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'Outrageous': Prague mayor and other officials react to Christmas market ban
The sudden decision to close the holiday markets took many by surprise, and the reaction is largely negative.
The Czech govt. banned Christmas markets yesterday / illustrative image: iStock @oksana_nazarchuk
The unexpected move to close Christmas markets just as most were about to open has sparked a largely negative reaction. The Czech government yesterday announced that markets that had already opened would shut at 6 pm today and the planned opening of the Old Town Square market and others would not take place.
Drinking alcohol in public, such as mulled wine, has also been banned. Mulled wine and grilled sausages are traditionally major attractions at the markets.
Christmas trees and fresh carp can still be sold on the street, however. Markets that stay open all year, such as farmers markets, can remain open as well, but food and drink purchased there cannot be consumed on the spot.
Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib called the government's decision to cancel the Christmas markets "outrageous," adding that government must offer traders adequate compensation.
"The government's decision to abolish the outdoor Christmas markets literally from day to day is outrageous for all market operators and the stallholders themselves, who often bought the goods on credit. It's unbelievable that the stalls were built and now must be torn down again. The government must pay adequate financial compensation to all stallholders," Hřib said on Facebook.
A beginner's guide to festive Czech baking, cooking, and holiday traditions
"I consider this to be proof of the ultimate failure of the old government of Andrei Babiš and their absolute inability to plan anything. I wonder what they've been doing to curb the pandemic so far. In addition, it is a complete paradox to close down outdoor markets, such as at náměstí Republiky, and to keep a crowded shopping center [next to it] running," he said.
He recalled that a similar situation occurred last year. "At that time, we witnessed a situation where good numbers in Prague allowed the government to leave large stores open throughout the country within the PES system. As a result, the pandemic reached another high in January," he added.
Should the Christmas markets be closed this year due to Covid?
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Market organizing company Taiko also objected to the last-minute decision to close the markets. The company had just held a press conference Wednesday to promote the Old Town Square market. At the time, Taiko's CEO Jan Dell had been confident that the markets would go ahead. The entertainment program and tree lighting ceremonies had already been canceled to reduce crowds, and stall operators selling food and drink were going to check for vaccination or recovery certificates.
The government announcement on Thursday took them by complete surprise.
"We are shocked and we are desperate. We are surprised that the department stores will remain open, but the markets outside will close," Taiko spokeswoman Hana Tietze told new server Pražská Drbna.
The closure will cost the operator a significant amount of money. "We have year-round costs for storage and repairs of stalls. We've hired some employees, so we'll call for compensation," Tietze said.
Fish & Seafood stores
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Specialty Food Shops
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Czech Krampus Fest Makes International Headlines
She confirmed that many stall operators had taken out loans, and will now be unable to sell their goods. This could mean bankruptcy for some of the sellers. Tietze added that she was unsure when the already built market stalls would be taken down.
The Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Czech Republic (AHR ČR) also considers the government's decision to abolish Christmas markets to be very bad. AHR President Václav Stárek told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) it would have been possible to follow the recommended hygiene requirements. The markets, even in their smaller form, would have attracted tourists to hotels and restaurants.
Foreigners living in the Czech Republic react to carp and other Christmas traditions
Even some health experts are not convinced that closing the markets will have any effect. "Banning Christmas markets is nonsense for many reasons. I haven't met a man who gets infected at the Christmas market. Everyone around me, and there are many of them, became infected at home, at work, at school, or at a party. No one got infected in the market. Banning Christmas is a bad move by the government," molecular biologist Omar Šerý said on Twitter.
Some health experts, though, claim the new restrictions are not tough enough. Immunologist Václav Hořejší would like all large gatherings stop. "The measures are insufficient. In particular, enabling mass events is a mockery," Hořejší told ČTK.
#Christmas markets #christmas trees #holiday shopping #Holidays #politics


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IT IS OBVIOUS that technology has its risks. But determining the hows and whys of a technical failure is often far less clear. When an airplane or a bridge goes down, or when a power plant fails, thousands of potential causes could be the culprit. And the evidence could be snarled in a mass of torn metal and concrete.
But a growing number of engineers are becoming involved in a kind of sleuthing that makes Sherlock Holmes look very primitive indeed. The emphasis on litigation in American society is one reason why such engineers, called failure analysts, are often among the first people on the scene of an accident. One reason for this is that pinpointing fault is a matter of many millions of dollars in damage awards in the aftermath of an accident.
''the design process in reverse''--highly valued. Not only can failure analysts do work that can be incorporated into subsequent designs of similar machines or technologies, they can also study the likelihood of a failure so that the owners of power plants, and a variety of other critical technologies, can judge reliability and prevent accidents.
Air crashes are one of the more spectacular types of accident studied by Failure Analysis Associates, a Palo Alto, Calif., company that is known as the oldest and largest firm working in this area. It is a highly technical and interdisciplinary company, but despite the use of computers, electron microscopes and a variety of other sophisticated instruments, their assistance in solving the 1974 crash of a Turkish Airlines DC10 in Paris Orly airport was more a matter of common sense.
Sometime after the crash, in which 345 people were killed, the company was brought in on the case by the Lloyd`s of London insurance syndicate that covered Douglas Aircraft, the maker of the plane that had gone down shortly after takeoff because of an apparent sudden drop in pressure. It was hypothesized shortly after the crash that the reason for the drop in pressure was a cargo door that had blown off. An initial presumption was faulty aircraft design, one that the insurer was naturally anxious to see disproved. Shortly after Alan Tetelman of Failure Analysis arrived in Paris to inspect the wreckage, he noted that the pins on the cargo door had been filed down deliberately. By asking a few questions, he then learned that on a stop in Turkey, the ground crews had trouble closing the door, which then closed effortlessly by taking less than a quarter inch off the pins. By doing so, it was proved through tests, the door yielded to about 15 pounds of pressure, while it had been designed to withstand 300 pounds.
The discovery did not exonerate the aircraft maker entirely, according to Dr. Bernard Ross, who with Tetelman was an original founder of Failure Analysis. It fact, it was also observed that the pin-locking door was not state-of-the-art. A more secure door could have been designed into the airplane, but there had been a race to get the DC10 on the market before the Lockheed L1011. Nevertheless, his discovery enabled Tetelman (who himself later died in an airliner crash) to assist Lloyd`s in sharing the liability with those responsible at the airport in Turkey.
In the case of the DC10 that went down in Chicago in 1979, killing 273 people, it was determined that the offending aircraft part was a yoke that held the engine assembly on the wing. Engineers determined that a crack in the steel of this part could not have been caused by normal stress.
Scientific precision used in assessing failure can serve to predict and ultimately prevent accidents as well. In the case of power plants, this can mean huge savings in an industry that can ill-afford building new plants if that can be avoided. Some engineering companies have made almost a full-time occupation out of testing the critical portions of power plants, determining the range of their remaining useful lives and giving the utilities an opportunity to make planned shutdowns.
Aptech Engineering Services, also in Palo Alto, has a Remaining Useful Life Extension (RULE) program that goes into different types of factories, doing ultrasonic testing and temperature distribution testing on critical parts such as turbines, fans, headers and main steam lines.
Such preventive measures are the growth aspect of the failure analysis business, said Geoffrey Egan, Aptech president. That aspect is a function not only of safety, but also for the changing economics of certain smokestack industries. ''There is a strong reluctance among utilities to build new fossil burning plants,'' said Egan, who does such studies for a variety of types of factories.
How much certainty exists in this high-tech detective work? Dr. Roger McCarthy, the 33-year old president of Failure Analysis, says that it is getting better all the time by virtue of increasingly detailed study of metallurgy and increasingly complex computer codes. Indeed, powerful computers and larger data bases make a clear matter of some problems that before hand were shrouded in mystery.
The automobile accident is one area where society can benefit from knowing with statistical accuracy the dangers involved in certain automotive designs. For example, the company was commissioned recently by General Motors to determine if their X-car braking system caused skids, as had been alleged by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The verdict was no.
By running through a database of more than 11 million police reports (the largest such database in the country) Failure Analysis determined that the X car was no more likely to skid, given the same road conditions, than ''peer vehicles'' that were otherwise similar. The discovery avoided a massive recall that a nonscientific concern or hysteria might otherwise have mandated.
With more powerful computers ''probabilistics and probabilistic distributions is an increasingly powerful concept in the real world,'' said McCarthy, who suggests that learning the probability of certain events affects not just engineering but other aspects of public policy, which seek answers to otherwise imponderable questions.
Why and when things fracture is a real world problem that gets its most rigorous examination in the otherworldly arena of the space shuttle. Even the most careful casting of metal and other parts for the space ship cannot be made with absolute perfection, but the analysis of the materials used and the stresses that they are meant to undergo determines how large a defect (however microscopic) can be tolerated.
A computer model (with three-dimensional computer graphics) comprehends both the properties of the materials and the stresses to which they will be subjected, and can project and pinpoint any likely failures.
No system is foolproof, of course, but it is apparent that technology is ahead of practice in many cases that have resulted in tragic failures. The 1982 collapse of scaffolding at the site of an access ramp in East Chicago, Ind., is one example where more attention to the details of the metal scaffolding could have avoided the accident.
When Failure Analysis engineer Piotr Moncarz arrived at the scene of that accident, he noticed that one of the the vertical legs of a 60-foot tower had a smooth bend (the rest of the metal was mangled and jagged), apparently due to stress.
Assuming that the tower, which held the concrete casting for the ramp, lacked stability, the engineer ran computer models to determine if ''the deformation was consistent with mathematical functions that nature likes to use.'' The conclusion was that the height and weight of the towers caused the support to bow and then break.
The failure was exacerbated by the fact that the scaffolding had no redundancy--as one tower went it cause a chain reaction bringing down the rest of the towers in ''an unfortunate sequence of events that is hard to imagine by even the most imaginative engineer,'' Moncarz said.
As mechanical error is more and more predictable, the element of human error becomes more a concern. Some are rather obvious, as in the case of Ann- Margret falling off a platform onto a stage during a 1972 performance at Lake Tahoe, Calif. The platform, shaped like a hand, was obviously unstable if the actress stepped away from dead center, and that is what happened.
''never should have been done in the first place,'' according to the analayst who was assigned to it.
Other errors of neglect occur when the design of a building is altered while construction is in progress, which was the case with the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, where a walkway collapsed onto a dance floor in 1981, killing 113 people. In that case, said Moncarz, a hanger--a rod from which the walkway was suspended--was handling twice the load it was designed to after the contractor and designer agreed to alter the original hanger configuration.
''Human factor engineeering'' is another aspect of failure analysis that predicts human error. In some cases this means making sure that safety switches and lights are visible, and that two buttons doing drastically different things are sufficiently apart. In other cases, this means rewriting service manuals, which in one case reduced accidents to truck wheels by 70 to 80 percent.
But so far, there is still a human behavior problem that will not allow engineers and scientists to reduce the accident rate of the high- tech world as low as it could go.


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Riding Into Bolivian
Bolivia is to motorcycles what the Bermuda Triangle is to ships. It tried to strand me in the desert and it tried to drown my friend. Outside of La Paz, the infrastructure is practically nonexistent and many of the "roads" are little more than treacherous overland tracks across some of the most harsh and desolate terrain imaginable. The 3,700 m (12,000 ft) elevation makes every task twice as difficult as it should be, the sun is relentless and blinding during the day while the temperatures are freezing at night, and it is a totally wild and incredibly cool place.
The road leading from the Peruvian border into La Paz wasn't actually all that bad. It was bad enough, however, that I picked up a flat rear tire somewhere along the way. The problem became noticeable only a few blocks from my hotel. Unfortunately, La Paz defies all laws of physics in that every point in the city is uphill somehow. I tried to limp the few blocks up an impossibly steep hill to the hotel, but with the stop and go traffic, heavy load of gear and rider, and flat tire, the clutch decided to give out. Five days later, I was fixed up and ready to get on the road again.
The road from La Paz to Uyuni is a work in progress. Where it is paved, it is great. Where they are still working on it, the detours are desert tracks through sand and gravel and are nearly impassible by anything but a four-wheel-drive vehicle. When my one-wheel drive vehicle hit a patch of desert sugar sand, I was unable to throttle through it and both tires ended up buried to the brake rotors. After unloading the luggage and doing some digging, I was able to power through and continue on.
Shortly after, I hit a patch of sand that was so deep and so light that, despite my best efforts, sent me forward and sprawling into the desert, leaving the bravely struggling Triumph on her side in the sand, rear wheel spinning and sending a geyser of white desert sand into the blazing blue sky.
Luckily, the only witnesses to this inglorious dump were a herd of alpacas, which saved some embarrassment. Also, the landing was soft, which saved broken bones. These facts, however, presented a new set of problems. It was unlikely that the alpacas would be of any help in getting the bike upright and dug out of the sand.
I didn't have to wait long for a group of helpful locals to pass nearby in a pickup truck. We soon had the bike upright and with some digging and pushing and a healthy application of throttle, the Triumph was on her way again.
I arrived in Uyuni to find a friend waiting outside a hotel next to a red Land Rover. I met Dan at the Costa Rica/Panama border crossing. Dan, a tattoo artist from Long Beach, California, is following roughly the same route as me on a BMW 650GS. We've kept in touch via email and have crossed paths a few times.
"I had a hell of a day," he said.
"Couldn't have been worse than mine," I thought.
Then I discovered it had been. While riding on the Uyuni salt flats, he had broken through the salt crust and that's when the mud underneath had tried to swallow the bike whole. With the help of a local ex-pat Brit motorcycle mechanic named Robin (and owner of the red Land Rover), they had managed to get the bike back to town, but it was going to need some repairs.
The Uyuni salt Flats are the largest in the world and so large (roughly the size of Lebanon) and so flat that satellites use the surface to calibrate their instruments. The salt flat is not just a layer of salt over earth, but rather a sheet of crust over a briny solution, that is thought to contain 60% of the world's lithium supply, and floats like ice over an enormous lake full of corrosive metals. It is a mind-bending place. I decided to visit with a guide.
After the repairs on the BMW were completed, Dan and I decided to buddy up for the ride through the rest of Bolivia, as it seemed this country was actively trying to kill both of us.
We made it about an hour and a half out of Uyuni before his 650GS decided to quit again on the side of a desolate gravel stretch through the desert. I said I'd ride ahead and see if I could send a truck his way, while he would try to flag down a ride to the next town. Unfortunately, there was no next town except for the lonely border outpost several hours away. I drove off with Dan and the white BMW growing smaller in my mirrors on the side of the road in the Bolivian desert.
I eventually arrived at the Chilean border, after riding across washboard roads that felt like riding a jackhammer, volcanic ash/sand the consistency of talcum powder, disorienting dust clouds, whipping winds, freezing temperatures and enormous pits full of desert sand and gravel that made it nearly impossible to keep the bike upright.
While I was filling in my paperwork at the Chilean customs office, I looked out the window at the parking lot to see a Toyota Hilux pickup with a white BMW 650GS strapped down in the bed and Dan walking toward the door with a crazy grin on his face.
Another hell of a day, I guess.
November 7, 2015 November 9, 2015 ·
2 thoughts on "Riding Into Bolivian"
Rick Copeland says:
Sounds like a hell of a ride man. You've been from Butch and Sundance to Apocalypse now, and this sounds like the Road Warrior. At least the Umungas aren't trying to kill you for your fuel. Hope all is well.
Jo-Anne says:
OMG stay safe and upright MIke! Jo-Anne
The Inca Affair
The Skinny on Chile

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The rapid growth of freestanding emergency departments in Texas has been accompanied by an equal increase in use at relatively high prices that lead to sizable out-of-pocket costs to patients, according to new research by experts at Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX).
The research, published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, analyzes more than 16 million insurance claims processed by BCBSTX from 2012 to 2015 to track the growth in use and prices for freestanding emergency departments relative to hospital-based emergency departments and urgent care centers in Texas.
Ho said patients don't realize the price difference for these two types of facilities until they receive the bill for their out-of-pocket payment. The total price of a freestanding emergency room visit averaged $2,199 in 2015 versus $168 for an urgent care clinic visit. But in each case, patients were expected to pay roughly one-third out of pocket. The average price for similar treatment at hospital-based emergency departments was $2,259 and patients would have paid 33 percent out of pocket for treatment there.
In their analysis, the authors found that there were many more visits to hospital-based emergency departments and urgent care clinics, 1,046,545 and 926,933 in 2015, respectively, relative to freestanding emergency departments, 183,971. However, the growth in the use of freestanding emergency departments was much higher. Freestanding emergency department use rose 236 percent between 2012 and 2015, compared with growth rates of 10 percent for hospital-based emergency departments and 24 percent for urgent care clinics. The rapid growth in freestanding emergency department use is consistent with a 2015 Texas Tribune article reporting that 162 freestanding emergency departments had opened in Texas since 2010, when they were first licensed by the state.
Fifteen of the 20 most common diagnoses treated at freestanding emergency departments were also in the top 20 for urgent care clinics. However, prices for patients with the same diagnosis were on average almost 10 times higher at freestanding emergency departments relative to urgent care clinics. For example, the most common diagnostic category treated at freestanding emergency departments is "other upper-respiratory infections," which has an average price of $1,351, more than eight times the price of $165 that was paid for the same diagnosis at urgent care clinics.
Thirteen of the most common procedure codes associated with freestanding emergency departments were also among the 20 most common for urgent care clinics. In cases in which the type of procedure overlapped, the total price per visit was 13 times higher in freestanding emergency departments versus urgent care clinics. For example, the price for a therapeutic or intravenous injection at a freestanding emergency department was $203, which was 11.9 times the $17 price at an urgent care clinic.
The paper also discusses possible regulatory solutions to address inappropriate use of freestanding emergency departments, including limiting the amount for which these departments can balance bill patients for out-of-network care, meaning the difference between what a patient's health insurance agrees to reimburse and what the provider chooses to charge, and requiring they display the logos of insurance companies with negotiated in-network rates, similar to businesses displaying the logos of credit card companies.
"Our findings suggest that careful thought must be applied when one designs insurance plans and policies that cover freestanding emergency departments so that utilization of new services is delivered in a cost-effective manner," the authors concluded.
"Comparing Utilization and Costs of Care in Freestanding Emergency Departments, Hospital Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Clinics" was also co-authored by Cedric Dark of Baylor College of Medicine; Ellerie Weber of UTHealth's School of Public Health; and Leanne Metcalfe, Lan Vu and Howard Underwood of BCBSTX. Ho is also a professor of economics at Rice and a professor of medicine at Baylor.
The study was funded with a grant from the Texas Medical Center Health Policy Institute.
For the full study, see www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(16)31522-0/fulltext.


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Things That Are Found in Trees & Other Stories Edited by Richard Rossiter
Things That Are Found in Trees & Other Stories
Edited by Richard Rossiter
A partnership between Margaret River Press and Arts Margaret River, this compelling collection of new writing from Australian writers emerged from the inaugural 2011 Margaret River Short Story Competition. The competition consisted of an Open Category and a South West Category.
The stories in the book are insightful, sensitive stories, wide-ranging in their interests and, I believe, deeply rewarding. In all of them, there is 'something new' for us to discover.
Chefs of the Margaret River Region
Finding Jasper
Beverley Lello's winning entry in the Open Category, Things That Are Found in Trees, is a first person narrative that draws the reader in from the opening sentence: "I opened the newspaper today and saw a photograph of a dead elephant calf marooned in a tree by floods in Sri Lanka."
This is the first 'thing' found in a tree within the story. The focus then shifts to the past and memories of an event that occurred when the narrator was seventeen. Central to the story is an event all too familiar in the lives of young men in rural Australia. But this is not a maudlin story. The writing is restrained, respectful and, wears its symbolism lightly.
Second prize open category entry, Christine Piper's Stranded is a tightly written story set in Japan. The main character, Mr Takeda, is having an affair with a young woman not much older than his daughter. This is a very economical story with a strong sense of character and place. In spite of the ending, there is very little sense of moral judgement: in this world, surface is everything.
In Bernice Barry's Mornings Like This, the winning South West Category story, the tone is quietly celebratory of the arrival of a new day. It's also a time for reflection for the unnamed protagonist, who thinks about his choices—of staying on the farm, while his brothers left to pursue a university education and professional careers. It's a familiar story, but here rendered in loving detail that avoids sentimentality.
Contributors Beverley Lello, Rajasree Variyar, Georgina Luck, William Lane, Christine Piper, Catherine Moffat, Liliane Grace, Jane Skelton, Kerry Whalen, Jacqueline Winn and Bernice Barry gain a special place in the competition's history.
The stories in the book "are insightful, sensitive stories, wide-ranging in their interests and, I believe, deeply rewarding. In all of them, there is 'something new' for us to discover.", Richard Rossiter, Editor.
Richard Rossiter
Bernice Barry has lived in Margaret River for eleven years and works mainly from home as an education consultant. After twenty years as an adviser on literacy and international curriculum innovation, she found in WA's South West a personal balance of peace and challenge, creating a native garden in the bush and managing each day's wildlife adventures. She has written many publications on education, from language development programs for young children and books for teachers to online training courses for school principals. Her personal writing has always remained private, until now.
Liliane Grace writes short stories, plays, articles, novels and the odd poem—many of which have been published or awarded. Her self-published book, The Mastery Club marries her love of fiction and her love of personal growth; so far over 12,000 copies have been sold in Australia and China. Liliane has taught Creative Writing for some 24 years. She has three gorgeous young adult children who were largely home educated and a much loved, tech-savvy hubby who created her website: www.lilianegrace.com
William Lane lives on the north coast of NSW with his wife and three children. He has a degree in Australian literature and is trained as a schoolteacher. William loves reading, writing and music. He is currently writing a doctorate through the University of Queensland on the short stories of Christina Stead.
Beverley Lello lives on a bush block in NE Victoria with her husband. The children have grown up and moved north and she now has more time to cycle, trek and write. Country town life and travelling are the inspiration for many of her stories and plays. Several of her stories have been published in Stringybark Fiction and in 2011 she won the Albury City Short Story Competition and the Stringybark Fiction Award. She has had several short plays performed by theatre companies in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney and her home town of Yackandandah.
Georgina Luck has published short stories in Griffith REVIEW, Southerly, Overland, Etchings, Famous Reporter, Woorilla and The Broadkill Review. She received the 2009 Griffith REVIEW / Text Publishing Emerging Writers Award—Fiction and was highly commended in the 2008 Marian Eldridge Award. She has won two playwriting awards and has received a Varuna Fellowship and an Australian Society of Authors mentorship.
Catherine Moffat is a writer who lives on the NSW Central Coast. Her work has been published in literary journals and on ABC radio. Catherine is a regular blogger for Meanjin and Overland.
Christine Piper is a Doctor of Creative Arts candidate at the University of Technology, Sydney, and a freelance journalist. Her writing has appeared in Australian Book Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and GQ, among other publications. She was born in Seoul, South Korea and has lived in Japan several times but is currently based in Sydney, where she is completing a historical fiction novel about Japanese civilian internees. She is the recipient of a Varuna Writing Retreat Fellowship and CAL's Creative Industries' Career Fund.
Jane Skelton has published short fiction in a wide range of magazines and anthologies. Formerly of Queensland, Jane has lived in the Blue Mountains, NSW for the past ten years. She has a Master of Arts in Communication and Media, and is finalising a thesis for a Doctorate in Creative Arts at the University of Western Sydney. The natural environment, from the coast to the mountains, is a strong presence in her writing. Her novel, earth eaters, was a winner in the Byron Bay Writers Festival LitLink Unpublished Manuscript awards in 2010. She is currently completing another novel, 1983. Website :http://janeskelton.com.au/
Rajasree Variyar was born in Bangalore, but arrived in Australia as a six-month-old and grew up in Western Sydney, participating in a ridiculous amount of extra-curricular activities and with a voracious appetite for books. She graduated from the University of Sydney in 2009 with majors in Indonesian Studies, Finance and International Relations and a minor in Classical Archaeology. This mix of subject areas is quite reflective of her confusion around what her career path should be. She is currently working in strategic product development in ANZ Direct Insurance. Writing is very much a creative outlet for her, and it would be a dream come true to one day have a published novel in her name.
Kerry Lown Whalen taught English at the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE in Queensland for 22 years before she and her husband moved to the Gold Coast. She has won prizes in several literary competitions and had her short stories A Tidy Sum, Flash Harry, Arcadia, Questions, Crossroads, Mirage and The Way Things Were published in books and magazines.
Jacqueline Winn lives on a farm at Possum Brush on the Mid-North Coast of NSW. She writes short stories, novels, poetry and scripts and has won awards for short fiction and poetry in Australia, New Zealand and UK. A number of her stories have been published in anthologies and literary magazines in Australia, UK and Ireland. She has two collections of short stories Once More With Feeling and Salt & Pepper, published by Ginninderra Press. More about Jacqui and her writing at www.jacquelinewinn.com
Nice words of encouragement from Walter, check out his blog about our launch and Jane Skelton's story : http://bit.ly/PQkn0n
Read the review by Karenlee Thompson ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 30/6/2012 review of our short story collection, Check it out at : ANZ LitLovers review
William Yeoman, The West Australian, Review 22/5
Following last year's Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival, Margaret River Press and Arts Margaret River formed a partnership to run a short story competition.
This compact, elegantly printed and bound collection edited by master-storyteller Richard Rossiter represents the first fruits of that partnership and comprises 12 short stories, including those by the three prize- winners, out of 191 submitted.
The elegiac and highly accomplished Open Prize-winning title story by Beverley Lello opens with the arresting image of a dead elephant calf stuck in a tree and is a hard act to follow but every story is a gem, leaving one in no doubt about the future of short fiction in Australia.
What Have You Been Up To? Beverley Lello
I feel I'm having an enjoyable ride as a writer. After a couple of successes in 2010/2011 – when I first started to submit short stories – I've continued to win competitions and be published. I've also continued to write for the theatre and have had plays and monologues performed from Townsville to Melbourne. I…
Shibboleth & other stories
Edited by Laurie Steed
The Trouble With Flying
Edited by Richard Rossiter, Susan Midalia
$0 Out of stock


Scott (my husband) finds the idea of blogging somewhat odd, but like the blogger you've quoted, I envision the process as conversational. In a very odd way, I feel a remarkable closeness to many whom I've never met -- and will likely never meet face to face, but I do feel a definite "connection."
In the future perhaps I'll care less about the quality of the comments left, and commit to at least contributing to the conversation.
Hi! I am delurking! I don't really write on my blog these days but I do enjoy reading yours.
I know I love to read the comments on mine, so I've been trying to respond a lot also. And I signed up for NaComLeavWe... hope I can hack it!
i completely agree. i started blogging not really knowing what to expect- i have to say i got much more than i thought i would out of blogging- i have met some of the authors of the blogs i read and others i have not. however it doesn't matter if i have met them i still feel a strong connection with them and i love that. i used to feel so scared to post comments of encouragement or any sort of words on a persons blog- i am glad that i have gotten over that fear because it really has opened so many doors for me and i hope that it has for others as well!
Kevin and I found your blog by accident. Jon's too. We read them for a long time, feeling like voyeurs, yet not knowing how to stop you on the sidewalk to say, "Um, yeah, we're the neighbors who have been reading your diaries." But we have cheered for you, mourned for you, and prayed for you nonetheless. Sometimes, in the middle of the self-absorption that can overtake life, I read a post about your sweet baby or cute dog and am reminded to think outside of my own life, to count my blessings, and to just breathe. And so, I too, add my "I'm out here" voice to let you know your words do not fall on deaf ears (blind eyes?) and that the sharing of your experiences is edifying to this cyber community.
Hello there, I have been reading your blog which (I think) I found through a link on someone else's blog. I have enjoyed so much tagging along on your journey. You have a beautiful baby and I thoroughly enjoy your posts. Keep up the blogging! Thanks for your thoughtful insights!
I love this post!! I think you are like everyone else in blog-world: Reading blogs that belong to friends, acquaintances and complete strangers; commenting on some a lot, some a little and some never. And always smiling when we receive a post on our own blog.
I love how blogs could be looked at as conversations. I see this in my husbands profession. He's a consultant; he writes code and belongs to a somewhat small technical community where they write and comment on blogs a lot! When someone comments, the author will often reply back with another comment aimed at that first commentor in this way: @ Bob (who whoever the commenter was): blah blah blah. I've read his blogs and always liked how the commenter then becomes part of the blog, not just a random person who posted a few lines. I love how the "I'm listening" then creates "Thanks for listening; I heard what you said also."
I do think it's funny that sometimes it's so difficult for all of us to comment on other people's blogs. I am exactly the same way. I mostly comment on blogs that belong to people I know. Rarely do I comment on a complete strangers' blog! Heck, the one reason I felt comfy to comment on your blog was that I was "introduced" by a common friend and I bought some of your jewelry, so really you weren't a *complete* stranger. If folks didn't want comments, either they wouldn't blog or they'd find a way to remove the "comments" button from the blog. It's funny to me that we love getting comments on our own blogs but are sometimes fearful or too shy to comment on others. I have only a handful of people who comment on my blog and each time I get the notification, I get happy! In a way it validates all the work I do to write posts and add pictures. And when I've put up a post that I think was especially fun, clever, etc. (and yeah, for the most part they're probably pretty mediocre but a picture of a cute baby thrown in for good measure) and no-one comments, I am left wondering why.
I don't even know you and I comment on your and John's blogs all the time. sometimes I have wondered if you guys are like "who the hell is that woman?!" or if John hollers across the house "hey Nikole, some stranger from the blog suggested gripewater. do you know what gripewater is?" and then I imagine your faint tired voice answering from 3 rooms away "yes" and john's again: "does it work?"
but I just have to throw my 2 cents in or LOL at whatever story you have shared. I feel a strange intimacy with you guys, having accidentally stumbled upon your blog when I was just barely pregnant with my 2nd child. This would have been last May (07). I was doing what so many of us who have had losses do and searching the internet for hope and a reason to believe that the statistics wouldn't fall on me again (I lost my first pregnancy and mercifully it was my only loss but it was extremely devastating and it caused me to question everything that I FIRMLY believed in). I think I had used some kind of foot cream (TMI? LOL) that is category C or something and I was in an insomniac early pregnancy panic about what I had done to the baby in order to cure my atheletes foot. I was googling for ways to find out exactly how much substance can be absorbed through the sole of the foot. I read wordy meaningless scientific abstracts which basically all said the same thing - they didn't know. I even paid $20 and asked some "dr" online who gave me an equally meaningless answer. Then somehow I found your blog. I became very interested and started following your long and arduous journey. All the while I felt a tad guilty because I was reading your blog while I suffered horrendous "morning" sickness (at midnight). I emailed you when I first found the blog, you replied and I kept reading. I felt very voyeuristic...peeping at your Etsy stuff, reading your husband's blog (if you don't update yours I check to see if he did), knowing all your personal pain. I was here, cheering for you all the while. and when you got pregnant with what would become Thea, I had this really really good feeling that this was it for you. Once you made it through a few weeks, I posted that I thought it was a girl...all as though I know you at all!! and I don't! But I have come to care for you and your husband, total strangers to me...and to admire your strength more than you know. You are fantastic people and Thea is a lucky baby. My baby, Amanda, was born in January 08. you were right behind me. We shared our pregnancy journey together. You there in lovely wherever you are on the east-ish coast and me out here in California.
So blog on friend. you inspire me.
I just wanted to let you know that I read your blog (and John's) faithfully. I truly enjoy your writing. The pictures of Thea and all of you (including Rilo!) are beautiful. Thank you for sharing your life. You are an inspiration.
Delurking to say "I'm Listening". Oh and Thea is so beautiful!
Nicole...I have followed your blog since before you were pregnant with Thea, and continue to "lurk" now that you have your beautiful daughter. I read your blog with amazing frequency and felt so emotionally connected with everything that you were experiencing. I often found myself silently crying or laughing out loud, all the while not personally knowing you. I want to thank you for sharing yourself with me, and the world. My daughter, Avery, was born a few weeks after Thea and I have enjoyed going through this with you, although anonymously.
Delurking to say "I am listening."
I think I fall into the category of someone who feels their comments would pale in comparison to your posts. :) ... probably under-estimating myself as usual.
I really enjoy your writing, and love reading updates on Thea! I started reading your blog some time ago while I was struggling to conceive my now 7 week old son, Zachary.
I'm also a fan of Richmond! I grew up there, and my entire family is still there (while I'm out here on the west coast now).
I am definitely listening, and your most recent posts in particular have moved me deeply. I often feel that there's so much to say that I don't know where to start and so I take it away and mull it over and never get around to telling you how much you have affected me.
I feel that I've drifted away from being open and vulnerable on my blog and in many aspects of my life. I want to get back there and unload more of the pointless shame and fear that still lurks under the surface. You are a tremendous inspiration, especially as I prepare to follow you into the adventure of motherhood.
I hope to be listening to your wise and inspirational words for a long time to come.
I found your blog while I was searching for support while grieve the loss of my twins. Once I began reading I found that you had so much strength and courage to continue trying for another child. I thought if you could do it after all you've been through, I could do it too. I have followed your entire pregnancy with Miss Thea learning from all you have overcome. I am now expecting again and am looking foward to successful pregnancy. I just wanted you to know how much you've helped me even though you don't know me. So my dear, I am listening.
Thanks for reminding me why I blog. It is a conversation. In fact, I find my best posts start out at emails to friends who have asked how I'm doing.
Thanks for sharing your journey and reading about mine too.
I am listening and have been :-) You have no idea who I am because I can't manage to keep a blog, but I love reading yours and others out there, and I feel a strong connection that keeps me reading. Being able to read blogs of people walking down similar paths has truly changed my life. I don't comment unless I feel that I have something meaningful to add, but now that you made me think about it, I realize it is a great idea to at least make it known that I am on this end, listening.
I'm listening... Your blog was one of those that inspired me to start my own, yet for some reason - I can't seem to bring myself to type out my thoughts/feelings/etc, instead opting to just post pictures and generic "safe" updates.
I hope I can bring myself to change that someday.
I blog and read blogs to vent and listen, too - and your blog is so well-written and honest. Congrats on the baby, too. Gorgeous.


Plastic operations on the neck and arms for severe cicatricial deformities after burns.
Journal : Medico-Chirurgical Transactions ; vol. lxxii.
Description : 349–372 p. ; ill.: 8 phot. figs. ; 21 cm.
Photographs : 8 in-text halftone images of 3 adult females, before and after plastic surgery.
Subject : Skin — Burns ; Sequelae.
Received March 7th—Read May 14th, 1889.
Member, Royal College of Surgeons, 1854.
Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons, 1859.
Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy and Surgical Registrar, St. Thomas Hospital, 1860.
Surgeon, St. Thomas Hospital, 1871.
Lecturer on Practical Surgery, St. Thomas Hospital, 1871.
Special Lecturer on Clinical Surgery, St. Thomas Hospital, 1881.


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text:
The Island of All Together
CONVERSATIONS ON LESVOS
City/Country of origin: Hannover, Germany
Profession: Medical student.
Hobbies: Sports like jogging.
Reason for staying on Lesvos: Holiday.
My mood today (1-10): 10
Why? Because I'm on holiday with my mum and sister, it couldn't feel better!
My advice for the world: Be kind. Trust people. No one is illegal!
City/ country of origin: Damascus, Syria
Profession: Lawyer
Hobbies: Car driving
Reason for staying on Lesvos: Transit, on my way to Germany
My mood today(1-10): 8
Why? This is a new start, a change in my life.
My advice for the world: ...
The German Selma and the Syrian Husam had an immediate click by their first meeting on Lesbos. They were evenly matched and had many questions.
'Why are you on Lesbos?' Husam asked. The heat of the day was slowly making way for some cooler air. 'I am here on vacation with my mother and my sister,' Selma explained, 'and you?'
'I am travelling to Germany,' Husam said. He told everything about the dangerous boat trip from that afternoon; about how there were 50 people propped on a boat meant for 30. The black rubber boat was dangerously low in the water. Luckily the sea was as smooth as a mirror.
It was never the intention, but because of the war Husam's family now all lived in different countries. While his brother remained in Syria, another part of the family was already in Germany.
'If I had remained in Syria I would have had to become part of a group,' Husam said. 'Because I did not want to do this there was no other option except to leave.' He thought for a moment. 'And I want to continue on with my life and my work.'
Five years ago he completed law school at the university in Damascus. He wanted to go to work but because of the war everything stopped.
I hope that the journey to Germany goes well and you can still become a lawyer in the future,' Selma said. 'Thank you very much,' Husam replied, 'and I would like to wish you much happiness and that all of your dreams will come true.'
Once back home two weeks later we see on Facebook that Husam had arrived safely in Berlin. He had made the journey quickly. When we congratulated him on this fact, he came with a nice message which said he and Selma had become good friends. Selma added to this in an email. 'Yes, that's right! We have a great deal of contact and I sometimes help him with the translation of the documents and with learning the German language. He is also coming soon to visit me in Hannover. I can say that I have a good friend in him.'
Dear Selma and Husam, early next year we would love to come to Germany to have dinner with the four of us. We think it would be great to see you together again. We will hear in which city that will be. :)


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If you are interested in this tour please fill in the following details and we will contact you as soon as possible.


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Northern Ireland and Romania shared the spoils in their top of the table clash in Group F of the Euro 2016 qualifiers last night.
That match ended scoreless at Windsor Park - Romania arestill one point clear of the North at the top of the table.
Northern Ireland boss, Michael O'Neill, says there were plenty of positives to take from the game.


text:
Your ERISA Watch – Ninth Circuit Holds that Same-Sex Domestic Partner Is Entitled to Joint-and-Survivor Pension Benefits
HomeBlogBlogFiduciariesYour ERISA Watch – Ninth Circuit Holds that Same-Sex Domestic Partner Is Entitled to Joint-and-Survivor Pension Benefits
This week's notable decision is a short and sweet read in the matter of Reed v. KRON/IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan, No. 17-17176, __F.App'x__, 2019 WL 2145652 (9th Cir. May 16, 2019), where the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's decision finding that it was not an abuse of discretion for Defendant to deny survivor-spousal benefits to a same-sex domestic partner.
By way of background, Plaintiff David Reed and Donald Lee Gardner, an employee of KRON-TV, were registered as domestic partners in California in 2004. Mr. Gardner retired in 2009 and elected a single-life annuity pension under the KRON/IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan (the "Plan"). Reed claimed that KRON-TV's HR department never mentioned the availability of a joint-and-survivor form of benefit although they knew he and Gardner were registered domestic partners. In May 2014, Reed and Gardner got married and then Gardner passed away five days later. Reed submitted a claim for a survivor benefit to the KRON/IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan (the "Committee"), which it denied.
Plaintiff filed suit against Defendants asserting three claims: (1) claim for benefits under ERISA Section 1132(a)(1)(B) against the Plan and the Committee; (2) a penalty under Section 1132(a)(1)(A) against the Committee and KRON-TV; and (3) a violation of ERISA Section 1132(a)(3) against KRON-TV. Reed alleged that he and Gardner had the status of married persons under California law and that Reed did not consent to Gardner's election of a single-life annuity. Reed also alleged that KRON-TV breached its fiduciary duties to him by failing to investigate his entitlement to a joint-and-survivor annuity and failing to advise him of his rights.
Defendants moved to dismiss all three claims. On December 5, 2016, Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern District of California dismissed the second claim for relief on the basis that KRON-TV is not a plan administrator and not subject to penalties under ERISA Section 1132(c). Reed v. Kron/Ibew Local 45 Pension Plan, No. 16-CV-04471-JSW, 2016 WL 10826863, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 5, 2016). The court did not dismiss the first and third claims.
Defendants then moved for judgment on the pleadings on the remaining claims. On September 25, 2017, Judge White issued an order granting Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings as to the first and third claims. The court determined that ERISA does not preempt state law recognition of spouses but that the Committee did not abuse its discretion in failing to offer Gardner joint-and-survivor annuity benefits because when Gardner retired DOMA Section 3 was still considered good law. (DOMA Section 3 prevented the federal government from recognizing any marriages between same-sex couples for the purpose of federal laws or programs, even if those couples are considered legally married by their home state.) The court further explained that DOMA explicitly defined "spouse" as limited to partners of the opposite sex. Reed v. KRON/IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan, No. 16-CV-04471-JSW, 2017 WL 6523478, at *5 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 25, 2017), rev'd and remanded sub nom. Reed v. KRON/IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan, No. 17-17176, 2019 WL 2145652 (9th Cir. May 16, 2019). The court also held that KRON-TV is not a fiduciary under ERISA because it does not have sufficient control of plan assets to qualify as a fiduciary.
In reversing the district court, the Ninth Circuit found that the Committee abused its discretion by denying benefits to Reed. When the Committee evaluated the Plan's benefits (in 2009 and 2016), California law afforded domestic partners the same rights, protections, and benefits as those granted to spouses. See Cal. Fam. Code § 297.5(a). The court found that neither ERISA nor the Internal Revenue Code provided binding guidance inconsistent with applying this interpretation of spouse to the Plan. Because "Reed and Gardner were domestic partners at the time of Gardner's retirement, the Committee should have awarded Reed spousal benefits in accordance with California law, as was required by the Plan's choice-of-law provision."
Reed is represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and friends of ERISA Watch, Renaker Hasselman Scott LLP. In explaining the import of this decision, Teresa Renaker, who argued the appeal before the Ninth Circuit, said "Although the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down in 2013, some employers have continued to deny spousal pension benefits to same-sex couples if the employee retired or died before the Supreme Court decision. Today's decision recognizes that DOMA cannot deprive a same-sex couple of pension protections merely because it was still on the books when an employee retired." See Press Release.
This was a semi-busy week for ERISA decisions. Before you skim the rest of the case recaps, I want to share my recent discovery that "Your ERISA Watch" was featured in the March 19 ABA Journal Weekly Newsletter and is listed in the ABA Journal Blawg Directory. Thank you to everyone who has helped spread the word!
Below is a summary of this past week's notable ERISA decisions by subject matter and jurisdiction.
Bekker v. The Neuberger Berman Investment Committee, No. 16 CV 6123-LTS-BCM, 2019 WL 2073953 (S.D.N.Y. May 9, 2019) (Judge Laura Taylor Swain). In this putative class action alleging breach of fiduciary duties and prohibited transactions with respect to a defined contribution plan, the court granted Plaintiff leave to amend his Complaint to provide further detailed factual allegations against which to compare the Neuberger Berman Value Equity Fund's performance and fees as circumstantial support for Plaintiff's claims of breach of fiduciary duty, and to add a demand for a jury trial. On the issue of the statute of limitations, the court found that discovery narrowly targeted to the issue of when Plaintiff had actual knowledge of the alleged ERISA violations may proceed. The court permitted the jury trial demand without prejudice for Defendants to renew their motion to strike after the Second Circuit decides a pending issue of whether a jury trial is available in an ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claim.
Pension Benefit Guar. Corp. v. Karp, No. 18CV652-MMA (AGS), 2019 WL 2106596 (S.D. Cal. May 14, 2019) (Judge Michael M. Anello). The court denied Defendants' motions for leave to amend to add proposed counterclaims against the PBGC alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress by outrageously processing Defendants' pension and handling the distress termination for three years because the alleged conduct is subject to the discretionary function exception to the Federal Torts Claims Act and the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.
Disability Benefit Claims
First Circuit
Lyman v. Unum Grp., No. CV 17-11530-JGD, __F.Supp.3d__, 2019 WL 2075797 (D. Mass. May 10, 2019) (Judge Dein). Unum did not abuse its discretion in denying Plaintiff an extra year to file her short and long term disability claims where the policy states that, "Written notice of a claim should be sent within 30 days after the date your disability begins. However, you must send Unum written proof of your claim no later than 90 days after your elimination period. If it is not possible to give proof within 90 days it must be given no later than 1 year after the time proof is otherwise required except in the absence of legal capacity." (emphasis added). Unum determined that Plaintiff's explanations for the late filing, including that she thought she was going to be able to return to work and that she was intimidated by the claim forms, was not a reasonable basis for not filing a timely claim. The court found that Unum made a reasoned decision that it was possible for her to file her claim on time. The court also found that the "notice-prejudice" rule set forth in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 175 § 112 does not apply in the ERISA context.
Brackett v. Siemens VDO Automotive Corporation, No. 2:09-CV-10048, 2019 WL 2136895 (E.D. Mich. May 15, 2019) (Judge Denise Page Hood). In this dispute over severance benefits, the court granted Plaintiffs' motion to strike the testimony of defense witness Gary Fell as a substantive fact witness because Defendants did not disclose documents related to the subject matter of his testimony which involved a central issue of the summary judgment motion the court ruled on at trial. Defendants only listed Mr. Fell as a Custodian of Records in the Joint Final Pre-Trial Order.
ERISA Preemption
Blue Cross of California Inc., et al. v. Insys Therapeutics Inc., No. CV-17-02286-PHX-DLR, 2019 WL 2099945 (D. Ariz. May 14, 2019) (Judge Douglas L. Rayes). The court found that the Complaint which alleges that "Insys, a drug manufacturer and non-ERISA entity, defrauded Anthem by knowingly submitting frivolous claims for reimbursement" is not preempted under ERISA Section 514(a) because the state law claims do not have the requisite nexus with an ERISA plan or benefit system. The claims are also not completely preempted by ERISA because the "claims are based on duties which derive from state common and statutory law—namely to refrain from making misrepresentations in the presentation of claims for benefits."
Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
Brackett v. Siemens VDO Automotive Corporation, No. 2:09-CV-10048, 2019 WL 2136895 (E.D. Mich. May 15, 2019) (Judge Denise Page Hood). In this dispute over the payment of severance benefits, the court found that exhaustion of administrative remedies would have been futile because "[t]estimony at trial was unclear about who were the members of the Committee for the Severance Plan; there was a failure to give written notice that no severance would be paid; there was a failure to notify of appeal; and, there was a failure to clearly identify the ultimate decision maker on the issue of severance pay. The Plan provides that if claim for benefits is denied or ignored, the employee may file suit in a state or federal court."
Life Insurance & AD&D Benefit Claims
Teenor v. Leblanc, No. 18-CV-12364, 2019 WL 2074585 (E.D. Mich. May 10, 2019) (Judge Gershwin A. Drain). The court found that the decedent and his ex-wife's judgment of divorce satisfies the four statutory requirements of a QDRO and his life insurance benefits must be paid to her rather than the decedent's domestic partner who he listed as a beneficiary. The QDRO constitutes an exception to the ERISA preemption rules. The court also found that even if the judgment of divorce did not meet the statutory requirements of a QDRO that it has the authority to impose a constructive trust over the decedent's life insurance proceeds. However, the court reserved judgment on the imposition of a constructive trust due to several unresolved factual questions, including whether the domestic partner contributed in any way to the decedent's violation of the judgment of divorce.
Medical Benefit Claims
Fourth Circuit
Berdeau v. Schaeffler Grp., USA Inc. & Blue Cross Blue Shield of S.C., No. 4:17-CV-02744-DCC, 2019 WL 2137474 (D.S.C. May 16, 2019) (Judge Donald C. Coggins, Jr.). The court determined that the Plan's denial of Plaintiff's request for pre-authorization of an anterior lumbar fusion was proper and not an abuse of discretion where the Plan determined that it was not medically necessary for his "mild degenerative disc disease" for which all appropriate conservative treatments had not been tried.
Mem'l Hosp. & Health Care Ctr. v. Houston Int'l Ins. Grp., No. 318CV00225RLYMPB, 2019 WL 2088586 (S.D. Ind. May 13, 2019) (Judge Richard L. Young). This case involves a dispute by the sponsor of a self-funded ERISA health plan over the payment of stop-loss medical insurance for the cost of the delivery of premature twins whose medical bills totaled $2,300,000. The court granted WebTPA's motion to dismiss because the Administrative Services Agreement provides that WebTPA, who is a third-party administrator that performs claims-processing services related to the Plan, may not be held legally responsible for Great Midwest's denial of the stop-loss claims. Thus, Plaintiff fails to allege a plausible claim for relief for breach of the ASA.
O.D. v. Jones Lang Lasalle Med. PPO Plus Plan, No. 17-13060, __F.App'x__, 2019 WL 2127963 (11th Cir. May 15, 2019) (Before WILSON, JILL PRYOR, and TALLMAN,* Circuit Judges). In this dispute over the payment of residential treatment for a minor's bulimia, the court affirmed the decision in favor of Defendants. The court found that even though the denial letters did not expressly refer to the plan's "medical necessity" definition, they did sufficiently explain the basis for the denial. Because UBH substantially complied with the notice requirements, its decision was not arbitrary and capricious on that basis. UBH's decision was based on the review of four board-certified psychiatrists who reviewed the plaintiff's medical records. The evidence showed that the minor had serious mental health problems, it was reasonable for UBH to approve coverage for just partial hospitalization.
Pension Benefit Claims
Reed v. KRON/IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan, No. 17-17176, __F.App'x__, 2019 WL 2145652 (9th Cir. May 16, 2019) (Before: McKEOWN, W. FLETCHER, and MURGUIA, Circuit Judges). See Notable Decision summary.
Petersen v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue, No. 17-9003, __F.3d__, 2019 WL 2120528 (10th Cir. May 15, 2019) (Before HARTZ, PHILLIPS, and EID, Circuit Judges). The court concluded that the corporation's ESOP trust is a trust within the meaning of IRC § 267 and that the Commissioner properly applied that section to Taxpayers. The S corporation stock held by the trust was deemed to be owned by the trust's beneficiaries. Thus, the corporation and ESOP-participating employees were "related persons" under this Code provision that operates to defer the corporation's deductions for accrued but unpaid payroll expenses to the year in which such pay was received by ESOP participants and includible in their gross income.
Pleading Issues & Procedure
The Michelin Ret. Plan; The Inv. Comm. of the Michelin Ret. Plan v. Chicago Transit Auth. Retiree Health Care Tr., Intervenor, No. 616CV03604DCCJDA, 2019 WL 2098843 (D.S.C. May 13, 2019) (Judge Donald C. Coggins, Jr.). "[B]ecause Plaintiffs can no longer rely on ERISA's nationwide service of process provision, it lacks personal jurisdiction over the DP Defendants to decide a state law claim for professional negligence." The court found that it lacks specific personal jurisdiction over the DP Defendants under the South Carolina long-arm statute and the professional negligence claim should be dismissed.
Provider Claims
Third Circuit
University Spine Center v. Aetna, Inc., No. 18-2842, __F.App'x__, 2019 WL 2149590 (3d Cir. May 16, 2019) (Before: CHAGARES, HARDIMAN, and SILER, JR.,+ Circuit Judges). The court agreed with the district court that the anti-assignment provision in the insured's ERISA-governed medical benefits plan is unambiguous and enforceable. The medical provider lacks standing to bring a claim against the insurer of the plan and its lawsuit was properly dismissed with prejudice.
The Michelin Ret. Plan; The Inv. Comm. of the Michelin Ret. Plan v. Chicago Transit Auth. Retiree Health Care Tr., Intervenor, No. 616CV03604DCCJDA, 2019 WL 2098843 (D.S.C. May 13, 2019) (Judge Donald C. Coggins, Jr.). The court overruled Plaintiffs' objections to the R&R finding that Count II (knowing participation in prohibited transaction) fails to state a claim against the DP Defendants because the relief they request is not available in an ERISA § 502(a)(3) claim. Though Amara recognized a broader category of equitable relief available under § 502 (a)(3), Plaintiffs have not requested restitution, disgorgement, accounting for profits, surcharge, or any other kind of equitable relief available pursuant to § 502(a)(3). There is also no allegation that the DP Defendants received any of the transfers or misused any of Plaintiffs' assets such that an equitable remedy would be appropriate.
Severance Benefit Claims
Brackett v. Siemens VDO Automotive Corporation, No. 2:09-CV-10048, 2019 WL 2136895 (E.D. Mich. May 15, 2019) (Judge Denise Page Hood). The court found that Plaintiffs are not entitled to severance benefits. Three of the plaintiffs were offered positions with the new employer immediately following the divestiture that had "substantially comparable" salary, job duties, and benefits. One plaintiff was not entitled to severance benefits because he retired voluntarily before he was offered employment with the new employer. Even though the Committee's denial of severance pay to Plaintiffs pay was not in writing, the court found that it was not an arbitrary nor capricious decision.
Mayfield v. ACE Am. Ins. Co., No. C18-1695RSM, 2019 WL 2084489 (W.D. Wash. May 13, 2019) (Judge Ricardo S. Martinez). In this putative class action challenging ACE's failure to pay interest on delayed accidental death and dismemberment claims, the court granted ACE's motion to transfer venue to the Northern District of Georgia due to the convenience to the parties and potential class members and witnesses. Plaintiff's choice of forum is entitled to less weight when the lawsuit is brought on behalf of a putative class. The Plan at issue was negotiated and executed in Georgia. If Georgia law applies to this case, that district is more familiar with that body of law. It will also be less costly for the action to be maintained in Georgia based on the location of the parties, counsel, and putative class members.
Withdrawal Liability & Unpaid Contributions
Durso et al. v. Modern Food Center, Inc., No. 17CIV7324LAKGWG, __F.Supp.3d__, 2019 WL 2150424 (S.D.N.Y. May 17, 2019) (Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein). The court denied Defendants motion to vacate the entry of default judgment "because it would be pointless to have this case proceed given the certainty that defendants have no defense. All that would result is a summary judgment motion by plaintiffs met with same arguments that defendants have made in seeking vacatur of the default. Thus, we conclude that defendants have not shown "good cause" to vacate the entry of default."
Casey v. Tyree Service Corp., No. 218CV2421DRHGRB, 2019 WL 2124514 (E.D.N.Y. May 15, 2019) (Judge Denis R. Hurley). The court granted Defendants' motion to stay this matter and directed the parties to arbitrate their dispute over Defendants' withdrawal liability. The court ordered Defendants to begin making withdrawal payments in accordance with 29 U.S.C. § 1401(d).
Trustees of Ne. Carpenters Health, Pension, Annuity, Apprenticeship, & Labor Mgmt. Cooperation Funds v. W.B.E. Walls & Ceilings, Inc., No. 18CV6444JFBAKT, 2019 WL 2079825 (E.D.N.Y. May 10, 2019) (Judge Joseph F. Bianco). "[P]etitioners' motion to confirm the arbitration award in the amount of $ 12,788.70 is granted. Further, the Court awards petitioners prejudgment interest (from the date of the arbitration award through the date of judgment) at a rate of nine percent per year, $ 200.00 in attorney's fees, and $ 475.00 in costs."
Trustees of Ne. Carpenters Health, Pension, Annuity, Apprenticeship, & Labor Mgmt. Cooperation Funds v. Cali Enterprises, Inc., No. 18CV3556JFBAYS, 2019 WL 2076784 (E.D.N.Y. May 10, 2019) (Judge Joseph F. Bianco). "[P]etitioners' motion to confirm the arbitration award in the amount of $ 192,696.31 is granted. Further, the Court awards petitioners prejudgment interest (from the date of the arbitration award through the date of judgment) at a rate of nine percent per year, $ 229 in attorney's fees, and $ 475 in costs."
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council No. 21 Health and Welfare Fund, et al. v. Service Painting, Inc., et al., No. CV 18-3480, 2019 WL 2143370 (E.D. Pa. May 16, 2019) (Judge Kearney). The court found that the contractor's president/principal shareholder, who stopped paying the required sum to the union funds so he would have enough money to help buyout a former partner he did not want around, and then sought bankruptcy protection, is individually liable for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA and conversion under Pennsylvania law. The court granted the Funds judgment against Mr. Garavelas in the amount of $472,093.96.
Trustees of The New Jersey B.A.C. Health Fund, et al. v. BFI Concrete, LLC, No. 118CV11493NLHAMD, 2019 WL 2107322 (D.N.J. May 14, 2019) (Judge Noel L. Hillman). The court granted Plaintiffs' motion for default judgment and found that "Plaintiffs have provided competent documentation to support their demand under 29 U.S.C. §§ 185(a) and 1132(g)(2) for contractual liquidated damages ($2,557.37), statutory interest ($686.23), and attorneys' fees and costs ($6,297.50)."
Trustees of The Heating, Piping & Refrigeration Pension Fund, et al. v. Clean Air Mechanical, Inc., et al., No. CV JKB-17-3690, 2019 WL 2146916 (D. Md. May 16, 2019) (Judge James K. Bredar). The court granted Plaintiffs' motion to voluntarily dismiss Count VI (breach of fiduciary duty) without prejudice and granted default judgment on all other Counts (unpaid contributions, payroll audit, and bond).


text:
La Septième Croix (titre original en allemand : ) est un roman d'Anna Seghers publié en 1942, en langue allemande au Mexique et en langue anglaise aux États-Unis.

Publication

Anna Seghers a commencé l'écriture de son roman en 1938, alors qu'elle était en exil dans le Sud de la France. En , elle a réussi à rallier Mexico avec sa famille via la Martinique, New York et Veracruz.
En 1942, le livre est publié simultanément en allemand à Mexico (où Anna Seghers s'est réfugiée) et en anglais aux États-Unis, avec le sous-titre : le roman de l'Allemagne hitlérienne.

L'éditeur anglo-américain Little, Brown and Company prend un risque en faisant un tirage conséquent de  exemplaires, mais le succès est au rendez-vous.

En 1947, Gallimard publie la traduction en français par F. Delmas. En 2020 les éditions Métailié publient une nouvelle traduction par Françoise Toraille.

Résumé
Le roman raconte l'évasion de sept prisonniers d'un camp de concentration de Westhofen sur le Rhin. Quatre d'entre eux, Wallau, Beutler, Pelzer et Belloni, sont repris. Un cinquième, Füllgrabe, choisit de se rendre. Un sixième, Aldinger, meurt en atteignant son village. Seul le septième, Georg Heisler, s'échappe et ne subit donc pas la torture à mort sur les croix.

Analyse
Anna Seghers souhaitait raconter l'histoire d'une évasion réussie, afin de donner de l'espoir et du courage à ceux qui souffraient du nazisme.
Conçu comme un roman policier, l'œuvre de Seghers s'attache à mettre en lumière l'atmosphère particulière du village situé à proximité du camp et les conséquences de l'évasion de Georg sur la vie quotidienne de ses habitants.

Adaptation cinématographique
 1944 : La Septième Croix, film américain de Fred Zinnemann, avec Spencer Tracy dans le rôle du personnage principal.

Notes et références

Voir aussi

Articles connexes
 Littérature de l'exil en langue allemande
 Transit (roman)
 La Septième Croix (film)

Roman allemand paru en 1942
Roman se déroulant dans les années 1930

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


1. Manson JE, Allison MA, Rossouw JE, et al; WHI and WHI-CACS Investigators. Estrogen therapy and coronary-artery calcification. N Engl J Med. 2007;356(25):2591–2602.
2. Sarrel PM, Njike VY, Vinante V, Katz DL. The mortality toll of estrogen avoidance: an analysis of excess deaths among hysterectomized women aged 50 to 59. Am J Pub Health. 2013;103(9):1583–1588.
"In the latest report from the WHI, the data contradict the conclusions"
The issue of the inconsistencies between the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) data and conclusions is enigmatic because the integrity and judgment of researchers has in the past and should remain above reproach.
For those of us in the private sector of obstetrics and gynecology, the feeling that there must be information that intentionally or unintentionally has been omitted from our view remains the most comfortable and convenient explanation for the discrepancies.
The vindication of observational studies predating WHI by the reanalysis of WHI data seems to be continually suppressed in the literature, and the unreasoning exclusion of the critical issue of timing in the initiation and continued administration of estrogen therapy (ET) and hormone therapy (HT) is inexplicable. One is repeatedly tempted to consider some underlying agenda.
Elimination of sampling by Wyeth, and now exclusion from drug formularies with the attendant exorbitant increases in cost have, in addition to the absence of a defense by researchers or manufacturers, discouraged continuing use of this valuable medication, even among those in whom the safety and benefits of Premarin and Prempro have been established over years of experience and scores of studies.
It is much like the children's story, "The Emperor's New Clothes." It seems incredible that so many knowledgeable authorities seem unable to recognize a 60% reduction in coronary artery plaque in recently menopausal women (ages 50–59 years) after 5.2 years of HT, which underscores the importance of patient selection and timing of administration.1 Wyeth's explanation, when I inquired, was that this involved "off-label" use, although the data are from reanalysis of WHI data. I would think that a 60% reduction of arterial plaque deserves front-page coverage.
When articles about the discontinuation of WHI began to appear in 2001, stated reasons included the overwhelming predominance of new breast cancer cases in estrogen-administered subjects, but no one seems to appreciate the 47% decrease in breast cancer mortality discovered in the reanalysis, due to the chronologically earlier appearance of disease at earlier clinical stages. In my practice, we are finding in situ disease in HT and ET patients after 4 to 5 years of use.
Consequently, I am appreciative of Dr. Thacker's mention of the Sarrel data2 and her expansion into the "so often" overlooked issues. I think that it's overdue—integrity must be restored to the interpretation of NIH's $780,000,000 expenditure of taxpayer dollars. After all, WHI was to be the statistically unimpeachable clarification of estrogen and hormone replacement.
Exaggerated or intentionally fabricated data?
My only disagreement is Dr. Thacker's choice of the word "exaggerated" when describing the harms linked to HT. I would have chosen instead the words "intentionally fabricated." How? By taking data out of context, by releasing data selectively, by withholding data—all for the purpose of achieving and then protecting their frighteningly negative and destructive initial conclusions.
I wish it were the case that an independent commission might right these wrongs. Unfortunately, that cannot happen in today's intellectual context. The fundamental error that made WHI's multitude of errors possible was the notion that we can dispense with the difficult work of considering "the totality of the data" by placing our faith in "statistical significance" derived from a single "randomized controlled trial." That fundamental error is too deeply entrenched, too highly remunerative, and too propitiously useful to those seeking a world concordant with their fantasies.
Reality demands that we account for every fact and will in time put an end to this deadly conceit.
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text:
Early Inhabitants
Sights to See
Bird and Flower
Books Related To Wyoming
Show Bird and Flower
Geography and Landforms:
Wyoming is bordered by Montana on the north and Utah and Colorado on the south. On the east, Wyoming is bordered by South Dakota and Nebraska. On the west, Wyoming is bordered by Idaho and Utah. Wyoming is the second "highest" state in the US, having a mean elevation of 6,700, second only to the state of Colorado.
Major rivers in Wyoming include the Bighorn, Green, Belle Fourche, Powder and North Platte River.
Wyoming is where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains. The Continental Divide runs through Wyoming from the northwest to the south central border. Rivers east of the Divide drain into the Missouri River and toward the Atlantic Ocean. West of the Continental Divide, rivers drain into the Columbia or Colorado River and toward the Pacific Ocean.
There are three major geographical land areas in Wyoming: The Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Intermontane (meaning "land between the mountains) Basins. The Great Plains form the eastern part of the state and are characterized by short-grass prairie. This area receives little rainfall. The Rocky Mountains cover most of the state of Wyoming and are a series of rugged mountain ranges, including the Big Horn Mountains, the Laramie Range, the Absaroka Range, the Granite Range, the Tetons and the Wind River Range. The highest point in Wyoming is Gannett Peak found in the Wind River Range. The Intermontane Basins are relatively flat areas between the mountain ranges. These areas have short grasses and are mostly treeless.
Since the 16th century, a number of governments have claimed parts of what is now the State of Wyoming. The national flags of France, Great Britain, Mexico, Spain, Texas, and the United States have flown over the Wyoming Territory, as well as the territorial flags of the Dakotas, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
The US acquired the land comprising Wyoming from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. John Colter, a fur-trapper, is the first white man known to have entered the region. In 1807 he explored the Yellowstone area and brought back news of its geysers and hot springs. In 1811, Colter returned for further exploration, and in 1812, Robert Stuart explored most of the route that would later become the Oregon Trail. Although fur traders traveled throughout the areas west of the Mississippi River during this time, only the strongest and most self-sufficient could survive the mountains and the isolation of this area. Some of the earliest of these "mountain men" were Thomas Fitzpatrick, James Bridger and Jedediah Smith. Captain B.L.E. de Bonneville organized a large expedition in 1832 and his were the first wagons to go through the South Pass.
The first permanent trading post in Wyoming was Fort William, begun in 1834, and later renamed Fort Laramie. By the 1840s, the route west through Wyoming was under fairly frequent use by caravans of pioneers headed toward Oregon. As the fur trade declined, many of the former trappers and mountain men settled along the Oregon Trail and provided horses and supplies to the migrants.
Robert Stuart pioneered the Oregon Trail across Wyoming in 1812-1813 and, in 1834, Fort Laramie, the first permanent trading post in Wyoming, was built. Western Wyoming was obtained by the US in the 1846 Oregon Treaty with Great Britain and as a result of the treaty ending the Mexican War in 1848.
When the Wyoming Territory was organized in 1869, Wyoming women became the first in the nation to obtain the right to vote. In 1925 Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman governor in the United States.
Wyoming's towering mountains and vast plains provide spectacular scenery, grazing lands for sheep and cattle, and rich mineral deposits.
Mining is the state's most important industry, and Wyoming lands are estimated to contain 1.4 trillion tons of coal, the largest coal resources in the US. The world's largest surface coal mine complex is located near Gillette. In addition, Wyoming leads the nation in the production of bentonite and trona. It is second in the nation in its uranium deposits. Wyoming also contains a wealth of gemstones including jade, moss agate, rubies, jasper, bloodstones, diamonds, and peridot.
Although mining produces a larger amount of the state's income, the majority of the state's residents make their living in farming or ranching. In 2000, Wyoming ranked second in the US in wool production, and third in sheep and lambs. The state also has more than 1.5 million cattle. Large grazing lands are required because the grass is sparse in Wyoming, and the average ranch in the state is larger than in any other state except Arizona. Crops grown in the state include wheat, oats, sugar beets, corn, barley and alfalfa.
Wyoming's other natural resources make it a great tourist destination. There are 15,846 miles of fishing streams and 297,633 acres of fishing lakes supporting 31 species of game fish. Big game hunters come to the state for its elk, deer, moose, antelope, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, black bear, grizzly bear and mountain lions. There are also a large number of rodeos, roundups and frontier celebrations along with numerous "dude" ranches that draw vacationers in great numbers.
First Inhabitants:
People were living in the area we now call Wyoming more than 12,000 years ago. These people were probably part of the Clovis culture. In the next two to four thousand years, there is evidence of other cultures living and moving through this area including people who hunted big game, including animals that no longer exist, like the wooly mammoth.
One site that offers us more questions than answers about the early inhabitants of Wyoming is the Medicine Wheel, near Lovell. The Wheel, actually an arrangement of white stones forming a 70-foot diameter wheel with spokes, has been dated by archaeologists as being about 7,000 years old. Scientists believe it may have been built as an astronomical observatory, or to mark the equinox, but no one knows for sure who built it or why. However, the Crow Indians, as well as other Plains Indian tribes, believe the wheel is a sacred religious site that was constructed by their ancestors "before the light came, by people who had no iron." Today, the site is being studied, but steps have been taken to respect the Native Americans' access to the site for religious rituals.
Another prehistoric site that shows evidence of Wyoming's earliest residents is the remains of stone quarries near the town of Lusk. These quarries, called the "Spanish Diggings" show how people mined quartzite, jasper and agate for use in making tools. We know people made and traded these items, because artifacts made of Wyoming minerals have been found as far away as the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys.
By the time white settlers and explorers arrived in Wyoming, several nomadic tribes, known collectively as the Plains Indians, were living in the areas. These tribes included the Arapaho, Arikara, Bannock, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Nez Perce, Sheep Eater, Sioux, Shoshone and Ute tribes. One Indian reservation remains in Wyoming today. It is home to over 5,000 Shoshone and Arapaho Indians.
C is for Cowboy: A Wyoming Alphabet - Eugene Gagliano
(978-1585360970) , Non-fiction
Interest level: 0-2, ESL level: 1 - 2
This book features all the things that are special about the state of Wyoming.
The Case of the Missing Cutthroats - Jean Craighead George
(978-0064406475) , Fiction
Interest level: 4-8, Lexile: 680, ESL level: 3
Spinner catches a rare trout and tries to find its place of origin in the mountains near the Snake River in Wyoming.
Dinosaur Hunter - Elaine Marie Alphin
A young boy learns how to fight swindlers after he finds dinosaur remains on his Wyoming ranch and eventually gets to sell them to fossil hunters.
The Haymeadow - Gary Paulsen
Interest level: 4-12, Lexile: 1010, ESL level: 4
John's summer on a Wyoming sheep ranch results in greater maturity and independence.
My Friend Flicka - Mary O'Hara
Interest level: 3-8, Lexile: 960, ESL level: 2 - 3
A young boy loves his horse Flicka and learns responsibility through caring for her in this classic novel of horses, ranch life, and difficult fathers.
Paint the Wind - Pam Munoz Ryan
(439-873622) , Fiction
Maya has a chance to relocate to her family's Wyoming ranch, and she finds she has a knack with horses that lead her to some exciting adventures.
Scumble - Ingrid Law
Ledge learns to control his gift of mystical powers to help his family's ranch while a fledgling reporter is attempting to reveal family secrets.
Walker's Crossing - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Interest level: 6-12, Lexile: 830, ESL level: 3 - 4
Ryan's brother's decision to join a local militia movement conflicts with his hopes to become a cowbow in Wyoming.
Famous Citizens:
Born Paul Jackson Pollock in Cody, Wyoming, Jackson Pollock first studied painting in Los Angeles. He then moved to New York City where he held his first solo show in 1943. Known for his abstract and surrealist art, his work was widely known and exhibited internationally. Instead of using a traditional easel for his work, he would place his canvas on a wall on the floor and pour or drip paint on it from the can. Instead of using brushes, he used trowels or knives to apply his paint. He is generally believed to be one of the pioneers of the Abstract Impressionism movement and one of the most important figures in American art in the late twentieth century.
Nellie Tayloe Ross
Although she was born in St. Louis, Missouri, Nellie Tayloe Ross is best known for being the first woman to be elected governor in the United States, doing so in the state of Wyoming. She later served four years as director of the United States Mint.
Chief Washakie
Born in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, Chief Washakie was perhaps the most famous of all the Eastern Shoshone leaders. He was known both as a warrior and a statesman, and played a prominent role in the development of the territories of Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. He served as a scout for the US Army, and encouraged his people to help the pioneers who were traveling through Wyoming.
James G. Watt
Born in Lusk, Wyoming, James Watt was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Many environmentalists and conservationist worried that Watt's policies on National Parks and on environmental policy would do more harm than good to the United States' natural resources.
Capital: Cheyenne
Entered Union: July 10, 1890
Area 97,814
Bird Western Meadowlark
Flower Indian Paintbrush
Nickname: Equality State
Governor Matthew Mead
State Home Page
Home Page for Students
Places to Visit in Wyoming: (Click the links to learn more.)
Buffalo Bill Historical Center - Cody
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center interprets the experiences of the American West and includes a museum dedicated to Buffalo Bill himself, a Plains Indian exhibit, the Cody Firearms Museum and the Draper Museum of Natural History.
Museum of the Mountain Man - Pinedale
The Museum interprets the romantic era of the Mountain Man and the historical significance of the western fur trade. There are exhibits on western exploration, the early settlement of western Wyoming and the fur trade, and the museum is the site of the Green River Rendezvous, a recreation of events that brought fur traders together on an annual basis to trade and socialize.
Washakie Museum - Worland
The Washakie Museum provides visitors the opportunity to relate to the lives of the earliest settlers of the area from thousands of years ago with its Colby Site, a display of the earliest mammoth kill site in North America. There are exhibits honoring the wagon train settlers of the 19th century, and displays devoted to the culture of the Sheepeater Shoshone Indians.
Yellowstone National Park - Yellowstone National Park
Located in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park is the first and oldest national park in the world. The park includes Old Faithful Geyser along with over 10,000 other hot springs and geysers. There are also grizzly bear and wolf, as well as free-ranging herds of bison and elk.