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Blog Archives
A low is creeping in…
There is another low coming for me. A tidal wave of negative. So here we are again at the keyboard to spit it on a crowd. Cut it open and let it bleed. I have a lot on my mind so lets go piece by piece in putting this part of the masterpiece together. This post needs to address the biggest force that brings my lows….pain.
The third wheel of all my relationships and the heaviest weight I am forced to carry every single day of my life. Let me go over briefly what pain I am referring too so new readers are not lost. I have a nerve tumor in my back, I have a tarlov cyst in my back, I have anklyosing spondilittis or A.S, I have fibromyalgia or FM, and recently I found out I have a heart problem.
Today I woke up to my left shoulder throbbing so bad I had to cry. I am forced to sleep on my sides because sleeping on my back paralyzes me from waist down due to the tumor next to my spine. I had to wrap up in heat, put on that wonderful smelling perfume called Bio-freeze, and medicate.
The shoulder has been a bigger problem for almost a week now. My shoulders always hurt but lately it has been especially bad. It very well could be from my A.S and if that is the case there is nothing I will be able to do about it. A.S is a progressive spine arthritis but also affects shoulders, rib cage, hips, knees, feet, it can cause lung and heart problems. Even though the shoulder has been a major source of pain for me the past week I have been able to push through it and go to work.
Ah, work…the one place I feel normal. The one place I have found that I can be myself completely and I'm accepted. Not only am I accepted but I am loved by many. I am very much in love with my job. I drive a school bus for those who didn't know. My coworkers brighten my day. Even though they know about my medical problems they look at me with eyes of normalcy. They don't look at me with pity. I know I am blessed that the job fell into my lap when it did. My students are absolutely fabulous! They brighten my day too. I can't help but smile when I pick them up. They are very attached to me and the feeling is mutual. I think they are all going to grow up to be outstanding individuals. When I first took the job there were many times I was ready to throw in the towel. It is very hard during the winter months for me to physically do the job, but the kids I drive around have made me feel like such an important small part of their lives that they have actually helped lower my pain threshold.
I know that if this job had not come to me I would have killed myself. I was at the lowest point in my life when I was hired. I was pushing 200 pounds. I had been disabled and stuck at home since 2005. I lost all but two of my friends because I could no longer go out. I was being treated poorly by my husband. I had no support at all. I spent most nights crying myself to sleep. I spent most of my days orchestrating an easy way to leave my children, by me killing myself. I wrote letters saying good bye to those who truly meant the world to me. I wrote letters of apology to those who I have hurt throughout my life. It was a scary low. It was the first time in my life that I actually felt helplessness. I NEVER want to be back there again. When I say my job saved my life…I mean it literally.
I met my best friend at this job. I am so in love with her as a person that I couldn't imagine my life without her in it now. She is my angel…and she is now my family. I love her very much.
Now getting up to start my day is truly a war for me. I have to fight through the stiffness to get out of bed. I have to fight through pain in my feet to walk into the bathroom. I have to cringe through the shoulder, back and hand pain to turn on the faucet to the shower. I have to cringe through the pain of stepping over into the tub to take my shower. I struggle reaching the body soaps, shampoo, and hope I can get them opened easily. Most mornings it isn't so easy even with them strategically placed, which they are. A 30 minute super hot shower usually helps with the stiffness for about 20 minutes. By super hot, I mean hot enough to turn my flesh pink with a hint of red. I fight with pulling the shirt over my head, the jeans are causing excruciating pain as I bend to put my feet into them. The button and zipper are a nightmare for my hands.
So 20 minutes of relief has long passed and I have brushed my teeth but now have to combat the lower cabinet to bring out my make up case, hair dryer, and hope my hands will allow me to open my hair products and body sprays. I slowly walk to the kitchen to attempt to get my coffee mug ready. My daughter has already set up coffee pot because I have a hard time setting it up. The water is too heavy for my hands, the coffee is difficult to open, and my mug is set there with lid removed because well I can hardly remove it myself. Depressed yet? At this point in my morning I am not…yet….
I sit to do some heat therapy now in my recliner. The easiest chair for me to get out of. I wrap my back with heat, then wrap my neck and shoulder area. Ah another few moments of relief…..
I carry my coffee mug into the bathroom with both hands to prevent dropping it to continue getting ready. I take my medication with some coffee and have to fix my hair now. Raising my arms above my head feels like I am trying to lift 100 pound dumbbells over my head. The burning muscles begin from neck, down into my shoulders, radiating down my entire arm length in both. Depressed yet? …I am…at this point in my day I am starting to feel very low…
I got my hair done, ear rings in, make up is on finally, and now another battle to fight. My socks and shoes! I sit down because I can't bend over to put them on like I could 15 years ago. What use to take less than 2 minutes…now takes 10 or so to complete. Another battle I've won…only to have a staircase to contend with.
My feet are killing me more with each step. Holding onto the rail going one step at a time with the crackling sound of my knees and pain from knee into my shin with each step slowing me down in this mission to get to work, I fight on. At the bottom of the steps I have a few more battles to get through…in the winter, even more with snow pants, and hat etc. The few I have now before winter gets here is my purse, coat, the door, and the car. The coat is the easiest battle. I have to cringe through more pain in the shoulders to get it on along with burning in my arms, and neck. OK battle won! Coat is on and now I just have to put my purse on one of my painful shoulders, grab my keys and turn that door knob to get into the garage to the car. The door knob is NOT going to win. I bite on my lip as my hand wraps the knob to turn it. My fingers are aching so bad I want to just let loose but I don't. I HAVE to get to my car.
YES! I got the door open and was able to close it. Battle won! I start feeling accomplished at this point in my day…just briefly though…I walk around the car and realize this is the toughest thing I do at this point in my day….this battle reminds me everyday just how sick I am…getting into my car.
I fight to get the car door opened. SUCCESS! Now toss my purse hard enough to land in the passenger seat because bending over the driver seat to place it is not an option for me anymore and opening two car doors is not an option anymore either just for a purse. By this time I am breathing hard…feeling my heart starting to race and my entire body hurts. Now I have to get in…thankful I have a Jeep now so at least I don't have to bend lower to get in though the Jeep is difficult too. Ah, bending to sit at the steering wheel I can feel the tarlov cyst pressing against the tumor…I can feel the tumor starting to pulsate from being pushed by the tarlov cyst….now I start to pray….dear God let my medication kick in and please be with me Lord in my pain…help me stay positive, happy, and not angry over these trials…please help me get to work safely so I can be a positive part of the kids day…help me be a positive force in my coworkers day…most of all Lord help me with my addiction, please help me stay sober today, and thank you for all you do for me…amen. ((I am a recovering opiate addict))
Yeah that is a normal morning for me….and I haven't even covered the parts when I actually get to work. It is so exhausting. It is very hard not to roll over and just give up…it exhausts me so much…it has changed me forever…in some ways it has been wonderful change…but other ways it has been a scary secret of wanting to die, thoughts of ramming my car into buildings, thoughts of jumping off bridges, thoughts of stepping out in front of a driver….a loneliness that makes me want to just climb inside myself and disappear from the public and family…a scary shadow following me daily urging me to find some opium…or oxycotin…begging me to find it so I can feel good for just one day…a whisper in my ear telling me one day won't hurt…two won't hurt…come on….someone has to have them….just ask…a whisper reminding me just how good it felt when I was high on it…a craving in my gut for that euphoric feeling that opiates give you…
The low is creeping in…as it normally does…and it has me sitting at the keyboard once again…exposing my scars…my flaws for all to see…for all to use if they choose too…you are a witness to…me being painted blue…by this strange thing we call life….a masterpiece in the making.
Crashing Me
My nightmare is my own
There isn't a place you belong
It is in my mind
And it never ends
It numbs my core
But not before
Not before I'm crashing
Crashing into the wall
Paying myself back
Paying me back for it all
All the fucked up things I've done
All the hurtful things I've said
All the weight from everyone I've carried
Some things don't belong
Something is wrong
The way you speak to me
The way it repeats
Yeah it repeats
I'll carry that like a disease that has no cure
It will linger on forever
Until I'm crashing
Crashing into a wall
Paying myself back for it all
Then words will fall
"I'm all fucked up inside
And you don't understand
You want control and you want to be the man
But you don't live inside my head
You don't feel the urge to want to be dead
Or the urge to walk out on everything
Because I feel caged even with you not around
But you make it feel like suffocation
Your presence suffocates me
Because I will NEVER be what you want me to be
I have no energy to explain to you
I use it up to fight my mind
The war raging inside
That you don't seem to understand
Because maybe..just maybe…
You are the man
You're all fucked up inside
Living life based on a safe mind
You have no flooding emotions
That drowns you out
You're lucky to have a quiet mind
You have no fight inside..
No battlefield of planted landmines
You can feel things you're supposed to feel
You can keep what's real
And I can't understand that
Because I'm not the man
I'm a shell of who I use to be
Guess you shouldn't have married me…
Because I have to be free
I have to feel free
You just can't see
I'm crashing me…"
Don't stay back there! You'll get lost!
We all have those times when we get lost in the past. You know those times don't you? Times when you think about some decisions you've made in your life that you consider to be mistakes. You feel guilty about some memories that haunt you because they scarred you in some way. So you continue to carry about the baggage even though you know you shouldn't and it destroys everything around you. The stuff that prevents or provokes you from finishing projects, beginning projects, staying in relationships, staying in bad relationships, finding peace in the day, loving freely, trusting anyone including yourself, preventing you from living life and enjoying it to the fullest.
Why do we do this to ourselves? We feel as though we should punish ourselves because of the wrongs in our past. We sit and dwell on what if this, what if that? We're human that is why we do these things. That really is the only answer I can come up with.
We yearn for perfections. We want a perfect world. We want a perfect life, perfect love, perfect home, neighborhoods, friendships, childhoods…ah perfections is what we ache to acquire but we never own.
Flaws are a unique part of every one of our personalities, lives, and world's within worlds. The flaws are what make us who we are. The fact I was raised in a very poor household makes me the giver I am. It makes me more compassionate as a person today then I think I would have been if I'd grown up differently. Even though some of my past is very hurtful it has made me into the woman I am today. Sure it would have been lovely to have not had those terrible things happen to me but it happened and staying back there isn't going to allow me to go anywhere in the future. I will get lost back there. I have been lost back there many times as I'm sure some of you have been lost in your own past. Wondering how to get out, how to stop thinking about certain times, memories, wishing you had some sort of way to fix what had happened to you, wishing you could have made a different choice. There is no way of fixing it, forgetting it, changing it. All one can do is learn to live with the fact it happened and accept the fact it's shaped them forever.
Certainly you can't go forward if you are too busy looking backwards. I've learned that the hard way. I held on to my past for so long and so tight thinking that if I didn't hold onto I'd NEVER get over it. Well, let me tell you first hand that is not the way to get over bad choices, regrets, abuse, scars, and loneliness. You have to let go. You have to embrace it, work through it, and LET IT GO!
We can start to feel sorry for ourselves too at times and we end up right back there don't we? It is bound to happen from time to time. The key is not to stay there for too long. You have to get out of there as quickly as possible. Being back there saps your energy, your future views and dreams, it reminds you of things about yourself that are easy to hang onto instead of allowing you to view yourself as a survivor. It's harder to see yourself as a survivor because ultimately you still have self esteem issues. If you didn't you wouldn't be dwelling on those past issues still today. It's so easy to see yourself, as a screw up isn't it? So easy to see yourself as a loser stuck in a life you're unhappy about isn't it? So easy! I know I've been there many times too.
It's hard to see all the great things you've done, especially when you get low and want to go back there. It's hard at times to see how much good I bring to my children at times. It is hard at times to see that I'm a great wife to my husband. It gets hard to see those things when you feel so low I know. You really have to fight it and try hard to see those things. Find something that will help guide the way for you. Could it be bible verses? Could it be dance music? Find what brings you out of the lows and surround yourself with that. Try to avoid what brings on your lows. I know eventually one will come on no matter what you do. The lows still hit me at times. I write a lot of those times. Maybe you should try that as a release of those past demons. You have to learn to recognize them lows and go to what brings you out quickly. Sometimes lows can be very dangerous. If you feel like you are not coming out of the lows soon enough or feel suicidal you should seek professional help immediately. You might have a chemical imbalance that needs medications to level off. Please don't delay.
So while you're back there visiting your ghosts, demons, joys, memories, or whatever it is back there in your past….just remember not to stay long because you can't go forward looking back. Also those things you see back there made you the wonderful you that you are today. God bless.
An update of a few things
I called my FNL yesterday. He sounded good. I was so glad to hear he was in good spirits. He said his pain wasn't so bad and he is drinking ensure everyday like I asked him to do. He said his appetite is great and he has only lost ten pounds so far. He lost that due to diarrhea. The chemotherapy is causing it. They told him to drink Imodium to prevent it next treatment he has.
There is so much going on in my life right now. It almost makes me feel nausea. I feel at the verge of throwing up. Ever have that feeling?
I have kids to take care of. A home to keep up, a husband to keep happy, medicine to remember to take, doctor appointments out the yin yang to keep, yard work to try to get done little by little, flowers to put out for this season, my brother says something is wrong with his blood work he had done, my uncle just had a stroke, my mom keeps getting pneumonia, my fibromyalgia seems to be out of control, I'm not sleeping well, I'm trying hard to lose weight and I am not winning that battle! I'm falling back into depression, and I can't finish my book The Seed Of Infidelity. WOW that is a lot I think. Oh and sometimes I forget to eat through the day.
I'm so tired. I can't do this blog anymore right now….
Living With A Schizophrenic Mother
So my older brother called me the other night, the only one that calls me, and tells me that mom is in the hospital again. I wasn't shocked. My first concern was to find out whether or not it was the usual reason or if it was her heart. It was for the usual reasons so I was relieved. Listen to me, "I was relieved." It has become so normal that it doesn't even phase me that she is once again in the hospital in the mental ward.
Living with a schizophrenic mom has taken a toll on my entire family. I live over four states away and there isn't a thing I can do for her or her illness. I've tried in the past believe me. I've tried so hard in the past that it broke my family apart for a time when my oldest daughter was around two years old. I even went to live with mom in hopes coming back home would improve the situation. It didn't. It seemed to have escalated it now that I look back. She is good at getting attention. All schizophrenics are. It is apart of their illness. Most of the family has tried to help her in some way but no one has been successful on helping her stay on track. She always ends up back at square one.
I have often wondered if she was really sick or just pretending simply to get pity. Growing up with it and not understanding it makes you view it in that way. She wasn't a good mom I can't sit here and praise her. I can however sit here as a grown woman and start to understand a little as to why she didn't do some of the things she needed to do. Now some things she refused to do there are no excuses for. Like getting me ready for school as a little girl. There is no excuse for that in my opinion. Even in my worst day of a fibromyalgia attack I get up and make sure my daughter is ready for school the proper way. That is a mother's job.
Mom probably decided to pull this episode due to the holiday coming up. Good ole' Thanksgiving. It was my dad's favorite holiday. She does this every year. Last year it was Christmas she went into the hospital. She either takes too many of her pills, or she'll stop taking them all together. We haven't had a problem with her overdosing in a long time. She now just stops taking her meds.
She was in the hospital about three months ago too though. She was staying with T whom I wish she would have nothing to do with and my cousin R, who is my aunt Eve's son, attempted to run her off I heard and long behold she ended up in the hospital shortly after going over to the house I use to call home. I believe that is what set her in motion on that particular episode.
I've talked to counselors. I've asked for help from everywhere and there seems to be none that is worth the taking. The best I get is there are far worse people off then her who live on their own or who are homeless. I believe this illness has deadened my family and what it was meant to be. I believe it has been the sole component that has so easily allowed the barriers to be put up between my brothers and I. It silences our communication even though we need it so badly. We don't know what to say or what to do to help our mom or ourselves in this continuing battle of schizophrenia.
When dad was around he was the caretaker. He was the one who handled her. He handled her well so we thought. We thought he handled her well because we didn't have to "deal" with her or the illness first hand like he did. What a life he must have lived dealing with his wife having the illness and trying to raise five kids and having no money along the way. God bless him for being a great man and dad.
Throughout the years my mom has lost a lot of her family. Some have disowned her because of her actions that she has kept repeating. Some have disowned her because of her choice of being with T who is a shit bag. I can't candy coat it here. I have no love for the guy and I never have. I tolerated him because he was married to my aunt Eve and while she was living I put up with him for her. After she died I was relieved that I wouldn't have to have anything to do with him ever again. Well, so I thought! Long behold my mom decides to be "best friends" with him. I think there is more then friendship going on myself, and many others do so too.
I am angry that she did this once again. She pulled another selfish act. She wasn't thinking how it would affect my nephew or my youngest brother and his family who expected to cook dinner with mom. He was looking forward to having that this year. Another holiday for him that will have an absent void in it. How can I be angry with him after all he's lived with on his own since dad has died? I don't know…whom should I be angry at?
Should I be angry that he couldn't fix her? I couldn't even fix her! Should I be angry at my oldest brother because he couldn't fix her? I couldn't even fix her! Why am I angry at all? Schizophrenia has destroyed my family. I only talk to one of my brothers on a regular basis out of four. There is something wrong with that. I've tried to reach out to each of the others. It has done no good. There is so much resentment for things said and done in the past that the wall just doesn't seem to be coming down anytime soon.
We all have done everything you can think of to try to fix our mom and in the process of doing that we've hurt each other and never looked back. We all stepped in at different times to try different approaches in attempts to make her life better and along the way we've stepped on each other in one way or another.
So, I will call my mom tomorrow in the hospital to wish her a happy Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what conversation we'll have except to ask why again? Like I have so many times before…
Times like these I wish my dad were here more then any other time.
Until next time, be safe…and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!


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The next thing i'd like to show you is the main floor renovation. Other than the walls and the general layout, we completely gutted the space. The space itself was in good condition and had upgraded crown mouldings, however it did not suit the client's taste. Here are some photos from before the renovations.
BEFORE: The living room (Photo by Century21)
BEFORE: The dining room (Photo by Century21)
PROGRESS: Gutted and ready to go!
AFTER: I sourced a grey-toned classic pre-finished oak floor, and had the walls painted a light grey to bring out grey in the floors. The popcorn ceilings were all scraped and refinished, and new mouldings were installed. This space will be finished with furniture soon- stay tuned!
BEFORE: The stairwell (Photo by Century21)
AFTER: The staircase removed, re-faced with solid oak, and was custom stained to match the flooring. In this project, the client entrusted me with choosing every design detail including the iron pickets, and the square posts.
AFTER: The powder room was completely gutted. A new floating vanity, mirror, faucet, lighting, tiles and toilet were installed.

subset: commoncrawl


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This is going to be long but well worth the read!
In January of 2012 a friend of mine asked me if I would be interested in running the Rock n Roll ½ Marathon in Denver. At that time I had just had surgery and was still recovering. I kept this in the back of my mind for many months. In July I officially signed up for the race and talked two other friends into running it also. My thoughts at this time were "can I really run for 13.1 miles"?
I started my Warrior Dash training the first week in June and new that my ½ training needed to start the last week in June. I think this is what nudged me to officially sign up. I was already running why not just add 10 miles to it…
There are a few things that I love about running. It's very hard for me but gets me into great shape very quickly, I love that it clears my head and love that running burns a great deal of calories.
Let's get to race week!
So race week is actually a pretty easy week of running. Monday I did 4 easy miles, Tuesday 3 easy miles, Wednesday rest day and Thursday 2 easy miles and Friday the day before the race rest day.
My friends and I met at our hotel to check in. The entire lobby was covered with 250 University of Oklahoma students in town for a convention. Pure craziness…I had been hydrating while driving to downtown Denver and really needed the ladies room. I managed to find it rather quickly. Why is it when you are hydrating you get stuck in traffic. I am so not a city girl. Once we succeeded to get checked in we walked down to the convention center for the Fitness Expo and packet pick up.
Prior to race day you receive an e-mail asking that you print out a confirmation and release sheet. On the sheet you are assigned a corral number based on the time you thought you could finish the race in.
Once inside the expo it's very fast and efficient. You check in with your drivers' license at the corral that is assigned to you. They handed us our bibs and safety pins at this time. A couple of girls wanted to change their corral numbers. This was a very easy process. They had a table set up specifically for start time changes. Each person who changed his or her corral received a green dot. Once this was done we moved on to the t-shirt pick up and swag bag pick up. No lines anywhere! 🙂
Into the expo we went. There are tons of different vendors and booths throughout the convention center from Brooks to Sprouts. I think we all made one purchase at the expo. I stopped at the Razzy Roo for a couple of headbands.
We found a booth that sold running t-shirts. I loved these shirts but didn't think they were worth $26.99.
We stopped at the GU station and taste tested many different kinds of protein bars. Most of them were ok but not great.
Last stop at the expo was the 21 and over wristband stop. This was by far the smartest thing we did. I will explain more about why this was so smart later in my race review.
Time to find Maggiano's for dinner! We had a reservation for a later time and tried to get in early but there was a very long line of runners waiting for a table. So we stopped at Earls for ONE glass of wine before dinner. Once we got our table we all shared an artichoke appetizer. Each of us ordered the Tuscan Bean soup and we split the lasagna and spaghetti & meatballs. Once we were completely full we walked back to our hotel to get sleep before the big day!
All three of us set our alarms 5 minutes apart. We wanted to make sure we didn't over sleep! At 5:18 one of the phones started ringing and woke us up. It was my friend's sister wanting us to find her at the start. We got up at 6:00 got dressed ate a banana and nutella tortilla wrap with a cup of coffee.
Out the door we go! Our hotel was about 4 blocks from the beginning of the start. We dropped the "Gazelle" off at corral #3 her goal was to finish in 1:50:00. Myself and my German friend head to corral #11 stop at corral #7 to say hi to her sister on the way. We meet up with my mile high running buddy. We are standing around talking and people watching. My teeth are chattering at this point. Not because it's cold mostly from nerves.
Finally the 7:15 shotgun goes off the race has started. Each corral is held for 30-60 seconds. We are taking pictures and listening to the announcers and music until our corral makes it to the start.
And we're off! Running downtown Denver. We run about .25 of a mile and my mouth is already dry. I tell my friend's jeeze we just started and my mouth is dry. My German friend said the same thing. Lucky for us I have some Quench gum. What a savior it was at this time.
The first mile is just running down 14th street passing lots of spectators, the convention center and the performing arts center. We had a great non-rabbit start. This will help us finish strong!
Mile #2 takes us around to the Pepsi center down to Coors Field. We're all feeling good and holding our pace. At this point we passed 3 different bands. Seemed like all the bands on the course were playing the same song. "Sweet Home Alabama" Once we reached the 5K mark we all commented on how easy a 5K is now.
After the 5K we turned the corner and up hill we went down 17th street to the city park/zoo. There were spectators cheering us on. So many fun signs to be read. "Your feet hurt because you're kicking so much butt." The best one was "I don't know you but I am proud of you!"
I did stop at each drink station to have either water or Gatorade. At mile #4 I had part of a shock block and did eat one every other mile. By the end I was sick of these sweet things wanted something salty. Could have just licked my arm but that would have been disgusting.
Miles 5-8 were running around the City park/zoo. These miles went by really fast. Maybe it's because my mile high friend and I were in a deep conversation at this point. The relay hand off was just right before mile #8.
We now are running on 17th to Colorado Blvd we could see other runners facing us. At this point we are just waiting and waiting and waiting for the turn to hit the #9 mile marker. Once we hit #9 I get a huge amount of energy. Making friends on the run cheering others on. I hear someone say my name it just happened to be a girl who worked for me back in my restaurant days. She ran with a bit until her hamstring was too tight and needed to walk.
Mile 9 -10 took us up through a little neighborhood that was shaded up hill but very beautiful and relaxing. Someone on the course told us that the last 3 miles were down hill hahahaha not true. We did have a little down hill here and I was pacing my breathing and staying in my groove. My quads were beginning to feel really tight. I would try to kick my heels up to my butt to stretch them out.
Cheesman Park brought us from mile 11- 12. The very end of the park was all up hill. I wanted to walk so bad. I kept telling myself don't walk just slow your pace. I managed to get to the top of the hill and see the #12 mile marker. Shewwww only one mile to go!
This mile seemed like FOREVER. I was listening for the music hoping once I could hear it that would mean I am close to the finish. Well, I made it to the music but it wasn't even near the finish. Somewhat, motivating because I love the song that was playing. I really wish they had the last mile marked.
Woo Hoo! I crossed the finish line! OMG I really did it! What an emotion this accomplishment is!
Getting our wrist band at the expo allowed us to not wait in line to get into the beer garden for our FREE Michalob Ulta!
I am sure there is tons that I have forgotten will post more as I think of things. If you have any questions about the Rock n Roll Half Marathon make a comment!


text: BUSINESS H'wood focuses on Kovacs 5:00 AM PDT 10/16/2007 by Steve Brennan , AP FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Lenser honored at Raleigh event "A hardworking genius" and "a great Hungarian American" was how the late cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs was described Monday at a tribute to the man and his work in Hollywood. The event was organized by the Consulate General of Hungary in Los Angeles.Kovacs, said Ambassador Balazs Bokor, Consul General of Hungary, was "a witness of the 1956 revolution in Hungary, the 51st anniversary of which we are going to celebrate on Oct. 23. It was a milestone of Hungarian history, bloodily pushed down by the Soviet tanks. He did not plan to escape from Hungary: He and his life-long friend, Vilmos Zsigmond, left the country rescuing the very precious film made by them about the revolutionary events. He put his fingerprint on the history of filmmaking forever."The event was hosted by Raleigh Studios in the Chaplin Building and included testimonials and tributes from world-renowned Hungarian and U.S. film luminaries, including Oscar-winning cinematographer Zsigmond. Others included cinema journalist Bob Fisher; Steven Lighthill, senior filmmaker in residence at the AFI; Michael Newport, manager, Raleigh Film; Gyula Gazdag, filmmaker and UCLA professor; USC professor Gabor Kalman; Bela Bunyik, founder and president of the Hungarian Film Festival in Los Angeles; Robert Gyri, president of the William Fox Film Club; and "56 Drops of Blood" director Attila Bokor. They spoke about their personal experiences with Kovacs, on his life achievement and on Hungarian-American film cooperation."He was, what we call, a Hungarian American. … He joined in his life the pantheon of world-famous American film people, among them quite a lot of Hungarians, like some of the founding fathers of Hollywood," said Ambassador Bokor, who was a friend of the cinematographer.Personal messages from Dennis Hopper and Peter Bogdanovich specially sent for the occasion were read. Said Hopper, "Laszlo was the greatest telephoto operator I know of. He was a great cinematographer. His lighting was quick, fast and complete. I would never have been able to make 'Easy Rider' without Laszlo and Paul Lewis, my production manager, who brought Mr. Kovacs to me. He said, 'This is your man', and he certainly was. A wonderful, charming, hard-working genius. We are all lucky to have been his friend. He will not be missed, but will be with us forever through his films and our collective memory."Bogdanovich added, "Laszlo Kovacs and I did seven pictures together, more than I did with any other cinematographer, and the reason is simple: Laszlo was the most versatile director of photography. He could do anything, and he did it with ease and charm and a kind of gracious intensity. When I did pictures without him, I always missed him. I miss him now. He was the best."Among the 70 plus lensing credits for Kovacs, who died July 21, are "Targets," "Five Easy Pieces," "Paper Moon," "Shampoo," "New York, New York," "Ghost Busters," "Mask" and " Miss Congeniality."A short film on Kovacs, directed by Csaba Kael, produced by Bela Bunyik, was screened.Kovacs' widow, Audrey, greeted the audience at the end of the event, thanking them for paying their tribute to her husband. FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Steve Brennan firstname.lastname@example.com @thr AP email@example.com @thr


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A History of Medical Firsts in London, Canada
August 26, 2019
Your health is in good hands in London. Whether you're seeking specialized care, or are interested in the latest medical research, rest assured London offers the best care from the brightest minds in southwestern Ontario.Known as the go-to destination for healthcare in the region, London's 60+ companies and hospitals and their 25,000+ employees are advancing human health by leading research, development, and commercialization in the industry.
With a complete range of scientific, clinical, testing and data management services available, London's health sector has particular strengths in clinical trials, medical devices, and medical technologies.
Medical Firsts in London
From the discovery of Insulin and successful surgical procedures using innovative technology, to advances in human trials for HIV vaccines, London is known for its rich history of medical firsts. Here are some of London's many medical firsts over the years:
- 1920 - WORLD FIRST: October 31, 1920, after preparing for a lecture on the pancreas, Sir Frederick Grant Banting arose from a restless sleep in his London, Ontario home and wrote down words that would forever change his life and the lives of millions suffering from Diabetes: "Diabetus. Ligate pancreatic ducts of dog. Keep dogs alive till acini degenerate leaving islets. Try to isolate the internal secretion of these and relieve glycosurea." This 25-word hypothesis would eventually lead to one of the most important medical discoveries of the 20th century. Banting's house is now a museum dedicated to preserving his legacy - the Banting House National Historic Site of Canada located at 442 Adelaide Street North in London.
- 1949 - NATIONAL FIRST: In 1940 Dr. Willem J. Kloff refined his idea for a machine that could fulfill the kidney's detoxification duties outside the body. His machine saved the life of its first patient in 1945 and the age of dialysis was born. Dr. Jacobus van Noordwijk, who had worked with Dr. Kolff, spent a year at LHSC's Victoria Hospital instructing physicians on how to build and operate an artificial kidney machine.
- 1951 - WORLD FIRST: Revolutionizing cancer treatment throughout the world, the Eldorado Cobalt-60 radiation technology, nicknamed the "Cobalt Bomb", was first installed at LHSC on October 23, 1951. This was the first major advancement in the radiation treatment of all cancers, aside from skin cancer, since Roentgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895. The technology doubles the survival rate for early-stage cervix cancers from 30% to 60%, and benefits an estimated 35 million cancer patients.
- 1970 – FIRST IN CANADA: Jones Packaging introduces the first child safety vial to the Canadian pharmacy market. Jones Packaging is a family-owned packaging design and manufacturing company located in London, started in 1882 by Henry Jones and Frank Lawson.
- 1978 - BREAKTHROUGH: Dr. Henry Barnett was recognized internationally for leading some of the most important clinical trials investigating stroke treatments. He conducted a global level study and successfully demonstrated that aspirin was effective in preventing stroke. This ground breaking work significantly improved the management of heart disease and the treatment of millions of stroke patients worldwide.
- 1981 - WORLD FIRST: LHSC's University Hospital performs the world's first heart operation to correct life threatening right ventricular dysphasia. Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia (ARVD) is a rare form of cardiomyopathy in which the heart muscle of the right ventricle is replaced by fat or fibrous tissue. As a result, the ability of the heart to pump blood is usually weakened. LHSC surgeons were the first in the world to correct a case of life threatening ARVD.
- 1982 - NATIONAL FIRST: Researchers at St. Joseph's Health Care London were the first to show that nuclear magnetic imaging could distinguish diseased tissue from normal tissue. In 1982, they were the first in Canada to achieve a human image using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This milestone led to advances that were pioneered across London in the 80s and 90s in neuroscience, cardiovascular, orthopaedic and neonatal MRI.
- 1983 - NATIONAL FIRST: LHSC's University Hospital first to perform heart-lung transplant in Canada. Heart-lung transplantation occurs in patients with end-stage cardiac and pulmonary disease, where the heart cannot pump blood well enough to reach all tissues in the body and the lungs are not getting enough air.
By 1987, the hospital had established itself internationally as a centre for multi-organ transplantation, leading to the creation of the Walter J. Blackburn Multi-Organ Transplant Unit - the first of its kind in Canada.
- 1983 - PROVINCIAL FIRST: First pediatric heart transplant in Ontario is done at LHSC's University Hospital in London. Heart transplants are widely performed across London. In 2012, the London Health Science Centre completed its 600th heart transplant. The 30 year program has completed more heart transplants than any other centre in Canada.
- 1983 - WORLD FIRST: The first-ever compact valved holding chamber was created by Trudell Medical International. Since its launch, the AeroChamber brand of Chamber has continually been updated and improved upon by Trudell.
- 1987 - WORLD FIRST: A team of LHSC cardiologists develops the world's first pacemaker cardioverter defibrillator (PCD) implantation procedure using virtual reality technology, in partnership with medical equipment from Medtronic. The new procedure requires only two or three x-rays, significantly lowers x-ray needs during pacemaker implantation.
- 1988 - WORLD FIRST: First successful liver-small bowel transplant is performed at LHSC's University Hospital in London, Ontario, which even today is still a relatively rare procedure.
- 1994 – WORLD FIRST: The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame is created in London, Ontario. Started by Londoners, the hall of fame is a national, charitable organization dedicated to recognizing and celebrating Canadian heroes whose work has advanced health in Canada and around the world. Take a look at their 20 year timeline here.
- 1997 - WORLD FIRST: Surgeons transplanted a liver, bowel, stomach and pancreas into a five-month-old infant, the world's youngest recipient of a multi-organ transplant setting a Guinness World Record.
- 1997 - FIRST IN CANADA: LHSC cardiac surgeons are the first in Canada to perform a revolutionary method of video-assisted minimally invasive heart surgery. Surgeons used the da Vinci Surgical System to complete the surgery. The Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics (CSTAR) in London is one of only eight training centres in the world for these surgical systems, which trains and certifies surgeons to perform minimally invasive procedures.
- 1999 - WORLD FIRST: Surgeons performed the world's first robotic-assisted, closed-chest cardiac single bypass procedure on a beating heart at LHSC's University Hospital in 1999.
- 2001 - WORLD FIRST: Researchers at LHSC complete world's first study to help epilepsy sufferers. They find strong evidence that surgery, not medicine, for temporal lobe epilepsy is key to improving quality of life. LHSC's Epilepsy Program later (in 2017) becomes the first in Ontario to perform a robotic-assisted stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) procedure, in which electrodes are placed into the brain to map epileptic seizure activity.
- 2008 - WORLD FIRST: LHSC performs robotically-assisted intestinal bypass surgery for a patient with Wilkie's syndrome, using the da Vinci® robot. A traditional intestinal bypass for patients with superior mesenteric artery syndrome (SMA) - also known as Wilkie's syndrome - requires one-week hospital stay and involves significant postoperative pain. By using the da Vinci robot, surgeons were able to reduce the patient's hospital stay to three days with minimal use of pain medication.
The da Vinci robot.
- 2009 - NORTH AMERICAN FIRST: LHSC became the first hospital in North America to use a robotic-arm neuro-angiogram machine in an operating room. The Zeego, manufactured by Siemens, is a floor-mounted neuro-angiogram machine designed to take images during surgery.
- 2012 - WORLD FIRST: Neuroscientist Adrian Owen has been using brain-imaging techniques to detect consciousness in patients who are presumed to be vegetative, sometimes for many years. By giving simple commands and then measuring brain activity, Owen has learned some patients are completely aware despite being entirely unable to communicate or move their limbs. Owen said his MRI technique reveals that there is some awareness in about one in five patients in a vegetative state.
- 2016 - WORLD FIRST: An HIV vaccine (SAV001) developed at Western University by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang in 2012 can now move on to Phase II human clinical trials. Plans are underway to test it in 600 HIV-negative subjects across North America as early as next fall. The Phase II trial, once approved by government regulatory agencies, will determine the vaccine's ability to produce anti-HIV antibodies in patients who are not infected with the virus.
- 2018 - WORLD FIRST: Surgeons at London Health Sciences Centre's University Hospital have performed a world-first robotic aortic valve replacement on a patient suffering from aortic stenosis – a narrowing of the aortic valve caused by calcification. They replaced the patient's value with a tissue one that doesn't require permanent sutures to stay in place, and using the da Vinci robot, results in less recovery time and lower risks of complications for the patients.
Additional resources:
- Canadian Medical Hall of Fame: A number of medical innovators across Canada have been recognized in the hall of fame. Take a look at the laureates over the years here.
- Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry: Take a look at their discoveries – a list of individuals who, either as alumni of Schulich or former faculty members – have made major contributions to their profession, to health research and education, or to society.
- View more of Western's medical firsts in this 51 firsts list.
You can also view the milestones in this interactive timeline tool:
Suggested News
July 29, 2019Western University opens $16M research lab for world's most deadly bacteria, viruses
Western University is celebrating the grand opening of a closed-door facility, a containment lab and imaging centre where researchers will study some of humankind's most serious viruses and bacteria. Article by: Jennifer Bieman, The London Free Press, July 29, 2019.
June 17, 2019London scientists get nearly $1.35M for dementia research
A team of London-based scientists have been given a multi-million dollar funding boost to continue their research into dementia over the next five years. Article by: Miranda Chant, Blackburn News London, June 17, 2019.
November 29, 2018Putting your health in your hands
Dot Health is helping Canadians take control of their health care information.


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Garden Party: Planting a Teen Garden
Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 06:00pm - 08:00pm
Come on out and help us plant a garden at the library just for the YA! As the summer passes come back to see how it's growing and at the end of the summer in July we'll have a Garden Reveal Party to see our harvest! Grades 6-12. All events are free and open to the public.
Contact call 706-769-3950 or visit www.athenslibrary.org/oconee


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Choose your room
With a stay at Palazzo De Rome in Bangkok (Lat Krabang), you'll be close to The Paseo Mall. This hotel is within the region of Kwan-Riam Floating Market and Suan Luang Rama IX Park. Free self parking is available onsite. Make yourself at home in one of the air-conditioned rooms featuring LCD televisions. Complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming is available for your entertainment. Private bathrooms with showers feature complimentary toiletries and hair dryers. Conveniences include desks and coffee/tea makers, and housekeeping is provided daily.


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ALPHABET | SELENIUS | CEHAP | CHICOS | CLOCKSHIFT | ENRIECO | EOG WH | HEALS | IMPASHS | IPRI | Night Shift Work | OSIRIS | REPRO PL | RICHE | ABClean
OSIRIS – Optimized strategies for Risk Assessment of Industrial Chemicals through Integration of Non –Test and Test Information
The goal of the project OSIRIS (2007–2011) was to develop integrated testing strategies (ITS) fit for the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) that enable to significantly increase the use of non-testing information for regulatory decision making, and thus to minimise the need for animal testing to the level needed from a risk. To this end, operational procedures were developed, tested and disseminated that guide a transparent and scientifically sound evaluation of chemical substances in a risk-driven, context-specific and substance-tailored manner.
For the first time, an ITS has been equipped with a decision theory framework including alternative methods such as chemical and biological read-across, in vitro results, in vivo information on analogues, qualitative and quantitative structure-activity relationships, thresholds of toxicological concern and exposure-based waiving. OSIRIS took into account cost-benefit analyses, and it aimed to close the gap between risk and societal risk perception. It was based on the new REACH paradigm to move away from extensive standard testing to a more intelligent, substance-tailored approach.
The work was organised in the five interlinked research Pillars:
– Chemical Domain – objective: to develop methods and guidance for transparent and scientifically sound use of chemistry-driven information in ITS,
– Biological Domain – objective: to provide efficient strategies and guidance for exploitation of all types of biological information on toxic effects of chemicals in ITS, focusing on reduced animal use and informed extrapolation across human and environmental toxicology, species, endpoints and time scales,
– Exposure – objective: to develop criteria for exposure informed testing as foreseen in the REACH regulation, and to refine relevant exposure assessment methods accordingly,
– Integration Strategies and Tools – objective: to develop weight-of-evidence approaches for ITS based on a computerized decision theory framework ready for web access, optimizing the use of existing data and non-test information, and minimizing the need for new testing in risk assessment procedures,
– Case Studies – objective: to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the new ITS methodologies and to provide guidance for their use in concrete form, covering major human and environmental endpoints.
Project manager: prof. Marek Jakubowski, MD, PhD
Website: http://osiris.ufz.de
Any comments on the page?Fill-in the form


text: tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post1511074493622183771..comments2020-04-01T06:40:14.385-04:00Comments on Thinking Out Loud In Sturbridge: About Those River Lands...firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post-27959676859879437642014-11-20T09:32:27.823-05:002014-11-20T09:32:27.823-05:00I have been wondering the same thing. last i hear...I have been wondering the same thing. last i heard they were going to put a fence around the off limits zone and call it good. That was a while back though. Can we get an update from the BOS? Thanks. Rob firstname.lastname@example.com


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matchbook- adorable blog alertPosted: 2012/07/31 Filed under: art, awesome person, design Leave a comment
The book: The Hidden Reality by Brian Green.
The first sentence: "If, when I was growing up, my room had only been adorned with a single mirror, my childhood daydreams might have been very different."
The cover designer: Abby Weintraub
The bathing suit: Mare One Piece by Missoni. $534.
via MATCHBOOK. bikinis meet their match.
Okay, you win, this idea is too cute. Kudos!


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South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer LG has started a new promotional offer for its latest premium smartphone, the V10. As part of the latest marketing effort aimed towards maximizing sales of the handset, the company has now started offering a 64GB microSD card, an extra 3,000 mAh battery and a charging cradle to buyers of the dual-screen, triple-camera smartphone for a limited time. When the phone was launched earlier this year, it came with a free accessory bundle that included a replacement battery, a spare battery charger and a 32GB microSD card. All of which were meant to highlight two features that are becoming increasingly endangered on modern smartphones – user replaceable batteries and microSD card slots to expand built-in storage.
While that initial promo ended long back, the South Korean company introduced a new one to replace it, back in October. This time around, LG upped the ante and started offering a 200 GB microSD card, along with the extra battery and the charging cradle, but that particular promo also ran its due course and for the past couple of weeks, the device has been on the market without any additional goodies on offer. The current offer meanwhile, will be open only to anyone buying the device at AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, according to the press release by LG. There's no word on whether buyers of an unlocked V10 will also get the same benefits or not. According to LG, the offer is already live as of the first of December, and the additional free stuff will be available to those who buy the handset within the twentieth of this month. LG has also set up a dedicated website for its customers to redeem the offer, which has to be done within the 31st of this month.
As a quick reminder, the LG V10 features a 5.7-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) panel as its primary display and a 2.1-inch 1040 x 160 panel as its secondary display that houses app shortcuts, etc. The device is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 808 SoC, and comes with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. The device features as many as three cameras as mentioned already, with the primary one incorporating a 16-megapixel sensor. The smartphone also comes with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop pre-installed and carries a removable 3,000 mAh Li-Ion battery.


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Belsky says test to predict the pace of biological aging isn't ready for market
"Aging Tests Yield Varying Results" - Science Newsline. 11/16/2017.
In 2015, Duke's Daniel Belsky and colleagues used data from the life-long Dunedin, NZ study to develop 18 measures of biological aging for participants who were age 38 at the time. Their results were published in *PNAS*. In an expanded study published this week in *AJE*, Belsky et al. have found some disagreement about whether these measures all point in the same direction. Belsky says having measures of biological aging is important: "People age at different rates and geriatric medicine needs a way to measure that." But when measuring many different physiological indicators - from genes to blood markers to balance and grip strength - "you see a lot of disagreement."
Additional Media Coverage:
"These tests can't really say how fast you're aging" - Futurity. 11/16/2017.
"Aging tests disagree with one another" - Gears of Biz. 11/17/2017.


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RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro is to travel to Chile on his first international trip, his future chief of staff confirmed on Monday.
Bolsonaro agreed with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera to make the trip as soon as he has recovered fully from a stabbing at a campaign event last month, according to Congressman Onyx Lorenzoni, who is overseeing transition efforts in Brazil.
Piñera was the first Latin American president to congratulate Bolsonaro and invite him to visit the South American country. "I am sure that we will work with will, strength and vision of the future," the President wrote on his Twitter account.
Felicito al pueblo brasileño por una limpia y democrática elección. Felicito a @jairbolsonaro por su gran triunfo electoral.Lo invito a visitar Chile y estoy seguro que trabajaremos con voluntad,fuerza y visión de futuro en favor del bienestar de nuestros pueblos y la integración
— Sebastian Piñera (@sebastianpinera) October 28, 2018
Piñera told Bienvenido de Canal 13 that he believes that the relationship with Brazil "will improve substantially."
He also said that "Brazil is a very important country, it is a continent country and for Chile it is strategic so I hope to have, as I had with President Lula, the best relations with President Bolsonaro".
Far-right Jair Bolsonaro beats Fernando Haddad to win Brazil presidency


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Jin Da Hua (Nikki Hsieh) has buckteeth and an unfortunately prominent mole on her face that has caused her to be teased and ridiculed throughout her life. Down on her luck and in need of money, Da Hua's fortunes change dramatically when she crosses paths with Ou Yang Tai (Chris Wu), who just lost his beloved fiancé, Du Liang Yan, in a hiking accident. Because Da Hua bears a slight resemblance to Yang Tai's fiancé, he makes her an offer she can't refuse. He will pay for plastic surgery to transform Da Hua to look more like the dead Liang Yan if she will agree to enter into a contract marriage to help further his career. With a beautiful new look and the life she has always wanted, Da Hua just hopes that her transformation is enough to turn the head of her adopted brother and first love, Lin Guan Jun (James Wen). "Princess' Stand In," also known as "Substitute Princess" and "King Flower," is a 2013 Taiwanese romantic drama.
- Original title
- 金大花的華麗冒險
- Romanized title
- Jin Da Hua De Hua Li Mao Xian
- Also known as
- Substitute Princess, The Adventure of King Flower
- Volunteer Team
- The Extreme Makeover Team
- Broadcast Period
- 01-12-2013 to 06-08-2013
- Rating
This show does not have any episodes


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Wednesday, August 25, 2010
BoredTeenager: Black-crowned Night Heron
So Mom & Dad have finally left me alone, but there's nothing to do around this stoopid river. I've been sitting here on this railroad bridge forever and nothing happens. I haven't seen a cute chick all day. Guess I'll flex my wings once more to show off my magnificence. Yawn. Wish I hadn't dropped my iPod into the water. That majorly sucks.I am so BORED.
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Mothering Sunday is the time of honoring our mothers, our sisters, and our daughters. Those who are no longer here and those who are fortunate to still be with us, we spend time with who we love. Love is patient and love is kind, let us share the love in this wonderful time!
1. Show how much love you have
It's not every day go out, even with that make sure you show the mother, the sister or the daughter how much they mean to you. Make sure there is a range of authenticity and love spread around. This should not be the only day that you show love to your loved ones, but always make every year a year to remember. Sometimes we have to big our mothers up, because it really is not easy raising children. Don't ever bite the hand that feeds you. Always show love and, make sure you are forever grateful for all that they have given you. Gratitude is the most important thing.
2) Be creative with your gifts
Spreading love and giving gifts can be doing something you don't normally do, for example, a handwritten card, a handmade gift or breakfast in bed.
Whether or not you sing, dance, write, use your creative talents to bless your mother. Be creative and do something spontaneous, something that is from the heart is something that will be truly appreciated.
3) A conventional day out with the family
If all your family are available too, make sure you go out with them, it is a time to celebrate and family time is the best time. For example, it could be like spa days out, massage, happy hour, baking or watching a movie.
I am sure you have many creative ideas. If you do struggle, then Google 'things to do on Mothers' Day'. Every Mother's day should not just be the only day that you show love, spread love continuously.
Rachael Tinde
Latest posts by Rachael Tinde (see all)
- 3 Simple Ways To Keep Symptoms of Stress, Just Symptoms - 14th November 2019
- Let's Talk Networking! – 3 Tips To Get You Started. - 10th October 2019
- 3 Things to do on Mothers' Day - 24th March 2019


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Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Advantage Lucy at the Festival of Light
advantage Lucy
On December 23, which is the Emperor's Birthday holiday in Japan, advantage Lucy played two sets at the 'Festival of Light' in Adachi Ward (a ward is like a city district). This was the third year that the Tokyo pop group appeared at this free event, and though I missed last year's show I did make it to the one two years ago, and had fond memories of it.
Going again to this event I remembered what I liked about it—the atmosphere is familial and relaxed, taking place in a public park whose trees have been lit up for the holidays. People of all ages sit outside in the chilly evening to watch the shows, while kids run around the stage and hide behind the illuminated trees. Encircling the stage are food stalls, whose shopkeepers call out, between breaks, what they are selling.
There's also the wonderful feeling of anomaly of seeing advantage Lucy, one of Japan's great bands, playing on the same stage as children's electric piano groups, senior citizen choruses, and so on. On Friday night, they played first at a park near Ayase station, and the performers that went before them were called the Beautifuls, who described themselves as "Japan's #1 Hustle Salaryman band" (unfortunately, I missed them). And after advantage Lucy's second set, which was at a park in Takenotsuka, a troupe of high school hip-hop dancers took the stage (for the finale these hipsters danced in Santa outfits).
One other nice thing about this event is that advantage Lucy's music matches perfectly the feel of the wintry Tokyo evening. Maybe it's singer Aiko's voice, which is pure and crystalline, like the icy nighttime air. It also helps that they play their most festive, holiday-like songs such as "Hello Mate" and "Weekend Wonder". During their second set they did a very slow, gorgeous rendition of their ballad "Today".
At one point there was a little girl in front of me wearing a sky-blue down jacket standing transfixed by advantage Lucy's show. Her expression, as she looked at the musicians and the happy audience, was somewhere between curiosity and puzzlement. I wondered whether one day, just maybe, she too might be playing music on that stage.
Posted by Ken M - Japan Live at 7:25 AM
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Rostering and Duty Management
Intelligent rostering for complex organisations
GRS delivers an intelligent roster and duty management solution which enables you to easily manage shifts for all the workforce across your organisation.
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- Review and volunteer for vacant shifts
- Manage time off and access individual leave balance summaries including Annual Leave, Flexi-Time, Re-rostered Rest Days and Time Off in Lieu
- Review, update and submit timesheets online
- Extensive range of management reporting tools
Benefits to your organisation include improvements to data accuracy and consistency, reduction of administration effort and the streamlining of processes.
Annual Leave and Absence Management
Making it easy to track, record and manage absences
GRS makes it easier to plan and manage Annual Leave, Sickness and General Absences.
Benefits include:
- Reduces the resources required for the administration of annual leave
- Allows visibility of absence trends and warnings of absence related problems
- Automatic calculations of annual leave entitlements for different staff groups
- Eliminate shortages of key skilled staff
- System alerts of potential staff leave clashes
- Bradford Score Report available
- System alerts of Sickness Trigger Points
Time Sheets and Overtime
Automate your time and attendance processes
Benefits and features:
- Clock in via mobile devices, online through GRSWeb or traditional clocking machines
- Reduces the resources required for the administration of payroll
- Manages paid absences
- Manages overtime rates subject to organisation rules
- Export data seamlessly by interfacing with your existing payroll systems


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Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:PAR) has attracted a speed and volume ticket from the ASX following an increase in its share price from a low of 72.5 cents to an intraday high of 90 cents on Friday.
Responding to the price and volume query, the company said that there was no information that had not been announced to the market.
Paradigm believes that one of the possible reasons for the share price spike is due to recent positive results from knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients treated with its trial drug pentosan polysulfate sodium (PPS).
READ: Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals patients report over 50% pain reduction
Of the 75 patients, 84% responded with both a reduction in joint pain and an improvement in knee function.
Notably, patients' self-reported pain scores were reduced over 50% on average from baseline pain scores.
Paradigm will continue to report over the coming months on the groups of patients that are currently undergoing treatment under the TGA Special Access Scheme (SAS).
READ: Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals osteoarthritis clinical trial ahead of schedule
Following the trial results revealed on 15 June 2018, Paradigm chief executive officer Paul Rennie said: "The number of patients seeking treatment via the TGA SAS is accelerating, which we believe is a strong indication that the patients are receiving a clinical benefit from the iPPS treatment.
"Given these patients have a very similar treatment regimen to subjects being treated under the current phase IIb osteoarthritis randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial and these patients have failed current therapies to treat OA, we feel particularly confident regarding a positive clinical trial outcome, with the expected release of headline results for that trial due in Q4 CY 2018."


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Allow MPN Benefit subscriptions to be owned by Organizational Accounts.
I have all my paid subscriptions owned by my Organizational Account, the Microsoft Partner Network subscription I got for the Azure Benefits from my Action Pack can only be owned by a Microsoft Account at the moment, this makes administration more difficult and I'm unable to open support cases for services on that subscription as the owner is different. It is already possible for MSDN benefits subscriptions so please do the same for MPN benefits subscriptions...
Hey folks, sorry for the late update. Some backend changes were made to alleviate this issue but I believe it doesn't solve it for everyone yet. Let me go get some details and come back with a better update. Thanks!
173 comments
This situation is pretty sad. This issue has cause me a lot of trouble, especially when trying to combine my devops account with azure resources. which are on different accounts because of this.
Pleae fix!
Ronald Hulshof commented
How many more years will it take to implement this thing? It was supposed to be launched in 2015. In 2017 it was presented as partially available... it's still not there.
Gartner has put Microsoft as leader in I&AM field; yet I need to manage all kinds of Microsoft accounts by hand instead of using AAD, like with EA Portal and MS VLSC. And for professional MPN benefits I even have to use a seperated Microsoft Live account which is supposed to be intended for private use...
Andrew Scott commented
what is the status on this? i have just signed up for MSP and now have 2 subscriptions, i already had a subscription why did this not get applied to that subscription.
An update - we use EA with Azure and in the past have always had to have completely separate accounts for the MPN Azure benefits. Since changing to the new Partner Center we can assign our Azure benefits to an organizational account. It is still a partner benefit and when there are overages they will go on a credit card. As well, we have the $100/mth credit and $6000K/Year as well - we can't assign both to the same account or combine them so we have to set up two separate accounts to use them and it's a hassle.
The ideal will be to simply let us apply these benefits to an existing subscription or, failing that, let us use our EA rates for overages. Of course, the EA program is changing and the EA discounts seem to be going away :(
At the rate this has moved, I expect this will be resolved within three years. I note that the Microsoft employee who was going to go away for a quick check and report back hasn't bene seen since 2017.
José Ramon Carias commented
Nós desenvolvedores, profissionais e executivos de ti independentes, somos apaixonados pelo o que fazemos , que é levar todas as pessoas a explorarem seu próprio e máximo potencial, por uma internet melhor , mais segura e justa para todos, em uma nova era do trabalho, flexível, digital, sem papel, seguro e em todos os lugares.
Andrew Liddle commented
Wow didn't realise this has been ongoing for over a year and no clear way of getting this resolved.
I'm trying to get all my PAYG and MPN subscriptions under one single o365 Account. Currently, they are against a Microsoft account which I cannot add to Azure AD because it has the same domain name (it existed before we setup O365 through NPN).
I don't think we are under an EA agreement but I would like to get this sorted fairly easily. Looking for an easy fix.
We're in exactly the same position as Regan still - this makes for considerable overhead and difficulty and needs to be resolved. It's been well over a year since the last Microsoft comment on this.
Regan Klemm commented
We have significant Azure benefits available for usage due to being a Gold partner and not being able to activate these on subscriptions under an EA agreement makes these benefits useless to us as all our Azure resources are billed under EA. We do not want to be billing overage to a credit card and should be able to fall back to EA rates once the benefits are consumed.
Kasper de Waard commented
Just transferred my MPN benefit by following the instructions from Nicholas Hayduk's comment. For which I thank you. It took me a couple of hours e-mailing back and forth with MS. Would be nice if this could be done from the portal.
this is ridiculous 9 pages of comments, 1828 votes and this issues is still going on.
I had this problem 2 years ago, last year and now again this year.
I am now waiting to have to go through another 3 hour phone call with Microsoft to manually fix it yet again!!
Bjørn Hasselberg commented
Same here. Same experience as below:
---I have migrated to the partner membership center with its dashboard. So as of now I am using an organizational account there. My Azure benefits are still assigned to a Microsoft account that I have been using for my Azure subscription. I can't add any Azure benefits to organizational users neither in the Partner Dashboard nor in Azure Portal. I can't transfer my MPN Azure subscription from a Microsoft account to an organizational account but I just get "We are sorry, but we could not complete that operation." ---
Same here. Fix ASAP, it took me hours with MPN and Azure support to find out it is not possible.
I have migrated to the partner membership center with its dashboard. So as of now I am using an organizational account there. My Azure benefits are still assigned to a Microsoft account that I have been using for my Azure subscription. I can't add any Azure benefits to organizational users neither in the Partner Dashboard nor in Azure Portal. I can't transfer my MPN Azure subscription from a Microsoft account to an organizational account but I just get "We are sorry, but we could not complete that operation."
Same problem. As everyone else. Please fix it you. What a disgrace. We've lost days to this.
We have microsoft (~personal) accounts on Microsoft Partner Network and when we activated our Azure Monthly credits 100$ (included in our action pack) it got activated on a microsoft (~personal) account instead of my work account. (which has the exact same email). So now we cannot transfer the subscription to the work account. Azure Portal lets us try to transfer to a different email (one of our work accounts) but when we then log on to that work account to finish the process it says something in the likes of 'This account is not linked to a Microsoft Partner Network organization)
MN commented
Hi, same issue for selected existing company Office 365 accounts which already have assigned VS license from MPN.
Some people can still working and can login, some of them cannot. Tested with more registered Office 365 domains / accounts.
You can easily check it on login page by inserting email address and try to login. If you are asked for password accounts is working properly (not affected), if not then the user is affected by that issue.
Is there any right way, what to do? Do I need to create MS account and assign license there as workaround? But this is not comfortable for company to manage it.
Thank you for response
facing the same issue, how to i assign MPN MSDN to my organizational work accounts (you cannot create Microsoft account based on work account anymore) so whats the solution here
nâng cấp điện thoại
Bernd Schneider commented
Hi all together, we also try to transfer the Azure IUR to our O365 tenant. It is silly to use the O365 benefits in our company account and connect to the Partner Network with a "private" account. Just received a message from Microsoft, that there is a feature request.
I don't want to set up a complex Azure infrastructure now and have more work transferring it to the right account later.
So Microsoft: Please hurry!
Scott commented
After going through support and a ton of emails going back and forth, they have informed us that we can't do the transfer because we're on an Enterprise agreement and this is therefore not possible.
We do have a fairly small spend but being on an EA agreement means we can't transfer the credit and therefore will continue to have to deal with the issue of having separate work and organizational accounts, both of which use the same email addresses - this also makes using TFS online a giant hassle and it's really not feasible.
We get a $100 monthly credit, which isn't a big deal, but we plan to go for the silver cloud option next year, which comes with a $6000 yearly credit. At that point, it's a big deal and we'll be unable to use it.
This needs to get figured out.
Dave Webster commented
Just reporting back, after an hour on the phone MS support resolved the issue for me by getting me to sign up for a $100 subscription on our account as a payed for services e.g. we had to provide a credit card to add it and then changed it there end to make it free to reflect our free credits.
One thing I did notice was when they took me through the visual studio portal to check for an existing subscription there was an option for adding a personal account to my 365 account which I suspect would have done the same thing. I did repeatedly ask the support agent if that wasn't the option we needed but we ended up doing it the way I have detailed above.
Dave Webster commented
Just adding to the now I'm waiting on support to fix this issue..
Initial communications with support don't seem promising.. Apparently they tried to ring me, then sent me an email detailing how to add the credits which I had already said in the initial ticket I had done...
This seems super common so why isn't this picked up but some process already.
Better still why not fix the underlying issue.. it's been causing issues for years and years now.


text:
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The Scott Inlet - Buchan Gulf Oil Seeps: Actively venting petroleum systems on the northern Baffin Margin offshore Nunavut, Canada
Oakey, G N; Moir, P N; Brent, T; Dickie, K; Jauer, C; Bennett, R; Williams, G; MacLean, B; Budkewitsch, P; Haggart, J; Currie, L
Proceedings of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists; 2012 p. 1-3
Online - En ligne
Séries alt.
Secteur des sciences de la Terre, Contribution externe 20120112
Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists GeoConvention 2012; Calgary; CA; mai 14-18, 2012
papier; en ligne; numérique
Région extracotière du nord
Lat/Long OENS
-76.0000 -68.0000 72.5000 70.7500
pétrole; champs de pétrole; suintements d'huile; pétrole; présence de pétrole; hydrocarbures; capacité de production d'hydrocarbures; bathymétrie; topographie du fond océanique; topographie du fond océanique; combustibles fossiles; géologie marine; géophysique
location maps
GEM : La géocartographie de l'énergie et des minéraux
, Bassins sédimentaires de la baie de Baffin - Systèmes de pétrole dans l'Arctique canadien est (CAPSE)
(disponible en anglais seulement)
New analyses of legacy geophysical, geological and geochemical data have been integrated with modern multibeam bathymetry, RADARSAT imagery, and onshore geological mapping into a regional study of the petroleum system on the northern Baffin shelf offshore Nunavut. Industry seismic reflection profiles show that the Scott Inlet Graben is the southern end of an elongated basin (200-300 km by 25-50 km wide) extending to the northwest along the Baffin Margin - now named Scott Inlet Basin - which contains up to 6 km of Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata. The seismic data define the outer edge of the Scott Inlet Basin; however, the landward edge is largely unknown and may locally outcrop onshore.
Recent multibeam bathymetry data have been collected over the Scott Inlet Seep location as part of the ARCTICNET Research Program to study benthic habitats and geohazards in the Canadian Arctic waterways. The bathymetric mapping has identified complex patterns of Quaternary seafloor sedimentary processes and modern iceberg scouring. Also imaged are (Precambrian?) bedrock outcrops on the seafloor along the western edge of Scott Inlet Basin with indications of fault structures controlling basin development, as well as pock-marks interpreted to be petroleum escape features. In 2009, video was collected using a remotely operated vehicle showing petroleum actively venting from the seafloor. Repeat satellite radar sea surface mapping confirms the existence of extensive and persistent oil slicks. Large slicks exceed 250 km2, each representing over 50,000 barrels of oil on the sea-surface. Whether these slicks are formed from continuous venting of petroleum or episodic events (possibly triggered by local seismicity) is unknown.
New palynological analysis of the 1980s GSC short rock cores of sedimentary strata in the Scott Inlet Basin indicate a Turonian to Campanian age for the mudstones of Home Bay and Buchan Gulf, and the black shales at Scott Inlet. Geological mapping onshore Bylot Island, northwest of the Scott Inlet Basin has identified middle Albian to possible Turonian strata suggesting a correlative equivalent with the Hassel Formation, widespread in the Canadian Arctic. A 500 m thick coarse grained sandstone unit that is widespread on southwest Bylot Island may be a possible coeval equivalent for the reservoir rocks within the Scott Inlet Basin. New geochemical analysis of the 1985 Pisces-IV oil sample confirms a biodegraded mature oil with biomarkers suggesting an upper Cretaceous marine source. The sample has similarities to the Itilli oil type identified in West Greenland, thought to be generated from Cenomanian to Turonian marine shales.
The Scott Inlet Basin contains an active petroleum system with a significant potential for a viable hydrocarbon discovery. Mapping of the area is sparse and continued research would greatly improve the understanding of the geological history of the area as well as provide a natural laboratory for studying the effects of petroleum contamination in an Arctic marine environment.


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Rob Ball Funland
Sorry, currently out of stock
Funland is a new release from Rob Ball, a brilliant Whitstable-based photographer featured in our current exhibition Seaside: Photographed.
From Blackpool to Brighton, and Barry Island to Brightlingsea, these richly-detailed photographs capture the candyfloss colours and faded nostalgia of a seaside culture that is peculiarly (yet wonderfully) British.
"My latest book - Funland - was released last month. The book features over 80 images of British seaside resorts made over the past 10 years. It includes an introduction by Lucy Davies and an afterword by me. It focusses on our British seaside entertainment culture and most of the images are taken looking inwards, rather than out to sea. There's a Dreamland (Margate), Pleasureland (Abroath), Leisureland (Great Yarmouth) and a Funland (Weston-super-mare). I visited around 30 locations in total all over the UK. I am interested in our coastal culture and wanted to make a contemporary record of it." - Rob Ball
Rob Ball has been a photographer for over 20 years. He spent time working as a news, sport and crime scene photographer before shifting to long-form personal projects while lecturing at Canterbury Christ Church University. Rob has exhibited his work internationally and continues to work on projects and commissions while lecturing.
Book design by Friederike Huber and Hoxton Mini Press
128pp | cloth spine and back cover | 237mm x 285mm | ISBN 9781910566510
Internal images by Hoxton Mini Press


text:
This delivery man saved a 6-year-old girl from drowning in Shaoxing City, in east China's Zhejiang Province. The video of the rescue operation has now gone viral.
'Not all heroes wear capes' is an old age saying but it holds true for a delivery man from China who recently in a heroic act saved a little girl from drowning. After footage of the rescue went viral on social media he has been hailed as a real-life hero.
The incident took place in Shaoxing City, in east China's Zhejiang Province on October 13, reported CGTN.
The footage, captured by a CCTV camera, shows a 6-year-old girl slipping and falling into the river while she was washing a mop. The delivery man, who was passing by the river, notices the girl struggling to keep her head above the water.
He immediately stopped his bike & kept his cellular phone on the ground and jumped into the water to rescue the drowning girl.
He then caught hold of the girl and took her out of the water carrying her on his back. After placing her on a stone nearby, he goes back to the water to retrieve her shoe.
Watch the video here:


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Sometimes people think of cauliflower as a replacement for potatoes or pasta in dishes. Although that is true, I think the cauliflower in this dish is no alternative or second option. I think it is the highlight of what makes this dish. So. Darn. Good.
Twice Baked Cauliflower
As I mentioned before, my husband was sick all weekend. So when I made this dish, I was a little excited at all the leftover there would be. Well that didn't happen. Sick or not sick, he slammed this dish, and there was hardly any left the next day. 😦 good thing I bought TWO heads of cauliflower!
I exchanged a lot of high fat ingredients so tat this dish would be lower in calories (my excuse to go crazy on birthday cake this weekend). If you want a richer casserole (and it WILL be rich) go with the regular on the low fat ingredients I use (it will also be lower carb!)
Here is what you'll need:
1 head of cauliflower, cut into large pieces, stem removed.
4oz low fat cream cheese (Philadelphia is GF)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (sour cream will work too however some varieties of sour cream is not GF if you are following GF diet. Chobani greek yogurt says they are GF.)
1/4 cup chives
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan (again make sure the cheese you select is GF, pre shredded cheeses typically are not).
3-6 strips of bacon (mine was large center cut so I used four)
1/2 fresh cheddar cheese (if you use bagged pre-shredded you may want to use up to a cup (select GF variety if following GF diet))
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large pot, boil water and add in cauliflower and boil until tender but not too soft.
3. While cauliflower is boiling, fry bacon and set aside.
4. Drain cauliflower and put into a bowl. Smash cauliflower but leave a little chunky.
5. Add in yogurt, chives, cream cheese, Parmesan, pepper and bacon (leave a strip or two for top depending on how much you cooked). Mix everything together (I just mashed and mixed at the sae time.
6. Put ingredients into a small casserole dish. Top with cheddar and additional bacon.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes until dish is hot and bubbly. Serve! Or hide for yourself. Whatever! 🙂


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The Complete Essays of John Galsworthy
This is a collection of essays by John Galsworthy. A multitude of subjects is covered, but the essays are connected by an artistic spirit, and they are written much more like short stories than in the classical style of essays. - Summary by Carolin
Genre(s): Essays & Short Works
Language: English


text:
TBT jurisprudence: on track or off the rails?
The case of Russia – Railway Equipment
The WTO's recent Panel report in Russia – Railway Equipment is the latest development in a series of WTO disputes between Russia and Ukraine. It concerns a complaint by Ukraine regarding the rejection and cancellation of certificates that were required by Russian law to import railway products like rolling stock and switches. This post focuses on the issues arising under the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement ("TBT").
The TBT Agreement attempts to discipline Members' regulations (mandatory requirements), standards (voluntary requirements) and conformity assessment procedures (which ensure that products meet the relevant regulations and standards). All of Ukraine's claims under the TBT Agreement in this case concern Russia's application of conformity assessment procedures ("CAP"): in a nutshell, Ukraine alleged that Russia's inspection system discriminated against Ukraine's products compared with like products from Russia, European Union ("EU") and Kazakhstan.
The legal provision in question is TBT Article 5, within which three obligations were examined.
TBT Article 5.1.1 – interpreted for the first time – requires Members to apply CAPs in a manner that grants "no less favourable" treatment to countries in comparable situations. These underlined words were key to the report's analysis. In short, the Panel found that Russia's differential treatment of Ukrainian products was justified on account of the security situation in Crimea, which meant that Ukrainian suppliers were not in a "comparable situation" compared with those in Russia and other exporting countries. Significantly, while the Panel devoted substantial time in establishing whether such a situation exists (using, among other things, a report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and travel advice on Ukraine from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – see para 7.310 – 7.370), the Panel did not look into the reasons behind the security situation. In other words, the Panel did not consider what caused the situation in the first place. No doubt such an inquiry was considered outside the Panel's legally limited mandate. In any case, Russia's argument was that the situation was such that it made it impossible for Russian authorities to conduct conformity checks on Ukrainian products without substantial threats to their life: Russia went so far as to claim that it was excused from its obligation to conduct such checks by virtue of GATT Article XX(b) – which allows Members to implement measures which, while trade-restrictive, further the purpose of protecting human life and health.
On the interpretation of Article 5.1.1, there were two interesting developments. First, as to "likeness" of products, the Panel directly (and without any elaboration) imported the criteria developed under General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT") jurisprudence. While this specific kind of cross-fertilization is becoming more and more common, it is opposed by some who believe that it ignores a fundamental difference in the underlying ideologies of the GATT (market access) and TBT (harmonisation). In fact the Panel, while dealing with this issue, quite explicitly (paras 7.248 – 7.260) referred to the aim of preserving "competitive conditions", something that is more of a concern for market access than for regulation.
Secondly, as to "less favourable treatment" ("LFT"), the Panel rejected the transposition of the "legitimate regulatory distinction" test to Article 5.1.1. This concept had been introduced into the non-discrimination rule in TBT Article 2.1 by the Appellate Body, drawing on recital 6 of the preamble of the TBT Agreement. It functions as an exception to the non-discrimination rule in Article 2.1. The Panel reasoned that the policy flexibility granted by LFT in TBT Article 2.1 is provided, in TBT Article 5.1.1, through the phrase "in a comparable situation". The Panel found that while Russian actions had indeed resulted in a loss of market access for Ukrainian goods, these were justified, on balance, because of the security situation. Much the same logic was applied by the Panel while examining Russia's decision to reject new applications for certificates.
TBT Article 5.1.2 disallows Members from creating "unnecessary obstacles to international trade" through their CAPs: they must not be more trade-restrictive than necessary to give the importing Member "adequate confidence" that the products conform with the relevant standards. The Panel noted similarities, as well as differences, between this provision and TBT Article 2.2, centring on the concept of "necessity". The Panel ruled that it would "weigh and balance" (again adopting terminology from GATT jurisprudence) three factors to determine whether there was an "unnecessary obstacle": (a) the contribution of Russia's CAPs in giving Russia "adequate confidence", (b) the strictness (including trade-restrictiveness) of Russia's application of CAPs, and (c) the "nature and gravity" of the risks of non-conformity. Russia claimed that the suspension of certificates was in satisfaction of its legitimate requirement for the "highest possible level of assurance" of conformity with safety regulations. The Panel observed that while suspension of certificates was fairly strict (as it prevented exports to Russia), it was not the strictest manner of applying Russian CAPs, since certificates could have been withdrawn (i.e. terminated) instead. The procedure chosen by Russia was compared with four alternatives proposed by Ukraine – all of which were found to be insufficient replacements. Both parties also agreed that there would be "high risks" associated with non-conformity with safety regulations. Thus the Panel concluded that Ukraine failed to prove that Russian CAPs were more trade restrictive than necessary. Essentially the same approach (leading to the same result) was employed to examine the WTO-consistency of Russia's rejection of new certificates for Ukraine.
Finally, TBT Article 5.1.2 requires the results of CAPs to be transmitted (along with identified deficiencies), as soon as possible, to the applicant. Importantly, the Panel clarified that a "result" within the meaning of this provision would also include an "outcome" – as in the present dispute – where, due to circumstances, only an "attempted or incomplete" assessment could take place. In other words, even if the assessment did not yield a substantive "yes" (approval) or "no" (rejection), the consequence could still be considered a "result". The Panel also cautioned that the completeness of examination was not a prerequisite for transmission of information; as soon as "any results" became available, the competent authority was under an obligation to inform the applicants. Ukraine argued that the "generic reason that there were no conditions for carrying out the inspection controls does not amount to full and accurate information". The Panel agreed: while Russia could not be faulted for timely transmission of results, TBT Article 5.1.2 also requires that the results must be transmitted in a "precise and complete manner", so that applicants could take corrective action, if necessary. The Panel found that Russia should have provided "fuller and more detailed information" as to whether the circumstances disallowing inspection were outside Ukraine's control or whether there was some corrective action that they could undertake in order to allow the inspection to continue. With this the Panel concluded that Russia had violated the third obligation contained in TBT Article 5.1.2.
Ukraine has appealed various parts of the analysis, including a violation of Article 11 of the Understanding on Dispute Settlement, alleging an incorrect allocation of the burden of proof in the "comparable situation" and "no less trade-restrictive alternatives" arguments. For its part, Russia has limited its appellate claims to procedural matters. Citing reasons of previous overload and current case complexity, the Appellate Body, on 24 October 2018, declared that it would not be "able to circulate its report within the 90-day timeframe provided for in the last sentence of Article 17.5 of the DSU". The AB stated that as soon as it knew "more precisely when the division [could] schedule the hearing in this appeal, [it would] inform the participants and DSB Members". Watch this space.
Written by Akhil Raina, Marie-Curie Fellow and PhD candidate at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies.


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The CEO of Westlake Chemical owns this 22,000 sqft mansion.
As of July 2014, Forbes ranks the Chao family, which owns 35% of the chemical giant, among the 65 richest families in America. Their combined net worth is estimated to be $4.3 billion.
Albert Chao
Albert Chao's House
By Xeba73 @ 2014-07-11 05:19:52
Links: www.forbes.com


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All item details
This pendant necklace in stainless steel looks timeless and minimalist. A perfect finish for your everyday look.
- Made of a premium stainless steel alloy
- Pendant with 18 carat yellow gold ion plating and a mounted zirconia stone
- Zirconia: synthetically manufactured crystals resembling diamonds
- Adjustable sliding clasp
- Logo box for storage and gift packaging
- 24-month manufacturer guarantee (please refer to the accompanying information)
Material and care
- Body: Stainless steel