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MLM Dictionary: Omnitrition Case
The term "Omnitrition Case" refers to "Webster vs. Omnitrition" class action lawsuit that was argued in 9th Circuit Court (of Appeals) in 1996.
Explaining the Case
(editor's note: I am not a lawyer, so you can read the full case, and summaries by several MLM attorneys and MLM critics near the end.)
Omnitrition was started by Roger Daley, who had previously worked at Herbalife in the 1980's, and may have known Mark Hughes, founder of Herbalife, quite well. When Herbalife hit a rough patch, Daley went off on his own with a few close Herbalife fellow sellers and created OmniLife 4, a liquid supplement formula that became the foundation of Omnitrition International. Later, when Omnitrition hit a rough patch, in the 1990's, he was served with multiple lawsuits, including the Webster vs. Omnitrition.
Shaun Webster and Robert Ligon worked for Omnitrition until they, in 1992, decided to sue Omnitrition International, a MLM selling vitamins and such supplements, charging it as a pyramid scheme. The case gained "class action' status, as it sought relief for all similar reps who had allegedly been cheated by Omnitrition. Webster also charged Omnitrition with violations of securities law as well as violations of California's "endless chain" (pyramid scheme) laws, as well as various other laws such as RICO (racketeering), wire and mail fraud, etc.
At the time, Omnitrition's comp plan has distributors (no multi-level commssion), and various ranks of supervisor. Lowest rank, "bronze supervisor" requires $2000 order in one month, or $1000 orders over two consecutive months. The order goes to Omnitrition. (Omnitrition's comp plan is very similar to Herbalife's comp plan, because Daley used to work at Herbalife)
Omnitrition's defense is that it had followed Amway Safeguard Rules and thus it cannot be a pyramid scheme if Amway was ruled not a pyramid scheme by the FTC (per FTC vs. Amway).
District Court ruled in Omnitrition's favor in 1994, granting it a summary judgement ("Not pyramid scheme") and thus essentially dismissing the lawsuit. Webster appealed.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the case in 1996 and found that the district court have ruled the summary judgement in error in not considering sufficient evidence. However, it had also ruled that some additional charges brought against Omnitrition's lawyers and such are not valid and the summary judgement issued by lower court for those are affirmed.
The Omnitrition Defense
Omnitrition's defense at the 9th Circuit court centered on 3 themes:
1) Omnitrition does not charge money to become a distributor (lowest rank), therefore it does not meet test 1 of the Koscot Test (see Koscot test at end)
Court rejected this defense, because distributor is only a small portion of Omnitrition's affiliate ranks. If one must purchase a large order to get "full benefits" of the program, i.e. "rank of supervisor" for several thousand dollars, then "free" rank with limited benefits is of little to no consequence. Test 1 is indeed met.
Furthermore, since the commission is based on what the downline purchased from Omnitrition, rather than the amount SOLD by the downline (i.e. retail), it is NOT related to sales, and thus meets "test 4" of the Koscot test.
2) Omnitrition claimed Webster did not submit sufficient evidence that proves Omnitrition is a pyramid scheme.
Court also rejected this defense, pointing out that the way the compensation plan is structured, would encourage members to jump in and buy a large order ("start off as supervisor!") and thus profit the upline, thus people are encouraged to sell the opportunity, not the products, and that is a pyramid scheme.
3) Omnitrition claimed that it has adopted the Amway Safeguard Rules, which is sufficient to prove it is not a pyramid scheme.
Court rejected this defense, pointing out that pseudo-compliance does not ensure the company is not a pyramid scheme. Omnitrition's version of Amway Safeguard rules are actually WEAKER than Amway's own, and Amway's defense was only accepted after a full trial and audit of retail which proved that no inventory loading had occurred. Thus, mere aping Amway Safeguard rules is not sufficient defense.
Furthermore, Omnitrition only produced evidence of "Ten Customer Rule". Omnitrition produced no evidence that the 70% (recorder) rule was followed, merely distributors "self-certifying" that they will not order until they have retailed (or consumed) 70% of their inventory. Furthermore, Webster have produced proof that "self-consumption" (i.e. no retail sales) is enough to satisfy the 70% rule. The court ruled: " If Koscot is to have any teeth, such a sale (for self-consumption?) cannot satisfy the requirement that sales be to 'ultimate users' of a product. " Indeed, distributors who 'self-consume' are treated differently from retail customers, who enjoy a 30-day money back guarantee. Distributors have to accept the 90% refund (up to 3 months).
Court also found that the 90% refund for only 3 months is substantially weaker than Amway's buy-back.
There are a LOT of other technical details regarding a LOT of the other claims, like racketeering, securities fraud, and so on.
Notable Takeaways of the Ruling
a) The Court wrote: "The mere structure of the scheme suggests that Omnitrition's focus was in promoting the program rather than selling the products... The promise of lucrative rewards for recruiting others tends to induce participants to focus on the recruitment side of the business at the expense of their retail marketing efforts, making it unlikely that meaningful opportunities for retail sales will occur."
In other words, whether the compensation plan focuses on promoting retail vs. promoting the opportunity itself, determines whether the plan is a pyramid scheme. If a compensation plan is tilted toward recruiting, then it is probably a pyramid scheme as it is unlikely there will be any "meaningful retail sales".
Please also keep in mind that this is in ADDITION to the "Koscot Test", which the court also used in this decision.
This is interesting as this basically shows that the court knows about "product-based pyramid scheme" where "fake retail" was used to disguise the pyramid scheme from the Koscot Test. Basically, the court understands that if the plan encourages people to "buy products" just to participate in the compensation plan, and not for retail, it is a pyramid scheme.
b) The Court wrote: " If Koscot (test) is to have any teeth, such a sale cannot satisfy the requirement that sales be to 'ultimate users' of a product."
The sale aforementioned is the distributor claiming that s/he 'self-consumed' the products purchased "wholesale", thus acting as his/her own retail customer, and sold the inventory to him/her-self, to satisfy the 70% rule. This has several interpretations.
The "strict" interpretation, usually held by critics of MLM, is that this outlaws any "self-consumption" as "cheating" the Koscot test.
The "loose" interpretation, usually held by DSA, is that this irrelevant, since a self-consumer *is* an ultimate consumer.
However, this statement cannot be evaluated in isolation. This part is closing a loophole in understanding A and Koscot Test. It is possible for a scheme to adopt products as a disguise. Unless there is clear retail and the purpose for the wholesale purchase is to retail (and not merely to qualify oneself), the scheme is likely to be a pyramid scheme. Furthermore, you can't have a loophole that allows the distributor to "self-consume" the products, thus creating confusion on what is the real intent of the purchase. Is it for resale... or is it just to participate, i.e. "pay into the program"?
It really makes no sense for a distributor to consume his/her inventory any way. It's against any sound business principle. You can't sell what you consumed.
c) The Court also gave a new definition of inventory loading, "'Inventory loading' occurs when distributors make the minimum required purchases to receive recruitment-based bonuses without reselling the products to consumers." This definition is different from the Amway decision where FTC defined it as non-returnable purchases downline makes to enrich their uplines.
This definition is more applicable product-based pyramid schemes where distributors are simply encouraged to buy inventory, but not for actual retail sales. Furthermore, while the inventory can be returned, there is no incentive to actually do so, even if it results in financial loss, because it would undermine their plan to benefit from recruiting additional participants who were also encouraged to buy inventory (but not retail them).
d) The court, in analyzing comp plan, ruled that paying upline commission based on downline's purchase FROM Omnitrition satisfies Koscot Test item 4, commission is de facto based on recruitment, and NOT based on (retail) sales. Consider that Omnitrition highly encourages distributors to go for at least "supervisor", i.e. minimum purchase to pay full share of commission the commission is based on how many people they can recruit who also buy in at full share.
Aftermath of the Case
Omnitrition suffered a resounding loss in the case by the 9th Circuit Court. The case is sent back to the lower court to be retried. Before the district court can retry the case Omnitrition settled with the Webster, et. al. for undisclosed amounts.
DSA tried their best to minimize the impact of Omnitrition case. Their "virtual museum" does mention Omnitrition, but in a completely irrelevant manner, and in a single sentence that said nothing about its impact on the direct selling industry. Since then, it has basically ignored Omnitrition case altogether, mainly by claiming that the 9th Circuit Court had blundered, that why does MLM have to prove it is NOT a pyramid scheme over and over again. This type of view is best explained by MLM Attorney Jeff Babener in his view on Omnitrition (see reference for link):
The ninth circuit's approach is a serious threat to the direct selling industry because it creates a presumption of illegality of a multilevel marketing plan. The approach is inconsistent with the realities of the direct selling industry because it denies the ability of a multilevel marketing program to count personal or family use by distributors as "sales to the ultimate user." Almost all leading direct selling companies pay commissions based on the wholesale movement of product, and, recognize personal and family use by distributors as legitimate retail sales. Despite paying commissions on wholesale movement of product, the direct selling industry has protected its distributors from the abuses of inventory loading pyramid schemes by well-established buyback policies and the 70 percent rule.
The problem with Mr. Babener's explanation is "but everybody else does it too" is not a valid defense. Indeed, are there any "direct sales" companies where sales people are encouraged to sell to themselves? The self-consumption problem is unique to MLM.
Mr. Babener can't seem to recognize that he's trying to refight the last battle, the FTC vs. Amway battle back in 1979, in 1996. Comp plans change. Pyramid schemes evolve. What worked as a defense back in 1979 may not work in 1996.
Furthermore, DSA has sought to end-run takeaway (b) above by asking various countries around the world, such as Canada, as well as several US states, to pass anti-pyramid laws that specifically exempted "self-consumption" to defining "retail sales" as both sales to public and sales to distributor him- or herself and his/her family.
FTC itself has issued somewhat contradictory advisories since the Omnitrition case. In 2004 staff advisory opinion, it has refused to issued "hard" guidelines like "if >=X percent of sales is retail, then it's not a pyramid scheme". Their explanation is that the crooks will go right up to the edge and use other disguises to go past it. Instead, they prefer to analyze the comp plan itself and determine what is the intent of the distributors when they purchased inventory from the company?
In other words, just like takeaway (a) in the Omnitrition case above.
FTC's 2004 advisory opinion also explained that they understand modern pyramid schemes often *do* involve products and seemingly valid sales.
Why haven't there been more prosecutions?
One MLM critic explained that FTC is debating whether to take on Herbalife or any big MLM because FTC's resources are limited, and a fight with Herbalife, with couple billion in sales, would basically means they can't prosecute other cases for a while, and given the amount of resources Herbalife can dedicate to the fight (hire a legion of lawyers, PR campaign, etc.) the outcome is far from certain. And FTC, like all lawyers, hates to lose, as it would not be optimal spending of its limited resources. Same for all the other big MLMs.
Perhaps FTC is adopting the "kill a chicken to warn the monkey" approach... But will the monkey listen? or adopt a "I'm too big to fail" attitude?
Omnitrition was not really mentioned in public media regarding prosecution of Burnlounge and FHTM (I haven't read all the court documents, but I would not be surprised if it's mentioned there).
Omnitrition was temporarily made popular in December 2012 when Bill Ackman started his epic short on Herbalife. However, it has again faded from public media since.
Omnitrition the company is still active today, albeit somewhat less visible in the US. It appears that it is now owned by Jorge Vergara of Mexico, who also had his start with Herbalife.
References About the Case
Full text of the trial from FindLaw
Analysis by Grimes and Reese, LLC, MLM Attorneys
Analysis by Robert Fitzpatrick, MLM Critic
Analysis by Jeff Babener, MLM attorneys
Analysis by Dr. Jon Taylor, MLM Critic
MLM Dictionary: Amway Safeguard Rules
MLM Dictionary: Koscot Test
MLM Dictionary: Autoship
MLM Dictionary: Pyramid scheme
Labels: Federal Trade Commission, glossary, Koscot Test, Law, MLMBasics, Omnitrition, Pyramid scheme, Scam Basics, Tools
Prefer Anonimity January 30, 2014 at 7:54 PM
Isn't this pretty much happening in every MLM out there? Xango, Herbalife, NuSkin, Vemma...
The Webster vs. Omnitrition case could pretty much destroy the entire MLM industry... Could it?
Kasey Chang January 30, 2014 at 9:04 PM
Which is why earlier I wrote that MLM has LOST its will to retail. It's much like that American song "You've lost that lovely feeling..." (The Righteous Brothers, I think).
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Q: Cassandra ttl on a row I know that there are TTLs on columns in Cassandra. But is it also possible to set a TTL on a row? Setting a TTL on each column doesn't solve my problem as can be seen in the following usecase:
At some point a process wants to delete a complete row with a TTL (let's say row "A" with TTL 1 week). It could do this by replacing all existing columns with the same content but with a TTL of 1 week.
But there may be another process running concurrently on that row "A" which inserts new columns or replaces existing ones without a TTL because that process can't know that the row is to be deleted (it runs concurrently!). So after 1 week all columns of row "A" will be deleted because of the TTL except for these newly inserted ones. And I also want them to be deleted.
So is there or will there be Cassandra support for this use case or do I have to implement something on my own?
Kind Regards
Stefan

A: You can set ttl for a row in Cassandra 3 using
INSERT INTO Counter(key,eventTime,value) VALUES ('1001',dateof(now()),100) USING ttl 10;

A: There is no way of setting a TTL on a row in Cassandra currently.  TTLs are designed for deleting individual columns when their lifetime is known when they are written.
You could achieve what you want by delaying your process - instead of wanting to insert a TTL of 1 week, run it a week later and delete the row.  Row deletes have the following semantics: any column inserted just before will get deleted but columns inserted just after won't be.
If columns that are inserted in the future still need to be deleted you could insert a row delete with a timestamp in the future to ensure this but be very careful: if you later wanted to insert into that row you couldn't, columns would just disappear when written to that row (until the tombstone is garbage collected).

A: Although I do not recommend such, there is a Cassandra way to fix the problem:
SELECT TTL(value) FROM table WHERE ...;

Get the current TTL of a value first, then use the result to set the TTL in an INSERT or UPDATE:
INSERT ... USING TTL ttl-of-value;

So... I think that the SELECT TTL() is slow (from experience with TTL() and WRITETIME() in some of my CQL commands). Not only that, the TTL is correct at the time the select results are generated on the Cassandra node, but by the time the insert happens, it will be off. Cassandra should have offered a time to delete rather than a time to live...
So as mentioned by Richard, having your own process to delete data after 1 week is probably safer. You should have one column to save the date of creation or the date when the data becomes obsolete. Then a background process can read that date and if the data is viewed as obsolete, drop the entire row.
Other processes can also use that date to know whether that row is considered valid or not! (so even if it was not yet deleted, you can still view the row as invalid if the date is passed.)

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text:
Red turns Orange
A part of a side show not related to the main RTL timeline but a fun side project. This is a continuing side project not a part of the main RTL timeline and a fun side project and a work in progress. From Orange to rust is a side project that takes a premise not often explored within science fiction. That of the Dutch going to space, in this world the goal is to explore the effects of the Dutch moving to mars, its a future alternate timeline and it will aim to be a realistic as possible using as inspiration sources, the Expanse, Isaac Arthur science and futurism and other hard sci fi sources.
1 Starting point
1.1 Mars prior to the Grote Trek
1.2 De grote trek
2 The Rim conflicts
2.1 Origins
2.2 The effect of a crisis
2.3 The start of a new phase
2.4 The Rim conflict the push towards Herbert city
Global warming eventually took its toll upon the Netherlands and all her attempts like the north sea enclosure damm never got off the ground and then what followed were great floods. The Netherlands decided to look somewhere else to make their home, a place where they could make their own rules and make their own paradise. In 2050 the first steps of what came to be known as the Grote Trek started, what followed was a period of 55 years during which the majority of the population of the Netherlands moved to Mars. They chose it as it was a place far away from those who had betrayed them, it was a place where they could make a new home. It was the start of what would eventually become the start of a new state, a new people, and is today considered a critical moment in human history.
Mars prior to the Grote Trek
Prior to the Grote Trek Mars had seen and was seeing limited small-scale settlement, it was no longer a red rock and slowly but steadily both national and private colonial ventures were taking place. Several bustling colonies could be found on its surface, these ranged from being national ventures to being private ventures by mega-corporations and smaller corporations. By 2063 the Martian population was that of around 11,381,192. It consisted largely of first-generation and second-generation settlers, the first martian baby having only been born in 2047. It thus still had a long way to go before it truly could become the second home of humanity.
Mars could be divided into three major settled areas, those settlements belonging to China, those settlements belonging to the United States of America, and those belonging to private ventures. Scattered through the planet where several UN mission and ESA missions from before its fracturing due to the collapse of the EU. The three largest settlements were those of America in the Tharsis mountain region with its capital being that of Lewis Town, the Chinese settlement capital of Huo Xing in the Hellas Planitia, and the third being in the private corporate zone in the Valles Marineris where the city of Ares laid owned by the Ares mining group one of the largest mining groups not on earth. With many hundreds of smaller settlements spread through the planet.
Through the early period of Martian colonisation through the 20s 30s and early 40s earth had supported the effort with all it had. Yet as the 2040s progressed the political stability that earth had enjoyed began to lessen and interests in the colonisation of some far from the planet became less and less, as more local matters became more pressing. While support was never cut off as the population on Mars had become too large to ignore, they had been cut off largely from major backing, the American and Chinese colonies still enjoyed support but they were no longer a priority for those nations. This period of less direct government support meant that the private entities on Mars began to act more and more like various city-states in ancient Greece. During this period of less government support, the various colonies and settlements began to trade more and a small but emerging economy began to form, yet national rivalries remained omnipresent. It was to this world a world of growing autonomy, yet still, a tense atmosphere that the Dutch arrived over the period of 40 years, growing the population of mars from 15 Million in 2078 to 37 Million.
De grote trek
By 2105 the Dutch exodus had been completed, started in the 2050s, and slowly progressing from there, it had taken some 55 years of constant work, of spending the entire GDP the entire scientific and engineering capacity of a people on a project, to get the 19 million Dutch people towards mars. They had not arrived all at once, before 2105, there were numerous waves, 5 in total, the first wave in 2057, scouted the planet already somewhat settled limited as it was, There they scouted the positions that would be the new home for the Dutch people, they settled upon the Valles Marineris as the main area for settlement. The second wave started in 2070 when after years of construction the first so-called construction fleets and the first small waves of 100,000 colonists, consisting of engineers, scientists, and builders. They arrived in the orbit of where they would build the Kuiper station, a large O'Neil cylinder hub and from there they built a space elevator down to the planet's surface. These first 100 thousand colonists this first wave these pioneers laid the foundations down of the first cities, colonies of the Dutch settlement of the planet. They laid down the orbital infrastructure and from there moved down with the construction of a space elevator and from there created the layout of what would be the core of the first major city of the Dutch on mars.
The third wave was launched in the 2080s, when the political situation on earth, as well as the climate situation, was reaching a point of no return, it was during this time that the first mass waves of the exodus were started. Since the 2060s large-scale martian colonization vessels were built, not just ships that transported people, but also ships that transported scientific equipment, factories, the most advanced production facilities as well. Entire factories were shipped off as well as resource extraction, storages of the seeds and the genetical codes for many of the animals, the idea was quite simple that only the most priced artifacts, the art of the old masters, and so on would be taken with them towards Mars. everything else would be created a new there for a new future however one thing that was decided that from every city every town in the Netherlands, one brick would be taken that would be placed in every new settlement that would be built by the Dutch from that time onward.
During this period the so-called "Groten Trek" took place between the 80s and up to 95. This was the time during which a majority of the Dutch population would leave towards mars. 15 Years of near-constant flights between earth and mars. In those 15 years, millions would pass through Kuiper station, itself growing into the largest man-made object in history as O'Neill cylinder after cylinder attached itself to it, as the cyclers between earth and Mars brought the millions over, then down to the planet and from there the outlines of the city were build upon. A new city began to rise, as parts of the mariner valley that had been closed off were beginning to be Peraterraformed at the same time they expanded into the valley further, as well as outside of the valley, setting up the transport network between the various colonial settlements inside the main Dutch settlement, and in between the settlements outside of the valley.
As the Dutch were expanding upon Mars back on earth they made the final preparations to leave the planet once and for all. This happened during a time when on earth tensions were heating up and large parts of Eurasia had been set ablaze with proxy conflicts, as well as a civil war within the African Union. During this time the Netherlands was completely abandoned by the Dutch leaving their homeland of over a thousand years behind once and for all. During this phase of the program, the final settlers left and things like more specific equipment were brought over, this included the military know-how and it was said that during this time the last Dutchman set food in the Netherlands, was a man named Klaas Akkerman, it was said he was the last man that left from Schiphol and the man that pushed the button that ended the Netherlands.
Thus a new era for the Dutch began an era that would see the red planet turn orange.
The settlement of Nieuw Limburg in the Rim region, a large city complex connected to the main Hebes chasma settlement through railways. Its one of the most developed settlements on the planet.
The Rim conflicts
With the battle for Mining outpost 19 fought and won the nature of the ongoing dispute between the Dutch state and the Wells settlement society changed and it escalated into a full-on conflict. This series of conflicts lasted from the 18th of June 2124, starting with the battle of mining outpost 19 and ended when Horison city, the capital of the Wells settlement society, was captured on the 18th of December 2126. The conflict often by earth historians called the first Martian conflict, changed the balance of power in the Valles Marineris. It saw the first forceful territorial expansion in Martian history, a breach into what had before been known as the "Corporate zone" and a sudden rise of a new power on the block.
In 2105 the Netherlands had moved the vast majority of its population, from Earth to Mars in what was to be known as De Grote Trek. As soon as the first waves of pioneers arrived in the late 2060s that had begun to build the outlines of the cities, production centers transportation infrastructure, and other critical infrastructure on the ground as well as the orbital infrastructure designed to handle the incoming and massive influx of immigrants. Thus as the second waves arrived and hundreds of thousands of people arrived, small cities were formed at the bases of the space elevators and rails, domes cities, and everything required for a proper long-term self-sustaining settlement began to appear. Then later as the third waves arrived these small cities expanded rapidly as where possible valleys were domed and walled off. At the same time cities were cut into the rocks growing rapidly and massively, the road & rail grid was expanded rapidly and massively. Not just within the principal large settlement in the Hebes Chasma but also in the second major settlement, which had 35% of the population, in the Tempe terra region.
By 2105 some 55 years after the start of the Grote trek, the Dutch regions of mars, commonly known simply as Mars-landen, were the most developed and populated settlements on the red planet. With a total population of 27,918,390 of which 35% lived in the Tempe Terra region, 60% living in the Hebes Chasma region, and the settlements in the Candor chasma rim region in the northwestern Valles Marineris region. With 5% living in Kuiper station that was the principal spaceport from where the space elevators went down. There were also growing settlements on the Martian north pole and large-scale infrastructure projects aimed at connecting the northern pole settlements to the tempes terra settlements and thus the main settlement. This did not include the dozens upon dozens of frontier settlements and mining outposts spread through the territory that the Dutch controlled.
Within the Dutch settlements, the economy was largely built upon the ongoing expansion of the settlement, mining, technological development, biotechnological development, and advanced production, it was in most things self-sufficient yet not in a critical area. It was reliant upon outside sources for the ice water needed to accommodate its expansion, as the population was growing and while recycling was effective it needed more to accommodate the expanding population.
They were reliant on their import of water ice, at least until the north pole colony was capable to deliver it and the infrastructure project was finished, which experienced numerous delays. Until that was finished it was reliant for its ice water on the Wells Settlement Society (WSS) that held a near-monopoly as much of its claim, not recognized, territory held the majority of the ice reserves in the upper Valles Marineris. It directly bordered the Dutch their own territory, this direct access was essential for the transportation of ice, as around the 2110s the situation on earth had deteriorated and Asteroid extraction was not deemed fast enough, it was the Dutch their only immediate source. While at first from the 2080s onwards both settlements traded peacefully with one another without any issue, as the 2110s proceeded this began to change.
A combination of a lack of other ice sources, continued Dutch expansion into the Valles Marines her Candor Chasma Rim region, often crossing what the WSS considered its territory, not just with scouting missions but with permanent mining outposts, water extraction facilities, and even frontier towns. While this in itself would have led to some issue but possibly be solved peacefully, it stood not on its own. As the Dutch population in the 2110s experienced rapid growth and thus its cities & in the mountains and domed over valleys expanded thus as well. Thus the Dutch demanded more ice and encouraged into WSS territory, it came to a point where the WSS (with a population of around 490,190) feared that soon it would not be able to meet its own consumption in the long term. Their reaction was quite simple and quite direct.
By 2117 the WSS had increased its price for water ice, as it knew the Dutch had few other sources and still needed to expand and desperately needed the water. It was hoped by the WSS that this would halt Dutch expansion and for about 1 year it did. Yet then the Dutch continued to build up extraction outposts in the region that they now occupied but the WSS considered its territory. It was for the simple reason that they had discovered large quantities of water ice, that would allow them to expand and stock up their reserves. By their current calculations, they would have reserves for about 60 years at current expansion levels and para-terraforming efforts. This led to the worst-case event from taking place and the WSS banned the export of its water ice to the Dutch state and it hired a private security firm to handle its border guarding duties, thus the Dutch were thrown into a sort of crisis.
The effect of a crisis
The crisis that resulted from the ban was something that could be felt through Dutch society, to extend their reserves rationing was initiated and expansion was temporarily halted. A debate within the staten-generaal emerged. It was a debate about how they should proceed, they knew that they could expand for some time without rationing, but they could not come to a negotiation table, as it would show the WSS that they could them around. This was something that many delegates of the staten-Generaal, having been born on earth in the final years of the Netherlands and having experienced the floods and the lack of aid from other nations, had made them rather cold-hearted. The debates went on for some time and where between two options, either pushing into the territory of the WSS to secure the ice or wait on the north pole settlement and facilities and transportation systems to be completed. The latter option was considered but the timetable for that project was 15 years, it was possible for them to wait but it would mean they would empty their reserves to an extent that it would be dangerously close to going to rationing levels.
To many, the option of risking a further escalation in the existing tension, by continuing to expand into the Rim region was more preferable. It was also due to the fact that the Candor Chasma Rim already had a large number of major settlements, like the Nieuw-Limburg valley settlements or the Nieuwe Ardenne. It would however mean the possibility of an escalation and possibly even the usage of hostile force, thus when it was decided in 2119 at the same time the Krijgsmacht was ordered to begin preparations on how to effectively operate on Mars and become an effective tool of policy.
With the policy of continuing to expand having been decided upon in June 2119, the following months were marked with the creation of a more coherent plan of expansion and securing the critical resources, by the cabinet of the newly elected Prime minister Willem Maartense. While at the same time the Krijgsmacht, which had for nearly 2 decades been a simple heavily armed police force, began to prepare for the effective conduction of a use of force on Mars. Recruitment offices were opened and contracts were sent out with requirements of what the Krijgsmacht, more precisely the Landmacht wanted to have in its mobile vehicles, as well as a request to several UAV construction companies to modify existing designs to create more weaponized variants. This preparation took place for a good 2 years, as the creation of a grand strategy and the build-up of military forces took some time yet by 2121 the Dutch started to push once again into WSS territory.
The start of a new phase
The first new push into WSS territory or perceived territory took place in August 2121, when from the Nieuwe-Ardenne settlement. Large groups of automated construction units, pioneers, and mobile hab units. They traveled through the valley in the great 6 km deep plain and crossed a so-called red line, that the WSS had informed everyone that they considered their territory. There the various groups set up mining outposts and water extraction facilities and command centers and small frontier towns.
This caught the eye of the Iron Guard, the private security firm that the WSS hired to handle their border as well as the WSS itself. The WSS send a political complaint about this sudden unprovoked and in its words hostile Dutch action. Yet nothing happened through the remainder of 2121 and up until the 7th of February 2122. Occasionally some Iron guard drones flew over Dutch outposts and vice versa. Yet through the months while nothing happened on the border, what was happening, in reality, was that the Iron guard was hiring recruits from the earth and shipped them to Mars. The WSS considered her own long-term stability to be at stake, as its economic fortunes seemed to worsen as the Dutch continued to extract water ice from the frontier regions, and now the WSS her own long-term water security seemed to be threatened. Feeling that they to were now under threat they allowed the Iron Guard to not just get more recruits from the earth, many of those recruits being veterans of the many proxy wars going on, but also it started to requests its backers on earth for support. Yet due to the situation on earth being rather dire as the third world war her effects were still very much present.
Yet the Iron Guard recruited from the veterans of the proxy conflicts in Africa and with a large loan, had armed itself up. Its reinforcements arrived on Mars in early 2122 and using the larger Musk space elevator they began transporting their men and equipment towards the WSS and from there move towards the border region and from February onwards the tensions entered a new phase. A phase where drones being lost became an ever more present event and where through 2122 and into 2123 the Iron Guard began to actively set up border outposts, defense outposts, and major installations. The Iron Guard as of 2123 had a total force of around 23,000 men on mars, armed with armoured vehicles, armed sentry drones, armed sentry droids, and remote weapon systems. They in total had a force of some 67,000 sentry droids under their command. They thus had begun to set up the defensive network and more outposts and this hindered the more regular Dutch scouting operations as the grand strategy was a slow but steady one. Yet the Iron Guard was preparing for their own plan as well, to push the Dutch back to the original border, maybe taking the mining installations for themselves to make themselves some nice profits. All of these factors combined in what eventually would become known as the Battle for mining outpost 19.
The battle took place on the 18th of June 2124, when a standard Dutch patrol was destroyed by Iron Guard units. This caused the Dutch to respond in force in a coherent long-range counterattack to secure the outpost. this counterattack involved a total of 490 Dutch soldiers and armoured vehicles including the newly developed mobile gun system. The counterattack was swift and brutal and the 590 Iron guard men that guarded the outpost and the surrounding forward operating bases were all killed in a decisively precise and brutal offensive.
The Rim conflict the push towards Herbert city
Retrieved from "https://wiki.rosestulipsandliberty.com/w/index.php?title=Red_turns_Orange&oldid=2140"


our love story. part 3 / 3.
and I wanted it that way.
not something to worry about.
I know a lot of worriers.
Only my friend Nika knew.
I didn't want her to worry.
a human being inside of you.
They are the size of a grain of rice.
They are the size of a chick pea.
that will never be read.
when they can't hear it.
sometimes we can't hear the heartbeat.
across your goopy jell covered belly.
Wondering if your baby is okay.
Wishing desperately that they are.
that mean that your baby is gone.
to see your doctor for the results.
on the way back to the clinic.
The baby stopped developing at 8 weeks.
You body will naturally pass the baby.
to check in on me.
I didn't know what was normal.
to catch a flight out West for work.
for a day at the Quest conference.
and shakily got my things ready.
feeling really out of it.
from what I knew was true.
Yeah, I'm just not feeling well.
I think I have the same thing as you.
Oh, really? That's too bad.
Ummm, I don't think so.
his response was actually kind of funny to me).
that you've done anything wrong.
and it's out of my control.
I was really hesitant about sharing this online and at the same time, I knew that I wanted to. Such a weird combination of feelings to have at once. It's scary to put something so personal out there for total strangers to read (or even worse, people I know). And yet, I hit publish.
I'm doing it because of one person.
There was someone who once confided in me during a really difficult time for her. She had just recently miscarried and shared her experience with me. Besides family members, I didn't know anyone else who had miscarried before. I'm so thankful that she did. If not, it would have felt like I was the only one when it happened to us. I just kept thinking, she had a miscarriage and now she has a little boy. Maybe I'll be okay too. Maybe we'll be able to have children too.
Thank you to the person who was brave enough to share. You gave me hope when I felt like there was none. I hope that writing and sharing this story might do the same for someone else.
If you know of someone who has recently miscarried or is having difficulties, please feel free to pass this along. They need to know they're not the only one.
Wasn't life without kids so much fun?
Three kids later…what did we do?!
then tossing on the floor.
Does this happen just to us?
I wrote this poem for my husband this morning. He had just taken the boys to the park (it was 6:30 a.m.) Our day started at 4:30 a.m.
And after the kids were going in and out of our bedroom closet, locking each other into different bedrooms, slamming doors, yelling, pulling books from our shelf…it was time to get them outside.
Once they stepped out the door, I sat on my bed and started to write.
I married a handsome man.
as soon as he gets in the door.
isn't easy for him either.
And I wish it was different for him.
Children do change a relationship.
that you usually have for one another.
instead of Lainie and Eric.
But it doesn't change how much you love them.
I love you, Eric Holmes.
Let's go to a game again soon.
Wow….you are so brave to put your story out there. I have always said 'things happen for a reason' and while we don't always know the 'why' we have to have faith in the fact that there is a reason. There is a reason you shared this and while some might respond and let you know 'your why' I believe there will be others who will embrace your story and you may never know who or how it's impact has supported them in their own life….and that's ok too.
Thank you, Heather 🙂 I hope that in sharing it's helpful to someone too. And that blue hair and tutu is ready to make an appearance!


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Srinivasa Kalyanam may refer to:
 Srinivasa Kalyanam (1987 film), a 1987 Telugu-language film
 Srinivasa Kalyanam (2018 film), a 2018 Telugu-language film

See also
 Srinivasa Kalyana, a 2017 Kannada-language film

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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UK General Election 2010: the chicken and the Clegg
tags: David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg, UK General Election 2010, UK Politics
Avian: David Cameron with his feathered nemesis from The Daily Mirror (left); available: Nick Clegg (right) open for business – but with whom?
My name's George, and I'm a political junkie. There, I've admitted it. Truth be told, though, I tend to oscillate between finding the whole Westminster farago fascinating and finding it a pathetic nonsense that's merely all about power-play. And, let's face the facts, the seeming failure of Gordon Brown's tenure as Chancellor under Blair and his time as PM at the head of a knackered government, the little difference, when you boil down to it, there seems to be between Labour and David Cameron's Tories, and the expenses crisis that seems to have eroded trust among the electorate in politicians all combined and pointed to a fairly unwelcome, rather dull and uneventful election campaign. And now, with just hours to go until the big vote, is that what we've had?
Is it eccers like. This general election campaign has been the most interesting and unpredictable since 1997 when smiley Tony's New Labour made mincemeat of Major's Tories on a daily basis and swept to a sensational victory. Since then we've had two non-event elections that saw Blair easily returned and now we're left where we are in 2010. It's a choice between Big Gord and his reddish troops, Cameron the toff and his blue charlies or Nick Clegg's yellow Lib Dems. Wait a tick, Nick Clegg, who he?
Shock horror: the moment Gillian Duffy discovered Gordon Brown's slip of the tongue really has been this campaign's second biggest talking point
Yes, that would have been a reasonable question for many folks a month ago, but now The Cleggster is more instantly recognisable to students than the cast members of Glee and a more discussed figure in Middle-England than either Jonathan Ross or Russell Brand. It was, of course, the first leadership debate what done it (which was branded in capitals by broadcaster ITV as The First Leadership Debate, just in case you weren't sure whether Alistair Stewart and co. had got there first). Standing on a set that oddly but rather comfortingly looked like it belonged to a 1980s sports show, Clegg appeared less nervous than his two foes and spoke clearly, politely and emitted doses of charm and charisma. And, literally overnight, he was a national superstar (frankly, the fact he wasn't already, given he's the leader of the 'third party', must say something about this country). His approval ratings following his hour-and-a-half in the primetime telly limelight soared – some say it proved he was the most popular leader since Churchill (impressive considering he's not even Prime Minister) – and the Lib Dems spread their wings and set flight like liberated liberal free-birds.
It's a good question, though, whether 'Cleggmania' has actually been real or whether he'll be remembered, reminsicent of winter 1988, as an Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards-style comfortable curiosity but ultimately glorious loser. Yup, he's likeable, sort of handsome, a bit like a cuddly bank manager, so he's clearly not Barack Obama – he's as British as a cup of tea. However, for us over here at least, he's stolen Cameron's thunder by seeming to represent genuine political change. At least, among some. Or many. The truth is that with this election nobody really knows.
The Lib Dems' surge in the polls has been so surprising, it's incredibly difficult to predict what will happen on Friday – or perhaps even in the days following that. Now, 12 days after the first debate – a long, long time in politics; an eternity in an election campaign – the third party's position in the polls is standing pretty firm. Are we heading for a hung parliament then? Or a minority government? Or a Lab-Lib coalition? Or even a Con-Lib coalition? I have my own thoughts, but considering I could be completely wrong don't want to set myself up for a fall – or tempt fate – by predicting anything. Talk about excitement, this is genuinely the power of democracy at work here – or at least it's potential power. Because what actually matters, of course, is what happens at the polling stations up and down the country today.
Has the balloon gone up?: Big Gord looks down in the mouth, but after the last three years amazingly he may not yet be down and out
Mind you, as is always the case when it comes to politics, this campaign hasn't been without its distasteful moments. Nobody will forget – the right-wing press certainly won't allow you to – Brown's blunder in branding a lifelong Labour voter from Rochdale a 'bigot'. Frankly, methinks he was really searching for an appropriate word with which to describe her and found the worst possible one instead. I mean, let's be grown up about it, politicians make the same unseemly mistakes we all make; the real big mistake he made was forgetting he was still wearing a radio mic. Talking of being grown up, or rather being the opposite, there's also the scrap going on down in Barking between Labour, the Lib Dems and those genuine bigots the BNP. Indeed, the scrap became real today as the London campaign manager of the country's most xenophobic, nay most racist, party was caught on film in fisticuffs with a group of Asian youths. The BNP's popularity in that particular constituency makes me genuinely uneasy and whoever gets in – or back in – to Downing Street surely, with the rest of society, has to address the worrying flirtation with right-wing extreme politics some of us seem happy dabbling with.
And, on a lighter yet unquestionably unseemly note, this election has also made us endure the sight of Peter Mandelson ballroom dancing with a pensioner. Didn't see it? Trust me, you lucked out there. All the same though, for me, it's been a campaign that's felt, for a change, like it's flown by, rather than gone on week after week. And it's strange that, given that unlike the last US Presidential election, the 'Net hasn't played a very big role in events, and probably thanks to the domination of the three debates it's felt far more telly-dependent, retro and a bit end-of-the-pier-like tacky than modern and swish.
Yup, I've enjoyed it, but I appreciate few of you out there may be with me on that one. In which case, maybe the best sign-off I can give here is to reaffirm the point that, despite whatever you think of 'em, in the end it's all about strolling down to the polling station today and putting an 'x' next to one of the politicians' names. After all, having to endure/ enjoy the campaign as we all have for the last month or so, if we don't do that, what's been the point of any of it…?
from → Modern musings
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Home › SECActions › SEC Staples: Trading Suspensions, Market Manipulation and Ponzi Schemes
SEC Staples: Trading Suspensions, Market Manipulation and Ponzi Schemes
T. GormanPosted on March 03, 2015 Posted in SECActions
Trading suspensions, market manipulation and Ponzi scheme actions – staples of SEC enforcement. The Commission suspended trading for 128 dormant shell companies this week while bringing a market manipulation action involving two recidivists and a case against an adviser involving Ponzi like schemes.
Trading suspensions: The suspensions which halted trading in the shares of 128 issuers described as being dormant by the Commission are part of Operation Shell-Expel. Since that operation began in 2012 trading suspensions have been issued for over 800 microcap stocks. That represents about 8% of the OTC traded stocks. While trading could begin again if certain requirements are met, it is "extremely rare" for that to occur, according to the Commission.
Manipulation: The Commission filed a pump-and-dump and insider trading action centered on the manipulation of the shares of a company which is a defendant in another SEC enforcement action by a securities law recidivist. SEC v. Williky, Civil Action No. 15-cv-357 (S.D. Ind. Filed March 2, 2015). This action focused on the manipulation of the shares of Imperial Petroleum, Inc. by Gary Williky. The firm, a defendant in another SEC enforcement action, supposedly made and sold biofuel, reaping significant tax credits in the process. Mr. Williky, a defendant in two prior SEC enforcement actions, was retained to conduct investor relations.
Following his retention, Mr. Williky engaged in a series of wash sales and matched orders to inflate the price of the shares. He also used e-mails in which he touted the shares without disclosing that he was actually selling the stock. Although at one point he acquired over 5% of the company shares, the required disclosure schedules were not filed.
During his work with the company Mr. Williky discovered that its business was a fraud. The company did not manufacture bio-fuel. It purchased the substance and resold it. Accordingly, it was not entitled to the tax credits it obtained. Rather than report the fraud to the authorities, Mr. Williky demanded and obtained a block of stock from the firm in return for his silence. He then sold the shares into the market. The complaint alleges violations of Securities Act Section 17(a) and Exchange Act Sections 9(a)(1), 10(b) and 13(d). The case is pending. See Lit. Rel. No. 23211 (March 2, 2015).
Ponzi payments: The Commission also brought an action against fund manager Gregory Gray and his controlled entities, Archipel Capital LLC and BIM Management LP, centered on a Ponzi like scheme. SEC v. Gray, (S.D.N.Y. Filed February 27, 2015). Since at least 2011 Mr. Gray has raised about $20 million from at least 140 investors for various funds he controls. Although each fund was supposed to be separate, the investor money was comingled and transferred among the group.
The Social Media Fund LP, one of the group of funds, was supposed to acquire pre-IPO shares of Twitter at prices ranging from about $19 to $25 per share. Mr. Gray raised about $5.2 million for this fund. While about 80,000 pre-IPO shares of Twitter were acquired, under the terms of the offering documents about 230,000 should have been acquired. When investors sought the transfer of the promised shares Mr. Gray at first delayed. He then misappropriated about $5.3 million from the Late Stage Fund LP, another member of the group. That Fund was supposed to acquire pre-IPO shares of Uber Technologies, Inc. Rather than use the investor money put in the Late Stage Fund primarily by one investor to purchase Uber shares, Mr. Gray diverted to repay investors in the Social Media Fund. When the investor in the Late Stage Fund demanded the shares, Mr. Gray fabricated certificates for the investor. In testimony before the staff he authenticated the shares.
To replace the funds in the Late Stage Fund Mr. Gray continued soliciting investors. In February 2015 he secured $470,000 from another investor for that Fund. He also claimed to be about to close a deal with a China based investor for an additional $30 million. The Commission's complaint alleges violations of Securities Act Section 17(a), Exchange Act Section 10(b) and Advisers Act Sections 206(1), 206(2) and 206(4). The SEC obtained an emergency freeze order. The case is pending.
‹ M&A Deals Continue To Be Challenged In Shareholder Litigation
SOX, the Destruction of Evidence And Dr. Seuss: Is a Fish A Tangible Object? ›


I honestly don't begrudge her 1/4 of the Studio....but. I was already out of room with just MY stuff; add her 2 kilns and all the stuff that goes with them, and....yeah. We are stuffed to the gills. I had to get rid of my sewing desk and the credenza; I bought Himself a new dresser and took his for fabric storage. Unfortunately, it's not as large as the credenza...so I have to find a way to shoe-horn in the rest of the fabric. And thread. And patterns.....I also bought a cheap plastic filing cabinet for the patterns...but it's really not suited for that. :sigh: Ah, well - we'll work it out. Somehow.
We're all at 6's and 7's right now, but it'll get organized.
I'm exhausted (still not totally recovered from the crud), so I'm gonna go sit a bit. Oh!!!! Finished the Celtic socks - pics later. (They're drying right now) I need to assemble a CD tower (Lost the CD storage when the credenza left. :sigh:) - Laters!
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Repair: AF-Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8
Hello, everybody! We had some Japanese-style steak tonight for dinner. It's a fusion dish, a new take on a classic by adding some elements of Japanese cooking to make it more interesting and familiar to local palates. While it is arguably delicious, this is still a new thing. I estimate that it is probably only less than 2 decades old. While that was delicious, it was built on established cooking techniques and dishes, I feel that there's still a lot of room for improvement. While we're on the topic of fusion and improvement, I'd like to introduce to you an interesting lens, it's an early attempt to fuse 2 paradigms. While it's a good start, it still has lots of room for improvement but the lens had plenty of potential and that's what's most important if you ask me.
Today, we are going to talk about the AF-Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8. This lens is not known by a lot of people due to its rarity. It's only made a few years before it was replaced by a superior design. This is one of the original lineup of AF-Nikkors introduced in the mid-1980s for their new AF cameras like the Nikon F4, these gained an underserved reputation amongst hardcore Nikkor fans due to the use of plastics. Nikon at that period in time was experimenting with AF lens designs so as a result, many of these suffer from awkward handling characteristics which annoyed those who are used to using classic Nikkors.
The AF-Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 is a rather boring-looking lens. It looks like a tea cup or a salve pot depending on who you ask. But appearances can be deceiving, this lens is a great performer throughout its range until you reach f/11-f/16 where diffraction begins show. This lens can also go to a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:1 without the use of any accessory, it's the first lens in the 55mm Micro-Nikkor line that's able to do this natively since the Micro-Nikkor 5.5cm f/3.5 from 1961. It achieves this feat by using a long-telescoping set of barrels to extend the lens to about twice its length. If it all sounds familiar to you that's because this is the predecessor of the amazing and still in-production AF-Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D. While both lenses feel similar, they're different mechanically and optically. Both can extend their barrels using 2 totally different methods.
Repair: Nikkor-H 300mm f4.5 Auto
Hello, everybody! Hope you are fine, I had a painful back yesterday because I slept in the wrong position. Back pain has always been a problem of mine for years and it comes back occasionally. It's probably due to the nature of my job where I am required to sit for long hours at work. Repairing lenses and cameras isn't much help too because I am spending a couple of hours a night sitting with a bad posture. Speaking of back pain, I'll show you guys a lens that will certainly make your back ache if you are carrying one for too long and that's the reason why I seldom use this lens.
We are going to talk about one of Nikon's earlier telephoto lenses and it's no other than the Nikkor-H 300mm f/4.5 Auto! This lens succeeded the Nikkor-P 300mm f/4.5 Auto. They are nearly-identical to each other except the older one only has five elements. It was a unique lens when the Nikkor-P 300mm f/4.5 Auto was released in time for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. It was then updated with an additional element in 1969 but its design remained nearly-identical. In fact, it can be hard to tell the difference when you have the two together in a picture. I don't have the earlier one but people claim that it's a decent and well-balanced lens even wide-open. This lens is supposed to be the improved version but I cannot do any tests to back it up and my copy of this lens suffered from terrible damage in the rear element which seems to be somewhat common with this lens for some reason.
This is a big lens and it can get longer when you extend the built-in hood. It balances well with my Nikon D750, I can imagine that it can be even better with a bigger camera like the Nikon D4. It's not something that you'll want to use today for sports and wildlife or in situations where you'll need very fast AF performance and super-sharp images but it can be an enjoyable lens to use when you're just playing around.
Repair: Micro-Nikkor-P.C 55mm f/3.5 Auto
Hello, everybody! Today is the start of my 4-day weekend! I'll have enough time for my recreation and self-healing. As you know, I'm busier now at my new studio, finding time to do what I love can be very difficult. I often find myself sleeping really late and it's beginning to take a toll on my health. It's great that I can recharge myself after all the work in the past few months at work and at home. Speaking of refreshes, we'll be talking about something great that came out even better after being "refreshed". This will be a very good example of how a good design can be pushed even further.
Today, we will be looking at the Micro-Nikkor-P.C 55mm f/3.5 Auto! This isn't just a cosmetic upgrade of the Micro-Nikkor-P 55mm f/3.5 Auto which came before it as many people would tend to believe but this lens' optics has been tweaked a bit. Apart from the newer coatings (hence, the "C"), this lens was revised a bit so it can render objects further into the frame sharper. Nikon did this thinking that not many people are using this lens for close-up work. While that may be true statistically, people buy these things because of their performance for close-up work. It turned-off many but to be frank, I did not find this lens to be any-less sharp than the previous one. In what I do which is shooting bugs and sometimes slides, they're really as sharp as you can get them to be from f/5.6 to f/8.
The Micro-Nikkor-P.C 55mm f/3.5 Auto is a beautifully-built lens. This lens is a little gem for people who love to shoot small objects and it also serves as a great walk-around lens due to the 55mm focal length. The new rubber ring is a welcome update to some but I like the feel of metal focusing rings more to be honest but that's just me because I prefer durable things.


This week's picture from 25 years ago takes us to the coast.
And in particular to Amble and its annual lifeboat day.
But do you know who is in the picture and why it was taken?
It looks like some kind of presentation, but from whom and to whom?


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Former UN Chief and Bill Gates on Board as the Netherlands Accelerates Climate Adaptation
By Reinhard Jacobsen
AMSTERDAM (IDN) – Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will oversee the Global Commission on Adaptation to climate change, which the Government of the Netherlands and the Global Center on Adaptation have decided to set up. It will be formally launched on October 16 in The Hague. Bill Gate, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will support Ban.
The Global Center on Adaptation, an international organization hosted by the Netherlands, in partnership with World Resources Institute will co-host the Commission.
The importance of the Global Commission on Adaptation derives from the fact that Climate change adaptation as a response to global warming, also known as climate change, is particularly important in developing countries.
Those countries are bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change. The economic costs of adaptation to climate change are likely to cost billions of dollars annually for the next several decades, though the amount of money needed is unknown.
Donor countries promised an annual $100 billion by 2020 through the Green Climate Fund for developing countries to adapt to climate change. However, while the fund was set up during the UN Climate Change Conference in the Mexican city of Cancún in 2010, concrete pledges by developed countries have not been forthcoming. But the adaptation challenge grows with the magnitude and the rate of climate change.
A new paper – published in the scientific journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution by an international group of scientists led by the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen – reviews current knowledge on climate change and biodiversity.
Nature is reacting to climate change, scientists say. "We see altered behaviour and movement among plants and animals; flowers change flowering period and owls get darker body colour, due to warmer winters."
"We compiled an enormous amount of studies of events, which we know influenced biodiversity during the past million years. It turns out species have been able to survive new conditions in their habitat by changing either their behaviour or body shape. However, the current magnitude and unseen speed of change in nature may push species beyond their ability to adapt."
Against this backdrop, the Commission could play a significant role in mobilising funds for developing countries.
The announcement of the formation of the Commission was made during an event marking the new construction of an innovative climate-adaptive floating office in Rotterdam by Dutch Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen for Infrastructure and Water Management, the initiating Commissioner. Van Nieuwenhuizen noted that the Commission will elevate the political visibility of adaptation and will focus on solutions, catalyzing a global adaptation movement and accelerating action.
"For the Netherlands, looking for solutions to water issues is part of everyday life. This is not yet the case in other areas and countries that also increasingly are faced with extreme weather," the Minister stated.
"Climate change is making itself felt almost on a daily basis. Take, for example, the prolonged drought that currently is affecting large parts of Europe. By launching this Commission, we aim to press the need for worldwide climate adaptation," she added.
Ban Ki-moon said, "Today's announcements by the Government of the Netherlands is a critical step forward to set in motion more vigorous attention to and action around climate adaptation. I congratulate Minister van Nieuwenhuizen for her role as an initiator of the Global Commission on Adaptation and look forward to collaborating with her and other global leaders as we embark on our worldwide mission to accelerate adaptation."
The floating office to be constructed in Rotterdam will be home to the Global Center on Adaptation, which has expanded its mission under new leadership. In addition to its office in Rotterdam, the Global Center will have an office in Groningen, which will be inaugurated by Ban on October 17.
Patrick Verkooijen, the newly appointed Chief Executive Office of the Global Center, said his goal is to inspire clarity behind the adaptation agenda and pursue pragmatic steps that can help address policies, investments, financing, and governance needed for more adaptation action globally.
"We act as a solutions broker," Verkooijen said, "bringing together governments, the private sector, civil society, intergovernmental bodies, and knowledge institutions that can address the obstacles slowing down adaptation action."
Of the Global Center, Ban noted that "the role of Global Center on Adaptation will be significant because we need all societies to learn from one another. Under the exemplary and bold leadership of Patrick Verkooijen, the Center will help accelerate transformation at scale and at speed." [IDN-InDepthNews – 11 September 2018]
Photo credit: UNDP
Reinhard Jacobsen


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What Is Cannabidiol?
Posted on Dec 10, 2019. 0 comments
Unless you've deliberately turned off the news over the past few years, you've undoubtedly heard about cannabidiol, or more commonly referred to as CBD. Often marketed or touted as the cannabis material that won't give you a high, CBD represents the other equation behind the contentious debate over marijuana legalization.
With cannabidiol, the emphasis is focused firmly on therapeutic effects. Because it won't lever a negative psychoactive effect, end-users from a wider demographic than is possible with THC-laden marijuana can enjoy CBD. Furthermore, scientific and medical institutions are actively conducting high-level research into the underlying cannabis plant to discover more naturally sourced health applications.
But the real beauty of cannabidiol is its incredible diversity and ease of introduction. While the mainstream media tends to spotlight CBD's possible applications toward chronic diseases or conditions, people have used cannabidiol across the full spectrum of conditions, ranging from the typical aches and pains up to more serious situations.
Yet what exactly is cannabidiol and what are the longer-term implications for this groundbreaking discovery? In this guideline, we'll discuss the following points:
How CBD differs from marijuana?
Is CBD legal in the U.S.?
Best ways to use CBD?
The economics of CBD
First, let's address the pivotal question: what exactly is Cannabidiol?
As the name suggests, cannabidiol is a derivative of the cannabis sativa plant. Specifically, CBD is a cannabinoid, or chemical compound of cannabis. Currently, scientists have identified 113 cannabinoids, of which CBD is one. Inarguably, the most commonly discussed cannabinoid is the notorious tetrahydrocannabinol or THC for short.
This is perhaps the easiest component to discuss about the organic nature of CBD. From here on out, much confusion reigns, which has contributed in limiting the proliferation of cannabidiol. Yet a basic grounding in the essential facts is crucial to understanding the nuances of legal cannabis.
First and foremost, cannabidiol shares many similarities to the illegal and socially maligned THC cannabinoid. From a molecular standpoint, CBD contains 21 carbon atoms, 30 hydrogen atoms, and 2 oxygen atoms, written as C21H30O2. But where the confusion comes in is that THC also integrates the same molecular structure: 21 carbon atoms, 30 hydrogen atoms, and 2 oxygen atoms. Even more startling to the uninitiated, the chemical formula for THC is exactly the same as CBD, C21H30O2.
So, how does CBD differentiate itself from THC, as they clearly have different effects to the end-user? A simple variance in the arrangement of the elements – precisely, the location of one of the hydrogen atoms – makes all the difference. While this is seemingly an insignificant detail, it underlines the myriad conflicts, confusion, and debates behind legal cannabis-based products.
Nevertheless, it is this detail that also underlines the broader narrative of CBD as a "miracle" compound. Although that term is used tongue-in-cheek within the industry, it demonstrates that CBD is one of the few naturally sourced platforms in which you can have your cake and eat it too. Consider that with cannabidiol, you can enjoy much of the benefits of medical marijuana therapies but without the legal repercussions or the negative psychoactive effects – the so-called high from smoking a joint, for example.
And this is the principle reason why CBD has gained tremendous popularity within the mainstream. Those who were "botanically curious" about the cannabis plant's health-related effects – but were rightfully afraid of the legal consequences of illegally procured cannabis – now have an acceptable pathway toward use and experimentation.
Cannabidiol, or CBD is a cannabinoid – a chemical compound – of the cannabis sativa plant. From a molecular view, CBD has 21 carbon atoms, 30 hydrogen atoms, and 2 oxygen atoms, just like the controversial cannabinoid THC. The difference, though, is that CBD has a distinct arrangement, resulting in unique user experiences relative to THC.
How CBD Differs from Marijuana
Despite the uncomfortable associations and implications, the scientific fact is that CBD is almost identical to THC. With the same molecular structure only differentiated by elemental arrangement, it's not surprising that cannabidiol and the THC from marijuana offer similar holistic benefits.
Unfortunately, the molecular connection between CBD and THC leads to inaccurate assumptions, which often materializes in the form of misguided, draconian policies. Chiefly, this confusion drives the overall narrative of the legal cannabis industry: lack of good information may have severe consequences.
One of the most important distinctions to remember is that CBD is not marijuana; rather, CBD is similar to THC, which is a cannabinoid of the cannabis indica plant. On the other hand, CBD is typically derived from the cannabis sativa plant. Of course, to the average person that's not involved in the botanical arts, this distinction appears extremely granular. While that may be the case at the molecular level, it's in the legal arena where the dissimilarity becomes critical.
In 2018, both Republicans and Democrats came together in a rare showing of bipartisanship to pass into law an updated farm bill. Admittedly, most of the language is related to the specifics of agriculture – not pressing material unless you're involved in the profession. However, the 2018 farm bill had one very critical piece of language: cannabis materials are federally legal if they are "hemp and hemp-derived products." With one stroke of the pen – metaphorically speaking – almost a century of legal prosecution vanished.
Well, not quite, which we'll discuss later. But the key point about the farm bill is that legality only applies to materials under the hemp umbrella. As marijuana is not part of that umbrella, it remains a Schedule I drug. But ere's another confusing element: cannabidiol (CBD) can be derived from either hemp or marijuana. Thus, the question isn't about if CBD is different from marijuana; rather, the real line of inquiry is what's the difference between hemp and marijuana?
The answer again might confuse the lay observer and the CBD curious: almost nothing. In fact, hemp and marijuana are often indistinguishable physically, leading to awkwardly dangerous exchanges with law enforcement in some cases.
Botanically, while CBD is typically derived from the cannabis sativa plant, it truly can come from any strain of the cannabis genus. Thus, CBD can be sourced from hemp or it can be sourced from marijuana. Furthermore, as cannabis expert Jeremy Riggle, Ph.D. stated: "The CBD molecule and its associated pharmacology are the same, whether it was extracted from hemp or from marijuana. CBD is CBD, regardless of where it was originally derived from".
Thus, if you consume CBD, from a biological perspective, the origination of that CBD doesn't matter. For instance, the same smartphone purchased from one retailer features the exact same specs from that purchased from a different retailer. As Riggle stated, CBD is CBD.
One of the most confusing topics within legal cannabis, CBD is legally different from marijuana. However, from a technical perspective, not much separates the two. The latter is a name typically given to the cannabis indica plant which contains an illegal amount of THC. On the other hand, the former is a non-negative psychoactive bearing cannabinoid which is typically derived from cannabis sativa, but can also be derived from cannabis indica, or marijuana.
As groundbreaking as the 2018 farm bill was, we must remember one thing: this bill was a product of government bureaucracy. As such, we can expect much confusion to arise. In fact, it was already doomed at conception because politicians simply do not understand the nuanced differences when they use terms like CBD, THC, marijuana and cannabis.
But can we at least depend on CBD being legal in the U.S.? For practical intents and purposes, the answer is of course a yes. Botanical retailers have sprouted up like wildfire in recent years, selling CBD-based oils, tinctures, topicals and edibles to an increasingly curious public. Even if there were some questions, on a de facto basis, federal agencies tend to turn a blind eye.
But what about on an individual basis? Because of the confusing nature of cannabis laws, many would-be enthusiasts remain perplexed about this dynamic situation. Therefore, is CBD truly legal in the U.S.?
Technically, as we discussed earlier, this is actually a loaded question. Without the context of federal law, you can extract identical benefits from hemp-derived CBD or marijuana-derived CBD: it simply doesn't matter. But with the law as it is, you must be careful where you acquire your cannabidiol.
In this context, the only difference between hemp and other illegal botanicals is THC content. So long as the base hemp material features less than 0.3% THC content, CBD derived from it is perfectly legal (in most cases). But CBD from materials that contain more than 0.3% THC is illegal, even if the CBD itself has no THC.
As mentioned before, it is a perplexing, convoluted issue. Nevertheless, the best way to protect yourself is to always procure your cannabidiol (CBD) from authorized retailers like Nug Republic. This way, you can assure yourself that the CBD-based products you purchase originate from legal industrial hemp.
But does this mean that CBD is legal in all 50 states? Theoretically, as federal law supersedes state law, you should be able to enjoy cannabidiol wherever you go in the U.S. However, individual states are allowed to have laws that are more conservative than federal mandates on the topic; for example, it's very common for blue states like California to impose draconian firearms laws that are more restrictive than federal laws.
Due to this legal facilitation, CBD is legal in the vast majority of states. However, three states have unfavorable cannabidiol policies: Idaho, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The former two feature robust debates within their respective state legislatures to decriminalize and later legalize CBD. However, South Dakota is a conservative stronghold, refusing to budge an inch on their classification of illegality toward all forms of CBD.
The difference between legal and illegal CBD depends on its origination. Cannabidiol sourced from industrial hemp (which features less than 0.3% THC content) is almost legal everywhere in the U.S., while CBD from any other source is illegal, irrespective of the CBD's THC content. Because of the nuanced relationship between state and federal laws, Idaho, Nebraska, and South Dakota feature unfavorable CBD laws, with South Dakota being the most restrictive.
Best Ways to Use CBD
With the legal discussion out of the way, we've arrived at the best part of CBD: consumption. Because it lacks the myriad consequences of THC, cannabidiol has garnered considerable attention, especially among people who have previously never considered cannabis-based therapies.
But what's the best way to use CBD? Peruse any cannabis retailer and you'll find no shortage of options. From vape oils to tinctures to edibles, CBD is perhaps the most versatile health-related application: you can vape it, smoke it, lather it or eat it.
Given this pathway diversity, no one format is the best. Invariably, for individual consumers, it comes down to what health benefits they're seeking and personal preference.
Below is a quick breakdown of the various methodologies of cannabidiol, beginning with the easiest to apply:
Methodologies of Cannabidiol (CBD):
Ointments or Topicals
These potent ointments are designed for topical, on-the-spot applications. For instance, if you have back pain, you can rub in CBD ointments at the point of pain, providing you with soothing relief. Although effectiveness depends on the manufacturer, end-users can expect relief to occur rather quickly upon initial application.
Usually offered in a form of a gummy, these delectable CBD-infused treats are a crowd favorite. Whether you're suffering from a certain symptom or wish to use CBD as a daily nutritional supplement, edibles represent an easy pathway that requires zero learning curve. Plus, you can share the benefits of cannabidiol with friends and family without the awkward social stigma.
A discreet but potent form of consumable CBD, tinctures are essentially drops that you apply sublingually, or under the tongue. This process allows the cannabidiol to be integrated into your bloodstream quicker than edible products, which is why it's a favorite among enthusiasts seeking relief from symptoms as opposed to dietary concerns.
Wax Concentrate
CBD that is condensed down into a waxy material, wax concentrates are ideal materials for dabbing. This is the practice of applying a heat source to the CBD material for smoking or vaping purposes. What makes dabbing concentrate so effective is that inhalation of CBD vapors goes directly into the bloodstream, as opposed to being filtered by the liver. Therefore, for maximum potency, very few platforms beat dabbing concentrate.
Vape Oil
As with wax concentrate, vape oils – when used with an appropriately designed vaporizer – represent the most potent form of cannabidiol delivery. However, vape oils require the highest learning curve, as well as investment because of the vape device and the knowledge in using it. However, it is perhaps the most satisfying way to enjoy CBD, which is one of the reasons why vape oils have surged in popularity.
Essentially, CBD offers platform gradation. Those who want to tip-toe into cannabidiol can choose to do so easily with ointments or edibles. But as your needs or curiosity arises, other platforms beckon. This is the alluring nature of legal cannabis that has captivated millions of consumers.
At the end of the day, CBD is big business. According to report by investment research firm Cowen, the cannabidiol industry may hit $16 billion in revenue by 2025. That might be on the conservative end.
First and foremost, it's important to realize the contentious political environment in which we live. Seemingly every day, a fresh controversy erupts over the current administration. Tirelessly, political pundits on all sides wax poetic about their agendas while bashing those in disagreement.
In this context, any consensus is a small miracle. But to do so with a controversial subject as cannabis legalization? By any measure, this shouldn't even make it as a discussion point. Yet the farm bill of 2018 proved to cynics that, even in the most vitriolic political environment in the modern era, opposing public servants can set aside their deep-seated differences to promote positive societal change.
Not only that, CBD delivers a powerful economic narrative precisely at a time when we need it most. Prior to the farm bill passing, the cannabis retail industry lived in the shadows. Individual states such as Colorado or California may have passed recreational marijuana laws; however, the federal government classified – and still does – cannabis as a Schedule I drug.
Though unlikely, this nuance gave the feds the right to crack down immediately and severely on state cannabis laws. As a result, major financial institutions and many merchant payment-processing specialists refused to touch the sector.
But with the farm bill, everything changed. With the exception of three states, cannabidiol transformed from a questionable industry to a robust one. Today, CBD and hemp-based products are everywhere, even disrupting traditional retail industries like the health and beauty segments.
It turns out that people eschew pharmaceutical concoctions for naturally sourced organic therapies and solutions – go figure!
Plus, CBD advocates have the hard numbers to back up their enthusiasm. Currently, the legal cannabis industry represents the fastest-growing labor market, with the sector adding over 64,000 jobs in 2018. And because the farm bill was passed toward the tail end of 2018, this suggests an even greater haul for 2019.
Unquestionably, the cannabis industry is stout, and will be even more so in the coming years. Therefore, those who are curious about the benefits of CBD should satisfy their inquisitiveness with confidence that their choice materials will remain viable for the future.


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As part of their forthcoming website redesign, Ultrapedics needed to update their logo. Aside from using a plain, dated typeface, the original logo was not visually balanced and did not fit well into most applications, especially online where the small, curved tagline and descriptor (Prosthetics & Orthotics) would be unreadable.
Their goal of keeping their patients lives in motion along with the "ultra" in the name suggested the vibrant burst emanating from a "U" shape. The impact their work has on their patients is represented by an exhuberant figure knocked out of this shape. Although this is a detailed silhouette, the recognizable human shape holds well even at smaller sizes.
The orange color of the burst is balanced by both the tagline running between the ascenders of the "t" and "d" and the dot on the "i". The main typeface (Euphemia) was chosen for it's authoritative, but friendly appearance. The descriptor (Orthotics/Prosthetics) is now clear and legible and balanced on either side of the "p".


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Q: Count # of characters in a row as a new column I have a pandas dataframe which has about 100 columns and I want to count the number of characters in each column for a row.
In Excel, I would do something like (Len(Concat(A2:CA2))
df['newcolumn'] = ? in Pandas Python

A: You could use:
df.astype(str).apply(lambda x: x.str.len()).sum(1)

A: If necessary first convert columns to strings, sum them for concanecate and last use Series.str.len:
df['new'] = df.astype(str).sum(axis=1).str.len()

If need select columns by positions:
df['new'] = df.iloc[:, 1:20].astype(str).sum(axis=1).str.len()

And if need only strings columns use DataFrame.select_dtypes:
df['new'] = df.select_dtypes(object).sum(axis=1).str.len()

A: [ len(" ".join(map(lambda x : str(x), list(df1.loc[index].values)))) for index in df1.index.tolist() ]


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Councils need to give locals a real say on developments – or citizen-led initiatives will take it
A view of central London. Photo by Emily Wang
Local authorities don't just need to 'engage with' communities, writes Josh Fenton. They need to give them a genuine role in decision-making
Councils know that major, neighbourhood-transforming developments need community buy-in, not least to reduce the sense of disenchantment that prevails in many communities and repair fractured relations of the past. But for residents faced with public participation programmes, deciding whether to engage means grappling with the often baffling question of how committed local government is to acting on what the public tell them.
Tools have long existed to assess such participatory exercises. American public policy analyst Sherry Arnstein's 'Ladder of Participation', drawn up in 1969, ranked the extent of citizens' power to influence outputs. Its eight levels range from non-participation, to tokenistic gestures that simply aim to placate, and, finally, true citizen control.
Real delegated power – such as citizen-led initiatives and the ability to veto developments – is rare. And even when it is offered, it's hard for residents not to be swayed by the technical jargon and the status of those in power. Newham Council in east London appears to be taking such concerns seriously. Keen to avoid the mistakes made in the council's current Canning Town project – which since 2007 has been regenerated as a neighbourhood that some locals call 'Canning Town but with the soul ripped out' – Newham says it is taking a rigorous approach to ensuring true community participation. In the shadow of cranes and half-built apartment buildings, Custom House, an area to the east of Canning Town, is soon to receive its share of reconstruction, estimated to begin in 2021.
A key part of the plan to shift the narrative of community engagement in Custom House has been the introduction of a community steering group in December 2018. Some interesting voices were among the 14 people that put themselves forward for the opportunity; an architect, a civil servant specialising in housing policy, and a mum-of-two living in one of the 'urgent decant areas'. After the residents vote, the group of six local residents and council representatives sat for the first time in April 2019. Newham has also trialled alternative means of engagement to make participation more accessible for the hard-to-reach, including a Halloween party-cum-regeneration discussion.
The council's efforts have been duly noted by the residents, especially the community's representative group, PEACH (The People's Empowerment Alliance for Custom House). Over recent years, PEACH has used its lottery funding to prepare alternative development proposals, backed by independent consultant advice. This perception of involvement has kept morale high among members – talk to the launderette owner and he will tell you how well things are going, that the project is moving in line with PEACH's recommendations.
However, beyond the posters plastered around the area and the spooky discussions lit by pumpkin lanterns, the image of Newham as being committed to 'working closely with locals' becomes murky. Despite the process, there are still shades of tokenism, still signs of the public being kept at arm's length from key decisions. Though some PEACH members are content, others resist being duped. The group put a clear proposal to the council on the ratio of socially rented to private affordable housing, yet the council is yet to declare its final position, simply reciting a commitment to 'genuinely affordable housing'.
This links with Newham's general communication strategy, which is extensive, but light on detail. The call for participants to the community steering group omits any detail on the scope of their remit and whether the group has any delegated power or veto capability. The failure to set out clear expectations underlines the possibility that the group have been armed with little more than rubber stamps.
In light of this, it is hard to call the working relationship a 'partnership' – the minimum level that Arnstein's ladder classes as meaningful citizen power. That said, it is clear that both within the council and general public there is a desire to have the conversations that would develop a public realm to benefit the majority.
London will always be shaped by a complex web of interactions. If the city is to continue to thrive, we need to make sure every part of that web is able to operate at its best, from private and public bodies to the individual. As such, each of the stakeholders involved has a role to fulfil. As communities, organisations like PEACH are a model of proactive participation we can look to replicate. On the part of councils there should be a continual effort to make sure that their engagement with the public is effective, and not a tick-box.
It is still some time until the bulldozers arrive at Custom House, so there is time for the council to give clear answers to issues raised by the residents. Given that the community is already active, the council should be mindful that it doesn't find itself in a position observed by Arnstein, where power is wrested by the powerless rather than given by the powerful.
This article originally appeared in Icon 193, the July 2019 edition
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Tyson: The UFC Is More Popular Than Boxing, But Jones Would Have To Fight Me To Make Serious Money
Several interesting conclusions were drawn by one of the best fighters in history.
Legendary Mike Tyson spoke about the state of boxing and compared it to the UFC. In one brief analysis, the famous knockout artist came to several conclusions.
After Charlie Mack noticed that the heavyweight champion today does not enjoy the respect that royal rulers once enjoyed, Tyson retorted that one of the reasons for this change lies in the fact that boxing today has to compete with more martial arts.
"The UFC is here today, and believe it or not, we even have to compete with wrestling today," Mike began, emphasizing that he was listened to carefully:
"Listen to this, this is going to be interesting. The UFC is more popular than boxing. There are numbers on the UFC side. Isn't it? But a UFC fighter will never be richer than a first-class fighter," said Tyson, who is referring to 'first-class fighter' meant elite boxers.
Iron Mike then provided an example:
"To make $100 million, Conor (McGregor) had to fight Floyd (Mayweather). And, say, Jon Jones… He would have to fight me if he wanted to make serious money," the former world boxing champion concluded.
Let's point out that Tyson found a perfect example in Jones, because the UFC champion is fighting a big battle with his employer right now, and the problem is, you guessed it – in money.
And we completely agree with Tyson, we even wrote an article about Is MMA/UFC more popular than Boxing, and you can read more about it on our link.