So why write about Warren Buffett… read on, this is not what you think!

After 13 years on top, Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. That honour now belongs to his friend and sometimes bridge partner Warren Buffett.

Riding the surging price of Berkshire Hathaway stock, Buffett has seen his fortune swell to an estimated $62 billion, up $10 billion from a year ago.

Gates is now worth $58 billion and is ranked third richest in the world. He is up $2 billion from a year ago, but would have been as rich or richer than Buffett, had Microsoft not made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo! at the beginning of February. Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helú now ranks as the world’s second richest person with a net worth of $60 billion.

The son of a Nebraska politician, Buffett delivered newspapers as a boy. He filed his first tax return at age 13, claiming a $35 deduction for his bicycle. He moved on to study under value investing guru Benjamin Graham at Columbia University.

Buffett began buying shares in textile firm Berkshire Hathaway in 1962 and purchased a controlling stake in 1965. He began buying insurance companies and astutely investing those companies’ cash reserves.

Despite Buffett’s meteoric rise, his days as the World’s Richest Man are almost certainly numbered. He had long promised to give away his fortune posthumously. But in the summer of 2006 he irrevocably earmarked the majority of his Berkshire shares to charity, most going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

At the time, the gift was valued at $31 billion. However, assuming that Berkshire shares continue to rise, the final amount of the donation will far exceed that sum. Buffett gives 5% of his shares to charity every July.

This is what impresses me about these Billionaires (Gates and Buffett), they pretty much want to give it all away, they have so much, they can afford to certainly, but their humanity is worthy to note. I read Buffett still lives in the same house he’s lived in for years and only pays himself a measly $100,000 a year, just incredible hey!

The parable of the widows mite is no less acceptable for us mere peasants by comparison to these billionaires! We can give generously to those causes that make a difference. Gates and Buffett’s philanthropic generosity is an example to us all.

You must watch this… an exclusive conversation with Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates – a new age in philanthropy, how to give away $30+ billion and importantly – why!

This video above was two years ago. Now this week Bill Gates left his office as planned from Microsoft and today now full time works tirelessly for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, using the wealth of people like Warren Buffett to create a legacy of greater worth to the world than Microsoft as I heard Bill comment this week.  What will your legacy be? How will you be remembered? How would you like to be remembered? There are many who think and say in a manner of speaking… eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. That’s the philosphy of many in the world, but certainly there are reasuringly those who would wish to make a difference and do a little good.

We’ve been an advocate for the humanitarian work done by our church. So offering a little something, knowing 100% of our contributions is used for the worthy work done by these unpaid volunteeers. Some good friends return shortly from serving a humanitarian mission for the church and many more are sent throughout the world.

If we would all look a little further than our own self interests, having seen real poverty face to face in parts of the world seamingly unforgotten, we need to care, don’t ignore the attrocities and hardships seen on our news channels. The reality is, it’s not just the Buffett and Gates of this world that can make a difference it’s all of us in so many ways, remember just as the widows mite.

Your friend, John Deighton
My other web site!

Who remembers Little Nellie?
The Gyroplane from the 007 James Bond movie – ‘You Only Live Twice’. (If you haven’t seen Little Nellie in action, I copied below some video look at the opening scene which features Little Nellie, scroll down.)

I remember as a young boy, seeing this incredible flying machine and how it performed just ‘owned me’. As our hero Bond took to the skies this would forever plant in my mind a desire to fly. They call the Gyroplane the ‘motobike of the skies’ due to it’s incredible ‘seat of your pants’ performance and the open air cockpit.

During You Only Live Twice, Bond asks Tiger Tanaka to contact M and arrange for Little Nellie to be delivered along with her father. Little Nellie arrives in 4 large suitcases accompanied by her father, Q.

After being assembled Bond uses Little Nellie to scout remote mountains and volcanoes to try to find the missing US and Russian spacecrafts. During his reconnaissance mission, five SPECTRE helicopters armed with machine guns confront him. Using all Little Nellie gadgets, Bond manages to defeat SPECTRE and return to base. (see brief video below from You Only Live Twice among other scenes too.)

Loaded with gadgetry, Little Nellie sported two rear flame guns, aerial mines, front-mounted machine guns, two rocket launchers, smoke ejectors and two heat seeking air-to-air missiles, just wonderful for a young boy growing up on the Bond legend!

For those who appreciate some of Bond’s gizmo’s and gadgets, see this short video clip which at the beginning features Little Nellie, plus many other great Bond moments.

Here’s the history from Commander Ken Wallis himself on the story behind Little Nellie. I joined the British Rotorcraft Association many years ago and their annual Wallis Day’s fly-in up in Norfolk would include a visit with Commander Walis to his home where he has about 19-20 gyros. I just found this on YouTube of another event where he tells the story behind Little Nellie becoming part of James Bond history.

More on my Glyro Flying dreams realised later….

Your friend, John Deighton
My other web site!

The Hubble Space Telescope recently celebrated its 18th anniversary. Since its launch on April 24 1990, this Earth-orbiting stargazer has beamed back some spectacular sights: images that are awesome in the truest meaning of the word. I love looking up at the stars with my telescope. Abraham once compared the sands upon the seashore with the countless numbers of stars in the heavens and marvelled.

My Son Antony and I recently went on an overnight Hike and outdoor camp (more on that another time), although I was a wimp and slept in our two man pop-up tent by myself, he slept with the rest of the young men in our church youth group under the stars and although it wasn’t that clear a sky, you know how beautiful the night sky can be.

Anyway, back to the Hubble…. To commemorate Hubble’s 18th birthday, space scientists have released a collection of astounding pictures, each showing close encounters between distant galaxies. As these vast galaxies approach each other, they morph into beautiful new shapes, with collisions sometimes giving rise to grand mergers and sites of brand new star births.

Galaxy bridge
This galaxy pair, located in the constellation Virgo, are visibly interacting via a dim bridge of stars.

Two spirals collide
A remarkable collision between two spiral galaxies taking place in the Hercules Galaxy Cluster, located in the constellation of Hercules. The two spirals are now linked by their spindly arms.

Galactic hug
Markarian 848 consists of two galaxies locked in a cosmic hug. Two long, curved arms of gas and stars link the galaxies together.

Overlapping galaxies
The highly symmetric galaxy in the foreground of this image is seen nearly face-on and is partly lit by the background galaxy it overlaps. It is also 350 million light-years from Earth, located in a constellation named Dorado, the Swordfish.

Butterfly
NGC 6240, some 400 million light-years from Earth, is a butterfly-shaped galaxy formed from two smaller merging galaxies. X-ray observations have discovered two giant black holes within the structure – these will drift towards each other and eventually join together.

When I see the beauty of the skies, I will ponder Life’s biggest questions and have peace in the reassurance that I know where I came from and I know why I’m here and most importantly I know the opportunity that is afforded to all mankind – to where we might go, our final destiny.

See my other entry on this: Life’s 3 big questions?

Your friend, John Deighton
My other web site!

http://www.agelfortune.co.uk
http://www.mlmRockStars.co.uk
http://www.BuildingonaBudget.co.uk
http://www.a-Bombcall.com
http://www.mlmRichEnough.com

How many of us are listening to the Radio Station in our heads – Radio WIIFI ?

- “What’s In It For Me?”

This is the world we live in, it’s a ‘dog eat dog’ philosophy, given my first blog entry about the amount of dog crap appearing in our neighbourhood, perhaps the ‘dog eat dog’ idea wouldn’t be so bad after all

We have hectic lives and often the mentality is prevalent of “what does that do for me”, or “what do I get out of this?”

As this befits the ‘me-me-me’ age we live in but we can do more, reaching out and do something for others, volunteering, being actively involved in our communities we can get as much out of giving our time as those we help.

I’ve always believed the giver receives back far more and that is a principle for which humankind should strive to live our lives. Yes, I’m a dreamer, but there have been times upon the earth’s history when utopian’s societies have existed.

Ancient records indicate pre-Mayan or Aztec civilisations which existed a period of almost 200 years, ending approximately 1800 years ago when several generations lived in complete peace and harmony. There was no greed, no poor and no pride, just a utopian society living in absolute peace. You may wonder what happened to this idyllic society of people…. more on that another time, it’s pretty grim though!

My message for the day is next time you feel like taking – think Pay it Froward, just like the movie, give to others, help those who can’t help themselves. Do more, Be More and ultimately you will have more.

The more you help others have what they want in life, it seems the more you find joy in achieving what you want!

Make a difference in someone’s life today; bring about a smile from the many sad faces we see around us daily.

Your friend, John Deighton

So, I’ve finally succumbed to the idea of doing a blog. I’m quite a private person but with lots to say, so here I can express my rants and raves upon the world.

What greets many a pedestrian in our neighbourhood – crap (forgive my language). Why do some dog owners have such little consideration for others that they allow their dogs to ‘crap’ on the pavement (or ‘sidewalk’ as they say in the States) without picking it up?

There are some dog owners who are to be commended that I’ve seen when walking their pets and they pick up with a gloved hand their dogs ‘crap’ and place carefully into a plastic bag to be disposed of later safely.

However, there are some ‘nasty’ dog owners in our neighbourhood, and at least one with a ‘monster’ of a beast given by the size of some of these crappy deposits! What’s extra sneaky is that they’ll ‘walk their pets’ before the crack of dawn so not to be seen whilst everyone sleeps and simply allow their animal to crap everywhere. The various colours and sizes of this foul and slippery stench of ‘poo’ can’t be all from the same ‘beast’, today another huge deposit of crap right by our front gate is certainly from the ‘monster dog’ that roams our streets!

If I could be bothered to get up early enough and catch them I would, don’t blame the dogs, just their owners – who ought to be locked up for their inconsideration to others!

So that’s the first of my rants for my blog of life! Enjoy.

Your friend, John Deighton
My other web site!

http://www.agelfortune.co.uk
http://www.mlmRockStars.co.uk
http://www.BuildingonaBudget.co.uk
http://www.a-Bombcall.com
http://www.mlmRichEnough.com