This paper analyzed the foreign direct investment and the Nigerian Economy over the period of 1986- 2017. The main type of data used in this study is secondary data; sourced from various publications of Central Bank of Nigeria, such as; Statistical Bulletin, Annual Reports and Statement of Accounts. The regression analysis of the ordinary least square (OLS) is the estimation technique that is being employed in this study to determine the relationship between and impact of the Direct Foreign Investment on economic growth. The findings revealed that economic growth is directly related to inflow of foreign direct investment and it is also statistical significant at 5% level which implies that a good performance of the economy is a positive signal for inflow of foreign direct investment. This implies that foreign direct investment is an engine of economic growth. The paper recommended that government should liberalize the foreign sector in Nigeria so that all barriers to trade such as arbitrary tariffs; import and export duties and other levies should be reduced so as to encourage investors. Economic theories have shown that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) being one of the key macro-economic variables has a positive relationship with economic growth. Therefore, this study specifically test the hypothesis on whether or not FDI has positive and significant impact on output growth on the Nigerian Economy.
The study analyzed the impact of foreign direct investment on Nigeria's economic growth over the period of 1986- 2017. I chose to collect my data for analysis from 1986 because this was the year of Nigerian Structural Adjustment Program. Under World Bank structural adjustment, the government tried to eliminate inefficient state intervention and obtain budgetary relief by abolishing agricultural commodity marketing boards and liberalizing cash-crop exports. These measures, together with devaluation, increased the naira prices of export crops, especially cocoa. The state also privatized many public enterprises by selling equity to private investors, while restructuring other parastatals to improve efficiency.
The federal government encouraged private investment in the late 1980s, allowed foreign ownership in most manufacturing, and liberalized and accelerated administrative procedures for new investment. In August 1985 the government at a time of depressed oil prices, undertook its structural adjustment program between 1986 and 1988. In September 1986, the government introduced a second-tier foreign exchange market (SFEM), sold on auction for a near equilibrium price and used for export earnings and import trade requirements. Under SFEM, the naira depreciated 66 percent to N1=US$0.64 (N1.56=US$1), and declined further in value through July 1987, when the first and second tiers were merged. When adopting the SFEM, Nigeria abolished the ex-factory price controls set by the Prices, Productivity, and Incomes Board, as well as the 30 percent import surcharge and import licensing system. It reduced its import prohibition list substantially and promoted exports through fiscal and credit incentives and by allowing those selling abroad to retain foreign currency. Although this action opened the way for an IMF agreement and debt rescheduling, the military government declined to use an allocation of Special Drawing Rights in IMF standby funds .
Meanwhile, the naira continued depreciating, especially after the relaxation of fiscal policy early in 1988. The effect of the SFEM in breaking bottlenecks, together with the slowing of food price increases, dampened inflation in 1986, but the easing of domestic restrictions in 1988 reignited it. Real interest rates were negative, and capital flight and speculative imports resumed. In 1989 the government again unified foreign exchange markets, depreciating--but not stabilizing--the naira and reducing the external deficit. Manufacturing firms increased their reliance on local inputs and raw materials, firms depending on domestic resources grew rapidly, and capacity utilization rose, although it was still below 50 percent. Concurrently, nonoil exports grew from US$200 million in 1986 to US$1,000 million in 1988. This amount, however, represented only 13 percent of export value at the level of the 1970s, and cash crops like cocoa dominated the export market. Large firms benefited from the foreign exchange auction and enjoyed higher capacity use than smaller ones. Despite dramatically reduced labor costs, domestic industrial firms undertook little investment or technological improvements (Jelilov, Gylych; Kalyoncu, Huseyin; Isik, Abdurahman, 2015).
Structural adjustment was accompanied by falling real wages, the redistribution of income from urban to rural areas, and reduced health, education, and social spending. The decrease in spending on social programs contributed to often vociferous domestic unrest, such as Muslim-Christian riots in Kaduna State in March 1987, urban rioting in April 1988 in response to reduced gasoline subsidies, student-led violence in opposition to government economic policies in May and June 1989, and the second coup attempt against General Babangida in April 1990.
The time I have at my disposal is limited. As a result I will not be able to carry out an extensive research. There are several variables of economic development I could have chosen for my research. However due to my time limit I was not able to carry out such an extensive research which could have given me a different answer .As a final point I will like to mention that the sources of information available to me come mostly from the internet. The literature and data gathered for this research gotten from the online journals, books, and previously done researches. To get my quantitative data I also used the website of National Bereau of Statistics.
Economic theories have shown that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) being Nigeria receives the largest amount of FDI in Africa. FDI inflows have been growing enormously over the last decade; from $1.14billion in 2001 and $2.10billion in 2004. Nigeria's FDI reached $11billion in 2009 according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD, 1999), making the country the nineteenth greatestrecipient of FDI in the world. It is widely accepted that FDI is necessary for the growth and development of the economy, especially in the developing countries. And Nigeria has the potential to attract sufficient FDI but has not been successful in attracting it to a large extent despite her efforts of liberalizing its foreign direct investment regime and intensifying its enabling environment.
Given the low level of saving in Nigeria, it therefore becomes necessary that the appropriate policy to pursue is to increase FDI to supplement the low level of domestic saving for economic growth. And in reference to these problems, Ajayi (2003) said that of all the capital inflow into the Nigerian economy from other countries, increase in FDI is the most promising policy due to its potential in dealing with the problems of savings gap, shortage of technology and needed skills. The level of economic growth achieved over the years has been largely constrained by lack of adequate capital to finance government projects. And despite the huge resource base of the country, Nigeria has not been able to attract a high level of foreign investors that is commensurate with its economic potentials.
Nevertheless, it can also happen that FDI may harm the host economy (Herzer et al. (2006)), for instance when foreign investors claim scarce resources or reduce investment opportunities for local investors. Sabina Noormamode ( 2008), acknowledged that there is also some concern that no positive knowledge spillovers may finally occur within developing countries, because multinationals will prove able to protect their from-specific knowledge, or because they may buy their inputs from foreign rather than local suppliers.on the benefits of FDI on growth, although it is fair to say that the evidence gathered so far remains relatively ambiguous. While some authors found no significant relation between FDI and growth, other ones showed either an unconditional positive link between these two variables or a relationship that is conditional to particular characteristics of the host country, such as the level of human capital or the depth of the financial system. At least two reasons explain these mixed results.
First, most of the authors analyzed the correlation between FDI and growth using a regression analysis framework that is silent on the causality between these two variables. Second, in the studies that do address the causality issue, the influence of other social and economic variables are seldom taken into account directly within the model and, in many cases,these are simply ignored.
The effects of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) focused on the direct impacts of the multinationals such as additional capital brought into the country, the creation of jobs, the effects on the balance of payment, and so on (MacDougall, 1960). However, since then, the research on FDI effects has increasingly acknowledged that technological, organizational and managerial spillovers on the local firms probably represents the most influential role of MNCs in host country development.
Blomstrom and Kokko (1997) acknowledged that spillovers from FDI are essentially positive externalities from the presence of MNCs on the local economy of the host country. Dunning (1988) argued that since a MNC often is profoundly different from a non-MNC (local firm) in terms of technology, capital, organizational and managerial capabilities, and international market access, there is a potential for significant spillovers on the local economy and local firms. FDI has been instrumental in the development of several developing countries such as Nigeria because the inflow of FDI brought about a better economic performance for the country. And policies designed on the accumulation of human capital surely have a much larger potential for attracting FDI needed for development (Lucas, 1990). Using an endogenized technical progress model, Grossman and Helpman (1990) conclude that countries that have adopted an outward-oriented development strategy have grown faster and achieved higher levels of standard of living than their counterparts who engaged in protectionist exports' policies. Fry (1992) examined the role of FDI in promoting growth by using the framework of a macro-model for a panel data of 16 developing countries for the period 1966 to 1988.
Adelegan (2000) used unrelated regression model to examine the impact of FDI on economic growth in Nigeria, and found that FDI is pro-consumption and pro-import and negatively related to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Also, some studies have emphasized the importance of attracting FDI to developing countries as well as economic openness as policies that developing countries should pursue (Asiedu 2003; and Akinkugbe 2003. Blomstrom et al. (1994) shows that FDI exerts a positive effect on economic growth, but there is a threshold level of income above which FDI has positive effect on economic growth and below which it does not. And the explanation is simply that it is only those countries that have reached a certain income level that can absorb new technologies and benefit from the technological diffusion, and then reap the extra advantage that FDI can offer. De Mello (1997) shows a positive correlation between FDI and economic growth for selected Latin American countries. FDI has empirically been found to stimulate economic growth by a number of researchers (Borensztein et al, 1998; Glass and Saggi, 1999). Laura Alfaro (2003) finds that total FDI exerts an ambiguous effect on growth. However; her study finds out that FDI in primary sector has a negative effect on growth while FDI in manufacturing sector had a positive effect on growth but an ambiguous effect in the service sector.
Many authors have argued that direct interaction – typically labeled linkages will facilitate spillovers (Altenburg, 2000; Scott-Kennel and Enderwick, 2005; Hansen et al., 2006). Wilkins (1998) stated that MNC appeared to foster broad linkages in the host economy by creating industries that supply the MNC and by inducing forward industries to use the MNC output as inputs, the so-called crowding-in effect of FDI. Also, Odozi (1995) and Obadan (1982) argued that FDI is beneficial to recipient nations because it allows for the inflow of foreign exchange and new technologies, and it generate employment and enhance the income of the recipient countries through taxation and payment of royalties. Some studies have found a positive relationship between foreign direct investments and economic growth in Nigeria. Obinna (1983), Ayanwale and Bamire (2001), Aseidu (2003), Akinlo (2004), and Bakare (2010) found that there is a positive relationship between foreign direct investment and economic growth in Nigeria.
Previous studies on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and economic growth in Nigeria and other countries provided inconclusive evidence. Lall (2002) opined that FDI inflow affects many factors in the economy and these factors in turn affect economic growth. This review shows that the debate on the impact of FDI on economic growth is far from being conclusive. The role of FDI seems to be country specific and can be positive, negative or insignificant, depending on the economic, institutional and technological conditions in the recipient countries. For instance, Solomon and Eka (2013) investigated the empirical relationship between Foreign Direct Investment and economic growth in Nigeria.
Alejandro (2010) explained that FDI plays an extra ordinary and growing role in global business and economics. It can provide a firm with new markets and marketing channels, cheaper production facilities access to new technology products, skills and financing for a host country or the foreign firms which investment, it can provide a source of new technologies, capital processes products, organization technologies and management skills and other positive externalities and spillover that can provide a strong impetus to regional economic growth. Obwona (2001) noted in his study of the determinants of FDI and their impact on growth in Uganda that macroeconomic and political stability and policy consistency are important parameters determining the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Uganda and that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) affects growth positively but insignificant. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) also contributes to economic growth via technology transfer.
Zhang (2001) argued that Foreign Direct Investment has positive growth impact that is similar todomestic investment along with partly alleviating balance of payment deficit in the currentaccount. He opined that via technology transfer and spillover efficiency, the inflow of directforeign investment might be able to stimulate a country economic performance.
Ewe-Ghee Lim (2001) summarized recent arguments and findings on FDI and its correlation with economic growth focusing on literature regarding spillovers from FDI and found that while substantial support exists for positive spillovers from FDI, there is no consensus on casualty.Otepola (2002) also examined the importance of direct foreign investment in Nigeria. The study empirically examined the impact of FDI on growth. He concluded that FDI contributessignificantly to growth especially through exports. Ricardo, Hwang and Rodrick (2005) argued that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) provide a path for emerging nations to export the products developed economies usually sell, in effect increasing their export sophistication.
Many developing countries pursue FDI as a tool for export promotion, rather than production for the domestic economy. Typically foreign investors build plants in nations where they can produce goods for export at lower costs. Bende-Nabende (2002) also found that direct long term impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on output is significant and positive for comparatively economically lessadvanced Philippines and Thailand, but negative in the more economically advanced Japan andTaiwan. In the same line, Ariyo (1998) studied the investment trend and its impact on Nigeria's economic growth over the years. He found that only private domestic investment consistently contributed to raising GDP growth rates during the period considered (1970–1995).
However, Alfaro et al, (2003) affirmed that the contribution of FDI to growth depends on the sector of the economy where the FDI operates. He claimed that FDI inflow to the primary sectors, tends to have a negative effect on growth, however, as for the service sector, the effect of DFI inflow is not so clear. Durharm (2004) for example, failed to establish a positive relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and growth but instead suggests that the effects of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) are contingents on the absorptive capability of host countries. Nwankwo et al, (2013) investigated the impact of globalization on foreign direct investment in Nigeria-since the world has become a global village. The methodology used is purely descriptive and narrative and the data used is secondary. It was found out that foreign direct investment (FDI) has been of increased benefit to Nigeria in the area of employment, transfer of technology, encouragement of local enterprises etc. But there are certain impediments to the full realization of the benefits of foreign direct investment.
Adelegan (2000) also explored the seemingly unrelated regression model to examine the impact of FDI on economic growth in Nigeria and found out that FDI is pro-consumption and pro-import and negatively related to gross domestic investment. In the same line, Ogiogio (1995) reported negative contributions of public investment to GDP growth in Nigeria for reasons of distortions.
Oyinlola (1995) also conceptualized foreign capital to include foreign loans, direct foreign investments and export earnings. Using Chenery and Stout's two-gap model (Cheneryand Stout, 1966), he concluded that FDI has a negative effect on economic development in Nigeria.
The impacts of FDI and economic growth disparity among developing countries have created much research interest among economists. There is a large body of empirical literature on the impact of FDI oneconomic growth. The existing evidence, however, is mixed. In the work of Li and Liu (2005), the evidence suggests that FDI not only affects growth directly, but also indirectly through its interaction with human capital.
Further, they find a negative coefficient for FDI when it is regressed with the technology gap between the source and host economy using a large sample, Borensztein et al. (1998) found similar results i.e. that inward FDI has positive effects on growth with the strongest impact, coming through the interaction between FDI and human capital. He further argue that FDI is an important vehicle for the transfer of technology, which contributes relatively more to growth than domestic investment. He added that FDI has the effect of increasing domestic investment.
De Mello (1997) found positive effects of FDI on economic growth in both developing and developed countries, but concludes that the long-run growth in host countries is determined by the spillovers of knowledge and technology from investing countries to host countries. Similarly, Balasubramanyam et al. (1996) found support for their hypotheses that the growth effect of FDI is positive for export promoting countries and potentially negative for import-substituting ones. Comparing evidence from developed and developing countries, Blonigen and Wang (2005) noted that the factors that affect FDI flows are different across the income groups. Interestingly, they find evidence of beneficial FDI only for developing countries and not for the developed ones, while they find the crowding-out effect of FDI on domestic investment to hold for the wealthy group of nations. In addition, Vu and Noy (2009) study on sectoral analysis of foreign direct investment and growth in developed countries with a particular emphasis on the sector impacts of FDI on growth reveal that, FDI has no statistical and positive effects on economic growth through its interaction with labour.
Adelegan (2000) etc. Aluko (1961), Brown (1962) and Obinna (1983) findings suggest a positive relationship between FDI and economic growth in Nigeria while Okon et.al, (2012) examine if there is any sort of feed-back relationship between FDI and economic growth in Nigeria using single and simultaneous equation systems. The results obtained show that FDI and economic growth are jointly determined in Nigeria and there is positive feedback from FDI to growth and from growth to FDI. Adelegan (2000) examine the impact of FDI on economic growth with Seemingly Unrelated Regression model. (2001) assessed the influence of FDI on firm level productivity in Nigeria and reported positive spillover of foreign firms on domestic firm productivity.
Accordingly, studies such as Ayanwale (2007) and Akinlo (2004) focused on the oil and non-oil sector. These studies assessed the impacts of FDI inflows to the extractive industry on Nigeria"s economic growth. Akinlo (2004) specifically controlled for the non-oil FDI dichotomy in Nigeria. Using error correction model, he investigated the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth in Nigeria. He found that both private capital and lagged foreign capital have small and not a statistically significant effect on economic growth. Further, his results support the argument that extractive FDI might not be growth enhancing as much as manufacturing FDI. Egwaikhide (2012) also investigates the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth in Nigeria, Johansen Cointegration technique and Vector Error Correction Method in which FDI is disaggregated into various components. The Johansen Cointegration result establishes that the impact of the disaggregated FDI on real growth in Nigeria namely: agriculture, mining, manufacturing and petroleum sectors is very little with the exception of the telecom sector which has a good and promising future, especially in the long run. Furthermore, past level of FDI and level of infrastructures are FDI enhancing.
Ayadi (2009) investigates the relationship between FDI and economic growth in Nigeria and discovered weak correlation and causality between the variables and recommends that infrastructural development, human capital building and strategic policies towards attracting FDI should be intensified.
In the same vein, Osinubi and Amaghionyediwe (2010) examined the relationship between foreign private investment (FPI) and economic growth in Nigeria. Their findings suggest that FPI, domestic investment growth, net export growth and the lagged error term were statistically significant in explaining variations in Nigeria economic growth while Ayashagba and Abachi (2002) evidenced a significant impact on economic growth.
The relevance of foreign direct investment cannot be overemphasized. Its significant influence on the provision of new technologies, products, management skills and competitive business environment, overtime has been a strong impetus for economic growth. Many countries of the world, especially emerging economies faviour policies that encourages the inflow of foreign direct investment because of it positive spillover associated with the provision of funds and expertise that could help smaller companies to expand and increase international sales and transfer of technology thus, forming new varieties of capital input (i.e. flow of services available for production from the stock of capital goods e.g. equipment, structures, inventories etc) that cannot be achieved through financial investments or trade in goods and services alone.
Nigeria is one of the economies with great demand for goods and services and has attracted many FDI over the years since the discovery of crude oil. According to the World Bank, from 1970 to 1979, Nigeria recorded an average ratio of foreign direct investment net inflow of about 1.579 to GDP while from 1980 to 1989, the average ratio of FDI net inflow to GDP recorded stood at 1.947. Thus, in 1994 and 1993, the countrymade a remarkable record of 8.28 and 6.3 respectively. Since 1993 and 1994, the record was not an issue to contend with. To the greatest dismay, from 1995 to 2010, FDI, net inflow as % of GDP in Nigeria has not gone beyond 4.0 except in 1996, 1997, 2005 and 2009 the country made a record of 4.51, 4.25, 4.44 and 5.08 respectively. World Bank research contained in global development finance 2008 shows that Thailand attracted $9.6 billion in 2007 while Nigeria attracted just about $6.03 billion. Also, CBN (2010) annual report also indicated that total foreign direct investment inflow into the Nigerian in 2010 was about $5.99 billion.
The breakdown of the amount according to the report shows that FDI portion was just 12.2 percent or $668 million. This represents a 78.1 percent drop from $3.31 billion in 2009. In light of the above, many Nigerians are lost in guesses of the likely causes of the insignificant inflow of FDI into the country. This has been a source of worry to both policy makers and government authorities. Amidst, Asiedu, (2005) asserted that the level of FDI attracted by Nigeria is mediocre compared with the resource based and potential need, taken into cognizance of the fact that Nigeria is the 8th ranked most populous nation and 32nd biggest economy in the world (CIA World fact book) with the endowment to do better than its counterpart South Africa as the Africa biggest economy following the statement of investment giant Morgan Stanley.
In view of CBN (2010) report, poor state of infrastructural facilities, high level of corruption, poor business environment/insecurity, weak institutional/legal framework, and poor property right protection has been linked to the significant drop in FDI inflow into the country in recent years. This has influenced negatively, the impact on the desires of foreign investors for Nigeria"s Paper assets, thus resulting to a sharp fall in portfolio investments by 87.1 percent to 65.5 percent ($3.9 billion) capital inflows into the country in 2010. In support of this report, Zhang, (2001) asserts that the extent to which FDI contributes to growth depends on the economic and social condition or the quality of the environment of the recipient country. Hence, World Bank/IFC (2012) latest ease of doing business equally shows that Nigeria was ranked 133rd out of 183 countries and 4th (i.e. partly free) in the freedom of world country rating report associated with her political right and civil libertieswhile, the global anti-corruption body (Transparency International) yearly ranking of public sector transparency moved Nigeria up from 143rd in 2011 to 139 in 2012. Even though the Federal Government dismissed the rating by Transparency International (TI), saying it was a product of "synopsis of negative media reports (Emmanuel and Agande, 2012), the fact remains that a value system that aim at ordering and prioritizing the ethics and ideology is seriously need to shape the perceptions and thinking of foreign investors about the country and to step up the inflow of FDI into the country.
In recent time, federal government of Nigeria has grown much concern over the threat and challenges facing the country. To this, many policy reforms has been initiated in order to change the belief and the value system of people on the basis of Nigerian"s social, economy and the political philosophy. For example in 2007, former president of Nigeria, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar"Adua (Late) initiated a policy reform called "Seven (7) point agenda" to address the problem of dilapidated infrastructural facilities and insecurity of lives and property.
However, in 2011, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan initiated a complementary policy tagged the transformation agenda. The agenda focused on non-inflationary growth, employment generation, poverty alleviation and value reorientation of the citizenry thereby challenging different arms and institutions of the government such as the national assembly, judiciary, electoral umpire and armed forces to stand on their feet to re-invent the wheel to property and human right protection and conducive business environment in order to exploit the inherent benefits of the agenda to promote economic growth of the country.
Furthermore, the empirical linkage between FDI and economic growth in Nigeria is yet unclear, despite numerous studies that have examined the influence of FDI on Nigeria"s economic growth with varying outcomes (Adelegan, 2000 and Akinola, 2004). Thus, the relationship between FDI and growth may be country and period specific (Egbo, Nil). Asiedu (2003) submits that the determinants of FDI in one region may not be the same for other regions. Also, the determinants of FDI in countries within a region may be different from one another and from one period to another.
In the previous literature, many studies made conscious effort in revealing the causality effect and the impacts of FDI on economic growth in Nigeria with very few examining the influence of FDI into specific sectors like agricultural, manufacturing and telecommunication sector. Previous studies look at FDI in a broad term without looking at the specific sectors and it impact on the economy as at the time of this study. The work of Ayanwale (2007) and Egwaikhide (2012) investigated the impact of FDI taken into consideration of specific sectors of both non-oil and oil sector respectively.
Hence, Ayanwale (2007) investigate the empirical relationship between non-extractive FDI and economic growth while Egwaikhide (2012) examine the long run relation between FDI in five sectors of the economy for periods of 1980 to 2009using Johanson cointegration test and annual data. Thus, our study intends to investigate the impacts of FDI in three sectors of the economy such as Agricultural, manufacturing and Telecommunication sector on economic growth in Nigeria, hence shading more light on the importance of development of these sectors order than the oil sector. Following the World Bank/IFC (2012) latest ease of doing business and Global Anti-corruption (Transparency International) report of 2011 and 2012 in Nigeria that shows unfavorable business environment and weak property right protection, we intend to investigate the impacts of business environment divided into political, institutional/legal framework and macroeconomic factors on FDI inflow into Nigeria for the periods of 1980 to 2009, using quarterly data. Furthermore, we further extended our investigation to the direction of causality between FDI in the three sectors and economic growth. With the inclusion of business environment, legal/institutional framework, causality test and the use of quarterly data, the study departs from the work of Ayanwale (2007) and Egwaikhide (2012).
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an investment made to acquire a lasting management interest in a business enterprise operating in a country other than that of the investor (World Bank, 1996). According to Thirwall (1994), FDI refers to investment by multinational corporations (MNCs) with headquarters in developed countries. This investment involves not only a transfer of funds but also a whole package of physical, techniques of production, managerial and marketing expertise, products, advertising and business practices for the maximization of global profits. FDI comprises not only merger and acquisition and new investment, but also reinvested earnings and loans and similar capital transfer between parent companies and their affiliates.
The regression analysis of the ordinary least square (OLS) is the estimation technique thatis being employed in this study to determine the relationship between and impact of theDirect Foreign Investment on economic growth proxy by Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
GDP = f ( DFI, EXP, EXR).
The result in appendix 1 shows that the predictor variables (i.e Direct foreign investment, export earnings and exchange rate) were significantly joint predictors of Gross Domestic Product ( F( 3, 10) = 5.964; R2= 0.641) at 5%level. The predictor variables jointly explained 64.7%of GDP, while the remaining 35.3% could be due to the effect of extraneous variables.
Furthermore in appendix 2, it can be deduced from the result obtained that the constant parameter in the long – run is positive. This implies that if all the explanatory variables are held constant, GDP will increase by 0.50 units. This result is agreed with Oyatoye et al (2011); Alejandro (2010); Lall (2002); Otepola, (2002) and Ariyo, (1998) that Direct Foreign Investment is inevitable in economic growth of a nation.The coefficient of Foreign Direct Investment is 0. 364, it has a positive relationship with GDP (t = 1.889, P<.05) showing that a unit increase in real foreign direct investment (FDI) will increase GDP by 0. 364. The coefficient of Export Earningsis 0.850, it has a position relationship with GDP (t = 2.890, P<.01) showing that a unit increase in export earnings (EXPT) will increase GDP by 0.850. Also, the coefficient of exchange rate is 0.275, it has a positive relationship with GDP (t = 2.890, Pns) showing that a unit increase in real exchange rate (EXR) will increase GDP by 0.275.
The findings revealed that economic growth is directly related to inflow of foreign direct investment and statistically significant at 5% level. This implies that a good performance of the economy is a positive signal for inflow of foreign direct investment. It can be concluded that foreign direct investment is an engine of economic growth. Therefore, there is need to have a stable political and economic environment and improve on the critical infrastructure, level of security at all levels in the country, systems of governance should be is based on accountability, transparency, effective and efficient resource.
Furthermore, government needs to liberalize the foreign sector in Nigeria so that all barriers to trade such as arbitrary tariffs; import and export duties and other levies should be reduced so as to encourage investors.The findings suggest that Nigeria have not done a good job in increasing the skill level in their workforce to benefit the economy on the FDI inflows. The study also finds out that within the study period, FDI was complementary to foreign AID. Perhaps, Nigeria valued foreign Aid more than FDI. Hence, the slow shift in policies that attract FDI in Nigeria.
It is important that the focus should be directed towards policies that will attract FDI. FDI has more potential for expanding the economy base than foreign AID. It is obvious that the multiplier effect that comes from FDI in terms of private sector development of the economy is also lost to the public sector, hence the low level of economic activity or market-based expansion in Nigeria.
1. Appropriate economic policy of market liberalization and macroeconomic stability should be put in order for attracting FDI into Nigeria. Furthermore, policies are needed to address the level of skills embodied in labor.
3. Policies that will bring about improvement in foreign direct investment and balance of payments (BOP) in the economy should be encouraged.
4. A good macroeconomic policy to improve the institutional frameworks, including stable and high economic growth rate, liberal exchange rates, convertible currency, low inflation, minimal current account deficit and external indebtedness, low interest rates and access to capital, efficient banking system and capital markets, and competitive corporate tax rates should be prioritized.
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Michigan's Top Court Rejects Lesbian Custody Suit
By Michelle Garcia
July 26 2011 2:15 PM EDT
Michigan's supreme court will not hear a case involving child custody for a lesbian who wanted to share parenting rights with her former partner for her daughter and twin sons.
Renee Harmon had been in a domestic partnership with Tammy Davis for 19 years, during which time Davis bore the couple three children. When Davis left Harmon in 2008, the two initially split some parental duties, but Harmon was eventually cut off by Davis, who refused to share custody with her former partner starting in September 2009. Harmon then sought custody through the courts.
A lower court ruling gave Harmon and her attorneys, Dana Nessel and Nicole Childers, some hope for the future of their case. Nessel said in November that trial court judge Kathleen McCarthy provided an exhaustive list of examples of state and federal cases where the role of a parent was not always fulfilled by an adoptive guardian or biological mother or father. However, after Davis filed an emergency appeal with the Michigan court of appeals, the court reversed McCarthy's decision, ordering Harmon's petition for custody be dismissed.
Harmon and her attorneys told The Advocate they felt confident about this round in court. Their request for a hearing was filed in October 2010 to a 4-3 Democrat-majority supreme court. However, the November elections flipped the court's makeup, Nessel said, making it highly improbably that their case would be heard. Indeed, as the court ruled on July 22, the case was rejected by the court along party lines, with three Democrats, justices Marilyn Kelly, Diane Hathaway, and Michael F. Cavanagh, dissenting.
"I find it very important that nationally, gays and lesbians seem to be going forwards," Harmon said Tuesday, "but in Michigan, we're going backwards when it comes to gay rights."
"This case cries out for a ruling by the state's highest court," Nessel said, echoing the dissent written by Justice Kelly.
The next step for Harmon would be pursuing the lawsuit in a federal court, a process that Nessel said could take years before a trial is heard.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Radiantly textured gold sets off the black Australian Opal play of blue and green colors. The design of the A'donna collection lets the Diamonds shine as accents in this beautiful ring designed by Katherine LeGrand of Aspen, Colorado.
1.7 carats total weight, Opal is 1.53 carats, Diamonds are .17 carats total weight, E-F in color VS in clarity.


Hi crafty folks! Teresa Abajo here today!
Who better to appreciate a handmade item than a fellow crafter? The new Artist Quote Stamp is one to which any crafter can relate. Here are a couple of cards I made with it.
1. Scrape very small amounts of different colours of paint across the front of a folded white card. By very small I mean half a pea or less. The paint is spread so thinly that it dries almost instantly and is ready for the next colour almost immediately.
2. Ensure the paint is very well dried, then stamp the quote using Archival Jet Black ink. Emboss with clear embossing powder.
3. Stamp the droplets of paint from the Paint Splats set and clear emboss this as well.
4. Tie some black cord around the left hand side of the card near the fold, then tie some beads to the ends.
1. Ink up the paint spatter image from the Paint Splats set with a few colours of Distress Oxide ink. Stamp onto white cardstock.
2. Stamp the Artist Quote stamp over the paint spatter.
3. Trim to size then mount onto black cardstock.
4. Stamp some of the splat, spatter and drip images onto a 9.5 x 13.8 cm piece of white card in different colour Distress Oxide ink.
5. Mount this onto a 10 x 14.3 cm piece of black cardstock then onto a card front.
6. Adhere the quote piece to the front of the card at an angle.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope your day is a crafty one!
Hi, It's Belinda Spencer here today with some cards using the new Crackle Texture Stamp!
1. Cut a piece of black cardstock 13.5cm x 21cm. Fold in half to form the card base.
2. Cut a piece of smooth white cardstock 10cm x 13cm. Apply the Crackle Background Stamp to this piece using Watering Can Archival Ink. Apply Hickory Smoke Distress Ink around the edges. Stick down on the card base.
4. Stamp the Crackle Texture Stamp on another piece of white cardstock using the Watering Can ink. Apply Hickory Smoke Distress Ink. Add a coat of Glossy Accents to this piece and set aside to dry.
5. Apply the Ornate Mirror Frame Stamp on smooth white cardstock using Distress Embossing Ink. Heat Set with Super Fine Details Silver Embossing Powder. Apply Black Soot ink over the top. Use paper towel to buff the frame and remove any ink from the embossed areas. Fussy cut the frame and stick down over the 'crackle' piece from Step 4. Add to the card front using 3D foam.
6. Apply two more coats of Glossy Accents to the 'mirror' part of the frame. Make sure you allow them to dry completely in between coats. You should end up with a lovely cracked mirror effect.
7. Stamp some butterflies and the sentiment on white cardstock using the Jet Black ink. Fussy cut and add to the card front.
1. Cut a piece of white cardstock 13.5cm x 21cm. Fold in half to form the card base.
2. Cut another piece of smooth white cardstock 10cm x 13cm. Apply the Crackle Background Stamp to this piece using Watering Can Archival Ink. Stick down on the card base.
3. Cut another piece of white cardstock 9cm x 12.5cm. Spritz with a little Winter Grey Kaisermist and also some water. Blot away the excess with scrunched up paper towel. Dry with a heat gun. Add the Crackle Texture Stamp using Watering Can Archival Ink. Apply Hickory Smoke ink using an ink blending tool in the stamped area to create a slightly darker area. Also ink around the edges of this piece with the Hickory Smoke ink.
4. Stamp a flower from the gorgeous Fine Flowers Stamp Set on white cardstock using the Watering Can ink. Press Candied Apple and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks onto an acrylic block and spritz them (separately) with a little water. Use a soft wet paintbrush to paint the colours onto the stamped flower. Also add some flicks of colour to the flower and the crackle background. Dry the flower with a heat gun. Fussy cut the flower and add to the card front using 3D foam along with some messy embroidery thread. Use a white paint pen to add some splashes of white across the card front also.
5. Stamp your sentiment on white cardstock using the Watering Can ink. Fussy cut and add to the card.
2. Cut a piece of smooth white cardstock 10cm x 13cm. Apply the Crackle Background Stamp to this piece using Jet Black Archival Ink. Apply Candied Apple Distress Ink around the edges. Stick down on the card base.
3. Cut another piece of white cardstock 9cm x 12.5cm. Spritz with a little water followed by Charcoal and Winter Grey Kaisermists. Blend with a little more water then blot away the excess with scrunched up paper towel. Flick some water over the top to create a water stained look. Dry with a heat gun. Apply the Crackle Texture Stamp over the top using the Jet Black ink. Stick down on the card front.
4. Stamp the Pretty Poppies Collage Stamp onto another piece of smooth white cardstock using the Jet Black ink. Press the Candied Apple and Black Soot Distress Ink pads onto an acrylic block and spritz each separately with a little water. Use a soft wet paintbrush to paint these colours onto the main poppy. Keep adding colour until you have the depth of colour required. Dry with a heat gun. Fussy cut and add to the card front using 3D foam along with some messy red embroidery thread. Add a little messy black embroidery thread to the centre of the poppy and glue on a metal button.
5. Use a white paint pen to add some white splashes over the front of the card. Stamp a sentiment using the Jet Black ink on white cardstock. Fussy cut and add to the card.
Hi there, I'm Heather Telford and I am happy to be back at Darkroom Door sharing three different techniques for creating colourful backgrounds to use behind the atmospheric path stamp from the Wilderness Vol 2 Stamp Set. I love the pretty overhanging trees in this image and decided to try it over a series of backgrounds to get some seasonal scenes.
My winter scene background was created on glossy photo paper, with the colour from brusho paints. I sprinkled turquoise, violet and prussian blue on a craft sheet, spritzed with water then swiped photo paper through the paint. I think this background was probably the second panel I pulled through the paint because the colours are soft and blended. Once the panel was totally dry I stamped with stazon jet black ink. The sharpness of the image is quite amazing on photo paper and yupo; it's possible to see every little twig.
For my summer scene I created an alcohol ink background on yupo paper with meadow and aqua alcohol inks. I dropped the inks on opaque white yupo and let the colours move and blend. I spread and diluted them a little with some blending solution then let the panel dry. I chose the 'path' stamp from the Wilderness Vol 2 stamp set and stamped it in jet black Stazon ink.
I have recently switched to a new method when stamping yupo and photo paper; I lay the stamp down flat, ink it thoroughly then press the paper panel face down on top. I rub the back of the paper panel all over for a good impression. To complete the summer scene I handwrote a sentiment with a Sakura micron pen.
My fall scene background was created with distress oxide inks on glossy photo paper. I pressed the distress oxide inks (spiced marmalade, fossilized amber & a little peeled paint) onto a craft sheet, spritzed the ink, then swiped my photo paper through the ink to pick up colour. The photo paper stays wet for a while so I let it air dry then stamped the wilderness path image in jet black stazon ink. Once again I inked the stamp and laid the paper face down onto the stamp. The stamp clings to the photo paper so I was able to peel up a corner, check the impression and add more ink if necessary as long as I kept one half of the panel firmly stuck to the stamp while I re-inked the other half.
I finished all the cards by matting with wood textured white paper and black cardstock before attaching to a white card base.
Hello wonderful crafters! Teresa Abajo here to share a couple of projects I've made using the new Brick Wall Texture Stamp.
The bricks make a fantastic background for a wide variety of themes, and they're not gender or age specific, so they can be used for just about anything!
Stamp the Brick Wall Texture stamp in the centre of the card front with Archival Watering Can, then stamp the flower from the Poppies set and colour it with Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks and a waterbrush.
Fussy cut the flower and adhere it to the bottom right of the card front, and stamp the word Remember, cut it out and adhere it to the top left hand side over a torn scrap of book page. Slip a scrap of ribbon under the flower.
Mix some Fossilized Amber Distress Paint with a touch of Black Soot, water it right down and paint over the whole card front to help it look aged.
Stamp the bricks with Archival Jet Black, then stamp the skater image from the Skater set onto a lighter coloured gel print. Then fussy cut the skater.
Stamp a few splats from the Paint Splats stamp set with Versamark ink, and emboss them using yellow/orange embossing powder. Adhere the skater to this piece and stamp the sentiment from the Happy Birthday set and adhere this to the top left hand side.
Distress the edges of the gel prints and don't apply adhesive to them so they will roll up and create extra dimension. Painted scraps of hessian and adhere this under the edges at the top and bottom of the card front.
Thanks for looking and I hope you will love the Brick Wall stamp as much as I do!
Hi, it's Belinda Spencer here today with some cards I've created using the new Gazette Texture Stamp!
1. Cut a piece of pink cardstock 13.5cm x 21cm. Fold in half to form the card base.
2. Cut a piece of smooth white cardstock 10cm x 13cm. Apply the Gazette Background Stamp to this piece using Watering Can Archival Ink. Press down the Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink Pad on a heat resistant craft sheet. Spritz with a little water. Swipe this piece through the colour. Allow to dry. Ink the edges with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink. Stick down on the card base.
3. Cut another piece of white cardstock 9cm x 125cm. Colour this piece with the Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide as in Step 2. Dry with a heat gun. Apply the Gazette Texture Stamp on top using the Watering Can ink. Ink the edges with the Hickory Smoke ink and stick down on the card front.
piece of torn tissue wrap on top to form the skirt. Cut out the top only of the Worn Lipstick mannequin. Layer over the top. Add some messy embroidery thread to the card front before adding the layered mannequin using 3D foam.
5. Swipe another piece of white cardstock through the Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide. Dry with a heat gun. Stamp a butterfly and the sentiment on this piece. Fussy cut both and add to the card front.
Here are three more cards featuring the Gazette Texture Stamp created using the same techniques.
I made a little bow tie from the triangles in the Arty Triangles Collage Stamp!
Hello stampers, Godelieve Tijskens here. I'm happy to have some of my designs in latest release again! Today I'm sharing cards I made with the Fine Leaves Stamp Set.
6. Ink the stamps, which are still attached to the stamping block, with Distress Oxide inks and over stamp the leaves. It doesn't matter if some of the white parts show up, in fact it looks even better that way.
7. Stamp and heat emboss a Fine Butterfly onto vellum, cut it out and attach to the stamped piece.
8. Add words from the Simple Sayings Vol 2 set, using black Archival ink.
9. Distress the edges using a paper distresser, and glue the finished panel onto a white card.
I love to create simple 1-layer cards like this one!
3. Let the masking fluid dry completely.
Hello happy people! It's Teresa Abajo with a couple of cards I made using the awesome new Texture Stamp called Sunshine.
The Sunshine stamp is a great way to embellish the focal point of a card, scrapbook page, art journal page or any other project.
I stamped the Stitched Threads Frame stamp using Archival Jet Black ink, and then stamped the Sunshine image in the centre of it using Distress Oxide Broken China. I used some of the words from the Dream Catchers stamp set for the bottom of the card.
I then stamped one of the images from the Butterfly stamp set in black ink on a gel print I made with one of the new stencils - Large Circles. I fussy cut the butterfly, then stitched it in place in the centre of the Sunshine with a sewing machine.
I left lots of thread attached to the butterfly and loosely wound it around and secured it in place with a few adhesive diamantes.
I stamped the Sunshine Texture stamp using Distress Oxide Worn Lipstick ink in the centre of a white card front. Then I stamped a few of the stars from the Stars set using Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry ink and fussy cut them.
I stamped the word Celebrate from the Brushed Sentiments set using Versamark ink, and sprinkled some pink embossing powder on the bottom of the letters and some gold embossing powder on the top of the letters, before melting it with a heat gun and fussy cutting the word.
Then I assembled the card by balancing the word toward the right with the large star toward the left of the Sunshine image. The two smaller stars were adhered under the word and some adhesive diamantes placed here and there around the focal points.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed seeing how useful the Sunshine Texture Stamp image can be!
We'd like to introduce 16 NEW Stamps & 12 New Stencils! Now available from the Darkroom Door website or your favourite stockist!
to your blog reader so you don't miss a thing! If you missed our recent blog hop showcasing our new stencils, read about it here!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by all the blogs this past week in our Stencil Blog Hop! it was wonderful to read all of your messages and enthusiasm for the new stencils and the artwork that was created by our wonderful contributing artists!
We would now like to announce the winners (drawn at random) from each of the blogs. If you see your name and comment below, please email us: info@darkroomdoor.com with your choice of 3 stencils and your mailing address so we can ship out your prize!
So many amazing projects!! Wow! Each one showcases so many ways to use the stencils... I want them all now! You are very talented!
Such pretty cards, I'm really loving all the different projects with these new stencils!
WOW and WOW! Robyn, your showcasing of these stencils is just incredible!!! If I had to pick a favorite card, tag, journal spread,etc. I don't think I could! Each is as lovely as the last! Great work and fabulous inspiration!! Thank you for sharing!!
These are both so gorgeous, Autumn!! You've showcased the stencils so perfectly!! The first card is stunning!! I love the colors and texture!! The second one is so beautiful!! I love the stencil bumping technique - need to try that!! Love these!
Ooh, la, la! Amazing samples! I thoroughly enjoy the neutral journal page! Great use of that wonderful stencil and crackle paste! Two fabulous designs from you, Teresa!
Thank you for following along with our Stencils blog hop! We will continue to share more projects here on the blog and on social media - join us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube!
You are also welcome to join our newsletter list here.


Cammy drops into Screw Attack's DEATH BATTLE!!
Calling all cars!! Be on the lookout for C.O.P.S. in Awesome Cartoons!!
Overwatch Tournament in Philly's Chinatown!!!
Join SirTurtleGaming and G.Team in Philly August 13th for a live Overwatch Tournament. Up to 8 teams will battle it out and be crowned Phillywatch Champions!
Rules subject to change: Any suggestions for rule changes can be addressed to sirturtlegaming@gamil.com.
[Tiebreakers] – In case of a tie, a single control point on a Control Map will be played to determine the winner. The team with the fastest/furthest attacking time will choose the Control Map.
[Delays] – If a Team delays more than 10 minutes of their scheduled start time, they will forfeit the match.
*Team Captain – Each team must consist of one Team Captain (TC). The TC has a responsibility to facilitate Tournament information to their team, availability, and check-in their team. The TC is the primary point of contact between the Tournament Officials (TO) and their team. They must also be available to communicate at any time during the tournament.


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Standard Charges Apply
Good to Know - Travel Tips for an Enjoyable Plymouth Vacation
Plymouth in southwest England experiences mild to warm temperatures from spring through early fall. These are the best times to enjoy Plymouth's beautiful outdoor parks and beaches, to take harbor and river cruises, and to explore the 16th-century buildings and cobblestone streets. Residents are known for their warm hospitality. The local history is so rich, almost everyone has an interesting story to tell you about Plymouth.
Best time to travel
Plymouth enjoys a warmer climate than most parts of Britain, but it can rain here year round, so be sure to pack wet-weather clothing. In spring, high temperatures average 54 degrees F (12 C), with lows dipping to 43 degrees F (6 C). In summer, the average high is 66 degrees F (19 C), with lows dropping to 54 degrees F (12 C). Many people visit Plymouth during the winter, when there's still plenty of things to do and hotel rates are much more reasonable.
Plymouth is all about the harbor and the sea. This has been a main trading port for over 5,000 years, so historical sites are everywhere, and the Barbican district has dwellings and taverns that date back to the 1500s. Britain's largest aquarium is also here, as well as Plymouth Hoe, where Sir Francis Drake (allegedly) played a game of bowls before heading off to defeat the Spanish Armada. Annual events including the British Fireworks Championships are held here, along with many other food, music, and sporting events.
Flights are available to Exeter International Airport (EXT) through a handful of international hubs. From there, the easiest options are a rental car to Plymouth (it's about an hour's drive to the city centre), or a taxi from the airport to Exeter St. Davids train station, from where services run to Plymouth. If you're travelling from within England, National Express buses are another option. Once in Plymouth, driving, bus travel, biking, and walking are all great options. There are also water ferries to get you to points across the Sound.
Dining in Plymouth falls into 2 main categories: local "tavern style," and more international. Many restaurants make some attempt to combine the 2, often in small plate offerings or "British tapas." Either way, because Plymouth is a major fishing port, the mainstay of all dining is seafood. Produce and meats are also locally sourced, so you can count on fresh ingredients throughout Plymouth.
Customs and etiquette
In general, British people are easygoing, soft spoken, and welcoming to visitors. Keeping noise to a minimum will be greatly appreciated, as will general courtesies such as saying "please" and "thank you." In restaurants, tipping of around 10 percent is expected, unless service is substandard. Be sure to check your bill - some restaurants will add a service charge to the bill, especially for larger parties. Tipping is not expected in pubs or fast food establishments.
Population: 257000
Spoken languages: English
Electrical: 220-240 volts, 50 Hz, plug type G
Phone calling code: +44 1752
Emergency number: 999
Plymouth Guides
Where to Stay in Plymouth - From Countryside Manors to Cozy Inns
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A Guide to Plymouth - a Port City Steeped in Nautical History and Contemporary Culture
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COPrevent: Calling all recent or soon-to-be patient navigator graduates!
Calling all recent or soon-to-be patient navigator graduates!
If you are a recent or soon-to-be graduate of a Health/Patient Navigator training program, CDPHE invites you to play a role in an important statewide initiative to advance Colorado's patient navigator workforce. Unlicensed patient navigators are needed to participate in the development of the competency evaluation that will be part of the voluntary credentialing process for training programs and unlicensed PNs.
Participants will receive a $25.00 Gift Card and Certificate of Appreciation from CDPHE - Breakfast or lunch will be provided. Reimbursement for in-state travel and lodging & mileage available.
Contact Patricia Uris, patricia.uris@state.co.us with any questions.


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To Fight at Any Cost
By Gillian Fournie closeAuthor: Gillian Fournie Name: Gillian Fournie
Email: gfournie@devrieslitigation.com
Site: https://devrieslitigation.com/about/gillian-fournie/
About: Gillian is a lawyer with de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. Her practice focuses on the area of trusts and estates litigation. gfournie@devrieslitigation.comSee Authors Posts (62) • September 8, 2021 • 0 Comments
Lawsuits often put litigants on an emotional rollercoaster. As the lawsuit progresses and legal bills pile up, some clients start caring less about strategy and more about causing maximum pain to the other side. However, abandoning reason and moderation has a cost – usually in the form of a cost award. Such was the result in Del Giudice v Thompson, 2021 ONSC 5187. While the underlying action in Del Giudice relates to a proposed class action proceeding against Capital One, the reasons set out in this cost decision have universal application.
The cost decision, issued by Justice Perell, arose following two unsuccessful interlocutory motions brought by the plaintiffs.[1] After the parties exchanged cost submissions, Justice Perell issued his cost decision and awarded Capital One (the successful party on the motions) costs in the total amount of $125,000 on a partial indemnity basis.
Cost awards are at the discretion of the judge hearing the matter. Usually, the court refers to the factors set out in Rule 57 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. In reaching his decision, Justice Perell emphasized that the conduct of the plaintiffs during the motions strongly influenced the amount of costs awarded:
"… I have decided that rather than a punitive award, I should treat [Capital One's] claim for costs having regard to the principle that one of the factors the court may consider in awarding costs under rule 57.01 is whether any step in the proceeding was improper, vexatious, unnecessary, or taken through negligence, mistake, or excessive caution. All of those factors were engaged with respect to the Plaintiffs' refusal motion and its unnecessary motion to enjoin Capital One …"[2]
Justice Perell went on to describe the Plaintiffs' two motion as "unnecessary, wasteful motions that were deplorably prosecuted. Both motions should never have been brought. Both added nothing but bad practice."[3]
In addition to criticizing the Plaintiffs' decision to bring the failed motions, the court also criticized the conduct of the Plaintiffs' lawyers leading up to and during the motions. In particular, the court held that the Plaintiffs' counsels' behaviour was "reprehensible, scandalous and outrageous," having advanced "numerous allegations of improper conduct, dishonesty, conspiracy and deceit against Capital One and its counsel, including through an improper cross-examination."[4]
This decision stands as a strong repudiation of a style of litigation that involves fighting every step of the proceeding without consideration of merit, reason, or proportionality. Courts are increasingly encouraging counsel and their clients to collaborate to resolve as many issues as possible between themselves, without recourse to the courts. This is especially true for procedural steps: counsel are expected to agree on most procedural steps using courtesy, communication, and common sense. There is less and less tolerance for blind aggression in litigation. The decision to litigate for litigation's sake will increasingly result in strong condemnation from the court and cost consequences. As Justice Perell held:
"The Plaintiffs' failure was of the abysmal sort. The Plaintiffs' motions were ill-advised and meritless, and the Plaintiffs took unreasonable, overreaching, and legally unavailable positions.
That said, it is an adversarial process, and the litigation cost of an abysmal failure is to waste one's own legal resources and to also have to pay spoils to the winner."[5]
[1] A refusals motion and a motion for an interlocutory injunction.
[2] At paragraph 9.
[4] At paragraph 14.
Costs, Estate Litigation
About Gillian Fournie closeAuthor: Gillian Fournie Name: Gillian Fournie
About: Gillian is a lawyer with de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. Her practice focuses on the area of trusts and estates litigation. gfournie@devrieslitigation.comSee Authors Posts (62)
Gillian is a lawyer with de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. Her practice focuses on the area of trusts and estates litigation. gfournie@devrieslitigation.com
Joint Accounts Held as Tenants in Common: A Tool to Avoid Litigation Pipeline planning and the dangers of subsection 84(2)


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Complete Face App – Digital Encyclopedia covering all facial injectables in the world
by Trish | Jul 12, 2016 | Blog, Video | 0 comments
Trish Hammond: I'm here with Dr Steven Liew who's one of the co-creators of the new face app that's out in the moment so I'm just going to get him to tell you a little bit about that, so I thank you so much.
Dr Steven Liew: Thank you.
Trish Hammond: Tell us about it… I've seen it, it looks amazing.
Dr Steven Liew: Well, it's called Complete Face and I'm proud to announce that it is the very first digital app that covers all the facial injectables in the world.
The idea came to me about 6 years ago where I ran a very small workshop for doctors. The demand is high, I'm time poor; so I decided to create an app so that people can reference to look at it. It's almost like attending a private anatomy and injection workshop on a one-on-one basis except this, you can access it any time and anywhere you want.
It is an app that has about 200 high-definition videos. It covers every part of the facial anatomies. It covers patient assessment. It covers patient marking. It covers injection technique in a step-wise pattern. We're showing you pre- and post; and the type of material, type of products that you can use for a specific part of the face. More importantly, it is doing it in such a way to promote safe and good outcome type of practice. It is available online, on www.completeface.net.
Trish Hammond: Great. If you're in the clinic and you actually have a question, you can look it up there and then.
Dr Steven Liew: Yeah. I-
Trish Hammond: It's like having you on your phone.
Dr Steven Liew: Correct. Well, it's almost having me talking to you any time you want.
Trish Hammond: Yeah.
Dr Steven Liew: One of the best reviews that we've heard is "it's almost like I'm attending a workshop except I have you talking to me directly". The other thing is we know that when we go to big conferences, a lot of time we go from one room to the other trying to look for that little pearls. I'm proud to say that we have all the pertinent, important information for you all in the digital platform – whether it's your iPhone or your tablets or on your computer.
Trish Hammond: Fantastic. It's great because some … You can have training in your own clinic. You can do it wherever you are.
Dr Steven Liew: I think for more information, go www.completeface.net. You will have a preview of the app and have a look at what other colleagues, whether in Australia or overseas – because this app is actually designed for someone who are just beginners to highly advanced level; because it covers everything from very basic -from the lip, nasolabial fold, or frown line to high advanced hollow orbit to the parotid gland, to the masseter to the neck lifting, so something for everyone.
Trish Hammond: If you can't get to venues like this or if you're a little bit far away or if you're just starting out, it sounds like the perfect app. Get in touch with www.completeface.net.
Trish is a plastic surgery blogger. She is passionate about wellbeing, health and beauty, and doesn't mind a little bit of 'help' from the amazing cosmetic and beauty procedures that are available today. Trish spends her days talking to women and men who are looking for suggestions and advice on procedures that are available to them. Cutting through the sales pitch and hype, a down-to-earth response on general information is what you will get.
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The official trailer for Mary Poppins Returns has just about everything: nostalgia, magic, and a nonagenarian Dick Van Dyke dancing on the furniture.
One thing that's missing is a significant sampling of the songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, which I of course can't wait to hear.
If the reaction videos can be taken as a measure, the trailer seems to be cuing all the right emotions.
Posted by Ryan Bunch at 1:45 AM No comments:
Pecan Pie Baby
Jacqueline Woodson's Pecan Pie Baby tells the story of an African American girl, Gia, who is less than happy that she is going to have a new sibling. Aimed at young readers, the book, with illustrations by Sophie Blackall, signals its comforting objective from the outset through its pastel colors and the appealingly round-faced characters. The front cover shows Gia and her Mama in close embrace with Gia's arm around her mother's pregnant belly after they have just finished eating pecan pie, the food that Mama uses to comfort Gia and reassure her of her love.
Blackall's illustrations show the relationship between Gia and Mama, using indoor environments, predominantly the home, and Gia's position within them to show her emotional state. The book opens in the fall with Gia and Mama going through Gia's winter clothes. Instead of throwing them away, however, Mama boxes them up for the new baby. Gia's room is always shown from a perspective directed toward the far corner, where her bed is situated. In the first two-page spread, the room appears cozy and lived-in, with mother and daughter smiling as they pack up the winter clothes.
This mood is disrupted in the text, however, when Mama brings up what Gia repeatedly refers to in exasperated larger type as the "ding-dang baby." On the next spread, Gia looks away from her mother (who is always looking at Gia, no matter what) as she tries to talk to her about the coming baby. In such moments of emotional closeness, Blackwell gives us intimate depictions of the characters with few or no details of their surroundings in the background. The passage of time is indicated by the changing of the season from autumn to winter, which is when, according to Mama, the baby will probably arrive (by the first snow). On the first page, trees in cheerful fall colors are framed by the windows in Gia's room. After the topic of the baby comes up, falling leaves are foregrounded in an exterior view of Gia's bedroom window as she looks out hoping there won't be snow. Framed by the window, Gia looks away from Mama as each falling leaf portends the dreaded winter.
Mama remarks that the baby loves pecan pie, and it wants some right now. Gia says the baby is just a copy-cat, because the two of them love pecan pie. This conversation takes place on the same spread dominated by the picture of Gia and Mama in the window with leaves blowing across the pages toward the substantial paragraph of text. There is some space after this text before the single line, "In the kitchen, Mama cut us a big slice." Then, in the lower right corner of page, there is a tiny picture of the two of them seated side-by-side at the kitchen table, sharing a piece of pecan pie. Their eyes are glancing toward each other, and there is something stylized, possibly even suggestive of folk art, about the way the hold their spoons against their smiling lips. Because of the unusual way in which they eat with their spoons, one is prompted to imagine the taste and texture of the pie, which has an affectionate place in Southern and African American culinary history as a dessert associated with family and holidays. Such a significant moment in the story might well have been its own featured page. The choice to slip it into the corner of a two-page spread suggests that it is the little things—small gestures of love and acts of bonding—that matter. It also allows room for this gesture to grow larger and more significant by the end of the book. In these first few expository pages, the full story has been prefigured on a small scale.
As time passes, leaves keep falling, and "jacket weather" comes. Gia's fear that the new baby will ruin life as she knows it intensifies. There is a moment of playful abandon when Gia and her friends play "Mama's Having a Baby." As the children jump rope to the traditional children's rhyme, Gia blends into the crowd—it takes the reader a moment to spot her near the end of the line. At this moment, she is able to play through her feelings of resentment (in the rhyme, the baby is sent down the escalator) without being singled out as the girl who's getting a baby sibling, as happens during an episode in class.
Soon, however, before even arriving, the baby seems to invade Gia's life, world, and physical space. She worries that her friend won't be able to sleep over because the baby will take the extra bed. Her aunties come to visit, but rush through tea and ignore her to talk about the baby, and her uncles invade her room to put the crib together. In a single-page illustration without words, they have strewn furniture parts and tools all over her room, leaving Gia drawn up in fetal position, backed up into the far corner of her room, small and marginalized. At school, the teacher reads a book about a girl who is about to be a big sister, and in contrast to the anonymity she enjoys in the jump-rope scene, she is encircled by her classmates who all look at her.
There is another moment of reassurance in the corner of the page when Mama rubs Gia's back during dinner and says she need Gia in response to Grandma's offer to keep her for a while. This is not enough, though, to keep things from reaching a breaking point at Thanksgiving dinner, when unending talk of the baby sends Gia into such a state of agitation she shouts "I'm so sick of that DING DANG BABY!"
Gia is sent to her room, where she again sits on her bed in the corner. Her loneliness is deepest here, with the lines where the floor and walls meet converging where she sits in a deep recess of solitude as we look down on her from above. The trees in the window have almost completely shed their leaves.
Soon, Mama comes to comfort her. As they cuddle together on the bed, Gia can't avoid feeling the baby "jumping around" in Mama's belly, which has grown noticeably since the beginning of the book. An illustration shows that Gia can't put her arm around her mother without also embracing the baby. As it begins to snow, they go downstairs for pecan pie again. They laugh about how "the three of us loved ourselves some pecan pie!" In the last illustration, Gia and Mama hold hands and look into each other's eyes while Mama balances a slice of pie on top of her belly. Mama and Gia's emotional closeness is emphasized by the absence of any environmental details in the background. It is just the two (or three) of them, and at least for the moment ending the book, the bond among mother, daughter, and pecan-pie baby is secure.
Posted by Ryan Bunch at 11:35 PM No comments:
Judy Garland sings "Over the Rainbow"
Judy Garland is probably best known for her role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939) and for her song from the movie, "Over the Rainbow." The song became her signature, and in the 1950s it was a fixture of her concert tours. Typically she sang it right after a recreation of "A Couple of Swells," a clowning song and dance duet which she shared with Fred Astaire in the film Easter Parade (1948). Still in the "tramp" costume from this comedic number, she would sit on the edge of the stage and give a heartfelt rendition of "Over the Rainbow," as though breaking the fourth wall of the preceding comedic performance to bare her soul. In this, the only video of the performance, from her appearance on the Ford Star Jubilee television program of 1955, even as she remains in costume and makeup, the pathos of her real life--the addictions, marital instability, career ups-and-downs, and other struggles of which many of her fans were aware--are foregrounded in a theatrically staged revelation of the person behind the performer.
This revelation of the person behind the performer also plays as a revelation of the child behind the adult. Much has been said about the androgyny of the performance and how Garland's inhabiting the drag of a male tramp intensifies the effect of dislocation--of a person not belonging or not confined by conventional gender and social categories--and the feelings of longing expressed by the song in such conditions of marginalization. Resonances with her gay male and other queer fans is obvious here. Perhaps less obvious, but at least as important, I think, is a kind of age drag. Her tramp character, although an adult, is comically childlike. Indeed, it is an infantalizing portrayal of poverty and, implicitly, race, given its roots in clown stock characters and minstrelsy tropes (which were very much part of Garland's early film career). Whereas in "A Couple of Swells," Garland's tramp is a carefree and child-like adult, in "Over the Rainbow," the character is a window onto the adult's childhood, which persists as the "child inside." Garland's performance channels both the image of the child star's loss of childhood and the impossibility of an adulthood without childlike vulnerability. The poignancy of the performance is, first and foremost, I think, in its queering of the line between child and adult, revealing the latter, in particular, to be a fantasy.
No More Kings!
The "America Rock" episodes of the ABC interstitial cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock presented lessons about American history and democracy that were meant to educate young viewers into citizenship. Schoolhouse Rock used songs in styles of music broadly conceived as rock to help its young viewers remember things like the preamble to the Constitution, adverbs, and multiplication tables. In the case of the nostalgic "America" episodes, a folk-rock sound dominates. The first installment, "No More Kings," opens with an invocation of rock music itself to announce the appearance on the world stage of American democracy:
Rockin' and a rollin', splisin' and a splashin'
Over the horizon, what can it be?
Looks like its going to be a free country.
The song then launches into a narrative of the colonization of the new world describing the proto-USA as a child leaving the nest of mother England.
Oh, they were missing Mother England
They swore their loyalty until the very end
Anything you say, King, it's okay, King
You know, it's kind of scary on your own
Gonna build a new land the way we planned
Can you help us run it till it's grown?
Words, music and image seem designed to tell a story children could relate to. The animation makes the world appear small, so that a ship can easily sail across a small ocean, across which a king can watch his subjects through a spyglass. The Boston Tea Party is represented inside a teacup, which is reminiscent of a child's tea set. The Mayflower and the house, over which people tower, are also toy-like.
The folksy, guitar-based, seventies soft pop style of the music maintains the childlike affect. Most importantly, the pilgrims are described, like children, as dependent on a mother country. They are frightened to be alone in the world, but swearing their loyalty, they want to build a new land according to their own vision. They need help until, like a child, the new nation is "grown." And they want the king to be proud of them, just as a child seeks a parent's approval. Both the colonizers and the country they found are thus positioned as innocent by being coded as children.
To maintain the innocence of this narrative, however, requires the erasure of those who would complicate it.
We are told that the Pilgrims are looking for a land to call their own. We of course know that there are already people there, a fact which is not acknowledged in the song's lyrics, and only marginally acknowledged in the animation as American Indians peer apprehensively from behind Plymouth Rock. The pilgrims simply "planted corn, you know" in a landscape represented by a blank page. There's nothing to see here, as their crops and houses fill the uninhabited space.
The king himself is presented as childlike, effeminate, and prone to tantrums. His authority is replaced in the end by that of men of reason, the founding fathers who framed the constitution and the declaration of independence. These rational patriarchs must be defined against their opposites—children, racial others and the femininely gendered Mother England. It is probably worth mentioning that the emergence of this species of rational men coincided historically with the emergence of Romantic, innocent childhood. In this and other "America Rock" episodes, the growth of the nation parallels the growth of the child from a primitive state to a mature one. This growth into Enlightenment rationalist Euro-American adulthood is the basis of Schoolhouse Rock's democracy. Children, while they remain such, along with infantalized non-white adults, are excluded.
Pestalozzi and Music Education
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, the Swiss educator, held that education should be child centered, teaching the student through natural exploration and play. He expressed his view of the education of the whole person by saying that children should learn by "head, hand, and heart." His belief in the proximity of childhood to nature and the natural education of the child was influenced by the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, with whom he shared the belief that speech and sound preceded written words ("sound before sign"). Pestalozzi's ideas were influential on American music education through the work of influential music educators like Lowell Mason. Under Pestalozzian principles, children were most naturally and effectively taught music through singing and playful performance rather than reading and writing music. Such ideas were further disseminated in the twentieth century in the music teaching methods developed by Carl Orff and Zoltan Kodaly.
In this video, music educator Jo Ann Champion traces the lineage of Pestalozzian ideas in American music education.
Gallimathias Musicum
I've been listening to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's early compositions, and this is one of my favorites. Mozart wrote Gallimathias musicum in 1766, when he was ten years old. It was performed in the Hague for the coming of age of the regent Prince William of Orange the Fifth on his eighteenth birthday, when he was installed as the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. Gallimathias seems to mean something like nonsense, gibberish, or a confused state. It's a humorous piece, a quodlibet, which usually indicates a lighthearted composition combining popular tunes in counterpoint. Here, the designation probably refers to the final movement, a fugue on the Dutch tune "Willem van Nassau," which, according to Mozart's father, Leopold, everyone in Holland was "singing, playing, and whistling" at the time.
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The "America Rock" episodes of the ABC interstitial cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock presented lessons about American hist...
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, the Swiss educator, held that education should be child centered, teaching the student through natural explora...
Jacqueline Woodson's Pecan Pie Baby tells the story of an African American girl, Gia, who is less than happy that she is going to have a ...
One of the first films ever exhibited in public stars a child, Andrée Lumiere. Repas de bébé (Baby's Meal) was one of the films e...
Judy Garland is probably best known for her role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939) and for her song from the movie, "Over the Ra...
Watching for the Lamplighter in Kids' Literature
Lamplighters appear as sentimental and nostalgic figures in literature for and about children. Maria Susanna Cummins's 1854 novel ...


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Home Industry News NCD Equipment appointed to Mecalac dealer network
NCD Equipment appointed to Mecalac dealer network
Mecalac Construction Equipment UK has appointed NCD Equipment to its national dealer network. From its site in Battlesbridge, NCD will be responsible for retailing Mecalac's highly-acclaimed MWR, MCR and 15MC range of excavators across Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire.
Established in 2014, NCD originally specialised in tree shears, but has rapidly grown and now sells a wide variety of equipment for professionals operating across the forestry, agriculture and utility industries. The business provides customers with market-leading products, supported with exceptional customer service and personal support.
Paul Macpherson, Commercial Director at Mecalac Construction Equipment UK, commented: "We are thrilled to be appointing NCD Equipment as a specialist distributor of Mecalac excavators. Engineered for rugged and compact performance, our excavators hold a unique place in the market.
"Providing UK professionals with state-of-the-art equipment is only made possible through the efforts of our dedicated dealer network. Now, with the addition of Nick and the NCD team, customers throughout East Anglia, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire have ready access to Mecalac excavators alongside trusted servicing and support."
With extensive first-hand experience working as a contractor, Nick Dinsdale, Founder and Managing Director of NCD Equipment, understands the crucial role that quality equipment can play in both safety and profitability.
Speaking about the new partnership, he said: "Working with Mecalac has given our customers access to excavators from a world leader in compact equipment. With the brand gaining significant traction in the UK, we look forward to playing a key role in further driving market share."
NCD Equipment will retail Mecalac's three unique excavator portfolios – the MCR crawler skid excavators, MWR wheeled excavators and the 15MC compact crawler excavator. Designed to maximise operator performance and efficiency, their next-generation design and class-leading performance are renowned worldwide.
Mecalac MCR – Innovative, productive and stylish, the MCR excavators can switch from compact tracked excavator (with a top speed of 10 km/h) to loader (with 360° rotation capability) within seconds. Available in three model variations – 6MCR (0.49m2 bucket capacity), 8MCR (0.53m2 bucket capacity) and 10MCR (0.75m2 bucket capacity) – each unit is powered by a 55kW engine.
Mecalac MWR – Perfectly blending stability and compactness, the MWR wheeled excavators adopt an innovative wheeled chassis. Four models are available – 7MWR, 9MWR, 11MWR and 15MWR, with different boom options. Incorporating a closed hydrostatic transmission system, each model is fast and nimble, with both two and four-wheel steer (including a crab option) available. Alongside boasting enhanced stability and safety, including direct entry into the cab, the MWR wheeled excavator range can be refuelled from the floor.
Mecalac 15MC – Mecalac's 15MC tracked crawler-excavator has a tail swing radius of only 1,570mm and an unbeatable front radius of only 1,420mm. In addition, it can operate within a single traffic lane. Capable of full rotation in less than a 3,140mm space envelope, clever kinematics ensures all functions can be performed in the tightest parameters. Alongside delivering outstanding power (100kW engine, 500Nm torque and a max pump flow of 270 l/min), the model's clever design allows diesel and Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) refuelling from the ground, which is unique in the marketplace.
A global leader in the design and manufacture of compact construction equipment, Mecalac offers a number of highly innovative technologies and capabilities to revolutionise on-site efficiencies and operator performance. For more information about Mecalac's latest range, or to find your nearest dealer, visit www.mecalac.com/en.
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News Digest: Ex-BioWare Designer to WotC, Baldur's Gate Adventure on DM's Guild from Original Creators, Darker Hue's New Game, and more!
It's time for another Malifaux 3rd Edition preview. In this instance, we have the goblin duo Georgy and Olaf (not to be confused with Oglaf, which is something else entirely. Don't Google that at work). The two have a real Master/Blaster type relationship, something they mention often in the special rules for the figure.