Rikers Island

just beyond New York's La Guardia airport in this picture is Rikers Island the home to New York's jails. there are 10 jails on the island with a population of approximately 10,000 prisoners. the place has a fearsome reputation but there was one statistic that I found quite sobering. 55% of the inmates are black and 34% are Hispanic. that means that 89% of the inmates are none white.

there is a huge debate going on in America about the treatment of black people by the police but if 89% of the people in prison in Ney York are none white then something is not working, it may well be true that the vast majority of people Incarcerated there should be there but there is something wrong with a society where 9 in 10 people who are locked up are none white.    

9/11 15th anniversary

firstly no it's not my picture but I managed to see the tribute last night and even with the light 

Pollution where I was I could see the lights and its a very powerful image

I happened to be in New York on the 15^th anniversary of 9/11 and I was privileged to watch the memorial service which was carried live by the local TV stations. There are a few musical pieces but the main part of the service is the reading of the almost 3000 names of the people killed. The names are read by relatives of the families. They read in pairs and each read about 10 names. The last name they read is their own relatives and the readers then spend a few moments speaking of their loss and the effect it has had on their family. It was a tremendously moving experience. It was particularly poignant when a name was read out as “XXX and her unborn child.”.   The reading of the names pauses briefly so a single bell can be rung at the moment each tower was hit and at the time each tower fell. it takes nearly four hours to read the names out and the ceremony takes place every year. undoubtedly this will be the single biggest event in my lifetime and the scale of loss is incomprehensible.    

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Icelandic Irony

A visit to Iceland this week and my guide pointed out the ironic situation in Reykjavik harbour. the two black boats are the last two remaining whaling ships in Iceland. they are moored up next to a whale watching boat. I am pleased to say that there are a huge amount of whale watching ships these days and the Icelandic seafarer's seem to have realised there is more money in what watching that whaling.   

Brilliant Art

the owner of the Local Cricket Ground has taken a long dead tree and had it carved into what he believes is the largest cricket back in England. It stands at 24 foot tall and therefore 4ft taller than what he believes to be the former largest one which is in Devon. it stands just outside the ground at square leg and was never hit when it was a tree, it will be interesting to see if anyone manages to hit it now it is a bat.   

the Obvious !!

Its the first time I have had a notice like this in a Hotel room I have been using, It was not as if it was a Hostel, the room was almost £200 per night

Not What I expected

I was in Saudi Arabia this week, this was the first time in this country for me/ as I am sure everyone knows it’s a complicated country to get entry to. I had to get permission from the Saudi Arabian Ministry Of Foreign Affairs  to apply for a visa, I don’t expect may visa applications are turned  down if you have to have permission to apply for a visa.  On arrival immigration was complicated with a lack of signage and conflicting instructions but after two hours I was in a taxi on the way to the Hotel.

I had a belief that Saudi Arabia was very restrictive and without doubt it is not the most open country in the world but I saw several groups of women walking around unaccompanied, although we sat in the single male part of the restaurant there was a women’s section and a families section. I was told the single male’s section was often closed at the weekend and an extended families section created.

One of the things that most surprised me was that beer could be bought in the supermarkets. Alcohol free beer but beer nonetheless.      

Signing .... and a new start

The business I run was a none core subsidiary of a larger aviation group. We had been growing rapidly and profitable over the last few years but as a none core subsidiary which was still small enough to be vulnerable if we were a standalone company I had been searching for a trade sale for a while.

Without going into any confidential details of the sale it was three incredibly hard and draining three months whilst we completed the Due Diligence on the sale before we reached the point of sale.

I had arrived in the Czech Republic the day before the deal and had a very pleasant dinner with a representative of my current owners. The following morning the lawyers from London, the representative and I made our way to the lawyers chose by my new owners, whilst we negotiated the final points of the deal the junior lawyers arranged the paperwork in another room.  Once the final details had been agreed we were able to start the signing.

The documents were numbered from 1 to 32 and there were 4 copies of each document Signing legal documents is not a simple as it might seem, different countries require different colours of pen or even different types of ink. In this case a blue pen was required. We started at 1 and progressed through the list. Part way through some documents required the notary who was in attendance to observe our signature and to note this in her register. At various points in the signing we had to have some official board meetings to allow directors to resign and new ones to be appointed. The Notary would call us to order and the read through the requirements. We had to appoint a Chairman for the meeting and I was to be the chairman for the first meeting she asked the assembled people if they were happy that I was to be Chair, we all said yes and there was a fully of voices in Czech before one of them said, we need a show of hands, she then asked us again as we raised a hand and I was appointed to chair the meeting.

Finally after three hours we had completed signing all the document and were waiting for the money to appear in the various bank accounts. There was a delay with this so the lawyers agreed to hold all the documents until the funds were received. At that point I left with my new owners so they could visit the company they owned for the first time.  I could not help feeling it was like a prisoner transfer…. I arrived with my current owners, we signed a load of documents and I left with my new owners. Leaving my old owners behind in the lawyer’s office. Quite a momentous day for me.