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Merchandise Trade in Both Directions Grew Significantly in Q1 2018
Wednesday, June 06, 2018 /10:00 AM / NBS
Total Trade and Trade Balance
- The total value of Nigeria's merchandise trade was N7,211.61 billion in the first quarter of 2018, which was a 19.74% growth from the f2igure recorded in Q4, 2017 (N6,022.93 billion) and a 35.07% growth from Q1, 2017 (N5,339.24 billion).
- The strong growth of total trade in the reviewing quarter was mainly driven by the strong increase in export.
- The trade balance in Q1, 2018 was a surplus of N2,175.08 billion, which is a 20.95% increase from figure in Q4, 2017 (N1,798.30) and a 221.08% increase from the figure in Q1, 2017 (N677.42 billion).
- The quarter under review is the first quarter in two years that the trade balance exceeded N2,000 billion.
Total Imports value was N2, 518.26 billion in Q1, 2018, 19.22% higher than Q4, 2017 (N2,112.31 billion) and 8.04% higher than Q1, 2017 (N2,330.91 billion).
The value of imported agricultural goods in the first quarter of 2018 (N184.49 billion) declined by 18.90% from Q4, 2017 (N227.49 billion) and by 5.87% from Q1, 2017 (N196.0 billion).
Raw materials imports in Q1 2018 (N284.81 billion) grew by 1.93% compared to Q4, 2017 (N279.41 billion) and by 9.89% compared to Q1, 2017 (N259.17 billion).
Solid minerals imports in Q1, 2018 (N12.62 billion) decreased by 17.27% on a quarter-to-quarter basis (N15.26 billion), however increased by 3.67% on a year-to-year basis (N12.17 billion).
Energy goods imports in Q1, 2018 (N32.4 million) recorded 76.51% lower than Q4 2017 (N138.1 million), and 205.28% higher than Q1, 2017 (N10.6 million).
The value of manufactured goods imported in Q1 2018 (N1,189.97 billion) declined by 1.65% over the previous quarter (N1,209.96 billion) but increased by 12.11% over the same quarter in 2017 (N1,061.42 billion).
The value of Other oil products imported in Q1,2018 (N846.31 billion) was 122.70% higher than then value in Q4, 2017 (N380.03 billion) and 5.51% higher than Q1, 2017 (N802.11 billion).
Total export value amounted to ₦ 4,693.34 billion in Q1, 2018, representing a significant growth of 20.02% over Q4, 2017 (N3,910.62 billion) and 56.01% over Q1, 2017 (N3,008.33 billion).
The export value for Agricultural goods in Q1, 2018 (N73.24 billion) was 63.84% higher than the value in Q4, 2017 (N44.70 billion) and 24.01% higher than the value recorded in Q1, 2017 (N59.06 billion).
Raw material exports value decreased by 13.62% in Q1, 2018 (N32.70 billion) compared to Q4, 2017 (N37.85 billion) but increased by 47.71% compared to Q1, 2017 (N22.13 billion).
Solid Minerals exports value in Q1 2018 (N26.92 billion) recorded a 12.96% quarter on quarter growth (N23.83 billion), and a 58.50% year on year growth rate compared to Q1, 2017 (N16.98 billion).
The value of Energy goods exported in Q1, 2018 (N10.39 billion) was 8.8% higher than that of Q4, 2017 (N9.55 billion) and 16.5% higher than the value in Q1, 2017 (N8.92 billion).
Manufactured goods exports in Q1 2018 (N434.37 billion) saw significant growth by 684.11% over the previous quarter (N55.39 billion), and by 576.90% when compared to Q1, 2017 (N64.17 billion).
The value of Crude Oil exports recorded in Q1, 2018 (N3,580.01 billion) was 10% higher than the value in Q4, 2017 (N3,251.61 billion) and 50.74% higher than the value in Q1, 2017 (N2,374.94 billion).
Other oil products exports in Q1, 2018 (N535.8 billion) also grew steadily in the reviewing quarter, with a 10.53% growth from Q4, 2017 (N484.65 billion) and a 15.92% growth from the value recorded in Q1, 2017 (N462.10 billion).
Major Export Trading Partners and Corresponding Share in Q1 2018 Export Trade
- Netherlands 20.5%
- India 18.2%
- Spain 8.3%
- The United States 8.2%
- France 6.3%
Major Import Trading Partners and Share to Q1 2018 Import Trade
- China 21.1%
- Belgium 10.6%
- India 6.3%
Major Traded Agricultural Exports in Q1 2018
- Sesamum seeds, whether or not broken (N26.65 billion)
- Good Fermented Nigerian Cocoa Beans (N23.30 billion)
- Superior quality raw cocoa beans (N6.03 billion)
- Cashew nuts, in shell (N5.03 billion)
- Soya beans, whether or not broken (N3.46 billion)
- Other frozen shrimps and prawns (N1.72 billion)
The total value of Nigeria's external trade in goods amounted to N7,211.6 billion in the first Quarter of 2018, which is a growth of N1,188.7 billion or 19.74% from the N6,022.9 billion recorded in the last quarter of 2017. The total trade value in Q1, 2018 also shows a 35.07% growth compared to the amount of N5,339.24 billion recorded in same quarter last year.
The Trade balance in Q1, 2018 was N2,175.1 billion, which increased by 20.95% from the last quarter in 2017, and 221.08% over the same quarter in 2017. The significant increase of trade balance in the reviewing quarter was driven by the stronger growth in exports compared to imports.
The total value of exports in the quarter under review was N4,693.3 billion, representing a 20.02% growth over the fourth quarter of 2017 and a 56.01% growth compared to the first quarter in 2017. Likewise, the total import component in the first quarter (N2,518.3 billion) also recorded a growth of 19.22% on a quarter on quarter basis, and 8.04% year on year.
Exports in the first quarter of 2018 was still dominated by Crude oil, although the proportion of non-crude oil export increased from 17% in the last quarter to approximately 24% in the reviewing quarter. The value of crude oil export stood at N3,580 billion in the first quarter of 2018, which accounted for 76.3% of the total exports from Nigeria.
Imports Classified by Standard International Trade Classification and Country of Origin
The total value of imports into Nigeria in the first quarter stood at N2,518.3 billion, of which N845 billion imports were mineral fuel (33.6% of the total import) and N669.1 billion were machinery and transport equipment (26.6% of the total import). In the first quarter of 2018, the value of mineral fuel products imports increased by 122.2% compared to the last quarter of 2017. Import of machinery & transport equipment, chemical & related products, and food and live animals decreased marginally from the previous quarter as indicated in the following chart.
Europe and Asia continued to dominate as import destination into Nigeria in the reviewing quarter, both recorded import values of N1,154.70 billion and N989.19 billion respectively. The value of imports from these two continents grew by 35.71% and 17.06% respectively compared to the last quarter in 2017, and they jointly represented more than 85% of the total imports in the first quarter of 2018. The value of imported goods from America (N254.32 billion), however, decreased by 16.12% from the previous quarter (N303.18 billion).
In the first quarter, the top five import destination for Nigeria was China, Netherlands, Belgium, USA and India. The Import value from the five countries was N530.98 billion or 21.1% (of the total import), N305.80 billion or 12.1%, N266.69 billion or 10.6%, N163.94 billion or 6.5% and N157.92 billion or 6.3% respectively. China remained the top importing partner for Nigeria in the first quarter. Import trade from African countries was valued at N94.1 billion (3.7% of the total import) while imports from the region of ECOWAS amounted to N17.8 billion.
Exports Classified by Standard International Trade Classification and Country of Origin
In the reviewing quarter, mineral products accounted for N4,143.31 billion or 88.28% of the total export from Nigeria. This category of export saw a 10.05% growth from the previous quarter, and as in previous quarters, it was dominated by Crude Oil exports. The second largest component of export was machinery & transport equipment, which recorded N389.74 billion or 8.30% of the total export in the reviewing quarter. This was a sharp increase from N12.47 billion as recorded in the last quarter of 2017.
Exports by region show similar trends as imports by region. In the first quarter of 2018, Europe and Asia remained the top two export destination continents, which recorded N2,284.29 billion and N1,311.00 billion respectively. Value of exports to these two continents stated above showed a steady growth of 48.47% and 26.81% respectively compared to the previous quarter.
Exports to America dropped by 32.49% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, recording a value of N879.19 billion or 12.65% of the total exports in the quarter under review. Nigeria exported goods worth N492.3 billion or 10.5% of total export in the during the first quarter to the continent of Africa, among which export to ECOWAS region totalled N195.2 billion.
Exports from Nigeria were mainly sent to Netherlands, India, Spain, USA, and France in the reviewing quarter. The value of exported commodities to these five countries stated above stood at N963.5 billion or 23.2%, N853.7 billion or 20.6%, N391.7 billion or 9.4%, N386.9 billion or 9.3%, N297.9 billion or 9.3% and N297.9 billion or 7.2% correspondingly. These top five countries jointly accounted for 61.7% of the total exports in 2018, Q1.
Crude oil export kept dominating exports from Nigeria, which accounted for N3,580 billion or 76.3% of the value of total exports in Q1, 2018.
Export/Imports Products Classified by Sectors Q1, 2018
Agricultural Goods Sector
The total trade of agricultural goods in Q1, 2018 stood at N257.7 billion, in which exports and imports recorded N73.25 billion and N184.49 billion respectively. Exports of agricultural products in the first quarter grew strongly by 63.84% compared to 44.71 billion recorded in the last quarter of 2017, while imports in the reviewing quarter decreased by 18.90% compared to N227.50 billion recorded in the previous quarter. Agricultural products in the quarter under review, were mainly exported to Asia (N37.8 billion) and Europe (N32.7 billion).
The major exported agricultural products in Q1, 2018 were Sesamum seeds with the total value standing at N26.6 billion. Specifically, N8 billion worth of sesamum seeds were exported to China, N6.56 billion to Japan, N6.1 billion to Turkey, N2.2 billion to Vietnam, and N0.8 billion to the Netherlands. The second primary exported agricultural product in Q1 2018 was cocoa beans with a total value of N23.3 billion recorded. This product was exported mainly to the Netherlands (N15 billion), Germany (N1.9 billion), Malaysia (N1.8 billion), Belgium (N1.8 billion) and Indonesia (N1.6 billion).
Other major agricultural products include superior quality raw cocoa beans which were exported to Indonesia (N3.1 billion) and Netherlands (N2.9 billion), cashew nuts which were mainly exported to India (N2.9 billion) and Vietnam (N2.1 billion), and Soybeans which were exported to Italy (N3.5 billion).
In terms of imports, Agricultural products with a total value of N184.5 billion were imported into Nigeria in Q1, 2018, which was a decrease of 18.9% compared to N227.5 billion imported in Q4, 2017, and a decline of 5.9% compared to the corresponding quarter in the last year.
Major imported agricultural products in Q1, 2018 include durum wheat from the United States, Canada, Russia, Latvia and Czech with values of N13.1 billion, N8.7 billion, N7.4 billion, N6.9 billion and N4.8 billion respectively. Other agricultural products such as mackerel were imported from Japan, Ireland, Netherlands, China and Russia which were valued at N5.9 billion, N2.1 billion, N1.7 billion, N1.6 billion and N1.5 billion respectively. Herrings, another major agricultural import was mainly imported from Netherlands, Russia, and China and their values recorded N6.4 billion, N2.7 billion and N1.0 billion respectively. During the reviewing period, N7.0 billion of crude palm oil was imported from Italy and N0.9 billion from Indonesia.
Solid Minerals Sector
The total value of solid minerals trade recorded in Q1, 2018 was N39.6 billion, accounting for 0.55% of the total trade. The value of exported solid minerals stood at N26.9 billion while the imported solid minerals stood at N12.6 billion.
In the first quarter, Nigeria exported N13.4 billion of Naphthalene to the United States and N4.5 billion to Netherlands. This was followed by Zinc Ores and concentrates of N2.4 billion to China. The value of exported cement to Togo and Ghana stood at N1.8 billion and N0.4 billion respectively. Lead ores were exported to South Korea and China to the tune of 0.38 billion and N0.3 billion respectively.
During the first quarter of 2018, the value of imported solid mineral goods declined by 17.3% compared to the value recorded in the previous quarter, while it increased marginally by 3.7% compared to the value recorded in the same quarter of 2017. Other solid mineral imports in the first quarter were Plasters of calcined gypsum, imported from Turkey with a value of (N2.5 billion), Tunisia (N0.6 billion), Egypt (N0.3 billion) and China (N0.1 billion). Crude salt was imported mainly from Brazil and Namibia with values in the first quarter N2.1 billion and N1.5 billion from the two respective countries. Gypsum, other compressed salt, and hydraulic cement were imported from Spain, China, and the Netherlands with values worth N1.4 billion, N0.5 billion and N0.3 billion respectively.
Manufactured Goods Sector
The total trade of manufactured goods stood at N1624.4 billion in Q1, 2018 accounting for 22.52% of total trade. In the reviewing period, the value of exported manufactured goods from Nigeria recorded N434.4 billion (9.26% of total exports), representing a 684.1% growth from the last quarter of 2017. The drivers of the strong growth in manufactured goods export were polyethylene, cigarettes containing tobacco, stuffed pasta, and waters (included mineral and aerated).
The top exported manufacturing good in Q1 was polyethylene, which was mainly exported to China, Brazil and Vietnam with values of N4.0 billion, N2.9 billion and N1.9 billion respectively. N2.1 billion worth of cigarettes were exported to Ivory Coast, followed by N2.0 billion to the Niger Republic and N1.1 billion to the Guinea Republic. Stuffed pasta valued atN1.9 billion and waters (including mineral and aerated) valued atN1.3 billion were exported to Ghana in the first quarter of 2018.
The total value of imported manufactured goods into Nigeria in the first quarter of 2018 was N1.190 billion, or 47.25% of total imports. This figure was 1.65% less than the value recorded in the previous quarter, but 12.1% higher than the value recorded in the same quarter of 2017.
During the quarter, Nigeria imported N 24.3 billion worth of motorcycles from India and N 14.0 billion from China. A total of N29.0 billion worth of Herbicides were imported from China, and N1.7 billion from India. Besides motorcycles and herbicides, Nigeria imported used vehicles to the tune of N21.8 billion from the United States, N1.8 billion from the United Arab Emirates and N1.0 billion from Canada.
Raw Material Goods Sector
The total value of raw material trade in Q1, 2018 stood at N317.5 billion representing 4.4% of the total trade. In the reviewing quarter, raw material goods exported from Nigeria was valued at N32.7 billion in total, accounting for 0.7% of the total export in the quarter. Exports in this sector dropped by 13.6% over the last quarter of 2018, however, increased by 47.7% compared to the first quarter in 2017.
During the quarter, Nigeria exported Urea valued at N11.2 billion, N2.9 billion and N2.1 billion to Brazil, the United States, and Canada respectively. Natural Rubber was exported to France (N0.9 billion), Spain (N0.7 billion), Italy (N0.4 billion), Germany (N0.3 billion) and Lithuania (N 0.3 billion). Other raw materials including leather further prep after tanning and tanned or crust hides and skins without wool were exported to countries including Italy, India, Spain, China, Hong Kong, Portugal and the United States.
Raw material imports recorded N284.8 billion in the reviewing quarter, which is a 1.93% marginal increase from the last quarter of 2017 and a 9.9% growth from the first quarter of 2017. Sugar cane from Brazil which was valued at N46.7 billion was the largest component of raw material import in the quarter, followed by tobacco from Brazil (N6.0 billion), India (N5.0 billion) and Germany (N1.7 billion). Other imports include mixtures of odoriferous substances mainly from Ireland (N7.1 billion), other film of a width exceeding 35mm from Malaysia (N8.8 billion), and minerals and chemical fertilizers mainly from United Arab Emirates (N4.1 billion) and Morocco (N4.0 billion).
Trade Intensity in Q1 2018
Export Intensity Index with Five Major Trading Partners
The export intensity index compares the share of exports to each country in Nigeria's total exports, with the share of world exports going to that country, and therefore gives a measure of the importance of that country to Nigeria as an export destination. A higher number denotes a stronger relationship, and an index of one indicates that exports to that country are what would be expected given global trade patterns.
The export intensity index of Nigeria in Q1, 2018 indicates a strong export relationship between Nigeria and the Netherlands, with export intensities of 3.38, 5.88, and 1.33 in January, February, and March respectively. India, the second leading export partner to Nigeria during the quarter, recording 4.10, 4.44 and 3.52 export intensity in the first three months of the year respectively. Spain also recorded relatively high export intensity for January (3.38), February (2.03) and March (1.66). United States and France both had export intensities less than 1.0 during the first three months of the year except in February when France recorded an export intensity of 1.18.
Import Intensity Index with five Major Trading Partners
During the reviewing quarter, Netherlands, Belgium, and India showed relatively high import intensities among Nigeria's top five import partners. All the five import partners showed higher import intensity in the first two months than March.
The Netherlands recorded 2.28, 2.86 and 0.79 import intensities in January, February and March respectively, and Belgium recorded 3.41, 2.95 and 1.19 in the corresponding months. Likewise, the import intensity of India recorded 2.80, 2.64 and 1.73 for the first three months of the year. China and the United States, although being Nigeria's top import partners, showed relatively low import intensity (compared to the Netherlands, Belgium, and India) in the first quarter, and the intensity tended to decrease from January to March.
Trade by Mode of Transport
In Q1, 2018, water remained the most popular mode of transport for exporting goods from Nigeria. The commodities transported by water accounted for N4,672.4 billion or 99.6% of the total export in this quarter. The goods exported through road accounted for N7.0 billion, and goods exported by air recorded N4.2 billion. Other means of transport for export accounted for N9.7 billion in total during the first quarter of 2018.
Likewise, water is also the major mode of transport for importing goods into Nigeria. A total value of N2,360.2 billion worth of commodities was imported by this mode of transportation, representing 93.7% of total imports in the reviewing quarter. Other modes of transport for import including road transport and air transport recorded N16.2 billion (0.6% of the total imports) and N141.5 billion (5.6% of the total imports) respectively.
Trade by Custom Ports and Post
The leading port of operation during the quarter was Apapa Port, through which N4,181.6 billion of commodities (89.1% of the total export) were exported in the first quarter of 2018. The next leading port of operation during the quarter was Port Harcourt with N374.4 billion of goods or 7.98% exported from there. Commodities of N53.4billion exited the country through Tin Can Island.
Apapa Port was also the leading Port of operation for imports in the first quarter, receiving a value of N1,440.7 billion or 57.2% of total imports from other countries. The second leading port for commodity imports into Nigeria was Tin Can Island, through which N485.7 billion worth of goods (19.29% of the total import) were shipped into the country. Other active ports of operation were Port Harcourt and Muhammed Murtala cargo with N148.6 billion and N103.2 billion imported goods recorded respectively in the first quarter.
Click Here to Download Q1 2018 Foreign Trade Statistics in Goods (PDF) Report
1. 7.98m Workers Are Registered Under The Pension Scheme as at Q1 2018 - NBS
2. 5.67bn Litres of PMS Imported in Q1 2018 - NBS
3. FAAC Disburses N638.09bn in April 2018 - NBS
4. 2,482 Road Traffic Crashes Occurred in Q1 2018 - NBS
5. Nigeria's GDP Grew in Real Terms by 1.95% in Q1 2018
6. N269.79bn Generated as VAT in Q1 2018 - NBS
7. Average Price of 1kg of Tomato Increased by 8.38% MoM in April 2018 - NBS
8. Average Fare for Bus Journey Within City Increased by 3.88% MoM in April 2018 - NBS
9. Headline Inflation Drops to 12.48% in April 2018; 0.86% Lower Than March 2018 Rate
10. Average Prices of PMS, AGO, HHK and Cooking Gas – April 2018
11. Total Value of Capital Imported in Q1 2018 Stood at $6,303.63m - NBS
12. Banking Sector Records 457.23m Volume of Transactions in Q1 2018 - NBS
13. FAAC Disburses N647.39bn in March 2018 –NBS
14. 720,958 Passport Applications Received in 2017 - NBS
15. 309,713kg of Drug Seized in 2017 - NBS
16. Average Intercity Bus Fare Decreased by -5.63% MoM in March 2018
17. Average Price of Tomato Decreased by -0.58% YoY in March 2018
18. Headline Inflation Drops to 13.34% in March 2018; 0.99% Lower Than February 2018 Rate
19. Average Prices of PMS, AGO, HHK and Cooking Gas – March 2018
20. Updated 2017 IGR Report – Osun State Grows IGR by 32.04% in FY 2017
1. FAAC Disburses N635.55bn in February 2018 - NBS
2. Lagos State Has The Highest Domestic and Foreign Debts as at December 2017 - NBS
3. States Generate N931.23bn as IGR in 2017 - NBS
4. Average Air Fare Increased by 1.47% MoM in February 2018 - NBS
5. Average Price of 1kg of Yam Tuber Increased by 7.10% YoY in February 2018 - NBS
6. Headline Inflation Drops to 14.33% in February 2018; 0.8% Lower Than January 2018 Rate
7. Average Prices of PMS, AGO, HHK and Cooking Gas – February 2018
8. Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Kano Airports Served Over 92% of Total Passengers in Q4 2017
9. 4,175 Ocean Going Vessels Recorded at Nigerian Ports in 2017
10. Total Value of Capital Imported into Nigeria in Q4 2017 Estimated at $5,382.89m - NBS
11. Nigeria's GDP Grows in Real Terms by 1.92% in Q4 and 0.83% for Full Year 2017
12. FAAC Disburses N655.18bn in January 2018 – NBS
13. N254.10bn Generated as VAT in Q4 2017 – NBS
14. Total Active Voice Subscription Increased by 3.69% in Q4 2017 – NBS
15. 18.36bn Litres of PMS Distributed State-wide in 2017 – NBS
16. 5.84m Students Enrolled in Junior Secondary Schools in 2016 - NBS
17. 2,489 Road Traffic Crashes Occurred in Q4 2017 - NBS
18. Average Air Fare Increased by 7.34% YoY in January 2018 - NBS
19. Headline Inflation Drops to 15.13% in January 2018; 0.24% Lower Than 15.37% December Rate
20. Average Prices of PMS, AGO, HHK and Cooking Gas – January 2018
21. 7.82m Workers Are Registered Under the Pension Scheme as at Q4 2017 - NBS
22. Daily Energy Generation Attained a Peak of 94,627MWh in Q4 2017 - NBS
24. 77.5m Persons Engaged in Some Sort of Economic Activities in Q3 2017 - NBS
25. Average Fare Paid by Passengers for Water Transport Increased by 6.05% MoM to N631.55 in Dec 2017
26. Average Price of 1kg of Yam Tuber Decreased by -3.67% YoY to N211.61 in December 2017 - NBS
27. Headline Inflation Drops to 15.37% in December 2017; 0.53% Lower Than 15.90% November Rate
28. Average Prices of PMS, AGO, HHK and Cooking Gas – December 2017
29. Active Voice Subscribers Dropped by 8.73% in Q3 2017 – NBS
30. Inequality in Nigeria Worsened Between 2004 and 2013 But Improved in 2016 – NBS
31. FAAC Disburses N609.96bn in December 2017 – NBS
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Home Interviews
Eve Raps About 'Lip Lock,' Women In Hip Hop & Her International Life
September 11, 2013 | 4:00 pm
Eve is on a journey. Now with Lip Lock, her fourth album under her belt, the rapper/producer/actress is on a new path. Who knew that the Philly-bred rapper who stepped on the scene in 1999 with her all-male crew the Ruff Ryders would now be living in London, globetrotting with her British boyfriend and releasing an album on her own label? When I caught up with Eve, she had just landed in LA -- a typical travel schedule during a busy tour that will bring her to Washington, DC's Howard Theatre on Friday, September 13th. In the interview, we travel back in time to the beginning of her career and fast forward to her latest project and her love for foreign lands.
SoulBounce: It's been 10 years since you've released an album. What have you been up to?
Eve: I've been working, I've been performing, I've been traveling and I don't know. You know, I was supposed to put out an album after Tambourine, which was five or six years ago, and I started having issues with the label and then decided to chill off music for a minute and then the TV shows took up a lot of time. Then finally I just decided to put out music independently, which I finally did this year.
SB: Congratulations! How does it feel to put out your own album on your own label?
E: Oh, it feels good, I mean you know it's a lot of pros and cons. The pros are that obviously I get to sign off on everything. I basically got to do what I wanted artistically but then some of the cons you know it's kinda like having a major label definitely helps the push of the album, but at the same time I do feel good.
SB: And since it has been a while, what would you say has changed about you since you first got in the industry?
E: I think a lot of things. I'm definitely a woman now; I think when I started in the business I was young, real young. So I'm a woman now. I've grown up in the business. I've traveled a lot, you know. I live in a different country, you know what I'm saying? Like primarily my home base right now is London so yeah, lots of things have changed.
SB: So what would you go back and tell yourself, like when you first started, after all the experiences you've had since then. What's the one piece of advice you'd tell your younger self?
E: I would say trust my instincts. If I had a chance to go back I would definitely be like trust your instincts a lot more. When you're young you know, especially back then I had a crew of people around me, so I kinda thought they knew what was better for me than I knew myself. And at the end of the day you've gotta trust your instincts, you've gotta trust yourself. So I wish would've done that a little bit more.
SB: That is true, women have some pretty insightful guts.
E: Exactly. [laughs]
SB: So your new album is called Lip Lock. What was the inspiration for the name? You know when you hear "lip lock" you think of a number of things.
E: [laughs] Right, yeah I don't know. It's a name that kinda just stuck like two years ago. Salaam Remi actually came up with the name, and I kinda kept it for this album because I was like, you know I'm a lyricist and it's like lyrically locking the game down. Then, you know, my lips are one of my favorite features on myself and then it was just a play on names. I really like the way it sounds.
SB: I like it, too, it kinda makes you think of a dominatrix situation, but it's whatever you make it right? Actually I feel like you should come out with a lip gloss called Lip Lock, that'd be kinda hot!
E: Yeah, definitely! [laughs]
SB: So back to the album, you have some pretty cool collaborations, are there any favorites?
E: Umm, I think, I mean I'm happy that everyone that's on the album, I'm really happy they showed up. But I think my most favorite probably would be Missy Elliott. Like, getting her on this album was big for me. I'm a fan of Missy's and Missy's been a friend of mine since I've been in the business. And I felt like I needed a female presence as far as hip hop goes on this album so it's me and Missy, and then we have a new girl on it called Nacho, who's just amazing. So that's one of my favorite records on the album.
SB: Speaking of females in hip hop, what do you think about women in hip hop right now? Do you feel like there's a female presence right now or could it be better?
E: I think it could be better. I think there's a lot of great females that are coming up, like there are so many talented chicks that are coming up. I don't think that they have equal shine yet like the dudes, and I think that hopefully in a year or two it will be equal again cause right now there are some females out there. But right now all you hear about is Nicki [Minaj] and you sometimes hear about Azealia Banks, but then the other females that are out, like there's so many. Angel Haze is amazing, like she gets buzz, but they're not like breaking through and I think there needs to be more balance with females. There's too many dudes out, there's way too many out. It's ridiculous! Oh my God, some of them are so wack! I'm like what are you saying? Like what are you actually talking about, I can't take it.
SB: Why do you think that is that women can't break that glass ceiling when it comes to hip hop right now?
E: I think there's so many men in the business, in the industry period, the men that make decisions. There are men that make the decisions I should say, men that are signing or have the power to sign a new artist, and a lot of them don't like females. A lot of them don't like female MC's, and I think that has a lot to do with it. A lot of them don't want to work with females, and I think that's the biggest thing, but I could be wrong. I don't know, I could be wrong, but I know even to this day I've had men come up to me like "you know I usually don't like female rappers but I like you." So I think it's a thing with men and female rappers. I don't know, it's discrimination.
SB: What is it about you that you think men react that way, what is that quality that you have?
E: I think it's a few things. I think number one I come from a crew of dudes, I come from Ruff Ryders, and that's always a crew I think that people have respected. But then on top of that, for me my main goal when I started rapping, even before I was signed, when I was younger battling at cyphers, my biggest thing was that I didn't come off as a girl. I didn't want to be good for a girl, I wanted to be a girl, obviously I am a girl, but I wanted to be aggressive like how I saw dudes, you know what I'm saying? I didn't want to be rapping about cute things, I wanted to battle these dudes, and I wanted to be their counterpart like "you think you can rhyme? I can rhyme." I think it's always been my attitude as well. I think it's in the attitude.
SB: And how do you think the guys in Ruff Ryders helped you? Did they stick up for you when people didn't take you seriously?
E: Nah, I think at the end of the day they knew when they signed me. I always say that Ruff Ryders for me was like boot camp. They signed me, and they didn't treat me any different than the guys. If the guys were in the studio 24 hours then I had to be in the studio 24 hours. They didn't make things easier for me, I had to write just like the dudes, nobody wrote my rhymes and I had to prove myself. And I think it made me that much better as an MC, a person, an entertainer, like everything because if you're here you need to prove yourself just like everybody else. And then once I did proved myself and was out there battling guys and doing shows, that's when they started basically protecting me and I was baby sis. But I had to prove myself first.
SB: Speaking of Ruff Ryders, what's everyone up to and are you still in contact with everyone?
E: Not really, I'd say it's like a family, you grow up and you go off and have your own lives. Like we're all grown ups and most of them have kids now and been married or whatever. I saw DMX over the weekend, I was in Detroit and I had a show with him. I get to see him every so often but as far as keeping in touch, we don't really keep in touch like that. You know when we see each other, we see each other and it's all love, but that's about it.
SB: So I follow you on Instagram and I notice that you travel a lot, joining your boo (British entrepreneur Maximillion Cooper) with his annual rally Gumball 3000. Tell me about that experience.
E: It's fun man, like that's just honestly, even if I wasn't with him I would do it every year anyway. It's like an amazing adventure. And for me like that's just my tomboy side like cars, and motorcycles and all of that, I've always loved that kind of stuff and I love driving. But being able to be with him and like now I'm so into it cause obviously that's my man but like now I'm involved when he's planning the route, the sponsorship. It's really amazing, like a sick adventure. And you meet so many different people like you would never ever get a chance to meet, like there are musicians on it, rappers whatever, skateboarders, there's Saudi princes and kings, and all kinds of stuff. And then there's like regular people, it's just like there's so many people and every year I look forward to it, it's just really cool.
SB: Since we only have time for one more question and this is SoulBounce.com, what makes your soul bounce?
E: Oh, that's a good question, that's a really good question. I would say probably when I'm on an adventure, when I'm somewhere that's not something I'm used to, I like being in a foreign country or with some friends or people I love and trying to figure out what that country is about. Just on an adventure, whatever we gotta figure out to get to that next place or figure what that country's about, I love traveling so I think that probably makes my soul bounce.
TAGS: Angel Haze, Azealia Banks, dmx, eve, Maximillion Cooper, missy elliott, Nacho, Nicki Minaj, ruff ryders, salaam remi"
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Meetings, Workshops and Webinars
Conference on Mediation
March 29, 1996, Geneva, Switzerland
by Rupert Bondy,
Legal Counsel, SmithKline Beecham Plc
(Brentford, United Kingdom)
The focus of this paper will be on the conduct of the mediation itself. The emphasis will be practical more than theoretical, from the perspective of a participant seeking to achieve settlement of a dispute on the best possible terms, including avoided future costs and uncertainties. The issue is how to make the best use of the mediation, which may be the last and best opportunity to resolve the dispute before incurring the very significant costs of a formal trial or arbitration and before relations between the parties deteriorate to a point where a negotiated resolution, even one which seems plainly advantageous to all parties, becomes impossible. I should start by making the usual disclaimer that all views expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent those of SmithKline Beecham Plc. For convenience, I also use the masculine pronoun only.
As a preliminary matter it is worth drawing two distinctions. The first is between consensual and mandatory mediation. While my focus will be on the mediation itself, my assumption is that the mediation is consensual in the sense that the parties have agreed, after the dispute has arisen, to attempt to resolve the dispute by mediation. The dynamic is likely to be very different in a mandatory mediation, for example where mediation is a court-ordered step which the parties to litigation are required to undertake prior to a trial, or where it is contractually required in the dispute resolution provisions of an agreement (often negotiated between different representatives of the parties than those responsible for the conduct of the dispute). Where a mediation is mandatory, there is a significantly greater risk that it is a mere formality, in the sense that the parties simply go through the motions because they have to, without any real commitment to attempting to reach a resolution.
A consensual mediation begins with at least some shared sense that the parties will attempt in good faith to reach a settlement, an important psychological premise which gives impetus to the mediation process itself. However, this is not to ignore the distance that may exist between the parties: even in consensual mediation, the parties can be far apart, defending entrenched positions without any real middle ground. In these circumstances, the attitude of the parties in agreeing to mediation may well be:
-	we're pessimistic but it's worth a try;
-	at least we should learn something about the other side's case;
-	we don't need to give anything away about our own case;
-	bottom line: there should be nothing to lose.
It is in precisely this situation that it is critical to exploit the small opening created by the parties' agreement to the mediation, leveraging this minimal cooperation to try to reach a settlement of the dispute itself.
The second distinction is between two types of dispute: on the one hand, a dispute confined to how much money damages, if any, should be paid in respect of a past incident between parties who have no continuing relationship (for example, most personal injury claims); on the other hand, a dispute about the terms of an on-going relationship between parties with every incentive to preserve that relationship at some level of cooperation and goodwill (for example, rights under a joint venture agreement). In the first situation the room for manoeuvre in a mediation may appear to be less, in the sense that there seems less opportunity for shaping a creative solution in which the opposing sides all feel that they are winners. The literature on negotiation and dispute resolution often contrast "creating value" with "claiming value". Negotiation of a business arrangement may enable the parties to a better result than either could have reached individually, creating value, or, in simpler terms, increasing the size of the pie. The difficulty, having created value, is how to apportion the incremental value created between competing claimants, but at least there is a larger pie to divide up.
Where the dispute is simply about money damages, for example a personal injury claim, mediation may seem to be a zero sum game in which gain to one party must inevitably mean loss to another. While this may seem more intractable terrain for a successful mediation, there should still be opportunities. First, the avoided future costs from a successful mediation should by themselves mean that the game is not zero sum. Second, the avoidance of the uncertainty generally inherent in the trial process (particularly where juries are involved) should have a value for both parties. Finally, the opportunities for cooperation (and hence value creation) outside the sphere of the dispute, may turn out to be greater than initially apparent. For example, the pharmaceutical industry is a relatively small world and, while parties to a dispute may believe they have nothing in common save for the dispute itself, this often proves incorrect, and both parties can help each other on matters unrelated to the dispute at little or no cost to themselves. Thinking laterally about other ingredients which may be thrown into the mediation pot to assist reaching a settlement is an important aspect of the process to which I will return below.
All of this is by way of background to a discussion of how to approach a mediation which I assume to be a consensual mediation of a dispute that appears to involve simply a claim for money for a past event, but in which there may be opportunities for the parties to introduce matters strictly unrelated to the dispute itself in negotiating a resolution to the dispute.
Typically, the first substantive stage in the mediation, after introductions have been made and the parties have signed a mediation agreement, is for each party to make short opening remarks in full session, to be followed by caucus meetings. This immediately raises the question of the target audience for the opening remarks: to whom should you be addressing yourself for the greatest impact on the outcome of the mediation?
WHOM TO ADDRESS: TARGET AUDIENCES AND CONSTITUENCIES
The cast of characters in a mediation is likely to be quite diverse. At the centre is the mediator himself. There will also be a team representing each party. This may well include a senior executive who has had little historical involvement in the dispute itself or in the event or transaction which gave rise to the dispute, but who is a senior representative of the relevant party to the dispute and who holds ultimate authority to settle. There may also be a manager who has had day to day responsibility for the conduct of the dispute and who may or may not have been involved in the event or transaction which gave rise to the dispute. In addition, each party is likely to include its lawyer, internal and/or external. Finally, the parties may well bring their experts, for example scientific or accounting experts, who would testify on their behalf as independent experts at trial. Many disputes turn on the expert evidence adduced by each party and the expert is often an important member of the case team. While there are many variations on a theme and a particular mediation may be attended by a much larger or smaller group of players, the above is a fairly generic selection.
Given this diverse collection, there is immediately an issue as to the level at which your remarks should be pitched and to whom in particular they should be aimed. While much will depend on your judgement of the individuals involved in each case, it is worth making a few comments about each category of participant.
There is a great temptation to treat the mediator as an adjudicator and to direct your remarks almost exclusively to him. Given that mediation is still relatively unusual, there can be a tendency to view the mediation as an arbitration. Of course, this is to misunderstand the nature of mediation and the role of the mediator as a facilitator of a negotiated settlement rather than an adjudicator. However, the instinct to play advocate to the mediator's judge seems to be a powerful one.
This potential confusion should not obscure the fact that the mediator remains an important audience in the mediation. Not least, this is because much of the communication between the parties during the mediation is effected exclusively through the mediator in caucus sessions. Accordingly, it is essential at the very least that you properly convey to the mediator any message that you want communicated to the other side and that the mediator understands the positions you are adopting in the mediation. If messages going backwards and forwards are garbled, then it is unlikely that there will ever be a meeting of the minds for settlement purposes.
In addition, it is likely that you will seek not just the mediator's understanding of your positions, but his support for them. While he may not have power to bind the parties, there is clearly some potential for him to persuade and influence, and if he offers an independent view of the merits of the case, this is likely to carry some weight ("if we can't convince the mediator, how will we be able to convince the judge/jury?"). To an extent this persuasion and influence factor will depend on the nature of the mediator. Looking at archetypes at opposite ends of the spectrum, there is the bully and the psychoanalyst: while mediators are trained to facilitate rather than adjudicate, some mediators will remain temperamentally inclined to make their own (sometimes rapid) judgement of the merits of the case and then to urge that judgement quite forcefully on the parties. Other mediators are more self-effacing: in the nature of classical psychoanalysts, they are more likely to answer a question with a question or respond to a statement by summarising it than they are to offer their own conclusions. Particularly with the former type, there will be a strong impulse to try to enlist his support early on, starting with the opening remarks.
Given the consensual nature of mediation, the other team are clearly a critical audience, but there will be issues about the appropriate focus within that team.
The Senior Executive
This is likely to be the person making the final decision on any settlement. It is quite likely that he has had little involvement to date beyond periodic briefings from his own side about the progress of the case. As such he should have less of a stake and less emotional or personal involvement in the case than other members of his team. The mediation is often the first opportunity you have had for any direct contact with him and is likely to be the first occasion on which he gives sustained attention and focus to the case: sitting in a mediation continuously for a couple of days is very different from receiving occasional briefing papers and attending review meetings.
This means that it is essential to deliver a clear and preferably succinct message to this participant, exploiting fully the opportunity to educate him on what you see as the significant issues and strengths of your case and, more aggressively, perhaps to shake his faith in what his own side are telling him about the strengths of their case. The issue is to cut through the detail to the major points of the case. It is also important to bear in mind that, if this person suspects at any point that you are withholding information or playing tricks, your credibility will be destroyed, along with the prospects for a successful outcome to the mediation.
The Responsible Manager
This person in many ways drives the case as the senior executive will rely on his detailed knowledge to ensure that their side is not fundamentally misled about the case by your side's presentation of it. The senior executive will look to the responsible manager for guidance in making a decision and will often seek his "buy-in" to a decision. As such he is an important audience. The issue here is often that this person has lost perspective on the case: he is too immersed in the detail and may also feel personally exposed if he was involved in the matter which gave rise to the dispute ("did I miss something in the original transaction?").
Finally, the dispute itself may have become somewhat emotional and personal. In this case it is important to avoid simple repetition of stale and familiar arguments, getting away from the detail and personalities of the case to a more bottom line perspective.
The Lawyer
Often the lawyer knows as much or more of the detail of the case than the responsible manager. The difficulty here may be that the lawyer's background in adversarial litigation and unfamiliarity (and perhaps distrust) of the mediation process impedes the progress of the mediation from relatively entrenched initial positions to a more cooperative search for a mutually satisfactory settlement. Deflecting any move in this direction will be important to keep the mediation on track.
The Expert
As stated, the case may turn upon expert evidence: was this step in the development process obvious so as not to be patentable? Did the accounts show a true and fair view of the financial condition of the business? Would a reasonably competent doctor have diagnosed malaria rather than influenza? The experts for each side, while theoretically independent, are often an integral part of the case team and if they can be persuaded of the force of your arguments, this may significantly affect the other side's overall assessment of the case.
Your own side
It is worth mentioning that this may well be the first time that the senior executive on your own team has devoted any substantial amount of time to the case. If he is making a final decision on your side over any settlement, your presentation must be convincing for him as well as for the other side.
These are general remarks and the circumstances of a particular case may clearly be very different. For example, the responsible manager and lawyer on the other side may be sympathetic to your arguments but totally unable to convince the senior executive for their side that their case is much worse than he wants and demands. However, two general principles should remain valid in most cases. First, there will be a number of different participants in the mediation with differing degrees of knowledge of and involvement in the underlying dispute and with potentially very different expectations of the mediation itself. All of these participants are likely to have some bearing on the outcome of the case and hence the interests and circumstances of each of them must be recognised and accommodated or addressed in formulating your mediation strategy.
Second, that strategy will depend on your judgement of the particular circumstances of each case, especially your best view of the dynamics of persuasion, influence and, put crudely, power between the various participants. In certain cases it may become clear that their is a strong minded lawyer on the other side and that effectively any recommendation he makes will be followed. In other cases their may be a strong willed mediator with similar influence. It may appear that the other side is not a team at all and that the senior executive effectively ignores his own people. Such factors will be important in determining the way in which you present your own case. Among other things, they will affect internal "casting" decisions about who on your own team should play what role in the course of the mediation.
WHAT TO SAY: CASE STUDY OF A STANDARD MEDIATION
The cast of characters having assembled, the mediation begins. As a vehicle to discuss the various strategies that can be adopted, it is worth charting the course of a standard mediation, dividing it into the following stages:
-	Opening statements
-	Caucusing: posturing and digging in
-	Stalemate
-	Towards a common framework
-	Offer and counter-offer
-	Splitting the difference: getting to the bottom line
-	Settlement agreement
We can then consider strategies for a more effective approach to mediation.
Opening statements
These may do little more than restate the positions set out in the pre-mediation submissions. There will typically be expressions of good intentions with regard to entering the mediation in an open mind and a spirit of compromise, and the statements may even include certain concessions from the positions adopted in the formal dispute/litigation. However, these are typically more token than substantial and rarely represent a real paradigm shift by either party in the approach taken to the dispute. If the parties expect to end up somewhere in the middle, they are reluctant to depart significantly from an extreme position as their starting point. Borrowing from the literature on negotiation, this stage can be characterised as "positional" rather than "principled" in the approach of the parties. Each side also wants to signal to the mediator the confidence they have in their case and their willingness, if necessary to take a tough stand and revert to formal litigation.
In addition, if there has been a certain amount of acrimony and injured feeling on both sides, there may be a psychological and emotional purpose served by each party stating its position in fairly strong terms: getting things off their chests in the mediation even if they do not have their day in court. Even in commercial disputes between large organisations this can play a role where a relatively small number of individuals have had intimate involvement in the matter and a sense of grievance has developed over time. In these circumstances, matters can sound worse than they really are at the end of the opening remarks.
Caucusing: posturing and digging in
The opening remarks are generally followed by caucus sessions between the parties and the mediator. In the early stages this often involves the parties simply reiterating their initial positions, engaging in advocacy towards the mediator and, through him, the other party and disclosing perhaps limited additional information that tends to support the disclosing party's own position. There is also a tendency to be almost unwilling to listen to and give weight to the other side's arguments.
One of the issues that the parties frequently consider at this and later stages is how much to tell the mediator and how much to permit the mediator to relay to the other party. Coupled with this may also be a question of whether effectively to dissemble before the mediator, conveying to him a position you may not in fact hold in the hope that he will accept this as your true position and present it as such to the other party. For example, you may tell the mediator that you are confident that your position on a particular issue is legally watertight even when in fact you view your position on this issue as weak. This would be in the expectation of the mediator relaying this to the other party and their concluding that they will have to give up more on this issue if they are to reach a settlement. Alternatively, you may tell the mediator that you believe your position is weak but go on to ask him to convey to the other side your conviction that your position is an extremely strong one.
The same issues may arise later in the litigation. For example, you may have agreed internally that your "bottom line" for settling the case as the defendant is $10 million but you tell the mediator that your bottom line is $5 million in the expectation that he will present this to the other side as an insight into your internal deliberations, leading them to conclude that if the mediation is to be successful they must accept $5 million as the most they will get. Alternatively, you tell the mediator that your bottom line is $10 million but you request him not to inform the other side of this or, more aggressively, to inform the other side that your bottom line is $5 million.
Aside from the ethical issues this raises for the mediator, there are questions about the efficacy of stratagems like these. However, there seem to be powerful psychological impulses towards adopting them, particularly where there is a suspicion that the other side are doing the same.
The culmination of these initial sessions is often a stalemate: the parties often blaming each other for an unwillingness to move from entrenched positions and telling themselves that they have tried in good faith to make progress but have been frustrated by the unreasonableness of the other side. At this point there is great pessimism that the mediation will have a successful outcome and the discouraged parties retreat to consider their positions.
Towards a common framework
The negotiation literature discusses various strategies for breaking out of an impasse. There is often an impetus to try to resolve the impasse as the parties reassess their position in the light of what they have learned from the other party in the initial sessions, however little that may seem to be. Each side typically gives at least some additional credit to the other party's position, and the "best alternative to a negotiated agreement" seems at least marginally less attractive than it did originally.
One of the more effective strategies for breaking out of an impasse in these circumstances is to take one of the fundamental assumptions that divides the parties and to recast your own case on the basis of the other party's fundamental premise rather than on the basis of your own premise. If you can do this and make the argument "even if I accept your premise, what follows from that is X not, as you allege, Y" this paradigm shift may disarm the other party and produce sufficient common ground on the basis of which to negotiate towards a settlement. The principle is to articulate and accommodate the other side's position, but then to overlay your own perspective and argument.
The above is by way of example only, to illustrate how one or both parties can somehow shift position or convince the other party to shift position such that there is sufficient common ground for the mediation to proceed and to enter a new phase of negotiation.
Offer and counter-offer
Assuming that the parties manage to reach this common ground, one of the parties may then make a formal offer to settle the dispute on terms that reflect the common ground as well, obviously, as taking account of the areas of disagreement between the parties. This is often the first sign to the other party that the breakthrough described in the previous section has been reached. While the offer may be unacceptable, it may at least signal modified expectations that encourage the belief that it will be possible to strike a deal. The expectation will be that the offer does not represent the other party's final position, but rather the new floor or ceiling from which they are negotiating. A signal is then sent to the other party in the form of a counter-offer which, while again likely to be unacceptable in itself, may indicate that the distance between the parties is no longer unmanageably large: in effect, the parties recognise that they are "in the ball-park".
Splitting the difference: getting to the bottom line
Once the parties have reached this point, the only real question is whether the final figure will be closer to the offer or to the counter-offer. At this stage, a principled discussion of the merits of the various issues in the case often takes a back-seat to a more basic form of haggling: in effect, the parties work backwards from the figures they propose, seeking to justify a particular figure by reference to an argument that a particular claim is worth, say, 40% not 60% of the gross amount claimed, rather than working towards the final figure from first principles. The tempo of the mediation can also change: on the one hand there can be a sudden acceleration towards the finishing post; on the other hand one of the parties may need a final period of soul searching to reconcile itself to coming out of the mediation with significantly less than it expected.
Assuming the previous stage has resulted in agreement on a particular figure, the settlement agreement should pose few problems. Indeed, in the UK it may be no more than a letter of a couple of paragraphs. Where the dispute relates to an ongoing relationship and the settlement includes new terms for that relationship, the documentation of those terms may be a somewhat more onerous process, but it is unlikely that it will cause the mediation to fail at this stage.
PRINCIPLES FOR A MORE STRATEGIC APPROACH TO MEDIATION
The process described above involves a good deal of posturing and other examples of what is (critically) referred to in the literature as positional rather than principled negotiation. The question is how far it is possible to get beyond this to a more principled and strategic approach to the mediation. The obstacle usually referred to is that it is hard to do this unilaterally - i.e. if the other party is not as enlightened as you about negotiation principles. Whatever the truth of this (and the literature discusses various strategies for addressing the other side's unwillingness to cooperate in a principled negotiation), there are a number of principles which should remain valid irrespective of the other side's approach to the mediation.
The importance of advance preparation may seem too obvious to mention. However, a party may go into a mediation without having carried out substantial preparation on the basis that they are simply going in to learn what they can about the other side's case and will either settle on exactly the terms they want (so there is no need for any preparation) or they will not settle at all (they can do further work after the mediation). This immediately raises the risk that you will lose the opportunity to settle on terms somewhat less favourable than you originally hoped for but which you would view as highly advantageous if you were appropriately prepared. Because you are uncertain of the facts you will be afraid to move from an entrenched position in case you give too much away.
In addition, you will be at a constant disadvantage in being unable to respond to the other side's points and there will be a sense throughout the mediation that you are being reactive and unable to exercise any form of control. To have ready and definitive answers to questions which arise during the mediation confers a significant benefit and, in short, the importance of being well prepared cannot be overstressed.
Listening to the other side
As important as what you say in the mediation is a willingness to listen to what the other side are saying. While parties often go into mediation on the basis that at the very least they will learn something about the other side's case, there can be a surprising unwillingness to pay proper attention, as if to do so would somehow amount to an admission. Listening first of all means that you will learn about the other side's case, which can only be an advantage. It will also enable you to talk to the other side on their terms, in the sense of presenting your case to them in terms of their own assumptions and premises, as discussed further below. At a minimum, even if the mediation is unsuccessful, it will be helpful for the future conduct of the dispute to have a better understanding of the other side's position (or, if you do not accept that the other side are being entirely candid about their position, to have a sense of what they see as the most advantageous way for them of presenting their position).
Educating the other side
In presenting a case there is a temptation simply to assert your position and demand that it be accepted as the correct one. It is likely to be more effective to go into the mediation on the basis that it is an opportunity for each side to educate the other side about its position in the hope that this will produce a better understanding leading to some common ground. Creating a framework of information exchange and mutual learning can be a less threatening and confrontational start to the mediation than immediately adopting a more adversarial negotiation stance. Building on this foundation of cooperation rather than confrontation may lead more naturally to a good faith settlement negotiation.
Parties are often reluctant to enter into this process of education if it involves disclosing either a point that they regard as a "secret weapon" in their favour which they believe they can use to ambush the other side later in the litigation or a "smoking gun" that undermines their position. As regards the former, any dismay caused to the other side by learning of such a point is likely to be just as effective in the mediation as at trial or some other time later on in the litigation, and hence there is often little benefit in withholding it at the mediation itself. The latter point is more difficult, although smoking guns are relatively rare and the raw information is often already available to the other side, even if they have not yet completed the analysis to determine that the information creates a point in their favour. A judgement must be made about the inevitability of the information (or the significance of the information) becoming apparent at some point, and the advantages and disadvantages of releasing it yourself now (when you may have some control over how the point is presented and interpreted) as opposed to mandatory disclosure later.
Presenting to the other side on their own terms
Once the other side's perspective on the case has been understood through the mutual education process described above, it will be worth trying to recast your own case in terms of their perspective: "even if you are right about the fundamental basis of the case, what follows is X not Y". To shift to the other side's paradigm in presenting your own case may be highly effective in creating a common framework in which to negotiate a resolution. At the very least it signals a willingness to see the case through their eyes and to analyse it accordingly.
Clearly this is easier in some situations than others: in an extreme case it may mean that the other side's case has to be accepted wholesale, but this is relatively unusual and more often there is scope to adopt one or more of the other side's premises without conceding that your own case is fundamentally worse than it was originally presented as being.
By presenting your case in the other side's terms you may also make it easier for them to reconcile themselves to an outcome that they are leaning towards anyway but are having difficulty in justifying to themselves.
In short, it is worth doing everything possible to make the decision you are looking for easier rather than harder for the other party to come to.
Look for win/win opportunities
Prospects for a successful mediation may be significantly enhanced by generating ideas for mutual gain, including matters outside the scope of the dispute. For example, where a party defending a patent infringement claim has other patents which are of no value except to the claimant party, if the defending party is willing to include a licence of those patents in the scope of a settlement then both parties may end up better off than if the two matters were kept entirely separate.
Both in preparation for and in the course of the mediation it will be worth trying to think creatively about possibilities for introducing matters which are apparently extraneous to the dispute itself into the scope of the settlement negotiation. It may be that nothing emerges from this process of brainstorming, but it is always valuable to look for such win/win opportunities.
Back to Conference on Mediation Index


Posted on January 24, 2019 at 10:00 am.
We've all seen an orchestral conductor doing their thing on stage. They seem kinda important, right? After all, they are right in front, leading the music, and even bow to the audience after a performance. So what, exactly, do they do? To find out, we chatted with New World Symphony Conducting Fellow Dean Whiteside.
🖐 What do the hand gestures mean? Conducting is like its own language. With this language, Dean told us, conductors show the orchestra to start and stop, along with setting tempo by moving their hands or a baton up and down in time. These conducting gestures are universal throughout the orchestra world. However, each conductor has their own style or "handwriting." Some conduct with pronounced arm gestures, while others may have much smaller gestures and rely on facial expressions.
🎼 What does it take to become a conductor? While training programs can vary from country to country, Dean, who trained in Vienna at the University of Music and the Performing Arts, said it was a very intensive four-year program that focused a lot on music theory.
🧙♂ How do conductors pick their wand? Well, we first learned that it is called a baton, not a wand. D'oh! And you can purchase them at any musical instrument retailer. (So nothing like stepping into Ollivanders Wand Shop in Diagon Alley, like we imagined.) Conductors choose their baton based on their preference in weight and material like lightweight wood, fiberglass or carbon fiber. The baton as we know it did not become popular until the 19th century.
❓ Can an orchestra perform without a conductor? Short answer: Yes. Dean said there are many orchestras that perform without a conductor. Long answer: A conductor can be very important, especially when complex and difficult pieces are performed. Conducting is really the art of directing a musical performance. For the skeptics in the house, there was a 2012 study from the University of Maryland where two conductors — one a veteran and one a novice — led the same orchestra. Music experts who listened to the performances in a controlled environment found the music conducted by the veteran conductor to be more aesthetically pleasing to listen to.
If you want to see Dean conduct and catch a performance with the rest of the amazing Fellows of the New World Symphony, check out Pulse on Feb. 1 or another upcoming show.


text:
import time
import sys

def getTime():
    if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
        return time.clock()
    else:
        return time.time()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


he Women's Fulfilled Jacket from Dare 2b is packed with duck down fill for exceptional warmth on the coldest of days. Made from Ilus down nylon taffeta ripstop fabric, it is durable, lightweight and easily compressible. A 100% nylon downproof lining ensures the feather are packed tight to maximise performance. The jacket also features a grown on hood, adjustable shockcord hem, stretch cuffs and multiple pockets.
Ilus down nylon taffeta ripstop fabric - lightweight, durable with a water repellent finish.
Duck down fill - 80% down/20% feathers for exceptional warmth.
100% nylon downproof lining - keeps the feathers packed tight to maximise performance.
Packs down small - made from tiny fibres that are easily compressible.
Grown on hood - with adjusters.
Inner stretch cuffs and adjustable shockcord hem - lock in warmth.
Multiple pockets - 2 lower zipped and 1 internal zipped pocket with MP3 port.


March 2019: The Net Worth and Investments | Save. Spend. Splurge.
I would say from just last year, I was at $644K and now I am at $842K. About a $200,000 increase, give or take, is not bad.
I am not doing that badly, but I don't want to get complacent and start spending money I don't really have.
I feel like I won't have enough money until I am truly able to live comfortably off the income until the age of 95 (uber conservative age), which means I need a couple, if not, more than a couple million safely invested and stored away in my bank vaults, on top of owning my house and car outright (which I do now).
If we look at my assets, they look pretty much the same as before but the liquid is rising.
I am actually happy about finally getting my liquid assets to match my fixed assets in a 50/50 ratio.
You can see that right now with my house and car, I am almost at $450,000 in my net worth in fixed assets alone.
The liquid assets – easily sold (even at a loss), or tapped in money, is growing, and eventually in about 3 months should reach a 50/50 ratio which will make me breathe easier.
I have always had the goal of liquid assets > fixed assets because I never want to have to sell my house or car for money to live.
He is doing well! GO LITTLE BUN!
I am hoping he will have a $40,000 net worth by the end of this year. Should be doable.
I tried looking at the transactions to parse out the dividends but it is just not clear enough for me to waste my time doing it, so you will always get my dividend report a month late.
I find that every quarter, my dividends go up, but on average, my goal is $1000/month in dividend income as a 'side income', that I could eventually use as a real income rather than making it reinvest back into buying more stock to snowball this income.
Awesome work Sherry!! Where do you keep your car/ what category?
Finally, someone else who tracks their liquid and non-liquid assets and ratio. I myself have been trying to keep a 50:50 ratio, but find it very difficult given the 401k match.
Great month! Keep it up.
Well you can't eat your house 🙂 Haha!!


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Blackhawks re-sign Nordstrom
The Chicago Blackhawks, parent club of the AHL's Rockford IceHogs, announced Wednesday that they have agreed to terms with forward Joakim Nordstrom on a one-year contract, which runs through the end of the 2015-16 National Hockey League season.
Nordstrom, 23, tallied three assists in 38 regular-season games and appeared in three postseason games en route to the 2015 Stanley Cup championship with the Blackhawks last season. He has recorded six points (one goal, five assists) over 54 career NHL games, all with Chicago.
The Stockholm, Sweden, native also registered 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in 23 regular-season contests with Rockford last season. The 23 year-old was named the team captain for Rockford's 2014-15 campaign.
Nordstrom has 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 career points in 72 games with Rockford over parts of the past three seasons. He was selected by the Blackhawks in the third round (90th overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft.
Heat, Condors to head outdoors
Chabot named to Wild coaching staff


If you find that you cannot Mount an Image Backup and receive a message in the Image Backup Tools area of NovaBACKUP saying "Unable to mount the image. You may need to reboot," but you know that you have restarted your PC since last installing or upgrading NovaBACKUP software, or if the NovaBACKUP Image Backup Wizard's "Launch Image Backup Tool .." or "Image Backup Schedule" function do not launch or appear to not go anywhere, you will probably need to fix the Disaster Recovery Drivers that are currently installed.
It is important to know that NovaStor makes changes to the Disaster Recovery Drivers (Image Backup Drivers) component in new versions of NovaBACKUP and in some cases the driver component often times does not get upgraded nor removed properly during an upgrade or even new install (if you ever had a prior version of NovaBACKUP installed it may leave leftover remnants of this driver in the Windows Registry) of NovaBACKUP. In some cases it is necessary to remove the driver altogether and that normally cannot successfully be done by removing the entry in Programs and Features, displayed as "Disaster Recovery Drivers" for whatever reason and so that requires the end user to remove Windows Registry Entries associated to the Disaster Recovery Drivers package. The instructions for how to do that are here.
Run this setup file, when it starts select "Maintenance", "Next", followed by "Change"
Select the arrow next to "Virtual Disk Driver"
Choose the option "Will be installed on local hard drive"
First of all make sure that you are logged in to Windows as a user with Administrator rights, make sure the user is in the Administrators Group and that you log in with that user again to Windows if it did not have Admin rights in the first place. If you are NOT logged in as a user with Administrator rights currently then these instructions will not work.
Delete all of the *.tmp files in the above folder. If no files exist go to the next step.
If you are uncomfortable performing registry changes yourself please follow the previous steps only.
The following steps are for advanced users.
Windows Registry editor contains important Operating System information, if you are unsure about what you are doing please be aware that changing or removing some entries can cause your system to become unstable.
Now right-click on that registry key using the left-hand window pane for that search result it should already be highlighted for you in gray color and then click "Delete" to remove that entire key. It will prompt you to Confirm Key Delete, answer Yes to delete the registry key. That takes care of deleting the first matching registry key, but there are normally about nine more to be found. Next we will show you how to remove the remaining nine or so entries.
Next, inside the Registry Editor, click on the Edit menu and then click on "Find Next" (or press F3 on your keyboard to perform a Find Next) and continue your find search for the same text string "273DCB41A0C230340A390A5933D13024", without the quotes. Continue finding that registry key and perform a delete on each of the keys that match that string.
An example of all of the registry keys that you may typically find during a Find at this point are shown below in order from first result found to the last result found. Here we see the remaining nine registry keys that were found in order from first to last found entry. Each of these entries can be searched for using the Address Bar area of the Registry Editor to copy and paste in each of the registry keys text string to that Address Bar and press Enter to look for that entry one by one.
For each result you find right-click on the registry key using the left-hand window pane for that search result it should already be highlighted for you in gray color and do a "Delete" command to remove that entire key. Make sure that from inside the Registry Editor, click on the Edit menu and then click on "Find Next" (or press F3 on your keyboard to perform a Find Next) and continue your find search for the same text screen mentioned above, "273DCB41A0C230340A390A5933D13024", without the quotes, to locate all of the results.
Alternatively you can delete each of the exact mentioned registry keys shown in the above list by using the "Address Bar" (check to make sure the "Address Bar" option is enabled in Registry Editor by clicking on the "View" menu in the toolbar and make sure that the checkbox is enabled for "Address Bar" in this menu) entry box area of the Registry Editor which is the entry box just below the "File - Edit - View - Favorites - Help" toolbar at the top of the Registry Editor application screen. If you go to the top-left of the Registry Editor and scroll up using the vertical scroll bar to the top of the screen you should see an object named "Computer", select that object and then just above where you selected "Computer" in gray color it will show the text "Computer" again in the address location area of Registry Editor. Inside that area you can paste in the entire text string for one of the 9 registry keys mentioned above in to that field to overwrite the contents of that address location field with the copied contents to locate that exact registry key and delete it via the left-side window pane in the result, the key will already be highlighted for you to delete on the left-side window pane, in gray color.
In total you may find about 9 entries to remove which match the "273DCB41A0C230340A390A5933D13024" registry key string.
If the Registry Editor does find a registry key which matches that text string, delete that entire root level key by right-clicking on the item highlighted on the LEFT side of the Registry Editor program screen.
Continue finding that registry key and perform a delete on each of the keys that match that string. Go to the Edit menu and click Find Next (or press F3 on your keyboard to perform a Find Next).
You may find additional entries which match the "Disaster Recovery Drivers" registry key strings.
Delete each of those registry keys if you find them by selecting the already highlighted key on the left window pane which is already going to be highlighted in gray for you to delete. Right-click and delete that entry. Continue finding that registry key and perform a delete on each of the keys that match that string. Go to the Edit menu and click Find Next (or press F3 on your keyboard to perform a Find Next).
Perform the Find command until the Registry Editor displays a pop-up window that says "Finished searching through the registry". Now you are done searching the Registry for these keys. You can go to the File menu and click Exit to exit out of the program. In total you should have find about 10 registry key items to delete.
Now Restart the computer. This step is 100% necessary or everything that you just did will not have any effect if you continue here without the computer reboot.
After restarting your computer load NovaBACKUP software and when the Home screen comes up click on "Image Backup - Start the Image Backup wizard" and then click on the "Launch Image Backup Tool for Backup/Restore/Boot CD Creation" item. You may need to click Yes here to continue.
First go to Device Manager in Windows to check to see if the "O&O DiskImage" driver itself is showing up in Device Manager.
This driver is 100% required to be in place and in working order in order to be able to Mount an Image Backup to restore individual files. Investigate the Device Manager for a item in the list of drivers shown as "O&O DiskImage". Expand that "O&O DiskImage" section to show the actual driver named "O&O DiskImage Virtual Devices". Make sure that this O&O DiskImage Virtual Devices" device itself does not have an exclamation mark on it to note that the driver is not working properly.
You can now attempt to Mount an Image Backup to restore individual files from the image backup using the "Mount backup image volume to a drive letter" function using the Image Backup Tool -> Tools area using KB article: Mount Image Backup to Restore Files in Windows, keep in mind the image backup file has to be on a locally connected device and not on a network device/path.
If you have valid NovaCare Support for your NovaBACKUP, check your NovaCare Status here, by entering your NovaBACKUP license key at the bottom of the web page, and you are hesitant to perform these steps yourself to correct the Disaster Recovery Drivers to be able to Mount an image backup to restore individual files, feel free to Submit a Ticket.


Dealing with a son who is an addict has taught us more than we ever wanted to know about addiction and the criminal justice system. One of the best things we've learned is about drug courts. Drug courts offer hope for addicts and families. If you're in the middle of this battle or know someone who is, I want you to know about drug courts.
Drug courts may not be in your area yet. If not, I would encourage you to learn about them and, if you believe in them, become an advocate. Our son's participation in our local drug court is a large part of his recovery. It's his longest period of sustained recovery in almost twelve years.
The drug problem is not getting better nor is it going away.
According to the study, the 2017 death rate is a two-fold increase over a decade. It's a severe problem that requires serious solutions. That's a topic for another day and another article.
Our son, Jason, got out of the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (jail) in December 2018. What follows is an update on how he's doing. I hope this encourages any parent dealing with an addicted son, daughter or other family members.
I'm reprinting parts a previous post to provide additional background pertinent to today's update.
I've spoken before about the disease of addiction and recommend this video series to anyone interested in learning more about it. The hard truth is that we can't jail our way out of addiction. It doesn't and hasn't worked.
Drug Courts divert addicts from the criminal court system whose primary form of punishment is jail and prison. The drug court structure provides an alternative program of long-term treatment for the addict. These alternatives to jail are slowly gaining acceptance and getting into the state and county justice systems. Fairfax County, VA, our county, recently instituted drug courts.
To qualify for drug courts, applicants must meet several criteria. You must have convictions related to drugs. You must have served time and violated probation. These two are the basic qualifications. There are many more. After applying, candidates go through an extensive interview and approval process to be sure, if accepted, they have the best chance for success.
During his time in jail, Jason met his new probation officer. She spent the better part of a Friday afternoon interviewing him. At the end of their time together, she told him he'd be a perfect candidate for the drug court program. It's a minimum fourteen-month program. Participants live on their own, are subject to strict work requirements, go to counseling, attend regular twelve-step meetings, and get regularly tested for drug use.
The probation officer saw then what we began to see in our son – a man ready to change his life free from drugs. The probation officer met with the prosecutor, who agreed with the recommendation. The drug court judge signed off as well. Because he had a parole violation and new charges, two criminal court judges had to approve him for the program. It didn't go as smoothly as expected, but both judges eventually approved the plan.
Numerous people applied for the drug court program. Jason and two other guys were the first accepted. He started his plan after his release from jail.
As you would expect, jail is not a fun place to be. It's a place with its own culture and rules. Inmate rules are a second set of rules outside of the jail's own policies. After getting approved for the drug court program, another inmate tried to get Jason in trouble by blaming him for things this inmate did. Jason tried reasoning with the inmate causing the trouble. This guy was close with a couple of the guards, one of which spent a fair amount of time making life difficult for Jason.
Why do I tell this story? Because in the past, he would likely have confronted the inmate and the prison personnel. That probably would have jeopardized his drug court program and possibly added more jail time. This time, he kept his cool. That was another sign to us that he was changing; that he was serious about his recovery. He never said a word about that to us until long after it was over. In the past, we would have heard all about it in a way that placed blame on others. This time, Jason focused on what he had to do to get into the treatment program and start a new life.
Through it all, he's never once blamed anyone. He's never made excuses. That was a welcome change in behavior.
Jason got out of jail on December 16, 2018. We spent our first Christmas together in over eight years. He had a job lined up when released working at a local restaurant where his girlfriend is a waitress.
Jason is a better version of himself before he became addicted to heroin. One questions we often get is, "how do you know he isn't still lying and manipulating?"It's simple. His actions have changed. He hasn't asked for anything. He takes full responsibility for his past behavior. We are talking freely and openly about his journey through drug use.
He had an interview scheduled when he got out of jail with an Oxford House. Oxford Houses are self-managed sober-living houses for recovering addicts. He was in and out of them several times during his years of addiction. Those that are managed correctly have strict rules. Staying sober is at the top of the list. He got thrown out of several over the years due to his drug use. The house where he interviewed wanted him to move in two nights after he got out. We could tell he was nervous about moving so soon.
We were a close and strong family before his descent into addiction. He told us one of the factors leading to him changing was the desire to have his family back. Neither he nor we thought that would ever happen. We wanted to spend some time with him before he moved. We offered to have him stay with us to have that time together. He didn't ask. We offered. In the past, there would have been an all-out effort to guilt us into letting him stay. This time, he would have moved that night if we said he couldn't stay.
He was with us about a month. He's now moved into another Oxford House that is a much better fit for him. The house is close to his job, the courts, his probation officer, and the Community Service Board (CSB) which helps evaluate and place participants into an appropriate treatment regimen.
The drug court treatment program is a rigorous one. The Circuit Court of our county set aside a judge from the criminal court to oversee the drug court program. Jason was the first to get accepted. As of this writing, there are six participants. More on that shortly.
In phase one of the program, participants go to court every Thursday at 9:00 am. In court are the prosecutor, judge, probation officer, and people from the CSB. His probation officer came to our house to meet with us. I had this vision of what I thought a probation officer would be. She was the polar opposite of what I expected. She's a sweet, caring person dedicated to her clients' sobriety. It was a refreshing surprise to have my stereotype shattered.
She told us how the program worked. Several times, she reminded us that relapse is part of the recovery process. That's a huge difference from the criminal system. There, a relapse often means the addict serves out any time suspended during sentencing. At the very least, they serve additional time.
Cathy and I attended the first drug court appearance with Jason. The probation officer encouraged us to be there. The judge asks three things of her participants. First, show up every week. Second, work the program and do what we tell you to do. Third, don't lie to me. Lying is an integral part of a using addict's behavior. It's how they cover up and hide their addiction. She was clear she wants no part of it. If you relapse, tell me. Don't lie.
Drug court participants must take random drug tests twice a week during phase one. They have until the end of the day to go to the probation office for a urine test. Drug tests are part of the Thursday court visits. Participants must meet with the CSB to get an evaluation for the type of ongoing treatment they will receive. Initially, they wanted Jason to go to a three night a week relapse prevention program for four months. They are required to attend AA or other twelve-step recovery programs regularly. He goes to meetings almost every day.
In the beginning, he had to have a written record of his attendance to present to the court. The judge decided Jason didn't need to bring the documentation going forward. Because he's dong so well, it looks like the three night a week program will not be required.
There are now six participants in the drug court program. Sadly, only two have had clean urine since entering, Jason and one other guy. One man is likely going back to prison for four years. He's unable to do what the judge is asking him to do. He's now had two successive dirty urine tests and lied to the judge. If he were in the criminal court system, he would already be back in jail and on his way for a longer prison sentence. The judge here is giving him every opportunity to help himself. We're hoping and praying he does.
Because of his long battle with addiction, many of the jail personnel knew Jason. Many of the probation officers, guards, and counselors know him well. All said they could see a significant change in him. One of the jail counselors referred him to Catholic Charities. She told him she only introduces them to people who she believes are serious about recovery. After his initial call with Catholic Charities, they offered to pay for his first two weeks and the deposit for his Oxford House rent. He got a metro (public transportation) card, grocery gift cards, and various other things to help him get started.
They introduced him to a mentor to help him along the way. That mentor became his sponsor. Over the years, sponsors have come and gone. These two hit it off. It's been a great relationship. They talk at least daily, attend meetings together, and are working through the twelve-step program together.
The change and turnaround are nothing short of remarkable. We and he know he has a very long way to go. He's had significant challenges since getting out. His former drug contacts have reached out to him. They saw him on Facebook. He's purposely avoided situations that put him at risk. He's one of only two people who has not had dirty urine since entering the program. He knows he's one slip away from relapse and is doing everything he possibly can to avoid it.
We are as hopeful as we've ever been that he now has a good chance of staying in recovery.
Every Monday evening, Cathy and I facilitate a PAL Group meeting. PAL is a group that provided education and support for parents and family members of addicted loved ones. On March 18, he shared his story with our parents' support group. Our group has from ten to twelve or thirteen regular attendees. On Monday, Jason shared his story, we had over thirty people attend. His probation officer and two others from her office attended along with his girlfriend. It was an amazing night.
He also speaks at twelve step meetings and will be speaking to the senior high students at Reston Bible Church.
Jason has now moved completed phase one and moved into phase two. That means twice a month visits to the drug court and less frequent urine tests.
If you're a parent of an addict, protect yourself along the way. Set good boundaries. The addict gets better when they're ready. Their "bottom" (I hate that term) is lower than you or I could ever imagine. We found out about the drug use in 2000, the addiction in 2007. It took that long for him to decide he wanted to get better.
Keep praying for your son or daughter. Keep loving them. Even when you think there is no hope (which happens a lot), know there is always hope. Let the story of our son be an example you remember when you're in the depths of despair.
We know he has a long way to go. He hasn't been able to handle life outside of drugs for a very long time. This time, however, he has the right program at the right time for him. The most important thing is, he seems ready for it.
May God hold you up in this nightmare of a journey.
The PAL Group – PAL (parents of addicted loved ones) provides hope, education, and support for parents of addicted loved ones. We started a PAL group in September 2018. It's been a help and a blessing to us and many other parents.
Money Magazin Article – The December issue of Money magazine featured three parent's stories of dealing with an addicted loved one. Cathy and I were one of those sets of parents.
Beautiful Boy – A movie based on the true story of David Sheff and his son Nick, who was addicted to methamphetamine. Based on David's book, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction, it's an authentic and compelling story of what it's like for families dealing with addiction.
Now it's your turn. Share your stories of addiction. It seems everyone has one or know someone who does. I welcome your thoughts and comments.
So glad to hear that things are on the up for you and your son Fred. Keep it going, '19 is gonna be the year he turns it all around.
Thanks for the encouragement, Dave. We never thought we would see this day. We hoped we would but prepared for the worse. He's off to a great start but has a long way to go. It's a blessing to have a better version of him back We're hopeful it lasts.
I always appreciate you taking the time to comment, my friend. It means a lot to me.
I am so glad that your son has truly taken advantage of most likely his last chance. Wonderful that it seems he has undergone a remarkable transformation.
Thanks, Xrayvsn, He continues to work on his recovery. It's a long journey, but one he now seems serious about.
"He knows he's one slip away from relapse and is doing everything he possibly can to avoid it." That is a key component.
This makes my heart sing and my faith has grown. I offer continued prayers for Jason and your family!
Thank you. It's been an amazing journey.
What a lovely account to read, thank you for posting this.
I was particularly interested in this because I had worked in the UK Probation Service for 23 years and had a fascinating career there. The early part of my career was as a practioner and the latter part in various management jobs. I came to know many drug users, some had terrible addictions.
The UK approach has generally been geared towards rehabilitation rather than simply punishing an offender, especially if you are serious about wanting to move someone away from crime in the future. We too have a number of imaginative schemes which give offenders a chance and keep them out of custody. On the whole they are very cost effective and victims are generally supportive but the intervention has to be timed according to when the offender is ready to make those changes.
Your son is fortunate in having a loving family. This can often make the difference in successful rehabilitation. You rightly point out how having an occasional relapse is the norm, so when this happens and there's a supportive family there it can bring so much love, strength and reassurance it has a profound effect.
All good wishes to you and especially your son in his recovery.
Thanks so much for reading and your thoughtful comment. It sounds like the UK is ahead of the curve in dealing with addiction. The U.S. crafted a silly war on drugs, tough on crime attitude that ignored the disease and punished the symptoms. It hasn't worked. It won't work. The epidemic is causing some change but not nearly enough. Drug courts are slow in coming. Politics rules the day.
And you're right about the timing. It works best when the addict decides they've had enough. I will say, though, that any treatment along the way helps them be better prepared when they decide to get better. Our son taught us that.


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