The identification of an isolate at the strain level has been considered an essential requirement for any microbe that is intended to be commercialized as a probiotic. Strain-level identity is essential for both safety and efficacy evaluations. It enables traceability in laboratory tests, clinical trials and throughout the production and commercialization process. Although the health benefits of probiotics have been considered to be strain-specific for decades, scientists are now recognizing commonalities among members of taxonomic groups, which may be at the root of some beneficial effects.
For instance, the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics' consensus document on the scope and use of the term 'probiotic' pointed out that some effects and mechanisms that support them are broadly distributed among species within a genus (colonization resistance and short-chain fatty acids production etc.), others are frequent among different strains of the same species (vitamin synthesis, gut barrier reinforcement, etc.) and, finally, others appear to be less widely distributed among probiotic strains (neurological effects or immunological effects, etc.).
Mary Ellen Sanders and colleagues recently published a review of the implications of the fact that probiotic benefits may derive from shared mechanisms within taxonomic groups that go beyond strain-specificity.
Below, Sanders answers some questions from GMFH editors about some of the recent paper's relevant findings.
Why has strain-specificity of probiotic effects been a cornerstone principle of probiotic science for decades?
Probiotics are clearly different at the strain level; this has been aptly demonstrated in many laboratory and animal assessments. So the correct approach to the field is to assume that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, different strains were thought to likely confer different health effects.
What does your recent review add to what is known regarding general probiotic claims?
The concept behind this recent review was first suggested in a commentary by Prof. Hill and me in 2013 titled Rethinking "Probiotics". The backdrop is that although probiotic strains differ, evidence is accruing that common mechanisms exist among some groups of bacteria that may translate into their ability to confer similar health benefits. This new review outlines some shared mechanisms—production of short chain fatty acids and cell surface architecture—that may drive clinical benefits delivered by groups of bacteria.
Are there basic benefits that can be attributed to a probiotics' general category? If so, is probiotic classification at genus or species level sufficient?
The Hill et al (2014) paper concluded that sufficient evidence exists that digestive benefits could be expected from strains of certain well-studied probiotic species. In other words, using the term 'probiotic' to describe species such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus or Bifidobacterium lactis is scientifically justified. However, any reference to specific benefits needs to be determined at the strain level. A key regulatory implication of this concept is that, even in the absence of approved strain-specific claims, use of the term 'probiotic' is not misleading on products formulated with a minimum level (say, 109 cfu/serving or dose) of common, well-studied probiotic species.
Are the definition and guidelines proposed in the FAO/WHO's 2001 and 2002 documents still valid?
The probiotic definition from the 2001 FAO/WHO consultation was not grammatically correct. The basic definition is still valid, but Hill et al. (2014) updated that definition to be grammatically correct, and I support use of the updated definition. The guidelines published in the 2002 FAO/WHO document are still relevant. They call for strain identification, strain characterization, safety assessment, substantiation of efficacy in controlled trials and proper product labelling, including identification of genus, species and strain of all probiotic strains in the product and minimum level of viable probiotic delivered through the end of the product's shelf life (I discuss this in greater depth here). However, some of the methods and suggested approaches to strain characterization in this guideline are dated.
But with regard to the concept of shared mechanisms that lead to shared benefits at taxonomic levels higher than strain, the guidelines are still relevant. It may be that benefits are shared among many strains of the same species, but probiotics still need to be identified, characterized and assessed at the strain level. This is essential for good manufacturing practices, quality control and safety.
What is the appropriate level of evidence needed to claim a health benefit for probiotics?
To me, the best approach is balancing the level of available evidence with the value of making information available to consumers and healthcare providers. One human trial might be a reasonable minimum of evidence required, but we will never have the perfect clinical trial. However, methodology exists to assess trial quality and, even in the case of limited evidence, recommendations or claims could be made as long as the limitations to the evidence are noted. I think experts should review the quality of available evidence in its totality and decide if there is a reasonable expectation (not a 100% guarantee) that the product will deliver the stated benefit. If so, I think that claims consistent with the quality of evidence should be allowed. Then it is possible for consumers and healthcare providers to make fully informed decisions.
Interestingly, healthcare providers are very comfortable recommending diets high in fiber even though evidence is lacking on the benefits of many specific dietary fibers. The evidence for specific probiotics for some health benefits is much more robust than such recommendations.
Nowadays some healthcare professionals and consumers/patients are not convinced that probiotics have enough solid scientific evidence to be used in clinical practice. What specific information should we look for on the label of a probiotic product in order to be sure that it is an effective product?
Unfortunately, current product labels on foods or supplement-type products will likely not tell healthcare professionals or consumers enough to determine if the product can be expected to be effective for a given health benefit. Instead, consumers and healthcare providers should turn to evidence-based guidelines and recommendations issued by medical organizations or independent reviewers (see here for a recent excellent review on clinical approaches to probiotic use written for a Pharmacy Times continuing education activity, "The Expanding Health Benefits of Prebiotics and Probiotics". You can access the review for free but you must register to log in).
Healthcare providers are interested in helping their patients/clients manage health concerns. To the extent that a probiotic intervention has evidence of some likely benefit AND the risk of harm is quite low, I think it is reasonable to try or recommend it.
Hill C, Guarner F, Reid G, et al. Expert consensus document. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014; 11(8):506-14. doi: 10.1038/nrgastro.2014.66.
Sanders ME, Benson A, Lebeer S, et al. Shared mechanisms among probiotic taxa: implications for general probiotic claims. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2018; 49:207-16. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2017.09.007.
Glanville J, King S, Guarner F, Hill C, Sanders ME. A review of the systematic review process and its applicability for use in evaluating evidence for health claims on probiotic foods in the European Union. Nutr J. 2015 Feb 8;14:16. doi: 10.1186/s12937-015-0004-5.


• Reducing the interest paid on excess reserves.
Here's the problem with quantitative easing: even many on the Fed's Open Market Committee (FOMC) doubt it will necessarily boost economic growth. What types of projects promoting economic activity will be initiated when extremely low interest rates are lowered further?
One might argue that the problems faced by the economy are not that interest rates are too high, but that real estate prices have still not adjusted downward sufficiently. Instead of downsizing to homes mortgage holders can afford, consumers are subsidized to stay in their homes; there's no difference between subsidizing an ailing industry or an ailing consumer: subsidies are expensive and cause a drag on economic activity. However, given that the "downsizing" implies foreclosures and bankruptcies, it's political suicide to promote what may be most prudent for the economy as a whole.
Aside from having little effectiveness, quantitative easing also brings about substantial risks. For one, should the Fed indeed buy $100 billion in government bonds each month as is rumored, the Fed would be implicitly financing new issuance of government debt by printing money ("monetizing the debt").
For those not aware, when the Fed buys $100 billion in government bonds, it literally creates money out of thin air. All that is necessary to buy the bonds is an accounting entry on the Federal Reserve's books: a credit of U.S. dollars that the institution that sold the bonds now has a claim on. This "claim" may be exchanged for other goods and services where U.S. dollars are accepted; at the Fed, however, the "claim" may only be exchanged for a piece of paper confirming the claim.
A major challenge with the Fed buying bonds is that the bond market is so enormous that the Fed is just one of many participants. $100 billion a month in purchases may not move the markets as desired, should market forces disagree with the Fed. This is why Bernanke has stated his second "remedy": communication. In our assessment, the cheapest Fed policy is one where a Fed official utters a few words and the markets move.
The trouble is that since the onset of the financial crisis, with the Fed has had to employ much more than simple words: rates cuts were followed with emergency rate cuts in early 2008; these were followed with credit easing, then a mortgage backed security (MBS) purchase program in excess of $1 trillion; not to be outdone, the Fed is signaling that quantitative easing is to follow. Still, the Fed appears to be working hard to prepare the market through a blizzard of speeches by Fed officials. After all, if interest rates move based on a few well-timed speeches, a couple hundred billion dollars may not need to be printed; or so the thinking seems to be.
Since those comments, we have had a number of Fed officials make the case for quantitative easing. In the past, Fed policy was conducted at FOMC meetings; in the current environment, every avenue appears convenient to tell the public the market better price in higher inflation expectations. A secondary goal of such a communication frenzy may be to steamroll over dissenting voices at the Fed.
In our view, the Fed knows quantitative easing may not be all that effective. We happen to think that the risks of quantitative easing outweigh the benefits, but we don't think the Fed necessarily thinks the benefits are all that great. The challenges we are facing must be addressed by politics, not monetary policy. Homeowners must be allowed to downsize; we must have a tax and spending policy that is sustainable and encourages investment. Sprinkling money on the problems only encourages that the can is kicked down the road, making the problems all the more difficult to solve.
• Government bonds are intentionally over-valued as the Fed intervenes, making them less attractive to rational buyers. Rational buyers, domestic or foreign, are likely to look overseas for less manipulated returns.
• Bernanke has testified in Congress that countries going off the gold standard during the Great Depression recovered from the Great Depression faster than those countries that held on to the gold standard longer. This is in line with discussions by economists surrounding trading purchasing power for employment. It's not the mandate of the Fed to intentionally destroy purchasing power, but currency devaluation is a tool employed by central banks to spur economic growth.
• Bernanke has repeatedly argued that a weaker U.S. dollar is not necessarily inflationary. He points to past decades where a weaker dollar did not necessarily increase inflationary pressures.
If you combine those statements with the Fed's activities, it appears clear to us that Bernanke may not only be interested in a weaker U.S. dollar, but that he is actively working on engineering one.
• A weaker dollar may not spur growth as intended. In the short-run, earnings of U.S. based exporters may benefit as foreign earnings translate to more U.S. dollars in a weak dollar environment. However, an advanced economy simply cannot compete on price; the day the U.S. exports sneakers to Vietnam may be the day I see a pig fly past my window. Instead, a strong currency is an incentive for an economy to adjust to more value added goods and services with more pricing power; that incentive is missing when a weak dollar is pursued, eroding long-term competitiveness in exchange for perceived short-term gains.
• A weaker dollar may indeed be inflationary. Foreign exporters to the U.S. have an incentive to absorb the higher cost of doing business that results from a weak dollar through lower margins. However, there is only so much foreigners can absorb; profit margins in Asia are often razor thin. Chinese policy makers have been pointing to this challenge as a reason for taking their time in allowing the Chinese yuan to appreciate. However, when pushed, China and other Asian exporters will have to pass on the higher cost of doing business (less competitive exporters may go out of business).
We saw this in the spring of 2008: at the time, it was not just the price of oil that soared to well over $100 a barrel; there were stories in New York of how dry cleaners had to pay twice as much for simple items such as coat hangers. The reason: there was no domestic producer that could jump in to keep prices lower. Asian exporters may have more pricing power than the statisticians at the Federal Reserve may recognize.
Because we believe Bernanke considers the U.S. dollar a monetary policy tool, we have also been far more optimistic on the euro than many others. Conventional wisdom has many believe that economic growth is the key to a strong currency; however, our analysis shows that this mostly applies to countries with current account deficits, such as the U.S. In the U.S., foreigners are more inclined to invest when there are prospects for economic growth, and thus help to finance the current account deficit.
Conversely, a country that finances its deficits domestically does not necessarily need economic growth to have a strong currency. Japan is a good example of this. Similarly, the eurozone does not have a significant current account deficit. The eurozone may have disappointing economic growth on the backdrop of a strong currency, simply because the European Central Bank (ECB) shows more restraint, printing less money than the Fed; on the fiscal side, austerity measures may also lead to a strong currency in the absence of a significant current account deficit.
Please join us on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, in a webinar to discuss U.S. dollar implications of policies pursued in more detail. We manage the Merk Absolute Return Currency Fund, the Merk Asian Currency Fund, and the Merk Hard Currency Fund; transparent no-load currency mutual funds that do not typically employ leverage. To learn more about the Funds, please visit www.merkfunds.com.


text:
A Mortician With Time To Kill.
A headline on Reddit recently caught my undivided attention and held it for days…
"I'm A Mortician With Time To Kill. Ask Me Anything."
That title alone was amazing to me! The questions are mostly good and the answers are utterly fascinating! All of the answers are provided by an anonymous Mortician who works near Austin, Texas and if you've ever wondered what happens after you die then read on my friend because you're in the right place!
…Before we do go on, here's a photo of a mortician's tools of the trade:
As fascinating as it all is, Reddit is still Reddit which meant that some of the questions asked were either really stupid or downright crazy and insulting but looking through all 3000 plus comments, the mortician pretty much gave an answer to every genuine question.
I decided to email him or her to ask if I could shape it all into the hopefully coherent blog post you're now reading and with that, all that remains to be said is a big thank you to The Mortician! Whoever the hell you are!
Q. What is the strangest request that the deceased had wanted done for their service?
A. We had a dead clown one time. This person was buried in full clown costume with make-up and all. The whole family was clowns, all the friends were clowns. And at the family's request, the funeral directors were clowns too. They supplied costume and did our make-up Family and friends had 1 tear drop painted on near the eye. Definitely my strangest.
Q. Have you ever had to deal with children? What was it like?
A. Yes, I have embalmed many children from babies to toddlers and up. It never really bothered me. Probably because I didn't have kids at the time. I've seen people get in this business with kids and absolutely cannot embalm or even attempt a child. I now have a 3 year old, but it hasn't changed my ability to effectively prep a child.
Q. When you cremate someone, how often do the ashes from previous customers make it into the current customer's mix?
A. There is some co-mingling involved, although very minimal. It is unavoidable, you can't get every single grain out. As long as you sweep it properly after each person, it is very minimal.
Q. When you say farewell to somebody in public and shake their hand do you say "I'll be seeing you"? If so, what is their reaction?
A. I've said it to elderly family members. "see ya soon!" I usually get a chuckle. Another fun thing is to carry a tailoring tape measure. If someone ever tries some stupid stunt or something, bust it out and start taking their measurements. Gets a laugh every time.
Q. I work in eye tissue donation. I've had people refuse because "They need them to see their loved ones when they get to heaven." What exactly happens to the eyes during an embalming?
A. The eyes usually start to flatten after death. Think of an old grape. They do, however, remain with the decedent. We don't remove them. You can use what is called an eye cap to put over the flattened eyeball to recreate the natural curvature of the eye. You can also inject tissue builder directly into the eyeball and fill it up. And sometimes, the embalming fluid will fill the eye to normal size.
Q. Have you ever seen the show Six Feet Under? If so, how realistic do you think their portrayal of funeral homes is?
A. I have seen every episode. I think they did a good job making it look real.
Q. Have/Will there ever be a job you refuse to do? ..like under any circumstances of the body/family/whatever?
A. I've seen pictures and have heard about people being embalmed and placed on a motorcycle, stood up in the corner, in a recliner. This all seems ridiculous and disrespectful to me. Especially if the deceased did not request it. I say I would refuse to do this to someone but who knows. I mean if the family really wants it.
Q. Awhile back, a fire-fighter posted a photo of the..erm…cork used to hold internal organs in. Do those giant cork things really exist, and do you really have to insert them?
A. I'd have to see a picture. They do make anal plugs that 'screw' in to prevent leakage. The anus and vagina are usually packed with surface embalming chems and cotton to help prevent leakage. Not everyone will leak from these areas though.
Q. Did you go into the business by choice?
A. Yes I did. I was fascinated by the industry as a kid. When I was 12, there was a bad head on collision near my house. A man in a truck didn't make it. My family and I were standing around with all the other neighbors when the coroner arrived. He pronounced, then they took him out and put him on a stretcher, his head turned to the side looking straight at me. I remember being curious as to what happens to people when they die, as far as the physical body.
Q. Do funeral directors always slice the back of an outfit in half so it's easier to slip on in two pieces?
A. It's funeral director preference. I always slice the back of tshirts, shirts, and jackets. It just makes it easier to dress. I don't like jostling around with the body incase they purge some fluids. You can get the pants on without cutting unless they are too small. I work with a guy that cuts nothing, I chuckle as he struggles with a body.
Q. What the most 'interesting' death that occurred to a person you mortified?
A. Lot's of interesting deaths. I embalmed a man that was found dead, leaning over a balcony in the front of his house. It was October and with all his decorations, neighbors thought he also was a decoration. He was there for days. Another time there was an old couple walking down a main road. A truck drove by carrying sheet metal. One flew off near them and decapitated both of them.
Q. What was the grossest job you've had to do so far?
A. We had this house call one time. The lady was dead a while. On the couch all bloated as hell. When we started moving her, the abdomen busted. I had goo and maggots all over my leg.
Q. Ever had strange occurrences of a supernatural nature?
A. My first experience at work was when I first started my embalming career. I worked at an independent mortuary service. I had just started my shift and was using a restroom in the back. When I came out, I heard what sounded like a girl sobbing and the sound of feet shuffling around on the floor. The floor was kinda gravely and had a distinct sound if you scooted your feet on it. The sound was coming from around a corner that led into a small room where we would store embalmed bodies ready to be delivered to their respective funeral home. I figured someone was upset and crying. So I kinda snuck in, still hearing the sobbing. When I peaked around the corner, the room was empty. No living person in there. I noticed that there was only one body in there as well. A young girl. She shot herself in the side of the head. I wasn't scared per say, but I'm pretty sure you could audibly hear my heart beat.
Q. Were you, at any point, disgusted with/by your job? If so, how did you get over it?
A. When you are new in this business, there will be a time when you step back and say, "what the fuck am I doing". Mine was at mortuary school during embalming lab. The county would have their cases embalmed at the school for practice. The deceased was an autopsy and had no legs. I was just looking at her, autopsy incisions open, the empty cavity inside. Her hands looked as if to be gripping the edge of the table. Her mouth wide open because we hadn't closed it yet. She looked like she was screaming silently in pain. That was my WTF moment, you get over it.
Q. Is it true that morticians hang bodies on a hook via a cut in the back of their neck?
A. No! But that would be awesome! j/k. It's funny to me about exactly how little the general public knows about this industry. It's a myth. People are embalmed on their backs. Another myth is that we cut off the legs of tall people so they fit in the casket. Our secret: put something under the legs so that the knees are bent.
Q. What does a dead body smell like and what exactly, as a mortician, do you do?
A. Depends on what happened to it. Burned bodies smell like burned meat, no different than if you burnt a steak. Electrocuted bodies have a sweet scent to them, reminds me of roasted marshmallow. Decomps can be really horrible to be around and if you're around the long enough it will make you sick. -I am a licensed funeral director and embalmer. I make arrangements with families, I work on funeral services, I embalm all our bodies at the funeral home. I run errands, I take clergymen, hospice people out to lunch sometimes. There's a lot to do.
Q. Hi! I hope you can still answer this. I recently came across this on Morbid Reality.
WARNING! EXTREMELY GRAPHIC!
These are pictures of a woman who committed suicide in a bathtub. My question is, how come her bone just "fell off" like that, after a few days?
A. I wouldn't be a happy mortician responding to this call. I can smell her just looking at her. She is in an advanced stage of decomposition caused by the water she was in. Water will mess you up with a quickness. It was probably also summertime with no a/c. The leg just decayed enough where the tissue couldn't hold the weight of the bone and it just fell off.
Q. How is business?
A. Dead.
Q. If a family member dies of natural causes (heart attack, old age, etc… and not suicide or murder) do I call the mortician or police or should I always call the police?
A. Always call the police first. They will contact the medical examiner, the medical examiner will determine to take the case or release it. If they were under a doctors care, the medical examiner will contact the doctor. If the doctor agrees to sign the death certificate, the medical examiner will release to the funeral home. the police will make the call.
Q. How do you like working with a bunch of stiffs?
A. The general public sometimes thinks we just sit around embalming dead bodies all day. Unless you are strictly an embalmer for a mortuary service, this is not the case. The actual embalming is a very small part of the big picture. Most of my time is spent with living, breathing, hurting people. And believe you me, the living is much more frightful than the dead.
Q. What are your best mortician's jokes?
A. A man was caring for his wife on her deathbed. She pulls him in close, "honey, I have a confession". the husband says, "sshhh, no confessions, it's ok." she says, "no, you don't understand, I've slept with your brother and your father." husband says, "I know you cunt, that's why I poisoned you."
Q. Do you guys really put spikes in the eyelids to keep them shut during showings?
A. No. the eyelids are glued to keep shut. Some eye-caps are slightly spiked, this is to help the eyelid stay closed.
Q. Have you ever tried using Worchestershire Sauce as embalming fluid to see what would happen?
A. Yes! Damn thing zombied out on us. Luckily the mouth was wired shut. We put it down pretty quickly though.
Q. What things make a funeral so damn expensive? Also why is cremation more expensive than being buried?
A. The first thing you must realize about a funeral home is that it is a business, and in business you must profit to stay in business. Even though we are in the business of helping people, it is not a charitable service. With that being said I will break down the GPL (General Price List)
One of the first costs you will see is for 'basic services of funeral director and staff' I have seen this cost from $1295 to as much as $7000. It includes, but is not limited to taxes, license fees, utilities, arrangement conference, preparation and filing of permits.
Embalming. $600 – $1595. If the deceased had an autopsy or donor, additional fees may apply.
Dressing, Casketing and Cosmetics. $100 – $200.
Facility, Staff and Equipment for visitation (per day). $200-$300.
Staff and equipment for funeral service $300-$500.
Removal vehicle and staff for initial call $300-$500.
Funeral coach or hearse. $300-$500.
Service utility vehicle/lead car. $100-$200.
Flower car and driver. $100-$200.
Casket. $1000-$6000.
Outer burial container/vault. $700-$10,000.
Clergy honorarium. $100-$300.
Cemetery plot. $1000-$6000.
Open and closing of grave. $600-$2000.
Motorcycle escorts. $100-$200 each.
Limousine. $300-$500.
Obituary in paper. $100-$1500.
Cremation should not be more expensive than burial. The only cremation service I could see getting expensive would be where you want your loved one physically present for the funeral service. We would then do the embalming and a rental casket is involved. The cremation would be scheduled sometime after the service.
Q. How much of a need is it to worry about getting sick from diseased bodies?
A. You can catch diseases from the dead. I use what is called 'universal precautions' treating every body as if it is infectious. I pretend that if I even touch their skin I'm gonna fucking die.
Final Words: I had a lot of fun with this. I hope I have helped dispel some myths and give you a clearer understanding of exactly what we do. And remember, we're not the weird ones.. it's you people.
Obviously all of the above was culled and boiled down from the original Reddit thread. If you're interested in reading that, you can! – By clicking right HERE.
* What's Wrong With This Picture?
* Home Decorating: Ed Gein Style
* Because Silence Is Sexy
Interviews.
The Human Body.
on February 16, 2013 at 22:48 Comments (1)
Tags: A Mortician With Time To Kill, Dead Bodies, Dead People., Death & Dying, Death., Decomposition, Funerals, Macabre., Mort, Obscure., Q & A With A Mortician, Reddit, Rigor Mortis, Short Stories, Sinister, Six Feet Under, Strange Occupations, The Human Body, Toe-Tagged & Body-Bagged, What Happens When You Die
Because Silence Is Sexy.
Personally,
I never leave home without it.
Health.
on October 3, 2010 at 18:17 Comments (1)
Tags: Because Silence Is Sexy, Bodies, Body Parts, Corpses, Crazy, Creepy., Crime., Dead Sex, Death & Dying, Don't Be Selfish, Fuck, Ha Ha!, Health, Help Yourselves, HELP!, Horror., Human Corpses, My Death, My Wishes, Necro, Necrocard, Necrophilia, Planning Ahead, Sex With The Dead, Sexual Health, The Afterlife

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Discussion in 'Completed Pin Sales' started by speedwaystar1, Aug 20, 2018.
Some are being shipped to me, after I get them, I'd be interested in helping people out who may need these (or asking for a trade if I'm still missing some).
So, I need 2 Pocahontas, and 1 Jasmine to complete 2 sets. For trade, I have available Merida, Rapunzel, Mulan, and Tiana. Is anyone able to help me out?
Sorry, I also have Aurora.
I have Mulan or Tiana available, if you have a Jasmine.
I have Rapunzel, if you have a Pocahontas.
I can trade an Aurora for a Pocahontas.
I also have an extra Ariel, but it has a slight defect on it, in the form of 2 small bubbles.


text:
Home > Journals > Social Sciences & Humanities > BLR
BLR> Vol.10 No.1, March 2019
Evaluating Investor-State Dispute System under Ethiopia's Bilateral Investment Treaties: Looking a Workable Roadmap
DOI: 10.4236/blr.2019.101007 460 Downloads 902 Views Citations
Endryas Tekalegn
Diredawa University, Dire-Dawa, Ethiopia.
Despite Ethiopia did not yet ratify ICSID convention, many of the bilateral treaties which Ethiopia is a party point to International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the problem is how Ethiopia could be coup up with the ICSID community and the ICSID system without the knowledge of the system itself. And what would be the problem if it becomes a member? What does the country lose if it is not a party while it gives consent to the jurisdiction of the center is not clearly articulated? Thus, as investment whether from domestic or foreign sources, is crucial for prosperity, development and robust economies, this writing will scrutinize the bilateral investment treaties signed by Ethiopia and assess the ISDS and arbitral institutions which Ethiopia has consented to resolving investment dispute that may arise between it as a host state and investors of another state, and thereby recommend an arbitral institution which is less evil from the evils.
Investor, Bilateral Investment Treaties, Foreign Direct Investment, Investor State Dispute System
True that foreign direct investment has contributed a lot in the creation of jobs and boosting the wealth and economy of recipient countries, it has enhanced way of life, exchange of goods and enabled more and better access to infrastructure of the recipient and transfer of technologies, thus contributing to the sustainable development of these economies thereto (Norris, Honda, et al., 2010) & (UNCTAD, 2011) .
True also that an open international investment environment increases the competitiveness of emerging economies by allowing them to serve foreign investors & markets in order that these investors and markets contribute to the well-being of a country's economy and its citizens, in that, foreign Direct Investment and foreign trade are a pillar in the overall investment & trade picture even more so in today's globalized and interconnected value chains (Bungenberg, Griebel, & Hindelang 2011) .
Therefore, it can be said that effective and swift investment protection and promotion are more important than ever not only for least developed countries even for developed and developing world. This is because countries that protect investment and those that have pro investment policies and well-established systems of rule of law attract more and higher quality of Foreign Direct Investment.
As foreign Direct investment decisions most of the time involve economic and political risks, such as expropriation, limitations on remittance of income and capital obtained in host state, withdrawal or failure to renew licenses of the investment, arbitrary and discriminatory processes and regulatory procedures by the host state or interference by national courts which often can be biased on foreign investors in which they therefore require guarantees and assurances that they will be treated without discrimination, equitably and fairly with those investors of the host state before investing significant capital and incurring any expenditure in the host country (UNCTAD, 2015) .
In order to remedy these uncertainties, international investment agreements including bilateral or even multilateral treaties were designed to confirm basic standards of treatment and try to create safeguards that reduce risks for investors up on facilitating the settlement of investment disputes through well-established, neutral and nonpolitical international arbitration proceedings.
That is to say, as investors need an effective, swift and independent way to implement and enforce commitments therein in the Bilateral Investment Treaties [herein after called BITs] and International Investment agreements [herein after called IIAs]. Investor State Dispute System [herein after called ISDS] fulfills that role in establishing a measure of equilibrium and protection to the disadvantaged position that foreign investors may have in comparison to domestic investors (UNCTAD, 2007) . Investor State Dispute System has thus been included in most investment international investment protection agreements including in those bilateral investment treaties to which Ethiopia is a party1.
Provisions on investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) have been a core element of international investment agreements (IIAs) and bilateral investment treaties (BITs) for decades and ISDS has played a crucial role as an instrument to ensure a fair implementation of investment agreements, to enforce the rule of law, to protect companies against arbitrary behavior of states and to guarantee them a fair process (Schill, 2015) . Thus, it ensures fair and equitable treatment, access to impartial arbitration and free transfer of capital. As such, it is providing a public good, helps states to attract investment and fosters innovative, high-value development and growth.
Despite this ongoing support of ISDS, it is also undeniable that International investment agreements and investment arbitration in particular are under increased scrutiny.
In 2011 the government Australia vowed that it will no longer include provisions on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in bilateral and regional trade agreements dispute settlement (ISDS) in bilateral and regional trade agreements (Keyla & Patricia, 2011).
In its resent post, the Department of foreign affairs office states as they will consider ISDS provisions in Free Trade Agreements on a case-by-case basis. And further provides that the Australian Government is opposed to signing up to international agreements that would restrict Australia's capacity to govern in the public interest including in areas such as public health, the environment or any other area of the economy {.emphasis added}2 (Tienhaara & Ranald, 2011) .
Nicaragua has passed legislation to avoid investment arbitration and Venezuela has signaled its intention to terminate its existing bilateral investment treaties (BITs) including provision for investment arbitration (Appleton, 2010) .3
Ecuador has rejected the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes [here in after called ICSID] (Diaz, 2009) .4
China traditionally restricted investor-state provisions in BITs until its more recent emergence as a leading capital exporter (Bjorklund, 2016) . And most BITs that China has signed have a provision on the role of their domestic courts in resolving investment disputes.
The Philippines negotiated to exclude investment arbitration in its free trade treaty with Japan in 2007 (Hindelang & Krajewski, 2016).5
Most recently, the European Parliament adopted a resolution supporting the transatlantic trade deal, but rejected a key US demand for an extra-judicial arbitration mechanism or the parliament voted against including investor sate arbitration clause in the proposed TTIP (Robert, 2015) . The European Commission's has also proposed investment court either as a self-standing international body or by embedding it into an existing multilateral organization (UNCTAD, 2015) .
In September 2012, South Africa gives a notice of termination to the Belgian?Luxembourg Economic Union that it would not renew the existing BIT which was set to expire in March 2013 (UNCTAD, 2013) .
Besides the South African government has announced that it will not renew twelve other BITs it previously entered into with other European Union member states (Leon, Veeran, & Warmington 2012) . The reason presumably to have a well-established bilateral treaty that could protect its interests.
As per reports, in March 26, 2014 Indonesia is also planning to terminate more than 60 BITs and it has started giving notice of termination. A notice of termination was given to terminate the BIT with the Netherlands as of July 1, 2015 (Bland & Donnan 2014) .
All this ongoing scrutiny over ICSID and IIAs in general and international arbitration in particular, would tell Ethiopia a message to check its bilateral investment treaties and to rethink whether Ethiopia should really take part in the ICSID Investor state dispute system as its bilateral investment treaties are pointing to it.
2. Overview of Investment Treaties Signed by Ethiopia
Although bilateral treaty based protection of investment is a recent phenomenon,5 the emergence of protection of investment begins with merchant concessions from as early as the tenth century where at this time the merchants were granted concessions allowed to enter Byzantine Ports without paying customs duties (Tietje & Sipiorski, 2012) . Lately the protection has emerged to have a form of trade association concessions from a middle period, and finally Treaties of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (FCNs) from the late eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century which finally rests on the bilateral investment treaty signed between Pakistan and Germany which most authors believe it as the first BIT signed between countries for protection investment (Trakman, 2012) , (Laborde, 2010) & (Martha & Tilahun, 2014) .
Six years after the first BIT signed between Germany and Pakistan, in 1966, approximately twenty states ratified the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States (ICSID Convention), which established ICSID while Ethiopia has signed but not yet ratified the convention. There are almost 3322 agreements from which 2946 are BITs and 376 are TIPs. Among these treaties 2638 were in force at according to the report of UNCTAD (UNCTAD, 2018) .
As a party to this contemporary world, Ethiopia has also signed investment protection treaties with various countries. According to the data provided on UNCTAD website, Ethiopia has signed 34 BITS from which 21 treaties are in force and also signed 6 treaties with investment provisions and 10 multilateral investment related instruments (UNCTAD 2013) 6. But the author suspects more unrecorded treaties by UNCTAD as the country is seen in signing trade and investment treaties on news stream with various countries. In the treaty which Ethiopia has signed with United Kingdom7, Algeria8, China,9 Denmark,10 Iran,11 Israel,12 Austria13, Belgian-Luxemburg economic Union,14 Finland,15 France,16 Germany17, Kuwait,18 Spain,19 Sudan,20 Sweden,21 Tunisia,22 Turkey,23 Yemen,24 Netherland,25 there is a provision of ISDS in that the dispute between investor and the country (host state) can be settled at ICSID.
It should be noted here that though each bilateral treaty which Ethiopia has signed with countries points to ICSID, the choice is left for the investor and there are criteria's whereby the case could be referred to ICSID under every bilateral treaty.
Majority of the treaties provides that the case can be submitted to ICSID where both the investor's state and the host state are contracting parties and/or/under the rules governing the Additional Facility for the Administration of Proceedings by the Secretariat of the Centre. While the treaty signed with United Kingdom, France and Finland seems that it directly choses ICSID as the institution for settlement of investment disputes between an investor where Ethiopia is a hose state and the country.
Bilateral treaties signed with countries such as the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the government of the Republic of Tunisia provides ICSID as an institution to settle dispute between such countries if both disputants are contracting parties to ICSID and doesn't provide the option of additional facility rules as other bilateral treaties did. While the treaty with China limits the claim to be submitted to ICSID only to disputes of expropriation. And the treaty with Russia completely ignores ICSID.26
An author noted here that in the report of the Executive Directors made at the adoption of the ICSID convention it is provided that consent to be a party to the convention need not be provided in a single document, (Ghaffari, 2011) Rather can be manifested from contractual agreement made between the host state and foreign investor, treaties signed by the home and host states, or in the unilateral offer by the host state in its national legislation.27
This shows that ICSID will have jurisdiction despite the disputants are not contracting parties so long as the states gives their consent through multilateral or bilateral treaty or unilateral offer by host state in its national legislation to be tried by the rules of ICSID convention.
However, despite many of the bilateral treaties which Ethiopia is a party point to ICSID; Ethiopia is not yet a member of ICSID convention. And the problem is how Ethiopia could coup up with the ICSID community and the ICSID system without the knowledge of the system itself. Thus, Should Ethiopia is party to ICSID? What would be the problem if it becomes a member? What does the country loses if it is not a party while it gives consent to the jurisdiction of the center at least through the additional facility rules?
This is not clearly studied yet, and in fact, it must be and the cost & benefit of being a party should be analyzed in order to decide what the position of Ethiopia should be; given the fact that there are countries that has denounced ICSID and there are countries that are subjecting investment disputes to domestic courts and there are still others who are using the ICSID for few claims as opposed to all claims by the investor and also countries such as the EU are pushing for the idea of an investment court.
Given the need of the country to attract investors and the need of investors to settle their dispute at international arbitration, comparing international arbitration institutions at least ICSID & UNICITRAL (as almost all BITs to which Ethiopia is a party point to ICSID and UNICITRAL) and choosing the less evil among the evils is something that is helpful for the country.
In doing so, while providing international arbitration as dispute resolution mechanism under its BITS, the country may bargain to provide only UNICITRAL and other institutions than ICSID had the difference between arbitration at ICSID according to the ICSID convention or through its additional facility rules or/and UNICTRAL rules at ad hoc arbitral institution is clearly studied and the negotiators of the country have understood the effect of including ICSID and under the BITs to which Ethiopia is a party.
Therefore, at least studying the effect of including ICSID as a mechanism of dispute resolution under BITs of the country is something crucial and necessary to effectively defend future claims, if any, brought against the country.
3. Choosing the Less Evil for Good Sake
If it is said that the dispute between foreign investor and Ethiopia can be settled through arbitration (be it at ICSID, through UNICITRAL rules by ad hoc arbitrators or any other international arbitration tribunal), studying the relationship between domestic courts (Bronckers, 2015) and arbitration tribunals is an indispensible part of investor sate dispute system.
So why developing countries and least developed like Ethiopia28 (The World Bank, 2018) opts to choose ICSID in their bilateral investment treaties is a question that everyone asks and the answer is as simple as the question itself.
From the point of view of attracting investment and investors the host state like Ethiopia believed not to have the power to bargain the contents of investment treaties. This is because the investor's home country always put the investment and investor's agenda at the top of the table than any other issues. And host countries as their top agenda is attracting the investment, they are not in a position to sit down and bargain on each and every points of the treaty. Sometimes the negotiators in the treaty may not have sufficient knowledge in the filed as though they were in the country of the investor. Authors such as Blyschak and Guzman argue that developing states do not feel that they have been enjoying their fair share of return on the bargain (Blyschak 2008) & (Guzman, 1997) .
If that is the case, rather than accepting all the terms and conditions of agreement in the treaty proposed by capital exporting country (home state), a systematic way of accepting the terms shall be adopted by the negotiators of capital importing (often developing and least developed countries) or host states.
This points the burden on the negotiators of host state to have well equipped knowledge in the field they are bargaining and systematic way of excluding the terms and conditions of the treaty which might endanger the host state.
Thus, before bargaining on the provisions of ISDS under any bilateral investment treaty Ethiopian negotiators shall be prudent enough and capable of distinguishing the difference between arbitration at ICSID and arbitration through other Arbitral institutions.
In fact Latin American countries such as Ecuador consider that ICSID is biased towards wealthy Western states.29 And it is also said that 'a losing party to dispute in most of the time volunteers to execute the judgment of the center with the hope that it doesn't strain its relationship with the World Bank. As ICSID being an affiliate of the World Bank, refusing to execute the judgment of the center could jeopardize the chance to get loans easily as those states which show cooperation' (Shihata, 1986) . The perception that ICSID arbitration empowers both old and new wealthy countries at the expense of poorer countries is supported by the criticism that the ICSID is a witting or unwitting party to a world order dominated by institutions and processes that are directed at wealth enhancement, not wealth sharing (Trakman, 2012) .
But that fact is not something this writing wants to look for rather the very criticism against raised against ICSID and to look the way forward. Thus, among other things; the main criticism sought against ICSID is unlike in non-ICSID arbitration (through The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law [here in after called UNICITRAL]rules or ICSID Additional Facility rules) where court intervention is possible dependent on factors such as the connection the case has with that particular country, the types of measures requested, the place of arbitration, the nationality of the parties, the law governing the arbitration, the existence of a valid arbitration agreement, protection of public interest etc., under ICSID, the arbitral system is self-contained; in that, ICSID awards are final and the role of courts is limited to enforcement of the award and other supports sought by the tribunal in the process of arbitration such as order for summons of witnesses. Besides, although there is a procedure for annulment provided for reasons stipulated Article 52 the ICSID convention, the power to annul awards is vested on the ICSID annulment committee not local courts or the courts of the seat of Arbitration.
To be more clear, as the ICSID Additional Facility was mainly created to facilitate disputes which are outside the jurisdiction of ICSID in view of the requirements of Article 25 of the ICSID Convention the Additional Facility merely administers the framework with reference to the Additional Facility Rules and it is in no other way connected to the ICSID Convention thereby the awards rendered under the Facility will not be getting the advantages of the ICSID Convention on recognition, enforcement and compliance of awards.
Similarly, although Ad hoc arbitral awards are final in theory, arbitration by ad hoc tribunal through UNCITRAL model law and arbitration rules gives the power to set aside the award for the court that has jurisdiction over the place where tribunal sat in accordance with Article 34 of UNCITRAL model law or for the court where the investor seeks enforcement as the time of enforcement domestic courts may refuse recognition of the award in accordance with the grounds set forth for refusal by the New York convention for enforcement of foreign awards. To this effect as Ethiopia is not yet party to the New York convention, the provisions for of the civil procedure code for recognition and enforcement of foreign award will apply and thereby Ethiopian courts may refuse to enforce the award for reasons stipulated under Article 458 of the civil procedure code.
So, for one thing or another, countries such as Ethiopia should play tricky games on choosing which investment arbitration institution is pro-least developed countries as they may be un able to compete with wealthy countries of the west (who have money & skilled man power in each field of dispute) to equally litigate in the arbitration process. This is because on the one hand these countries need to attract investment while on the other hand investment exporting countries bargain to have well established system that could protect the investment and their investors. Thus, the tricky game of card here is to at least choose the less evil from the evils.
4. Analyzing BITs Signed by Ethiopia
As the policy of the Government of Ethiopia is pro investment, Ethiopia is Africa's third largest recipient of foreign direct investment in the year 2014 (Tsegaye, 2014) and second largest recipient of foreign direct investment in the year 2017.30 This shows that Ethiopia is becoming a destination of foreign direct investment and in the process of this ever growing investment in the country, dispute is inevitable. And this makes things critical in that; assessing the ISDS of the country under BITs which Ethiopia is a party is unavoidable task so as the country not to be swallowed by a storm of claims from foreign investors.
Taking this as a guise, the writer undertakes rough investigation on the treaties signed by Ethiopia as found on the UNTACD web. As said above, Ethiopia is said to have signed 34 BITs and 14 of these where either terminated or not in force. From those treaties in force the writer selects the treaty signed with UK, France and Finland as it have problems that could endanger the country in the process of resolving the dispute with investors of such states.
To begin, the treaty signed with United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ethiopia was signed in Addis Ababa on 19th of November 2009 and it shall remain in force for a period of ten years.31 The provision that deals about the settlement of investment dispute between the investor and host state is provided under Article 8 of the treaty. Article 8/3/ of the treaty provides specifically about the right of the investor for international Arbitration. It provides:
3. Where the dispute is referred to international arbitration, the national or company and the Contracting Party concerned in the dispute may agree to refer the dispute either to:32
1) The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (having regard to the provisions, where applicable, of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States, opened for signature at 9 Washington DC on 18 March 1965 and the Additional Facility for the Administration of Conciliation, Arbitration and Fact-Finding Proceedings); or
2) The Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce; or
3) An international arbitrator or ad-hoc arbitration tribunal to be appointed by a special agreement or established under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. If after a period of three months from written notification of the claim there is no agreement to one of the above alternative procedures, the dispute shall at the request in writing of the national or company concerned be submitted to arbitration under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law as then in force. The parties to the dispute may agree in writing to modify these Rules.
Accordingly, if a dispute arises between British & Northern Ireland Investor and Ethiopia and unless the contract between the investor and Ethiopia provides other mechanisms of dispute resolution than international arbitration or the investor has not submitted to the competent court in accordance with Article 8/1/2/ of the treaty, the investor can submit its claim to any of the arbitration system provided under Article 8/3/ of the treaty.
From the reading of Article 8/3/ where British & Northern Ireland investor wishes to refer its claim to international arbitration, it provides only a requirement of agreement between the investor and the country.
So, the question is since the definition of investment is too open (UNCTAD, 2010) to protect every asset of foreign national as investment; are investment Agency officers and local & regional administrators who are greedily looking for investment really consider the contract concluded with British & Northern Ireland investors? Did they really consider the Investor state dispute resolution provisions in the contract and exclude ICSID or include a statement to be tried at ICSID "where both Contracting Parties are members to the Convention"? The writer suspects otherwise.
Similarly, the other treaty that the writer selects as having problem in resolving investor state dispute is the treaty signed between France and Ethiopia. The treaty between the government of the Federal democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the Republic of France was signed in Paris on 25th June 2003 and shall be in force for an initial period of twenty years. It shall remain in force thereafter, unless one of the Contracting Parties gives one year's written notice of termination.33
The provision that deals about the settlement of investment dispute between the investor and host state is provided under Article 9 of the treaty. Article 9/b/, /c/ & /d/ of the treaty provides specifically about the right of the investor for international Arbitration. It provides:
2) the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, for settlement by arbitration or conciliation under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Dispute between States and Nationals of Other States opened for signature in Washington on March 18, 1965 if the Contracting Party, party to the dispute, has acceded to it; or [emphasis added].
3) the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes under the Rules Governing the Additional Facility for the Administration of Proceedings by the Secretariat of the Center (Additional Facility Rules); or
4) an international ad-hoc arbitral tribunal under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commissions on International Trade law (UNCITRAL).
As different from other treaties to which Ethiopia is a party, the treaty between France and Ethiopia creates clear ambiguity and vagueness in the interpretation of Article 9/b/ last statement which provides that a dispute can be submitted to ICSID "if the Contracting Party, party to the dispute, has acceded to it". It doesn't use the statement "where both Contracting Parties are members to the Convention" as though they were in other bilateral treaties or it doesn't even say "contracting parties".
So by virtue of this provision if a French investor wants to bring its case to ICSID it is enough for it to show that French as contracting party or as a party to dispute through its national (citizen) is acceded to the convention.34
The same line of argument can be reached out for Finland as well. Looking at a treaty signed between Finland and Ethiopia the treaty was signed at Addis Ababa on 23rd of February 2006 to remain in force for 20 years.35 The provision that deals about the settlement of investment dispute between the investor and host state is provided under Article 9 of the treaty.
Accordingly, if a dispute arises between an investor from Finland and Ethiopia and unless the contract between the investor and Ethiopia provides other mechanisms of dispute resolution than international arbitration; or the investor has not submitted to the competent court in accordance with Article 9/2/a/ of the treaty, or not settled their dispute amicably, the investor can submit its claim to any of the arbitration system provided under Article 9/2/b, c, d & e/ of the treaty.
These provisions provide:
2) arbitration by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), established pursuant to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States, opened for signature at Washington on 18 March 1965 (hereinafter referred to as the "Centre"), if the Centre is available; or [emphasis added]
3) arbitration by the Additional Facility of the Centre, if only one of the Contracting Parties is a signatory to the Convention referred to in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph; or (4) an ad hoc arbitration tribunal to be established under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL); or
5) any other previously accepted ad hoc arbitration tribunal.
As emphasized here in above, the treaty between Ethiopia and Finland also allows the investor to bring its claim at ICSID if the center is available. The statement which says if "if the Centre is available" is unclear and creates ambiguity whether it wants to say that if both parties are party to ICSID or wants to say that the investor and host state has chosen ICSID as an arbitral institution to resolve their future and existing disputes.
What will happen if for example regional investment bureaus has signed a memorandum of understanding or a contract with investors of foreign nationals and in that contract they have agreed to settle their dispute at ICSID, will such contract have any effect for ICSID to assume jurisdiction alleging that the country is consented to the center by virtue of such contract and the above provision? This is in fact chaotic for the country.
5. Looking for a Workable Road Map
True that a poor man who also doesn't know the working language of the court cannot equally bargain with the rich and protect its interest in local court ligation. Similar to this, Ethiopia cannot equally litigate before international arbitration tribunals with giant investors and transnational corporations who own years of capital of the country.
It is also true that that the country should work hard to attracting investors but this couldn't happen in this world where everything is interconnected and investment is surely essential for any state's prosperity without protecting investment itself.
So, given the major criticism that encompasses ICSID such as the perceived bias of the ICSID towards wealthy Western nations (the North) and their investors, and the fear that such any hostility towards ICSID could endanger an access to credit claim by poor nations (the south) from World Bank on the one hand and the need to attract investors and Foreign direct investment by poor countries such as Ethiopia on the other with due notice of the effect of the knowledge of investment arbitration culture by poor countries, proper handling of investor state dispute system under BITs is a crucial aspect that should be given serious focus.
As there are ongoing criticism as discussed above including the pressure on developing and poor countries to resort assistance and legal advice & representation from extremely expensive foreign law firms; the non-commercial interests that could endanger the host state and its inhabitants as in the case of health or environmental concerns which ICSID does not given sufficient attention; a lack of transparency in the process of arbitration by arbitration panels; the suspicion that there is a shadow of arbitrator bias in favor of the investor reaching different conclusions and results on similar issues and legal claims; (Fiezzoni, 2011) the absence of an appeals process, but only a limited annulment procedure by ICSID itself; failure to consider the situations of massive economic downturns; (Boeglin, 2013) its failure to provide a viable alternative to national courts resolving investment disputes between states and foreign investors and total exclusion of Courts even after awards should let countries such as Ethiopia to systematically answer the need of ISDS in BITs and embark to other investor state dispute system which are pro south whereby at least countries of the south could have access to consider awards of pro-Western investment arbitration centers.
Thus Ethiopia should take effective steps in terminating the existing bilateral investment treaties with countries selected as a reference under this writing. Especially as the treaty between Ethiopia and Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is not yet enforce the House of People's Representatives shall consider this truth thereby question the Executive and reject such treaty as it could endanger the country by giving an opportunity for submission of cases to ICSID even without being member to this convention. This is because, from the reading of Article 8/3/ where British & Northern Ireland investor wishes to refer its claim to international arbitration, it provides only a requirement of agreement between the investor and the country which in fact this very easy to be done as investors can do it given the need of the local officials to treat investors and the absence of adequate man power in the field of investment contracts.
Similarly, in giving notice of termination, the concerned authorities shall manage it effectively in a manner of treating investors and host states; as such notice of termination might trigger obstacles in the flow of investments. So, this can be arranged in providing joint investment discussion with the host state so as to smooth up the relationship between those states which thereby create good relation before sending the message of termination.
Once the discussion is made and things become smooth, the concerned authorities shall send letter of termination of the treaty and at the same time keep the words in the treaty so strongly until the time in the notice of termination elapses so as to increase confidence of the host state. Besides, the authorities shall choose best investment and arbitration negotiators to come up with viable and workable treaty that could exclude ICSID in one way or another from those treaties which Ethiopia will be party or use appropriate wordings on the application of those treaties so as the ICSID convention and ICSID arbitration applies only where both contracting parties are party to ICSID convention as Ethiopia is not still party to the convention and in fact it shouldn't be party to it.
6. Concluding Remarks and the Way Forward
To sum up, it is discussed above that the south shall attract investors and investments as foreign investment, robust economic growth of host states. Although attracting investment is something crucial for development and robust economic growth, investment treaties which least developed counties signs shall be such that couldn't endanger the country itself.
In this regard, a discussion made above regarding Bilateral investment treaties which Ethiopia has signed with different countries so as to explain how provisions of ISDS incorporated in the treaties and assess whether these treaties negotiated and signed in a way that could protect the interest of the country regarding investor state dispute in the treaty.
In so doing, taking the treaty signed with Ethiopia and British & Northern Ireland, Finland & France as an example, the writer argued that the provisions of investor state dispute system in this treaty articulated in a way that could endanger the interest of the country especially the poor and least developed such as Ethiopia.
Thus, the writer argued that in looking for Foreign Direct investment countries such as Ethiopia shall not be affected by dispute resolution system where they cannot engage and bargain in with multinational corporations and giant investors merely because they are in need of investment. So, the middle path that could ascertain the need of protection of investment by investors & home states, and the need of host countries to attract investment can be tolerated by those ISDS which are pro South (the poor) especially the UNCITRAL and ICSID Additional Facility rather than choosing ICSID as a place of Arbitration. In doing so, the UNCITRAL rule or even ICSID additional Facility rule gives option for countries to review at least at the time of enforcement but not awards of ICSID. So the negotiators of investment treaties shall choose the less evil for good sake although international arbitration with Giant Corporation by itself is expensive for poor countries such as Ethiopia.
1Ethiopia has already signed 32 investment treaties and 22 are ratified & in force while 10 are not yet in force. And the one signed with Germany in 1964 is terminated. For more on the bilateral treaties signed by Ethiopia, see UNCTAD international investment navigator http://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/IIA/CountryBits/67.
2Australian Government, Department of foreign affairs, Trade investment topics, Investor-State Dispute Settlement, http://dfat.gov.au/trade/topics/pages/isds.aspx.
3http://www.ibanet.org/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleUid=78296258-3B37-4608-A5EE-3C92D5D0B979 Last accessed 20/10/2018.
4https://www.iisd.org/itn/2009/06/05/ecuador-continues-exit-from-icsid/ last accessed 19/10/2018.
5In 25 November 1959, West-German Germany entered into the first ever bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with Pakistan to protect German investments in Pakistan.
6https://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/IIA/CountryIris/67#iiaInnerMenu Last Accessed 30/11/2018.
7See Article 8/3/a/ of the treaty between Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
8See Article 9/3/a/ of the treaty between The Government of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
9See Article 9/3/ of the treaty between The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the People's Republic of China.
10See Article 9/2/a/ of the treaty between The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Denmark.
11See Article 12/2/ii/ of the treaty between The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
12See Article 8/2/c/ of the treaty between The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the State of Israel.
13See Article 12/1/c/i/ of the treaty between the Republic of Austria and The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
14See Article 11/3/ of the treaty between The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Belgian-Luxemburg economic Union.
15See Article 9/1/b/ of the treaty between The Government of the Republic of Finland and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
16See Article 9/b/ of the treaty between The Government of the Federal democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the Republic of France.
17See Article 11/2/c/ of the treaty between The Federal Republic of Germany and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
18See Article 9/3/a/ of the treaty between the Federal democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the state of Kuwait.
19See Article 11/2/c/ of the treaty between The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Spain.
20See Article 9/2/b/ of the treaty between The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the Republic of the Sudan.
21See Article 8/2/i/ of the treaty between The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
22See Article 7/3/ of the treaty between The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia of and the government of the Republic of Tunisia.
23See Article 7/2/b/ of the treaty between The Republic of Turkey and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
24See Article 9/b/ of the treaty between The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the Republic of Yemen.
25See Article 9/2/b/ of the treaty between The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
26See Article 8 of the treaty with the Russian Federation and Ethiopia.
27Sometimes host states may unilaterally enact a law that regulates investment in the state thereby any dispute that may arise therein can be settled at ICSID or other international Arbitral institution, this in effect results in giving consent to that international arbitral institution.
28Still Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries as provided by the World Bank in 2018. See https://data.worldbank.org/region/least-developed-countries:-un-classification Last Accessed 18/11/2018.
29President Raphael Correa of Ecuador stated that "the ICSID was established by, and arguably in the interest of, wealthy countries and their investors abroad." These concerns of developing states are reflected in their collective attempts to protect "their" New International Economic Order through the General Assembly of the UN, through supporting a Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States and a Declaration on the Permanent Sovereignty of States over Natural Resources.
30See, world investment report of 2018, UNCTAD/PRESS/PR/2018/018 Geneva, Switzerland, (06 June 2018) http://unctad.org/en/pages/PressRelease.aspx?OriginalVersionID=461, Last accessed 16/8/2018.
31See the last statement of the treaty between Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
32[emphasis added] this provision of the treaty put everything on the contract to be concluded between the investor and the country.
33See Paragraph 2 of Article 12 of the treaty between The Government of the Federal democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the Republic of France.
34France has signed the ICSID convention in Dec. 22, 1965 deposited the ratification in Aug. 21, 1967 and the convention entered in to force on Sep. 20, 1967.
35See Article 17/2/ of the treaty between The Government of the Republic of Finland and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Tekalegn, E. (2019) Evaluating Investor-State Dispute System under Ethiopia's Bilateral Investment Treaties: Looking a Workable Roadmap. Beijing Law Review, 10, 115-130. doi: 10.4236/blr.2019.101007.
[1] Appleton, S. (2010). Latin American Arbitration: The Story behind the Headlines. International Bar Association.
http://www.ibanet.org/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleUid=78296258-3B37-4608-A5EE-3C92D5D0B979
[2] Bjorklund, A. K. (2016). Yearbook on International Investment Law and Policy 2014-2015. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[3] Bland, B., & Donnan, S. (2014). Indonesia to Terminate More than 60 Bilateral Investment Treaties Multinationals Accused of Bullying Developing Countries. Financial Times.
https://www.ft.com/content/3755c1b2-b4e2-11e3-af92-00144feabdc0
[4] Boeglin, N. (2013). Criticism, Withdrawal and the Search for Alternatives.
https://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/At-Issue-ICSID.pdf
[5] Bronckers, M. (2015). Is Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Superior to Litigation before Domestic Courts?: An EU View on Bilateral Trade Agreements. Journal of International Economic Law, 18, 655-677.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jiel/jgv035
[6] Bungenberg, M., Griebel, J., & Hindelang, S. (2011). International Investment Law and EU Law. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14855-2
[7] Diaz, F. C. (2009). Ecuador Continues Exit from ICSID. Investment Treaty News, International Institute for Sustainable Development.
https://www.iisd.org/itn/2009/06/05/ecuador-continues-exit-from-icsid/
[8] Fiezzoni, S. K. (2011). The Challenge of UNASUR Member Countries to Replace ICSID Arbitration. Beijing Law Review, 2, 134-144.
https://doi.org/10.4236/blr.2011.23014
[9] Ghaffari, P. (2011). Jurisdictional Requirements under Article 25 of the ICSID Convention: Literature Review. The Journal of World Investment & Trade, 12, 605.
https://doi.org/10.1163/221190011X00292
[10] Guzman, A. T. (1997). Why LDCs Sign Treaties That HurtThem: Explaining the Popularity of Bilateral Investment Treaties. Virginia Journal of International Law, 38, 639.
[11] Laborde, G. (2010). The Case for Host State Claims in Investment Arbitration. Journal of International Dispute Settlement, 1, 97-122.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jnlids/idp008
[12] Leon, P., Veeran, J., & Warmington, E. (2012). South Africa: South Africa Declines to Renew Bilateral Investment Treaties with European Union Member States.
http://www.mondaq.com/southafrica/x/199586/international+trade+investment/South+Africa
+Declines+To+Renew+Bilateral+Investment+Treaties+With+European+Union+Member+States
[13] Martha, B. H., & Tilahun, E. K. (2014). Rethinking Ethiopia's Bilateral Investment Treaties in light of Recent Developments in International Investment Arbitration. Mizan law Review, 8, 123.
[14] Norris, E. D., Honda, J., Lahreche, A., & Verdier, G. (2010). FDI Flows to Low Income Countries: Global Drivers and Growth Implication. IMF Working Paper WP/10/132.
[15] Robert, A. (2015). European Parliament Backs TTIP Rejects ISDS.
http://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/european-parliament-backs-ttip-rejects-isds/
[16] Schill, S. W. (2015). Reforming Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS): Conceptual Framework and Options for the Way forward, E15 Initiative. Geneva: International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and World Economic Forum.
[17] Shihata, I. F. I. (1986). The Settlement of Disputes Regarding Foreign Investments: The Role of the World Bank with Particular Reference to ICSID and MIGA. Arab Law Quarterly, 1, 265-279.
[18] The World Bank (2018). Least Developed Countries: UN Classification.
https://data.worldbank.org/region/least-developed-countries:-un-classification
[19] Tienhaara, K., & Ranald, P. (2011). Australia's Rejection of Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Four Potential Contributing Factors. Investment Treaty News.
[20] Tietje, C., & Sipiorski, E. (2012). International Investment Law and Soft Law. In A. K. Bjorklund, & A. Reinisch (Eds.). USA: Edward Elgar Publishing Inc.
[21] Trakman, L. E. (2012). The ICSID under Siege. Cornell International Law Journal, 45, 619.
[22] Tsegaye, A. (2014). Ethiopia: Africa's Third Largest Recipient of Foreign Direct Investment. Addis Fortune, 15.
http://addisfortune.net/articles/ethiopia-africas-third-largest-recipient-of-foreign-direct-investment/
[23] UNCTAD (2007). Investor-Sate Dispute Settlement and Impact on Investment Rule Making. New York and Geneva: United Nations.
[24] UNCTAD (2010). Latest Developments in Investor-State Dispute Settlement IIA Issue Note No. 1 (2010). International Investment Agreements. New York and Geneva: United Nations.
[25] UNCTAD (2011). Best Practices in Investment for Development How to Prevent and Manage Investor-State Disputes: Lessons from Peru, Investment Advisory Series-Series B, Number 10. S. New York and Geneva: United Nation.
[26] UNCTAD (2013). Investment Policy Hub.
https://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/IIA/CountryIris/67#iiaInnerMenu
[27] UNCTAD (2013). World Investment Report 2013: Global Value Chains: Investment and Trade for Development. Geneva: United Nations Publication.
[28] UNCTAD (2015). World Investment Report (WIR15), Reforming International Investment Governance.
http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/wir2015_en.pdf
[29] UNCTAD (2018). IIA Issues Note, Recent Development in the International Investment Regime.
https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/diaepcbinf2018d1_en.pdf
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Deborah joined Sainsbury's in 2007 as Head of Internal Communications. She also held senior positions in HR and engagement where she sought new ways to gain insight about employees, developing different approaches to increasing their affection for and loyalty to the organisation. In particular she led a number of initiatives to drive share of voice and engagement of young people at Sainsbury's.
In 2014 Deborah was appointed Head of Talent & Performance. Being a Great Place to Work is one of Sainsbury's key company values and enabling colleagues to achieve their full potential is a key aspect of Deborah's role. This includes a focus on inclusion; making Sainsbury's a place where everybody is welcome.
Prior to joining Sainsbury's, Deborah was Client Services Director in communication and engagement consultancies, working with large organisations to deliver change and improve effectiveness through their people.


How far do the tentacles of China's censorship reach?
Foreign government efforts to undermine Australian democracy have been making headlines in the past few weeks, but we're missing things.
And then, of course, there have been the shady examples of influence-buying.
While the recent focus has been on political donations and 'how China's spies operate in Australia', one area of interference in the cyber domain has been overlooked: how Beijing can exert influence through the penetration of Chinese social media platforms in the Australian market.
A 2017 Deloitte survey suggests about 1 in 7 Australians source their news from social media. For around 1.5 million Chinese-speaking people in Australia, that includes the Chinese social media platform WeChat. That's a problem because WeChat takes direction from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which means Australians who source their news through WeChat are having their news diet dictated by a foreign authoritarian state.
Research conducted by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto has documented the extensive but subtle censorship imposed on WeChat users by the Chinese authorities. That includes blocking messages that contain censored keywords (such as Tiananmen massacre or Radio Free Asia), links to banned websites (including news sites critical of the Chinese government) and images with banned political content (such as images associated with controversial events like human rights crackdowns).
This censorship can be tricky for users to detect. For example, when a user sends a message with a censored keyword, they are not advised that their message was blocked; the message just doesn't appear on the receiver's end. The censorship regime is also far stricter in group chats than in private messages, suggesting an effort by the authorities to prevent mass dissemination of messages potentially damaging to the CCP.
Through rigorous testing, the Citizen Lab was able to demonstrate that users who originally sign up with a mainland Chinese mobile number, then later switch to an international number, remain under the same censorship as they would back in China. This has the potential to sweep up Australian holidaymakers, migrants of Chinese descent (more than half a million Australians were born in China), students, academics and business people. While users who establish a new account from Australia can avoid keyword censorship on WeChat, they still have some websites blocked and are subject to any future changes imposed by the CCP as it continues to tighten censorship at home.
This reach into Australian society should be of concern to Australia. WeChat has several potential pernicious applications. It is being used to limit the material Chinese Australians can read about issues that the CCP deems sensitive. It could also be used as a vehicle for monitoring dissident students in Australia who use the platform.
This is worrying because, as the white paper tells us, by 2030 in purchasing power parity terms, China's economy will be nearly twice that of the United States, and China is already challenging the US for dominance in our region. As Hugh White outlines in his new Quarterly Essay, China is likely to use that power to push us into some uncomfortable territory. Its ability to shape Australian debate by exerting control over a major media channel like WeChat is one important way it could influence outcomes in Australia.
There's nothing wrong with Australians choosing to use WeChat, and all Australians are fortunate enough to have a diverse range of news sources they can access. But we deserve to know what is and isn't being censored from our news diet, especially when it comes to dominant market platforms. Australia can't stop the CCP from censoring WeChat, but it could require that all social media companies publish their censorship rules as a condition of operating in Australia (as companies like Facebook already do). That would at least allow us all to see what we're missing out on and make it easier to pressure for change.
Fergus Hanson is head of the International Cyber Policy Centre at ASPI. Image courtesy of Flickr user frankieleon.


text:
## Connections

Connections needs to be configured first at a bootstrap level.

Let's create a PostgreSql connection:

```php
use Chaos\Database\Adapter\PostgreSql;

$connection = new PostgreSql([
    'database' => 'mydatabase',
    'username' => 'mylogin',
    'password' => 'mypassword'
]);
```

Then te connection is bindined to our models using `Model::connection()`:

```php
use Chaos\Model;

Model::connection($connection);
```

Now all models extending `chaos\Model` will use the `PostgreSql` connection.

Note: under the hood the model don't use the connection directly but use it through its attached schema instance. So when `::schema()` is called on a specific model, the returned schema is correctly configured with the model's connection.

To be able to use different connections, you will need to create as many base model as you need different connections.

Let's illustrate this point with an example:

```php
namespace myproject\model;

class NewBaseModel extends \chaos\Model
{
    /**
     * Re-defining the `_connection` attribute in this base model class will
     * allow to attach a specific connection to it and its subclasses.
     */
    protected static $_connection = null;
}
```

Now all models extending `NewBaseModel` can be connected that way:

```php
use Chaos\Model;
use Myproject\Http\MyApi; // Example of a custom HTTP based connection

$connection = new MyApi([
    'scheme' => 'http',
    'host' => 'my.api.com',
    'socket' => 'Curl',
    'username' => 'mylogin',
    'password' => 'mypassword'
]);

NewBaseModel::connection($connection);
```

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


iPad Air 2Change is in the Air.
So capable, you won't want to put it down.
iPad Air 2 has a re-engineered Retina display, revolutionary Touch ID fingerprint sensor, powerful A8X chip, improved iSight and FaceTime HD cameras, and even faster wireless. And it's all in a durable aluminium enclosure that's only 6.1 millimetres thin. So you can take it just about anywhere. And do just about anything.
With iPad Air 2, staying connected has never been easier or faster. It comes with 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO, which is over twice as fast as Wi-Fi on the previous iPad Air. So you can surf the web, stream video and download content faster than ever.
Touch ID. Security based on a one-of-a-kind design: your fingerprint.
With the revolutionary Touch ID fingerprint sensor, you can use your fingerprint to unlock your iPad Air 2 and sign in to secure apps. You can also use it to make purchases from iTunes, the iBooks Store and the App Store — all without ever typing your password or billing information.
The new 8MP iSight camera has advanced optics, an improved sensor and a more powerful image signal processor that let you capture incredibly detailed photos and 1080p video. You can also shoot high-resolution panoramas and time-lapse and slo-mo videos. The FaceTime HD camera is better than ever for video calls and selfies, especially in low light.2 The Retina display isn't just a great viewfinder, it also helps make iPad Air 2 the perfect way to shoot, edit and share your photos and videos. And there are many apps that take advantage of the built-in cameras, so you can do things like analyse your golf swing, virtually move furniture around your living room, or scan and store documents and receipts.
A8X chip. Incredibly powerful. But not power hungry.
From launching apps to playing games to editing video, everything is more fluid and responsive on iPad Air 2. That's because the all-new A8X chip with 64-bit desktop-class architecture provides 40 per cent faster CPU performance than the A7 chip in the previous iPad Air. It also has 2.5 times the graphics performance. And yet iPad Air 2 still gives you up to 10 hours of battery life.
The apps you already use.And great new ones too.
iPad Air 2 comes with great built-in apps for doing the things you do every day. And you can be even more productive and creative with Apple-designed apps that let you create presentations, retouch photos, make movies, compose music and more. iPad Air 2 also runs many of the apps you're already familiar with — like Microsoft Word and Excel. And there are hundreds of thousands of other apps made just for iPad in the App Store. So whether you're interested in photography, gaming, travel or personal finance, you'll find an app that will help you do it better.
Every Mac comes with 90 days of telephone technical support and one year of service coverage at an Apple-authorised repair centre. By purchasing the AppleCare Protection Plan with your Mac, you can extend your coverage to three years from the computer's purchase date.


text:
Exclusive: We Spy a Next-Gen Mazda Miata Prototype Testing in SoCal
Alex NishimotowriterRobert GuiophotographerRobin Trajanophotographer
The Mazda Miata just celebrated its 25th anniversary, and enthusiasts have been chomping at the bit for any and all news regarding the upcoming fourth-gen model. Now, Motor Trend's own photographers have captured a prototype for the next MX-5 testing in the foothills of Southern California.
The car was seen driving with a caravan of other Miatas, including a current-generation model and a very early first-gen NA-chassis Miata (said to be VIN #15). Mazda development engineer and former Sport Compact Car engineering editor Dave Coleman was piloting the prototype, with engineers from Japan driving the other two cars. When approached by our photographers, Coleman offered no info on the car. But then again, we wouldn't expect him to give us all the deets this far from the car's debut, which is expected to happen at next year's Chicago auto show.
Even without knowing Mazda's secret plans, we can still learn plenty from these spy shots. The test mule is dressed in the current-gen car's sheet metal, but appears longer -- especially in the hood and nose. This gives the car a profile reminiscent of a Honda S2000. The current Miata's body panels appear to have been cut to fit the prototype, which could explain the strange fitment of the fenders. One of our shooters, photo intern Robin Trajano, says the hood appeared to sit lower than the front fenders. It also looks like the side mirrors may have been repositioned on the door. Like the last prototype we spotted testing on the 'Ring, this tester features a vinyl top that covers more of the decklid and rear fenders compared to the outgoing Miata.
At the New York auto show, Mazda showed off the next-gen Miata's chassis, which is said to be stronger yet also 14 percent lighter. It was there that we got confirmation of the model's switch to four-lug wheels, which we had seen in previous spy shots. This prototype also sports four lug nuts per wheel instead of the current Miata's five.
But the most revealing part of this encounter could be where the prototype was caught. The next-gen Miata test mule was seen on Glendora Mountain Road (GMR), one of SoCal's best driving roads and a darn good one for vehicle development. Also telling is the fact that Mazda brought along both the first- and last-generation models, which could mean the Miata will indeed return to its pure, minimalist roots.
We'll need to wait a bit longer for more details on the upcoming Skyactiv-powered fourth-gen Miata, but until then enjoy these spy shots.
Previous spy shots courtesy of CarPix


As each course begins, my approach is similar. I am equally focused on the process and the desired result. I see my students as developing individuals. I teach to help them learn and grow and to adjust well to the demands of life. I want them to be prepared to meet their goals and thechallenges they may or may not anticipate. I am eager to help them understand concepts and translate abstract ideas into tools they can use to achieve their professional goals.
The classroom experience emerges as a function of the students, our environment, the goals of the specific course, and the developing nature of evolving relationships. To optimize students' opportunities to learn, I rely on both flexibility and structure. Presenting course material that is focused and clear and also engaging translates into classroom experiences that help students feel confident that they are learning material. As they achieve comfort with concepts, a shared language evolves which encourages us to go off course and stretch into unplanned, unexpected territory. It is the unanticipated that I value most as I have come to learn from my students that both they and I benefit from sharing information, refining understanding, and pushing our thinking.
One of the most rewarding experiences of teaching and directing research is working with students as begin to take steps toward working on their own professional goals. Teaching and advising students, I believe it is my responsibility to recognize their goals, anticipate their needs, offer support and guidance, and embrace the complexity of their lives. I encourage students to invest their energies in growth-promoting behaviors and experiences. Success comes when they launch themselves into adulthood, make commitments to meaningful life pathways, and reap the benefits of their journeys.


Build a bird's nest using only natural materials – make sure it is sturdy and soft.
Draw a map of your house and show all the exits that could be used in case there was a fire.
Mark in the smoke alarms.
Draw a picture of everyone who lives in your house – discuss with your unit the different families that people have.
Make something out of second-hand material and explain how you will use it.
Pick one extra job to do around the house and do that for a week.
Create your ideal bedroom in a shoebox.
Know how to address a letter, giving full name and street address, name of town, state, postcode and return address.
Know how to use basic household equipment – have a parent sign that you can safely use the microwave, washing machine, television, dishwasher and oven.
Learn to clean brass or copper, silver and/or cutlery.
Show how to pack, wrap and address a parcel for delivery. Know what articles may not be sent via the post.
Find a map of Ballarat and mark in some important services, such as the hospital, your doctor, the library, police station, post office and railway station.
Find out about the first settlers in Sebastopol (or your own town/suburb).


In 2013 I started a blog called Maker/Mistaker to write about my self development journey. What started with me opening up about my depression led to a mind-blowing journey of self-development, spiritual awakenings, astral projection, and healing. I closed the blog in 2016 to work on other things and moved all my articles to my jefffinley.org site.
But here's the cool part! I decided to package everything up as a book instead to celebrate this chapter of my life. The paperback and eBook are already available. But I have been dying to get the audiobook version recorded and I finally did it!
I've been a creative person my whole life. I've also been super sensitive and intuitive as many artists are. I've had a lot of success in my life as a maker, but I still struggled with anxiety and depression. I thought I was living the good life? In 2013, I admitted I was depressed to my business partners and friends. That's when I started Maker/Mistaker to write about my feelings and philosophies. It turned into a journey of self discovery and personal transformation.
I write about how I worked my way through depression, my meditation techniques, my morning routines and rituals, etc. It includes my take on habit change, personal growth, anxiety, fear, productivity, and spiritual awakening. I even documented my early out-of-body experiences that happened after I began meditating seriously for the first time.
Other cool areas are my Quantum Sphere Healing and Soul Retrieval experiences, which is where I learned I was a Starseed!
Why Do I Sometimes Dread Opening My Email?
Out of Body Experiences All in Your Head?
Is the Fear of "Being Needy" Keeping us Apart?