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Monday, September 14, 2009
Celebrity Adoption, Tax Avoidance and Boody Auto Formatting
So Sir Elton John has fallen in love with a Ukranian orphan, he doesn't really want kids but his partner does so he's thinking of adopting one.
How sick am I of these rich celebrities ensconcing themselves in third world countries and picking a little picaninny to bring home to their celebrity life. Although I must admit, the 62 year old crooner does provide sustenance for children through his charities, does he really need to adopt one?
The Brangelinas, Madonnas and Sir Eltons of this world would benefit so many more children if they supported the orphanages they lived in and aided adoption by people in their own countries by using their incredible wealth to benefit such children. Or even supporting childless parents with their overseas adoption ambitions because it's a lengthy and expensive process often fraught with corruption (I have friends who adopted via India and it cost them a small fortune in bribes and untoward payments.)
Let me make it clear that I have no objection at all to overseas adoption. In many cases it's the only avenue open to childless couples or those with the means to enhance the life of some poor neglected little mite by bringing them into their existing family. Wouldn't it be better to finance an improved life and education for a host of foreign children than put just one or two in the celebrity spotlight just because the 'mood' takes them. They seem to want a foreign baby as if it's an exotic pet.
I'd be interested in what you think. I know some of you who have one or more internationally adopted children but as far as I'm aware, none of you are celebrities with millions in some tax shelter. None I suspect have a hectic social life, regular bouts away from home while you're filming or in concert or enjoy the opulent Hollywood lifestyle.
Am I being harsh? I was blessed with kids of my own so maybe my perspective is skewed. Perhaps we should be thankful that saving one is better than none but how do they 'choose'?
It's a bit like U2 going on about third world debt then sheltering their millions in the Netherlands rather than pay tax in Ireland. The tax havens people like this use, undermine development. They divert income from developing countries, they ensure tax is not paid in these countries and they facilitate the flight of capital. In fact, they exacerbate the very third world debt that Bono bangs on about alleviating.
Celebrities, put your millions where your mouth is and help self-determination rather than rescue. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
And while I'm having a rant. If anyone knows how to stop MS Word from creating shitty style sheets everytime I format a paragraph, please let me know. And turning off the Auto options isn't working. I'm doing a 175 page tender with auto numbering, lettering and TOC entries and it's driving me insane by auto formatting for me Ctrl Z has never been so useful.
Maybe I should just take a chill pill.
28 comments:
- Susan at Stony River said...
I find that screaming instructions at the monitor while holding a cold beer in a threatening manner over the keyboard works wonders.
It doesn't solve the issue, but I feel better and then I have beer.
Good luck with those 175 pages! And, agreed about the good celebrities could do v. what we see them *actually* do, but then, well, the imperfect world we live in and all that. We have an adopted Russian boy in our family and you're right, a fair lot of the bill was just corruption. Wonderful child who's worth every penny, but.... yeah.
- 9:09 pm
- tony said...
Yes.I suppose if your a pampered Star......Everything Becomes a Commodity.even a Human Life.Well Said!
- 9:19 pm
- Alexander said...
Splendid rant. Agree with everything, including MS Word. Trouble is. I don't know the answers to any of your questions.
- 9:36 pm
- Unknown said...
I agree with all the money he has he could sustain the entire orphanage, but also I would not deny little Levic either. But cwertainly he could find homes for everyone..sk
- 9:51 pm
- Candie said...
Passion,passion!And some truth coming to strike!Ouch that hurts!
Well I do agree with the concept but still it makes happy children,isn't it?As for taxes,hum..why does it seem fair to the majority to give away to the state what you have earned?Why people care where you place your money?I don't agree with that!The things they do in Switzerland now,is pure hypocrisy!The more you earn the more they tax you,the more you have the more you will be taxed!That money goes where?Surely not to help others,thet go in the goverment's hands!I do agree with the rich to put their money where they want!But what I don't agree is to not helping others with some.But I would love to have the choice to what I want to do with it,to give it away cleverly and not being robbed by the goverments!Now having said that,that was a great post Baino!I could do with one of those pills too!LOL
See you soon!
- 10:36 pm
- laughingwolf said...
well said, baino!
as for the 'word' thingy, no clue since i don't use it :(
- 11:20 pm
- Brian Miller said...
well said. it makes me wonder about the quality fo life, going fromnothing to being thrown into the spotlight. you offer some good suggestions as well. i amall for overseas adoption, any adoption really, as long as it is for the right reasons. great post.
- 11:24 pm
- Terence McDanger said...
I hanker for the days when needy celebrities would just go out and get bigger boobs or a hair transplant when they were feeling a bit glum. When they start influencing the fate of other innocent little humans, it's a bit worrying I agree.
- 11:44 pm
- California Girl said...
Yes. I often wonder about these celeb adoptions. Why not do it quietly? Madonna is the most obvious and annoying. She seemed to get the idea after Brad & Angie racked up so much PR w/ their ongoing U.N. brood. They seem to be, at least, putting their money where their mouths are in terms of exposing their adopted children to repeated visits to their homelands and acting as ambassadors to third world countries w/ starving children and genocide issues.
You're quite right about the tax havens of the rich. They do find the tax havens and do shelter their monies and the rest of us pay our unfair share as usual.
I always wonder why, instead of $1000+ per plate fundraising dinners, the attendees don't just donate the money to the charity in question and the hosts take the money they would have spent on the dinner and decor and donate it as well. I bet it would be a wash.
But then, nobody would get to wear their brand new dress, Jimmy Choos and the like.
- 2:59 am
- Mo said...
Well, I agree with you since it's not like bringing the kid to a new environment will change thigs for the better at once. The culture shock could be really bad... it's not that easy. I also find it a little bit weird that every rich person always has their own charity organisation. Why can't they just donate. Perhaps I know too little...
It's so strange. Money is just paper and coins, when you think of it...
What would you do if you had enough money to stop working now and just live a luxurious life? Hardly anyone would say 'I'd help the poor', I think.
- 3:10 am
Well said Baino, well said! 'Tis all about the damn publicity innit?
And not much help on the MSword thingy. Like Wulfa, I don't use it...sorry!
- 3:10 am
- Unknown said...
I beg your pardon but Ukraine is not a 3rd World country. She is not much behind Hungary.
- 3:18 am
Good idea Baino. Ukraine though is quite an organised State aka previous comment. Their president suffered and survived a serious poisoning attempt by the russians some time back. It shows on his face. I think it might have been during their orange revolution.
In microsoft word; once automatic formatting is selected, go through the options and set what you want there. Alternatively, click out of auto format until the document is complete. Save it; then instruct the auto format to blast away. Might work; might not. I'm on word for macs which differs a bit.
- 3:50 am
- Christopher said...
Celebrities seem to get the idea that either starting or following a trend is required of them, and it's really unfortunate that this particular trend involves turning living, human beings into props for photo ops. While it's a good point about Bono contributing to the very problem he complains about, I think it's a bit of an unrelated issue. Celebrities adopting kids aren't trying to make the world a better place. If they even consider it an act of charity and not just a fashion statement they probably know it's helping one child and doing nothing to help millions who live in poverty.
California Girl, I wonder the same thing about charity events. I've noticed companies will promise to give "up to" some amount, but only if people buy their products. It's emotional manipulation.
- 4:43 am
- ian said...
It's worth looking up the UN HDI stats on Ukraine.
Only poor people pay taxes - the rich and the powerful can always find a way round.
Did you try Windows Live Writer for the blog?
- 6:06 am
- nick said...
What intrigues me is that if it was a 62 year old unknown woman wanting to adopt, everyone would say she was too old to be a good parent. If it's a 62 year old famous male, suddenly quality of parenting isn't an issue....
- 6:45 am
- Baino said...
Ah Suze, must try that but I might splosh on my new keyboard. Messy git I am.
That's what worries me Tony that they make such a fuss over it. Adopt by all means but don't use it as a publicity stunt. Elton had a press conference for heaven's sake.
Hi Alexander, welcome. And I do have a talent for unmitigated ranting.
Actually Sandy he does a lot for charity, it's not so much the money thing as the publicity around it that got me going and his own admission that he's 62 and tours a lot. Hardly a father figure.
Aww Candie, steady there girl. Yes, tax haven's are everywhere if you're in the know. Everyone should pay tax to the level they can afford so that the money goes back into their own economy and keeps it buoyant. You might be cleverly robbed by your Government but you have excellent services and infrastructure to show for it.
You don't use Word? What do you use?
Brian, I'm sure their quality if life is better by our standards than where they are going to but it's a huge change. I guess a 14 month old wouldn't notice that much.
Like the photo says Terrence, adoption is the new pregnancy, boob job, face lift . .
Cali couldn't agree more. They particularly are using the publicity - perhaps for a good cause, I don't know but how they can single one child out of hundreds defeats me. And same for the charity dinners. Other charities spend a fortune on call centres so that their donations go to pay salaries and the like and my paltry $50 a month is watered down to about $20.
Good point Ebs. All that 'organising' I guess they need someone to administer the funds and make sure they reach their destination.
I think that's part of it Subby. I also think they can so they do.
Ropi I didn't mean to intimate the Ukraine was 3rd world. I was thinking more of Madonna's African adventures. Poor choice of words.j
Ditto unstranger. I had Africa on my mind and my friend's Indian Adoption (technically India isn't 3rd world either but the level of corruption certainly is). I remember the poisoning event he was fortunate to survive. I use both PC and Mac but this one has me stumped. I suspect there's a fault in a couple of my numbered style sheets. Driving me mad it is!
Of course it's unrelated! I was ranting. Look better they adopt one than not but they have the means to be far more public about the 'cause'. I know all support various charities but I haven't heard any of them except Elton John actually promote them. (He's a big supporter of the Princess Diana Fund)
True Ian but I didn't mean to badge them as 'Third World' and stop changing the subject. I did look it up, they're 82 on the list . . medium development and equivalent to countries such as Turkey, Peru, Thailand, Tonga, Iran . . Apologies to the Ukranians. I use a Mac for the blog so that's no problem. It's the Word 2003 tender that I'm putting together at work that's giving me grief.
Absolutely Ian. Here if you're over 40 local adoption is not available and I have heard that some prospective parents have been denied for such reasons as being 'overweight' because it reduces their mortality.
Clearly folks I did not work or research much on this one - pretty much mouth in gear before the brain. It's a RANT remember. I was just curious what people thought. Actually none of my overseas adoptive parents have commented yet . . .
- 7:15 am
- Mim said...
I believe that they should do both. Help a child, give them love and a home, and with all that wealth - establish a fund for people who aren't as rich as them to be able to adopt.
As for word...it sucks
- 8:36 am
- Mike said...
I guess with me, it depends on the reasons for which the celeb adopts the child. I think that Madonna did it for publicity, I think that Angelina did it for personal reasons. I think that it is ok as long as they support all underprivleged children, and not just one that they adopt.
- 8:50 am
- Cinema Minima said...
Nice rant. I think I agree. Watch Foreign Correspondent on the ABC tonight; it is about this.
Adoption used to be fairly common when I was a kid, but is less acceptable than it once was. I think it's OK if the kids are genuinely orphans (ie, mum and dad deceased) and they are living rough, but the fact that many of these kids have loving (but poor) parents doesn't seem to stop some people from wanting to take these kids home with them.
- 2:39 pm
- Carolina said...
Could it be that all the publicity around celebrities adopting children gives us the wrong impression? Who's to say that they don't financially support at least the orphanages their children come from. I have the same thoughts you have, but I'm also thinking that 'ordinary' adoptions are not frowned upon like this. Why not? In the Netherlands I know of a famous and rich TV-presenter who adopted two small American boys. No international press there to steer you and me towards an opinion.
I'm just not sure. Food for thought.
Haven't used Word for a long time now (yippee!), so can't help you there. Good luck with it. I like the cold beer suggestion someone made.
- 5:13 pm
- River said...
I know nothing about your MS Word problem, so can't help there, i'm reasonably computer illiterate myself.
I do agree with you that celebrities have far more cash than they know what to do with, (give some to me) and as far as adopting third world children goes I think they do it because it gets them a few extra minutes/days/weeks of fame/time in the public eye/media attention. Granted it does get the child an improved life, but like Madonna insisting on having "that particular" little girl, what's wrong with just supporting the whole village there by providing clean water supplies, education facilities, and other stuff like that to help them lift themselves out of the poverty cycle? I suppose though that those corrupt governments in those countries would then tax them highly and unfairly because they now have an "improved lifestyle", gosh, there's no quick answer is there? As long as governments are corrupt people will live and die in extreme situations.
- 5:28 pm
- Unknown said...
OK, I was pointing it out because if I get to Corvinus University, I may spend my half year long intership in the Ukraine because I want to practice/learn Russiam there, therefore I would have 3 main options for it (partner institutes).
1, Russia (Moscow, St Petersburg)
2, the Ukraine (Dnipropetrovsk)
3, Kazakhstan (Tashkent)
However universities broaden relations continuously and my success to enter there is far from granted. It is really hard to get there. It is a very elite place.
- 2:06 am
- Bimbimbie said...
I doubt the celebs do any real favours for the child they adopt, the lives they live are so far removed from normal. Better to support the orphanage I think.
- 5:37 am
- Rowe said...
You make some good points, Baino. I just hope children do not become a commodity, something you can one day buy and sell on the stock exchange. Or, have children already become a commodity? Chihuahuas are no longer a fashion accessory, children are the new black.
- 3:39 pm
- Bella Sinclair said...
Ooh, great rant. Love rants. I think Oprah, then, is the real do-gooder for starting up the school like she did. Although you raise some interesting points, the sad reality is that we live in an imperfect world fraught with corruption. Throwing your money at orphanages or impoverished villages...well, you'd never know just how your money is being spent. Even if celebs are adopting for publicity, the end result is that one child gets a privileged life and more "regular folks" open up to the idea of adoption.
Thank you for the tribute to Swayze. What a beautiful man.
- 4:41 am
- Ces Adorio said...
I don't know about this. I want Brad Pitt to adopt me!
- 12:23 pm
- ashleigh said...
Oh celebrity adoptions. GRRRRR. mind you there is nothing new. I used to be into the old 1930's movies (in B&W) that the ABC used to show once. I vaguely remember something made in about 1947 (with Ginger Rogers or Ava Gardener or some some such) in thast was about just this. So nothing changes.
Re WORD. You can defeat the beast. Its not so easy.
Firstly - define your own styles and make sure the sucker does not format stuff as "Body Text" (which is evil).
The autoformatting of numbered lists and so on can be turned off. Tools->Autocorrect. Under there select "Autoformat as you type" and turn off the autoformatting of lsits, bullets, etc. This is imperfect but should stop a great deal of it.
- 9:29 pm


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Miss Teen USA has officially removed the bathing suit competition from its pageant.
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Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world.
Miss District of Columbia Deshauna Barber Crowned Miss USA 2016
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subset: commoncrawl


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I received the Maxine necklace and it is just my type because I am really into the long necklaces at the moment. They are perfect to wear stand alone as well as layering with other pieces. The beads are large and really reflect the light. The neutral variations of brown on the gold chain is lovely to wear with most pieces in my wardrobe. However, since I still have about 16+ pounds to lose, I can't fit into much of it at the moment. Since my venturing out is limited, I decided to wear it with a loose top and shorts and the necklace really looked fab!
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- home
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Mel Trotter Ministries earns LEED Silver certification
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I have seen all these get togethers going on, and I am generally at the wrong place at the wrong time (except for going to Holland by car last September). So I had a thought (I shouldn't do that, my brain hurts!!), I'll be in the Eastern Caribbean towards the end of December and January. Is anyone else going to be around? Maybe we should see if a Caribbean get together is possible (it would also give people an excuse for a cruise if they needed one).
I imagine Brian needs to test out his new boat and a transatlantic trip would be a perfect trip for a shakedown, and if Michel will give me a two week head start I'll race him....... and the rest of the Netherlands crowd too.


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The dayside cusp is a region of Earth's magnetosphere. Relatively low energy (in the 100s of electron-volts range) solar wind electrons and protons that enter the magnetosphere in the dayside cusp regions near the magnetic poles can impact Earth's upper atmosphere. Also, Earth's ionosphere at high latitudes expands supersonically into the dayside cusp, causing charged particles from the atmosphere to mix with the hot, tenuous, solar wind plasma.
Image courtesy the COMET and HAO programs at UCAR/NCAR.


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|Larry's family in OK.
|I'd say they are happy with Santa's visit.
Anyway, it is here, the Whole 30 challenge, and I couldn't be more excited, because not only I am going back, Larry is joining me! This life-long fully admitting sugarholic, whose breakfast is cereal or pancakes, PBJ is a snack and a dinner, and mocha's along with 2-packets of sugar tea are "get through the day" things, is taking charge! I am embracing it as a family affair, and am so happy and thrilled to do it together!
But back to the recap of the year, the thing to do as this one nears the end.
As Gretchen (with the help of her hubby) put it nicely, highs and lows.
The highs, as the races went, would be two: Pocatello 50 (or so) miles and Lookout 50. As it happens in the case when I go to a race with no expectations, have a great attitude, and while hitting some troubles (when do we not?) am able to deal with them calmly and smartly - I enjoy the run(s). Seeing old friends - and meting new ones - was an icing on those cakes.
Regardless winning (and running a CR for the time) at the Blackhills 100 back in June, this race does not bear same weight for me. I was kind of done with long races by then mentally, and even though I put the best training forward that I could in Texas heat and absence of hills and inspiring trails (by my history of trail running), it was minimal and I simply "did the work" before and during. I had some good times there, but between miles 70 and 85 I really wanted to quit, just as I did (quit) back at Tahoe 100 2 years prior because I saw no point of doing it, again. I made it through. The recovery (adrenal that is) was longer than usual, and with the fact that I didn't get into Hardrock 100, may be it is a blessing in its own way. I need a break.
With that, and the second half of the year being a no-go in training for one reason or another, the year 2013 is setting up to be different - and even more exciting in its own way.
Lookout 50 was an awesome intro to what next year will hold for me (and both of us). We decided to forgo the well-known races and dip to the side of the "unknown" (to general public that is, because of course they are well known and well loved by locals!). Three races are all set to "go" so far: Cheaha 50k in Alabama (with almost 7,000 feet of elevation gain no less!), Syllamo 3-Day in Arkansas (50M for me and 50k for Larry and kids in tow for spring break) and Freestate 100k in Kansas. That is it so far! We may consider something for May, but will take a couple months break in June/July to do some fastpacking/hiking vacation, and then venture to Montana for Elkhorn 50M in August.
As far as highs for other things, my older son Alex had some good months when he was in school for winter and spring terms and held a job for a while, although, of course, the lows come as well when those times were over. But here we are on the rise, again, and I am hopeful and optimistic. Raising teenagers is always a challenge (unless you have one of those "perfect children" with straight "A's" and activities and so on, and I don't), so we had highs and lows there as well. I think the best thing was for me to (try to) realize I can only do/control so much, and I deserve to be happy regardless. And somehow things got better with that. So here you go.
My relationship with my sweetie is on some new level of love and commitment, and that weird adjustment time of two adults with past was well worth what came out of it. The depth of what we have now has no questions. We are together. What can be better?
We plan to take better care of ourselves. I got my darling sucked in to a Bikram yoga by getting him a 5-class gift certificate, then he got himself a 5-class card (wow!) and I got him another one for Christmas. We will eat mindfully, even as the Whole30 gets done (and it WILL get done!). We will try and sleep 7 hrs every night, and train smart (while much weekly miles will not happen). We will go on more projects on our lovely house. And we will continue being thankful for literally "running into each other", as the Universe gave us a gift of finding love and happiness.


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To learn about IMD, visit the website. You should download three PDFs from the website: "MBA Program Brochure," "MBA Class Profiles," and "Class and Placement Overview." I will refer to these below. In addition, if possible, I suggest either attending an information session or visiting. Getting an alumni perspective would also be particularly helpful. Review the website completely and by all means read the MBA Diary to get IMD students' perspectives. Japanese applicants should also look at IMD Japan Club 2012. To learn about IMD faculty perspectives, please visit Tomorrrow's Challenges.
I high recommend reading my 2012 interview with Lisa Piguet and also my Q&A with a former client who is a member of the Class of 2009. I think this interview will provide you with some key insights into IMD. My report on my visit to IMD can be found here.
IMD's small size sets it apart from other top programs, as its brochure states: "90 Exceptional People Who Will Shape The Future of Business." If you get into IMD, chances are quite high that you will go there.
When you think about IMD, two keywords to focus on are "international" and "leadership." Based on my experience working with clients admitted there for Class of 2013, the Class of 2011 (See here for a testimonial), Class of 2010 (See here for my client's testimonial), and Class of 2009 (See here for my client's testimonial), I can say that IMD is looking for those individuals who both already have and aspire to increased capacity in both being internation al and being leaders. Visiting the program in 2012 and through conversations with Lisa Piguet and my former clients who attended IMD has only further convinced me that international and leadership are key to INSEAD.
In any given year, I work with only a few people applying to IMD because this is most certainly a very unique program. For the Class of 2012, I had two clients who were offered interview, but one was admitted to his first choice school and did not interview and the other, was unfortunately dinged after interview. Getting dinged after an IMD interview, especially for candidates without solid English ability, effective presentation skills, and the perceived potential to work well in a small group is common enough. For the Class of 2013, I had two clients who who were offered interview, one was admitted.
There is no MBA interview that compares to the day of trial that IMD puts potential applicants through. Reading a report of an IMD interview makes me feel exhausted. The particular style of group and individual interviewing and observation admissions does, is truly impressive and totally necessary given their class size and reputation. The IMD interview eliminates those who will not be able to survive in a very intense program. IMD interviews a rather high percentage of those who apply, but again, the program is rather self-selecting so this percentage makes sense. Consider that IMD is trying to fill a class of 90 and received 441 applications. They are working with limited numbers and based on my 2010 conversation with the admissions director, I know that they are being highly selective when it comes to making final decisions. As I mentioned in my school visit post, I visited on an inte rview day and saw the candidates "relaxing" at lunch, when in fact they were being observed by the students they were having lunch with. That is how much IMD cares about fit! Finding the right 90 who will come together is what this process about. The application serves as the basis to determine whether you should be considered for their interview, but based on what I understand the application can't mitigate a bad interview day.
Like its bigger rival INSEAD, IMD is truly an international program with a very diverse student body and faculty. You can actually view all of the Class of 2009 as well as read a statistical summary of their backgrounds on PDFs found on the IMD site. Doing so will certainly help you understand that IMD students are incredibly diverse and multilingual. I think it also important to keep in mind that being international is about being open-minded to diversity and to having mental flexibility. Both through the essays and interview you will be assessed for capacity to be an open-minded person.
The IMD program is focused on making leaders, not managers. It also is not designed for those who primarily want to develop expertise in a business subfield. IMD makes the program's focus very clear on page 2 of the PDF version of their brochure:
Top executives of leading multinational companies tell us clearly: they need leaders, not managers. Leaders with the insight and ability to address issues and problems that are more complex and changing more quickly than ever before. Leaders who are confident, creating their own solutions to these emerging issues with integrity and high ethics. Leaders who understand themselves and how they interact with others. Leaders who understand the needs of their organizations and their business environments. Leaders who can drive change through innovation. Leaders who can move their businesses forward. The single aim of the IMD MBA program is to develop these leaders.
If you are not looking for an education focused on leadership, do not apply to IMD, but if you are, IMD offers a very intensive one-year leadership education:
The program starts with a foundation in the core business courses, e.g. accounting, finance, marketing and operations. This helps you to understand all of the functional areas of the organization and how they work together. It continues with real-world projects and additional courses that allow you to apply what you have learned in the classroom to real leadership situations.
A review of the program structure makes it perfectly clear that it is not a degree for those wanting expertise in a particular business subfield (e.g. finance or marketing) because there is actually only one three-week period of study available for electives.
The questions have been greatly revised for 2014 admission. The overall spirit of the questions is the same and most have actually had an increase in character count from 1230 to 1500 characters. Only the MBA goals essay was reduced from 2000 to 1500.
You have 1500 characters including spaces for each answer, which would be approximately 300-375 words. With 7 questions, that totals somewhere between approximately 2100 and 2500 words, making IMD longer than most US school applications, but of approximately the same length as its biggest rivals, INSEAD and LBS.
Essay 1: Important achievement
What do you consider to be your single most important achievement and why?
Some key things to keep in mind when answering this question:
-Achievements reveal your potential to succeed at IMD and afterwords.
-Achievements reveal your potential for contributing to your classmates.
-Everyone has had achievements, so make your single most important achievement really stand out.
-What you consider to be an achievement is a real test of your self-awareness and judgment.
Think about which achievement to use
The first thing you need to do is brainstorm possible achievements to use here. Your achievement may relate to your professional experience, academics, volunteer activities, hobbies, community engagement, personal matters. The possibilities are quite endless. Whatever it is, you should explain why it is so important.
Next, think about the following issues in determining which achievement to use and how to present it.
Think about what skill(s), value(s), or unique experience is/are being showcased
Your achievement needs to reveal valuable thing(s) about you. Some will call these selling points, but more specifically they consist of skills, values, or unique experiences. One might use a specific achievement to emphasize one's leadership skills, one's ethical values, and to explain a significant barrier that was overcome. If you breakdown the meaning of an achievement it might easily reveal multiple important things about you.
Think about what potential for success in the MBA program or afterwords is being demonstrated by your achievement
You may or may not be directly stating this in the essay, but you should think about what how your achievement reveals in terms of your potential. IMD will most certainly be considering how your achievement demonstrates your potential to succeed in their program and afterwords, so you should as well.
Think about how your achievement could become a contribution to others in the MBA program
Just as with potential, think about whether your achievement demonstrates your ability to add value to other students at IMD. IMD is very focused on understanding your ability to function as part of a group of 90 people. This is very much at the center of the education they offer and how how they differentiate their program.
Think about why does IMD needs to know about this achievement
If your achievement has made it this far, chances are it is substantial. That said, I have three simple tests for determining whether achievement really belongs in this essay.
1. Does IMD really need to know about this achievement? After all, you might consider getting the love of your life to marry you to be one of your greatest achievement, but will Lisa and her colleagues care? If an achievement does not reveal (whether stated or implied) potential and/or contribution, chances are likely that it is not significant enough.
2. Is the story totally obvious from reviewing other parts of your application?
If the story is simply a very cause-effect based one such as "I studied hard to get a 4.0 in university " that could ber very dull and rather obvious. On the other hand if you overcome great challenges to get such an academic result, you could have a great story. Obvious stories are dull. Reveal something important about yourself that goes beyond the surface level and could not be easily assumed from reviewing other aspects of your application.
3. Is the achievement really your most important one?
It is critical that you explain clearly why it is important. Is the importance because of its significance to you or to an impact you had or to both? Really make sure the importance is stated clearly.
Finally, as I mentioned above what you include here is a real test of your judgment, so don't just write about an obvious achievement. Think deeply and come up with a unique achievement that will compel IMD to want to interview you.
Essay 2: Self Development
Please comment on a situation where your leadership skills proved to be inadequate and what you learned.
This is a new question for this year, replacing a more standard failure question. Beyond being about failure (it may only be partial failure), this essay is about the development of your leadership skills. You may not have completely failed because the question simply requires that your leadership skills were not sufficient. You may have partially succeeded. It is even possible that others perceived you as succeeding, but you did not see it that way.
It is critical that you learned something meaningful about yourself as a leader. And your insights should be important, otherwise why tell admissions about it? Therefore the key constraint of this question is that whatever the leadership failure is, you have learned something important from it. While not stated, you may very well find that one way of showing what you learned is to discuss how you applied your lesson to a new situation.
I would, in fact, argue that the heart of any sort of "failure question," whether it is an essay question or an interview is what you learned. Also depending on what your role was, how you reacted is also very important.
The basic components of an answer:
1. Clearly state what the situation was.
2. Clearly state your role. Especially in a leadership related question, a clear statement about your role in terms of leadership is important.
3. Clearly state how your leadership skills were insufficient.
4. Explain what you learned.
The word count is limited, but, if you can, show how you applied what you learned to a new situation because the application of abstract learning to a new situation is a key indicator of real learning.
Keep in mind that a core part of the IMD experience is becoming very aware about your strengths and weaknesses as a leader in order to enhance your skills. Over lunch with one of my former clients earlier this year, I heard about just how intense and personal leadership development at IMD can be. To that extent, this question really tests your openness and self-awareness for an exploration into your personality at IMD.
Essay 3: Global leadership
IMD develops global leaders…what does global leadership mean to you?
Given what I have previously mentioned about both leadership and international in regards to IMD, this question is no surprise. IMD wants your insight into global leadership. I suggest you provide an answer that both clearly has a global leadership concept and also focuses on how you have demonstrated global leadership or at least the potential for it. While it is possible to write this essay without reference to your experiences, I think most applicants will find it far more effective to write about some form of global leadership that they have experience. There are a number of ways to write this essay:
You might concentrate on a single concept and one example supporting that concept, which given the word count is the easiest thing to do:
Global Leadership Means to me:
An example of that leadership:
What does your answer reveal about you?
One Concept
A single example
You might concentrate on one concept and multiple examples supporting that concept, but this only makes sense if each of the examples is revealing something important about you:
Global Leadership Means to me:
Examples of that leadership:
What does your answer reveal about you?
One Concept
Example 1
Example 2
You might concentrate on a multiple concepts each backed-up by an example, but getting this into the word count available could prove very challenging. I think the only way this works is if the examples are actually specific aspects of one leadership story. In other words, you do two different things in the same situation that relate to two different global leadership concepts:
Global Leadership Means to me:
Examples of that leadership:
What does your answer reveal about you?
Concept 1
Concept 2
Example 1
Example 2
Example 1
Example 2
Keep in mind that simply providing a description of your actions, is not enough. Just writing abstractly is not good either. Make sure your reader understands what your concept is by stating it clearly and connecting it to an example(s). If you use multiple concepts
Essay 4: Key Differentiators
Give us four bullet points that clearly differentiate you, that identify your unique contributions to the program.
In a Class of 90, there is no room for letting in someone who can't function well and does not have something distinct to contribute. I like this question because it forces applicants to really think about their core selling points. Clearly, there will be significant overlap with other essays. Think of this as more than an executive summary because really it is a your "elevator pitch" to IMD. What are the key statements that IMD really needs to know about you that will make them want to invite you for their interview?
Some Questions to get you brainstorming:
1. What do you want IMD to know about you that would positively impact your chances for admission?
2. What major positive aspects of your life have not been effectively INTERPRETED to the admissions committee in other parts of the application?
3. If you were going to tell admissions 4 things about you that would not be obvious from rest of the application, what would they be? Why should IMD care?
4. What could you discuss about yourself that you think would really help admissions understand you and want to admit you?
As you can see, these questions would lead to very different kinds of responses. There is no one way to answer this question, but I believe there are right ways for every applicant to do so.
Essay 5: Reflection
Give an example of the most unexpected thing that you've ever learned.
Instead of asking a culture shock question, IMD is making you consider something really valuable that you learned.
THE RELEVANCE TEST: A great answer here will be on something relevant to why IMD should admit you:
- A concept or value that has influenced a major decision(s) you have made in your life
-An important aspect of the way you view an issue critical to your goals
-Your commitment to something greater than your own personal interest
-Your inner intellectual life
-Your ethical values
-Some other aspect of who you are that will compel admissions to want to interview you
The structure for answering this question is likely to be something like the following:
1. Discussion of the unexpected thing (person, place, event, book, situation) that you learned.
2. Explanation of the significance of what you learned
3. Perhaps a specific example of how your thinking was changed from learning this.
1. Discussion of the unexpected thing (person, place, event, book, situation) that you learned.
2. Explanation of the significance of what you learned
3. Perhaps a specific example of how your thinking was changed from learning this.
Ultimately, I think this is way for IMD to understand what makes your thinking distinct, get a sense of your self-reflectivity (Obvious from the question's title), and your mental flexibility.
Essay 6: Position sought after graduation
Please answer either (A) or (B), depending on your career situation.
A. For people who are planning to consider new jobs and/or organizations after the MBA: Please give us your short term career goal post-MBA. Which function, industry and geography do you see yourself working in? Are these changes for you, and, if so, why? How will you approach your job search?
B. For people who are company-sponsored, confirmed going back to their previous company, entrepreneurs planning to go back to their own firm, and/or members of a family who are planning to work for the family business after graduation: Please let us know your short-term career goals and plans after your MBA.
Whether you are answering A or B, THIS QUESTION DOES NOT FOCUS ON YOUR LONG TERM GOALS! It is about a post-MBA plan.
In a program with 90 students, making sure that they all actually have clear post-MBA plans is highly rational (and very Swiss!). The two different variations of the question reflect the different kinds of people who apply to and attend IMD. The B version of this question is new and is especially helpful for applicants who fit within the categories indicated.
Do not freak out about whether you should answer A or B. It really is a fact-based issue and there is no hidden agenda here.
A. IMD has very intensive career services for its students who need it and career services gives input into applicants who will be seeking employment after their MBA. A. is for such applicants, who are the majority of applicants to IMD. Don't forget to answer "how you will approach your job search?" because this is an important part of your plan. IMD is looking for applicants who can take charge of their own careers and drive them, not people who expect a career services office to simply take care of them. Explain what resources you can leverage to launch your post-IMD career.
B. On the other hand, if you don't need career services because you will be returning to a business or starting your own, just do B.
If you are having trouble formulating your post-MBA plan, you might want to go through a formal analysis of why you need an MBA.
You can use my GAP, SWOT, AND ROI TABLE FOR FORMULATING GRADUATE DEGREE GOALS for this purpose (see below). I think Gap, SWOT, and ROI analysis are great ways for understanding what your goals are, why you want a degree, and how you will use it. (Click here for the Businessweek MBA ROI calculator. Click here for a GMAC report on MBA ROI. )
(To best view the following table, click on it.)
How to use this table:
Step 1. Begin by analyzing your "Present Situation." What job(s) have you held? What was/is your functional role(s)? What was/are your responsibilities?
Next, analyze your present strengths and weaknesses for succeeding in your present career. REMEMBER:WHEN YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS DON'T ONLY THINK ABOUT WORK, THINK ABOUT OTHER ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE. In particular, some of your greatest strengths may have been demonstrated outside of work, so make sure you are accounting for them.
Strengths: What are you good at? Where do you add value? What are you praised for? What are you proud of?
Weakness:What are you bad at? What are you criticized for? What do you try to avoid due to your own limitations? What do you fear?
Next, analyze the environment you work in right now. What opportunities exist for your growth and success? What threats could limit your career growth?
Step 2. Now, do the same thing in Step 1 for your "Post-Degree" future after you have earned your MBA. IF YOU CANNOT COMPLETE STEP 2, YOU HAVE NOT SUFFICIENTLY PLANNED FOR YOUR FUTURE and therefore you need to do more research and need to think more about it.
Step 3. If you could complete step 2, than you should see the "Gap" between your present and your future. What skills, knowledge, and other resources do you need to close the gap between your present and future responsibilities, strengths, and opportunities?
Step 4. After completing Step 3, you need to determine how an MBA will add value to you. It is possible that an increased salary as a result of job change will be sufficient "ROI" for the degree to justify itself, but you should show how a degree will allow you to reach your career goals. How will the degree enhance your skills and opportunities and help you overcome your weaknesses and external threats? If you can complete Step 4 than you should be ready to explain what your goals are, why you want a degree, and the relationship between your past and future career, as well as your strengths and weaknesses.
The above table will also help you answer such common interview questions as: Where do you want to work after you finish your degree? Why do you want an MBA (or other degree)? What are you strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are your goals? Thinking about these issues now will help you to develop a fully worked-out strategy for how you will best present yourself both in the application and in an interview.
After going through this formal process, review what you know about IMD again. In your answer to the question, please focus on showing how IMD will help make your post-MBA future objectives a reality. BOTTOM LINE: Conceptualize this as a business plan with IMD as a partner who will help enable that plan.
Essay 7: Additional Information
Is there any additional information that is critical for the Admissions Committee to know which has not been covered elsewhere in this application? (Optional essay).
While I suppose it is possible to answer this question with "No," in most cases I would not recommend doing so. I always tell my clients to write at least one positive thing in this essay even if they must deal with a negative subject as well.
For some applicants who have to discuss something negative such as a low GPA, the topic for this essay will be clear enough. Just make sure your answer is a clear and believable explanation and not an excuse.
In terns of writing something positive, think about one or two topics that you believe would help admissions to understand you and support your admission. Be careful that you do not pick a trivial topic or one that really has been handled in another essay.
Finally, best of luck with your IMD application.
-Adam Markus
I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.


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What the Greatest Catholic Thinker Says about the Latest Catholic Pope by Selwyn Duke, Posted Mar 15, 2013
With the election of Pope Francis, there are the usual complaints about how the Catholic Church has got to get with the times. The Huffington Post ran the headline, "Pope Francis Against [sic] Gay Marriage, Gay Adoption," which is much like thinking it newsworthy to write, "New Pope Believes in the Divinity of Jesus." Mother Jones laments the "missed opportunity to bring the papacy closer to where the people are." And Forbes' John Baldoni dishes the baloney, writing of "a Catholic Church that is resistant to change but one that must certainly adapt (and rather radically) if it is going to continue to attract well-intentioned men and women who adhere to its faith but also are willing to devote themselves to its perpetuation" (hat tip: Drew Belsky). Yet this misses the point that it is creatures who must adapt to their ecosystem, and the Church is the moral ecosystem. Our modernistic culture is simply a pretender to that throne.
But calls for adaptation are nothing new; it's just that primitives who once demanded it in the name of yesterday's fashions have adapted: they now demand it in the name of today's fashions. The brilliant philosopher and noted convert to Catholicism G.K. Chesterton wrote about this phenomenon almost a century ago in his essay "Why I am a Catholic":
The other day a well-known writer, otherwise quite well-informed, said that the Catholic Church is always the enemy of new ideas. It probably did not occur to him that his own remark was not exactly in the nature of a new idea. It is one of the notions that Catholics have to be continually refuting, because it is such a very old idea. Indeed, those who complain that Catholicism cannot say anything new, seldom think it necessary to say anything new about Catholicism. As a matter of fact, a real study of history will show it to be curiously contrary to the fact. In so far as the ideas really are ideas, and in so far as any such ideas can be new, Catholics have continually suffered through supporting them when they were really new; when they were much too new to find any other support. The Catholic was not only first in the field but alone in the field; and there was as yet nobody to understand what he had found there.
…[For example,] when Mr. Belloc wrote about the Servile State, he advanced an economic theory so original that hardly anybody has yet realized what it is. A few centuries hence, other people will probably repeat it, and repeat it wrong. And then, if Catholics object, their protest will be easily explained by the well-known fact that Catholics never care for new ideas.
Nevertheless, the man who made that remark about Catholics meant something; and it is only fair to him to understand it rather more clearly than he stated it. What he meant was that, in the modern world, the Catholic Church is in fact the enemy of many influential fashions; most of which still claim to be new, though many of them are beginning to be a little stale. In other words, in so far as he meant that the Church often attacks what the world at any given moment supports, he was perfectly right . The Church does often set herself against the fashion of this world that passes away; and she has experience enough to know how very rapidly it does pass away.
…Nine out of ten of what we call new ideas are simply old mistakes. The Catholic Church has for one of her chief duties that of preventing people from making those old mistakes; from making them over and over again forever, as people always do if they are left to themselves.
So what of the mistake, made over and over again, of criticizing the Church for being stuck in the past? It is the gripe of a slave of his age. A relativist sees ideas as either old-fashioned or fashionable, as being of the past or on the cutting edge, but none of these characterizations describe the Church. She is not a creature of the age, but of the ageless. She is not of any one time, but of the one Truth.
This is why I can assert, without being presumptuous, what a man who died the year a certain child was born would say about that child when he grew up, became pope, and took the name Francis. The Truth doesn't change. And since there also are no new sins, neither do criticisms of the Church change. They just get recycled by children of time and place who never learned history and thus think their "old mistakes" are "new ideas." They might never imagine that, when Christians refused to participate in ancient Rome's pagan festivals, Roman pagans uttered a very familiar line and called them "haters of humanity."
Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Generally speaking, there are no old and new ideas; there are only enduring ideas and flashes in the pan of the polity. The enduring ideas are incorrectly labeled "old" because they are valid enough to remain in constant use, so we see them embraced by grandpa; the flash-in-the-pan ideas are called "new" because it is the fate of fallacies to be forgotten and then resurrected by the next unsuspecting generation. And the young will think grandpa knows nothing of them because they're newly-born, not realizing that he only knows nothing of them because they wisely were buried long before he was born.
So, secular left, perhaps your motto should be, "Fashionable modernism: bringing you yesterday's mistakes, today." But have at it with your criticism and scorn. Just know that Catholics are used to it, for we've been thus targeted for a very, very long time. And we'll be thus targeted long after you, and your ideas, are dust.
Special Messages and forecasts
A Special Invitation to You


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Somehow the theme song for 2005's Civilization IV is being nominated for a 2011 Grammy. The makers of the game have said that Christopher Tin's Baba Yetu would become the first gaming song to win one. But it's got competition.
There are four other songs in the Grammys' Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), one of 109 categories for the awards.
Listen to the clips of the other four via this Amazon embed:
So all Civ's got to worry about is Bobby McFerrin, a celebrity cover of John Lennon's Imagine and a couple of others. Good luck!


text:
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