The Witch of the Sands (The Hounds of the North Book 1)

Format: Print Length

Language: English

Format: PDF / Kindle / ePub

Size: 9.67 MB

Downloadable formats: PDF

Pages: 66

On A Midsummer's Eve: A Vinlanders' Saga Short Story

The Chosen (Rise of Cithria Book 1)

The dwarf spread out his hands and shrugged. And so Thor. and she was not halfhearted about asking for a dowry. 'Why are Freyja's eyes so fearsome? Then one of the gods drew his sword. let one of you put his hand in my mouth as a token of your good faith. and slaver streamed from his jaws. and secured it to itself. Let him drink and leave in peace. but his balance was wrong and he reeled sideways.' Odin led the way in under the roof of shields and spears. 'I challenge you to meet me."

She licked at a salt block and uncovered BURI. and sister of GREIP. the giants were gods themselves or perhaps the gods were giants.) HUMLA. came the first gods: ODIN. the first giant. the first cow. mainly as the enemy of the gods but also as the race from which the gods most likely were offspring. heaven or Earth online. NIDAFJOLL (Dark Mountains) Two interpretations for this name exist in Norse poetry. from the works of SNORRI STURLUSON. The other was DAIN (1). were MIDGARD (Middle Earth). Nithog fed on the corpses washed down from NASTROND into the bubbling cauldron of HVERGELMIR. • In the underworld were NIFLHEIM. cold mountain home. NINE WORLDS In Norse mythology the Nine Worlds were broken into three levels The Scarlett Mark: A MedEvil Romantasy (The Odin Saga) (Volume 1) The Scarlett Mark: A MedEvil Romantasy. Here are thirty-two classic myths that bring the Viking world vividly to life. The mythic legacy of the Scandinavians includes a cycle of stories filled with magnificent images from pre-Christian Europe. Gods, humans, and monstrous beasts engage in prodigious drinking bouts, contests of strength, greedy schemes for gold, and lusty encounters. The Norse pantheon includes Odin, the wisest and most fearsome of the gods; Thor, the thundering powerhouse; and the exquisite, magic-wielding Freyja epub. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings was also heavily influenced by the indigenous beliefs of the pre-Christian Northern Europeans. As that work became popular, elements of its fantasy world moved steadily into popular perceptions of the fantasy genre , e.g. The Lethal Oath (The Viking read pdf read pdf. The first man and woman to live in Midgard were ASK and EMBLA. While Eitri was shaping the hammer in the foundry.60 MIDGARD MIDGARD (Middle Earth) The world of HU- MANS epub. During excavations of Viking sites, combs are among the most frequent objects found. Vikings used tweezers, razors and special “ear spoons” to keep their ears clean. Oseberg ship is a very well preserved Viking ship found in a burial mound in Norway. In modern popular culture Vikings are often depicted crossing oceans and engaging in battles on ships that are copies of the Oseberg ship ref.: The Gryphon of Tirshal (Tales read epub

He showed Jarl a bundle of staves carved with signs and coloured red. 'I have one more thing to tell you Age of Heroes: The Witch Hunter's Gauntlet Age of Heroes: The Witch Hunter's. Thor yelled in fury, for he knew that someone had disobeyed him. However, he accepted the terrified farmer’s offer and took Thialfi and his sister, ROSKVA, to be his servants. He left the goats for the farmer to take care of until his return. Thor and Loki and the two youngsters journeyed all day. That night they came to a forest in Jotunheim where the trees were so tall that their tops were lost in the clouds , source: Of Dragons & Magic: Tales of read epub Of Dragons & Magic: Tales of the Lost. They would give up their lives rather 13 P a g e. the picture of man's qualities which emerges from the myths is a noble one. rather more determined than the menfolk surrounding her. Ellis Davidson's wise words: In spite of this awareness of fate. men writ large. This great compendium of aphorisms and advice on right conduct offers a commonsensical and sober (though sometimes witty) picture of the day to day life of the Norsemen. so fundamental to the Norsemen. ordained as it was by the Norns who wove the fates of gods and men alike (Note 4) but. going from hall to hall teaching witchcraft to the Aesir (Myth and Note 2). those who sought fame did not rail at the undoubted hardship of their lives and the inevitability of death. cherish and celebrate friendships. send her spirit on a journey to obtain hidden knowledge. it represented his only hope of immortality. who led dangerous. and it is a far cry from the heady image of Vikings on the rampage. kinsmen die , cited: Sigyn's Flowers download epub.

Macbeatha: a novel

Vikings battle Zeppelins while forbidden desires spark! (Swords Versus Tanks Book 2)

Tapestry of Dark and Light: Book One of the Warrior Queen Chronicles (Volume 1)

A beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed young woman, she was the sister of Frey and in later traditions the wife of Odin. Freya claimed half of the heroes slain in battle, carrying them to her realm of Folkvang in Asgard. Most of her myths concern attempts by the giants to abduct her. In Teutonic mythology, she was named Frigg. Friday is named after her, Freitag in German and vrijdag in Dutch Macbeatha: a novel The Fairy Flag of Dunvegan associated with Clan MacLeod is said to be a scrap of cloth torn from the dress of a fairy who had married a chieftain of the MacLeods but had to leave mortal life after twenty years of marriage The Rhymer and the Ravens: The Book of Fate The Rhymer and the Ravens: The Book of. One stanza in that poem reads: 'Cattle die. beware of treachery. clearly reflects these practices. even better. Odin knows that Balder's death is fated and can do nothing to avert it. The woman is also prominent as volva or shamaness. and answer the practical questions about social welfare and marriage prospects of the community gathered to listen to her. for example. for all that. the reaction of the gods when Tyr sacrificed his hand (Myth 7) in the interests of binding the wolf Fenrir The Last Light of the Sun read for free read for free. The series tells the story of Ragnar’s band of Viking brothers and his family, as he rises to become king of the Viking tribes. As a Viking re-enactor and sometime historian, I'm impressed. The clothing is unlikely, but we've seen much, much worse elsewhere Ilmarinen's Gift: The orb download online download online. The answer is - absolutely, with a few restrictions ref.: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath By suffering this way he gained all the knowledge of the mysterious runes. Actually the original meaning of the word rune is mystery and very few people understood them. Since the time he hung in the tree, he never eats which is another way of recognizing him in his disguise. The mysterious traveler who does not eat while others do, might be the Norse god Odin himself in disguise Crossing the Naiad Crossing the Naiad! And so Thor." she said. 'Freyja has not slept for these past eight nights. swept off his veil and stood revealed as the god. The giant king was so startled that he leaped back the whole length of the hall. and she was not halfhearted about asking for a dowry.' The subtle bridesmaid sitting at Thor's side took it upon herself to answer Thrym. so wild was her desire for her wedding night online.

Tales From Midhgardhur, Volume I: More Midhgardhur Fantasy (Volume 1)

Twilantia: The Making of a King: Part Two: Transference

Ice Land: A Novel

Soul of Skulls (Demonsouled Book 6)

The Stoneborn Saga, Part 1

Outpost (The Fylking) (Volume 1)

The Flawless Knight (The Warriors of Camelot Odyssey Book 2)

Runa, the Girl Who Saw Magic

The Shield-Maiden: A Foreworld SideQuest (The Foreworld Saga)

The Sons of Asgard: Victims of the Darkness: Part One

Hailstone Mountain (The Erling Skjalgsson Saga Book 4)

Gallow: The Fateguard Trilogy eBook Collection

Time Walkers: 3 Book Bundle

Highland Raven (The Celtic Blood Series Book 1)

Huntsman II: Queen

The Riddles of Gestumblindi (The Saga of the Cursed Sword Book 7)

The Ninth Key (The Pretenders Book 3)

Asgard Saga - Odin the Creator

Wielder of the Runeblade (The Runeblade Saga Book 3)

The World Serpent (The Hunts of Raimy Rylan Book 1)

Holding one in each hand, a pair of danglers, he angrily waded a mile out to sea, until it was too deep even for him Whitebeast download online Whitebeast. Remember. 'You do nothing but mock me. far under the world. Even now. 'If we ever meet.' He turned. wise mother! I stand at the doors of the dead and call on you. furious and scorned. The cold began to burn him. 23 The Ballad of Svipdag The ghastly rotting smell rose towards him.' 132 So Skrymir simply dropped their knapsack into his own larger bag. He was as tall as the pine trees around them. Have you moved my glove?' Skrymir bent down and picked it up. At this moment the giant woke and. however.' said Skrymir." 'No one is going to quarrel with that. Then he set off through the forest. 'We'd welcome it.' muttered Thor. 'A lack of meat seems little hardship now online. He passed right in front of Thor and Thor was so enraged that he put nut a foot and tripped him. Then Odin bent down and put his mouth to Balder's ear ref.: Valkyrie's Song (Claw Trilogy 3) Valkyrie's Song (Claw Trilogy 3). He passed on this wisdom to both gods and humans. Because Suttung was a boastful. she forgot all the promises she had made to her father and entertained Odin for three days and three nights. in a fit of rage. but in his haste to escape Suttung. handsome man epub. I am well aware that this may seem incredible to the reader, but nevertheless I insert it in my veracious work because it is true: This banner was woven of the cleanest and whitest silk and no picture of any figures was found on it. In case of war, however, a raven was always to be seen, as ff it was woven into it. If the Danes were going to win the battle, the raven appeared, beak wide open, flapping its wings and restless on its feet pdf. A giant masquerading as a mason visits Asgard. but Loki's cunning prevails A Rainbow Rises (The Tomes of read online This myth could represent the folk memory of hostility between the adherents of two different cults. Gullveig can. 2 THE WAR OF THE AESIR AND VANIR The only rounded account of the first of all wars occurs in Snorri Sturluson's Ynglinga Saga (Chapter IV). and that. Gullveig's second name is Heid (heidr) which means 'the bright one' or 'the shining one'. for Ynglinga Saga describes Kvasir as the wisest of the Vanir and involved in the exchange of leaders with the Aesir. following the war Gallow: Solace His other children include the goddess Hel (Hella, Holle), and Sleipnir, Odin's 8-legged horse; these beings are at least benign, if not somewhat terrifying to behold. Heimdall is the handsome gold-toothed guardian of Bifrost, the rainbow bridge leading to Asgard, the home of the Gods. The rainbow bridge seems to be a common symbol in many religious traditions other than Norse Heathenism , cited: Rock, Paper, Shivers (Bitter read for free Rock, Paper, Shivers (Bitter Ashes Book. A crucial part of the film is the existence of different races of dragons. Unfortunately, the designs for the races vary so wildly, they look like they're from different movies (or cultures.) The more the movie focuses on dragons beyond the one called Toothless and the humans, the less entertaining and the more confused it becomes download. Bronze Age rock carvings near Kalnes. considered the oldest Viking ship yet found.000 years and discovered by archaeologists in the early 1900s , e.g. Shield Maiden (The Nine Worlds read for free

Rated 4.4/5
based on 1552 customer reviews


Suppressive effect of ultraviolet B radiation on contact sensitization in mice. II. Systemic immunosuppression is modulated by ultraviolet irradiation and hapten application

Department of Dermatology, Kansai Medical University, 10–15, Fumizono-cho, Moriguchi, Osaka, 570, Japan

Irradiation of mice with ultraviolet B (UVB) can suppress contact hypersensitivity “systemically”, even if hapten is applied to the non-irradiated skin site. We previously reported the factors influencing UVB-induced “local” immunosuppression. To obtain the most effective systemic immunosuppression, we further investigated the effect of the following factors on contact hypersensitivity to dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB): UVB dose, dividing exposure, timing of sensitization after irradiation, area of exposure, hapten concentration, age, and genetic basis. The suppression was enhanced by increasing UVB dose. When 1 J/cm2 of UVB was exposed, 4 daily divided exposures (0.25 J/cm2x4) was more suppressive than a single (1 J/cm2x1) or double divided (0.5 J/cm2x2) exposure. Five or 10 day intervals between irradiation and sensitization induced stronger suppression than 1 or 3 day intervals. When the total energy (Joule, J) was kept constant, the exposure of low dose-UVB to a large area (0.5 J/ cm2 × 16.45 cm2) suppressed contact hypersensitivity more strongly than did high dose-UVB to a small area (2 J/cm2x4.11 cm2). When 25 ml of DNFB solution was applied, high concentration induced lower suppression. The stronger suppression was most prominant in the young (7 week) than in the old (22 week) mice. No difference was found in the systemic immunosuppression between C3H/HeN and Balb/c mice. These results suggest that not only UVB dose but also various factors should be taken into consideration to effectively induce systemic immunosuppression.


RADARSAT-2 Image of City of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The Canadian Space Agency has released the following RADARSAT-2 image showing specific locations in and around the capital city Port-au-Prince. The epicenter of the quake was just 15 kilometers from the capital and only 10 kilometers deep.

The red squares identify different locations in the downtown area of Port-au-Prince:
A: Presidential Palace
B: Port-au-Prince Cathedral
C: The Iron Market
D: Public Market
E: Canada-Haiti College
F: Port-au-Prince Airport
G: Ptionville

About Marc Boucher

Marc Boucher

Check Also

Deep space gateway in Cislunar space

Podcast Episode 9: Moon vs Mars and Infrastructure and Imagination Leadership

In this podcast episode I welcome back Wayne Ellis, a space and defence consultant with …


World class computing and information science research at Strathclyde...

0.3W CW red microchip VECSEL

Hastie, J.E. and Calvez, S. and Dawson, M.D. (2005) 0.3W CW red microchip VECSEL. In: Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2005. (CLEO). IEEE.

A GaInP/AlGaInP vertical external cavity surface-emitting laser with an optically-contacted, single-crystal diamond microcavity was optically pumped to achieve 0.3 W continuous wave output power at 676 nm, in a circularly-symmetric beam with M/sup 2/ less than 2.


Volume 1, Issue 1 (2010)

(pp. 001-002) Editorial
(pp. 003-020) G Ulutagay and EF Nasibov, Influence of transitive closure complexity in FJP-based clustering algorithms
(pp. 021-035) N Cagman, F Citak, S Enginoglu, Fuzzy parameterized fuzzy soft set theory and its applications
(pp. 036-054) M Namazov, O Basturk, DC motor position control using fuzzy proportional-derivative controllers with different defuzzification methods
(pp. 055-079) AY Yalciner, B Denizhan, H Taskin, From deterministic world view to uncertainty and fuzzy logic: a critique of artificial intelligence and classical logic


The Temple of the Dawn

Wat Arun

Temple of the Dawn – Wat Arun

The name alone tantalizes the imagination, and brings out everyone’s thirst for exploring the mystic orient.  Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, is situated just across the river from Bangkok.  It was built in the early 19th Century by the second ruler of the current ruling Dynasty (Rama II).  It has therefore been a landmark for a long time and is one of the best known Bangkok tourist attractions.

Wat Arun and River

View from Wat Arun looking across the river to Wat Phra Kaew (Grand Palace)

Interestingly though, this famous landmark does not get anywhere near as many tourists as the attractions on the Bangkok side of the Chao Phraya river.  This is possibly because the river acts as a barrier, and most tourists perhaps think that they have seen enough merely by taking photos from the Bangkok side.  However, I can assure you this is not the case, and the five magnificent towers of Wat Arun deserve to be inspected close-up.

Thai giant (yak)

One of the two guards at the entrance… these are the mythical giants (yak) out of the Hindu/Buddhist Ramayana.

First, a little bit of interesting history about Wat Arun.  It is built in the village of Bang Makok on the site of an existing temple dating back to the Ayuthaya period (the former capital prior to Bangkok).  After the fall of Ayuthaya, King Taksin established a new capital in Thonburi, beside Bang Makok, and the Emerald Buddha (Thailand’s most revered Buddha statue) was housed in this temple.  King Taksin had planned to renovate this temple into something much more magnificent, but he was murdered before this was achieved.  After King Taksin’s death, the Chakri dynasty took over and in 1782 the capital was moved across to the eastern bank (Bangkok side) of the river to the newly built Wat Phra Kaew (the move across the river was because the eastern bank was deemed to be more easy to defend against invaders than the western bank).

Angels at Wat Arun

Some of the angels holding up and protecting the prang

After the move, the original temple in Bang Makok was essentially abandoned until 1802, when King Rama II decided to make good on King Taksin’s plans, and decided to build a magnificent temple on the existing site.  The architectural influence of the new temple was Khmer, and its design consisted of a main prang (pagoda like tower) that is 86 metres tall, and four smaller satellite prangs in each corner of the compound.  The main Buddha image for the temple was moulded by King Rama II himself and his ashes are interred underneath this statute.  Notwithstanding that construction of the temple commenced in 1802, it wasn’t completed until after King Rama II’s death, in 1851.

Even though the architecture for the main temple is Khmer in origin, the name of the temple is Hindu and is in reference to the God Aruna, who is associated with the rising sun (particularly the reddish glow at dawn).  There is some debate as to the reason for association of the temple with dawn, but a possible reason is that when Taksin was originally sailing down the Chao Phraya river looking for a site for a new capital, he saw the original temple in the glow of dawn’s light and that was where he decided to place the capital.

Wat Arun carvings

The design is Khmer, and the name is Hindu… and the carvings here appear to be from Hindu origin as well. This elephant carving is very impressive.

As I mentioned earlier, you really need to visit the temple up close.  The five prangs have intricate sculptures and mozaics (from Chinese porcelain).  The four satellite prangs contain some interesting figures propping them up, such as monkey gods and demons.  The main prang is guarded by ancient Chinese soldiers.  Also keep an eye out for the different animals (the elephant carvings in particular).  The spire on the central prang is a seven pronged trident that also has very interesting symbolism (it is the Trident of Shiva).

Temple roof

Glittering golden temples on the grounds of Wat Arun… many people don’t realise that Wat Arun consists of much more than just the five prangs, but a large multi-coloured temple complex in the background.

The temple itself consists of more than just the five prangs.  Instead, behind them are a series of Thai style temples (in similar style to Wat Phra Kaew) that house the local monastery and Buddhist school.  Mixed in with a lot of interesting paintings, carvings, gold in-lays are some further interesting Chinese statues, that tell a lot about the early history of the area and its trading partners.  The temple complex behind the main prangs is actually one of my favourites because it is well preserved, fairly peaceful, and offers some fantastic photo opportunities.

Buddha's in symmetry

I like the symmetry of this photo… in the main courtyard of the temple complex.

To get to the temple from Bangkok, get to Ta Tien (the boat pier just in front of Wat Pha Kaew/Grand Palace), and then take one of the small river crossing ferries.  If you are staying in Sukhumvit or anywhere else near the sky train (BTS), the easiest is to take the sky train to Saphan Taksin station, get off and walk towards the river pier, and grab a ferry (orange will be fine) heading north (towards Nonthaburi) and get off at Ta Tien.

If you are lazy, then just book a tour with any Bangkok travel agent, although trust me that it just isn’t the same doing it as part of a large tour group.  Half the fun of travel in Asia is learning to get around yourself.

In terms of costs, the entrance fee is about 50 baht (the last time I went there was a couple of years ago).  The river crossing ferry costs 10 baht each way.  If you catch the orange ferry from Saphan Taksin to Ta Tien, this costs 14 baht (the tourist ferry costs about double but may be better for those who lack confidence getting around in Asia).

This appears to be a Chinese lion with either a knight or nobleman riding on it... highlights the mix of cultures that existed at the time Wat Arun was built.

This appears to be a Chinese lion with either a knight or nobleman riding on it… highlights the mix of cultures that existed at the time Wat Arun was built.

Some final important points:

  • When you first arrive at Wat Arun, you will notice some cut-out figures used for posing for photos.  Don’t take your photo here as it is a scam.  The owner of the cut-outs will suddenly appear and charge you money for the privilege.
  • Wear suitable clothing as you are visiting a very holy site.  Long pants, and for females, nothing too revealing.  If you accidentally do turn up in shorts, you can rent a sarong for the day at reasonable pricing.
  • Be very careful on the incredibly steep staircases on the prangs.  I strongly recommend wearing good footwear if you do plan on going up, and make good use of the hand holds.

A bit of trivia:  Did anyone notice that the name of the village (Bang Makok) is very similar to the Western name for the capital of Thailand (Bangkok)?  The Thai name for their capital is actually Khrung Thep, not Bangkok, and there is confusion as to just why the official Western name is different. One prevailing theory is that during an early Western visit up the Chao Phraya river, a Western official pointed up river and asked his Thai guide what the name of the place was.  He actually was pointing to the area inhabited by the Grand Palace and meant what was the name of the capital, but his guide thought he was pointing to Bang Makok… and the Westerners ever since have stuck with that name.

Temple roof spires

Gorgeous golden roof-tops. The sharp points are to keep evil spirits from entering the building. You will notice most traditional Thai architecture incorporates this design.

« (Previous News)

Comments are Closed


Available languages:
(Portuguese) Turn Aspiration Into Action - Countries Sign Paris Climate Agreement
22 Apr 2016 -  To keep the global spotlight focused on climate change and build on the strong political momentum from Paris, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited representatives of all countries to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change at a special Ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters on 22 April. The Signing Ceremony takes place on the first day that the Agreement will be open for signatures, and marks the first step toward ensuring that the Agreement enters into legal force as quickly as possible.
The Paris Agreement was adopted by all 196 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at COP21 in Paris on 12 December 2015. In the agreement, all countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and given the grave risks, to strive for 1.5 degrees Celsius. Implementation of the Paris Agreement is essential for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and provides a roadmap for climate actions that will reduce emissions and build climate resilience.


Drum n Bass Radio

Drum ‘n bass or DnB, D&B or Drum and bass is a dance genre that rose in 90’s and remained is popularity in de 21th century. A closely related Music Genre is jungle. Drum ‘n Bass is characterized by rhythmic drum and the use of low frequency bass tones with main essentials of DnB song. The most typiscal thing for a Drum and Bass song is the fast breakbeats with approximately 150 – 180 beats per minute. Drum and Base is originated in the Rave scene around the early 90’s, there from originated ‘Jungle’ in the late 90’s. Different sources tell this genre originated when someone played the song ‘The payback’ from James Brown fasted than normal which made the typical rhythm of Drum and Bass. However this is not true, the origine of this genre comes from the song ‘Amen Brother’ of The Winstons. The difference between Drum and Bass and Jungle is according to most people a difference in opinion. The difference can be manifested in the use of more complex rhythms in the Jungle genre, while Drum and Bass gives more attention to the dance aspect of the music. Because of this Jungle is characterized as more rough and more influenced by Hiphop, raga and dub, while Drum and bass then again is more characterized as synthesiser and influenced by Techno. Some famous Drum an bass artists are Andy C, Camo & Krooked and Alex Clare. Some Videogames even used some DnB tracks, the most popular game that uses Drum and Bass Tracks is ‘Rockstar Games Grand Theft Auto’.

Examples of drum ‘n bass subgenres are:

- Darkstep

- Hardstep

- Funkstep

- Dancefloor

- Jump-up

- Liquid funk

- Jazzstep

- ..

Fusion genres that originated throughout the years are:

- Breakcore

- Digital hardcore

- Raggacore

- Technoid

Read more

Result 1 to 10 of 29 results


The Communitas Logo

Communitas is a Latin word that means 'people coming together for the good of a community.' Communitas is inspired by the vision of a better world and is an attempt to do something about it through volunteerism, investment and ethical, sustainable business practices.

The Communitas Award

The Communitas statuette is a symbol of peace and harmony. The shiny die-cast statuette with two silver leaves, stands 12 inches tall and is presented in a Tiffany-style, satin-lined, presentation box.

The Communitas statuette is crafted by Society Awards, the world renowned custom design and manufacturing firm that is recreating the awards industry. Over the past several years, Society Awards has redesigned many of the world's top creative awards, including The CLIOS, Golden Globes, MTV's VMA, Academy of Country Music and American Music Awards.

Communitas Awards keeps its nomination fees at reasonable levels by not making all nominees subsidize the cost of awards for the winners. Each winner receives a certificate and is given the option to purchase an award for $235. As a result, the award is a high-quality piece of art that anyone would be proud to display in their office or home.

Purchase Award

* Communitas is about well-deserved, third party recognition from a highly respected organization.
* Recognition validates the responsible efforts of individuals, organizations and companies.
* Recognition instills pride in the workplace and the community.
* Recognition promotes customer and supplier loyalty.
* Recognition creates marketing opportunities and enhances reputations.
* Winners are recognized on the Communitas website and in future Calls for Nomination.
* Winners can display attractive certificates and awards.
* Communitas logos and information can be used to tout the achievement in releases and materials.

Graphic Downloads


Posts Tagged 'economics'

Green Bonds Could Reduce Government Borrowing Costs Too

After my post a few weeks ago proposing a form of emissions-linked government bond which I called a ‘green bond’, I’ve realised an unintended benefit that the green bonds would bring to any government that issues them: they would reduce long-term borrowing costs. This actually surprised me when I realised it, as it certainly wasn’t one of the intended consequences of issuing the bonds, but after considering the matter, it’s actually quite clear that borrowing costs would be lower for governments offering green bonds, subject to a couple of conditions.

I’m not going to go over a formal mathematical proof here (I like to think my blog hasn’t become quite that nerdy yet), but here’s the reasoning behind my claim:

Assume creditors are buying ten-year government bonds at an interest rate n. Now, if they also have the option of buying a ten-year green bond from the government, that green bond is going to have a base interest rate m, which would be increased by r if the government goes over its promised allocation of emissions permits by some given amount. We’ll assume that the market of creditors will place a probability p on the government actually having to pay out the higher m + r interest rate. The only reason that p would be zero would be if the markets had absolute and complete confidence that a government would never renege on its promises. We know that’s not true, so we can say that p is nonzero.

The expected interest payment for the green bond will be the base rate m plus the increment r times the probability p that the increment will have to actually be paid. That is, expected interest will be m + (p * r). Given the choice between either the regular government bond or the green bond, if one has an expected interest rate which is higher than the other, then creditors will simply all buy the one with the higher rate. This means that, in an efficient market, the expected rate for both should be equal, ie n = m + (p * r). Now, we know that both p and r are nonzero (if r was zero, then it would just be a regular bond), and are both positive. This means that m must be less than n for the market for both bonds to operate. That is, the base interest rate on the ten-year green bond has to be lower than the interest rate on standard government bonds. Which means that, so long as the government doesn’t actually deviate from its proposed emissions limits, issuing green bonds is going to be a definitively cheaper way to raise cash.

Of course, this is a simplified explanation; there would actually be a range of possible rs depending on how far over the emissions schedule the government went, and then a range of possible ps for the expected probabilities of each of those rs being paid out. However, the principle remains the same; markets are going to be willing to accept a lower base interest rate on green bonds so long as there is some non-zero probability that a higher interest rate will have to be paid out instead.

Interestingly, what a government would actually be doing with this scheme is betting on its own trustworthiness. The government is assuming with certainty that it will stick to its promises, whereas the markets don’t have the same faith. By issuing green bonds, a government can actually leverage this lack of trust in the form of lower interest rates. Of course, to benefit from these lower base rates, the government would actually have to stick to its promises, and can it really be that confident of itself?

Green Bonds: Setting long-term incentives for emission reductions

With the Copenhagen climate change convention coming up next month, many governments such as ours are looking for ways to demonstrate their commitment to long-term cuts in carbon emissions. Unfortunately, very few of these are anything more than worthless platitudes, and Ireland’s plans certainly fit within this category. Last week, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change produced a report making a number of recommendations in advance of the Copenhagen convention. Chief amongst these is a recommendation that legally binding emissions targets be put in place, and that the Taoiseach be held legally responsible for sticking to these targets.
As well meaning as these recommendations are, they simply don’t address the reality of the situation. First off, there’s no constitutional mechanism for the Oireachtas to set such immutable targets. Any bill which the Oireachtas passes to restrict itself and the government in such a manner can simply be amended at a later point, making it an effectively worthless guarantee of future behavior, especially when the composition of the Dáil and cabinet may be radically different by the time the guarantee is meant to take effect. The question also arises of what exactly happens if these “legally binding” targets are exceeded? The state can hardly levy a fine upon itself. The further recommendation of making the Taoiseach legally responsible makes equally little sense. It’s simply unworkable to make a single individual, who may be in office for only a couple of years, legally responsible for the results of a decades-long program which involves the entire economy.
Of course, this begs the question of exactly how a government can make long-term commitments to reduced emissions levels. With the possibility of a new government being elected in a few years with completely different priorities, it’s hard to take seriously any long term plans of this kind. Furthermore, the credibility of the targets, and not just the targets themselves, are vitally important if we want to ensure long term reductions in emissions. This is because the sort of decisions businesses take to reduce emissions often have effects long into the future, even if those decisions can only be made on information available now.

House Prices – 27% Decline Yet To Come?

For one reason or another, the housing market has been on my mind recently, and in particular the various guesstimates of how much further house prices have to drop, or if they’ve already bottomed out, as some buyers might like to believe. Hence, as I have a tendency to do in these sort of situations, I decided to throw a load of numbers into an Excel spreadsheet and make my own attempt at empirically forecasting what “stable” house prices might look like, and how far we have to go until we get there. In doing this, I’ve focussed on the ratio of house prices to the country’s per capita GDP, and how this ratio has changed over the years. It would be reasonable to expect this ratio to be quite stable over time; the amount people are willing to pay for a property should be proportional to their earnings at the time.

Using house price data from The Department of The Environment, and indexed with GDP data from the CSO, I’ve put together the following graph of the ratio of house prices to GDP in Ireland since 1976 (click for full size):

House Prices to GDP Ratio

The Department of the Environment provides two separate series of house prices, one for new houses and one for second hand houses. Over the past decade the price of new houses has been quite a lot lower than second hand houses, as new builds have primarily been apartments and small houses which would bring down the average. For this reason I’m going to focus on the prices of second hand houses (red line above), although I’ve included new houses (blue line) in the graph for completeness.

What’s immediately obvious from the graph is the house price bubble over the past decade, reaching a peak of over 9 times per capita GDP in 2006. There was also a similar bubble, although not nearly as pronounced, in the latter years of the 70s. In trying to gauge what a “stable” ratio might look like, it’s the inter-bubble years between these two that we should be looking at. As such, I would propose that a ratio of 6 or below be considered stable for the housing market. The ratio stayed below this level from 1985 to 1997, and, aside from a dip in the mid-90s, was pretty steady throughout. As can be clearly seen in the graph, if a ratio of 6 is stable, we’re still far from stable at the moment.

In order to estimate how much further house prices have to drop to get to a ratio of 6 times per capita GDP, I’ve worked on the assumption that both nominal house prices and GDP will bottom out at the end of 2010. I’ve used the ESRI’s projections of GDP for this year and the next in my calculations. After doing the sums, it seems that nominal second hand house prices will have to fall by a further 27.2% below Q2 2009 levels if they’re to reach a stable ratio to GDP by the end of next year. Of course, I’m using a ratio of 6 as an upper bound for stability; if the ratio was to reach as low as 4.91 (which it got to in 1995), then we could be looking at a drop of 40.4% in nominal prices instead.

This shouldn’t come as pleasant reading for anyone who has a vested interest in high property prices. Unfortunately, with the NAMA legislation now making its way through the Dáil, it won’t be long before we all have such a vested interest, which is becoming more worrying by the day.

Twitter Updates


Walking with Children

now that the weather is beginning to warm up a bit, we’ve started making a regular habit of walking with the kids.  The Squid and I often go for walks during the day, with her either in her sling or mei tai, either napping or observing.  she loves being outside.

The Wizard, on the other hand, is becoming less interested in just walking for the sake of walking, and now for him it’s all about exploring and challenging himself.  any hills or bolders we encounter he must conquer before we can move on.  and he always looks for the most complicated way to do so.

this is doing more than just getting out of the house and getting exercise.  as humans in our culture, we’ve become so accustomed to being in houses, places we seldom leave except for set activities, such as shopping or soccer games, and then we travel in a car.  we’re disconnected from the reality of the world.  we don’t think of it as a huge interconnected organism, we think of it as a number of places, conveniently attached together by roads.

getting out in the wild, exploring the world around us, gives children a sense of not just the earth, but themselves and their place in it.  that place should be a connected, living space.  a space where they’re aware that while we’re part of a much bigger picture, we contribute to it.  we’re part of it.  finding frogs and climbing trees and splashing our way through rivers and creeks, picking up contributions from beavers, we find ourselves reconnecting to the truth of what we are and what’s around us.  in lands that have no ownership, we have the same right to be there as every bird, deer or bug that crosses our path.  we are all equal and we all belong.  our heads lift, our breath becomes deeper.  when at last our bodies begin to tire and we push through, we learn of our own strength, the hidden strength within us and the power we can draw from the universe around us.

So Proud of The Husband

The Squid loves her Dad-dad.

 I don’t think I’ve mentioned The Husband much in recent posts, and there is reason for that.  there has been huge amounts of frustration and contention in our marriage, which isn’t quite even a year and a half old.  I’m not really going to go into the issues themselves here, but suffice it to say, they were things that neither of us could bend on, and we could see no resolution.

my husband has been my best friend for years.  the first time we started talking we immediately connected to eachother.  the first time I saw him, I knew we were going to end up together.  …granted, I didn’t foresee marriage and babies and life-long cohabitation, much less school for him and housewifery for me, but in my gut I knew we would fit together perfectly.

and I was right.  a few weeks ago, The Husband and I talked, and decided that we are going to put an honest effort into resolving the issues in our marriage.  which means working through our own shit, and is going to be a struggle.  really what it comes down to is setting aside all of the bitterness and frustration, and focusing on the love and friendship that we have.

I have regurgitated the words “We are an autonomous collective, not a dictatorship” so many times, but’s it’s always in reference to my kids.  being autonomous means we make our own choices, but being a collective means we need to work together.  once our choices start stepping on other peoples toes, they no longer work, and things have to change.

however, the two most important facets in being an autonomous collective are: A. equality, and B. communication.

I’ve been very frustrated with The Husband for not “taking initiative” (IE: not knowing what I want him to do.  so much for communication.), and for not “putting effort into saving our marriage” (IE: not dropping everything to do whatever it is I think we should do to resolve things, so much for equality.).  for being an anarchist, I am a horrible control freak.  I want to know what’s going to happen at all times, and if I’m not comfortable with it, I want to be able to change it.  I also tend to try and put the responsibility for my own well-being on my husband.  it all just goes back to my own insecurities, and my childhood programming of trying desperately to find someone to take care of me, and my childhood scarring of thinking if someone does not take care of me, that they don’t care about me.

what a load of crap.  and see, the great thing about The Husband, is he’s totally never let me get away with that.

I was washing dishes the other day.  alot had piled up, because The Squid was going through a weird time, and didn’t want to play or do anything but get loads of attention and affection from guess who?  yours truly.  for the whole weekend that her precious Dad-dad was at a friends house (and lord, did I run him through the ringer for not psychically knowing that would be a bad weekend).  so, at last she was napping, I was getting caught up on the dishes, and The Husband, was in the other room watching TV.  I was seething.

then, instead of going in with my usual, “I’m on strike!  someone else better do those dishes, or I’m not cooking!” or “maybe everyone should just do their own damn dishes from now on!” I just poked my head in and said, “hey, babe?  You wanna dry while I wash?”

and holy shit, man, voila.  “Yeah, sure.”  he came in, we got through every one of those damn dishes, we listened to music and talked while we worked, and lo and behold, there was the happy, helpful partner I’ve been looking for!  and all I had to do was ask.  not demand, not throw a fit, ask.  how many times have I said to my son, “calm down, use your words.  when we can talk calmly and ask for what we need, it’s way easier for us to get help.”?  and then I go and quash and quash until I explode, because I never took the time to take a deep breath and just ask for what I need.  it’s amazing how much easier it is to parent our children than ourselves.

we’ve been our new house for a little over 7 months now.  when we moved in, I had this incredible image of what I wanted our lives to be like here.  I was ready to get right on top of my housewifery, focusing on my family, my parenting and marriage, and making sure to have a positive environment that we could all live in.

and when the husband started struggling, dealing with shit that didn’t fit into my image, I started to shut him out of it.  I got angry at him, for not fitting into the ideals I had for the family.  instead of trying to help him, encourage him or support him, I pretended he wasn’t there, wasn’t needed, and just focused on everything else.

okay, but the reason that I am so incredibly proud of my husband is this:  he is examining his demons, he is facing them head-on, and he is being here, fighting for our marriage, but not sacrificing himself to do so.  he stands up for himself, he stands up to me, and he does not cave when my emotional issues rise to the surface.  he is there for me, but I am responsible for myself, my issues, and my behavior.  and I believe that we are going to work through this shit, because we are two of the most stubborn people I know, which is hell when we’re head-to-head, but powerful when we are side-by-side.

Ethan, my husband, I love you, and I am so proud of you it blows my mind.

-Domestic Anarchist

"Yay! Dad-dad!"

On The Value of Story

after following the Evelyn Evelyn controversy for a while, and venting to The Husband about it, he suggested that I write a blog.  my argument was that my blog is pretty much solely about children, culture, politics and general domestic pursuits.  however, after thinking about it, the fact that this controversy has even arisen says something about our culture, and the culture that our children will be growing up in.  so I felt I had to stand up, in defense of story.

I’ve been a Jason Webley ( www.jasonwebley.com ) fan for about 8 years now.  I’ve been a Dresden Dolls ( http://www.dresdendolls.com/main1.htm ) fan since he started touring with them and I checked them out on the theory that anyone that Jason Webley works with is badass (including the Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band {http://www.bigdamnband.com/}).

so, when I heard Jason Webley and Amanda Palmer were involved in a project together, Evelyn Evelyn, I was immediately curious.  after doing some research on myspace ( www.myspace.com/evelynevelyn ) and youtube, I was incredibly entertained.  also, as a long-time Webley fan, I was cynical.  this is, after all, the man who faked his own death annually, and I witnessed it several times.  I was never emotionally distressed, though I did get emotionally involved in those shows.  however, it was always through appreciating the value of story.  he was telling an incredible story.  I never saw it as a mockery of people who had actually died, or even as insensitive.  it’s always been art, and story.

is Jason Webley the first person to tell a story without mentioning that it was fictitious?  hell no!  telling stories this way is an age-old tradition.  C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy is a fabulous example.  so is JT LeRoy.  sometimes, that is the way to tell a story.  through a character.

Jason Webley’s tales, as painful as they have ever been, have always been lighthearted, joyful and inspirational.  so when I learned that Evelyn Evelyn had become incredibly controversial, and had offended many people, I was taken aback.  many people had become emotionally invested in Evelyn Evelyn, the tragic story of two conjoined twin girls, who had led a painful, exploited life, and started making music together.  the songs are lighthearted and humorous (in a somewhat dark sense), and The Wizard has been running around yelling “Elephant!  Elephant!” since he first heard it.  if you listen to the songs, you might notice that one of the girls does have a startlingly deep voice (a fact that Jason mentions in his blog http://www.jasonwebley.com/weblog/ , which was made solely for the purpose of confronting the drama surrounding Evelyn Evelyn).  if you watch any of the videos of Webley and Palmer discussing the project, you notice them giggling and exchanging secretive grins.  I will not say here if my opinion is whether or not I believe that Webley and Palmer ARE Evelyn and Evelyn Neville, because I have far too much respect for Story.

I’ve spoken before about the folly of excessive politically correct-ness.

all of us have pretended, as children, to be someone who we were not.  and many of the stories and games that were most empowering were the ones where we were dealing with incredible odds.  I remember after I saw “The Jewel of the Nile”, I told everyone for YEARS that I had consumption, and would be dead before the year was out.  I dare anyone to say that they did not, at some point, climb into a piece of oversized clothing with a friend or sibling and claim to be conjoined.  was this because we were heartless, insensitive children?  NO.  it’s because we knew and respected the value of story, something I feel like we are losing in this culture.

the risk of being excessively PC is the risk that we will feel the desire to compare ourselves to others.  the desire to be “more PC than thou”, is dangerous, because then we start looking for things to judge and criticize.  instead of appreciation, inspiration and awe, we feel the urge to be the critic, and start looking for problems and fallacies in the things that we see and hear.

storytelling is arguably the most ancient form of art, and often becomes the most intricate.  in the form that Webley and Palmer are working, their project involves not just storytelling, but song-writing, character development and performance.  try and find any performer who is not developing a character, or stage presence.  do we criticize them for this, or do we appreciate the entertainment and thought-provocation that they’ve gifted us with?

I told The Wizard the child-appropriate parts of the Evelyn Evelyn story, and watched him become emotionally invested in it.  and then I played a video of an Evelyn Evelyn performance for him, and watched the dawning of realization on his face.  the result?  a smile.  as we age, we must not lose our understanding of the value of story.  Einstein said “The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not, who can no longer wonder, who can no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle.”

We should appreciate that Evelyn Evelyn gives us the gift of the mysterious.  Their story makes us feel and imagine, and, heaven forbid, even makes us laugh.

there are many people who disagree with me.  I’m not trying to accuse them of having a drive to find fallacies in the world around them, or of being a snuffed out candle.  their views are valid, in their own right.  I’m just urging people to try to see things in a different light.  if you like, you can find an opposing view at http://disabledfeminists.com/2010/02/09/evelyn-evelyn-ableism-ableism/  it’s a well-stated blog by a woman who is offended by Evelyn Evelyn.

In closing though, I would like to say, respect story.  respect the artists who continue to give it to us in it’s truest sense.  also, go and listen to Evelyn Evelyn ( www.myspace.com/evelynevelyn ) and, if you are so inclined, buy the album.  it’s coming out March 30th, and I’m all over it, because good lord.  it’s some good shit.

-Domestic Anarchist

reactions vrs. responses

The Domestic Anarchist here!  posts have been few and far between, dealing with maternal health issues (my mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a masectomy a few weeks ago), and some marital bumps (valentines day was a complete fiasco, but we got a do-over the following weekend, hurrah for sushi!), but I’ve still been studying life and parenting as I always do, and noticing things in my interactions with my children.

so.  Reactions vrs. responses.

when our child demonstrates any kind of behavior, we can A. react to it, or B. respond to it.

to refer to my trusty dictionary.com

a reaction is:  “a reverse movement or tendency; an action in a reverse direction or manner”

alternately, a response is defined as “an answer or reply, as in words or in some action.”

we react to situations, and respond to people.   a reaction is instinctive, mechanical, immediate, based on what’s going on with us.  a response is calculated, considered and evaluated, based on what’s going on with the other person.  as examples, I give you two instances from my week.

1.  The Squid, while playing on the floor, got into clean, folded laundry, and pulled out a bunch onto the floor.  I could have

a. reacted to the situation.  I was trying to clean the house, and folding the laundry was one of the few things that had been completed.  “oh my god, what are you doing?!  get out of that!  I can’t get anything done with you getting into everything!”

b. responded to my child.  she is crawling very early, and exploring and learning.  obviously she doesn’t understand the difference between folded laundry or piled laundry, or even the difference between clean and dirty.  “oh, wow, look what you’ve found!  let’s find something else for you to explore.”

in this instance I chose b.  I responded to my child instead of reacting to the situation.  I put away my frustration at least til The Husband got home, and I could vent to him.  I made my child the priority.

responding to babies is much easier than children sometimes, since babies haven’t learned to hide their feelings.  children are already learning different ways to communicate.  The Wizard, when he feels nervous, ashamed or confronted, tends to first try and alleviate things through humor, joking and distraction.  he does realize when things are serious, he just prefers to pretend that they’re not, because it’s less stressful.

2.  I opened The Wizards backpack in the morning and realized he hadn’t done his homework while he’d been with his dad.  my choices:

a. react to the situation.  we didn’t have time do get anything done before the bus came, and I was stressed about all the extra work.  “dude!  this is rediculous.  did you do ANY of it?”

b. respond to my child.  “you’ve got extra homework.  let’s think of a way to make it fun so you don’t get frustrated with it.”

this time, sadly, I chose a.  my reaction led to a reaction from him, which was to deflect by acting like it was no big deal.   I reacted by stressing to him the importance of school, and telling him to tell his teacher he’d bring some in the next day.  he deflected by saying “if I remember”.  I took this as being a smart-ass.  and reacted with  “that’s not acceptable!  you’re going to do it if it takes all night.”  at which, he started crying, saying he didn’t want to go to school.  so once again I reacted, this time not to just the discomfort of my sons tears, but the sound of the encroaching bus, which was picking up kids one street over.  so, voila, in an effort to stop the tears, and keep my son from missing school.  “oh, I’m so sorry, it’s not your fault.  don’t worry about it.  if you go to school you can have a big bowl of ice cream when you get home!”  …oh lord.

it’s amazing the things that come out when we’re reacting to circumstance and situation, instead of responding to our kids.  during the day while he was at school, though, I did have an opportunity to think on things.  I went to our local game store, which remarkably has free three-day rentals of certain games, found one that The Wizard would like (which is amazing, and is going to make it on as my first video game review), and made up a sticker chart.  each extra piece of homework, earned him 15 mins of video game time.  I also called his teacher, forewarned her that she had a bit of an emotional crisis entering her classroom, and asked her to not mention homework to him.

so, in closing, just because we react, does not remove our ability to respond.  everyone reacts.  it’s impulsive.  it’s our ability to step back and examine the true issues, and respond to our children, which makes us good parents.

-Domestic Anarchist

-Domestic Anarchist

Intergenerational Communcation

this thought process had been stimulated by two things.

-Domestic Anarchist

Trying to Remember What Matters

new baby + lead paint = bad combo.

-Domestic Anarchist


The collision of irregular continental margins during an Alpine-type orogeny may give rise to a series of deformational events in the forelands, the tectonic style of which may be critically dependent on complete or incomplete suturing of the two colliding continents. Dilatational structures such as mafic dikes, gravity faults, and grabens may form at those points where the continents first meet. Later, as the suture lengthens, large-scale wrench faults develop in the foreland area. When the compression caused by the orogen ceases, these foreland structures become inactive. The large-scale grabens and wrench faults observed in the forelands of the Alpine and northwestern European Variscide belts may be examples of such collision-related foreland structures. If the model presented in this paper is approximately correct, then it may be used to connect some intraplate phenomena to interplate tectonism.

You do not currently have access to this article.


Perseverance. Determination. Willpower (PDW). To a person without struggle or strife these words are merely scribbles on a blank piece of paper or some abstract notion or a catchy mantra on the walls of a gym.
However, when life suddenly takes an unexpected, drastic turn and plunges you into an abyss filled with mind-boggling agony, emotional turmoil and a seemingly bottomless pool of despair, one truly has a stark realization and a deep understanding of PDW.

When you feel like you are drowning, trying to gasp for air as waves of struggle keeps pushing you below the surface – the challenges facing you, constant tides pulling you in all sorts of directions – the sheer force of will to swim against the current is the very definition of persevering.

Setting the scenes

Two years ago, one single moment caused a ripple effect and altered the course of my life in an unimaginable way. On the 21st of April 2014, Easter Monday, an unnecessary car accident in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria involving two drivers and one passenger shifted my understanding of the world. Immediately after the crash, I looked down at my misshaped, lifeless legs and I knew that something had gone terribly wrong.

In a matter of minutes, I was carefully lifted out of the car and placed on a little chair. Amid the chaos, voices and confusion, a scary feeling gnawed at my soul – life, as I knew it, was never going to be same. I spent the next five days flat on my back in excruciating pain, the kind of inexplicable agony that is difficult to comprehend, in four different local hospitals from Victoria Island to Igbobi to Ikeja. I was poked and prodded, underwent several medical tests, scans, endured sleepless nights, hunger, thirst and incompetent doctors.

The knowledge and the hope that an ‘angel of mercy’, in the form of an air ambulance bound for London, England, would save me from the torrent of suffering gave me the determination to grit my teeth and survive the medical purgatory I was in.

On Sunday, the 27th of April 2014, after a five hour back surgery, I found out I had sustained a complete T4 spinal cord injury caused by a T12/L1 fracture. In plain English, I had broken my lower back which rendered me paralysed from just below my chest all the way down to my toes and here’s the punchline – there was very little chance of ever walking again.

The First Act

Efena OtoboDebilitating pain became the norm but I knew that finding strength through adversity was the only path to take. I had to summon every ounce of willpower to relearn how my ‘new’ body worked and moved. Imagine being taught the ‘art’ of rolling over in your late twenties, being instructed by an occupational therapist the best way to put your shirt over you head or how to sit up straight and balance so you can feed yourself. How undignified do you think I felt? How could I possibly survive and move forward?

The answer is simple, yet complex – “The toughest steel is forged in the hottest fire” (Unknown, Chinese wisdom). With this new mindset, physiotherapy was not an obstacle but a challenge to build up muscular strength. Meetings with the neuropsychologist presented opportunities to equip myself to battle depression and emotional conflict; the confines of the hospital was not a prison but rather an avenue to foster positive relationships that enhanced my mental stability.

The soul-crushing diagnosis from the doctors was a suggestion, not a declaration or conclusion. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was going to not only walk, but run, skip, jump and dance again.

The Second Act

Ask any young woman today to regale you with tales of her most trying times in life and how she emerged victorious, the replies will definitely have certain things in common. Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of struggle takes perseverance, determination and willpower. One has to harness the innate ability to utilize strength through adverse circumstances.

It is not how you get knocked down but whether you get back up. Focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel culminates in what I like to call the Spirit of Invictus; in other words an unconquerable force to be reckoned with.

Going to rehabilitation five times a week, in spite of the constant neuropathic pain in my legs and back – in order to build upper body strength, learning how to execute a safe multi level transfer from the wheelchair to the plinth and figuring out the best ways to manipulate my restricted mobility to achieve a desired result, required a level of perseverance beyond the ordinary.

Enduring extreme discomfort became the ideal persevering tool I needed to succeed and excel, to rebuild what I lost and overcome the insurmountable challenges that lay before me. In essence, to achieve the extra-ordinary, one has to push beyond the realm of normalcy and endure the physical pain, mental torture, sleepless nights, financial struggles and emotional turmoil otherwise known as the uncomfortable and unwanted sacrifices that come with the territory associated with the extraordinary.

Efena Otobo

Curtain Call

In the face of all the anger, disappointment, agony, confusion and dismay, my faith and hope burned brighter than ever. I was determined to not allow the wheelchair define who I was. Living life to the fullest once again became a top priority.

Wine tasting in the vineyards of Napa Valley, sitting in awe at the San Diego Comic Convention, appreciating the beauty of nature in Carlsbad, hoping to spot a celebrity in Beverly Hills, screeching with delight at the dolphins in Sea World, marveling at the millions of Christmas lights at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, clutching my sides from laughing too hard at the jokes in The Book of Mormon production at the Fox Theatre on Atlanta’s Broadway, being gobsmacked at the wonder of ocean life at the Georgia Aquarium and getting lost in worship at the Bethel Church in Redding, California are just some of the glorious adventures I have embarked upon thus far.

Life may throw you a curve ball that may seem to break your spirit temporarily but reaching deep within and using a combination of faith, hope, perseverance, determination and willpower to obliterate the obstacles in your path, I believe that you will emerge from the war victorious.

My battle strategy is to overcome paralysis – one step at a time.

No more articles


Philosophies Applied in a Hospital Context - Admission/Application Essay Example

Only on StudentShare

Extract of sample
Philosophies Applied in a Hospital Context

Virtue morals concentrate on the type of an individual one must be, and its concentration is on character mannerisms. James Rachel studies virtue-founded hypotheses on the morality of the type exemplified by Aristotle, comparing them with deed or duty-founded hypotheses, of the type exemplified by Mill or Kant (Soccio, 2013). Rachel claims that a purely founded morality should all the time be incomplete; because it would not on its own just the reason certain character mannerisms are ethically good. The proponents of this hypothesis include Xenophanes a Greek philosopher who concentrated particularly in the culturally comparative state of spiritual faiths, other than ethical faiths per se. Pyrrho is another proponent philosopher and argues that in ethical issues, people may not identify if anything is correctly good or bad, and, thus, people should hang ruling. Sextus is the last one and explains that ethical mannerisms vary so much from one society to another. The cultural Relativism principle applies in a hospital in that it helps people know the value and the effects of some moral practices, like genital mutilation for girls. The second principle of Morality and the Will of God applies in a hospital in that moral practices like going to a health center when not feeling well should not be contradicted with the faith that God heals the sick, thus fail to seek medication. Then the will of God should not be contradicted since God always does what is right and the human beings themselves are creations of God’s will. ...
Download paper

The essay "Philosophies Applied in a Hospital Context" discusses ethical predicaments in the contemporary health care centers. These predicaments occur due to various causes which include the concentration of personal (patient) entitlements and selection, the growth of new technology and others…
Author : homenickoscar

Related Essays

4 pages (1004 words) Essay
8 pages (2008 words) Essay
What is Philosophy? Philosophical Conceptions Of Life.
4 pages (1004 words) Essay
Philosophy of Life after Death
There is no life after death. To discuss this consider the following philosophical arguments. First, the concept of dualism makes one belief in life after death. Dualism is a belief that people exist in both material and nonmaterial nature, which seem to be independent of each other. According to Taylor, dualists argue that human beings consists of body and soul, the later being the centre if character and mental element. In dualist, thinking the body is less significant since it is only a carrier of the soul, which survives after the end of the body (Taylor web). Some activities in our lives...
6 pages (1506 words) Essay
Philosophy and everyday life are fundamentally incompatible
Sometimes, philosophy and everyday life becomes incompatible while at other times, the two become compatible; it is a matter of fortune. Philosophy and everyday life cannot be considered as fundamentally incompatible always. Philosophy takes birth from the past experiences of life. People reflect on their past experiences in order to realize their mistakes and identify ways in which they can be avoided in the future. The principles thus learned make the philosophy of life. It is said that wise people are those who learn from others’ mistakes. This education works fundamentally because the...
4 pages (1004 words) Essay
Why Study the History of Philosophy?
Philosophy is the art of rational thought that is unique from the other disciplines in that it relies on the application of logic and reason to generate knowledge. Most people’s failure to understand philosophy is related to their attitude of viewing it as a mere thought about knowledge or language. The intellectuals that discover philosophy develops the curiosity to dig deeper into the historical books to understand its beginnings. A philosopher must have the ability to reason and possess a rational faith. The knowledge of the historical perspective of philosophy proves that the modern...
7 pages (1757 words) Essay
Philosophy of Law
13 pages (3263 words) Essay


Sunny House Peterborough

  Download our app

Cuisines: Uncategorised
Can you help us categorise this Takeaway?
Opening hours: No opening hours available.
Delivery: No delivery information available.
Phone number: (01733) 328889
Address:   Sunny House, 56 Canterbury Road,
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire,
PE4 6PA, (01733) 328889
Sunny House is a Takeaway in Peterborough. They can be found at 56 Canterbury Road, and their phone number is (01733) 328889.
Street View: Sunny House Peterborough

We don't have any reviews for Sunny House yet, add the first!

Sorry, we don't have a menu for Sunny House.

If you are the owner or manager of Sunny House Takeaway, or even just a loyal customer, there's a lot you can do to help promote it. The easiest of these is simply providing as much information as you can about the takeaway, but we also have options available to let you verify ownership and promote Sunny House.

--}} ?>


Dear Daisy Dog: My dog died recently, and I very much want to welcome a new dog into my life, but at my advanced age, I fear I will outlive the dog. What is your advice?

Daisy responds: Research shows that animal companions help people live longer, healthier, happier lives, so I think you should share your love with a new dog. Consider adopting a senior pet, and arrange for his care if he outlives you.

Ask a trusted family member, friend or rescue organization to care for him if you become incapacitated or die during his lifetime. Set aside funds for his food, veterinary care and other needs.

To ensure that your wishes are carried out, establish a pet trust with the help of an estate attorney. For more information, visit

Younger readers should think about this subject, too, because something as commonplace as a car accident might prevent you from caring for a beloved pet.

Dear Christopher Cat: I am thinking about changing veterinarians and want your advice. My cat was sneezing, and my veterinarian said she had an upper respiratory infection. However, the vet refused to give my cat an antibiotic for the infection. Isn't that malpractice?

Christopher responds: Most likely, your veterinarian concluded that your cat had a viral upper respiratory infection (URI), a common condition in cats. Since antibiotics kill only bacteria, but have no effect on viruses, an antibiotic wouldn't have helped, and it may have made things worse.

Antibiotics sometimes cause loss of appetite, diarrhea and vomiting, which surely would have made your kitty feel sicker.

Even worse, indiscriminate use of antibiotics is a significant factor in the rise of antibiotic resistance. Unnecessary antibiotics kill the weakest bacteria, which are harmless or even beneficial, leaving the stronger, more resistant bacteria to thrive. The next time the antibiotic is used, it won't be effective against those resistant bacteria.

Over time, bacteria evolve mechanisms to elude antibiotics. This process occurs more rapidly when antibiotics are carelessly prescribed and when they are added to animal feed to enhance growth.

I assume your cat recovered on her own, which further supports the diagnosis of a viral URI. Feline URIs are similar to a human's cold, which is caused by any of about 200 viruses. The best treatment is supportive care and "tincture of time."

Your veterinarian seems to have made an accurate diagnosis, prevented unnecessary and potentially dangerous medical therapy, and helped your cat get better, all good reasons to stick with this vet.

Ask the Vet's Pets appears Friday in the print edition of the Reading Eagle. The animal authors of the column live with Lee Pickett, V.M.D., who practices companion animal medicine. Contact them at


terça-feira, 21 de dezembro de 2010

Tax Benefits - FIFA Worldcup in Brazil

Today the Federal Government has converted into Law the former Executive Decree that granted tax benefits for activities related to the FIFA World cup in Brazil.

Named Act 12.350, the bill describes a series of benefits to be granted to all FIFA's suppliers and service providers, as well as to FIFA itself. The benefits include:

*Exemption of Income Tax and all related taxation;
*Exemption of Importation duties for the equipments to be used during the games

Moreover, the bill brings several tax easements for the companies involved in the restoration or construction of sports arenas, in a set of measures that has been called RECOPA. It includes many exemptions applicable to the raw materials, either imported or purchased in Brazil.

There is no doubt that this Act brings many business opportunities to sport and medical equipment suppliers, as well as to real estate ventures willing to contribute to the Brazil World Cup.

As for me, I'm crossing my fingers. Go Brazil.

sexta-feira, 10 de dezembro de 2010

Please check the second part here.

You may find a Chinese version here.

Please download the full article here.

I'm posting the first part of the translation of my article about international agreements among Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Hope you enjoy it.

Rules governing international transactions of sale of goods and
International commercial arbitration

The discussion about the BRIC countries began in 2001 in a report Goldman Sachs Group entitled Building Better Global Economic BRICs , which forecasted that by 2050, Brazil, Russia, India and China would exceed, in terms of GDP, the economy of the six major industrialized nations of the world (USA, Japan, Germany, Britain, France and Italy).
Since then, other reports have been published by the same group in 2003 and 2005, confirming the prognosis. In 2007, the book BRICs and Beyond was published. The work sought to reassess the assumptions of previous studies and noted that the BRICs economies grew well above expectations from the beginning of the decade. Early studies of Goldman Sachs Group may have been too conservative for, while hoping that the 4 countries would reach around 10% of world GDP at the end of 2010, by 2007 they owned 15%.
It is noteworthy that, after the economic crisis of 2008-2009, a new publication Goldman Sachs Group said categorically that the BRIC countries were to recover more quickly from the crisis. Notably, part of good performance economic development of BRICs is due to trade among themselves. Brazil, for example, benefited from the fact that China has become its largest importer for several months in 2009, according to statistics from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade of Brazil (MDIC). According to data from MDIC, from January to July 2010 the value of exports from Brazil to China was approximately 40% higher than the value of exports from Brazil to the United States.
In this perspective, IMF data also indicate that the BRICs have been, alone, responsible for more than 50% of the additional wealth production in the world during the decade of 2000-2010.
At the same time, the BRIC countries have developed their diplomatic relations and formed coalitions outside the economic realm. To name a few examples, one can point out the role of Brazil and India in the Doha negotiations, the IBSA forum between India, Brazil and South Africa, which brings together three democracies from three continents, the BASIC coalition, formed by Brazil, South Africa, India and China, which sought to defend common interests on environmental and climate issues among the countries, besides the participation of BRIC countries in the G-20.
Brazil and India also seek - along with Germany and Japan, in what is called the G-4 - a permanent seat on UN Security Council United, which already has two other BRIC countries: China and Russia.
It is important to note that the relationships described above generate consequences and needs that go beyond the economic sphere. Since it is clear that a closer economic cooperation among BRIC countries in the future is inevitable, it becomes necessary to study the legal framework of the group members, especially regarding to international contracts, in order to remove barriers to economic integration within the BRIC.
In this context, this work has been devised to analyze the internal rules and international conventions ratified by each of the BRIC countries, in order to guide entrepreneurs and lawyers dealing with international contracts in those nations. Specifically, this paper will study the rules applicable to international sales contracts and to international commercial arbitration.

2.1 Vienna Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods
Several international organizations aim at creating uniform standards for international trade.
Amongst them, the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) is the most prominent, and has fulfilled a key role in developing uniform standards for trade.
Specifically in the case of contracts for sale of goods, the most important convention on the subject is certainly the Vienna Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), established under the auspices of UNCITRAL in 1980.
In its preamble, its universalizing purpose is clear:
[The States parties to this Convention] BEING OF THE OPINION that the adoption of uniform rules which govern contracts for the international sale of goods and take into account the different social, economic and legal systems would contribute to the removal of legal barriers in international trade and promote the development of international trade (…)
Currently ratified by 74 countries , representatives of more than 90% of global trade in goods (GAMMA JR, 2009), the CISG is the most successful trade treaty in history. In fact, it has been classified by some authors as the Magna Carta of international trade (ZELLER, 1999), or as an "unexpected success story" in Professor Schlechtriem’s words.
Some of the topics covered by the CISG are: formation and execution of international contracts of sale of goods ; the seller’s obligation to deliver the goods and the buyer's obligation to pay the price , the rights of the parties in case of breach of contract ; exceptions from liability for breach, as the occurrence of force majeure , among others . The goal of the CISG rendering the regulation of such issues was to establish core standards on which there could be a reasonable consensus between countries of different legal backgrounds.
It should be noted that the CISG applies only to the sale of tangible goods, excluding from its rule the sale of services, financial services or workforce.
The position of each of the BRIC countries towards the CISG will be further analyzed.
2.2 International Arbitration and Recognition of foreign arbitral awards
International commercial arbitration is a tool of enormous relevance in international trade agreements. Arbitration has advantages in relation to national courts. It is not only a mechanism generally faster and more economical than the traditional procedures, but often a more convenient and specialized one. It can be carried out secretively, and allows the parties to choose the applicable law. There are two main international conventions on arbitration, both covered on the following topics:
2.2.1 UNCITRAL Model Law on Arbitration Procedures
Aiming at harmonizing the various national laws on the subject, a committee consisting of representatives from 58 countries and 18 international organizations, chaired by the UN Commission for International Trade Law, was formed to discuss a model law on arbitration procedures.
The UN General Assembly, through Resolution n.40/72 of December 11, 1985, approved the final text of the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration at the end of the 18th annual meeting of the committee. The General Assembly recommended that:
All States give due consideration to the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration in view of the desire for uniformity in arbitration laws and the specific needs of the practice of International Trade Law (UNCITRAL, 1985).
The Convention received accession of countries that move two thirds of the global trade. Its text has solved several flaws from previous Conventions, as well as influenced the review of arbitration rules from the major arbitration chambers. It also influenced a great part of domestic laws on arbitration, especially those promulgated after its approval. The Model Law covers arbitration since its formation until the execution of the final decision, constituting a relatively complete code.
2.2.2 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards
This convention is of paramount importance, since it provides that arbitration shall be recognized as a valid and legal instrument for the settlement of conflicts, and establishes the enforcement of foreign arbitration awards by local courts of each contracting State.
In short, the New York Convention allowed individuals to escape the relative insecurity of national courts, since the choice of jurisdiction and governing laws became virtually free. Therefore, its importance cannot be underestimated. According to the United Nations:
The Convention is widely recognized as a founding instrument of international arbitration and requires courts of contracting States to give effect to an arbitration agreement and also to recognize and enforce awards made in other States, subject to specific limited exceptions. The Convention entered into force on 7 June 1959.

The position of each of the BRICs towards international arbitration will be detailed in topic 4.
3.1 BRIC’s domestic laws on International Commercial Contracts
Despite the many advantages of CISG, only Russia and China among the BRICs have ratified it to date. And yet it is worth noting that both countries have made reservations, as will be discussed below.
3.1.1 Application of the CISG in China
China ratified the CISG in December, 1986. However, it has adopted a significant reservation to the text: it compromised to apply the CISG only if the other country involved in the transaction has also adopted the convention.
Regarding this reservation, the renowned author Peter Schlechtriem weaves interesting comments:
The consequence of article 1(1)(b), which meant that parties in non-contracting states could be subject to the application of the CISG, (a law that their country had not ratified), met with serious objections in Vienna, and it was accepted only on account of a compromise allowing a reservation, that is a ratifying state could declare that it would not be bound by article 1(1)(b).

In the immediate aftermath of the Chinese position, it is clear that instant application of the CISG to contracts between China and other BRIC countries is limited to agreements with companies in Russia. Put in another way, as noted by CHEN Weizuo in an article entitled "The conflict of laws in the context of the CISG: A Chinese perspective’’:
In accordance with Article 95 of the CISG, the People's Republic of China declared, at the time of the deposit of its instrument of ratification with the UN Secretary-General on 11 December 1986, that it did not consider itself bound by Subparagraph (1)(b) of Article 1 of the CISG. As a result, situations where the CISG is directly applied by Chinese judges are relatively limited but certain; the CISG applies practically to contracts of sale of goods only if the parties have their places of business in different Contracting States.
In consequence, in contracts between Brazil and China and between India and China that are brought upon Chinese courts there is a strong possibility that the applicable law will be deemed to be the Chinese internal legislation, especially the "Law on Contracts of the People's Republic of China of 1999" and the “General Principles of Civil Law of People's Republic of China’’. If this is not the wish of the parties, they must study the conflict of law rules applicable to the case and adopt preventive measures.
Regarding the application of Chinese law, it is interesting to note that Chinese law allows parties to choose the rules applicable to international contracts. Such possibility is always interesting since it allows the parties to choose a neutral legal system or, in some cases, the one most favorable to the transaction at hand.
However, we must understand that, in a contract between a Brazilian trader and a Chinese exporter, the parties cannot choose the application of the CISG, because the Chinese law explicitly says that CISG would not apply. Nevertheless, it would be possible choose it indirectly, by stating the applicable law as being the Russian Law, for example.
Finally, the application of the CISG would still be possible in a Sino-Indian or Sino-Brazilian contract if the parties adopted arbitration, as will be discussed in a specific topic.
3.1.2 Application of the CISG in Russia
In accordance with the provisions of Article 1, paragraph (a) of CISG , international contracts for the sale of goods between Russian and Chinese parties will be governed by the CISG.
Regarding the other two countries, Russia took no reservations to paragraph (b) of article 1 (1).
Thus, contracts between Brazil and Russia and between India and Russia may be governed by the CISG, provided that, after examining the case, the conflict of law rules indicate the Russian legislation as dominant in that particular case.
This possibility adds to the fact that Russia accepts that the parties choose the applicable law, which allows the legal planning of agreements entered into with companies in the country.
In the words of the authorized doctrine :
According to the Russian conflict of law rules the parties to a contract, when one party is a foreign entity, may choose the law applicable to their rights and duties under that contract including sale agreements provided that such a choice does not affect the operation of mandatory rules of the country with which the contract is actually related. In the absence of an agreement between the parties on the applicable law, the law of the country with which the contract is most closely connected shall apply to the contract. Generally, the law of the country with which the contract is most closely related shall be considered the law of the country in which the party performing execution of crucial importance for the contract has its place of residence or main place of activity (the seller in the sale and purchase transaction, the lender in a loan agreement, financial agent in a contract of financing against assignment of a monetary claim etc.)
The same can be envisioned for the comment below :
Under Clause 166 of Fundamentals, the parties to the construction contract are free to choose the governing law for their contract. However, absent the express agreement of the parties, the governing law will be that of the country where the works are being constructed (the project country).This corresponds to the customary practice of selecting the law of the project country as the governing law of contract.
In short: in contracts between Russian and Brazilian and Indian and Russian parties, the CISG can be elected as the applicable law, provided that the conflict of law rules does not demand it to be applied and that the parties do not wish to allow Brazilian or Indian Law to rule the case.
3.1.3 Application of the CISG in India and Brazil
Neither of these countries adopted the CISG. However, the Indian law allows the parties to choose the applicable law for the agreement.
Therefore, when entering into a contract that is expected to be enforced before Indian Courts, the parties may specify the law of a CISG adopter. The strategy, however, faces some limitations, clearly summarized in the following excerpt:
In the circumstances, parties entering into contracts with Indian companies enforceable under a foreign law must note that if an action is brought under such contract in an Indian court, foreign law will have to be pleaded like an ordinary fact and proved by experts. Further, parties cannot, by agreement, confer jurisdiction on a court which does not have any jurisdiction over the subject matter. (Patel Roadways v. Prasad Trading Company, AIR 1992 SC 1514). Moreover, in order to select one out of two courts by an agreement, both the courts must have jurisdiction, and the agreement should be clear and unambiguous as regards the forum selection clause .
In Brazil, on the other hand, the parties are not allowed to choose the applicable law.
Under Brazilian conflict of laws rules (Decree-Law No. 4657 from 1942, entitled ”Civil Code Introduction Law’’), contracts between absente parties – understood as those that are not face to face at the moment of signature - are always governed by the proponent’s domicile law. (The proponent, in this case, being the one who sent the last draft accepted without alterations of any kind)
Therefore, entrepreneurs making business in the BRIC countries should pay attention to the following situations:
In contracts with Brazil, where the final proposal is sent by a party located in Brazil, the law applicable should the subject be judged by Brazilian courts shall be the Brazilian law. In this case, the CISG can never be applicable.
On the other hand, whenever the final version of the proposal is sent by Indian, Russian or Chinese parties, the law of the respective country will be applied by the Brazilian courts.
That is to say, in contracts governed by Brazilian law, any clause specifying the applicable law is void. Although, if the same contract is governed by the law of other BRIC countries, it will be deemed valid and may be enforced before Brazilian courts.

The CISG does not address the issues concerning the "validity of contract or any of its provisions or of any usage”. Even so, the convention has, in its articles 14 to 28, several provisions concerning the formation of international trade contracts, which include the use of verbal and written offers, the conceptual definition of offer and its binding power.
In this sense, the Convention adopts a liberal stance, by not limiting the expressions of willingness to a written form, as provided by Article 11: "A contract of sale need not be concluded in or evidenced by writing and is not subject to any other requirement as to form. It may be proved by any means, including witnesses".
However, this provision is virtually ineffective in the scope of application of the CISG in the BRICs, since both Russia and China adopted the reservation of Article 96 of the Convention, which bans recognition of any expression of intent designed to celebrate, modify or accept a contract of sale which is not expressed in writing . Therefore the negotiations between these two countries must be rigorously documented in writing.

Please check the second part here.

sexta-feira, 29 de outubro de 2010

Simplified registration for Foreign Investment in the Brazilian stock market

Here is a piece of old news that is getting increasingly relevant, given the surge of investments in the Brazilian stock market:

The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM, in Portuguese), through its Rule 419/2005, created the simplified registration of the non-resident investor in the Brazilian stock market.

Based on this Rule, the brokerage firms (and the custodians) may perform the simplified registration of its non-resident clients.

In practical terms, this rule simplified and sped up the access of non-resident investors to the Brazilian domestic capital market, since foreign investors may operate in the comfort of his home, through brokerage firms based on his own country.

To make use of this benefit, the following prerequisites shall be complied with:

• the non-resident investor must be a client of a foreign intermediary institution, duly registered under the applicable legislation of its country of origin;
• the referred intermediary institution should accept the obligation to present, whenever requested, all the information required by CVM, as well as other information required by Brazilian public agencies with inspection powers; and
• the government agency responsible for capital market regulation in the foreign country shall enter into a mutual cooperation agreement with CVM, regarding exchange of investors' financial information.

Furthermore, the country in which the foreign intermediary institution is located should not be considered of high risk in relation to money laundering and terrorism financing, and should not be classified as non-cooperative in relation to the fight against illicit actions of that nature.

quarta-feira, 20 de outubro de 2010

China sube los tipos y Brasil sube los impuestos

Por JOSE REINOSO / AGENCIAS - Pekín / Brasilia - 20/10/2010

El banco central chino elevó ayer por sorpresa 0,25 puntos porcentuales los tipos de interés de referencia a un año, en una muestra de la preocupación de las autoridades por los riesgos inflacionarios y de sobrecalentamiento de la segunda economía del mundo. El tipo para los depósitos queda situado en el 2,5%, mientras para los préstamos pasa al 5,56%. La medida es efectiva a partir de hoy. Se trata de la primera subida que realiza Pekín desde diciembre de 2007. Falta por saber si la decisión conducirá a una mayor flexibilización del yuan, como ha pedido Estados Unidos. Washington considera que la divisa china está artificialmente infravalorada, lo que favorece a las empresas exportadoras asiáticas.

La subida de tipos ha cogido por sorpresa a los analistas, especialmente porque varios líderes del Gobierno habían declarado recientemente que la inflación -que a finales de agosto se situó en el 3,5%- estaba bajo control y que tipos más altos podrían provocar especulación de capitales desde el extranjero.
China puso fin en junio pasado al anclaje al que estaba sometido el yuan respecto al dólar desde hacía 23 meses, y ha permitido que se revalorice alrededor de un 2,8% respecto al billete verde. Estados Unidos decidió retrasar la semana pasada hasta finales de noviembre la decisión sobre si clasifica a China país manipulador de su moneda.

Brasil eleva otra vez impuestos al capital extranjero en plena guerra de divisas

En la misma guerra de divisas se inscribe la decisión del Gobierno brasileño de aplicar una segunda subida en dos semanas en el impuesto a los extranjeros que invierten en renta fija y de elevar los tributos en el mercado de futuros. Se trata de medidas tendentes a frenar la apreciación del real.
El impuesto sobre operaciones financieras (IOF) que grava las inversiones en renta fija pasará a partir de hoy del 4% al 6%, según anunció el ministro brasileño de Hacienda, Guido Mantega, en declaraciones recogidas por la agencia oficial Brasil. Además de aumentar los impuestos de la renta fija, el Gobierno también subió el IOF sobre las garantías bancarias exigidas a los inversores extranjeros en el mercado de futuros, que pasa del 0,38% al 6%.
El Banco Central también ha intensificado la compra de dólares en el mercado en efectivo, lo que elevó las reservas internacionales a 281.038 millones de dólares, registrados el pasado viernes. Estas medidas persiguen frenar los intensos flujos de capitales atraídos al país en las últimas semanas por factores como las altas tasas de interés en vigor, actualmente en el 10,75%, que ofrecen mucha más rentabilidad que las de Estados Unidos o la Unión Europea.
Al anunciar las nuevas medidas, Mantega aseguró que el Gobierno estudia tomar otras acciones para contener el alza del real, aunque no desveló cuáles y aseguró que se van a dosificar para asegurarse que la corrección no sea excesiva.

sexta-feira, 10 de setembro de 2010

Contracts among BRIC Countries

Dear readers,

This blog aims at informing foreigners about the Brazilian Laws applicable to international trade.
This includes investment regulations, civil law, arbitration and international contracts. I will also cover issues like international marriages and Brazilian Visas.

Much of the content is coming from my Portuguese blogs: http://adlerweb.blogspot.com and http://advogadointernacional.blogspot.com/.

The first post will be a big one: I have just finished a paper about Contracts among BRIC Countries. It is one of the first works on the subject and I am very proud of it.

Translation is still in course, but the Portuguese version can be seen at:

I hope you can enjoy it.


Evince Biosciences, Inc.

Organization Address
Cornerstone Corporate Center
1902 Wright Place, 2nd Floor
Carlsbad, CA 92008

Biotech and Pharmaceutical

Drug Discovery and Development

Organization Description
AVO (Autonomous Virtual Organism) employs contemporary computational techniques and machine learning to modernize drug discovery. The platform accurately predicts activity against the target of interest, selectivity and drug-like properties (ADME) simultaneously, determining characteristics such as the ability to get into the bloodstream, cross the blood brain barrier and off target toxicity. AVO transforms discovery into a parallel process in a virtual environment, rather than a sequential process in a laboratory environment. AVO also enables optimization of lead compounds by using the algorithm to evaluate proposed chemical changes to a molecule. The Company’s first program targets toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) for cancer immunotherapy. The value of a TLR7 agonist is in how it complements checkpoint inhibitors, the most important mechanism in cancer immunotherapy, but a mechanism that currently suffers from a low response rate. TLR7 agonists stimulate the innate immune system, which can improve the response rate to checkpoint inhibitors to significantly improve cancer immunotherapy and the overall treatment of cancer. This program is in late lead optimization.