Real Talk!

There are various types of abbreviations that have been described as “initialisms” or “acronyms”, in which joining the first letters of each word puts a catchy phrase together.

A substantial number of vintage acronyms may be traced to the military, WW II, particularly- these include the term AWOL (Absent WithOut Leave) and SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Fouled Up).

I imagine acronyms grow from jargon and form of shorthand that spins through various organizations or industries and the information highway has brought them to us like clever wordplays, permeating society to extraordinary proportions.

Often, conversations are littered with this sort of reference- they are a brief, convenient sort of slang used to simplify dialogue. Realtors ® use MLS ® (multiple listing service) and sometimes I find it funny to see “MLS® listing” because it seems as redundant as “SIN number” (SIN being a Canadian acronym for social insurance number).

We can choose to see anything from a positive or negative perspective. Sure, there are some people who use acronyms for less noble purposes. Whether to exclude, impress or compete- no matter what, some people just seem to need to have the upper hand. Some even mistake identification for intelligence. I’m sure we’ve all met someone who knows the extended phraseology of an acronym; without having a clue about what it means.

On the other hand, wheeling a patient into the ER (short for emergency room) and hearing someone suggest it could be CHF (short for congestive heart failure) and having the patient sent directly to OR (the operating room) could save precious minutes!

Fashionistas recognize DKNY as Donna Karan New York and RK as Ralph Klein. Most consumers recognize GM as General Motors. We know that UCLA is University of California, Los Angeles. Examples such as these are a sign of good marketing & smart business practice.

I have seen people select business names based on the potential for a witty acronym. I know a couple that formed an acronym from the names of their children and they use everywhere, on everything. There is currently a television commercial that pokes fun at a law firm that is interested in simplifying their lengthy list of partners’ to an acronym that would spell the word DINGBATS a.k.a. (also known as) Dudley- Irwin- Newberg-Gonzales-Brown-Anderson-Taylor & Stein.

Acronyms are all around us. The word blog, for example, is an acronym for ”‘web log”… & who among us hasn’t heard of DOA, URL, ABBA, FBI or MADD ? Canadians love the dreaded GST*

The list is infinite…and growing… unstoppably! Which is how our language develops. Yup, we are major stakeholders in the evolution of communication!

& for people who have had enough acronyms- no problem, just practice “RID”- recognize, ignore, delete.

*
DOA- dead on arrival

URL- Uniform Resource Locator

ABBA- The name of a group of Swedish pop musicians: Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Anni-Frid

FBI- Federal Bureau of Investigation

MADD- Mothers Against Drunk Driving

GST- Goods & Services Tax

Yesterday, I wrote about subliminal manipulation and in particular, the oratory practices of Barack Obama, one of the United States Presidential candidates. In the essence of fair play, I would like to make some other observations.

The official Hillary Clinton website explains, “Hillary was raised in a middle-class family in the middle of America.” She went on to college in the 60s and studied political science. Her journey is inarguably that of a woman of formidable character.

Once describing her self as, “a mind conservative and a heart liberal.” She is later quoted, on the matter of early romance with her husband, as writing, "I chose to follow my heart instead of my head."

The official Whitehouse biography quotes Hillary from 1992 as saying, “"Our lives are a mixture of different roles. Most of us are doing the best we can to find whatever the right balance is . . . For me, that balance is family, work, and service."

All things considered, I believe the lady has handled herself with grace and dignity. I’ve heard it said that Hillary has guts. She is intelligent and well spoken, although there are times in which I wish she’d talk more directly, in a manner that would engage the listener who is less interested in intellectual banter.

Critics sell t-shirts with the slogan, “I’m afraid of Hillary”. Others, like Glenn Beck, have said a lot of mean stuff about her. Glenn griped about her voice, claiming that regardless of what she says, he hears only shrill directives to take the garbage out… or something very much like that.

There are some murmurs that suggest Hillary might be a feminazi.

Look, I’m not for or against anybody. I can’t vote in this process. I’m simply an observer.

& I am just saying it can't be easy being a Clinton.

I think Hillary is one cool woman. I give her thumbs up for the way she continues to serve and embrace a public who love to make jokes, serve up gossip, conspiracy theories and scandals to cast upon the Clinton household.

Believe me, there are stories about all of the candidates… But here are some of the many Clinton based tales...I found these on the internet- some are possibly true.

ABC’s (Alleged Billary Clinton SCANDALS):

ABE LINCOLN: DNC donors were allowed to spend the night in the Lincoln bedroom for a contribution of $150,000. The donations prize for the $50,000 range was a coffee visit. Clinton donations came from a convicted illegal arms dealer, Chinese government agents, and many other drug smugglers. Yup, lots of “donor” scandals.

BARRY SEAL: a murdered cocaine smuggler with alleged links to the Clintons.

CATTLE: a scandal involving Hillary's investment of approximately $1,000 in cattle futures that had a conspicuous return of $100,000- the odds of this kind of luck are said to be one in 250 million.

CHINA: Some insiders believe that Bill Clinton has given military technology to Communist China. Clinton-contributor, Johnny Chung, openly admitted to knowingly taking funds from the communist Chinese government in 1996. Speaking of china, Bill and Hillary Clinton are said to have left the Whitehouse with their pockets full of silverware and expensive furniture, among other things.

CIA: In the 50’s, Bill Clinton worked as a CIA informer. Without visible means of support, he traveled around Europe and the Soviet Union, staying at the ritziest hotel in Moscow.

DAN LASATER: A mobster friend of Bill Clinton’s mother, she met while at the track. At that time, he was breeding racehorses in Kentucky and Florida and had a box at the track next to hers. Mrs. Clinton introduced Lasater to Roger Clinton.

A later DEA report claimed that a famous Arkansas figure and backer of Clinton "smuggles cocaine from Colombia, South America, inside race horses to Hot Springs."

Later Mobster Dan Lasater buys a ski resort in New Mexico for $20 million and uses Clinton's name (with permission) to promote it.

Dan Lasater got a $30 million bond deal for state police radios even as the governor's stepbrother Roger was making a bargain with the US attorney to testify against him in a drug case.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: Hillary Clinton allegedly hired a "psychic" and attempted to "talk" with Eleanor Roosevelt.

FAMILY: The Clintons are alleged to have fired seven white house travel office employees in order to hire cousins and friends.

GAY: Supposedly, Hillary used the presidential retreat at Camp David for playtime with her gay friends during the Clinton administration. It is alleged that her roommate in college was a lesbian. Hillary wears sensible shoes and “pant suits”. Hillary has "balls".

GENNIFER FLOWERS: In 1992, Gennifer claimed to have had a 12 year affair with Bill Clinton.

GOTTI: The New York Daily News quoted John Gotti as saying that Clinton got away with things a Mafia boss would never have gotten away with.

HELICOPTERS: A Clinton aide used the presidential helicopter to make personal trips.

HILLARY: Upon meeting him, Hillary told Sir Edmund that her mother had named her in his honour. Hillary was born in 1947 and yet, Sir Edmund made his most famous climb in 1953. Hillary Rodham Clinton's father (Hugh Rodham) owned a drapery store and his wife, Hillary's mother (Dorothy), was a homemaker.

HUANG: John Huang, a Clinton crony and former Commerce department official with top level FBI clearance - even for several months after his dismissal - pled guilty to funneling Lippo group and Chinese donations- foreign campaign contributions are illegal.

INDONESIA: Two Indonesian billionaires (Mochtar Riady and Liem Sioe Liong) went to Arkansas to engineer the takeover of the First National Bank of Mena in a town of 5,000 with few major assets beyond a Contra supply base, drug running and money-laundering operations. Riady's teen-age son was later taken on as an intern by Stephens Inc, for which he claimed that he was "sponsored" by Bill Clinton.

JONI MITCHELL: song writer whose song “Chelsea Morning” inspired the Clintons to name their daughter Chelsea. At the age of 22, Chelsea was once spotted staggering outside of a nightclub in London.

JUANITA BROADDRIC: A volunteer in Clinton's gubernatorial campaign, claims she was attacked by Clinton and her lip almost bitten off while he was raping her in the late seventies

KATHLEEN: Democrat Kathleen Willey has directly accused President Clinton of fondling her in the White House.

LARRY PATTERSON: An Arkansas State Trooper claimed Governor Clinton had oral sex with a woman in a car parked outside Chelsea Clinton's elementary school. Two Arkansas state troopers swore under oath that they have seen Clinton "under the influence" of drugs when he was governor.

MONICA LEWINSKY: nuff said.

MUSHROOMS: A White House chef, hired by Hillary, prepared a menu of wild mushrooms and organic flour arranged in pyramids for some visiting east Texas good ol' boys, during the Bush administration. Mrs. Bush, it is claimed, said she would have preferred grits.

NANNYGATE: Clinton links to business relations with illegal immigrants.

NINE HUNDRED FILES: the discovery of over 900 Republican FBI files in the White House that were apparently mistakenly ordered.

ON BEHALF OF HILLARY: Vince Foster asked Jerry Parks to collect detailed data on Bill Clinton's sexual escapades, including pictures and dates.

Jerry Parks was running American Contract Services, the business that supplied bodyguards for Clinton during his presidential campaign. Bill Clinton owed several thousand dollars to the Parks.

Parks’ wife claims that her husband had been meeting Vince Foster at a K-Mart parking lot to deliver large sums of money.

Parks was found dead in his car in Little Rock- 2 months after Foster’s suicide.

PBS: recieved donor lists to solicit directly from the Clinton-Gore 1996 campaign, a violation of federal law.

PAULA JONES: sued Bill Clinton after alleging he exposed himself to her in an Arkansas hotel room

PHONE CALLS: Al Gore made over 75 phone calls to solicit contributions from a location on federal property- an act that is illegal in America.

In the 90s, Hillary Clinton made a $44,000 profit on a $2,000 investment in a cellular phone franchise deal

QUESTIONABLE PARDONS: True to his word, Clinton issued 140 pardons as well as several commutations on his last day of office. He has been seriously criticized for these and other pardons as well as other acts of executive clemency for convitions to do with drugs, mail fraud, conspiracy, false statements, extortion, wire fraud, stolen vehicles and other illegal activities.

Edgar and Vonna Jo Gregory, owners of the carnival company United Shows International, were friends of Hillary’s younger brother who lobbyed for them, over their 1982 conviction of bank fraud.

In another case, convicted drug dealer, Tommy McIntosh, received a pardon. McIntosh’s father had once worked for Bill Clinton who had agreed to pay him $25,000, to help him market his recipe for sweet potato pie and to pardon his son.

Federal prosecutor Mary Jo White was appointed to investigate the numerous pardons. She was later replaced by James Comey. Comey found no grounds to indict Clinton.

ROGER CLINTON: Bill’s Brother, Roger Clinton, developed a four-gram a day cocaine habit.

Roger’s friend, Sharlene Wilson, testified that she witnessed Bill Clinton consuming cocaine and attending toga parties. Supposedly, in the 80s, Bill Clinton ended up in the hospital for a drug overdose.

RICHARD KELLY: Clinton's stepfather is known to be a gun-brandishing alcoholic who lost his Buick franchise through mismanagement and his own pilfering. He physically abused his family, including the young Bill

SALLY PERDUE: a former Miss Arkansas and talk show host who claimed she had an affair with then Governor Bill Clinton. She told the London Sunday Telegraph that he once came over to her house with a bag full of cocaine.

THESIS: After becoming involved in politics, Wellesley graduate Hillary Rodham orders her senior thesis sealed from public view.

UNCLE RAYMOND: Bill Clinton’s uncle Raymond is said to have manipulated to keep young Bill out of the Vietnam draft. Raymond has been linked to organized crime, illegal gambling, drug money laundering and other ventures. Raymond was thought to be a minion of an organized crime overlord.

VANITY: Apparently, Bill Clinton once held up the traffic at LA's international airport, for hours, while having his hair cut- aboard Air Force One.

VINCE FOSTER: Boyhood friend of Bill and law partner/friend of Hillary Clinton with whom many Little Rock insiders believed Hillary Clinton was having an affair.

Vince Foster committed suicide, he was found in Fort Marcy Park, a federal park in Virginia, with a gun in his hand and gunshot residue on that hand. Some conspiracy theorists claim he was killed in Hillary's apartment and moved to the park.

An autopsy determined that he was shot in the mouth and no other wounds were found on his body.

There have been 3 official investigations into his death.

Immediately after hearing of his death, witnesses have testified they saw Clinton aides clearing the supposedly sealed office

Years after they had disappeared from Vince Fosters office, subpoenaed Whitewater billing records were found on a table in the White House. It has been said that Hillary's fingerprints were on the papers.

VIRGINIA KELLY: Bill Clinton’s mother. Virginia is said to be a heavy gambler with mob ties, who hangs out at the racetrack.

WHITEWATER: alleged banking and real estate scandal of Clinton and his friends over some land in the Ozarks.

X-RATED: XXXX XXXXX, alleged prostitute and model for Penthouse magazine. She ran a powerful house of ill-repute in Fordyce with her siste. They are alleged to have blackmailed some of their more powerful clients. She is linked to Governor Bill Clinton.

She cooperated with police in an investigation of Arkansas cocaine trafficking, but was burned to death inside her home (the fire had no determined origin) and she was unable to testify.

Y: see the article by William Jefferson Clinton entitled “My Reasons for the Pardons” at http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/18/opinion/18CLIN.html?ex=1204261200&en=a9e60c7910b4169f&ei=5070

The reader’s digest version is : “Overwhelmingly, the pardons went to people who had been convicted and served their time, so the impact of the pardon was principally to restore the person's civil rights. Many of these, including some of the more controversial, had vigorous bipartisan support.”

Zzz: At first, said to have been sleeping off the effects of marijuana, a coroner’s report concluded that two boys (Kevin Ives and Don Henry) had been killed and left on a railroad track to be run over by a train. It is believed that they had witnessed a drug drop by an airplane connected to the Mena drug smuggling routes. The Mena drug gang is said to have links to the Clintons. Several people set to testify about Mena drug smuggling have died in grizzly, unusual circumstances.

There you have it. A smattering of the slung.

Hmmmmmmmmmm...

It sure looks like every stage of her life has prepared Hillary for the presidency. Tested by rough politics and personal trials, you have to admit that Hillary has demonstrated immense strength, sturdy determination and great resolve.

The qualities of a commander-in-chief?

Forceful and consistent, it seems that you can count on Hillary to deliver a dignified response- even under the most humiliating circumstances.

ADDENDUM: June 10, 2009

This morning, I received a rather disgruntled email from a woman claiming to be the sister of the woman referred to in this blog: in the segment listed as "X-rated". Not the sister referred to in the segment.

I am not going to publish the entire contents of her comment as it contains personal contact information. In fact, she dares me to contact her, to learn the whole truth about the story.

The truth is, I don't want to know the details- I'm sure it's very sad... but I had been blogging about the nasty stuff that goes on during election campaigns and I hadn't meant to hurt anyone.

Out of respect, I have deleted all references to actual names in the segment "X-rated".

When I wrote this segment, I felt that it was self-explanatory that these were reguritated allegations... allegations made during an election campaign. I had written a series of blogs (some more tongue- in-cheek than others) about the sort of "sound bites" that were being distorted and the muck that was being tossed.

The blog entitled "Fair Play" (extremely tongue-in-cheek) was meant to about how well Mrs. Clinton handles the mud that gets slung in her direction. It was not meant to hurt anyone.

I feel it is important quote the following exerpt from my visitor's comments as I feel that they aptly convey the sentiment behind her message: "I happen to be XXXX XXXX sister and everything you have written is not true. It is a story fabricatied and duplicated by the right wingers trying to discredit Bill Clinton back in the 80's. They took every death in Arkansas and made up a story about it and linked Bill Clinton to the dead."

Point made and taken... although, I feel that we are playing on the same team and the visitor's viewpoint actually supports my suspicions.

SUBLIMINAL

Below the threshold of sensory perception or outside the range of conscious awareness.

In 1898, E.W. Scripture published “The New Psychology” which is generally accepted as first discussing the basic principles of subliminal messages. In the late 50s, a market researcher claimed that inserting a quickly flashing message into a movie had influenced patrons to purchase more food and drinks.

The book, “Subliminal Seduction”, released in the 1970s, suggested that the photographs in print ads were manipulated in order to contain hidden messages. Imbedding certain sexy images and even the word “sex” into ice cubes, seemed to be the rage.

While there isn’t much empirical support for the effectiveness of subliminal messaging, consumers spend millions each year on subliminal self-help products that claim to communicate with the unconscious mind. These include music that is said to contain messages that will assist the listener with losing weight, quitting smoking or other powerful accomplishments.

Philosophical interest in the phenomena that has come to be called “psychology” goes back to ancient civilization, however, it wasn’t until the 1500s that humanists began to embark on the internal journey toward the mind. Verging on the paranormal, spiritual and highly experimental, informal studies continued and hypothesis were formed. It was the mid 1800s before the first accepted textbook of psychology was published.

Psychology remains a contentious study. There are still many who see it as a myriad of concepts with simple, anecdotal evidence, providing little or no basis for real scientific proof. Somewhere in the 60s, the body of knowledge known as psychology found a niche and was included as a behavioural science, along with sociology and anthropology-although, it has been seen as health science, as well.

California in the 70s was a time of social upheaval. A linguistics professor at University of California at Santa Cruz teamed up with a psychology student and developed the “meta-model”- a communication model of human "thinking" and "processing" which became the basis of Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).

NLP aims to increase behavioral choice by the manipulation of personal state, belief and internal representation. The meta-model intends to help someone develop new choice in thinking and behavior. By listening to and carefully responding to the distortions (generalizations and deletions) in sentences, the listener seeks to respond to the form of the sentence rather than the content itself.

NLP became a strategy for social influence, proposing a number of techniques such as matching and pacing nonverbal behaviour like posture, tone of voice and gestures and matching speech and body rythms. Over the past 25 years, hundreds of techniques using the NLP technology have been combined in a step-by-step processes to produce outstanding results. There are patterns for effecting lasting change with phobias and trauma, for changing long-term habits and for changing traumatic reactions into more comfortable acceptance.

One particular model, known as the “Milton model” has been identified by the NLP originators as being “artfully vague”. In this model, the communicator makes statements using patterns that are intentionally non-specific and metaphoric- in this way, they allow the listener to fill in the gaps and make their own meaning from what is being said. In their book “Introducing NLP”, Joseph O'Connor, John Seymour described it as "a way of using language to induce and maintain trance in order to contact the hidden resources of our personality".

That’s kind of creepy… and it gets kind of creepier:

Recently, while watching a Clinton/Obama debate, I was really watching Obama. He’s been touted as an orator. In fact, I have to include what Mark Adams posted at http://www.rubyan.com/politics/2008/01/obama-what-a-speech.html

Mark said: “The man is an orator without peer. He pulled off that cadence reserved for the pulpit better than anyone I've seen.”

And Annie Rhiannon at
http://annierhiannon.blogspot.com/2008/02/barack-obama-is-wonderful-orator.html said “Barack Obama is a wonderful orator. Hmm. I'd never heard the word 'orator' used in conversation before, and now everybody's saying it. See? He really can change the world.”

I don’t know. I watched that one debate (I mean, really, really watched) and I thought he had a nice voice, a clean, clear presence but said a lot of nothing. Bafflegab. & it kind of bugged me that he closed every segement of speech with something akin to “…when I am President of the United States of America”. NLP or has he seen “The Secret”?

Seems to me that the “Milton model” has three principal aspects: 1/ build and maintain rapport 2/ overload and distract the conscious mind of the listner 3/ allow for interpretation of your words to occur at an unconscious level in the listner.

60s Canadian professor and media guru, Marshall McLuhan has confused generations with his "The Medium is the Message"...

& as Shakespeare said (in Romeo and Juliet) "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

what does it all mean?

There has to be something subliminal going on.

"A new Elon University poll in North Carolina shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state's Democratic presidential race, 45% to 31%. In the GOP race, Sen. John McCain is way ahead of Mike Huckabee, 62% to 24%. Caveat: 'The sample is of the population in general and does not restrict respondents by their voter eligibility or their likelihood of voting in an election."

The American election process does go on. I’ve been watching the debates and reading press releases and scouring candidates web pages, with particular emphasis on their views of the “housing crisis”.

In the United States, experts are saying that the value of homes will fall, and even more families could face foreclosure. Blamed is the fact that some homeowners took out adjustable rate mortgages when interest rates were near all-time lows. Then, when the interest rates went up, some of those borrowers were no longer able to make their monthly payments.

Between 10 million and 15 million American homeowners may soon find their homes are worth less than the amount of their loans, according to a leading housing market economist. Nouriel Roubine, a professor at New York University, told the Reuters Housing Summit in New York on Tuesday that many such borrowers may decide to abandon their properties and cut their losses on bad investments.

I stumbled across a fascinating blog by Vernon L Smith called themessthatgreenspanmade.blogspot.com and I would like to quote him here:

“Thank you President Bill Clinton for your 1997 action, applauded by the banks, the realtors and all citizens in search of half-millionaire status from an investment they could understand and self deceptively believe to be low risk; thank you for fueling the mother of all housing bubbles; thank you for enabling so many of us who bought second or third homes, and homes before construction began, which we then sold to someone else who dreamed of riches from owning homes long enough to sell to another fool.”

Thank goodness we haven’t felt the same crunch here, in Canada.

Canadian recession fears are said to be receding and our housing market is still strong. "Despite some global financial instability with regards to the U.S. housing market, Canada continues to experience robust employment levels, ongoing income gains and low mortgage rates," said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist for CMHC. "This has strongly supported Canada's housing markets.

However, housing starts across the country are expected to decrease in 2008 mainly due to recent increases in house prices, which will push mortgage carrying costs higher for home buyers."

The news in this province is particularly optimistic. The Ontario economy is expected to improve slightly during 2008 and this will help sustain housing demand across the province.

I guess the next time I hear someone grumbling about the crazy hoops they have to jump through to get a mortgage, I will have to remind them that it’s because we’re Canadians, eh?

Today, I thought I'd share some of my favourite famous quotes:

There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money, either.-Robert Graves

"Be who you are and say what you like. Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Theodore Guisel

"Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly." -Albert Einstein, March 13th, 1940

"Do or do not. There is no 'try'." - Master Yoda

“Boys, I may not know much, but I know the difference between chicken shit and chicken salad”.- Lyndon Johnson

"The truth is more important than the facts." - Frank Lloyd Wright

The trouble with words is that you never know whose mouths they've been
in.
-Dennis Potter

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.- T.S. Eliot

My dad always used to tell me that if they challenge you to an after-school fight, tell them you won't wait-you can kick their ass right now. -Cameron Diaz

Maturity is knowing that just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean he's a horse's ass. - Harry S. Truman

Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. - Peter De Vries

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none- William Shakespeare

An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.- Mae West

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.- Margaret Mead

No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.- H.E. Luccock

”It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”- John Wooden

"I have three things I'd like to say to you tonight. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a s--t. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said s--t than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."- Tony Campolo

”If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”- Thomas Edison

”We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit. ”- Aristotle

”Regardless of the changes in technology, the market for well-crafted messages will always have an audience.”- Steve Burnett

"To solve big problems you have to be willing to do unpopular things."- Lee Iacocca

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. - Sigmund Freud

One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Remember you are just an extra in everyone else's play. - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

'I may have not got where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.'-Douglas Adams

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate. - Thornton Niven Wilder

Avoid popularity if you would have peace. - Abraham Lincoln

Is Chickens Birds?- My Bro, 2 1/2 years old

According to couture houses, 2008 is to be the year of rich hues and spicy accents.Ethnic influence will be everywhere, with an emphasis on jewel tone palettes from Asia and India. Elegance and Eco consciousness are important.

Saturated reds and a variety of yellows are expected to lead the fashion trends in home decorating. Jade and turquoise will pop from the neutral and natural tones favoured for the past few years. Contrast in both colour and texture is really hot.

Whether you prefer an eclectic mix of nostalgia with modern or minimalist style- in 2008 the home fashion world suggests you select variations that reflect your personality.

Furniture is solution-oriented and multi-functional. Manufacturers are excited about dining room tables with built-in shelves and ottomans that convert from coffee table tops to cushions. In upholstery, earth-tones (now referred to as “organic” and soft whites (from pearl to ivory) are heavily featured and there is an obvious return to comfortable overstuffed sofas.

The best dressed walls will feature carefully selected framed paintings. Daring decorators will select oversized art as a focal point for their rooms. Watch for metal art pieces or accessories in silver tones, such as brushed nickel.Recycled metals are in.

Design drama brought by giant sized chandeliers, big lamps, extra-large mirrors and accessories are key 2008 trends, while the major elements reflect a spa-like “zen” or feeling of peace and grounding.

2009 is expected to bolster the concept of coexisting contrast. Combinations of simple raw elements of textures like sand, crystal, bamboo and wood will provide the back-drop for bold blasts of multi-coloured, woven, complicated textures.

Next year, nature’s blues will emerge as a continuation of bringing the outdoors in. Watch for an array of finishes, from matte to wet-surface looks and continued homage to metals and cultural ethnic influences.