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Governance of mining, HIV and tuberculosis in Southern Africa
Tags: HIV, South Africa, mining companies, STUCKLER, miners, SOUTHERN AFRICA, compensation, workers, David Stuckler, state institutions, Occupational Lung Disease, Mineral Resources, GLOBAL HEALTH, mining-related, TUBERCULOSIS, occupational risks, TB, South African miners, institutions, Eastern Cape, Jock McCulloch, Sanjay Basu, National Institute for Occupational Health, international institutions, International Labour Organization, World Health Organization, HIV and AIDS, Steven Lukes, Jaine Roberts, Libode District, National Health Labouratory Services, Rand Mutual Assurance, Environmental Science, Mergen Reddy, Witwatersrand University Press, Global Occupational Health Network, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Witwatersrand Gold Mines, Karl Polanyi, European Union, infectious disease risks, South African Department of Health, health risks, mineral industry, UNAIDS, Medical Bureau of Occupational Disease, Southern African Development Community, voluntary self-regulation, occupational health, Harvard University, TB treatment, National Health Laboratory Service, Health Costs, Rohan Nelson, Randall M. Packard, University of California Press, Judith R. Glynn, Belinda Dodson, Institute for Occupational Health, James N. Rosenau, Martin McKee, Pam Sonnenberg, European Public Health, Pamela Sonnenberg, International Social Science Journal, Jonathan Crush, National Health Laboratory GLOBAL HEALTH, cross-border, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, economic incentives, University of Witwatersrand, Gold Mining, Anna Trapido, Occupational Disease, International Organization for Migration, Occupational Diseases, Libode District of the Eastern Cape, London Mining Network, Rand Mutual Assurance Company Limited, Mark Stafford Smith, Mark Howden, Columbia University Press, Journal of Southern African Studies, Boetie Swanepoel
Content: Governance of Mining, HIV and Tuberculosis in Southern Africa David Stuckler, Sanjay Basu, and Martin McKee Mining in southern Africa has amplified HIV and tuberculosis (TB) epidemics across the continent through social, political, and biological risks posed to miners and their communities. Aware of these risks for decades, policymakers have done little to regulate the mining sector's remarkable impact on Africa's two largest epidemics. Here, we analyze the governance of mining in southern Africa to evaluate the sources of ineffective responses and identify mechanisms for ensuring effective cross-border care and global norms of responsible mining. We argue that action is needed by international agencies to spur the development of effective governance systems currently being constrained by domestic vested interests. INTRODUCTION If TB and HIV are a snake in Southern Africa, the head of the snake is here in South Africa. People come from all over the Southern African Development Community to work in our mines and export TB and HIV, along with their earnings. If we want to kill a snake, we need to hit it on its head. -- Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, South African Health Minister, June 2010 Few industries have been so consistently and powerfully related to disease as mining, especially in southern Africa. Since its colonial origins in the nineteenth century, mining in this region has exposed its workers to substantial risks of developing lung disease from inhaling asbestos and silica dust1 in working environments characterised by poor ventilation that facilitated the spread of tuberculosis (TB). Cyclic waves of gonorrhoea and sexually-transmitted diseases were associated with mining, as migration laws prevented rights of permanent residence or family entry for miners, while mine administrators procured alcohol and sex workers for mineworkers as a strategy to reduce the risks of unionization or revolt.2 Very little has changed over the past several decades. Recent autopsies of Black miners in South Africa reveal very high rates of silicosis and TB that remained undetected and untreated or poorly-treated during life, rising from about 5 percent active pulmonary TB at autopsy in 1975 to 40 percent in 20083. Official data on prevalence of silicosis in South Africa in 2008 also showed that one-quarter of all miners were affected--about the same as those recorded one century ago.4 In the 1980s, the situation deteriorated further as the HIV epidemic spread rapidly, with transmission facilitated by the system of circular migration to and from the mines and rural homelands.5 Men travel long distances from rural laborsupplying communities, not only in South Africa but also in Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, living away from their families for extended periods (as the continuation of South African apartheid-era laws prevent families from establishing residence across borders in mining towns). In the shantytowns that cater to miners, alcohol and drugs,6 as well as the sex-industry (a target for sex traffickers),7 confer the risk of HIV,8 which itself increases the risk of developing active TB.9 This resulted in the emergence of an HIV-TB co-epidemic in the 1990s,10
STUCKLER, BASU, AND MCKEE, GOVERNANCE OF MINING, HIV AND TUBERCULOSIS
IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
and recent research has shown how intensity of mining activity and rates of TB are highly correlated.11 Why is the policy response to these avoidable risks of infectious disease so weak? Over the past two decades, there has been an enormous growth of advocacy and funding for action against HIV and TB. Yet, despite a century of health research and awareness about the impact of mining, there is little attention to the policies that lead to these adverse health consequences. For example, to our knowledge, none of the recent UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO), or World Bank documents on these diseases mention the risks of TB and HIV associated with the mining sector. Even chapters of the recent UNAIDS yearly reports, which explicitly aim to address "societal causes of HIV risk and vulnerability,"12 fail to mention the impact of the mining sector, instead maintaining a focus on individual risks of HIV such as low socio-economic status or migration. However, the situation in southern Africa is not inevitable. Mining industries operate in the Australasia region and North America without the secondary impact on lung disease and sexuallytransmitted disease observed in Africa. Southern Africa is, however, different because of the scale of international migration of mine workers involved, with mines in South Africa employing large numbers of workers from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. In this paper, we examine why the response to mining-related risks to HIV and TB continues to be insufficient. We focus specifically on South Africa because it is the main mining country in the region, and because of its political and economic dominance of Southern Africa. The rest of the paper is as follows: first, we evaluate existing theories of governance and draw on a model of adaptive governance. Then, using this framework, we evaluate the main institutions involved in the governance of mining in this region to identify barriers to risk reduction. We conclude with a series of proposals that can help align the incentives of mining companies, miners' representatives, and state institutions with improved management of joint HIV and TB risks of mining activity.
Theory of Governance
There is little consensus about the meaning and measure of governance. As Mueller notes, "there is no accepted theory of governance,"13 and Carver points out that not everyone agrees that such a framework is possible.14 Paradigms draw from political economy, network analysis, legal, gender, and cultural theories, to name a few. Often, governance is invoked in pluralist terms, as the `actions to steer decisionmaking procedures, rules and authority.' For example, Rosenau writes that "governance can be defined as the process whereby an organization or society steers itself,"15 and Fidler claims "[health] governance refers to how societies structure responses to the [health] challenges they face."16 As a theoretical framework, governance gained prominence as sovereignty began to wane in the context of global market integration. Governance theory provided tools for analyzing what governments do, governing, without the previous necessity of involving the government.17 The increasing prominence of private sector funding and involvement in global health (`privatization of global health governance') over the past two decades has in part contributed to the demand for the conceptual development of global-health governance theory to legitimate current forms of governing.18 With it there has been a growth of analysis of non-state actors, marketdriven forms of governance, and the promotion of private-public partnerships as a governance framework.19 As Foucault notes, the selection and reproduction of
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knowledge is driven by powerful groups and vested interests, at times in unobserved ways.20 While a coherent and general theory of governance is lacking, several papers have begun moving toward more integrated theories in separate domains, including global health priority-setting, corporate board practices, and environmental management. One is by Stuckler and colleagues,21 using an `input-output' model to evaluate governance success and failure. The model is constructed analogous to the notion in public economics of market failure, which assesses success and failure based on the clearance of supply and demand forces. An advantage of this framework is that it separates the usual focus on the ends of governance, often evaluated in terms of values and norms of `good governance' (usually meant to imply non-corrupt democratic outcomes), from the means of governance. Another contribution is by Carver, the Policy Governance model, which seeks to reach a set of universal concepts and principles to inform an analysis of corporate board performance.22 A third, drawn from environmental science literature, referred to as `adaptive governance,' expands on the theory of Brunner, Steelman, and colleagues.23 This paradigm analyzes the organizational features of governance systems (such as their centralization) and ways in which they evolve. The notion of adaptive governance refers to how scientific and policy communities emerge from the bottom-up to influence regulation not through formalized legislative means but by creating a complex network of informal policies and practices more widely conceived that interpret and reinterpret law and concepts of fact, enforcement, and government and corporate responsibilities. This has similarities to 'common law' systems, which are not fixed by a set of transcendental principles but evolve in relation to social pressures, attitudes, and legal 'outlier' cases which stimulate governance adaptation. The principles of adaptive governance form the basis of our analysis. The governance of mining involves the set of relationships between actors who are or are not active (based on Bourdieu's notions of field). The relationships between these actors are sustained through flows of capital (scientific, symbolic, economic, political, and organizational, among others). Consistent with the principles of adaptive governance, the actions by one actor react back on the other, creating a `doublemovement'24 and thereby determining the successive reform of the entire system of governing.
Institutional Analysis
We identified three main institutions with a potential interest in the health of miners in South Africa, including the mining companies, miners' representatives (mineworker and ex-mineworker unions, academics, and non-governmental organizations) and the state (including the ministries of health and mineral resources departments, as well as international agencies) (see figure 1). We used a political economy perspective to look at the power structures and incentives involved.25 By political economy, we refer to the structural and systemic factors that influence the decisions and policies that are substantively or formally rational for people and organizations. To understand the power structures we draw on Lukes' three dimensions of power,26 which considers the decisions that are made, the decisions that do not reach the agenda, and the ideology that is created, which can cause people to act in ways that are against their best interests (variously referred to by theorists as `soft power,' or creating `a false consciousness').
Figure 1: The Deadly Mineral Triangle of Infectious Disease
State MINING COMPANIES AND THEIR REPRESENTATIVES In the first instance, it is incumbent on the mining companies to achieve levels of HIV and TB risks for their workers that are as low as reasonably achievable. However, mining companies have long interfered with efforts to establish effective compensation for occupational risks of disease. The industry profits by externalizing the costs of mining onto rural-labor supplying communities. While it is often held that mining companies have an incentive to lower transmission rates and to have workers living with HIV on treatment, as it is expensive to have sick and dying workers, in reality the current economic system gives mining companies little incentive to invest in preventative measures for employees. There is a large pool of surplus labor from rural supplying communities, where there is a high background rate of unemployment (of more than 70 percent in some regions among young, working-age men). Mining is a relatively low-skill job, reducing the costs to the employers of a high turnover. While newer and more sophisticated mining practices have increased skill demands and productivity, they have also led to significant downsizing. As one doctor from the South African Department of Mineral Resources summarized the situation: "These miners are expendable. Skills are easy to acquire. Much cheaper to have high turnover than keep employees... profit margins are huge." In the early twentieth century, mining companies built trauma hospitals (basically large emergency rooms to manage blunt injuries), within which TB treatment was shoehorned to provide acute diagnosis and treatment, but not the continuing care needed to manage the disease effectively.27 These systems of care created for miners remained largely unchanged throughout the apartheid era. As one doctor treating South African miners explained, "mine hospitals are mostly for injuries ... Companies make promises to handle injuries." When HIV became recognized as a major health issue after the end of apartheid, mining companies began to add HIV testing and antiretroviral (ARV) pilot programs to their hospital system, in response to pressure from international activist groups. Mining companies were among the first institutions to provide comprehensive ARV treatment to their employees. As the burden of TB has increased, with a growing proportion of drugresistant cases, mining companies have expanded their activities, especially for exminers and their families in rural areas. Anglo American states it is "working with unions, government and industry to find practical solutions to the problems former miners in rural areas find in accessing medical care."28 However, industry reports also reveal that while it publicizes its treatment programs, workers who develop clinical illness are often dismissed. Interviews with doctors and former miners indicated that this often happens under the guise of being sent home to recover. One former mine worker from Lesotho who attended a 2010 conference about TB in Durban revealed how, after contracting TB in 2001, he was quickly dismissed as were many of his colleagues.29
The industry's main lobby group in South Africa is the Chamber of Mines. The mining companies also provide banking services and recruit workers through The Employment Bureau of Africa. Founded in 1894 by the mining companies, Rand Mutual Assurance Company was established to provide workers' insurance in South Africa.30 In 1993, the Workmen's Compensation Act was replaced by the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Disease Act, when Rand expanded coverage to include accident-related insurance.31 Rand Mutual currently insures 94 percent of the mining industry.32 Following early mining disasters, a dual system of occupational compensation was created, one for miners, and one for all other occupations. The system remains complex and unequal even in the post-apartheid era, being characterized by miners as so difficult to navigate that it prevents many valid compensation claims from being registered or completed. Additionally, there is confusion about the duties and responsibilities of the various institutions involved in mining and health to compensate workers, complicated by the international origins of the workforce. Currently, experts estimate that 280,000 men in Southern Africa are eligible for occupational health compensation,33 representing a total amount of more than US$ 6 billion if compensation were to be granted at the same level as for other occupational pulmonary diseases. A study of former miners in Eastern Cape with compensable silicosis found only 2 percent had received compensation.34 Part of the problem is that the Compensation Fund is insolvent. A 2005 audit by Deloitte, a major international auditing firm,35 found that mining companies' levies to the Compensation Fund due to the occupational risks for developing TB in the mining sector would need to be increased substantially in order to cover the deficit.36 Over the audit's 21-month period, only 400 of the 28,000 (less than 1.5 percent) claims submitted were paid out.37 One strategy to cope with costs of HIV has been to create complex financial derivatives to hedge risk, as described in an industry-funded report, entitled "Cutting and Trading Away the Cost of HIV/AIDS."38 Consultants strongly recommended that the prevailing approach, "a policy of dismissing workers will not work," given the large number of infected employees.39 The derivatives that bet against the health of their workers, providing compensation in case the epidemics threatened their bottom line (similar to how the corporate giant Walmart takes-out life insurance policies on its employees, retaining the payouts itself).40 As described in the HARVARD Business Review by a senior executive in charge of finance at HarmonyGold (a mining company in Johannesburg): ...we created instruments for trading risk. We devised a health derivative  in a sense, a sort of insurance contract  that an investment firm could sell to mining companies to buffer them against the potential productivity losses due to HIV. The contract states that if HIV-related absenteeism and injury were to affect productivity in specific ways, the investment firm  which receives a premium from the covered company  would pay the mining company a predetermined amount. If productivity is not affected, the investment firm would retain the premium as income. In essence, the contract allows the mining companies to shift the cost risk of HIV from themselves to a speculator (the investment firm). 41
In other words, innovative financial instruments create a group whose profit depends on the spread of HIV.
MINERS AND THEIR REPRESENTATIVES
In view of the failure of mining companies to adequately establish governance systems to respond to the risks of TB and HIV associated with mining, the next major group to seek change is the miners themselves and their representative unions. Their response, however, is limited by a low level of awareness among Black South African miners about the role played by mining in the development of lung disease, opportunities for treatment, and rights to compensation. One recent report quoted a miner as saying "they hide things like that from us."42 Instead, the more salient threat is the immediate risk of accidents or injury. Mine managers often lack information about pulmonary diseases or strategies for preventing them. Miners are often illiterate and, at the mines, speak many different languages. The main organization that provides a voice for Black miners is the National Union of Mineworkers, representing about 500,000 current miners, and the ExMineworkers Union, covering at least several million miners. These bodies are weak for several reasons. One is because their constituents are dispersed across geographic regions, which makes it difficult to organize. Another is the xenophobia of South African miners to foreigners, as manifested in recent riots, whereby miners may fight among themselves rather than pursue a unified vision, highlighting the complexity created by an international workforce. A third, often asserted albeit unproven, is that union heads have been co-opted by the promotion process (and there are revolving doors between union leaders and the boards of mining companies and compensation bodies). Related to this failure to represent the full set of miners' HIV and TB health issues, there is too much power and historical focus by the union leaders on injuries, which garner population media attention. Fourth, the lack of support by miners unions for action on lung disease may reflect fears that increasing in compensation that will further reduce employment levels or wages. An additional problem is the delay between exposure to risk on the mines and development of silicosis. The most proactive group has been the ex-miners union, reflecting the belated awareness of miners. Silicosis can take from ten to thirty years to develop after exposure, a large proportion of miners only develop silicosis and TB after they have left the mines and returned to their communities, often in a different country. This has led to a much greater degree of awareness and concern among institutions representing ex-miners than current ones. However, the ex-miners union, who lobby for greater compensation, is often in dispute with the National Union of Mineworkers, in part a legacy of an historical split over a 1987 mineworkers' strike which led to the formation of the ex-miners union.
STATE INSTITUTIONS
When voluntary self-regulation of the mining companies and pressure from organized labor fails to address infectious disease risks, it is necessary for the state to intervene. Thus far, however, governments in southern Africa have been unable to mitigate mining-related risks. A central challenge is the cross-border flow of miners and risks. Even if South Africa could establish an effective system of care for TB, the frequent migration of miners to Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, and other sources of labor would risk disruptions to care and the development of drug-resistance unless there was a coordinated cross-border system of infectious disease prevention, treatment, and care. Second, corruption is widespread in southern Africa (i.e., `privatising the public's wealth'), and there are recurring problems of state capture by the mining companies. This is at least one part of the failure to respond. As but one
example, documents revealed in disclosure during litigation show that the South African Department of Health, along with the Department of Mines and Energy, knew about the hazardous conditions in mines but did nothing for years.43 Third, the bureaucratic capacity of state institutions is weak. As well as being compromised by the failure to separate the office from the officeholder (described above), the state mandate for addressing mining-health risks is fragmented. Agencies with involvement in managing mining-related health risks include the Departments of Mineral Resources, Health and Labour. Their agendas differ. The Department of Mineral Resources (formerly the Department of Minerals and Energy) is "responsible for formulating and promoting mineral policies that will encourage investment in the mining and mineral industry, and will make South Africa attractive to investors."44 Historically a finance-focused department, more recently its leaders have actively supported regulation such as the Mining Charter of 2004, which includes reforms such as to `establish measures for improving the standard of housing including the upgrading of hostels, conversion of hostels to family units and the promotion of home ownership options for mine employees' and `establish measures for improving of nutrition of mine employees,' (although recently the architect of this Charter was reputedly forced into retirement after clashing with mining companies).45 Within the Department of Health, the National Institute for Occupational Health plays a role in monitoring mortality among current and former mineworkers, as part of compensation procedures for widows and surviving family members. To do this, the National Health Laboratory Service is meant to examine the lungs and hearts of deceased active and former miners on behalf of the Medical Bureau of Occupational Disease. A necessary step in the compensation process, in practice these organs are rarely shipped, in part because people find it culturally objectionable. The Service is small and weakened by shortage of personnel. One indication of its failure is a recent estimate by epidemiologists (cited above) that less than 2 percent of cases of occupational lung disease eligible for compensation are actually processed by the National Health Laboratory Service.46
BREAKING THE TRIANGLE: THE ROLE OF ACADEMICS, NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES
Collusion between state and industry, as well as the international nature of the workforce, creates an opportunity for regional and global agencies to exert pressure. The intervention of international agencies could strengthen the hands of those advocating improved conditions for current and former miners and, potentially, facilitate the international collaboration required to address this regional problem. Yet while such institutions have previously attempted to spur reform, the results are discouraging. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) should be the natural focal point for action, and its framework for population mobility could offer a means to improve miners' working and living conditions. SADC has negotiated a Protocol on Mining, with goals similar to South Africa's domestic Mining Charter, and issues Fact Sheets about HIV risk on the mines, which note that "HIV and AIDS may undermine the objectives of the SADC Protocol on Mining," in part because "mineworkers who become sick with HIV and AIDS related illnesses may have their contracts terminated leading to a loss of income for the affected family."47 However, the protocol is voluntary and has been implemented to only a limited extent. In 1998, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the WHO, and the South African government established a Committee to eliminate silicosis by 2013.48
The Committee included the National Union of Mineworkers, the Chamber of Mines, and the Departments of Health and Mineral Resources. Yet, progress is less than halfway to the target dust level that was voluntarily agreed upon. One member of WHO's TB unit, Brian Williams, has written about mining. However, based on our review of reports available at the time of this writing, and consultation with the National Institute of Occupational Health in South Africa, it appears that the WHO and UNAIDS have done relatively little to address the risks of TB and HIV related to mining activity in the region. More recently, under Michel Sidibe's leadership, UNAIDS has adopted joint TB-HIV control as one of its ten corporate priorities--and has set the goal of halving TB deaths among peopling living with HIV by 2015.49 UNAIDS is working with ILO and WHO on workplace guidelines on joint TB-HIV, of which the mining sector is one industry covered. UNAIDS' focal TB person is involved with initiatives on mining and TB, including with World Business Forum, Stop TB Global Partnership Forum, and has inputed extensively to the ICMM code of practice. Several non-governmental organizations have also been involved in miningrelated issues in the past. Most focus on South Africa, although a few have mission statements that include a regional scope. Notable examples are Jubilee, which focused on water contamination, and Action8, which focused on environmental degradation. The main health-related activity has come from AIDS and Rights Alliance South Africa. Interest within the AIDS and Rights Alliance stemmed from HIV activism and increasing concerns about drug-resistant TB. Experts can support the implementation of regional standards by providing independent monitoring and evaluation of them (a form of non-state certification governance, as applied in environmental sectors). However, at present, very few experts work in the field of occupational lung disease in this region. Most are in South Africa. Research is also lacking, as it is difficult to secure grant money or build academic careers by engaging in mining-related health issues. In the past, industry has applied pressure to suppress or, less directly, divert research on the health effects of asbestos, and similar forces may be stymying a response from researchers to HIV, TB, and silicosis risks.50
Mining in southern Africa is significantly contributing to the epidemics of HIV and TB in southern Africa.51 Very high risks of HIV and TB in the mines have been recognized by policymakers since the 1980s, but little is being done. Neither voluntary, self-regulation by mining companies, nor pressure from miners' representatives have been sufficient to establish systems of governance that effectively respond to mining-related risks of HIV and TB. The ability of states to address these risks is undermined by the cross-border flows of miners, vested interests, and dispersion of responsibility across state institutions. To spur adaptations of the mining governance system, we argue that international and regional agencies, together with academics and NGOs, have a crucial role to play in monitoring progress, setting norms, and establishing cross-border treatment protocols--and should focus on four priority actions. Drawing on the theory of adaptive governance, we can identify a number of barriers to change. The ability of states to address these risks is undermined by the cross-border flows of miners, vested interests, and dispersion of responsibility across state institutions. There is a combination of multiple actors favouring effective action but beset by duplication of functions and an absence of leadership, coinciding with
the presence of other actors opposing some changes and distinctly unenthusiastic about others, leading to stalemate. This situation has continued for at least a century, in spite of remarkable social and political changes in Southern Africa and widespread awareness of the need for action. Breaking the `deadly triangle' leading to such a stalemate can occur by either tilting the power to one actor decisively (which, as it has not occurred during the past century of social, economic, and political changes, seems unlikely), or intervention by a new actor. We believe that it is only with the involvement of the international community, working with academics and NGOs, that a new system of governance, adapted to the present community needs, can emerge to monitor progress, set norms, and establish cross-border treatment protocols. These actors should focus on the following four priority actions:
Establish Systems of Cross-border Care
There is an immediate need to improve standards of cross-border care for miners. This is needed to avoid the development of drug-resistance, as well as to curb the spread of TB and HIV to neighboring countries. A number of simple measures would help. One is to give miners paper-based medical charts, which contain the miner's medical history and current treatment, to facilitate continuity of care. An additional option is to provide health insurance that would provide coverage for miners and former miners when they receive care from providers in neighboring countries, working through the SADC consortium in the same way that cross-border care is facilitated by the European Union.
Require Mining Companies to Internalize the Health Costs of Mining
In South Africa, the prevailing system of compensation is confusing and inequitable, and does not adequately cover employees who return to labor-supplying communities abroad. At present, the economic incentives of reducing costs of compensation is inadequate to spurring the implementation of low-cost and effective prevention strategies. Similarly, an assumption that miners should take individual responsibility has proven insufficient to address their environmentally determined risks and their spread to families and community members. Lack of awareness is an issue, but miners also do not have sufficient agency to demand improved workplace conditions. In many labor-supplying communities unemployment rates are in some cases greater than half of the workforce, and there are few employment choices other than the mines. Thus, international institutions and regional bodies can play an important role by convening governments, employers, and trade unions to explore the establishment of a harmonized compensation system available to all miners and ex-miners, irrespective of their place of residence. This could be a role for the International Labour Organization.
Monitor the Health and Disease Management of Miners
There is a general lack of data on miners' health and the impacts of their migration on their communities. Surveillance is needed to identify the main sites of failures to provide cross-border care and attain, where necessary, compensation for occupational disease. Those international institutions focusing on HIV and TB would be well-served to convene the relevant agencies and support activities that focus on the highly mobile group of miners who have the greatest recorded risk of TB of all occupational groups.
Reform Living Environments in Mines In the long-term, mining environments need to be reformed to radically reduce new HIV and TB infections. The costs of insurance would provide incentives to mining companies to act on the structural drivers of these diseases. Preventive initiatives by improving mining conditions should also include permitting more family housing to reduce risky sexual activity on the mines. Standards vary considerably across countries and within them, despite mining activities often being operated by the same transnational company. This raises issues that are analogous to those facing international companies producing consumer goods such as food and clothing, where production takes place in low-income countries. Western consumer organizations have put them under pressure to ensure acceptable working standards for their workers. Similarly, popular pressure has forced the diamond industry to confront the issue of "blood diamonds." Mining companies have yet to face the same pressure, even though there is, at least in relation to gold, platinum, and diamond mining, a huge gulf between the image conveyed by the marketing of their products and the reality for those who produce them. This pressure is likely to gain traction and international agencies can provide monitoring of living standards to ensure that miners have access to fair and safe housing and communities. Ultimately, as with all global health issues, the required change to reduce the avoidable risks of HIV and TB on the mines is a political process. This paper has attempted to analyze the complex and rapidly changing politics of the mining system, with a focus on mining in the Republic of South Africa given its historical and economic centrality to the mining sector in southern Africa generally, and its position as a political leader in the region. We hope that our paper helps inform the judgment and priorities of policymakers in the region and can spur attention from international institutions about the devastating human toll of mining-related HIV and TB.
David Stuckler is an assistant professor of political economy at Harvard University, department of global health and population. Sanjay Basu is a medical resident at the University of California, San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital. Martin McKee is a Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
1 Elaine N. Katz, The White Death: Silicosis on the Witwatersrand Gold Mines 1886-1910 (Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1994); Randall M. Packard, White Plague, Black Labor: Tuberculosis and the Political Economy of Health and Disease in South Africa (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), 211-33. 2 Packard, White Plague, Black Labor, 155-58. 3National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH). Fact Sheet: Mining industry related burden of disease. Johannesburg, South Africa: National Health Labouratory Services 2010. 4 Jock McCulloch, "Hiding a Pandemic: Dr. G.W.H. Schepers and the Politics of Silicosis in South Africa," Journal of Southern African Studies 35 no. 4 (2009): 835-48; National Health Laboratory GLOBAL HEALTH GOVERNANCE, VOLUME IV, NO. 1 (FALL 2010) http://www.ghgj.org
Service, Fact Sheet: Mining Industry related burden of disease (Johannesburg, South Africa: National Institute for Occupational Health 2009), 1-6, Available at: http://www.nioh.ac.za/docs/fact_sheets/Mining.pdf; South Africa Dept. of Mines Miners' Phthisis Prevention Committee, The Prevention of Silicosis on the Mines of the Witwatersrand, June 1937 (Pretoria: Government Printer, 1937). 5 Jonathan Crush and Belinda Dodson, "Another Lost Decade: The Failures of South Africa's PostApartheid Migration Policy," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografi 98, no. 4 (2007): 43654; Jonathan Crush, Brian Williams, Eleanor Gouws, and Mark Lurie, "Migration and HIV/AIDS in South Africa," Development Southern Africa 22, no. 3 (2005): 293-318. 6 R. Paul Maiden, "Substance Abuse in the New South Africa," Employee Assistance Quarterly 14, no. 3 (1999): 41-60. 7 Jonathan Martens, Maciej `Mac' Pieczkowski, and Bernadette van Vuuren-Smyth, Seduction, Sale and Slavery: Trafficking in Women and Children for Sexual Exploitation in Southern Africa (Pretoria, South Africa: International Organization for Migration, 2003): 1-25. 8 Catherine Campbell, "Migrancy, Masculine Identities and AIDS: The Psychosocial Context of HIV Transmission on the South African Gold Mines," social science & Medicine 45, no. 2 (1997): 273-81. 9 Diane V. Havlir and Peter F. Barnes, "Tuberculosis in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection," New England Journal of Medicine 340, no. 5 (1999): 367-73; Pam Sonnenberg, Judith R. Glynn, Katherine Fielding, Jill Murray, Peter Godfrey-Faussett, and Stuart Shearer, "How Soon after Infection with HIV Does the Risk of Tuberculosis Start to Increase? A Retrospective Cohort Study in South African Gold Miners," Journal of Infectious Disease 191 (2005): 150-58; Pamela Sonnenberg, Jill Murray, Judith R. Glynn, Stuart Shearer, Bupe Kambashi, Peter Godfrey-Faussett, "HIV-1 and Recurrence, Relapse and Reinfection of Tuberculosis after Cure: A Cohort Study in South African Mineworkers," Lancet 358, no. 9294 (2001): 1687-93. 10 World Health Organization, Global Tuberculosis Control 2009: Epidemiology, Strategy, Financing (Geneva: WHO Report 2009, 2009). 11 David Stuckler, Sanjay Basu, Martin McKee, and Mark Lurie, "Mining and Risk of Tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa," American Journal of Public Health 7 (2010): e1-7. 12 UNAIDS, "Addressing Societal Causes of HIV Risk and Vulnerability," in Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, Chapter 3 (Geneva: UNAIDS, 2008), 63-210. 13 Robert Kirk Mueller, Anchoring Points for Corporate Directors: Obeying the Unenforceable (Westport: Quorum Books, 1996), 11. 14 John Carver with Caroline Oliver, "A Theory of Governance: The Search for Universal Principles," in Corporate Boards That Create Value: Governing Company Performance from the Boardroom (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002). 15 James N. Rosenau, "Governance in the twenty-first century," global governance 1, no. 1 (1995): 14. 16 David P Fidler, "Germs, Governance and Global Public Health in the Wake of SARS," Journal of Clinical Investigation, 113, no. 6 (2004): 799-804, 799. 17 Benjamin Cashore, Beth Egan, Graeme Auld, and Deanna Newsom, "Revising Theories of Non-State Market-Driven (NSMD) Governance: Lessons from the Finnish Forest Certification Experience," Global Environmental Politics 7, no. 1 (2007): 1-44; Bob Jessop, "The Rise of Governance and the Risks of Failure: The Case of Economic Development," International Social Science Journal 50 (1998): 29-45. 18 Kent Buse and Gill Walt, "The World Health Organization and Global Public-Private Partnerships: In Search of 'Good' Global Health Governance," in Public-Private Partnerships for Public Health, ed. Michael R. Reich (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000): 169-95; Benjamin Cashore, "Legitimacy and the Privatization of Environmental Governance: How Non-State market driven (NSMD) Governance Systems Gain Rule Making Authority," Governance 15, no. 4 (2002): 503-29. 19 Steven Bernstein and Benjamin Cashore, "Can Non-State Global Governance Be Legitimate? An Analytical Framework," Regulation & Governance 1, no. 4 (2007): 347-71; Cashore, Egan, Auld, and Newsom, "Revising Theories of Non-State Market-Driven (NSMD) Governance," 8-9. 20 Michael Foucault, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews & Other Writings 1972-1977, ed. Colin Gordon (New York: Pantheon, 1980). 21 David Stuckler, Corinna Hawkes, and Derek Yach, "Governance of Chronic Diseases," in Making Sense of Global Health Governance - A Policy Primer, ed. Kent Buse, Wolfgang Hein, and Nick Drager (England: Palgrave Macmillan Press, 2009). 22 Carver, "A Theory of Governance." 23 Ronald D. Brunner and Toddi A. Steelman, "Beyond Scientific Management," in Adaptive Governance: Integrating Science, Policy, and Decision Making, ed. Ronald D. Brunner, Toddi A. Steelman, Lindy Coe-Juell, Christine M. Cromley, Christine M. Edwards, and Donna W. Tucker (New
York: Columbia University Press, 2005); Rohan Nelson, Mark Howden, Mark Stafford Smith, "Using Adaptive Governance to Rethink the Way Science Supports Australian Drought Policy," Environmental Science & Policy 11, no. 7 (2008): 588-601. 24 Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon, 2001). 25 Stuckler, Hawkes, and Yach, "Governance of Chronic Diseases." 26 Steven Lukes, ed., Power: A Radical View (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005). 27 Katz, The White Death. 28 London Mining Network, "Anglo American Challenged at AGM: Full Report" April 29, 2010. Available at http://londonminingnetwork.org/2010/04/anglo-american-challenged-at-agm-fullreport/. 29 London Mining Network, "Anglo American Challenged at AGM," April 29, 2010. 30 Rand Mutual Assurance Company Limited, About RMA: Origins of Rand Mutual Assurance (last visited November 15, 2010). Available at: http://www.randmutual.co.za/about.html. 31 Rand Mutual Assurance Company Limited, About RMA. 32 Giampaolo Garzarelli, Lyndal Keeton-Stolk, and Volker Schoer, Workers' Compensation in the Republic of South Africa (Johannesburg: University of Witwatersrand, 2009): 1-43. 33 Jock McCulloch, "Counting the Cost: Gold Mining and Occupational Disease in Contemporary South Africa," African Affairs 108 (2009): 221-240; Anna Trapido, An Analysis of the Burden of Occupational Lung Disease in a Random Sample of Former Gold Mineworkers in the Libode District of the Eastern Cape (University of Witwatersrand, Ph.D. thesis, 2000). 34 Trapido, An Analysis of the Burden of Occupational Lung Disease in a Random Sample of Former Gold Mineworkers in the Libode District of the Eastern Cape. 35 36 Lesley Odendal, "South Africa: Gold Mines a `TB Factory,'" AllAfrica.com, June 9, 2010. 37 Odendal, "South Africa: Gold Mines a `TB Factory.'" 38 Mergen Reddy and Boetie Swanepoel, "Cutting the Cost of HIV/AIDS," Harvard Business Review (2006): 1-2. Available at http://www.deloitte.com/assets/DcomSouthAfrica/Local%20Assets/Documents/HIVAIDS_Deloitte.pdf. 39 Odendal, "South Africa: Gold Mines a `TB Factory.'" 40 Reddy and Swanepoel, "Cutting the Cost of HIV/AIDS," at 2. 41 Reddy and Swanepoel, "Cutting the Cost of HIV/AIDS," at 1-2. 42 Jaine Roberts, The Hidden Epidemic Amongst Former Miners: Silicosis, Tuberculosis, and the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act in Eastern Cape, South Africa (Westville: Health Systems Trust, 2009): 2. Available at http://www.hst.org.za/uploads/files/ODMWA.pdf. 43 Jock McCulloch, "Asbestos, lies and the state: Occupational disease and South African science," African Studies 64, no. 2 (2005): 201-16. 44 Department of Mineral Resources, Republic of South Africa, Who we are and what we do. Available at http://www.dmr.gov.za/About_Minerals/Who_we_are.html. 45 David McKay, "Charter Architect Quits DMR," Mining Mx, February 4, 2010. Available at http://www.miningmx.com/news/markets/Charter-architect-quits-DMR.htm. 46 T.W. Steen, K.M. Gyi, N.W. White, T. Gabosianelwe, S. Ludick, G.N. Mazonde, N. Mabongo, M. Ncube, N. Monare, R. Ehrlich, and G. Schierhout, "Prevalence of occupational lung diseases among Botswana men formerly employed in the South African mining industry," Occupational and Environmental Medicine 54 (1997): 19-26; Trapido, An Analysis of the Burden of Occupational Lung Disease in a Random Sample of Former Gold Mineworkers in the Libode District of the Eastern Cape. 47 Southern African Development Community HIV and AIDS Unit, Fact Sheet: HIV and AIDS and Mining (2004): 1. Available at: http://www.sadc.int/sadcaidsinfo/docs/Technical%20Documents/HIV%20and%20AIDS%20and%2 0Mining.pdf. 48 World Health Organization, "Elimination of Silicosis," The Global Occupational Health Network 12 (2007): 1-17. 49 UNAIDS, Preventing people living with HIV from dying of TB (last visited November 15, 2010). Available at http://www.unaids.org/en/Priorities/03_04_TB_HIV.asp. 50 McCulloch, "Hiding a Pandemic," 839-41. 51 Sanjay Basu, David Stuckler, Gregg Gonsalves, Mark Lurie, "The production of consumption: addressing the impact of mineral mining on tuberculosis in southern Africa," Globalization and Health 5, no. 11 (2009); 1-8; Crush, Williams, Gouws, and Lurie, "Migration and HIV/AIDS in South Africa," 293-318; National Health Laboratory Service, Fact Sheet, 1-6; Southern African Development
Community HIV and AIDS Unit, Fact Sheet, 1; Stuckler, Basu, McKee, and Lurie, "Mining and Risk of Tuberculosis in Sub-Saharan Africa," e1-7; McCulloch, "Counting the Cost," 221-240.
File: governance-of-mining-hiv-and-tuberculosis-in-southern-africa.pdf
Title: Governance of mining, HIV and tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa
Author: David Stuckler
Published: Thu Dec 16 14:59:59 2010
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) was first recognized as a disorder in the late nineteenth century, but only by the nineteen sixties did researchers first begin to understand some of the disease processes that cause symptoms and long-term disability. These processes seemed to involve inflammation and the loss of myelin, a protective covering around nerve fibers.
The first standard guidelines for the diagnosis of MS and a disability rating scale were also established in the nineteen sixties, setting the stage for clinical research to test new therapies.
In the late sixties, the first controlled clinical trials for MS therapy showed that treatment with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) could speed recovery from an attack. While this therapy helped to reduce inflammation during the acute symptoms of an attack, it did not slow progression of the disease.
MS is recognized as a chronic, inflammatory and autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. It is among the most common causes of neurological disability in young adults and occurs at least twice as frequently in women as in men.
Research has now shown that MS not only damages the myelin covering of nerve fibers but also causes degeneration of the nerve fibers themselves. Depending on which nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord are affected, MS can impair movement, coordination, sensation, and thinking. For most people with MS, episodes of worsening function (relapses) are initially followed by recovery periods (remissions). Over time, recovery may be incomplete, leading to progressive decline.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), first used in patients with MS in the nineteen eighties, has shown that damage to nerve fibers may be present at very early stages of the disease and may remain when symptoms subside. MRI has also revolutionized the diagnosis of MS, reducing the average time from first symptoms to diagnosis from several years to months.
Several FDA-approved therapies are now available to ameliorate the symptoms of MS and to, in some cases, slow disease progression. NIH-supported research contributed to the development of many of these treatments, which include the beta interferons (Betaseron®, Rebif®, Avonex®, Extavia®), copolymer 1 (Copaxone®, also called glatiramer acetate), the immunosuppressant mitoxantrone (Novantrone®), and most recently, natalizumab (Tysabri®), an antibody-based therapy that represents a new class of immunomodulatory agents for treating MS.
Although the direct causes of MS remain unknown, studies in an animal model of MS have significantly advanced scientists' understanding of the immune and inflammatory processes that cause damage to myelin and nerve fibers. NIH-supported scientists recently reported the first genes linked to MS since the nineteen seventies, and ongoing studies continue to search for additional genetic and non-genetic risk factors, including exposure to viruses, cigarette smoking, vitamin D levels, and reproductive history.
Treatments will be available to more effectively slow or halt the progression of MS. Combination therapy with existing treatments may improve care in the near term, and NIH supports a Phase III clinical trial (CombiRx) (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00211887) to determine if treatment combining beta-interferon and glatiramer acetate offers an improvement over the partial efficacy of either common medication alone. NIH is also conducting a trial to test the safety and efficacy of the drug idebenone as a treatment for primary progressive MS, for which therapies are currently lacking. Idebenone is similar to the natural compound coenzyme Q10 and may protect against tissue damage.
Researchers will identify brain imaging and molecular biomarkers associated with MS susceptibility, disease progression, and treatment response profiles. NIH intramural investigators are collaborating with the CombiRx trial to identify biomarkers associated with clinical features and responses to different treatments. Such biomarkers will facilitate early diagnosis and therapy development research, and they could also inform predictions about which treatment regime will most likely benefit a given patient.
Further advances in understanding the genetic and environmental causes of MS will help identify those at higher risk for the disease. Along with growing knowledge about the mechanisms that lead to symptoms, these advances will point to new targets for developing treatments and preventive strategies.
Research on neuroimmune interactions and the processes of neurodegeneration and repair will lead to a new generation of neuroprotective therapies that will complement current MS treatments. These neuroprotective agents will help to prevent, reduce, or even repair the damage to nerve fibers that can cause long-term, progressive impairments.


text:
Othmane Bali (en arabe عثمان بالي) de son vrai nom Mebarek Athmany est un chanteur algérien Touereg né en  à Djanet (Algérie) et mort le , emporté dans la soirée par l'oued qui traverse Djanet. Il est le père de l'auteur et interprète Nabil Bali.

Biographie
Chirurgien de formation, Othmane Bali interprétait notamment ses chansons au rythmes du tindé. Le genre musical de sa région de Djanet, qu'il a contribué à faire découvrir au public algérien et international.

. Il a été bercé par la musique de sa mère, grande chanteuse de tindé. Virtuose du luth arabe, Oud, un instrument qu'il avait découvert lors de ses études en médecine au début des années 1970, il écrivait des textes en tamacheq et en arabe, saupoudrant parfois ses couplets d'un peu de français. « Il a revisité la musique du terroir et a contribué à sa renaissance et à son élargissement au-delà des frontières.

Auteur, compositeur, interprète, il a participé à la reconnaissance internationale de la musique Touereg.

Lien externe
 data.bnf.fr

Références

Chanteur algérien
Naissance en mai 1953
Naissance dans la wilaya d'Illizi
Décès en mai 1953
Décès à Djanet

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This entry was posted on avril 21, 2009 at 8:07 and is filed under Aquarelles with tags aquarelle, artiste peintre, Basse-Normandie, Gouville sur mer, ken wada, la mer, landscape, Manche, Normandie, Normandy, paysage, the sea, watercolor.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


See how closely Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, John Lithgow, Allison Janney, and more resemble the Fox News luminaries they play in Jay Roach's upcoming film, which dramatizes the fall of Roger Ailes.
Left, by Walter McBride/WireImage; Right, by Andrew Toth/FilmMagic.
The man of the hour: six-time Emmy winner Lithgow will lead the film as Ailes, a titan who resigned from Fox News after allegations of sexual misconduct—and died almost one year later.
Left, by Steve Granitz/WireImage; Right, by Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images.
Kidman, naturally, has perhaps the meatiest role of all: Carlson, who spent a year recording incidents of alleged harassment before suing Ailes in 2016, setting off a chain reaction that reverberated across Fox and media more broadly.
Left, by JB Lacroix/Getty Images; Right, by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images.
The Oscar winner is a dead ringer for Kelly, who chronicled numerous instances of alleged harassment—including an incident in which Ailes allegedly tried to kiss her on the lips—in her 2016 memoir, Settle for More.
Left, by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images; Right, by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.
Newly minted Oscar winner Janney will play Estrich, Ailes's Harvard-trained attorney.
Robbie is the biggest star in the film not to play a real person: she will take on the role of Kayla Pospisil, a Fox News associate producer invented for the movie.
Left, by Desiree Navarro/Getty Images; Right, by Noam Galai/Getty Images.
The English actor, a vet of stage and screens big and small, takes on one of the fiercest media moguls of all time: News Corp head Rupert Murdoch, who became the acting C.E.O. of Fox News after Ailes's resignation.
Left, by Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images; Right, by David X. Prutting/BFA/REX/Shutterstock.
The Nashville and Friday Night Lights star joins the cast as Beth Ailes, wife of Roger.
Left, by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage, Right, by Theo Wargo/Getty Images.
The German-born Law & Order alum plays one of Fox's on-screen personalities, election coverage co-anchor Martha MacCallum, who defended Ailes as allegations mounted.
Left, by Amanda Edwards/WireImage; Right, by Taylor Hill/WireImage.
The character actor will tackle Ailes loyalist Sean Hannity, who stuck by his boss (and eventually his ex-boss) until the end—calling Ailes a "great patriotic warrior" when he died.
Left, by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images; Right, by John Lamparski/Getty Images.
Ubach, best known for voice acting and her role in Legally Blonde, plays the judge-turned-Fox News host, who defended Ailes in the wake of Carlson's lawsuit.
Left, by Steve Granitz/WireImage; Right, by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images.
The British Star Trek Into Darkness star will play the Fox & Friends co-host, who defended Ailes as a "family man" in the press after the lawsuit.


(1905-1993) Poet, journalist. Clemente Soto Velez was born in Lares, Puerto Rico, in 1905, and moved to New York in 1942.
Clemente Soto Velez was born in Lares, Puerto Rico, in 1905.
Clemente Soto Velez died in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on April 15, 1993.
Mr. Soto Velez moved to New York in 1942 and lived there until the 1980s.


text:
'''
TODO sort out send and recieve in cursor function! Lots of mess there
'''
import socket
import array
import cStringIO
from bitstring import ConstBitStream

from parser import parse
from unparser import format_bits
from utils import get_header

def connect(host = 'localhost', port = 5000, user = '', password = ''):
    '''
    return new q connection
    '''
    return Connection(host, port, user, password)

class Connection(object):
  '''
  connection class for q wrapper
  TODO make it look/act like DB-API 2.0 compliant db interface
  see http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0249/
  '''

  def __init__(self, host='localhost', port=5000, user='', password = ''):
    self.host=host
    self.port=port
    self.user=user + ':' + password
    self.sock=socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
    self.connect()

  def close(self):
    '''
    close socket and end connection
    '''
    self.sock.close()

  def connect(self):
    '''
    make connection or throw an error
    '''
    try:
      self.sock.connect((self.host,self.port))
      login = array.array('b',self.user + '\x03\x00') #null terminated signed char array (bytes)
      self.sock.send(login.tostring())
      result = self.sock.recv(1)  #blocking recv
      if not result:
        raise Exception("access denied")
    except:
      raise Exception ('unable to connect to host')

  def execute(self, query):
    self._send(query)
    return self._receive()

  def _send(self, query):
    message = format_bits(query, async=True, symbol=False, endianness='be')
    #print message
    self.last_outgoing=message
    self.sock.send(message.tobytes())
    #self.sock.send(array.array('b',"1+2\0").tostring())#message.bytes)

  def _receive(self):
    """read the response from the server"""
    bytes = self._recv_size()
    val = parse(ConstBitStream(bytes=bytes))
    return val

  def _recv_size(self, size=8192):
    """read size bytes from the socket."""
    data=cStringIO.StringIO()
    recv_size=size
    self.sock.settimeout(0.1)
    while True:
        try:
            data.write(self.sock.recv(size))
        except:
            break
        if data.tell() < recv_size:
            break
        else:
            recv_size += size
    data.reset()
    return data.read()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
cryptovevo
Most blockchain and crypto related businesses in the US are in a constant battle with regulatory authorities in the country. One of the major issues that the industry battles against has to do with ICO token sales and ensuring that these remain within the confines of US regulations.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against blockchain firm, Veritaseum, claiming that the firm's ICO token sale was illegal. Veritaseum conducted a $15 million token sale before the SEC took the firm to court.
Last week, the SEC's Cyber Unit got permission to freeze Veritaseum's assets, and charges were filed against Reginald Middleton, the firm's CEO. The charges claim that Veritaseum has been selling VERI tokens illegally because these tokens are unregistered securities.
The SEC goes on to say that Middleton's company tried to find a way around regulations governing token sales by characterizing the VERI token as being similar to things such as software or gift cards. They say that the product being offered by Veritaseum constitutes securities fraud and it is consistent with a Ponzi or pyramid scheme.
Other wrongdoing cited in the filing by the SEC is that Veritaseum deliberately misleads their investors with regards to the blockchain company's revenue. The SEC claims that different investors were given different facts about how the business venture operates and the revenue that is generated from the business.
But the blockchain company has responded to the lawsuit, and they claim that the regulatory body has twisted the facts of the token sale to suit their narrative. Middleton says that his firm's token is not a security and these tokens only have utility functions.
According to a statement issued by Veritaseum, the tokens sold to the firm's clients enable holders to gain access to the company's research reports and as the company grows, access to the firm's software platform. The tokens do not constitute an investment on the part of the holder, and neither are they securities.
Tagsblockchain cryptotocurrency
Blockchain • General News
Blockchain • Cryptocurrency • General News
Celer in Talks To Help NEO Scale Further

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
MR&H
Hotel ROI
MENA forced to drop ADR as Europe achieves strong hotel performance
by Victoria Rosenthal |
Sep 5, 2017 10:46am
Sundus Rotana Muscat, Oman
For hotels in the Middle East & Africa, July marked a low in recent performance as demand levels remained soft during the stifling summer months, according to a recent HotStats poll of full-service hotels. While hotels in the Middle East & Africa recorded a 1-percent increase in room occupancy in July to 60.4 percent, it was at the expense of a 12.7-percent drop in achieved average room rate to $140.73. In response, low demand levels forced hoteliers to discount rates in an attempt to drive top line revenues.
However, as a result of the movement in volume and price, RevPAR at hotels in the region dropped 11.2 percent to a monthly five-year low of $84.98, which surpasses the previous low of $93.57 recorded in June 2016. Further woe was heaped on to hoteliers in the Middle East & Africa as declines in non-rooms revenues, including food and beverage, which dropped by 6.2 percent, and conference and banqueting, which dropped by 1 percent, contributed to the 9.1-percent year-on-year drop in TrevPAR by 9.1 percent to $149.31. Again, this represented a recent historic low in this metric for hotels in the region.
Profit per room in July was the lowest recorded in recent years and was 51.8 percent below the average for the 12-months to July 2017 at $73.63. As a result, profit conversion at hotels in the Middle East & Africa fell to a low of just 23.8 percent of total revenue.
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"The poor profit conversion this month will be unfamiliar to hoteliers in the Middle East & Africa, who have become accustomed to recording punchy bottom-line performance," Pablo Alonso, CEO of HotStats, said in a statement. "However, much to the disappointment of hotel owners and operators in the region, the challenging market conditions are likely to continue in the short term. This is not only due to the labored recovery of the oil industry, but many of the new hotel developments, which were either late in the planning stages or had already broken ground when the crisis hit, are now coming to fruition."
Muscat, Oman
While July's performance for hotels in Muscat was stronger than in June, year-on-year properties in the capital of Oman suffered significant declines across all key metrics this month, which included a 177.7-percent drop in profit per room to -$6.76. RevPAR and TrevPAR both saw significant decreases as well, with a RevPAR drop of 24.1 percent to $53.80 and a TrevPAR drop of 24.4 percent to $121.28, causing payroll to rise by 10 percent to 60.3 percent.
In addition to relying heavily on demand from the oil industry, additions to hotel supply in Muscat in 2017 have put further pressure on hotel performance and have included the 152-guestroom Al Irfan International Hotel, the 120-guestroom Muttrah Corniche and the 215-guestroom Sundus Rotana. "As in other locations across the region, it is noteworthy that additions to supply in Muscat are primarily in the mid-market segment, as these destinations look to broaden their appeal to leisure visitors. However, this is likely to not only dilute demand levels, but will put real pressure on room rates at the upscale hotels polled in the HotStats sample," Alonso added.
Despite political demonstrations and disruption in the city, hotels in Amman performed strongly this month, with a 7.8-percent increase in room occupancy to 60.8 percent. This increase successfully offset the 6.9-percent decline in achieved average room rate to $144.84. July was a welcome respite from the year-to-date performance for hotels in Amman, which have struggled to grow top and bottom line performance so far this year. Amman's struggle was illustrated by the 8.0 percent year-to-date RevPAR decline to $74.74. However, compared to last July, Muscat saw an increase in RevPAR by 6.8 percent to $88.02 in July 2017, allowing payroll to fall 0.7 percent to 27.2 percent.
The growth this month was even more impressive considering the contribution from the high-yielding contracted corporate and residential conference segments fell to 33.3 percent of rooms revenue, against a year-to-date average of 40.7 percent. Despite the uplift in volume, hotels in Amman suffered declines in non-rooms, including food and beverage by 3.0 percent. However, this was not to the detriment of TrevPAR, which increased by 2.6 percent to $158.01. Due to the growth in top line revenue and cost savings, hotels in Amman recorded a 10.8-percent increase in GOPPAR to $53.22. The increase went someway to offsetting the 24.9 percent year-to-date profit per room decline to $30.39.
Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place, Belgium
Europe fairs better as demand declines
Although Europe saw a similar decrease in demand in July, the region recorded successful performance results, compared to those of the Middle East and Africa region. A 5.6-percent increase in TrevPAR, in addition to cost savings, meant that hotels in Europe recorded a hearty 10.6-percent year-on-year increase in GOPPAR in July. The 5.9-percent increase in RevPAR to €130.52 this month was driven by a 2-percent increase in room occupancy to 78.4 and a 3.1-percent increase in achieved average room rate to €166.40.
The year-on-year growth in average room rate this month is more notable as waning commercial demand means that July is typically a more challenging month in terms of price for hotels in Europe. However, the rate recorded this month was 5.1 percent above the year-to-date average. In addition to the year-on-year increase in RevPAR, hotels in Europe recorded an increase in non-rooms revenues, including food and beverage by 4.8 percent and conference and banqueting by 7.2 percent, which contributed to the 5.6-percent increase in TrevPAR to €186.34.
"The figures for July paint a very positive picture of performance for hotels across Europe and add to the strong growth so far in 2017," Alonso said. "What is particularly pleasing is that the growth this month was led by a number of hotel markets which have made a return to stronger performance levels after particularly challenging trading conditions in recent years."
For hotels in Brussels, the 33.5-percent increase in RevPAR to €85.19 in July contributed to the 19.1-percent increase for year-to-date 2017 to €98.65. This increase goes some way to compensating for the 20.2-percent decline in 2016 in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in March. That said, there is evidence to suggest that the top line bounce back for hotels in Brussels is being driven by an increase in volume, which grew by 17.9 percent year-on-year in July, at the expense of a reduction in rate by 0.2 percent to €120.14.
The need to drive RevPAR through volume was even more imperative this month as activity in the European Parliament slowed for the summer. There was a notable reduction in demand from the high-yielding contracted corporate and residential conference segments, evidenced by the proportion of volume from the commercial segments falling to just 32.5 percent in July, against a year-to-date average of 44.3 percent. The significant uplift in volume at hotels in Brussels also fueled growth in non-rooms revenues, which contributed to a 27.3-percent increase in TrevPAR to €113.09, but resulted in non-rooms revenue dwindling to just 24.7 percent of total revenue this month. Despite the 5.6-percent reduction, payroll levels at hotels in Brussels remained extremely high at 50.7 percent of total revenue. As a result, profit conversion remained low this month at just 13.8 percent of total revenue while GOPPAR increased significantly by 284.3 percent to €15.64.
July was also a very strong month of performance for hotels in Istanbul. The year-on-year uplift this month primarily represented a return to normality after top and bottom line performance crashed in July 2016 in the midst of the failed coup. In addition to a 36.6-percent increase in room occupancy in July, a 22.1-percent uplift in achieved average room rate contributed to the 155.7-percent increase in RevPAR to €70.97. While this represents a significant increase on the same period in 2016, it is less than €6.00 ahead of July 2015 at €65.01. "The growth in the challenged markets this month will provide some welcome respite to owners and operators of properties in those locations. And while it is almost a false positive, Istanbul hoteliers will toast the growth as it comes amidst extremely challenging trading conditions, which have been as a result of significant additions to stock, political uncertainty and terrorist activity," Alonso added.
The realignment in TrevPAR, which increased by 127.5 percent to €99.77, and a 34.1-percent saving in payroll to 32.5 percent of total revenue, meant hotels in Istanbul were able to bring GOPPAR back into the black. GOPPAR rose by 572.9 percent to €33.34 from -€7.05 during the same period in 2016.
Hotel Performance Demand Revenue Average Daily Rate Quarterly Reports Africa Middle East Muscat, Oman Rotana Europe Brussels Istanbul
Radisson Hotel Group launches new multibrand platform
The mobile-first global website, which serves as the platform for Radisson Rewards member, is complemented by the new Radisson Hotels app.
by Esther Hertzfeld Jul 18, 2019 10:41am
InnSpire forms strategic partnership with Quadriga
The agreement is intended to open up new markets for the technology partners.
by Esther Hertzfeld Jul 18, 2019 9:22am
Beach Retreat & Lodge installs STS Cloud
The new software from SalesAndCatering.com helps the South Lake Tahoe, Calif., hotel manage groups and events.
Victoria Rosenthal
https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-e-rosenthal-686a0b78/


text:
Hosszu Sets World Record in Women's 400 IM
Adam Peaty of Britain lowered his world record in the 100-meter breaststroke preliminaries
Published August 6, 2016 • Updated on August 7, 2016 at 12:25 pm
Katinka Hosszu finally got it done — and how.
The Hungarian, who had missed the podium time after time in seven tries at three previous Olympics, won her first medal with an astonishing world record in the 400-meter individual medley on Saturday night.
Her time of 4 minutes, 26.36 seconds beat American Maya DiRado by nearly five seconds. Mireia Belmonte of Spain took bronze.
Later, Australia's 4x100 meter freestyle relay team set a world record and knocked off Katie Ledecky, too.
"We're going to be proud of getting that silver medal tonight," Ledecky said after the race.
Emma McKeon, Brittany Elmslie, Bronte Campbell and Cate Campbell brought home the race in and handed the American star an unfamiliar feeling in a big race — a loss.
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Ledecky, the teenage distance star who is heavily favored in the 800 and 400, was added to the relay team earlier Saturday. She anchored the American team of Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil, and Dana Vollmer to the country's third silver medal of the night.
Ledecky had previously won 15 gold medals in Olympic, World and Pan-Pacific races.
Kosuke Hagino won the men's 400 IM in 4 minutes, 6.05 seconds, ending the United States' streak of five straight Olympic gold medals in the event, but Chase Kalisz won silver 0.70 seconds back for the United States. Daiya Seto of Japan got bronze.
The grueling event featuring all four strokes — butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle — was missing its two biggest stars.
Ryan Lochte, who was hurt at the Olympic Trials and failed to qualify, was the defending champion.
Michael Phelps won it at the previous two Games on the heels of two wins by Tom Dolan. But Phelps, the world record holder, dropped the race for his fifth Games.
In the 400 freestyle, Mack Horton of Australia out-touched defending champion Sun Yang of China by 0.13 seconds, winning in 3:41.55.
Gabriele Detti of Italy was third, ahead of Americans Conor Dwyer and Connor Jaeger who were fourth and fifth.
In men's 100-meter breaststroke preliminaries, Adam Peaty of Britain lowered his world record.
He qualified first in 57.55 seconds Saturday, lowering his old mark of 57.92 set in London on April 17, 2015.
Peaty and 15 other swimmers moved on to the evening semifinals.
Your San Diego Home Is Worth $100,000 Less: CoreLogic
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Heart Health – Treatment


Welcome to the Crystals section. Here I introduce my perspective of a crystal whisperer, crystals, and especially the Whispered Yoni Meditation Egg.
Click here to purchase any of the Crystal Whisperer™ Crystals.
For 25 years I have been on a shamanic path as an "energy dancer" and now teach a training in shamanic transformation. As a part of this path, I am also a crystal whisperer.
I started collecting crystals several years before I stepped on this path. Then when I apprenticed with a shaman for eleven years, part of that included learning how to "energize" crystals. However, I did not really start to "dance" with crystals deeply until a friend told me she was beginning to make concrete fairy pillows for people to put in their gardens. Quite spontaneously I blurted out that I could energize some crystals to put on each pillow to help the plants and flowers heal and grow more vibrantly and to attract more fairies (or what I call "nature beings").
The first time I did a shamanic ceremony with some crystals for the fairy pillows, I noticed something more expansive was starting to happen than what I had experienced during my shamanic apprenticeship. In the next couple of months doing the crystal ceremonies, my energetic abilities evolved. Then I experimented with giving the crystals to some friends. They all began to report back they felt more energized and transformed when they meditated with the crystals or wore or carried them. That was the beginning of Crystal Whisperer Crystals.
The Whispered Yoni Meditation Eggs are by far the most favored of the Crystal Whisperer Crystals. Below is a painting of Mary Magdalene revealing an egg and its wisdom. The painting for me represents what many people say they experience when they meditate or do ceremony with a Whispered Yoni Meditation Egg or the other Crystal Whisperer Crystals.
I invite you to join me on this shamanic journey of dancing with high-energetic-frequency-and-intensity Crystal Beings.


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Labs Report 85 Percent Reduction in STR Analysis Time with SoftGenetics' ChimerMaker Software
By Uduak Grace Thomas
Users of ChimerMarker, a short tandem repeat chimerism analysis software solution marketed by SoftGenetics, are reporting a significant reduction in the time required to analyze STRs in blood samples of patients who have undergone bone marrow transplants.
The tool automates the process of assessing the chimerism ratio — the proportion of donor cells relative to the host patient's own cells — in post-transplant cases based on the presence of STRs that are unique to both the patient and the donor, Don Kristt, head of molecular pathology at the Rabin Medical Center in Israel, explained to BioInform this week.
According to SoftGenetics, the software can be used to monitor chimerism levels in allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplants or hematopoietic stem cell transplants; bone marrow transplants; and cord and peripheral blood stem cell transplant samples.
SoftGenetics partnered with Kristt to develop the software, which it released last March (BI 3/18/2011). The company later added a module for testing fetal samples for maternal cell contamination prior to performing genetic testing for cystic fibrosis or other diseases (BI 9/2/2011).
The software provides capabilities for genotyping and chimerism analysis and tools to automatically identify donor and recipient peaks in samples following bone marrow transplants. It also calculates percent chimerism and quality metrics for single donor or double donor cases.
Dawn Wagenknecht, who supervises the HLA-Vascular Biology Laboratory at Franciscan St. Francis Health, told BioInform this week that her team was able to reduce the time required to calculate the ratio of donor to recipient cells in blood samples by as much as 85 percent.
She explained that the team ran parallel analyses of 10 blood samples using both ChimerMarker and a manual approach that the lab had used prior to purchasing the software, which involved manually sorting data generated by capillary sequencing in Excel spreadsheets, and then calculating the ratios either on the sheet or using a hand calculator.
In addition to the time savings, ChimerMarker also simplifies the analysis process because all the steps of the workflow are in a single package, she said.
The software also maintains records of the donor sample and the patient's blood before transplantation so that the results from subsequent tests after transplant can be compared to the initial samples, she said.
Prior to purchasing the software, Wagenknecht's lab had to use separate platforms to collect and analyze data.
Her team sequences its samples on a Life Technologies Applied Biosystems 3130 sequencer, and used Life Tech's GeneMapper tool to collect the data from the instrument and then transfer it to Excel for further analysis.
"We are looking at 14 different markers in the genome where we can find unique identities between the patient and the donors," in order to determine each cell's origin, she said.
That results in a lot of data per patient because each individual could have up to two alleles at each marker. Manually sorting through that data in Excel increases the likelihood of making a mistake in the analysis, she noted.
Wagenknecht also said her lab had considered purchasing software from NicheVision, an Akron, Ohio-based company that also developing a tool for STR analysis, but those plans fell through because the software wasn't commercially available when the lab needed it.
The Importance of STRs
Analyzing the ratio of donor to recipient cells in patients who have had bone marrow transplants helps physicians ensure that transplanted cells are accepted by the host and don't result in complications such as graft rejection or graft-versus-host-disease — a potentially fatal condition where white blood cells in the donated bone marrow recognize their new host as "foreign" and begin to attack them.
The process begins by extracting DNA from bone marrow cells, amplifying the fragments using PCR, separating and detecting the STRs using electrophoresis, and then calculating the chimerism ratio for the donor cells, Kristt explained.
Repeatedly testing the patient's blood lets researchers follow the engraftment process — incorporation and proliferation of transplanted cells in a new host — over time and then compare later results to the sample prior to the transplant to determine the success of the procedure, he said.
Analyzing STRs — repeated patterns of two or more nucleotides — remains one of the "most effective" methods of monitoring donor/host ratios because it enables researches to quantitatively measure changes over time and compare one sample to another, he said.
According to an article published in Bone Marrow Transplantation in 2007 by Kristt and colleagues, the advantage of the STR-based approach to chimerism over others such as variable number tandem repeats is that it can "be utilized in virtually all donor:recipient combinations, regardless of gender, HLA or disease type."
The paper also explains that although VNTRs are similar to STRs, their larger repeat sequences "makes them more prone to inequalities during PCR amplification" which may in turn affect quantitation.
Furthermore, studies using methods such as real-time PCR to detect chimerism "have failed to show any clear superiority over STR-based analysis," the authors wrote.
Additionally, STR-based assays more frequently "detect mixed chimerism" — cases where there is a mix of donor and host DNA, "are more sensitive, and exhibit a higher incidence of informative markers" — genetic loci that are characterized by unique alleles that make it possible to distinguish between the donor and recipient, the researchers explain in the paper.
Have topics you'd like to see covered in BioInform? Contact the editor at uthomas [at] genomeweb [.] com.
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Insightful Science Acquires Data Science Company Omiq
Bionano Genomics Expecting Sharp Increases in Q4, Full-Year 2021 Revenues


Nestling on the shores of the Moray Firth this traditional Scottish Golf Links Course was created from a Highland wilderness of gorse and heather, and tests the talents of professional and amateur alike. Founded in 1887, it is now one of the best courses in Scotland, and has hosted a large number of important championships. The Nairn Golf Club has now been awarded No 25 in the definitive list of the Top 100 Courses in Britain & Ireland.


An AWESOME 4 Bedroom home. Previously 1.5 Baths that were upgraded to 2 full Baths with lots of potential. Situated in a very quiet Cul-de-sac. Lot is just under 1/2 Acre. Features a spacious living room, updated eat-in kitchen, and a lower level family room. Also Lower level Master bed room with a walk in closet. A great home with a huge fenced in back yard. Recently painted and some remodeling done through out the home.


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Q: MAMP SQL. После обновления до Win10 не работает Apache Apache загорается на 1 секунду и гаснет.
ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED выдает браузер . HELP]1
ЛОГИ c запуска после обновления:

[Thu Feb 13 16:51:32 2020] [warn] Init: Session Cache is not configured [hint: SSLSessionCache]
[Thu Feb 13 16:51:33 2020] [warn] pid file C:/MAMP/bin/apache/logs/httpd.pid overwritten -- Unclean shutdown of previous Apache run?
[Thu Feb 13 16:51:33 2020] [notice] Digest: generating secret for digest authentication ...
[Thu Feb 13 16:51:33 2020] [notice] Digest: done
[Thu Feb 13 18:02:32 2020] [warn] Init: Session Cache is not configured [hint: SSLSessionCache]
[Thu Feb 13 18:02:33 2020] [warn] pid file C:/MAMP/bin/apache/logs/httpd.pid overwritten -- Unclean shutdown of previous Apache run?
[Thu Feb 13 18:02:33 2020] [notice] Digest: generating secret for digest authentication ...
[Thu Feb 13 18:02:33 2020] [notice] Digest: done
[Thu Feb 13 18:02:50 2020] [warn] Init: Session Cache is not configured [hint: SSLSessionCache]
[Thu Feb 13 18:02:51 2020] [warn] pid file C:/MAMP/bin/apache/logs/httpd.pid overwritten -- Unclean shutdown of previous Apache run?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Please pay after revisions of your proposed website to release it to the Internet.
If you received your personalized discount coupon use it at the time of checkout.
You can purchase an optional maintenance and updating service after 120 natural days.
We guarantee our website design services for 12 months as Internet evolution requires adjustments to software and security settings constantly.
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Feds: Colerain Township man took explicit photos of child as she slept
WLWT Digital Staff
Nicholas Veerkamp, via Ohio Attorney General
SOURCE: Nicholas Veerkamp, via Ohio Attorney General
A Colerain Township man has been arrested, accused of taking explicit photographs of a 9-year-old child while she slept.Nicholas Veerkamp, 28, a registered sex offender, was already on probation for a different sex crime, and now has been charged again.According to the criminal complaint and supporting affidavit, Colerain Township police received information in November 2019 alleging Veerkamp possessed sexually explicit photos of a known female minor on his laptop.Further investigation of his computer revealed photographs depicting Veerkamp exposing and photographing a 9-year-old child from Indiana while she slept, federal officials said.A forensic examination revealed the photos were created October 2017, officials said -- a time when Veerkamp was on probation.He was charged in 2015 with unlawful sexual conduct with a child. He pleaded guilty in that local case to sexual imposition and was required to register as a sex offender. According to the complaint, Veerkamp did not register the address at which he was residing in Colerain Township.This case was investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force
COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio —
A Colerain Township man has been arrested, accused of taking explicit photographs of a 9-year-old child while she slept.
Nicholas Veerkamp, 28, a registered sex offender, was already on probation for a different sex crime, and now has been charged again.
According to the criminal complaint and supporting affidavit, Colerain Township police received information in November 2019 alleging Veerkamp possessed sexually explicit photos of a known female minor on his laptop.
Further investigation of his computer revealed photographs depicting Veerkamp exposing and photographing a 9-year-old child from Indiana while she slept, federal officials said.
A forensic examination revealed the photos were created October 2017, officials said -- a time when Veerkamp was on probation.
He was charged in 2015 with unlawful sexual conduct with a child. He pleaded guilty in that local case to sexual imposition and was required to register as a sex offender. According to the complaint, Veerkamp did not register the address at which he was residing in Colerain Township.
This case was investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force


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SPINX thrives at the intersection of big ideas, creative people, and new technology. This Los Angeles web design company excels in crafting digital masterpieces, allowing their inventiveness to ooze through every pore of their creations. Using transformative ideologies as inspiration, SPINX aims to meld skill with innovation to transcend ordinary. Their specialties include digital strategy, user experience, advertising, social media marketing, content management, and email marketing initiatives. Simple on paper yet intricate in practice, SPINX's design process consists of discovery, strategy, planning, website solutions, mobile solutions, enterprise solutions, and online marketing. SPINX places emotional connections at the forefront, ensuring that your audience fully engages on all levels. Through interactive design and custom approaches, SPINX intends to build interpersonal relationships with clients and their audience. Having partnered with high-profile mavens including NBC and CBS, it comes as no surprise that SPINX is an award-winning agency.


December 29, 2017— Cedar Park Regional Medical Center (CPRMC) is pleased to announce a new partnership with US Acute Care Solutions (USACS) to provide emergency, hospitalist and critical care medicine together as one team with one purpose: seamless, quality medical care across the entire acute care episode. The partnership will begin on January 1, 2018.
USACS has already been providing emergency medicine management and critical care services to CPRMC. The new partnership enhances the strong relationship to include hospitalist services.
Founded by emergency medicine physician groups in Texas, Colorado, Florida, Maryland and Ohio, and capital partner Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, USACS is the national leader in physician- owned emergency medicine, hospitalist and observation services. USACS provides high quality emergency and hospitalist care to nearly 6 million patients annually at over 180 locations in 21 states, and is aligned with leading hospital systems across the country. Visit usacs.com to learn more.


These pages offer a specialised resource to help you locate Qualitative Evidence Syntheses relevant to occupational therapy. Search the QuEST database to find out bibliographic information for these studies.
Qualitative Evidence Syntheses are a type of systematic review that combine and analyse evidence from primary qualitative research studies addressing similar research questions. There are a number of different terms used for Qualitative Evidence Syntheses and this, and other interesting information about Qualitative Evidence Syntheses is discussed in the "Find out more" page below.


Rentalcargroup offers a price comparison of all car rental companies in Faro, Portugal. Why spend hours doing research while we show you the rates, fleet and car rental terms of all car hire companies in Faro, Portugal.
Faro Car Hire Comparison | We offer a price comparison of all car hire suppliers in Faro but you choose your car hire based on price, car hire agency and fleet choice.
If you choose to travel with your family you don't want to end up with a small car fully packed with your luggage. It might be more comfortable for everyone to rent a slightly bigger car to fit all your luggage and the fit in any baby/child seat/boosters for better protection.
Rentalcargroup compares rental prices for Faro. Since we work with major car rental companies the quality of the cars is guaranteed. Like this you get the best car rental rates.
Traveling to a work convention or just visiting your grand mother? We offer several different types of cars on our website. From small economic cars to big 9 seaters. There is a rental car for every occasion. Check our website for the best rates.
Off the road, on ice, unbridged rivers and/or streams are off limit with a rented car. Even with a 4x4 car. Advise the local rental company if there are any restrictions.
We advise to park your rented car in a safe place like a garage for example. This is safer for you and your rented car. Sometimes there is an option to park your rented car in the outskirts of the city or and travel from there by public transportation. This will save you the expensive costs of parking in the city center.
See below last 5 customer reviews. Our customers rated Faro Car Rental with an average of 9.07 based on 40 ratings.
Discovery car rental tried very hard to extract a further 50 euro from me as an airport tax. the chap before me paid this. my voucher clearly stated that this was covered in the rental and as a very regular car hire renter i stood my ground and they eventually back down. my concern is many would not. i've never heard of an airport car hire tax before and at 50 euro this is a huge amount given the value of the actual rental which was only 51 euro. the price was great as was the paper work and the car excellent so very happy. i'm just very concerned now at additional taxes and fees car hire companies try to charge on arrival. its a complete rip off.
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Man United full-back Wan-Bissaka out of England squad with back injury
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has gone back to Manchester United after failing to shake off a back problem while on England duty.
Manchester United's Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who was called up by Gareth Southgate for the first time following a strong start to his club career, has returned for treatment. - Getty Images
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has left the England squad for the forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo due to a back injury.
The 21-year-old, who was called up by Gareth Southgate for the first time following a strong start to his Manchester United career, has returned to his club for treatment.
No replacements will be added to the Three Lions' squad as it already has Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kieran Trippier available for the right-back spot.
England faces Bulgaria at Wembley on September 10 and Kosovo at Southampton's St Mary's home three days later.
READ: Eden and Thorgan Hazard ruled out of Belgium qualifiers
News of Wan-Bissaka's injury will concern Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ahead of United's Premier League clash with Leicester City at Old Trafford on September 14.
Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot are injured and Matteo Darmian left for Parma before the transfer deadline, while Timothy Fosu-Mensah has not recovered fully from knee surgery carried out in April.
It could mean Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo are Solskjaer's only obvious options at full-back.
Wan-Bissaka has impressed for United since joining from Crystal Palace in a reported £50million deal, despite results having been mixed for the Red Devils during the opening weeks of the campaign.
A 4-0 defeat of Chelsea on the first weekend was followed by a 1-1 draw at Wolves, a 2-1 home loss to Palace and a second 1-1 draw at 10-man Southampton.


The nationwide trend toward market-based sourcing of services gross receipts has already impacted – or is soon to impact – your bottom line. Every industry is affected, whether it's health care, financial services, information and technology, professional services, manufacturing or retail. And since states are not implementing market-based sourcing in a uniform manner, taxpayers run the risk of having more than 100% of their income exposed to multistate corporate income tax. Please join Scott Smith for a discussion on market-based sourcing trends and other sales factor and alternative apportionment developments.
Please stop by to meet the newest members of our Nashville Tax team, Julie Boswell and Steve K. Wood.
This program is pending CLE credit in the state of Tennessee.
No prerequisites or advanced preparation are required for participation in this event.
For more information regarding refund, concerns and program cancellation policies, please contact RSVP@bakerdonelson.com.
Baker Donelson is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have the final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.learningmarket.org.


Where do you begin? An absolute Aladdin's cave packed with gorgeous dresses, accessories and the most wonderful whimsical fairytale-inspired jewellery. Celebrated for its locally and globally sourced styles, this Belfast institution features regularly in the fashion glossies and brings together kooky little labels from home and around the globe. Join the city's cool set in this den of desire and uncover that perfect gift or original dress. Find it just a stone's throw from Royal Avenue.
Mon-Wed 10:00 - 17:30, Thu 10:00 - 20:30, Fri & Sat 10:00 - 18:00, Sun 13:00 - 17:00.
If you love Liberty Blue, check out The Corium on Church Lane.
I adore Liberty Blue, i hate having the same clothes as others and with this shop it enables me to do this.
its my favourite shop ever..!. i wish there was one a wee bit closer to home though. the dresses are fab. and the handbags are so special! beautiful.
i love it but i wish they would have a website!!