THE MERRILL PAGES

2009 INDEX OF ARTICLES

1. Is decentralization recent news - Is it news for the UN expatriate?
2. Bogus theories may help you think twice before you jump on the badwagon and are sparked by hefty and uplifting management words.  Remove the jargon and you may be speaking of just the same old repeat as before. 
3. Language - writing and speaking is not only about proper and decent usage but also without jargon. 
4. Bicycle performance depends on what your goals are, speed, touring or fitness. 
5. UN Pensions - what else you need to know - 1 is about the India Pensioner proposal to reinstate full pension for those who availed the lump-sum and have completed the actuarial-estimated life expectancy in retirement.
6. Is your UN salary tax free?.
7. The great disruption is an eco-friendly reminder from Thomas Friedman. Do your part.
8. Aging populations is a hot topic but the UN retirement age is unchanged. This can impact the UN pension fund in the future? 
9. Getting fit faster is about keeping fit with less effort. 
10. Does long life qualify reinstatement of full pension for those who availed the lump-sum option?
11. CAFICS letter on tax exemption of UN Pension - UN retirees domiciled in Canada.
12. Letter to the President from Paul Krugman is a fascinating read. 
13. Zero history traces the origins of zero. 
14. Clues to a lucid old age gives tips for extending your mental capacities 
15. Tax News for UN Retirees residing in Canada published in AFICS bulletin, New York. 
16. USA Private Pensions - what can UN staff learn from it?
17. Sweden's Svenska Handelsbanken runs profitably without budgets.
18. UN Pension Fund - expansion of survivor benefits - Letter to UNJSPF Board 
19. When stock prices drop, where does the money go?
20. Sports - theory and practice - sometimes you have to "walk the talk."
21. Winners of the recession is a good illustration on the changes in consumer demand. 
22. Green issues for Earth Day - thinking globally and acting locally. 
23. The Growth Fetish is about the challenge of the democratic capitalist model. 
24. Going to school is a great video to view. What a motivation these kids have to get their education. 
25. The credit crisis is a great video to watch as it illustrates graphically what lead to the financial meltdown of credit markets. 
26. Formula for long life is words of wisdom from a 97-year old Japanese physician/writer.  
27. Saving and Investment Tips from the US government is an excellent resource. 
28. UN Pension - Letters of Concern is an exchange of several letters with UNJSPF re the UN Pension fund. 
29. UN Pension - can you sue? Not in your wildest dreams. Who would want to do it anyway. 
30. UN Pension Update - Exemption and Recovery.
31. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is good information for UNICEF's Operations and Budget Officers. 
32. Mutual funds make sense for ordinary investors.
33. Letter to the President - bicycle access on US roads - sent by mail and other web sources. 
34. UN Pension Lump-sum - ex G4 visa holders a need for clarification. 
35. UN Pension - Canadian nationals - Illustration
36. The coffee morning is one of those ways to hang out with friends in retirement. 
37. Women and children in war zones is that stark reminder that women suffer in most circumstances. 
38. India got it right with the language issue (in Sri Lanka Times of Feb 15, 2009). 
39. UN Pension tax exemption - Canadian nationals
40. UN translations for free, courtesy of Google. 
41. Slump time has arrived says Lee Wei Ling, Director of the National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore.
42. UN Pension Fund - what the CEO said....
43. Bicycling in the snow in January and  February 2009.  
44. President Barack Obama's inaugural speech  as the 44th President of the USA on Jan 20, 2009 
45. Personal data security is a short brief on the safeguards you can take.
46. The longevity issue is not about getting older?
47. Portfolio theory - lessons learned from this financial meltdown is about asset allocation.   
48. UN Pension fund concerns  published by UNIPS. 

2008 INDEX OF ARTICLES

60 articles were published in 2008.  I have been at about 50% capacity compared to previous years for a couple of reasons.  Perhaps, I am reaching the limit of writing topics since my list is almost exhausted now. Secondly, I am taking a greater interest in meeting local town officials and others and trying to encourage more commuter bicycling and are doing more commute bicycling, having donned the car for almost 10 years now for all my local trips from 5-10 miles range. Third, I spend more time with local friends.  Fourth, and most important is the more frequent visits to Florida to spend time with the grand-kids (7 years and 17 months).

Once again, I thank my many UNICEF and other friends for their e-mails about these writings. I am glad to see that some of you express interest in the content of some articles.  I hope to continue this web log through 2009 as well.

2007 INDEX OF ARTICLES

2007 INDEX OF ARTICLES contain 112 articles of my favorite topics: personal finance, finance & economics, sports, health and recreation, human psychology and human relations. You can review summaries at this index or go also to the two weblogs: http://merrillc.typepad.com/2merrill and http://merrillc.typepad.com/unwind to review subjects by category. Some personal  postings and the main indexes are contained in this web log at http://merrillc.typepad.com.

I look forward to more writings in 2008, God forbidding.  I thank the many hundreds of readers who have expressed their encouragement and thanks by e-mail in 2007.

2006 INDEX OF ARTICLES

This weblog is not a personal diary, but a collection of essays and links that are educational and professional, mostly for the UN staffer. 169 articles were posted in 2006 on a wide array of subjects.  I started out this weblog in January 2006 on first writing a few articles on personal finance of particular appeal to UN staff. Then I branched on to writing a number of other articles on finance, management, human relations, web-tech, etc. All the articles appear in the two weblogs http://merrillc.typepad.com/unwind (UN issues) and http://merrillc.typepad.com/2merrill (non-UN issues). In these two web logs you can also review articles by subject.  I hope you enjoyed the read in 2006.

The UN weblog "unwind" has several categories related to finance, management and productivity ( Business issues, Finance & Economics, human relations, management, social sector, UN issues, web/tech and your career) and other miscellaneous categories (books, film and religion). The UN may be mentioned in several of the listed categories but those pertain to business and other non-profits as well. The category "personal finance" is stricly of an investment nature.

The Non-UN web log "2merrill" has categories of books, business issues, film, finance, current affairs, education, energy and health.

PLEASE CLICK BELOW ON THE HIGHLIGHTED TEXT TO REVIEW THE 2006 INDEX

THE COFFEE MORNING

Most weekdays I wake up in the morning, read a bit, have breakfast, stretch my arms out and head off on my bicycle for a swim.  One good thing of swimming is that you are in an enclosed area doing your individual sport and it is so easy to make friends.  Athough you cannot speak while swimming there is a lot you can do with the befriended after a swim.

About 4-5 of us swimmers (all retired from work) head out for a coffee morning (although I drink green tea) to chat for about an hour about almost anything.  In the company are two former medical doctors of which one is both a physicist and medical doctor (rare combination), a former police chief and a  street-smart guy who was in the food business and every other mentionable small business. Some others of different talents joins this regular group on occasion.  It is quite a learning experience to chat and discuss various issues.  And best of all, my friends are ungrudging of sharing knowledge, which I found was sometimes difficult to find in the regular workplace.

At work, at Budget Section, we had a great team.  And on many an occasion, colleagues would go for lunch to discuss an issue or resolve a problem.  I carried through what was started by Vincent D'Agati and today I am glad to see that that trend is carried through in the Budget Section of UNICEF, New York.  Unfortunately, today we have entered too much of impersonality in e-mailing each other. 

And here is some good advice to current UNICEF colleagues.  If you want to discuss a problem or resolve an issue, get to work 15-30  minutes earlier and have a coffee morning.  Nothing like the morning.  Or ask your boss for 15 minutes and head for the cafeteria to talk with your colleague, over a cup of coffee or tea.  Give this a try, the results will be amazing.

Bicycling in the snow in February 2009

Started February 1, 2009 bicycling to snow covered places.  It was a nice ride to the lakes in Tarrytown (Westchester, New York) to see the kids playing hockey and skating on the frozen river. Myself, beyond recognition (so clothed up)  had to be content to stand at the river's age before the bicycle wheels sink in some soft spot of the frozen river.  There are no shortcuts to anyplace going.  Many people make new year resolutions to exercise and only break them before March or April. If you must start exercising, do it now.  If your self-motivation is on a low-ebb, get a friend or relative to plod you along and monitor your progress.

Bicycling in the snow - winter Jan 2009

In 1997 I traded the second car we owned for a bicycle and never felt the need to get another car. I have spent the past decade transforming other people to get fit by bicycling, swimming or walking/running.  I have been a long distance swimmer, long distance runner and lately a long-distance bicyclist.  However, my long distance bicycling is long for my age and environment and is no comparison to the extraordinary long distance riders.  If a 70-100 mile bicycle ride is not long for a 66-year old, then what is long?  I cycle in all seasons of the year and hope to try out snow bicycling with snow-studded tires soon and some adventure rides (basically not knowing what is on the other side).

The Radio

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

On Saturday August 8, 2008, the same day the Olympics started in Beijing, the Sri Lanka Consulate in the USA in conjunction with the Sri Lanka Association of New York, awarded me a life-time achievement award (please see picture below).  A good citizen by the name of Jay Liyanage, a sportsman himself in his youth, took the initiative to recognize my achievements in swimming in the early to mid 1960s, where I organized Learn-to-Swim campaigns in Sri Lanka teaching more than 10,000 poor village children in the finer art of swimming.  If I changed the bias that poor village children cannot swim, I am sure Cullen Jones will succeed in changing the bias in the USA that blacks can't swim. In the picture below from left are: Theresa Liyanage, Jay Liyanage, Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in the USA, Merrill Cassell, receipient of the award, Ted Hussa, Mayor of Denville, New Jersey, Jasmine Jansz, President, Sri Lanka Association and New Jersey Congressman, Rodney Frelingheusen.

The award was presented in Denville, New Jersey, USA by Congressman Rodney Frelingheusen . The mayor of Denville has declared one day in August as the Sri Lanka Sports Day. Jay Liyanage made the presentation speech and Merill Cassell reciprocated.  

Other pictures: Merrill and Maximilla Cassell

SO MANY SUBJECT AREAS?

Some readers (by e-mail) has asked why I write on so many subject areas?

Me as a writer now

Human values, unfortunately still cling to the belief that knowledge must sell and that a fee must attach to the way you spend your time, and you must carry a hefty title to win and retain the respect of society.

What else could a biker do?

It was a cool spring morning when I set out on a long bike ride. Never expected anyone to ask for help other than fixing a flat on the bike path.

SWIMMING IN THE RAIN

In Florida recently I did not know what to do outdoors with so much rainfall. It was not a time for a slow jog, walk or bike ride. But then it dawned on me that swimming gets you wet any way, so why just not swim in the rain.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!

It was a nice ride on the North County trail one recent Saturday morning. You can be me or more than me if you make the move. Age is never a barrier. Now this is some small talk to inspire you to start moving again.

TOO OLD TO STUDY SAID WHO?

Too Old to Study said who? I joined UNICEF with a strong business education, and my personal ambition was to get some exposure to the social world of UNICEF’s work at the academic level.

RISING

On September 11, 2001 the World Trade Center (WTC) Towers collapsed from a terrorist attack. In the over 3,000 people that lost their lives, 109 were from Westchester, New York.  The picture in this post called 'The Rising' was taken by me at the Kensico Dam Plaza on a November 2006 bicycle ride.

FALL BIKING

Fall is beautiful in Northern Westchester, New York. Here are some pictures taken in October 2006 of some bicycle stops on my long rides along the North County Bicycle trail in Westchester.

And the rider

And my favorite bicycle is the Trek Touring bike 520

I WELCOME YOU

Welcome to the Merrill Pages

Since retiring as Budget Director from UNICEF, I have devoted my time to two academic passions, further intellectual inquiry and writing about challenging issues.

SOURCES FOR MY WRITINGS

SOURCES FOR MY WRITINGS My own personal knowledge and observances plus knowledge acquired from multiple issues of the Harvard Business Review; Wall Street Journal; Business Week; Economist; Financial Management, UK and several leading books on management, finance & economics, and human relations.

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