szybko schudn?? 10 kg w miesi?c which is indeed powerful that it can the whole scenario of the available weight loss regimens? Yes, calorie shifting weight reduction can be a newer approach that will not depend upon any dieting or any exercise.
Low carb dieting concentrates on consuming foods high in protein and low in carbohydrates and sugars. There in many cases are changes, as there are always new discoveries. Low-calorie jelly. Hot water washes out the fat thus helping to lose weight easily. Alkaline water, called so because of its slightly alkaline pH, is considered to benefit our bodies by reducing blood acidity.
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Qatar, not on everybody's bucket list but it is gaining momentum on the tourist front especially through layover/stopover offers with Qatar Airways. I have lived in Qatar for over three years and have discovered that people's perceptions of the country are limited and many people even expats don't really head off the beaten track. So here are my hidden and not so hidden gems of Qatar! Continue reading The Hidden and Not So Hidden Gems of Qatar
Tag Archives: museum of islamic art
A to Z of Things to See and Things to Do in Qatar
We have lived in Qatar for almost three years and think we've got to know it pretty well! I know there are a lot of misconceptions about Qatar and people think there aren't many things to see and do in Doha. So here I have compiled my three years of knowledge into the ultimate A-Z list of Things to See and Things to Do in Qatar! Continue reading A to Z of Things to See and Things to Do in Qatar


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This stunning new development of 51 one and two bedroom retirement apartments offer fabulous views out across the bay.
The kitchen has been designed for practicality, with a fitted fridge/freezer and a waist-height oven to save bending down. The bedroom comes complete with fitted wardrobes as well as TV and telephone points, with even the smallest details considered.
Social and communal lifestyle
Communal gardens are carefully landscaped, giving you the perfect place to relax and enjoy an afternoon cup of tea, without having to worry about the maintenance and upkeep that a large garden so often demands. The carefully designed Owners' Lounge comes complete with a coffee bar and is a popular feature, providing the perfect venue for entertaining, participating in activities organised by your Lodge Manager, or just relaxing with a book. Events include everything from fish and chip suppers, to tea dances, giving you the chance to socialise as much as you like throughout the year.
Safety and security
The fully furnished Guest Suite provides an ideal space for your family and friends to stay over when visiting, while a lift to all floors is installed for your convenience.
This apartment comes complete with a 24 hour emergency Careline system, while a camera entry system is installed as standard, so you can feel safe and secure in your retirement. Intruder alarms and fire alarm systems are fitted throughout the Lodge, while a Lodge Manager is on hand to assist you with anything else you might need.
This stunning new development is situated perfectly opposite the harbour, with striking views of the ocean, and over to Marazion and Mount's Bay, home to St Michael's Mount. Wharfside Shopping Centre is on your doorstep, along with a number of coffee shops, eateries and Penzance train station in close proximity. For seaside retirement destinations, it really doesn't get any better than Mount's Bay Lodge!
Churchill Retirement Living is a privately owned, family run company. Founded in 1994, the company specialises exclusively in developing attractive, purpose-built retirement apartments for those in their retirement.Their reputation in this sector is well established, and their dedication to fulfilling the requirements of their Owners is based on an in-depth understanding of their needs. Every detail is carefully considered, from the location and use of local materials to the size and


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Director, Trauma Critical Care Surgery
New Hanover Regional Medical Center
- Surgery
Job Details
New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC), is actively recruiting a full time Trauma and Critical Care Surgeon to serve as the Medical Director of our Level II Trauma Center in Wilmington, NC. Candidates must be board certified in General Surgery and Critical Care with a strong interest in Emergency General Surgery, and a minimum of 10 years' experience in Academics. NHRMC is a 700 bed, Level II Trauma Center with 1,800 annual trauma admissions.
This surgeon will join 7 faculty surgeons in a hospital-employed, multispecialty group. NHRMC has an ACGME-accredited General Surgery Residency program. This group is also affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill College of Medicine and serves as the Wilmington Campus for 3rd and 4th year medical students. This faculty position grants an Adjunct Clinical Professorship at The University of North Carolina. Faculty appointments at the College of Medicine are commensurate with academic accomplishments. In addition to serving as Trauma Medical Director, practice responsibilities include serving as Faculty for our General Surgery Residency. Leadership in clinical, education, and quality improvement activities through the Department of Surgery with NHRMC, SEAHEC and UNC-CH is expected.
Wilmington is a growing coastal community in Southeastern North Carolina with many amenities. Enjoy year round boating, golf, fishing, tennis and biking in a climate that enjoys all four seasons in moderation. Wilmington has a vibrant downtown with excellent restaurants and an active cultural arts community. Beautiful area beaches are very accessible for surfing, swimming and beach combing.
Interested applicants should e-mail their CV and cover letter with contact information to:
Kathy Gresham
Director, Physician Relations
New Hanover Regional Medical Center
PO Box 9000
Wilmington, NC 28402


text: My dogs face when I put her in a bath. Adjust content blocking mynamewasgone next random Comment Top NextComment "let's get out," whispered Jordan, after a somehow wasteful and inappropriate half-hour; "this is much too polite for me." next Tags: gatsby | Dog | lies | anger | Revenge | Cake -8 Views: 141 Submitted: 06/26/2013 Facebook Twitter Google+ Tumblr Pinterest