Curiouser and Curiouser...!
By the looks of the time stampped posts in my archives, it would appear that I have been a blogger for more than two years now.
And it is only tonight that I learned how to upload images directly into posts.
I thought it fitting that my favourite curious critter be the trailblazer for this newly discovered road, to boldly go where no monkey has been uploaded before.
A Sudden chill
When I pulled out of Naomi's driveway this morning in Somerville, Mass., I instantly unzipped my hoodie so that the only thing protecting my skin from the muggy morning was a thin, ribbed tank.
When I unfolded my cramped-up body from the car five and a half hours later, just above Sherbrooke Street, my body hairs instantly stood on edge.
It is not warm in Montreal.
And so I've been hiding inside since inhaling that autumn wind, relishing my class-less Monday afternoon schedule and my flannel PJs. And Zadie Smith's On Beauty, which I picked up (finally) yesterday at the Harvard Book Store. And peanut-allergy friendly miniature Mars bars. And fizzy water infused with lime juice. Nummy.
Ahhh.... the good life of being a graduate student. Sometimes. Like in September. With exams millions of light years away...
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When I pulled out of Naomi's driveway this morning in Somerville, Mass., I instantly unzipped my hoodie so that the only thing protecting my skin from the muggy morning was a thin, ribbed tank.
When I unfolded my cramped-up body from the car five and a half hours later, just above Sherbrooke Street, my body hairs instantly stood on edge.
It is not warm in Montreal.
And so I've been hiding inside since inhaling that autumn wind, relishing my class-less Monday afternoon schedule and my flannel PJs. And Zadie Smith's On Beauty, which I picked up (finally) yesterday at the Harvard Book Store. And peanut-allergy friendly miniature Mars bars. And fizzy water infused with lime juice. Nummy.
Ahhh.... the good life of being a graduate student. Sometimes. Like in September. With exams millions of light years away...
Lazy Sunday Afternoon in the Square
Harvard Square has its pros and cons, but it's not a bad place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon -especially in fall, with the leaves tinting to match the redbrick of the Harvard dorms.
Spent a good couple of hours in the basement of the Harvard Book Store checking out the used book/overstock department. Still one of the best bookshops I've ever visited.
Back to Montreal (and the realities of school) tomorrow. But for now, Massachusetts is "wicked" good times.
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Harvard Square has its pros and cons, but it's not a bad place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon -especially in fall, with the leaves tinting to match the redbrick of the Harvard dorms.
Spent a good couple of hours in the basement of the Harvard Book Store checking out the used book/overstock department. Still one of the best bookshops I've ever visited.
Back to Montreal (and the realities of school) tomorrow. But for now, Massachusetts is "wicked" good times.
Rape as Sport in Pakistan
I've just read the following article from today's Sunday Times (UK) and wanted to pass it on. I will reserve commentary because the story speaks for itself. And thankfully, so does Ghazala Shaheen.
Pakistani graduate raped to punish her low-caste family
Dean Nelson, Delhi, and Ghulam Hasnain, Karachi
September 24, 2006
The Sunday Times
A YOUNG Pakistani woman has been kidnapped, raped and beaten by a gang of high-caste villagers because her uncle eloped with one of their relatives. She was chosen for punishment because she had recently gained a degree and was the pride of her low-caste family.
Ghazala Shaheen, 24, and her mother Mumtaz were abducted last month by men dressed in police uniforms from their home near Multan in southern Punjab.
Her shocking ordeal mirrors that of Mukhtaran Mai, 29, who became a symbol in the campaign for women’s rights in Pakistan after she was gang-raped because her 12-year-old brother had been seen with a higher-caste woman. Six men were found guilty but five later had their convictions overturned.
That case provoked an international outcry and led to moves to reform Pakistan’s Islamic rape and adultery laws which effectively criminalise rape victims.
Last week human rights campaigners said Shaheen was unlikely to see her attackers brought to justice because President Pervez Musharraf had failed in an attempt to repeal the Hudood Ordinance, which requires four male Muslim witnesses to support a rape charge. If the accused is acquitted, the victim becomes liable to prosecution for adultery.
While Musharraf was out of the country earlier this month, a committee of hardline Islamic scholars neutered his bill to protect women’s rights which would have repealed the Hudood Ordinance. The scholars claimed the bill was un-Islamic because it “encouraged adultery”.
Shaheen’s ordeal began last month when 11 armed men, believed to be security guards employed by one of Musharraf’s ministers, forced their way into her home, attacked her father and brothers and pulled her and her mother into the street.
“They said we were wanted by the police and dragged me and my mother outside. My shirt was torn off in the struggle,” she said last week.
“Outside, I saw about six or seven motorcycles. They put me on one and my mother on another. We were crying and shouting. They threatened to kill us if we kept shouting. They gagged our mouths with sheets. At one point my mother started resisting and she was beaten with guns.”
They were moved between isolated desert houses at first. As night fell on the third day, Shaheen’s mother was taken to another location and she was left alone with one of the gang members.
“This man sat next to me. A moment later he was on to me. He hit me with his gun on my back and on my body and raped me. I was crying and weeping. But he did not listen, and he repeated it,” she said.
“In the morning, I was told to stand up and accompany this man. I was in pain. I could barely walk. Finally we reached a big house with Nazar Mirani (the gang leader) sitting outside. The man who had raped me told Nazar that he had done what he wanted with me and now it was his turn. They took me to a nearby cotton field and Nazar Mirani raped me.”
Shaheen said she knew Mirani’s name because he had filed a case against her uncle, accusing him of eloping with his wife. Mirani had previously threatened and harassed her father, a former soldier who runs a shop from their mud and brick home.
Mirani later told Shaheen he was taking her to Lahore to marry her so that she could not give evidence against him or his men. As the women were being driven from the house, they were stopped at a police roadblock and freed by officers Shaheen’s father had alerted.
According to her relatives, she had been selected as a kidnap target to maximise her family’s humiliation. She had been been the first in her family to gain a degree. This earned her a job as a local schoolteacher, but the offer was withdrawn after officials said they did not want to be associated with someone who had been raped.
Shaheen said she was determined to bring her kidnappers and rapists to justice. “My mission is to get all of them arrested and hanged, so they cannot do this to any other woman,” she said.
The prospects of a successful prosecution appear slim. Only Mirani has been arrested on kidnapping charges, and without the four essential witnesses a rape conviction is unlikely.
Rashid Rehman of Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission said that while hospital tests confirmed Shaheen had been raped, the examination was conducted too late to identify the rapists.
“Ghazala Shaheen has no chance of getting justice. The evidence has been destroyed. Doctors confirm she has been raped but she can’t prove that she has been raped by the suspects,” he said.
There are hundreds of similar cases in southern Punjab every year, he added.
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I've just read the following article from today's Sunday Times (UK) and wanted to pass it on. I will reserve commentary because the story speaks for itself. And thankfully, so does Ghazala Shaheen.
Pakistani graduate raped to punish her low-caste family
Dean Nelson, Delhi, and Ghulam Hasnain, Karachi
September 24, 2006
The Sunday Times
A YOUNG Pakistani woman has been kidnapped, raped and beaten by a gang of high-caste villagers because her uncle eloped with one of their relatives. She was chosen for punishment because she had recently gained a degree and was the pride of her low-caste family.
Ghazala Shaheen, 24, and her mother Mumtaz were abducted last month by men dressed in police uniforms from their home near Multan in southern Punjab.
Her shocking ordeal mirrors that of Mukhtaran Mai, 29, who became a symbol in the campaign for women’s rights in Pakistan after she was gang-raped because her 12-year-old brother had been seen with a higher-caste woman. Six men were found guilty but five later had their convictions overturned.
That case provoked an international outcry and led to moves to reform Pakistan’s Islamic rape and adultery laws which effectively criminalise rape victims.
Last week human rights campaigners said Shaheen was unlikely to see her attackers brought to justice because President Pervez Musharraf had failed in an attempt to repeal the Hudood Ordinance, which requires four male Muslim witnesses to support a rape charge. If the accused is acquitted, the victim becomes liable to prosecution for adultery.
While Musharraf was out of the country earlier this month, a committee of hardline Islamic scholars neutered his bill to protect women’s rights which would have repealed the Hudood Ordinance. The scholars claimed the bill was un-Islamic because it “encouraged adultery”.
Shaheen’s ordeal began last month when 11 armed men, believed to be security guards employed by one of Musharraf’s ministers, forced their way into her home, attacked her father and brothers and pulled her and her mother into the street.
“They said we were wanted by the police and dragged me and my mother outside. My shirt was torn off in the struggle,” she said last week.
“Outside, I saw about six or seven motorcycles. They put me on one and my mother on another. We were crying and shouting. They threatened to kill us if we kept shouting. They gagged our mouths with sheets. At one point my mother started resisting and she was beaten with guns.”
They were moved between isolated desert houses at first. As night fell on the third day, Shaheen’s mother was taken to another location and she was left alone with one of the gang members.
“This man sat next to me. A moment later he was on to me. He hit me with his gun on my back and on my body and raped me. I was crying and weeping. But he did not listen, and he repeated it,” she said.
“In the morning, I was told to stand up and accompany this man. I was in pain. I could barely walk. Finally we reached a big house with Nazar Mirani (the gang leader) sitting outside. The man who had raped me told Nazar that he had done what he wanted with me and now it was his turn. They took me to a nearby cotton field and Nazar Mirani raped me.”
Shaheen said she knew Mirani’s name because he had filed a case against her uncle, accusing him of eloping with his wife. Mirani had previously threatened and harassed her father, a former soldier who runs a shop from their mud and brick home.
Mirani later told Shaheen he was taking her to Lahore to marry her so that she could not give evidence against him or his men. As the women were being driven from the house, they were stopped at a police roadblock and freed by officers Shaheen’s father had alerted.
According to her relatives, she had been selected as a kidnap target to maximise her family’s humiliation. She had been been the first in her family to gain a degree. This earned her a job as a local schoolteacher, but the offer was withdrawn after officials said they did not want to be associated with someone who had been raped.
Shaheen said she was determined to bring her kidnappers and rapists to justice. “My mission is to get all of them arrested and hanged, so they cannot do this to any other woman,” she said.
The prospects of a successful prosecution appear slim. Only Mirani has been arrested on kidnapping charges, and without the four essential witnesses a rape conviction is unlikely.
Rashid Rehman of Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission said that while hospital tests confirmed Shaheen had been raped, the examination was conducted too late to identify the rapists.
“Ghazala Shaheen has no chance of getting justice. The evidence has been destroyed. Doctors confirm she has been raped but she can’t prove that she has been raped by the suspects,” he said.
There are hundreds of similar cases in southern Punjab every year, he added.
"Parents Fail to Show Up"
Reports this morning say that the parents of the 15-year-old hauled into custody yesterday for praising the work of the Dawson College gunman on the Internet did not show up for the youth's release hearing.
Is this the parents' way of further punishing the boy? You left creepy messages online so we want you to suffer by spending a couple of nights in the big house? Lesson learned?
But even if that were the case (questionable parenting tactics, but to each their own...), shouldn't the parents have communicated their intent to the officers of the court? Not to mention that pulling such a stunt wasted the court's time and the tax payers' money.
Might this not be the issue here? Absentee parents who do not want to take responsibility for their son's actions? Is that not precisely why these horribly violent acts keep happening?
A lot of question marks in this post. A lot of questions in my head about this story.
Their son is FIFTEEN. The parents' decision to avoid court yesterday - and to avoid contacting the court officers - should be considered as a contemptuous action.
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Reports this morning say that the parents of the 15-year-old hauled into custody yesterday for praising the work of the Dawson College gunman on the Internet did not show up for the youth's release hearing.
Is this the parents' way of further punishing the boy? You left creepy messages online so we want you to suffer by spending a couple of nights in the big house? Lesson learned?
But even if that were the case (questionable parenting tactics, but to each their own...), shouldn't the parents have communicated their intent to the officers of the court? Not to mention that pulling such a stunt wasted the court's time and the tax payers' money.
Might this not be the issue here? Absentee parents who do not want to take responsibility for their son's actions? Is that not precisely why these horribly violent acts keep happening?
A lot of question marks in this post. A lot of questions in my head about this story.
Their son is FIFTEEN. The parents' decision to avoid court yesterday - and to avoid contacting the court officers - should be considered as a contemptuous action.
September Morn
And there is frost on my bedroom window.
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And there is frost on my bedroom window.
Putting your ride where your money is
NDP leader Jack Layton and his wife, NDP MP Olivia Chow, ride their bicycles to work on Parliament Hill.
Our Prime Minister, on the other hand, drives to work in a convoy of SUVs.
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NDP leader Jack Layton and his wife, NDP MP Olivia Chow, ride their bicycles to work on Parliament Hill.
Our Prime Minister, on the other hand, drives to work in a convoy of SUVs.
On pistols and politics
What happened last week at Dawson is figuring big into the beginning of the fall session of Parliament. Everybody's talking about gun control, gun registration, mandatory minimum sentences, etc.
The gunman had three guns on him during the attacks; one was that huge mother of a semi-automatic thing that he posed with in a photo on his blog, and that has been re-posted in media outlets everywhere.
Is it better or worse that the weapons used to turn Dawson into a shooting gallery were all legally obtained and licensed by our very own government?
Mr. Harper, speaking at this very moment in the House of Commons, says that the events of last week prove that the current gun control laws do not work, and need to be improved. At the same time, the Conservative government is looking to abolish the gun control registry which it has long called a useless boondoggle.
The fact that the gunman (I refuse to type his name) was able to purchase guns with our government's OK proves that the system is cracked.
New policies for gun control? Bring 'em. Let's hear them. Especially if they include spending on social programs, after-school drop-ins, couselling services and agreements with the provinces to better fund public schools and the arts.
If they're about mandatory minimum sentences, or other supposed "getting tough on crime bills", then, keep 'em.
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What happened last week at Dawson is figuring big into the beginning of the fall session of Parliament. Everybody's talking about gun control, gun registration, mandatory minimum sentences, etc.
The gunman had three guns on him during the attacks; one was that huge mother of a semi-automatic thing that he posed with in a photo on his blog, and that has been re-posted in media outlets everywhere.
Is it better or worse that the weapons used to turn Dawson into a shooting gallery were all legally obtained and licensed by our very own government?
Mr. Harper, speaking at this very moment in the House of Commons, says that the events of last week prove that the current gun control laws do not work, and need to be improved. At the same time, the Conservative government is looking to abolish the gun control registry which it has long called a useless boondoggle.
The fact that the gunman (I refuse to type his name) was able to purchase guns with our government's OK proves that the system is cracked.
New policies for gun control? Bring 'em. Let's hear them. Especially if they include spending on social programs, after-school drop-ins, couselling services and agreements with the provinces to better fund public schools and the arts.
If they're about mandatory minimum sentences, or other supposed "getting tough on crime bills", then, keep 'em.
The Morning After
Nestruck's got an interesting compilation of blog and live journal accounts of what happened yesterday.
As for me, I'm just enjoying dunking oatmeal cookies into vanilla yogourt.
Onward.
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Nestruck's got an interesting compilation of blog and live journal accounts of what happened yesterday.
As for me, I'm just enjoying dunking oatmeal cookies into vanilla yogourt.
Onward.
Craig's List Discussion of today's Events
http://montreal.craigslist.org/rnr/
Post your thoughts, feelings, reactions, or read those of others in Montreal and beyond...
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http://montreal.craigslist.org/rnr/
Post your thoughts, feelings, reactions, or read those of others in Montreal and beyond...
Blogging Frenzy
Use the search tool on the top of this blog to type the words "Dawson College". Then click on "search all blogs". The Montreal bloggies are out in force.
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Use the search tool on the top of this blog to type the words "Dawson College". Then click on "search all blogs". The Montreal bloggies are out in force.
Wired
Kids stuck inside of Dawson, unsure of what was happening, were finding out information about what was happening just downstairs in their school from news sources on the 'Net.
How horrifying that must have been, not knowing if a killer was on the other side of their classroom door.
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Kids stuck inside of Dawson, unsure of what was happening, were finding out information about what was happening just downstairs in their school from news sources on the 'Net.
How horrifying that must have been, not knowing if a killer was on the other side of their classroom door.
"Neutralized"
What does that mean?
"He's not shooting anymore." Say the police.
Dead? In custody? Suicide/taken out?
SUCH A SKETCHY COP PR TERM.
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What does that mean?
"He's not shooting anymore." Say the police.
Dead? In custody? Suicide/taken out?
SUCH A SKETCHY COP PR TERM.
'Copters
Since the shooting, nearly two hours ago, Montreal police helicopters have been flying in circles around the downtown core. Unclear whether there are more suspects-at-large, but it seems as though that is still a possibility with the choppers still out in force.
No "official" word on any of that.
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Since the shooting, nearly two hours ago, Montreal police helicopters have been flying in circles around the downtown core. Unclear whether there are more suspects-at-large, but it seems as though that is still a possibility with the choppers still out in force.
No "official" word on any of that.
Allophone (Dawson shooting coverage cont'd)
Listen to the students being interviewed in English on radio and TV. Virtually every single one of them speaks an accented English; many of the accents are not French Canadian.
The intonations, the expressions, the syntax... some are Italian, some are Greek, some are Haitian - but they all have the Montreal allophone inflection.
It's SO Montreal. It's SO, SO uniquely Montreal.
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Listen to the students being interviewed in English on radio and TV. Virtually every single one of them speaks an accented English; many of the accents are not French Canadian.
The intonations, the expressions, the syntax... some are Italian, some are Greek, some are Haitian - but they all have the Montreal allophone inflection.
It's SO Montreal. It's SO, SO uniquely Montreal.
Dawson Shooting Coverage
By now most of you will have read/seen/heard coverage about a school shooting at Dawson College in downtown Montreal. I attended Dawson from 1998-2000 and can see its majestic dome, topped with a statue of the Virgin Mary (it was formerly a motherhouse) from where I sit at this moment.
What I'm finding most interesting right now, as the information trickles in drips, is a couple of things about the live news coverage.
The American networks are covering it wall-t0-wall on the 24/hr stations and online. It will likely be the top story on the supper hour newscasts. Canadian news is ignored the rest of the time but for a school shooting we get top billing.
Wireless technologies, as has been proven in other recent tragedies (London subway bombing), are invaluable in the communication of information and turn everybody into reporters.
In a story with so many eye witnesses, the accounts are all going to be slightly different but with some common elements to the narrative. It's fascinating.
... more to come...
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By now most of you will have read/seen/heard coverage about a school shooting at Dawson College in downtown Montreal. I attended Dawson from 1998-2000 and can see its majestic dome, topped with a statue of the Virgin Mary (it was formerly a motherhouse) from where I sit at this moment.
What I'm finding most interesting right now, as the information trickles in drips, is a couple of things about the live news coverage.
The American networks are covering it wall-t0-wall on the 24/hr stations and online. It will likely be the top story on the supper hour newscasts. Canadian news is ignored the rest of the time but for a school shooting we get top billing.
Wireless technologies, as has been proven in other recent tragedies (London subway bombing), are invaluable in the communication of information and turn everybody into reporters.
In a story with so many eye witnesses, the accounts are all going to be slightly different but with some common elements to the narrative. It's fascinating.
... more to come...
Donkeys Resumed
The following is the most recent posting from Ruth who is currently making her way across India on one of the legs of her mega-post-law-school-adventure. You can keep up with all of the highs and lows at: http://ruth.vox.com
In the meantime, this one is priceless:
"I have given you, dear friends and family, what I feel is a sufficient break from reading about my donkey rage. Well, its back- but not with a vengeance yet.
Istanbul was surprisingly donkey-free. At least, I don't remember seeing any, so even if there were a few roaming the streets, I have blocked them out sufficiently well. From Istanbul, we went to New Delhi. I saw some cows roaming the streets, but no mules. Delhi, by the way, is a really cool city.
This morning, we set out at the crack of dawn (6:00 am people!) from Jassa's house in Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. I am afraid to report that the donkey count resumed. At first, a little bored in the car, I began counting cows. Jassa had warned me that the cow count would hit the thousands, and surely enough, he was right. I gave up in favor of counting children using the side of the highway as a bathroom (9 before I fell asleep). That became depressing.
I saw a camel. I vowed to count camels. Unfortunately, during the drive, I only saw one. Guess they're expensive in India too. Still unthrilled about children using the side of the road as a john (I didn't bother counting adults since it would compete with the cow-count, and without coffee, I don't think I can reach over 100) I settled on bears (2), then monkeys. Monkeys were lagging in number, and something had to outnumber the kids, or I was convinced I'd turn around and go back to Delhi then and there. Along came the donkeys. I counted 7, saw a bunch more (which I forgot to count because I was so happy something had finally outnumbered the children) .
I am happy to report that the monkey count now exceeds both the donkey and the crapping-kid count."
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The following is the most recent posting from Ruth who is currently making her way across India on one of the legs of her mega-post-law-school-adventure. You can keep up with all of the highs and lows at: http://ruth.vox.com
In the meantime, this one is priceless:
"I have given you, dear friends and family, what I feel is a sufficient break from reading about my donkey rage. Well, its back- but not with a vengeance yet.
Istanbul was surprisingly donkey-free. At least, I don't remember seeing any, so even if there were a few roaming the streets, I have blocked them out sufficiently well. From Istanbul, we went to New Delhi. I saw some cows roaming the streets, but no mules. Delhi, by the way, is a really cool city.
This morning, we set out at the crack of dawn (6:00 am people!) from Jassa's house in Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. I am afraid to report that the donkey count resumed. At first, a little bored in the car, I began counting cows. Jassa had warned me that the cow count would hit the thousands, and surely enough, he was right. I gave up in favor of counting children using the side of the highway as a bathroom (9 before I fell asleep). That became depressing.
I saw a camel. I vowed to count camels. Unfortunately, during the drive, I only saw one. Guess they're expensive in India too. Still unthrilled about children using the side of the road as a john (I didn't bother counting adults since it would compete with the cow-count, and without coffee, I don't think I can reach over 100) I settled on bears (2), then monkeys. Monkeys were lagging in number, and something had to outnumber the kids, or I was convinced I'd turn around and go back to Delhi then and there. Along came the donkeys. I counted 7, saw a bunch more (which I forgot to count because I was so happy something had finally outnumbered the children) .
I am happy to report that the monkey count now exceeds both the donkey and the crapping-kid count."
Friedman Breaks it Down
I've not always been in agreement with the NYT's Thomas L. Friedman on Iraq, but I think this 'graph from today's column neatly summarizes the U.S. admin's hypocrisy:
... Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld told us we are in the fight of our lives against a new Islamic fascism, and let's have an unprecedented wartime tax cut and shrink ourarmed forces. They told us we are in the fight of our lives against a new Islamic fascism, but let's send just enough troops to topple Saddam -- and never control Iraq's borders, its ammo dumps or its looters. They told us we are in the fight of our lives against a new Islamic fascism, but rather than bring Democrats and Republicans together in a national unity war coalition, let's usethe war as a wedge issue to embarrass Democrats, frighten voters and win elections. They told us we are in the fight of our lives against a new Islamic fascism -- which is financed by our own oil purchases -- but let's not do one serious thing about ending our oil addiction.
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I've not always been in agreement with the NYT's Thomas L. Friedman on Iraq, but I think this 'graph from today's column neatly summarizes the U.S. admin's hypocrisy:
... Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld told us we are in the fight of our lives against a new Islamic fascism, and let's have an unprecedented wartime tax cut and shrink ourarmed forces. They told us we are in the fight of our lives against a new Islamic fascism, but let's send just enough troops to topple Saddam -- and never control Iraq's borders, its ammo dumps or its looters. They told us we are in the fight of our lives against a new Islamic fascism, but rather than bring Democrats and Republicans together in a national unity war coalition, let's usethe war as a wedge issue to embarrass Democrats, frighten voters and win elections. They told us we are in the fight of our lives against a new Islamic fascism -- which is financed by our own oil purchases -- but let's not do one serious thing about ending our oil addiction.
The LAST First
Today is my last first day of school.
The apple is shiny and ready to go.
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Today is my last first day of school.
The apple is shiny and ready to go.
Law Firm Nappy Time
Hey lawyer friends, imagine this: (from today's International Herald Tribune)
NZ firm given award for letting lawyers take naps
The Associated Press
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
WELLINGTON, New Zealand
A law firm that encourages its workers to take a nap if they are tired has won New Zealand's top award for helping employees to balance their work and personal lives.
The government's Equal Employment Opportunities Trust gave solicitors firm Meredith Connell it's "work-life balance" award for offering employees flexible work hours to take account of personal commitments.
One lawyer, Anna Longdill, said she took advantage of the flexible hours to do sports training that required her to get out of bed at 4:30 a.m. each day and run, swim or cycle for three hours before going to the office.
"After a few weeks of that, it gets to the point where you are hitting the proverbial brick wall," Longdill was quoted as saying in the New Zealand Herald. "I recall more than one occasion when the boss said, 'you need to go home, you need to go and sleep.'"
Longdill, 25, said she still spent 50 hours or more a week working, making up the time by working at night from home via remote access to company computers.
Meredith Connell — official government solicitors in the northern city of Auckland — credited the scheme for helping cut its professional staff turnover by 5 percent in the past year.
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Hey lawyer friends, imagine this: (from today's International Herald Tribune)
NZ firm given award for letting lawyers take naps
The Associated Press
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
WELLINGTON, New Zealand
A law firm that encourages its workers to take a nap if they are tired has won New Zealand's top award for helping employees to balance their work and personal lives.
The government's Equal Employment Opportunities Trust gave solicitors firm Meredith Connell it's "work-life balance" award for offering employees flexible work hours to take account of personal commitments.
One lawyer, Anna Longdill, said she took advantage of the flexible hours to do sports training that required her to get out of bed at 4:30 a.m. each day and run, swim or cycle for three hours before going to the office.
"After a few weeks of that, it gets to the point where you are hitting the proverbial brick wall," Longdill was quoted as saying in the New Zealand Herald. "I recall more than one occasion when the boss said, 'you need to go home, you need to go and sleep.'"
Longdill, 25, said she still spent 50 hours or more a week working, making up the time by working at night from home via remote access to company computers.
Meredith Connell — official government solicitors in the northern city of Auckland — credited the scheme for helping cut its professional staff turnover by 5 percent in the past year.
![[Click for official biography]](http://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/justices/photo-De.jpg?1299748013-0.1-974446364)