My adventure with brain fog hasn't cleared up yet.
In fact, last night I was crying about it for a while. What I'd done was start preparing the church service for Sunday. Given that I'm a minister, that's not unusual. Except one of the lay preachers is doing this Sunday, so I didn't need to prepare anything on this week's readings. I only found out when I emailed musicians, readers, etc with their parts, and someone helpfully pointed out to me I was having the day off.
I have a killer headache that just won't go away, which isn't helping the brain fog at all at the moment. I take panadol osteo three times a day anyway, so I'm a bit short of options for headache treatments. It's another thing to put on the list for the doctor.
Do puzzles, read, things to keep my brain functioning.
Sleep (even) more because being tired makes things worse.
Try not to stress about the things I get wrong.
Where possible, defer important decisions until my head clears.
Coffee, to make me a little more alert for short bursts of time.
Lots of people who have lupus experience brain fog at least some of the time. We all have our own ways to cope.
For me, brain fog, is very frightening. I've become used to being unable to count on my body. It's still frustrating at times, but I've accepted that's just how things are. Being unable to rely on my brain, that scares me.
Well, I didn't watch the Olympics, and I'm not going to watch the Paralympics either. I'm sure it's all very inspirational stuff, with people overcoming their disabilities to do things I wish my body could do.
Can I propose a variation on the olympic theme for people with lupus?
The first rule would be that anyone who managed to get out of bed and turn up for an event should immediately qualify for a gold medal.
Events would include some that require real skill - like pill sorting, some that take endurance like marathon napping, some that require endless patience like waiting for the appointment with the rheumatologist. I think I could also do quite well at a coffee-drinking event.
I hadn't realised it until today, but I live a fairytale life. The fairytale is Sleeping Beauty, not the Disney version, but the original where the woman slept for a hundred years.
Someone else pointed this out to me today, when they texted about lunchtime, and I said I'd only just woken up, but was tired and would be going back to bed.
That's what the fatigue of lupus is like - it really does feel like I could sleep for years and years and years.
In the fairytale, an evil fairy did this to the girl because she wasn't invited to the princess' christening. I don't know that anyone offended any evil fairies when I was a baby - but who knows?
In the meantime, I'm going back to bed. And to the other lupies out there, watch out for poisoned apples, and evil fairies with a grudge. Oh, and if you find you're sharing a house with a group of short people - they're probably your kids, and they'll want you to find the energy to feed them and do the cleaning.
There's nothing like classic Aussie rock. What's been going through my head this afternoon, as I was contemplating getting up from my nap was the chorus the Mental As Anything song "The Nips are Getting Bigger".
But in my mind, it wasn't "nips", but "naps". My afternoon naps have gone from about an hour to about two hours, and I still don't have any energy when I wake up.
This never means anything good. The longer the naps, the more likely my lupus is starting to flare.
I have fairly mild lupus, a flare mostly means that I have a few aches and pains, and need lots and lots of sleep. But it does make it difficult to do the basics of life, when I'm in pain, and too tired to get out of bed.
Most people with lupus suffer from brain fog at times. It's the most common neurological symptom of lupus.
Our front door has two locks - one we use and all have keys to and one we don't use and none of us have keys to. I clicked the wrong lock before going to bed. My daughter came home at 1am from her waitressing shift and had to hit on my bedroom window to wake me up.
I went to the supermarket for one item - and came out with a full trolley, but not the one thing I needed.
I couldn't find a coffee mug - because I was looking for one in the fridge.
I had out my breakfast bowl, and the dish I put peels and things in for the garden. I sliced a strawberry into compost dish, and dropped the calyx and stem onto my cereal.
I drove to the local supermarket, when I meant to go in the opposite direction.
I had to fill in a form, and didn't know my home phone number.
OK Lupies, give me some feedback here. Who has a brain fog story to tell?
On the television show House, doctors try to diagnose mysterious illnesses, and often when time is running out all other options have been exhausted, one of the characters will offer a diagnosis of last resort: lupus. But in oft-repeated words of main character Dr House, "It's never lupus." Or, with good cause, rarely ever.
For readers not familiar with the show, Dr Gregory House is a cantankerousness but brilliant doctor who specialises in diagnostics. He works with, and plays mind games on, a team of other doctors.
Episodes run to a similar formula – a patient presents with an unusual set of symptoms and the team must solve the case before it proves fatal.
Occasionally, the those in the team run out of credible diagnoses and in their exasperation start to suggest more far-fetched conditions. Quite frequently, someone pipes up with "Maybe it's lupus".
Generally, House will give them a scornful look and reply "It's not lupus".
So why is it never lupus? Is it because its symptoms make it easily mistaken for other illnesses or the difficulty of making a diagnosis? Yes and yes but surely this can't stand in the way of Dr House's abilities.
Maybe lupus is invoked because it doesn't have the option of a miracle cure at the end of the episode. At any rate, the show's authors will soon have to coin a new meme because there's now a new treatment for lupus.
Lupus, generically referred to as SLE for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, is an autoimmune inflammatory disease affecting about five million people worldwide.
An autoimmune illness is one in which the immune system attacks the body, destroying healthy tissues.
In the case of lupus, any part of the body may be attacked. The irony of lupus is that the sufferer's own "anti-sickness" system becomes the actual cause of illness.
Lupus has numerous causes but affects mainly women (9 women for every man) during child-bearing years – usually between 20 and 40.
Its prevalence is variable from one country to another, ranging from 15 to 50 cases for every 100 000 people.
Lupus patients often suffer unpredictable bouts of the disease, called flares, followed by periods of remission.
Of the two forms of lupus, the relatively benign and the more frequent one involves skin rashes – appearing mainly on the face and scalp – and joints, especially in the small joints of the hands and in the knees.
The second more rare and severe form affects internal organs, most often harming kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels and the brain.
SLE can be fatal, but its prognosis, which depends on the degree and nature of organ involvement – resulting in renal and vascular damage – has dramatically changed in the past 50 years.
Indeed, the five-year survival rate, which was less than half the number of sufferers in 1955, is currently over 90%. However, the death rate among lupus patients remains four times higher than the general population of the same age.
The two leading causes of death are kidney damage and infections in the first five years, and vascular damage and infectious complications after that.
The most likely reason for lupus being used as a joke in House is because of the difficulty in delivering a diagnosis of the disease.
Initial and chronic lupus symptoms mimic the symptoms of several other diseases, leading to misdiagnoses and making lupus extremely challenging to diagnose.
As lupus symptoms vary widely and come and go unpredictably, diagnosis is usually based on detailed clinical examination and adapted laboratory tests. These latter include anti-dsDNA or anti-Sm antibodies, which are characteristic of and specific to the disease.
Diagnosis at an early stage is particularly difficult because a number of general symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, unexplained fever, may mislead the clinician.
The non-specific nature of this disease, especially in its initial form, explains the delay in diagnosis.
Over time, a variety of more specific symptoms will appear during flares involving various organs simultaneously or successively. After several years of evolution within a body, all organs may be affected.
Treatment options are as varied as the multiplicity of clinical forms because each requires a tailored treatment strategy.
Fundamentally, treatment of SLE involves preventing flares and reducing their severity and duration when they occur; helping maintain normal function and; preventing serious complications.
The short-term goal of treatment is to quickly control involvement of the nervous system and weighing up the risks of immunosuppressive therapy.
In the long term, the aim is to define the minimum effective treatment to keep the disease in remission so the patient can have a better quality of life.
But the management of lupus now benefits from a new treatment that is an improvement on the current fairly toxic medications.
In March of this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Belimumab as new treatment for lupus.
This is the first treatment for the disease with proven efficacy in a large randomized trial. It is also the first new and effective treatment for it in 50 years.
Prescriptions have to be limited to systemic lupus with autoantibodies, which is active despite the usual treatment, and displays a high level of activity.
And now you also know why this elusive disease remains an option when all others seem exhausted and indeed, why it's always important to consider whether it may, in fact, be lupus.
Lupus is a chronic inflammatory systemic autoimmune disorder. It affects various tissues of the body, particularly the heart, joints, lungs, skin and kidneys. An autoimmune illness is one in which body's immune system attacks the body itself, destroying healthy tissues.
The cause of the disease is most likely multifactorial (involving environmental and genetic factors) but we still don't know what it is. While there's no specific treatment to cure lupus, symptoms can be treated and controlled. Generally, this condition results in substantial illness, death, disability, economic loss, and a significant negative effect on people's self-reported quality of life.
Incidence and prevalence are epidemiological terms used to described the frequency of a disease in a population. There are disparities in the incidence and prevalence of lupus and they vary with geography and ethnicity. Rates are higher among certain minorities, including African-Americans, African-Caribbeans, Hispanics, Asians, North American Indians and Indigenous Australians. Some studies show that the socioeconomic status of these populations doesn't have an influence on disease prevalence.
Indigenous Australians comprise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. According to the 2006 Australian census, Indigenous Australians account for about 2.5% (517,000 people) of the total Australian population. Owing to its singular customs, traditions, legacies, socioeconomic and health characteristics, the Indigenous community stands out as a unique population. Indigenous Australians also live in poorer health conditions and have lower life expectancy and higher perinatal mortality.
Lupus is more prevalent among Indigenous Australians, ranging from 52.6 to 92.8 cases for every 100,000 people. That means lupus is between two to four times more frequent in Indigenous Australians compared to other Australians (referring predominantly to European Caucasians), depending on the region of Australia.
This prevalence figure is most likely an under-estimation as awareness and access to care remains an issue, particularly for people living in very remote areas. Indigenous Australians also suffer from a more severe form of lupus with higher mortality rates and premature death compared to non-Indigenous Australians.
Strikingly, Indigenous Australians appear to have a different set of symptoms of lupus from what is observed in other Australians. They have less photosensitivity (which is an abnormal reaction of the skin to the sunlight), more renal involvement (which means that their kidney function is often affected) or more anti-Sm antibodies than other Australians. Anti-Sm antibodies is specific to lupus and indicates that the immune system is abnormally producing antibodies against the body. These singular characteristics vary in different Indigenous Australian communities.
Higher mortality and morbidity rates in Indigenous Australians may be related to more severe lupus because of people not seeking medical attention until they are really ill, and poor compliance with therapy. But higher prevalence of the illness is intrinsic to this particular population. We don't understand why Indigenous Australians are more likely to develop lupus compared to other Australians.
These differences in lupus prevalence, severity and disease manifestation may reflect and be influenced by different genetic and environmental factors such as high ambient ultraviolet exposure and prevalence of infections, especially in tropical areas such as far north Queensland.
Skin infections, especially fungal and bacterial infection of insect bites, are very common and endemic health problems within Indigenous communities. Indigenous Australians are also at a higher risk of developing dental caries and periodontal disease.
There's a possibility that environmental factor(s) act as triggers of disease when combined with genetic factors, such as an autoimmune predisposition or susceptibility in Indigenous Australians. The higher rate of infection is probably the main environmental factor. It may lead to hyper stimulation of the immune system, especially innate immunity which, when overstimulated, may corrupt normal immune responses and trigger aberrant pathological and destructive inflammatory responses characteristic of lupus.
Considering the genetic-environmental interactions (and not just genetic background), may lead to better knowledge of the underlying causes of lupus in this population group. It may also improve the health status of Indigenous Australians and close the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous lupus sufferers.
Fabien Vincent does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
Have you clicked on the Lupie Business Directory lately? There's some quite interesting products available from the businesses listed.
In the past couple of days, there have been two new listings added.
Levity Lane is owned by Kerri Bryson. She makes environmentally friendly, bamboo fabric breast feeding covers. They are UV protectant, for feeding bub out-doors and look discrete and comfortable for both mum and baby. I wish there'd been something like this on the market about 21 years ago, when I was a young, shy, mum with my first newborn.
If you're looking for a gift for a new mother - this would be a fantastic option.
Scentsy Consultant Ashley Bealer has products to make your entire house smell beautiful. She's on Facebook as well as the Sentsy webpage.
Here's the current lupus designs at the Shirt Shop.
Well, all I've done today so far is eat breakfast and notice all the things I have to do.
I'm exhausted. My ankles are already killing me, and I've barely stood up.
I've likened lupus fatigue to being like an ordinary person doing a marathon without training. That's how I feel - and I haven't done anything at all. In fact, I had a good night's sleep.
There's only one thing to do. Go back to bed. Hopefully, when I wake up again, I'll have the energy to do some of the actual work that's been building up all week.
made by Annie at Bracelets, Beads and Bling.
Have you ever thought it might be good for people with chronic illnesses to support each other?
I've been hoping to find ways to do that too. That's why you'll find the Lupus Links and Lupie Business pages on this site.
Another way to help each other is through the Lupie Business page. This is actually opened up more widely than just people with lupus, to people with any chronic illness. Lots of people with chronic illnesses may be unable to manage a full-time job, but have taken advantage of the internet to make hobbies into small businesses. The Lupie Business page lists businesses owned/run by people with chronic illnesses. They design clothing, make jewellery, do paintings and prints, write books and sell beauty products. If you were thinking of buying any of these things anyway, it's worth looking at what other people with chronic illnesses are selling. I'm not suggesting buying just for the sake of buying - but if you were buying anyway, why not at least consider something that will help someone with a chronic illness?
2. That the two pages keep growing with interesting content - for that, I need people to send me links. My email address is iris@sometimesitislupus.com and I'd love to hear about any lupus sites/blogs to add to the Lupus Links page, or about businesses owned/run by people with chronic illnesses to add to the Lupie Business directory page. I'm not selling advertising here - just putting the links up with the aim of helping out other people in a similar situation to myself. It won't cost you anything to send me your link.
Having spent yesterday in "recovery mode", lying immobile on the couch, I'm starting to feel human again today. That's good, because I have a long list of things to do for home and work, and it is going to take a long time to catch up.
Two days out, in consecutive weeks, was very exciting, and lots of fun, but not something I should make a habit of doing!
It's all a matter of the budget. That's not just the financial budget (although I've always got to watch that), but also of my energy budget. The energy I use going out is energy I then don't have available for such necessary activities as sweeping the floor and paying the bills.
Today, I'll do a few odd jobs, and hopefully get to hydrotherapy, slowly build up to what passes for "normal" for me.
We stopped at a tea house for lunch, and stopped at a couple of lookouts on the way. My friend recently brought a four-wheel-drive vehicle and is enjoying using it.
Today, I'm tired, and my ankles are sore. But it was worth it. To spend some time with a friend, enjoying God's creation, and pottering around at my pace, was just great.
So having had such a thoroughly wonderful day, I thought I'd share some of my fantastic photos.
Well, you saw my "to do" list yesterday. Would it surprise you to know, I didn't actually get it finished?
Yesterday's washing is still out on the line. Perhaps I should have been less ambitious and just used the dryer. It was such a dry, windy day, I figured it would all dry faster on the line than in the dryer. What I didn't take into account was the extra energy it takes for me to hang things out and bring them in again. Here's another energy balance to consider - the financial and environmental cost of using electricity - when I could be using my own precious personal energy.
If I'm not well, it's an easy choice - use the electricity and save myself everything possible.
On days like yesterday, when I really did feel well, it seemed to make sense to be that little more financially and environmentally responsible.
Financial responsibility is important, because, let's face it between part-time work and part-pension, there really isn't any spare money.
Environmental responsibility is even more important to me - my faith says this world belongs to God, and as such I need to respect it. It bothers me a lot when I use electricity for tasks I used to do without it. It bothers me that I now drive to places I used to be able to walk to. Burning up resources that can't be replaced and polluting the planet are a part of modern life - but I still like to keep my part in it to a minimum. It's another kind of energy to factor in, when I'm planning out my energy budget.
I'm having a much better day today, in fact I'm actually getting things done.
After a day of not getting off the couch yesterday, this is fantastic.
It's important, however, to remember not to do too much, just because I feel I can. Otherwise, if I overdo things, I'm going to pay for it for days.
So, even though I'm feeling quite well, and I have a lot to get done, I'm going to intersperse all my household tasks with periods of rest.
I've found I can actually get quite a bit done this way - more than if I tackle the housework head-one and just push myself until I'm too exhausted to keep going.
to promote lupus awareness - so feel free to copy, post anywhere, share anywhere.


text:
Posted October 14th, 2018 by Ken Flavell.
As one peruses the gospels in parallel, frequently one notices that they are alike word-for-word, and in other places they are almost word-for-word, and in still other places they are quite dissimilar. We will want to know why this is so, and where they disagree, which one is more correct.
Scholars hypothesise the existence of source documents from which the gospel writers drew their material. Because almost all of the Gospel of Mark can be found in Matthew and Luke, it seems likely that there was an early Document Mark that became, with a few later additions, the Gospel of Mark as early as 66 C.E. (common era). This material was available to the authors of Luke and Matthew, writing about 15 years later, and with the exception of a very few verses, they included it in their own gospels, often word-for-word.
As there are large portions of Luke and Matthew that are not in Mark, but are very similar, it is believed that there was another source common to them, which scholars call Document Q.
In addition, there are passages unique to Matthew and others unique to Luke, so we can assume each had his own source (Document M and Document L, respectively). There are variations on this, but we will stick to these in order to keep it simple.
You will note from the diagram below that, when you look at a page in the gospel parallels, you will expect to see material in all three columns over 40% of the time, and the source of much of this will be Document Mark. Usually, when there are only two columns filled, it will be in Matthew and Luke, and typically this will be material from Document Q.
Each of the gospel writers had a particular agenda, and being aware of these helps one to understand why the writers sometimes put their own slant on the same passage. Very briefly, Mark is characterised by keeping silent about the relationship of Jesus to the Messiah and emphasising the failure of the disciples to grasp Jesus' message. Matthew, whose audience was Jewish, was at pains to identify Jesus as the Messiah and put him in the Jewish tradition of Abraham, Moses and the prophets. Luke, writing to Gentiles, places an emphasis on salvation history. For more information about the individual gospels, Wikipedia provides a brief summary.
Go to next study.
Return to Study Index

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Tag: Egypt
The U.S. and the UK Support Human Rights for Some but Not for Others
When human rights are brought to the attention of the authorities in Washington and London it's money and military "partnership" that matter. Not people.
Brian Cloughley
Ancient Wisdom: Paradise and Hell Entwined in Pulsating War
Balance and reviving inundations are deemed heretic and will not be tolerated, writes Alastair Crooke.
Alastair Crooke
On Nasser's Fight for Arabic Independence and a Free Palestine
Nasser became the catalyst for an Arab Revolution for independence, a revolution that remains yet to be finished, Cynthia Chung writes.
Cynthia Chung
Two Deep Mysteries of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War
Forty-seven years ago, Egypt and Syria launched a massive surprise attack on Israeli forces dug into fortifications along the Suez Canal and Golan Heights. The 'limited' Arab objective was to recapture both strategic areas that had been seized from the two Arab states in Israel's victorious 1967 War.
Conflict Looms for Egypt and Ethiopia Over Nile Dam
There is an underlying current for war that may prove unstoppable driven by two populous and thirsty nations whose leaders are badly in need of shoring up their political authority amid internal discontent.
Turkey's Big Bet Has Put Libya in Center of a Global Power Struggle
If Moscow's intention was to hustle Erdogan, it hasn't worked. Erdogan is hanging tough. It remains to be seen whether Erdogan would give up his military campaign to capture Sirte and the al-Jufra airbase when Haftar's forces are demoralized and his mentors are still groping for a way forward.
Trump Splashes Into Nile Dispute to Gain Leverage in Middle East
The Trump administration has weighed in to back Egypt in its long-running dispute with Ethiopia over a crucial hydroelectric dam about to come into operation.
Trump Doubles Down on His Island-Buying Spree
There is sudden rush by countries for island real estate. Some of this "island fever" is driven by global climate change. Some countries are looking for strategic advantages in a new geo-political order.
Wayne Madsen


Slower length ball, outside off stump on the front foot dropped, to gully for 1 run, fielded by Munro.
Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, to backward point for no runs, fielded by Munro.
Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, to short extra cover for no runs, fielded by Santner.
Rayudu skips out the crease, and scythes this over the offside for four. Scores are tied.
Length ball, outside off stump down the track driving, well timed in the air under control past deep cover for 4 runs.
Length ball, middle stump on the front foot driving, to mid off for 1 run, fielded by Williamson.
Length ball, outside off stump down the track driving, to short extra cover for no runs, fielded by Santner.


text:
Home > They made history> Gateway Arch, St Louis
Gateway Arch, St Louis
Eero Saarinen was one of the most influential architects of the 20th Century. His name is associated with masterpieces in several important American cities.
Eero Saarinen, the architect:
Eero Saarinen was born on 20th April 1910 in Kirkkonummi, Finland. He was the son of the renowned Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen and an artist mother. In 1923, he immigrated to the United States and became an American citizen, joining Yale University in 1931 to study architecture. His professional career began when he started working with furniture in the family business. After the Second World War, Saarinen contributed to the design of several buildings.
Eero Saarinen, the icon:
Eero Saarinen was responsible for numerous monutmental buildings, notably the Gateway Arch. In 1945, he proposed the project as part of an architecture competition to design a memorial. By 1947, a team consisting of Saarinen himself as a designer, J. Handerson Barr as associate designer, Dan Kiley as landscape architect, Lilian Swann as sculptor and Alexander Girard as painter began to create the project. The Gateway Arch is an archway in the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St Louis, Missouri. It symbolises American culture and civilisation. Construction began in 1963 and came to end end in 1965, the year before it was inaugurated. The public at the time was fascinated by its 630ft/192m tall curve, which cost 13 million dollars (at 1940s rates) to build.
Eero Saarinen, the success:
Eero Saarinen won fame and gratitude not just in the United States but internationally because of the avant-garde Gateway Arch. His international influences revolutionised architecture, but this design is a symbolic expression of American identity.
Although he died in 1961 at the age of 51, Eero Saarinen left numerous great works behind him.


From day one, Queenswood girls learn to be independent, resourceful students, motivated by curiosity and an enthusiasm for learning.
Each year group in the Lower School is divided into forms; there are usually three or four in Years 7 and 8, although Mathematics, English and Languages are usually taught in sets. A common curriculum is followed in the first two years, comprising Art, Computing, Design & Technology, Drama & Dance, English, French, Geography, Histor, Latin and Classical Civilisation, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Practical Cookery, Religious Studies and Science. In Year 8, Spanish and Japanese are introduced.
Our aim is to provide a broad and balanced programme of study throughout the Lower School leading to GCSE/IGCSE choices. Most subjects set a certain amount of homework or 'study' each week; pupils have the opportunity to complete this work at home or in supervised study sessions after school.


text:
Individual Tax
Projected 2021 Inflation-Adjusted Tax Brackets and Other Key Figures
Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting
The income tax brackets, standard deduction amounts, and many other tax items are adjusted annually for cost-of-living increases. These adjustments reflect, under a measure of inflation provided by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA; P.L. 115-97, 12/22/2017), the average chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all-urban customers (C-CPI-U) for the 12-month period ending the previous August 31. The August 2020 CPI summary has been released by the Labor Department. Using the chained CPI for August 2020 (and the preceding 11 months), Thomson Reuters Checkpoint has calculated the 2021 indexed amounts.
Note: The TCJA (like most new legislation) contains a number of errors and ambiguities and has not yet been the subject of a comprehensive technical corrections bill. Where these issues arose in the context of inflation adjustments, Thomson Reuters construed provisions in the way that seemed the most consistent with Congressional intent, reflecting our assumption that these ambiguities will eventually be resolved accordingly. While these projections reflect our best judgment, it is nonetheless worth noting that there are instances where IRS may interpret the statute in a different manner.
Tax Rate Schedules
The tax rate schedules for 2021 will be as follows.
For married filing joint returns and surviving spouses:
The tax is:
Not over $19,900
10% of taxable income
Over $19,900 but not over $81,050
$1,990 plus 12% of the excess over $19,900
Over $81,050 but not over $172,750
Over $172,750 but not over $329,850
$29,502 plus 24% of the excess over $172,750
$168,993.50 plus 37% of the excess over $628,300
For single individuals (other than heads of household and surviving spouses):
Not over $9,950
Over $9,950 but not over $40,525
$995 plus 12% of the excess over $9,950
$14,751 plus 24% of the excess over $86,375
For heads of household:
$156,355 plus 37% of the excess over $523,600
Note: The head of household tax rate schedule projections have been updated from a prior version of this article.
For married filing separate returns:
$84,496.75 plus 37% of the excess over $314,150
For estates and trusts:
$1,921 plus 35% of the excess over $9,550
Standard Deductions
The basis standard deduction for 2021 will be:
Filing Status
Joint return or surviving spouse
$25,100 (up from $24,800 for 2020)
Single (other than HoH or surviving spouse)
Head of household
Married filing separate returns
For an individual who can be claimed as a dependent on another's return, the basic standard deduction for 2021 will be $1,100 (same as in 2020), or $350 (same as in 2020) plus the individual's earned income, whichever is greater. However, the standard deduction may not exceed the regular standard deduction for that individual.
Older and blind taxpayers
For 2021, the additional standard deduction for married taxpayers 65 or over or blind will be $1,350 (up from $1,300 in 2020). For a single taxpayer or head of household who is 65 or over or blind, the additional standard deduction for 2021 will be $1,700 (up from $1,650 in 2020).
Exemption amount
While the dependency exemption deduction under Code Sec. 151 is reduced to zero from 2018 through 2025, this reduction isn't taken into account for other purposes of the Code, such as who is a qualifying relative for family credit purposes, and eligibility for head-of-household status. For 2021, this amount is $4,300 (same as in 2020).
For 2021, the capital gains tax rates will be as follows:
The 0% capital gains tax rate applies to adjusted net capital gain of up to:
Joint returns and surviving spouses—$80,800 (up from $80,000 for 2020)
Single filers and married taxpayers filing separately—$40,400 (up from $40,000 for 2020)
Heads of household—$54,100 (up from $53,600 for 2020)
Estates and trusts—$2,700 (up from $2,650 for 2020)
The 15% capital gains tax rate applies to adjusted net capital gain over the amount subject to the 0% rate, and up to:
Joint returns and surviving spouses—$501,600 (up from $496,600 for 2020)
Married taxpayers filing separately—$250,800 (up from $248,300 for 2020)
Heads of household—$473,750 (up from $469,050 for 2020)
Single filers—$445,850 (up from $441,450 for 2020)
Estates and trusts—$13,250 (up from $13,150 for 2020)
The 20% capital gains tax rate applies to adjusted net capital gain over the above 15%-maximum amounts.
Other Key Tax Figures
The exemption from the kiddie tax for 2021 will be $2,200 (same as in 2020). A parent will be able to elect to include a child's income on the parent's return for 2021 if the child's income is more than $1,100 and less than $11,000 (same as in 2020).
AMT exemption for child subject to kiddie tax
The AMT exemption for 2021 for a child subject to the kiddie tax will be the lesser of (1) $7,950 (up from $7,900 for 2020) plus the child's earned income, or (2) $73,600 (up from $72,900 for 2020).
AMT figures
For 2021, the AMT exemption amounts will be:
Joint returns or surviving spouses—$114,600 (up from $113,400 for 2020)
Unmarried individuals (other than surviving spouses)—$73,600 (up from $72,900 for 2020)
Married individuals filing separate returns—$57,300 (up from $56,700 for 2020)
For 2021, the excess taxable income above which the 28% tax rate applies will be $99,950 for married persons filing separately (up from $98,950 for 2020), and $199,900 for joint returns, unmarried individuals and estates and trusts (up from $197,900 for 2020).
For 2021, the amounts used under Code Sec. 55(d)(3) to determine the phaseout of the AMT exemption amounts will be:
Joint returns or surviving spouses—$1,047,200 (up from $1,036,800 for 2020)
Unmarried individuals (other than surviving spouses)—$523,600 (up from $518,400 for 2020)
Married filing separate returns—$523,600 (up from $518,400 for 2020)
Income-based limitations on Sec. 199A/qualified business income deduction
For 2021, taxpayers with taxable income above $164,900 for single and head of household returns, $329,850 for joint filers, and $164,925 for married filing separate returns are subject to certain limitations on the Code Sec. 199A deduction. The 2020 amounts were $163,300 and $326,600, and $163,300.
Excess business loss disallowance rule
Under Code Sec. 461(l), an excess business loss for the tax year is the excess of aggregate deductions of the taxpayer attributable to the taxpayer's trades and businesses, over the sum of aggregate gross income or gain of the taxpayer plus a threshold amount. For 2021, the threshold amount is $524,000 for married individuals filing jointly (up from $518,000 for 2020) and $262,000 for other individuals (up from $259,000 for 2020).
Educator expenses
For 2021, eligible elementary and secondary school teachers can claim an above-the line deduction for up to $250 per year of expenses paid for books and certain other supplies used in the classroom (same as in 2020).
Interest exclusion for higher education
For 2021, the phase-out for excluding interest on U.S. savings bonds redeemed to pay qualified higher education expenses will begin at modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) above $83,200 ($124,800 on a joint return). For 2020, the corresponding figures were $82,350 and $123,550.
Qualified transportation fringe benefits
For 2021, an employee will be able to exclude up to $270 (same as in 2020) a month for qualified parking expenses, and up to $270 a month (same as in 2020) of the combined value of transit passes and transportation in a commuter highway vehicle.
Refundable child credit
The child credit is refundable, subject to the limit described below, to the extent of the greater of 15% of earned income above $2,500, or, for taxpayers with three or more qualifying children, the excess of the taxpayer's social security taxes for the tax year over his or her earned income tax credit for the year. (Code Sec. 24(d))
The refundable portion of the child tax credit for any qualifying child can't exceed $1,400 for 2021 (same as in 2020).
For 2021, the maximum amount of earned income on which the earned income tax credit will be computed is $7,100 for taxpayers with no qualifying children, $10,640 for taxpayers with one qualifying child, and $14,950 for taxpayers with two or more qualifying children. These amounts were $7,030, $10,540, and $14,800 for 2020, respectively.
For 2021, the phaseout of the allowable earned income tax credit will begin at $14,830 for joint filers with no qualifying children ($8,880 for others with no qualifying children), and at $25,470 for joint filers with one or more qualifying children ($19,520 for others with one or more qualifying children). These amounts were $14,680, $8,790, $25,220 and $19,330 for 2020, respectively.
NOTE: Taxpayers must use IRS tables to determine the amount of their earned income tax credit. While these tables will be based on the inflation-adjusted figure projected above, because the credit under the tables is the same for everyone within a $50 range, there may be slight differences between the credit under the tables and the credit the taxpayer would determine using those inflation-adjusted figures.
The amount of disqualified income (generally investment income) a taxpayer may have before losing the entire earned income tax credit will be $3,650 for 2021 (same as in 2020).
Lifetime learning credit phaseout
For 2021, a taxpayer's MAGI in excess of $59,000 (same as in 2020), $119,000 for a joint return (up from $118,000 in 2020) will be used to determine the reduction under Code Sec. 25A(d)(2) in the amount of the Lifetime Learning Credit otherwise allowable under Code Sec. 25A(a)(2).
Adoption credit
For 2021, the credit allowed for an adoption of a child with special needs will be $14,440 (up from $14,300 for 2020). The maximum credit allowed for other adoptions will be the amount of qualified adoption expenses up to $14,440 (up from $14,300 for 2020).
For 2021, the credit will begin to phase out for taxpayers with MAGI in excess of $216,670 (up from $214,520 for 2020). The phaseout will be complete if MAGI is $256,670 (up from $254,520 for 2020).
Adoption exclusion
For 2021, the amount that can be excluded from an employee's gross income for the adoption of a child with special needs will be $14,440 (up from $14,300 for 2020). For 2021, the maximum amount that can be excluded from an employee's gross income for the amounts paid or expenses incurred by an employer for qualified adoption expenses furnished pursuant to an adoption assistance program for other adoptions by the employee will be $14,400 (up from $14,300 for 2020).
For 2021, the amount excludable from an employee's gross income will begin to phase out for taxpayers with MAGI in excess of $216,670 (up from $214,520 for 2020). The phaseout will be complete if MAGI is $256,670 (up from $254,520 for 2020).
For 2021, the deduction phases out ratably for taxpayers other than joint filers with MAGI between $70,000 and $85,000 (same as in 2020), and MAGI between $140,000 and $170,000 for joint filers (same as in 2020).
MAGI limits for making deductible contributions by active plan participants to traditional IRAs
In general, an individual who isn't an active participant in certain employer-sponsored retirement plans, and whose spouse isn't an active participant, may make an annual deductible cash contribution to an IRA up to the lesser of: (1) an inflation-adjusted statutory dollar limit, or (2) 100% of the compensation that's includible in his or her gross income for that year. For 2021, the statutory dollar limit is $6,000 (same as in 2020), plus an additional $1,000 for those age 50 or older.
If the individual (or his or her spouse) is an active plan participant, the deduction phases out over a specified dollar range of MAGI. For taxpayers filing joint returns, the otherwise allowable deductible contribution will be phased out ratably for 2021 for MAGI between $105,000 and $125,000 (up from $104,000 and $124,000 for 2020).
For 2021, for single taxpayers and heads of household, the otherwise allowable deductible contribution will be phased out ratably for MAGI between $66,000 and $76,000 (up from $65,000 and $75,000 for 2020). For married taxpayers filing separate returns, the otherwise allowable deductible contribution will be phased out ratably for MAGI between $0 and $10,000 (same as for 2020).
For a married taxpayer who is not an active plan participant but whose spouse is such a participant, the otherwise allowable deductible contribution will be phased out ratably for 2021 for MAGI between $198,000 and $208,000 (up from between $196,000 and $206,000 for 2020).
MAGI limits for making contributions to Roth IRAs
Individuals may make nondeductible contributions to a Roth IRA, subject to the overall limit on IRA contributions.
The maximum annual contribution that can be made to a Roth IRA is phased out for taxpayers with MAGI over certain levels for the tax year. For taxpayers filing joint returns, the otherwise allowable contributions to a Roth IRA will be phased out ratably for 2021 for MAGI between $198,000 and $208,000 (up from $196,000 and $206,000 for 2020). For single taxpayers and heads of household, it will be phased out ratably for MAGI between $125,000 and $140,000 (up from $124,000 and $139,000 for 2020). For married taxpayers filing separate returns, the otherwise allowable contribution will continue to be phased out ratably for MAGI between $0 and $10,000 (same as for 2020).
Saver's credit
For tax years beginning in 2021, an eligible lower-income taxpayer can claim a nonrefundable tax credit for the applicable percentage (50%, 20%, or 10%, depending on filing status and AGI) of up to $2,000 of his or her qualified retirement savings contributions, as follows:
Joint filers: $0 to $39,500, 50%; $39,500 to $43,000, 20%; and $43,000 to $66,000, 10% (no credit if AGI is above $66,000).
Heads of households: $0 to $29,625, 50%; $29,625 to $32,250, 20%; and $32,250 to $49,500, 10% (no credit if AGI is above $49,500).
All other filers: $0 to $19,750, 50%; $19,750 to $21,500, 20%; and $21,500 to $33,000, 10% (no credit if AGI is above $33,000).
By way of comparison, for tax years beginning in 2020, an eligible lower-income taxpayer can claim a nonrefundable tax credit for the applicable percentage (50%, 20%, or 10%, depending on filing status and AGI) of up to $2,000 of his or her qualified retirement savings contributions, as follows:
Additional inflation-adjusted estimates calculated by Thomson Reuters will be published in Federal Tax Update, available on Checkpoint.
Subscribe to our Checkpoint Daily Newsstand email to get the latest tax, accounting, and audit news delivered to your inbox each weekday. It's free!
Looking for tax & accounting answers?
Find them 24/7 online with Checkpoint Edge, our premier research and guidance tool. Checkpoint Edge uses cutting-edge artificial intelligence to help you find what you need - faster.
Learn more and take a free trial
Your one-stop guide to tax planning for individuals
With the Tax Planning for Individuals Quickfinder Handbook from Thomson Reuters Checkpoint, you'll find accurate and concise answers to all of your individual tax planning questions. Fully updated for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act!
The essential tax reference guide for every small business
Updated in line with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Quickfinder Small Business Handbook is the tax reference no small business or accountant should be without.
South Dakota v. Wayfair Resource Center
Read our analysis and reports on the landmark Supreme Court sales tax case, and learn how it impacts your clients and/or business.
Stay on top of changes in the world of tax, accounting, and audit
Subscribe to our Checkpoint Daily Newsstand email to get all the latest tax, accounting, and audit news delivered to your inbox each weekday. It's free!
IRS: Make Fourth- Quarter 2021 Quarterly Tax Payments by January 18 to Avoid Penalty
The IRS reminded taxpayers required to make estimated tax payments for the fourth quarter of 2021 by January 18, 2022, …
IRS Tax Season Begins January 24
The IRS has announced that it will begin accepting and processing 2021 tax returns on January 24, 2022, and that …
District Court Had Jurisdiction Over Innocent Spouse Claim Because Taxpayer Filed Refund Suit There
The Tax Court determined that a district court had jurisdiction over a taxpayer's innocent spouse claim. Once the taxpayer filed …
Is SEC Making Audit Regulatory Board Too Political?
When SEC Chair Gary Gensler in early June 2021 abruptly fired embattled PCAOB Chairman William Duhnke and said all five …
July 19, 2021 · 9 minute read
House to Vote on SEC Mandates on Executive Trading Plans, Senior Investor Protection, and Digital Assets
The House is slated to vote this week on bills requiring the SEC to study reforms to 10b5-1 trading plans, …
IRS Updates "Eligible Employer" FAQs for Sick and Family Leave Credits
On its website, the IRS has updated its answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) to reflect the changes made to …


Laura Himmelreich studied Political Science, Economics and Social History in Göttingen and Prague. From 2009 to 2010 she attended the Henri Nannen School of Journalism and worked as a freelance journalist for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, Spiegel Online and the magazine Stern. Her focus lies on business, sustainability and social policy. Since 2010, she has been an editor in the Politics section of the Stern.
In 2012, her social reportage "Eine Reise ohne Wiederkehr " was nominated for the German Reporter Award as the Best Reportage and was awarded in 2013 as part of the Hansel-Mieth-Preis. The Herrenwitz, a portrait of Rainer Brüderle in the Stern, triggered a nationwide debate on sexism and sexual harassment of women. Since June 2016 she is working as an editor-in-chief for the youth magazine Vice.


Delightful Frilly Pinny Apron featuring the Skating Santa print designed by Rachel Ellen Designs. This frilly half apron comes with a lovely Christmas print, large pocket and side ties for a perfect fit. Also available in blue.
Many more items in the Skating Santa range including matching children's apron, table cloth, tea towel set & oven gloves.


Everbuild® Black Jack® flashing tape is a stron self adhesive flashing tape comprising of an aluminium foil and bitumen rubber adhesive. The adhesive forms a weatherproof seal simply by pressing the tape into place by hand.
The application is extremely easy and should be carried out by hand. The flashing tape has a very strong self adhesive backing which can be applied to most substrates. It has excelent adhesion.
All surfaces must be dry, sound and free from dust oil and grease. Remove ALL loose material by scraper or wire brush. It is recommended that porous surfaces such as concrete or brick should be primed using Black Jack® primer.
Cut the flashing tape to the required length, peel back approx. 50mm of the release liner and place the tape into position. Continue removing the release liner whilst firmly placing the tape to avoid unnecessary creasing. Ensure intimate contact and that no air is trapped. Using a small roller to ensure that all edges and overlaps are sealed properly. Overlaps should be a minium of 25mm.
In cold weather or storage conditions adhesion may be reduced. Bring up to temperature with a hot air blower.


Today is the day we celebrate 'Mother's day' or 'Mothering Sunday' here in the UK.
Mum is one of those words we start to use from a young age; perhaps you used 'mumma', 'mother', 'mam' or 'mummy' instead; there are many ways to say it! Some languages offer a similar word to English, like 'la madre' in Spanish and in Italian. Typically the word for mother does start with an 'm' or a 'b' as these are soft and easy sounds when you're a child, creating the 'm' noise is one of the easiest ones to make. In Afrikaans the word for mother is just 'ma' and in Swahili it's 'mama'.
My mum and me enjoying the sunshine!
However, that's not always the case: in Fijian the word for mother is 'tina', in Kurdish (Sorani) it is 'daik' and in Swiss it is 'd'Mueter'. In other languages the m or b is replaced with a 'h' sound – in Japanese mother is 'haha' and in Somalia it is 'hooyo'. Would you expect 'Whaea' to translate into the English word 'Mother'? This is perhaps one of the more unusual ways of saying mother in another language (Maori). Interestingly in Georgian, it is completely different to English, with 'mama' meaning father and 'deda' for mother.
When it comes to the Romance and Germanic languages, there are a lot of similarities between both 'mother' and 'father' translations. Father tends to start with a 'p' or a 'b' sound, which are also easy noises for children to make.
How do you say 'mother' in the language you're learning?
Happy Mother's Day to all the mums, tinas, madres and nanays – we hope you have a lovely day!


text:
Home / Thomas Piketty / The illusion of centrist ecology
Thomas Piketty June 11, 2019	Thomas Piketty
Good news: given the results of the European elections it would seem that French and European citizens are becoming more concerned about global warming. The problem is that the election which has just taken place did little to further the basic issue. In real terms, which political forces do the ecologists intend to govern with and what is their programme for action? In France, the Greens achieved a respectable score gaining 13% of the votes. But, given that they had already obtained 11% in the 1989 European elections, 10% in 1999 and 16% in 2009, there is nothing to show that an autonomous majority of the Greens is within reach. In the European Parliament the Greens will have almost 10% of the seats (74 out of 751). This is better than in the outgoing parliament where their share
Thomas Piketty considers the following as important: in-english, Non classé
Thomas Piketty writes Will money creation save us?
Thomas Piketty writes The illusion of centrist ecology
Thomas Piketty writes Europe and the class cleavage
Good news: given the results of the European elections it would seem that French and European citizens are becoming more concerned about global warming. The problem is that the election which has just taken place did little to further the basic issue. In real terms, which political forces do the ecologists intend to govern with and what is their programme for action? In France, the Greens achieved a respectable score gaining 13% of the votes. But, given that they had already obtained 11% in the 1989 European elections, 10% in 1999 and 16% in 2009, there is nothing to show that an autonomous majority of the Greens is within reach. In the European Parliament the Greens will have almost 10% of the seats (74 out of 751). This is better than in the outgoing parliament where their share was only 7% (51 seats) but this does force us to ask the question concerning alliances. Now the decision-makers in the Greens, intoxicated by their success, particularly in France, refuse to say whether they would like to govern with the left or with the right.
However, it is increasingly clear that the resolution of the climate challenge will not be possible without a strong movement in the direction of the compression of social inequalities at all levels. With the present magnitude of inequality, the advance towards austerity of energy will be wishful thinking. In the first instance because carbon emissions are strongly concentrated amongst the rich. At world level, the richest 10% are responsible for almost half the emissions and the top 1% alone emit more carbon than the poorest half of the planet. A drastic reduction in purchasing power of the richest would therefore in itself have a substantial impact on the reduction of emissions at global level.
Furthermore, it is difficult to see how the middle and working classes in the rich countries as in the emerging economies would accept to change their lifestyle (which is nevertheless essential) if they do not have the proof that the richest are also involved. The chain of political events observed in France in 2017-2019, which was strangely absent from the campaign, provides a dramatic and symbolical illustration of this need fot justice. The principal of the carbon tax was relatively well accepted in France in 2017 and it was intended to increase it regularly until 2030 to enable the country to reduce its emissions in keeping with pledges made under the Paris Accords.
But if a progression of this sort is to be acceptable, it is essential that it affect the biggest polluters at least as much as those with more modest incomes and that the totality of the product of the tax be allocated to the energy transition and used to assist the households most affected. The Macron government has done just the opposite. The taxes on fuels paid by the lowest incomes have been used to finance other priorities, beginning with the abolition of the wealth tax (ISF) and the progressive tax on incomes from capital. As the IPP (Institut des Politiques Publiques) has shown, between 2017 and 2019, the result has been an increase in 6% of the purchasing power of the top 1% and of 20% of the top 0.1% of the richest.
Given the social unrest, the government could have decided to cancel its gifts to the richest and to devote the money at long last to the climate and to compensating the poorest. On the contrary: as stubborn as Sarkozy between 2007 and 2012, with his pro-rich tax shield, Macron has decided to stick with his gifts to the rich and to cancel the increases in the carbon tax in complete disregard for the Paris Accords – today nobody knows when the carbon tax will be reinstated. By choosing to make the abolition of the wealth tax (ISF) the symbol of his policy, the party of the President has confirmed that he is indeed the heir to the liberal and pro-business right wing. The sociological structure of his electorate, focused on top incomes and wealth, in 2017 and even more so in 2019, means there can be no doubt about this.
In these conditions, one might wonder why the French or German Greens envisage governing with the liberals and the conservatives. The desire to access responsibilities is only human. But can we be sure that this is really in the interest of the planet? If the left-wing and the ecologists were to have allied in France, they would have overtaken the liberals and the nationalists. If they were to unite in the European Parliament they would form by far the biggest group and could have more influence. If a social-federal and ecological alliance of this sort were to come into existence, the various left-wing would also have to go some of the way. Les Insoumis in France and Die Linke in Germany cannot just say that they want to change the present version of Europe or to get out of the treaties. They have to explain which new treaties they would like to sign. As far as the socialists and social-democrats are concerned, their practice of power does mean that they bear considerable responsibility for the breakdown of the political system and they have a central role to play to enable its reconstruction. They will have to recognise past errors: they are largely responsible for forging the present European framework, in particular by organising the free circulation of capital without taxation, or by leading us to believe that they were going to renegotiate the treaties whereas, in reality, they have no precise plan.
It is possible to build a model for equitable and sustainable development in Europe, but this demands discussion and difficult choices: all the more reason to get down to work with no more ado.
in-english Non classé	2019-06-11
Tags in-english Non classé
About Thomas Piketty
Thomas Piketty (7 May 1971) is a French economist who works on wealth and income inequality. He is a professor (directeur d'études) at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), associate chair at the Paris School of Economics and Centennial professor at the London School of Economics new International Inequalities Institute.
Previous Europe and the class cleavage
Next Will money creation save us?
Cramer: Trump sees China's Xi as more of a friend than US Fed chief Powell, whom he actually appointed


text:
Home » Gun Rights News
Johns Hopkins Report on Campus Carry Is Seriously Flawed
Ammoland Inc. Posted on October 28, 2016 September 21, 2017 by Ammoland Editor Joe Evans
No Guns on Campus
AUSTIN, TX. -(Ammoland.com)- An October 15 report by Daniel W. Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, and nine coauthors has resulted in several bold headlines but little critical analysis.
Articles with titles such as "Report: Allowing Guns On Campus Results In More, Not Less, Gun Violence" and "Guns on campus unlikely to increase safety, study finds" belie both the fact that the report is theoretical and doesn't cite any resulting gun violence on college campuses and the fact that the report, which involved no data analysis and was neither published nor peer-reviewed, is not actually a "study" in the academic sense of the word.
At best, the report is a pedantic, overly verbose op-ed that attempts to couch the usual arguments against campus carry in academic language. At worst, it is an attempt to portray the work of two of Dr. Webster's coauthors—John Donohue and Louis Klarevas—as "the best available research" (p.2) on the subject of licensed concealed carry.
Brian Bensimon, Southwest regional director for Students for Concealed Carry (SCC), commented, "Propaganda doesn't become research just because it's written on letterhead from a prestigious university. If these ten professors genuinely wanted to study the issue, they could have conducted a peer-reviewed meta-analysis of the existing literature. Instead, they chose to phone it in with an editorial touting only those outlier studies that reinforce their personal prejudices."
Those of us leading the Texas chapter of SCC are merely undergraduates and are, therefore, unequipped to prepare a formal academic analysis of a report authored by ten doctors. We are, however, more than equipped to point out flawed logic, straw man arguments, and factual errors.
THE REPORT IN QUESTION:
Claims, "The Most Recent Rigorous Research Studies Find RTC Laws Linked to Increased Violence" (p. 16), but cites only the prior work of report coauthor John Donohue and ignores the fact that Donohue's findings are contradicted by the preponderance of peer-reviewed research on the subject, including a more recent (2015) study by Charles D. Phillips, Regents Professor of health and policy management at the Texas A&M School of Public Health. Dr. Phillips' study concluded:
"The basic question underlying the hypotheses investigated in this research is simple—Is CHL licensing related in any way to crime rates? The results of this research indicate that no such relationships exist. For our study states, during the time period covered by our data, changes in crime rates did not affect subsequent CHL licensing rates. In addition, CHL licensing rates did not have a significant, negative or positive, effect on subsequent crime rates."
Hypothesizes, "Increasing gun availability in campus environments could make far more common acts of aggression, recklessness, or self-harm more deadly and, thus, have a deleterious impact on the safety of students, faculty, and staff" (p. 3), but fails to examine the experiences of campuses that already allow licensed concealed carry.
The University of Texas at Austin's campus carry policy working group, which was tasked with researching the issue of campus carry prior to the enactment of Texas' campus carry law, found no reports of resulting assaults or suicide attempts at campus-carry colleges and stated, "We reached out to 17 research universities in the seven campus-carry states. Most respondents reported that campus carry had not had much direct impact on student life or academic affairs…What we can say is that we have found little evidence of campus violence that can be directly linked to campus carry, and none that involves an intentional shooting…We found that the evidence does not support the claim that a causal link exists between campus carry and an increased rate of sexual assault. We found no evidence that campus carry has caused an increase in suicide rates on campuses in other states."
Focuses heavily on rebutting claims that campus carry will make college campuses safer and that active shooters seek out gun-free zones, despite the fact that such claims are not ubiquitous in the campus carry movement and are eschewed by Students for Concealed Carry, the nation's leading campus carry advocacy group.
Claims, "According to the advocates of allowing civilians to carry firearms on college campuses, some individuals considering perpetrating a mass shooting will be deterred from attacking places where they stand a likelihood of being confronted by private citizens carrying firearms. In instances when deterrence fails and attacks are initiated, campus-carry advocates claim that armed students and staff will be able to intervene and halt gun rampages and thereby minimize the number of victims killed or wounded in the attack" (p. 7). The report backs up this attribution of motive by linking not to a policy paper by a pro-campus carry organization or to a speech by a pro-campus carry politician but, rather, to a listicle titled "12 Times Mass Shootings Were Stopped by Good Guys With Guns," on the website ControversialTimes.com.
Claims, "Advocates for allowing civilians to bring guns onto college campuses and to deregulate carrying of guns in public places in general commonly cite research and statements by John Lott, an economist widely known for his claims that deregulating gun possession reaps significant reductions in violent crime" (p. 8). As proof that advocates generally rely on Dr. Lott's work to make the case for campus carry, the report offers only a couple of endnotes citing Dr. Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime" series of articles and books.
An examination of SCC's Common Arguments page, SCC's 2015 Texas legislative handout, and SCC's 2015-2016 Texas press releases (three documents that if combined and published in book form would be the approximate length of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) reveals only this one reference to the research of Dr. John Lott:
According to one gun-rights research group, there have been "only two mass public shootings since at least 1950 that have not been part of some other crime where at least four people have been killed in an area where civilians are generally allowed to have guns." This source obviously isn't unbiased, and they admit to having looked only at "public shootings…where the point of the attack is simply to kill as many people as possible," but this finding combined with the relatively low rate of licensure during the 2000-2013 period does give us reason to believe that maybe—just maybe—it's unreasonable to assume that CHL holders would have been directly involved (not just somewhere nearby) in a large number of active-shooter incidents.
Offers the John Lott/David Mustard ("More Guns, Less Crime") studies as the primary counterargument to the report's position but ignores harder-to-rebut conflicting research such as the 2015 Phillips study cited above.
Argues (p. 22) that campus carry would impede campus law enforcement but fails to examine the impact of licensed concealed carry on law enforcement in non-collegiate environments.
Argues, "Most campus officers routinely respond to situations in which information is sparse. They respond to calls such as 'suspicious person,' 'suspicious circumstances,' '911-hang up,' and 'alarm sounding' often with no additional information. If the presence of guns must be assumed, the level of seriousness, tactics used, and necessary precautions taken in response to such calls are elevated" (p. 23). However, in the absence of metal detectors, X-ray machines, or any other screening measure designed to prevent criminals from bringing guns onto campus, officers on any open campus—even a "gun-free" campus—must assume the presence of guns.
When officers get a report of a suspicious person, they don't approach the suspect, thinking, "We'd better be careful—this guy might have passed extensive state and federal background checks in order to obtain a license to carry a handgun." They're thinking, "We'd better be careful—this guy might be a criminal who doesn't care what the law says about carrying a gun or shooting a police officer.
States, "A recent study identified 85 incidents of shootings or undesirable discharges of firearms on college campuses in the U.S. from January 2013 through June 2016" (p. 3). This suggests that the authors of the report anticipate no difference in the behavior of individuals who endure personal expense and an extensive vetting process to obtain the right to lawfully carry a handgun on campus and those individuals who currently choose to ignore the school policies and state laws prohibiting possession of firearms on campus.
States, "Research demonstrates that access to firearms substantially increases suicide risks, especially among adolescents and young adults, as firearms are the most common method of lethal self-harm" (p. 3). However, the report offers no explanation as to how campus carry could increase the risk of student suicide if it doesn't change the ability of a student to own a gun; have a gun at home, where 90 percent of suicides occur; or—in many states, including Texas—keep a handgun in a locked automobile parked on campus.
Claims, "Binge drinking, a common behavior among college students, especially elevates risks for involvement in violent altercations" (p. 3), but fails to note that most student drinking (particularly binge drinking) takes places at college parties and that most college parties take place at private residences where licensed concealed carry is already legal.
The 2011 study "Drinking at college parties: Examining the influence of student host-status and party-location" found that 84.5% of college party hosts lived off-campus.
The 2015 study "Not Just Fun and Games: A Review of College Drinking Games Research From 2004 to 2013" found that 65% of drinking games are played at private homes (14% at bars) and that "first-year college students reported being more likely to drink in gaming environments with a small gathering of friends at a private residence."
The types of locations where students are likely to consume alcohol are seldom the types of locations affected by campus gun bans and are, therefore, unlikely to be affected by campus carry laws. Texas' campus carry law, which took effect on August 1, 2016, did not change the laws at fraternity houses, bars, tailgating events, or off-campus parties—none of which were covered by the nullified gun bans.
Cites (p. 19) numerous studies on the brain development of teenagers, as an argument against allowing campus carry by adults age 21 and above.
The report fails to mention that Jay N. Giedd, M.D., the author of five of the cited studies on adolescent brain development, also wrote, "Late maturation of the prefrontal cortex, which is essential in judgment, decision making and impulse control, has prominently entered discourse affecting the social, legislative, judicial, parenting and educational realms. Despite the temptation to trade the complexity and ambiguity of human behavior for the clarity and aesthetic beauty of colorful brain images, we must be careful not to over-interpret the neuroimaging findings as they relate to public policy."
It should be noted that when scientists say that the human brain does not fully mature until the age of 25, the emphasis is on the word "fully." The vast majority of brain development is completed by age 20. The remaining development is, in essence, finishing touches. Saying that the brain of a 21-year-old is not fully developed is like saying that a construction crew hasn't finished building a house, simply because they still haven't put the covers on the light switches—the statement is technically true but highly misleading. There is little or no scientific evidence that the decision making ability of a 21-year-old is substantially or even measurably different from that of a 25-year-old. However, there is a good deal of scientific evidence to the contrary.
Argues, "Age-specific homicide offending peaks around the age when youth reach the minimum legal age for purchasing, and carrying handguns (19-21 years)" (p. 3) and, "Risks for violence, suicide attempts, alcohol abuse, and risky behavior are greatly elevated among college-age youth" (p. 24). However, the report neglects to examine state-level data on the rates of concealed handgun license (CHL) revocation among persons of typical college age.
According to statistics from the Texas Department of Public Safety, 0.147% of CHL holders between the ages of 18* and 23 had their licenses revoked in 2015. For those age 21-23, the 2015 revocation rate was 1.50%. By comparison, 0.155% of license holders between the ages of 38 and 43 had their concealed handgun licenses revoked that year.
*A person age 18-20 can only obtain a Texas CHL if he or she is a member or veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. As of January 1, 2016, there were a maximum of 333 active Texas CHLs held by military personnel and veterans age 18-20. In that age range, that's approximately one Texan out of every 3,634, or 0.0275%.
Conflates (p. 2) mass shootings (which typically happen in private residences and involve domestic disputes) and public rampage shootings, to reinforce the report's assertion that most shooting sprees happen where civilians are allowed to have guns.
Reinforces its assertion that concealed handgun license holders consistently fail to stop mass shootings, by noting, "A review conducted by [report coauthor Louis] Klarevas of the 111 high-fatality mass shootings (six or more victims murdered) that occurred in the U.S. since 1966 found that only eighteen have taken place, in whole or in part, in a gun-free zone or gun-restricting zone" (p. 10). However, that finding is not entirely accurate.
Only thirty (27%) of the cited incidents took place in states that had shall-issue concealed handgun licensing laws at the time of the shooting. (Klarevas lists four Texas shootings that took place pre-1996, when only a law enforcement officer could lawfully carry a handgun in public. He lists fourteen incidents that took place in California, which has very restrictive licensing laws.)
Of those thirty incidents that took place in shall-issue states, sixteen took place entirely in private residences not open to the public. (The authors of this report apparently interpret the case of an Indiana man killing his six children in their sleep as a failure of licensed concealed carry.)
Of the remaining fourteen incidents that took place, in part or in whole, in public spaces, two were shootouts between rival gangs—not the type of threat against which a law-abiding citizen has much need to defend himself or herself and not the type of threat against which one person with a handgun is of much use.
That leaves just twelve incidents (10.8% of the list of 111) for which a case might be made that a concealed handgun license holder could have reasonably and lawfully intervened. And those twelve include two incidents in which the public portion of the shooting involved the gunman firing a rifle from the cover and concealment of an automobile—another scenario that doesn't fit the model of a typical rampage shooting and that doesn't lend itself to armed intervention by a CHL holder.
Offers a footnote (p. 11) listing five mass shootings that purportedly took place in locations where civilians were allowed to possess firearms. That foot note:
Lists the July 7, 2016, Dallas sniper attack, with no mention/examination of the fact that a sniper attack is logistically and strategically very different from a typical rampage shooting and offers little chance for intervention by a CHL holder.
Lists an attack near Palestine, Texas, that took place on private property.
Lists the Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon, with no mention/examination of the fact that concealed carry was against school policy for faculty, staff, and students. The report mentions that there were armed students on this campus, despite the fact that there is no record/evidence that there were armed students in the building where the shooting occurred. The only confirmed armed student (who was carrying a handgun in violation of school policy) was in a different building on the same campus and wisely chose to stay put.
Lists the terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, despite the fact licensed concealed carry is heavily restricted and relatively rare in California. The report mentions that there were armed civilians on site, despite the fact that there is no record/evidence that there were armed civilians in the building where the shooting occurred. The only confirmed armed civilian was in a building across the street from the Inland Regional Center. He saw one of the suspects fleeing but, not being sure what was happening, wisely chose not to fire.
Notes, "By contrast, the FBI found that 21 of the 160 active shooting incidents were interrupted when unarmed civilians confronted and restrained the gunmen. The FBI's data suggest that unarmed civilians are more than twenty times likely to successfully end an active shooting than are armed civilians" (p. 12). The report fails to note that, of the 21 incidents stopped by unarmed civilians, 11 occurred in schools where concealed carry was not allowed.
Fails to account for the relatively low rate of concealed handgun licensure during the course of the cited studies and for the relative infrequency of public active shooter incidents, both of which make it statistically unlikely that one or more armed license holders were within sight of the gunman or gunmen during a significant number of these active shooter incidents.
Argues, "Shooting accurately and making appropriate judgments about when and how to shoot in chaotic, high-stress situations requires a high level of familiarity with tactics and the ability to manage stress under intense pressure" (p. 11). This argument conflates self-defense with law-enforcement-style interdiction.
The reference to "tactics" suggests that the authors believe that the average license holder, upon finding himself or herself in the vicinity of a mass shooting, would act like an amateur, one-man SWAT team and attempt to single-handedly clear the building and find the assailant or assailants. This is in direct conflict with the self-defense intent of licensed concealed carry and with standard concealed handgun training.
The report ignores the fact that survivors and victims of mass shootings have watched from nearby hiding spots as gunmen reloaded or have spent several minutes corresponding with 911 operators or loved ones before being shot.
The report ignores the fact that mass shootings are not the only or even the most common form of assault on college campuses and that, according to most experts, a shooting is likely to involve an assailant no more than three yards away, last no more than three seconds, and involve no more than three shots fired. In such a scenario, there is little need for "tactics."
Suggests that "allowing more civilians to carry firearms into more public places could also facilitate more mass shootings. The Violence Policy Center has tracked incidents in which a concealed carry weapon (CCW) permit holder was alleged to have committed various crimes of violence and unintentional shootings. They identified 29 CCW holders who perpetrated non -‐ defensive shootings that involved three or more deaths not including the shooter during the period 2007 -‐ 2015" (p. 12). The report fails to note that 26 of those incidents clearly had nothing to do with licensed concealed carry, that two of those incidents most likely had nothing to do with licensed concealed carry, and that the one incident that likely related to licensed concealed carry was perpetrated by a convicted felon who should have been disqualified from obtaining a carry permit but was issued one due to a database error.
Concludes by noting, "Concealed carry permit holders have passed criminal background checks and, as a group, commit crimes at a relatively low rate. But, in states with the most lax standards for legal gun ownership, 60% of individuals incarcerated for committing crimes with guns were legal gun owners when they committed their crimes" (p. 23). This odd statement conflates concealed handgun license holders and legal gun owners—two groups that, although there is some minor overlap, are far from one and the same.
Comparing statistics on gun ownership with statistics on concealed handgun licensure suggests that less than 10% of gun owners are licensed to carry a handgun.
In Texas, CHL/LTC holders are convicted of violent crimes at approximately 1/8 the rate of unlicensed adults and account for less than 0.5% of all criminal convictions for violent crimes.
"A Refresher on the Case for Campus Carry in Texas": http://concealedcampus.org/2016/05/a-refresher-on-the-case-for-campus-carry-in-texas/
SCC's Oct. 2, 2015 – Oct. 26, 2016, Texas press releases and op-eds: https://www.scribd.com/document/319141232/Texas-Students-for-Concealed-Carry-Campus-Carry-Press-Releases-Op-Eds-Oct-2-2015-Oct-26-2016
SCC's 2015 Texas legislative handout (includes Dec. 9 – May 22, 2015, press releases and op-eds): https://www.scribd.com/document/255815743/SCC-s-2015-Texas-Legislative-Handout
All SCC statements regarding the campus carry policies proposed by UT-Austin: https://www.scribd.com/document/317821607/Texas-Students-for-Concealed-Carry-Press-Releases-Regarding-UT-Austin-s-Campus-Carry-Policies
ABOUT STUDENTS FOR CONCEALED CARRY: Students for Concealed Carry (SCC) is a national, non-partisan, grassroots organization comprising college students, faculty, staff, and concerned citizens who believe that holders of state-issued concealed handgun licenses should be allowed the same measure of personal protection on college campuses that current laws afford them virtually everywhere else. SCC is not affiliated with the NRA or any other organization. SCC is a pioneer in the field of long-form press releases. For more information on SCC, visit ConcealedCampus.org or Facebook.com/ConcealedCampus. For more information on the debate over campus carry in Texas, visit WhyCampusCarry.com.
The Very Deplorable VonZorch
Coming from Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research the result of this report was decided as the first step in its creation. As for actual facts, they obviously couldn't confuse the with them. Beside the Narrative mere facts are nothing.
Hoosier Veteran
I applaud the undergrads who demonstrated inordinate academic critical review skill in questioning what is clearly an op-ed for-hire. As an academic within one year of attaining a doctorate (EdD), adjunct professor, engineer, Veteran (disabled), Christian (yes, Christ made it clear that we are to question everything, especially politicians and those who claim to speak on his behalf), and critical thinker, and reviewer of countless journal-published and peer-reviewed work, I continue to grow very concerned about the deliberate effort of those who really run our government to fatten-up, dumb-down, and divide us upon ourselves using fear and misinformation – all… Read more »
Tionico
True enough. WHY IS IT that these control freaks wanting to ban our guns "just because" will rail on and on about the "Bushmaster Assault Weapon" alledgedly used (it was not….) in the Newtown School Massacre (IF in fact it actually happened as reported in media) but totally ignore the somewhere between twenty and fortty felonies the perpetrator committed between the time he murdered his own Mother and the time he arrived at the school.? Note well, all the murders alledged to have been committed are excluded from the list of felonies. I refer ONLY to felony gun violations. So… Read more »
Jim Macklin
In general college students range from 18 through 65+. In most states a license to carry is only available to those 21 and older. A half dozen states do not require a license to carry but do offer a license for the convenience of interstate travelers. The Federal Gun Free School Zone law [ Title 18 922(q) ] does not apply to colleges. It does not recognize any reciprocity and must be amended. It should be re-titled Unarmed Victim Zone. College students do drink, often in violation of state laws. Licensed CCW/CCH are the most law abiding citizens and are… Read more »
Jacob M. Opperman
As far as I am concerned any college who goes against the Constitutional rights of the citizens of the US should lose all of there federal and state funding. I use to go to college and I was not ever comfortable going to or coming from my car at night and some times during the day. At that time things were different and I did not have my concealed carry licence at the time but now with things the way they are I don't think I would go to a college that would not let me have my carry weapon.… Read more »
Macofjack
Liberals lie, steal and cheat to get what they want and this is a prime example. Only pick out what you want from reports, play with the figures and outright lie!! Sucks to be a liberal!


text:
Tag Archives: Mailes Kanapi
As Ilustrado Debuts, Ikaw Lamang Departs
October 20, 2014 ralphierceABS-CBN, ABS-CBN Primetime Bida, ABS-CBN teleseryes, Alden Richards, Amy Austria, bayani-serye, Christopher de Leon, Coco Martin, El Filibusterismo, Enrique Gil, Eula Valdez, Forevermore, Forevermore ABS-CBN, Freddie Webb, GMA, GMA Network, GMA new programs, GMA new shows, GMA new teleserye, GMA Telebabad, GMA teleseryes, Hiram na Alaala, Hiram na Alaala GMA, Ikaw Lamang, Ikaw Lamang ABS-CBN, Ikaw Lamang Book 1, Ikaw Lamang Book 2, Ilustrado, Ilustrado GMA, Jaclyn Jose, Jake Cuenca, Joel Torre, Jose Rizal, Julia Montes, KC Concepcion, Kim Chiu, Kylie Padilla, Leonor Rivera, Liza Soberano, Mailes Kanapi, Max Collins, My Destiny, My Destiny GMA, Noli Me Tangere, Philippine independence, Philippine revolution, Polo Ravales, Primetime Bida, Ricardo Cepeda, Solenn Heussaff, Two Wives, Two Wives ABS-CBN 52 Comments
A new-look GMA Telebabad premieres this week, while ABS-CBN says goodbye to one of their hits.
The 'bayani-serye' 'Ilustrado' will make its much-anticipated premiere later tonight. The series will be led by Alden Richards as Jose Rizal and Kylie Padilla as Leonor Rivera, with supporting roles by Solenn Heussaff, Max Collins, Eula Valdez, Jaclyn Jose, Polo Ravales, Ricardo Cepeda, Freddie Webb and Mailes Kanapi.
'Ilustrado' will focus less on Rizal's struggles for Philippine independence and his work on 'Noli Me Tangere' and 'El Filibusterismo'. Instead, it will feature a more human side in the life of the national hero and his fellow reformists, from their relationships to their day-to-day struggles with ordinary citizens.
The premiere of 'Ilustrado' should be an interesting one, as it will go up against 'Two Wives'. The latter series has been on a roll since it debuted last week, and should pose a challenge to the more qualitative and informative 'Ilustrado'.
Meanwhile, the still-struggling 'Hiram na Alaala' will be moved to an earlier timeslot, opposite an ABS-CBN Primetime Bida teleserye that is about to end this week.
'Ikaw Lamang', the period drama that started last March, will bid goodbye on October 24. The series will have two chapters and 162 episodes at the end of its run.
Initially starring Kim Chiu (as Isabelle) Julia Montes (as Mona), Coco Martin (as Samuel) and Jake Cuenca (as Franco), Montes' character was killed off just as Book 1 was winding down. When Book 2 got underway, Chiu and Martin were now assigned to portray the roles of Gabriel and Andrea, respectively.
Book 2 also featured Amy Austria, Joel Torre and Christopher de Leon as the older Isabelle, Samuel and Franco, while KC Concepcion took on the role of Natalia, daughter of Isabelle and Franco.
'Ikaw Lamang' was one of ABS-CBN's highly-rated teleseryes throughout its run. The show even outlasted its main arch-rival 'My Destiny', whose run from June 30 to October 17 came just as the former was at the peak of its success.
That said, it should be interesting to see how 'Ikaw Lamang' will fare in its final week against 'Hiram na Alaala'. Expect the conclusion of this series to be a highly-anticipated one.
'Ikaw Lamang' will be replaced by 'Forevermore', starring Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano.


text:
New MRI suite in Victoria to cut patient wait times
Brendan Strain Journalist, CTV Vancouver Island
Published Thursday, October 10, 2019 10:56AM PDT Last Updated Thursday, October 10, 2019 4:09PM PDT
Staff at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria are celebrating a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suite, that is set to cut wait times drastically: Oct. 10, 2019 (CTV News)
A brand new 3T MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner is ready for service at Victoria's Royal Jubilee Hospital.
According to the province, the medical device will decrease waiting periods for patients and increase the hospital's ability to diagnose complex conditions, like neurological disease, infiltrative heart disease and prostate cancer for all of the South Island.
The state-of-the-art scanner is just one of three that can be found throughout the entire province.
"This suite is faster," said John Mathieson, Director Head of Medical Imaging for Island Health. "So now we can do more cases with the same amount of money, so we can shorten our wait times."
The MRI is also double the strength of the old MRI's, giving health care professionals the ability to detect problems within a patient much sooner.
"This means we can see some things that we couldn't see before," said Methieson.
"We arrive at an accurate diagnosis much more quickly and accurately, so that doctors don't spend time doing other things or more invasive things that don't help."
The MRI does not use radiation and will not do any damage to tissues. It's almost much larger than its predecessor, so those patients who get uncomfortable in tight spaces should have a more relaxing experience.
"Today, we are announcing the opening of the new 3T MRI at Royal Jubilee Hospital," said Health Minister Adrian Dix in a news release on Thursday. "This is another part of our government's Surgical and Diagnostic Imaging Strategy, which is dramatically reducing wait times for the publicly funded MRI exams people count on."
The province's Surgical and Diagnostic Imaging Strategy launched last year and increased the number of MRI exams by 23% compared to the 2017-18 time period. For the 2019-20 year, B.C. plans to invest another $5.25-million into the program to increase the number of exams across the province by roughly 15,000 annually.
On Vancouver Island, the new 3T MRI is expected to add 500 exams to the South Island over the next fiscal year.
"This is excellent news for everyone on the Island," said Rob Fleming, MLA for Victoria-Swan Lake. "A 3T machine is a top of the line device, and this is one of only three in the entire province. Today's investment is a big step forward for health care here on Vancouver Island."
The total cost of installing the new MRI was six-million dollars, split between the province, the Capital Regional Hospital District, Island Health and the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.
Earlier this year, the ministry announced that a second MRI machine would be installed at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. The $5.5 million project is expected to open in the community by spring 2020.
(CTV News File Photo)
Second MRI machine to be installed in Nanaimo
Strategy 'dramatically exceeds' target for more MRI exams in B.C.: minister


text:
Delhi District Court: no confusion between IKEA and AIKYA GLOBAL
RNA Technology and IP Attorneys
Inter IKEA Systems BV ('Ikea'), Netherlands, filed suit for trademark infringement and passing off, delivery up, damages and rendition of accounts at the Delhi District Court, seeking a permanent injunction against Mr Abhilash KN, his firm Aikya Global and other partners of the firm (collectively 'Aikya Global'). Aikya Global contested the matter on several grounds, including that there was no similarity between the marks. The court ruled in favour of Aikya Global in this intensely contested case, which was decided three years after the suit was instituted in 2013.
The parties' marks are represented below:
Ikea submitted as follows:
It is a market leader and one of the largest companies in the world with a franchising network. In 1943 the founder of Ikea, namely Ingvar Kamprad (a Swedish national), created the name IKEA from his initials (IK) plus the first letters of Emltaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up.
IKEA is a coined mark, and Ikea adopted it in an honest and good-faith manner.
Ikea initially started using the IKEA mark in relation to pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewellery and nylon stockings, among other things. In 1947 it started using the IKEA mark in relation to a furniture business.
In 1958 the first IKEA store, which sold home furnishing products, opened in Sweden. Today, the products are sold in over 75 countries, including in India. There are over 250 IKEA stores worldwide.
Ikea is the owner worldwide of several IKEA trademarks, the trade name IKEA Systems BV and the domain name 'www.ikea.com'. The 'IKEA' element is a key constituent of the trademarks, trade name and domain name. It also advertises IKEA products through its website, which is interactive. Copies of the registration certificates for the IKEA marks across numerous jurisdictions and the WHOIS extract of the domain name were filed.
Ikea's sales for the years 2004 and 2006 amounted to over €30 billion. Sales figures downloaded from Ikea's website were filed. Ikea's products are extensively advertised in visual and print media and on the internet, which has tremendous reach and circulation worldwide, including in India. Members of the trade, consumers and the general public are well aware of the IKEA mark/trade name/domain name. Copies of advertisements, and sales and promotional literature published in foreign and Indian publications were also filed. In addition, Ikea relied on trans-border reputation and spill-over of reputation in India.
In India, the IKEA mark is being used in the course of trade and is registered/pending registration for various goods and services. The earliest registration dates back to 1987 in Class 27 (Registration No 471124). Copies of newspaper and magazine clippings, internet extracts relating to Ikea's business structure, a collaboration with the Standard Chartered Bank and UNICEF in India, as well as other achievements, were filed. Copies of online extracts of the registry's database were also filed to prove the existence of the Indian registrations.
There are three companies in India that belong to the Ikea Group of Companies: IKEA India Pvt Ltd, Ikea Trading (India) Pvt Ltd and Ikea Services (India) Pvt Ltd. The registered office of all these companies is located in Delhi. A copy of the incorporation certificate of Ikea Trading (India) Pvt Ltd and invoices issued to third parties were filed.
In August 2013 Ikea came across the mark AIKYA GLOBAL, used for end-to-end professional consultancy and services for various types of events, media, communication and allied/cognate services. Aikya Global used the term 'Aikya' as part of its trade name 'Aikya Global' and on its interactive website 'www.aikyaglobal.in' to solicit customers.
Aikya Global was fully aware of Ikea's rights and goodwill in the IKEA mark/name. The AIKYA mark/trade name/domain name had been adopted in bad faith and tainted since inception. Use of AIKYA was thus void ab initio and was likely to cause confusion.
The adoption/use of the AIKYA mark/name/domain name amounted to unfair competition, infringement and passing off of Ikea's IKEA mark. Ikea sought relief by way of a decree for permanent injunction, rendition of accounts and damages, among other things.
Aikya Global submitted as follows:
It was incorporated as a partnership in 2008 in Bangalore. It offers customised services, such as managing and hosting events, managing public relations, content management and communication, all of which are personalised services. Aikya has rendered services to various corporate entities. Copies of invoices issued by Aikya Global from 2009 to 2013, images of Aikya Global's hoardings and extracts from its website were filed.
By July 2013 it had neither provided event management services to any entity in Delhi nor conducted any event or rendered any services in Delhi. Its books of accounts are audited and invoices are raised, so the plea that it is carrying on business in a clandestine manner was baseless. Copies of the registration status of Aikya Global with government authorities (ie, service tax and VAT registration) were filed.
The term 'Aikya' comes from a Sanskrit word meaning 'oneness, unity and harmony'. A printout from the spoken Sanskrit Dictionary was filed. Moreover, the mark AIKYA GLOBAL contains fanciful artwork in red and white and includes a tag line indicating its business activities.
The aural, visual and structural impression of the marks IKEA and AIKYA GLOBAL, as well as the parties' business activities, are different.
Ikea is not engaged in the fields of event services/event management/media and communication, and does not hold trademark registrations for the services that Aikya Global provides. In addition, Ikea has no retail outlet in India. Aikya Global has never been engaged in the furniture, furnishings and interior decorations sector, and neither does it intend to do so in the future.
Aikya Global only offers customised services such as managing and hosting events, managing public relations, content management and communication. There was thus no confusion between the marks or services of the parties.
No evidence had been placed on record to prove that the Ikea companies established in India are franchised to use the IKEA mark.
Aikya Global has received various awards, and articles highlighting its achievements have been published in various magazines and newspapers.
The court heard witnesses for both sides and, after going through the evidence, grouped the parties' contentions under five issues. Issues 1, 2 and 3, which are substantive issues, are discussed below. Issue 2 and 3 were considered together by the court.
Issue 1 was as follows: "Whether the plaintiff is the registered proprietor of the trademark IKEA, which has acquired well-known status under the statute and common law". The court ruled in favour of Ikea and held that the trademark IKEA had a trans-border reputation and was well known.
Issues 2 and 3 were as follows:
"Whether use of the mark AIKYA GLOBAL by the defendants amounted to infringement of the plaintiff's trademark IKEA".
"Whether the defendants were passing off their services as those of the plaintiff and were thus liable for infringement of the trademark IKEA and for passing off".
The court approached the above issues from the point of view of consumers and ruled:
"In this case, IKEA is a leading trade name in the field of furniture and furnishings. The services of Ikea would be perceived by a man of ordinary prudence to be services of a nature akin to these areas. Such an ordinary person would never consider that Ikea has started providing end-to-end professional consultancy services and various types of event, media and communication services, both internal and external, and allied and cognate services.
It is not disputed that the brand IKEA is exclusive and confined to the upper echelon of society, who is fully aware of the business activities of Ikea."
The court also came to the conclusion that there was no phonetic and visual similarity between the marks. The colour scheme used by both marks was different.
The court concluded that no case of infringement and passing off had been made out because Aikya Global was not using the IKEA mark, nor was it engaged in services similar to those offered by Ikea.
Ikea has appealed to the High Court; it thus seems that the last word has yet to be written in this case.
Abhishek Nangia, RNA, Intellectual Property Attorneys, Gurgaon
Spoofed: USPTO warns of fraudulent phone calls that impersonate agency staff