The Dancer and the Diplomat

Diplomatic Circles
By: Vickie J. Rubinson


Nadira Alieva made an unlikely escape from misery, says Kevin Sullivan in The Washington Post. Alieva grew up hungry and abused in bleakest Uzbekistan. When she was just 11, her drug addict father forced her to smuggle heroin from Afghanistan in her underwear. By the time she was 21, she was dancing at a club in Tashkent, stripping for leering drunken businessmen.

Then one night in 2003, a gray-haired man 23 years her senior came into the club; he couldn't take his eyes off her. "Who is that old foreigner?" Alieva recalls thinking. "Does he have any money?" The foreigner, it turned out, was Craig Murphy, at the time Great Britain's ambassador to Uzbekistan. Murray slipped a $20 bill into Alieva's pants, along with his business card. He later told her he was married and wanted her to be his mistress. But soon he fell in love.

He split with his wife, left the diplomatic service, when news of his affair became public and paid Alieva's father $9,000 to take her to London. "I felt she was drawing me into her soul," Murray explains. Four years later, they are still together. Alieva now takes acting classes and performs in a one-woman show in London's West End.

"I don't think I've ever believed in being in love, honestly." she admits in an interview. "But my life is really fun now."

Donald Trump- Think Like a Billionaire

Review and Interview
By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Real estate titan, bestelling author and TV star Donald Trump is the man to teach you the billionaire mind-set-how to think about money, career skills and life. According to Trump, once you've earned your money, you've got to learn to spend it well. He presents a consumer guide to the best things in life, from wine to golf clubs, to engagement rings. Check out the billionaire lifestyle-how they shop and what they buy.

As Trump proves, getting rich is easy. Staying rich is harder.

Q-So is it true you have to love what you're doing in order to be a success?

A-"Billionaires love their jobs-not because their jobs make them wealthy, but because they wouldn't have become so wealthy doing something they hated. You have to love what you're doing, because then it won't seem like work to you and you will bring the necessary energy to profit from it."

Q-Any other tricks of the trade?

A-"Always pretend that you're working for yourself. You'll do a wonderful job in that case. It's simple, but it works. If you're finding that you don't love your job or that you're not doing a good job, demand a meeting with your boss ASAP! If the situation doesn't improve, fire yourself (and your boss), and go do something else."

Q- How do you promote yourself?

A- "I'm always amazed when people tell me I'm a master promoter. I've never thought of myself as a good promoter. I think people get confused. They think I'm successful because I'm a great promoter rather than the reverse. I get a lot of promotional credit because my buildings are the best. The buildings make me a good promoter, not the other way around.

Promotion comes naturally from doing what you're good at. I'm good at building and that's how I promote myself-as the best promoter of buildings. And everyone agrees!"

An ardent philanthropist, Trump is involved with numerous civic and charitable organizations.

John Grisham's "The Appeal."

Book review: The Appeal
Author: John Grisham
By: Vickie J Rubinson

In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town's water supply, causing the worst "cancer cluster" in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict or reverse it.

Who are the nine? How will they vote? Can one be replaced before the case is ultimately decided? The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. T is convinced the Court is not friendly enough. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. T. Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate. They finance him, manipulate him, market him and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. Their Supreme Court justice.

The Appeal is a powerful, timely and shocking story of political and legal intrigue, a story that will leave readers unable to think about our electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again.

John Grisham has written 19 previous novels and one work of nonfiction. The Innocent Man, published in 2006. He lives in Virginia and Mississippi.