Ames Gross of Pacific Bridge Medical shares his insights into the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market.
Vietnam is one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical markets in Asia. In 2012, Vietnam's drug market was worth almost $3 billion – about one-third the size of the Indian market. It is expected to grow at a rate of more than 20 percent through 2017. According to Business Monitor International, Vietnam ranks 13 of 175 countries for the fastest growing global markets in drug spending.
Drug consumption per capita in Vietnam is also climbing. In 2010, the typical Vietnamese citizen spent $104 annually on pharmaceutical products. This compares to $148 in China and $51 in India. Per capita spending on drugs in Vietnam should more than double by 2015. That increase is fueled by a richer and older society and by an expansion of the country's national health insurance system. Today, 65 percent of Vietnam's 89 million people are covered by the national system. By 2020, that number will reach 90 percent.
All of this makes Vietnam an attractive market for foreign pharmaceutical companies, who continue to enter the country in growing numbers.
Local pharmaceutical production accounted for nearly half of Vietnam's drug needs in 2012. However, those products were almost all low-cost generics. Imports accounted for more than 70 percent of the pharmaceuticals market by value during the same year. The most sophisticated drug products in Vietnam are imports.
In 2012, there were about 170 pharmaceutical companies in Vietnam. Almost ten percent were owned by foreign investors, with another four percent operating under joint venture agreements. The largest drug companies in terms of market share include GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol Myers Squibb and Novartis. Leading Vietnamese companies include Savipharm and Imexpharm.
To boost domestic production of higher-quality drugs, Vietnam has recently encouraged manufacturers to obtain Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification. However, only about one-third of Vietnamese pharmaceutical companies have GMP certification today.
According to Vietnam's Ministry of Health (MoH), the country has 140 private hospitals and close to 900 public hospitals. Of the private hospitals, six have foreign investments totaling close to $95 million.
The Vietnamese government is making its own investments in healthcare infrastructure. In its 2013 budget, the MoH established funding for new facilities (and upgrades to aging facilities) in rural and disadvantaged areas. According to the MoH, it has invested $2.5 billion in healthcare infrastructure improvements since 2009.
Previously, foreign pharmaceutical companies were not allowed to establish wholly-owned subsidiaries in Vietnam. They instead had to form joint ventures with local pharmaceutical companies. But wholly-owned foreign subsidiaries are now permitted. Since 2009, foreign pharmaceutical companies have also been given the right to open branches in Vietnam.
Subsidiaries generally promote better overall control of one's business. However, setting up a subsidiary can be a long and painstaking process. Local subsidiaries must have their own manufacturing facility in Vietnam. Therefore, only companies with sufficient commercial interests tend to do so. Many foreign pharmaceutical firms choose to promote and sell their products through Vietnamese distributors.
The Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV), under the MoH, is the country's primary drug regulatory authority. Regulations can often be unclear and they are frequently implemented on a case-by-case basis. These uncertainties can pose a barrier to market entry for foreign pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, drug approval times often vary. Without the right connections, long delays are typical.
• Foreign-invested companies licensed to manufacture pharmaceuticals within Vietnam.
• Domestic entities that are permitted to trade in pharmaceuticals.
• Foreign entities that hold trading licenses.
• GMP Certificate for the manufacturing facility in the country of origin.
• Free Sale Certificate issued in the country of origin. The product sold in Vietnam has to have the same specifications as the product sold in the country of origin.
• Product information including drug interactions, indications for use, dosage, management of overdose, storage conditions and shelf life.
• A detailed description regarding the manufacturing process, as well as the in-process quality control procedures.
• Stability data (in real time) from three batches.
• Quality specifications including the relevant analytical methods for finished products, raw materials and excipients.
• Three samples of the product, including Certificates of Analysis, active ingredients and excipients.
• Packaging materials including Vietnamese language inserts.
Most of the above materials may be submitted in English. Once the MoH begins the application review process, applicants will have to wait about six months for an approval license. The approval license is valid for five years.
Under Vietnamese law, Foreign Invested Enterprises (FIE) are not allowed to distribute pharmaceutical products in Vietnam. Therefore, foreign drug companies generally turn to Vietnamese distributors to sell their products on the Vietnamese market.
Distribution of pharmaceutical products in Vietnam is conducted through two channels, called treatment and commercial channels. A treatment channel represents the bidding and selling that takes place through the hospitals. A commercial channel represents the bidding and selling that takes place through pharmacies and other commercial entities. Currently, one-third of distribution takes place through treatment channels and two-thirds of distribution takes place through pharmacy or commercial channels. Foreign pharmaceutical companies who want their products widely prescribed have to engage in the bidding process at hospitals.
The bidding process is rife with corruption. A 2010 government inspection found that Vietnamese retail prices were up to eight times higher than the prices for similar drugs in other nations. In Hanoi, an inspection team found that the winning bid prices for many drugs were 130 to 245 percent higher than their original import prices. The reason given by the inspection team was hospital corruption.
Oftentimes, underpaid doctors and hospital procurement committee members receive "commissions" from drug sales within the hospital. Therefore, they have a natural incentive to accept high bids. In the past, pharmaceutical companies that wanted to survive in the Vietnamese market would go along with hospital requests for higher than normal bids. This practice is changing, but slowly.
Advertising pharmaceutical products remains highly restricted in Vietnam. For example, prescription drugs cannot be advertised to consumers directly. To get around this restriction, pharmaceutical companies can promote their products to health officials and healthcare workers through health seminars and conferences. However, foreign pharmaceutical companies must obtain permission from provincial health departments before holding any such conferences. They must also provide copies of any pharmaceutical displays to the provincial health department in advance. All other advertising materials have to be registered with the DAV.
There has been a growing interest among foreign drug companies in establishing production and sales facilities in Vietnam. For example, in 2012 Japan's Nipro Pharma Corporation invested $250 million into a manufacturing plant for new drugs and medical equipment. The facility will specialize in high quality, low-priced injectable drugs for export into developed countries, including Japan.
Other pharmaceutical companies are buying shares in their Vietnamese counterparts. In 2012, the Netherlands based Stada Service Holding bought a 25 percent stake in a Vietnamese drug maker called Pymepharco. The transaction brought Stada Service Holdings' total share to 49 percent.
Finally, many foreign pharmaceutical companies are partnering with Vietnamese drug makers for manufacturing and distribution. In 2010, for example, GlaxoSmithKline signed an agreement with leading Vietnamese pharmaceutical company Savipharm. Under the agreement, GlaxoSmithKline is responsible for marketing authorization, technical support and quality control (including the upgrading of Savipharm's quality control systems), while Savipharm is responsible for both manufacturing and distribution.
Ames Gross is president and founder of Pacific Bridge Medical, a Bethesda, Md.-based consulting firm that helps medical companies doing business in the Asia market. A recognized national and international leader in the Asian medical markets, he founded Pacific Bridge Medical in 1988, which has helped hundreds of medical companies with business development and regulatory issues in Asia.
Catherine Matacic is a senior associate at Pacific Bridge Medical.
What opportunities does the Vietnamese market hold for pharma?


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DeSmog
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London-Listed Tullow Oil Suspends Operations in Kenya After Severe Weather
Tullow Oil has suspended the transport of crude oil in northern Kenya after severe weather destroyed crucial infrastructure.
The London stock exchange listed firm, which started oil...
As Drillers Continue Poor Financial Performance, Shale Insight Hosts Trump Speech Touting Fossil Energy Future
Koch Industries Ramps Up Lobbying Against Clean Car Policies
Utilities Don't Want Peabody Energy's 'Clean Coal' Awards Anymore
COP25: Anger Over Lack of Action for Vulnerable States as Climate Talks Conclude
Breaking: Former Energy Secretary Rick Perry Rejoins Board of Dakota Access Owner, Energy Transfer
New Research Points to Effective Ways to Talk to Skeptical Conservatives about Climate Change
Read time: 4 mins
Guest | January 13, 2020
By Guest • Monday, January 13, 2020 - 14:30
This is a guest post by ClimateDenierRoundup.
Two new studies on denial came out last week. While they're not exactly breaking new ground, confirmation is always nice.
The first is a literature review led by Stanford's Gabrielle Wong-Parodi that examines psychological studies on climate denial in the U.S. and found four big lessons for appealing to conservatives. Although the press release is promisingly headlined as "pathways to changing the minds of climate deniers," we remain skeptical that there's any real way to change a denier's mind. After all, if they were open to change, they wouldn't be deniers!
Nonetheless, the findings are still helpful and relevant for communicating with the cohort that we like to think of as a denier's family. No amount of carefully crafted climate messaging is going to undo the results of a lifetime of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News indoctrination, but the wife and children of a denier, who are only second-hand exposed to that steady stream of politicized content, may be reachable.
How? The study found four effective communication approaches in the literature. The first is to frame climate solutions as ways to uphold the status quo, appealing to the conservative desire for stability. That would look like a message along these lines: "Society has been built and developed over thousands of years in a very particular climate. Now that's changing, and our coastlines, infrastructure, agricultural, and other systems are going to have to change — unless we get climate change under control."
The second is to appeal to the Judeo-Christian affinity for purity by focusing on preserving the Earth's beauty, as opposed to how we're befouling it. Messages that center on saving our beautiful landscapes from dirty fossil fuels and caring for God's creation provide a way for conservative (Christians) to align environmental concerns with their religious beliefs.
The third avenue is to have trusted messengers talk about the scientific consensus, reinforcing the fact that scientists are nearly unanimous about the impacts of burning fossil fuels.
Lastly, the study found it was effective to have people talk about their own values and position on climate before laying out the evidence. By priming people to think about themselves before thinking about climate, it makes it easier for them to incorporate climate information in a way that compliments their worldview, instead of clashing with it. That's obviously difficult to do when communicating with the public writ large, but is an easy way to begin an actual conversation with a particular person. Laying out our own personal beliefs and biases makes us conscious of them, and can therefore lessen the subconscious influence they have in the discussion.
The other new study focuses on the third suggestion, talking about the consensus on climate science. It found strong evidence that having college-level biology students engage with the original Cook '13 97 percent paper, and the follow-up '16 study of the various consensus studies raises their estimate of the consensus to more closely reflect reality, as well as making them more worried about climate change and more confident in their own ability to talk about the consensus with other people.
That said, the sample size was tiny: only 11 students. And none of them were in denial to begin with. But still, it presents a compelling picture of the power of the consensus. Before reading the studies, the students on average thought the consensus was 75 percent, with some thinking it was as low as 10 percent. After engaging with consensus studies, that number climbed to its correct range of 90-100 percent.
Taken together, these two studies show that whether you're talking to curious students or their skeptical parents, it's still vital to reinforce the fact that nearly all the scientists who study the issue understand that human activity is causing climate change. And for conservatives, it helps if that message comes from someone who speaks to their values.
Main image: Sign for the May 1, 2018 LBJ Library talk from climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, an evangelical Christian, about how climate change is affecting Texas. Credit: LBJ Library photo by Jay Godwin, public domain
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text:
Potassium titanyl phosphate thin films on fused quartz for optical waveguide applications
P. M. Lundquist*, H. Zhou, D. N. Hahn, J. B. Ketterson, G. K. Wong, M. E. Hagerman, K. R. Poeppelmeier, H. C. Ong, F. Xiong, R. P.H. Chang
Thin films of potassium titanyl phosphate (KTiOPO4) for photonic applications have been fabricated on fused quartz substrates by pulsed excimer laser ablation. The textured films were optically uniaxial with the symmetry axis oriented normal to the film surface. The principle component of the second order electric susceptibility was oriented parallel to this symmetry axis and was determined to be about 16 times the magnitude of quartz for the fundamental wavelength of 1.064 μm. This configuration, with the largest nonlinear optical response for polarizations perpendicular to the film surface, is desirable in TM guided wave applications. Planar optical waveguide measurements were performed and the linear waveguide loss was measured. The frequency dependence of χ(2)(ω) was determined and found to be uniform for visible second harmonic wavelengths.
Applied Physics Letters
Dive into the research topics of 'Potassium titanyl phosphate thin films on fused quartz for optical waveguide applications'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
potassium phosphates Physics & Astronomy 100%
optical waveguides Physics & Astronomy 72%
quartz Physics & Astronomy 64%
excimer lasers Physics & Astronomy 24%
laser ablation Physics & Astronomy 23%
wavelengths Physics & Astronomy 23%
Lundquist, P. M., Zhou, H., Hahn, D. N., Ketterson, J. B., Wong, G. K., Hagerman, M. E., Poeppelmeier, K. R., Ong, H. C., Xiong, F., & Chang, R. P. H. (1995). Potassium titanyl phosphate thin films on fused quartz for optical waveguide applications. Applied Physics Letters. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.113998
Lundquist, P. M. ; Zhou, H. ; Hahn, D. N. ; Ketterson, J. B. ; Wong, G. K. ; Hagerman, M. E. ; Poeppelmeier, K. R. ; Ong, H. C. ; Xiong, F. ; Chang, R. P.H. / Potassium titanyl phosphate thin films on fused quartz for optical waveguide applications. In: Applied Physics Letters. 1995.
@article{9432f8401f684a4bab6fcf2144e83c5a,
title = "Potassium titanyl phosphate thin films on fused quartz for optical waveguide applications",
abstract = "Thin films of potassium titanyl phosphate (KTiOPO4) for photonic applications have been fabricated on fused quartz substrates by pulsed excimer laser ablation. The textured films were optically uniaxial with the symmetry axis oriented normal to the film surface. The principle component of the second order electric susceptibility was oriented parallel to this symmetry axis and was determined to be about 16 times the magnitude of quartz for the fundamental wavelength of 1.064 μm. This configuration, with the largest nonlinear optical response for polarizations perpendicular to the film surface, is desirable in TM guided wave applications. Planar optical waveguide measurements were performed and the linear waveguide loss was measured. The frequency dependence of χ(2)(ω) was determined and found to be uniform for visible second harmonic wavelengths.",
author = "Lundquist, {P. M.} and H. Zhou and Hahn, {D. N.} and Ketterson, {J. B.} and Wong, {G. K.} and Hagerman, {M. E.} and Poeppelmeier, {K. R.} and Ong, {H. C.} and F. Xiong and Chang, {R. P.H.}",
journal = "Applied Physics Letters",
Lundquist, PM, Zhou, H, Hahn, DN, Ketterson, JB, Wong, GK, Hagerman, ME, Poeppelmeier, KR, Ong, HC, Xiong, F & Chang, RPH 1995, 'Potassium titanyl phosphate thin films on fused quartz for optical waveguide applications', Applied Physics Letters. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.113998
Potassium titanyl phosphate thin films on fused quartz for optical waveguide applications. / Lundquist, P. M.; Zhou, H.; Hahn, D. N.; Ketterson, J. B.; Wong, G. K.; Hagerman, M. E.; Poeppelmeier, K. R.; Ong, H. C.; Xiong, F.; Chang, R. P.H.
In: Applied Physics Letters, 1995.
T1 - Potassium titanyl phosphate thin films on fused quartz for optical waveguide applications
AU - Lundquist, P. M.
AU - Zhou, H.
AU - Hahn, D. N.
AU - Wong, G. K.
AU - Hagerman, M. E.
AU - Poeppelmeier, K. R.
AU - Ong, H. C.
AU - Xiong, F.
N2 - Thin films of potassium titanyl phosphate (KTiOPO4) for photonic applications have been fabricated on fused quartz substrates by pulsed excimer laser ablation. The textured films were optically uniaxial with the symmetry axis oriented normal to the film surface. The principle component of the second order electric susceptibility was oriented parallel to this symmetry axis and was determined to be about 16 times the magnitude of quartz for the fundamental wavelength of 1.064 μm. This configuration, with the largest nonlinear optical response for polarizations perpendicular to the film surface, is desirable in TM guided wave applications. Planar optical waveguide measurements were performed and the linear waveguide loss was measured. The frequency dependence of χ(2)(ω) was determined and found to be uniform for visible second harmonic wavelengths.
AB - Thin films of potassium titanyl phosphate (KTiOPO4) for photonic applications have been fabricated on fused quartz substrates by pulsed excimer laser ablation. The textured films were optically uniaxial with the symmetry axis oriented normal to the film surface. The principle component of the second order electric susceptibility was oriented parallel to this symmetry axis and was determined to be about 16 times the magnitude of quartz for the fundamental wavelength of 1.064 μm. This configuration, with the largest nonlinear optical response for polarizations perpendicular to the film surface, is desirable in TM guided wave applications. Planar optical waveguide measurements were performed and the linear waveguide loss was measured. The frequency dependence of χ(2)(ω) was determined and found to be uniform for visible second harmonic wavelengths.
JO - Applied Physics Letters
JF - Applied Physics Letters
Lundquist PM, Zhou H, Hahn DN, Ketterson JB, Wong GK, Hagerman ME et al. Potassium titanyl phosphate thin films on fused quartz for optical waveguide applications. Applied Physics Letters. 1995. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.113998


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Warm Hospitality and excellent service are what Lemon Tree Lane is renowned for. Comfortable and luxurious rooms, with private entrances and all the comforts of home await you, the weary traveller.
This is truly a home away from home to suit the traveller who prefers a cosy, homely atmosphere to an impersonal hotel. Also for the corporate who wants to come home to relax after a long day at work, out of town hospital visitors, school sporting events supporters as well as holiday makers.
A Victorian-style house with an elegant, homely atmosphere. The house dates back to 1902 and the rooms are individually furnished with en-suite bathrooms, plasma TVs with DStv and wireless Internet connection. The house has a private lounge for guest use.
Upmarket self-catering or B&B accommodation suitable for business executives or families. Private, self-contained, air-conditioned units with DSTV & Wi Fi internet; set in tranquil surroundings only a stone's throw from golf course, Greenacres Business Centre and all hospitals. Secure under-cover parking and remote gate.
Built in 1915, this renovated Tudor-styled house with its elegant ambience provides a truly outstanding standard of hospitality. The home boasts of beautiful Oregon ceilings and doors, stained leaded glass windows and a charming pub. The seven spacious en-suite bedrooms are individually decorate, each room has a television set with M-Net, telephone and coffee making facilities.


Sir, – Cystic Fibrosis Ireland is part of the seven patient groups in the Irish Donor Network that strongly welcomes the forthcoming legislation to change our organ donor consent from opt-in to soft opt-out that will be brought before the Cabinet in February.
The main reason why we support this change is not simply because almost every other country in Europe has the system but much more importantly because we as patient groups believe that it will increase the number of organs that will become available for life-saving transplants in Ireland.
In 2017 there were 593 patients in Ireland waiting for a liver, kidney, heart, lung(s) or pancreas transplant. That year, half of those on the waiting list (308) actually received a transplant, thanks to the fantastic work or transplant staff and the support of donors and their families. Sadly it was also the case that 33 people died in 2017 waiting for the "gift of life" that such transplants bring to those suffering from a major organ failure (sometimes suffering for many years).
Under the proposed new donor consent system, it will be presumed that most people in Ireland will want to donate their organs. This presumption is backed up by a nationwide survey undertaken in 2015 which showed 85 per cent of the Irish population are willing to donate organs.
Unfortunately the same survey showed that only 36 per cent of us carry a donor card and only half of us have ever talked to our next of kin about organ donation.
In short, the new consent system proposed by Government and supported by the Irish Donor Network will help bridge the gap between our intent and behaviour in respect or organ donation and will bring our system into the 21st century.
Under the new system, an online opt-out register will be available for those that don't want to donate their organs.
However, it is important to point out that the proposed new soft opt-out system will still allow next of kin to be consulted before organ donation proceeds.
This is an important protection from an ethical perspective and also because a hard opt-out system (whereby next of kin have no say) was tried and failed in at least one EU country (Austria).
There was also a sharp fall in transplants from deceased donors in 2018 compared with 2017 in Ireland: 231 transplants from 80 deceased donors were undertaken in 2018 compared with 308 transplants from 99 donors in 2017. One of the likely contributory factors is the welcome reduction in road traffic fatalities in recent years. However, this means that there is an even stronger imperative for why we need to try and maximise the number of organs available for transplant, as fewer become available.
Changing the organ donor consent system is the single most important way this can be done. This needs to be further backed up by increasing the number of nurses, surgeons and recovery rooms in hospitals for transplants.
The impact of transplantation can be life-changing as well as life-prolonging. The excellent RTÉ documentary on Orla Tinsley who benefited from a double lung transplant shows how both length and quality of life can be improved through transplantation.
Sir, – I welcome Laura Kennedy's invitation to discuss the issue of consent in organ donation, and specifically the opt-out system that the Government plans to introduce ("Will an opt-out organ donation scheme impact our bodily autonomy?", Life, January 16th).
This is a system whereby organs will be removed from patients' bodies upon death, for transplant, if they have not expressly forbidden it. Otherwise, consent will be presumed.
The opt-out regime is based on the assumption that when inevitable death is approaching, the State or the hospitals own our bodies and can dispose of their parts, unless we or our family explicitly object.
This principle is not acceptable, even if it is motivated by the noble intent of addressing the problem of shortage of organs for transplant in Ireland.
Donation should arise from an informed and deliberate decision.
An opt-out system does not properly respect the principle of informed consent.
If the current opt-in regime is not adequate to satisfy the need for donors, it could be improved so that every patient, when visiting their GP or a hospital, should be explicitly asked to express their option on the matter.
An opt-out system is detrimental not only for those who are not aware of the details of the legislation, probably the majority of people, but particularly for vulnerable groups in society such as those who do not have adequate language skills, or cannot fully consent.
Sir, – Laura Kennedy has written a sincere and thoughtful piece on the ethics of organ donation.


text:
Town crier drives sheep through model village in nod to honorary privilege
As a freeman of Wimborne, Chris Brown has the right to drive sheep through the town's streets without charge.
Chris Brown, Town Mayor's Serjant and Crier of Wimborne Minster in Dorset, walks a sheep through Wimborne Model Town (Andrew Matthews/PA)
By Alistair Mason, PA
April 07 2021 02:16 PM
A town crier exercised his right to drive sheep through a town for free, but had to make do with a model version.
Chris Brown has been the Town Mayor's Serjant and Crier of Wimborne Minster in Dorset since 1998.
In 2018 he was made an honorary freeman of the town, only the fourth person to be given the title, which comes with the right to drive sheep through its streets without charge.
On Wednesday he exercised that right – albeit in modified form – as he drove sheep through the 1950s replicas of Wimborne Model Town.
As he did so, he announced: "I commend to you Wimborne Model Town and its volunteers, who deserve your praise and celebration.
"God save the Queen."
Chris Brown was made a honorary freeman of Wimborne in 2018 (Chris Brown/PA)
The event marked the upcoming reopening of the model town, which will be available for public visits once lockdown restrictions are eased on April 12.
As well as being town crier, Mr Brown also hosts a local radio show called Skanking Delights under the name DJ Dapper Dan.


For probaby our final time, we went to Border Grill Santa Monica. No more day drinking scratch margaritas after a stroll down the farmers market since rhis location is closing after 26 years.
On the plus side…i have a cookbook from Mary Sue and Susan that has several of the recipes from the restaurant…and we can still haul ourselves to the downtown or vegas locations….
Meanwhile, i drained and rinsed some french lentils for the protein..
Here it is all composed with the dressing over it..i ate mine warm but jims is sitting at room temp until he returns from (surprise!) doll club meeting…i had the oven warmed but that will kill the greens.


MLB Network's "Top 10 Right Now" series, looking at the best players at each position headed into 2017, is airing two positions every Sunday night until Feb. 12. As each position is revealed, MLB.com's Mike Petriello, a participant in the show, will unveil his list along with the reasoning behind it. Rankings were compiled with a combination of subjective and analytical data, and no, batting average was not considered. We'll also include the rankings of "the Shredder," the MLB Network research department algorithm based on player performance that accounts for both offense and defense.
Position overview: Right field has two of baseball's brightest young superstars at the top, but up and down the list, there are questions about health, consistency and production. While it wasn't hard to find 10 good players, there wasn't a ton of competition to crack the list beyond the top 10.
Eligibility notes: Players are eligible only at one position, and several players who saw time in right field in 2016 were considered in other spots for these rankings. They include: Mark Trumbo (1B), Adam Eaton (CF), Matt Kemp (LF), Curtis Granderson (CF), George Springer (CF), Miguel Sano (3B), Carlos Beltran (LF) and Nomar Mazara (LF).
Betts' 2016 wasn't his "breakout," because he was already a star, but he took his game to an entirely new level last season. By hitting .318/.363/.534 (135 wRC+) with 31 homers, he basically hit like Corey Seager and Paul Goldschmidt. He did it while putting up +32 Defensive Runs Saved, the best of any fielder in baseball, and he stole 26 bases for good measure. Betts, who turned 24 in October, is a star in every facet of the game. There are MVP Awards in his future.
As great as Betts' 2016 was, Harper's MVP 2015 was better, and if you were positive you'd get the 2015 version of Harper again, he'd easily be No. 1 on this list. But after a fantastic April, Harper was merely a league-average hitter (.235/.367/.392, 100 wRC+), amid increasing discussion (consistently denied by player and team) that his shoulder may not be healthy. We'll take Harper's ceiling over Betts', but he's No. 2 here because he's got a lot more to prove in 2017.
Speaking of sluggers with a lot to prove, Stanton's career-worst 2016 included a massive slump (.205/.298/.380, 81 wRC+ in May and June) and a brief summer resurgence that included a Home Run Derby show before yet another lower-body injury cost him most of the final two months. Through all that, he still managed an above-average season (.240/.326/.489, 114 wRC+), but he's reached 600 plate appearances just once in the last five seasons. He's No. 3 here because his raw power is unmatched and because he's only 27, but 2017 is a critical season for the Marlins slugger.
The underrated Calhoun has had three full seasons in the big leagues, and all three have been above-average on both sides of the ball. A good shorthand to use for Wins Above Replacement is that 2 WAR is an average player, 4 is borderline All-Star, and 6 and above is star. Calhoun has been a four-win player every year, putting up consistently above-average hitting (career .266/.328/.436, 115 wRC+) with average-to-above-average defense. There's not much more ceiling here, but the floor is pretty high. Consistency matters.
This list was created before it was announced that Andrew McCutchen would slide to right, pushing Starling Marte to center and Polanco to left, but he deserves recognition nonetheless. Polanco made changes to his game in 2016 and was better for them, adding 82 points of slugging and 13 homers. He did that by hitting fewer grounders (down from 45 percent in 2015 to 39 percent) and pulling more balls (up from 39 percent to 49 percent). He did that despite dealing with shoulder and knee soreness, and it's easy to see a 25-year-old with a strong arm and better power skills having a huge season.
Year in and year out, Pence is consistently above-average. Just look at his wRC+ scores from the last three years, which were 122 (2014), 125 ('15), and 121 ('16), and since 100 is "league-average," that means he's regularly about 20-25 points better than average. However, Pence is about to be 34, and he's managed only 665 plate appearances over the last two seasons due to injury. If he can stay on the field, he's one of baseball's better overall right fielders.
This list was created before the Mariners went out and acquired Jarrod Dyson and Mitch Haniger, so Cruz is more likely to be a DH than an outfielder in 2017. That's good news for both player and team, because Cruz turns 37 in July and hasn't ranked well defensively in years, but he remains one of baseball's elite sluggers. No one has hit more homers over the last three years than Cruz's 127, and he's been an above-average hitter each full season of his career. If the Mariners can get another .287/.360/.555 (147 wRC+) in 2017, they'll be thrilled.
Like Cruz, Martinez is a late-blooming slugger who fits better at DH than in the field. Perhaps due in part to a broken elbow, Martinez had the second-worst DRS score (-22) in baseball in 2016, though his hitting (.307/.373/.535, 142 wRC+) remained elite. We're now three full seasons into his slugging breakout, so he's more than answered any questions about how "real" the bat is. It's whether his glove can take a step forward that will define how valuable he is overall.
What to make of Gonzalez? Over the last three years, he's hit .276/.329/.505, which, when park-adjusted, is a slightly above-average 106 wRC+. Now, that includes his injury-plagued 2014, but even in 2016, his line was .298/.350/.505, which is a similar 108 wRC+. He's only 31, so there's time to get back to the superstar he was from 2010-13.
Piscotty's first full season was quietly a a success, as he contributed above-average hitting (.273/.343/.457, 115 wRC+, 22 homers) with solid defense that included working to improve the strength of his throwing arm. It's easy to see him putting up that same kind of solid line for the next five to seven years, isn't it?
Bautista's "down" year wasn't as bad as it seemed, but he's 36, coming off injuries and has significantly reduced defensive value, so he just misses here. It's the exact opposite for Heyward, who still contributed fantastic defense to the Cubs, yet completely forgot how to hit. Puig still showed flashes of his old self between injuries and demotions; he'll have to prove he can do that over a full season.


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Is Winston Smith in Orwell's 1984 an unreliable narrator?
In a recent discussion in on online course about How to Read a Novel, someone suggested that Winston Smith in Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is an unreliable narrator. L. Kip Wheeler's glossary of "Literary Terms and Defnitions" defines unreliable narrator as
An imaginary storyteller or character who describes what he witnesses with surface accuracy, but misinterpets those events because of faulty perception, personal bias, or limited understanding. Often the writer or poet creating such an unreliable narrator leaves clues so that readers will perceive the unreliablity and question the interpretations offered. Examples of unreliable narrators arguably include "Geoffrey the pilgrim" in the Canterbury Tales , the character of Forest Gump in the movie of the same name, and possibly Wilson in "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber."
(Wikipedia has an article about the concept of unreliable narrator, with a list of examples.)
As a narrator, Winston Smith does not appear to be intent on hiding certain facts from the reader, so in what way can he be considered as an unreliable narrator? Or is he reliable after all?
george-orwell nineteen-eighty-four narrator
Tsundoku♦Tsundoku
"faulty perception, personal bias, or limited understanding" - would limited knowledge of the world around him qualify for this? Everything outside of Winston's immediate surroundings seems pretty uncertain, thanks to the Ministry of (obscuring the) Truth. Do Eurasia and Eastasia even exist? Is the war real, or just a way to stir patriotic feeling and loyalty to the state? How much autonomy do the different parts of Oceania have? – Rand al'Thor♦ Jul 26 '18 at 13:39
@Randal'Thor Exactly. How broad or narrow is the definition of "unreliable narrator"? Does it also cover limited knowledge due to factors that are entirely outside of the character's control and that would have the same effect on everyone who isn't a member of the Inner Party? – Tsundoku♦ Jul 26 '18 at 13:44
Winston is the only character whose point of view we have access to in the novel, a necessary precursor for the potential of an unreliable narrator. After all, without an external perspective, we can never be sure what he's not telling us, nor whether the context in which he presents the information is accurate.
Take, for example, the way he blames himself for his mother's fate. He tells Julia:
Do you know, that until this moment I believed I had murdered my mother?
Until this point, his mother has only appeared in hazy recollections and in bizarre dreams in which she (and his sister) are trapped in a pit while he is at the top.
Later in the story, it is implied that she was taken by the party because she refused to conform to their ideals. However, the lack of detail makes it difficult to be certain. It seems plausible that Winston may be hiding something, perhaps downplaying or omitting his own role in the eventual fate of his family.
You can apply a similar thought process to other characters. Syme, for example, seems to exhibit a level of intelligence that Winston enjoys but which he clearly perceives as a potential threat to the party. Syme later disappears, and we are given no further detail. Has Syme been taken by the party apparatus, or has Winston reported him? Did he, in fact, even exist, or is he an invention of Winston's terrified mind? Without external validation, we cannot be certain.
Likewise, we are asked to take at face value Winston's feeling that he is rare, perhaps even unique, in his free thinking. He regularly judges those around him as brainwashed partisans, unthinking victims of the party's propaganda. It never seems to occur to him that just as he is terrified of revealing his opinions and secrets, everyone else might be in the same position.
One could make a similar argument, perhaps, about any novel which is narrated by a single character and which contains any loose ends. Winston, however, has potential motivations to be unreliable. His conditioning under the totalitarian state will have primed him to keep secrets. The stress of his existence in such an awful world may have driven him mad.
The biggest reason we might suspect Winston's reliability, though, is made clear at the conclusion of the novel. - spoiler ...
Winston is brainwashed by the party and learns to love Big Brother
... meaning we can no longer be certain of the accuracy of anything he has said, in the entire novel.
Matt ThrowerMatt Thrower
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What might Syme have been thinking when he was captured?
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Are these quotes from Orwell's 1984 similes, metaphors, or something else?


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How the stock-market rally could turn into another case of 'FOMO'
By MarketWatch
Published: June 25, 2019 12:00 p.m. ET
MARKETWATCH FRONT PAGE
Stocks aren't in "melt-up" mode yet, but the June rebound could soon begin to foster the same sort of "fear of missing out" feeling that prevailed in April if speculators come off the sidelines, says one quantitative analyst. See full story.
How would you vote to fix Social Security?
Americans may want to delay fixing Social Security as long as they can, but they shouldn't See full story.
Allergan acquisition is 'a major bailout' for shareholders, according to analysts
Shares of Allergan Plc soared Tuesday after news broke that the company was being acquired by pharmaceutical giant AbbVie Inc. in a deal worth around $63 billion. See full story.
Suze Orman's FIRE storm: Her advice for millennials retiring early is simple, bleak
"I can't wrap my brain around FIRE," Orman told MarketWatch in an interview. See full story.
John Legend hates spending money on private jets, and will keep doing this noble job for free
The singer and entrepreneur has helped raise over $1 million for causes that are important to him. See full story.
MARKETWATCH PERSONAL FINANCE
Free college and student-loan refinancing will be up for debate during this election cycle. See full story.


In tissue samples collected since 2003.
In tissue samples collected since 2003, determined that Do – Rene and Clover Knolls Dairies offered 12 animals for slaughter with illegal drug residues. The animals included dairy cows that tested positive for illegal levels of drugs explicitly flunixin, penicillin, neomycin, and sulfadimethoxine, a drug banned by extra-label use in dairy cows. In addition, four bob positive for positive for sulfamethoxazole. These residues may cause allergic reactions in extremely sensitive individuals, and they can contribute to the formation of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
Tapentadol is a new centrally acting by two by two mechanisms of action.
Tapentadol is a new centrally acting by two by two mechanisms of action, combining mu-opioid receptor agonism and noradrenaline reuptake inhibition properties in a single molecule. New results from two Phase III trials of tapentadol EULAR EULAR meeting. A study in patients with end-stage joint disease showed.
With 3-7 efficacy and safety data for oritavancin for Gram-positive complicated skin and skin structure infections – Targanta Therapeutics Corporation today announced the presentation of key clinical findings of its lead antibiotic candidate oritavancin to the combined annual meet the 48th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and the 46th Infectious Disease Society of America , takes place in Washington, The lectures highlight the efficacy and safety results of two Phase 3 clinical trials, oritavancin.
More physical education no longer mean exerciseAs childhood obesity has increased.
Higher PE requirements with more days with vigorous exercise for girls, but also with fewer days with light physical activity. This may be due to girls reducing physical activity out of school when more more PE at school. Data suggest this is most common in girls who are less active in the first place. Public health officials and educators should consider ways to reduce or eliminate such offsetting transaction behavior. .. More physical education no longer mean exerciseAs childhood obesity has increased, many States increase their physical education to perform. But not increasing time spent in physical education does not seem to increase overall physical activity or prevent obesity, according to a new Cornell study. – Higher State PE requirements no effect on weight or the probability of being overweight for either boys or girls, said John Cawley, an economist and associate professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell.
Surprisingly, however, several of the OFC neurons signaled I'm getting the reward for my rights , while some others signaled I will reward to my left. Mainen says that one of his next steps will be to study what happens in the brain during learning the animals, new smells be seen. This may or may not find out in these experiments, but we have found that about a quarter of the rats are learning we use is well below average. Their motivation levels also vary quite a bit explore explore his interest as well.
Did the study found that patients who received candesartan said.
More than two thousand ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke patients in nine northern European countries were enrolled in the study from June 2005 to February 2010. Participants average age of was 71, the average blood pressure was 172/91 mm Hg, and patients were enrolled on average 18 hours after stroke onset. Eighty-five % had a type of stroke suffered by a blockage in the blood vessels of the brain , other participants had stroke due to a burst blood vessel .. Did the study found that patients who received candesartan said, more than those who received a placebo, were to suffer poor outcome 6 months after the treatment, but the difference was not statistically significant, mountains, lead investigator in the Department of of Internal Medicine, Oslo University Hospital Ulleval, Norway.
In fact, there was no decrease from baseline in the cognitive test performance in subjects who were tolterodine ER tolterodine ER.. After each treatment , the subjects computerized cognitive function administered. Administered.At the end of the first three weeks of treatment , the patients underwent a seven-day minimum washout before the start of the second three-week treatment.participants were well-educated, healthy adults with an average age of 63.4 years.Results in 17evaluable patients showed ER had no effect on the primary endpoint of delayed recall on the Name – Face Association Test, or other measures of cognitive function test battery at any time had.
Source: Ann Van Gysel VIB.
Victrelis for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 infection with standard therapy was combined unanimously by the FDA Antiviral recommended Hepatitis C Drug Victrelis unanimously FDA recommended Drugs Advisory Committee. Victrelis, a protease inhibitor, evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration for chronic HCV genotype 1 infection in adults with compensated liver disease who have not benefited from the standard treatment. The committee called Victrelis a is a game-changing advance in the treatment of disease.


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Fayose Fani-Kayode overlook Political Differences commend Pres. Buhari for honouring MKO Abiola
June 13, 2019 Olumide Alake 0 Comment Ayodele Fayose, Femi Fani-Kayode, MKO Abiola, Olusegun Obasanjo, President Muhammadu Buhari
– Ayodele Fayose and Femi Fani Kayode have left aside political differences and have gone ahead to commend Pres. Muhammadu Buhari for honouring MKO Abiola
– Fayose said honouring MKO Abiola by Muhammadu Buhari
is to Obasanjo's shame
Former Governor of Ekiti state and well known critic of Pres. Muhammadu Buhari, Ayodele Fayose in a latest statement has commended President Buhari for honouring late Chief MKO Abiola.
Fayose added that honouring MKO Abiola by Muhammadu Buhari
is to Olusegun Obasanjo's shame despite the fact that the former President was the greatest beneficiary of the June 12 struggle.
Ayodele Fayose in his statement said, "Honouring MKO Abiola by Muhammadu Buhari
is to Obasanjo's shame. It remains a sore-point of his political history that because of ego, Obasanjo, who's the greatest beneficiary of the June 12, 1993 struggle failed to honour his kinsman, MKO Abiola. So, I commend President Buhari."
Also in a similar statement, former Min. for Aviation and critic of Pres. Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Fani-Kayode also commended the President for the move.
Learn Also: Wike: "Communities must not take Law into their Hands against Companies"
He said the fact that Pres. Buhari had the courage to name the Abuja National Stadium after MKO Abiola is great news and it cannot be taken away from him.
The former Aviation Minister added that it doesn't matter who built the stadium.
Femi Fani-Kayode said, "Let us be fair and let us not allow our opposition to Buhari stop us from reasoning in a logical and coherent manner. It doesn't matter who built the Nat. Stadium. The fact that Buhari had the courage to name it after MKO Abiola is great news and it cannot be taken away from him."
President Buhari had during the June 12 Democracy Day renamed the Abuja National Stadium, which reports claimed was built by the administration of former Pres. Obasanjo, after MKO Abiola.
← Liverpool Deny Retaining Interest In Nabil Fekir
Why the Rotation of Power will not get to the S'East – Sen. Okorocha →
'If Your Boss Can't Trust You, Why Are You Still There?', Fani Kayode Hits At Osinbajo Again
November 5, 2019 Mojeed Oladipupo 0
Five Years of Buhari Was A Disaster – Fani-Kayode
May 29, 2020 Mojeed Oladipupo 0
Prof Jerry Gana – 'only some renegade members of the SDP endorsed Pres. Buhari'
February 9, 2019 Olumide Alake 0


We have been talking about the digitization of industries for almost a decade. The need for data collection, for a more holistic approach to analytics, for streamlining operations and processes, has become essential for business intelligence and rapid decision making in such a changing world. Nevertheless, not all industries have embraced this digital transformation yet.
The frenzy of digital media has caused the telecom industry to go through massive changes. Despite being the industry that you would expect to be the most digitalized – and for a reason, because it has become the center of the revolution by facilitating the connectivity of an entire ecosystem of people, companies, machines, etc. – is one of the sectors with more opportunities to improve.
According to the study Digital Transformation for 2020 and Beyond, carried out by EY, disruptive competition is the primary challenge in the telecommunications sector. 74% of the global telecommunications companies consulted place it among its most important challenges, among which the lack of organizational agility stands out with 47%.
The results of the study show that the development of digital business models and services will dictate the future of the sector in the coming years. 41% of the companies surveyed said to be focused on improving the user experience.
Network operators need more than just another provider. They need partners and the rest of their system to be transformed to fulfill what is expected of them. MDC has internalized the needs of its clients: accessing information with higher speed, streamlining bureaucratic processes and limiting the mentality and structure gaps of the old organizations.
Lucas Gomez Freige, Design Director at MDC, spoke about the importance of the company's digital products and the UX to support its customers in the digital transformation process.
Lucas, what do you think about the digital transformation of the industry?
The digital transformation is not something intrinsic to the telecom industry. For some time now, companies have begun to incorporate technologies into their processes, new ways of communication and thinking. This ultimately produces a digital transformation.
There is a need to change the mindset, I believe that technology goes across all companies and transforms them. Thinking about things from a digital point of view fosters innovation; this has made us rethink our processes so that they are faster and more efficient. Now we are better communicating, solving challenges, being more agile. We are ambitious and want to go further all the time.
What solution have we given to help our customers move quickly in the market?
We take into account multiple points of contact, starting with our internal processes, which are undoubtedly reflected in customer service, our ability to respond and flexibility; but we also build valuable digital products, such as the Marketplace.
We have incorporated a product development methodology that actively involves network operators, Internet providers, and content providers, the latter with a particular focus. In our analysis, we consider actors from our hub of interconnection to understand them better so that we can create digital solutions that help our customers to move faster.
How do we develop products? Are we aligned with what the industry needs?
We make products based on the needs of our customers and strive to generate value through things that are useful to them.
The user experience is everywhere, from how you are treated at the door to how they receive you in a meeting. I think that the fact of having such diversity in MDC: engineers, marketing people, sales and design, makes us have a broader perspective, make continuous improvements, and iterations of our processes, our products and our deliverables.
How do we involve our clients in this process?
They are at the core. To give you an idea, let's talk about the User Testing phase. It has allowed us to involve them directly in the work process, which allows us to minimize the margin of error and lets the client give concrete and real feedback of the platforms we are developing.
We are focused on the needs of our customers, and not only on our customers, because we could be focused on them and give them the best, treat them well, offer a range of solutions, but that may not be precisely what they need.
Has it been difficult to approach them?
We have approached them with a branding purpose, which is not very common, at first we had some pushback because they would think that we were just trying to sell something. However, we do this sessions to understand them better, get to know what they think, what motivates them, what frustrates them. Only when they begin to realize that we are actually there to help them, their attitude always changes. They have been very helpful and we are grateful for it.
What is the most important thing during the process?
To take nothing for granted. All our assumptions are tested with our customers and that gives us direct feedback; customers feel comfortable and become more involved, very active. It's a win-win for all, we learn a lot from them and they receive a product tailored to their needs.
It is a long process but lets us achieve something invaluable: empathy. Empathy takes time to humanize the client's problems. It is not only how we approach the customer, but also how we empathize with their questions. In short, we work with people, decision-makers, who need to make informed and fast decisions; they are worried about times and costs, these are our primary drivers.
How can the Marketplace help them reduce times and costs?
The Marketplace is a tool designed to reduce time and costs in the search for interconnection solutions or opportunities. A tool that would make the job easier for our customers.
We have several segments for each problem experienced by our customers, and we then approach them strategically which has allowed us to test possible solutions and iterate. It's a collaborative work; the client is one of the actors, but clearly, the company is also a great protagonist because these are exercises that involve not only a designer or a developer but other key roles in the company.
All (marketing, sales, operations, the engineering team, the NOC) know different facets of our customers, we have filtered all this information, which comes from different mindsets, distinct sources to make it the best possible solution.
We want to make the Marketplace a place where business can be done. It is a platform that points to a very concrete need by creating a matchmaking platform for key players in the industry. Thinking about the needs of our customers, we have studied how they do business, how they interact, how they communicate internally, and ultimately what moves them, to be able to translate it into a platform.
We do not want to stay with something just digital. We want to rethink the whole service and improve the entire experience of our clients, with digital products or non-digital. Understanding the need they have so that we can help them make better and faster decisions. The keyword is: genuine. We want to obtain a real knowledge of our clients, of their difficulties and frustrations. Innovating will make us improve and in turn will save the client time. Working on the design of user experience is elementary, bad design is bad business for our clients and us.


I am definitely still going through Hawaii withdrawals and have a hard time accepting that I no longer get to wake up and be at the beach by 7am. Although life is back to normal, I wanted to share the second part of our Maui trip which includes my favorite stops in Lahaina, Kaanapali and Paia. I loved getting to explore most of the island and even though I didn't take many photos I highly recommend driving the Road to Hana. It was much longer than we anticipated, but ended up being one of my favorite aspects of the trip. We played all our favorite music, had the windows down and just laughed the whole time!
I loved staying in Wailea, but we spent a lot of time exploring other parts of the island. One of my favorite areas was the cool town of Paia and the surrounding Baldwin Beach State Park. Paia is a perfect place to have lunch and walk around as the downtown is packed with cute stops and restaurants. It is also home to the famed Mama's Fish House, which we didn't end up going to, but need to make a priority on the next trip. We spent one morning at Baldwin Beach in a pristine swimming hole surrounded by giant sea turtles. This stretch of beach is beautiful and if you get there early it is very calm and empty, perfect for swimming.
We also spent a lot of time in Lahaina. I love the beaches and shopping in this area, so for a more touristy feel I recommend Front Street and the Whaler's Village both in Lahaina. We loved black rock beach (I actually jumped off the rock after about 10 minutes of hesitation) and Kaanapali. On our second to last day we rented a cabana from the Shertaon and it was probably the best thing ever. We just relaxed on the beach and swam until it got too hot, but it was definitely worth the $70 charge.
Nakalele Blowhole is another popular attraction to see the Instagram favorite, the heart shaped cut out in the rock. I didn't do a ton of research on this before we went, so I was under the impression that it was much closer to the road. It is definitely a hike down to the blowhole over jagged and uneven rocks. I was wearing really uncomfortable flip flips, so I wish I had brought some running shoes or something a little easier to walk in. We made the trek down to the blowhole, which was incredible but definitely very dangerous. There are markings all over the area warning people to stay back as people have died getting too close and being pulled under the water. Behind the blowhole is the heart rock which looks much smaller in person, but definitely a very cool sight to see and take photos of.
Wow when I think of all the times I have gone to Maui and never discovered these places. Thanks so much for all the great info ! ! !
There is so much to see and do in Maui! You have to take the kids to black rock beach in Kaanapali, so much fun (and terrifying) to jump off the rock!
Thanks for sharing your story and the wonderful pictures. Have not been for a few years and definitely brought back great memories.


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Chirassimont ist eine französische Gemeinde mit  Einwohnern (Stand ) im Département Loire in der Region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (vor 2016 Rhône-Alpes). Die Gemeinde gehört zum Arrondissement Roanne und zum Kanton Le Coteau (bis 2015 Saint-Symphorien-de-Lay).

Geographie

Chirassimont liegt etwa 25 Kilometer südöstlich von Roanne. Umgeben wird Chirassimont von den Nachbargemeinden Fourneaux im Norden und Westen, Machézal im Norden und Osten, Saint-Cyr-de-Valorges im Südosten, Sainte-Colombe-sur-Gand im Süden sowie Saint-Just-la-Pendue im Westen und Südwesten.

Bevölkerungsentwicklung

Sehenswürdigkeiten
 Ruinen des Turms von Vareille, 1570 zerstört

Weblinks

Ort in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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PEGC
PROJECT TO ENFORCE THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS
The Geneva Order
The latest PEGC Update (2008.07.17) includes C-Span video links and reporting for two hearings of the House Judiciary committee -- the first, a sub-committee hearing with former Asst. Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith; the second, a hearing of the full committee with former Attorney General John Ashcroft. There wasn't much new, just the same old mix of lies and fallacious reasoning, but together they gave a pretty thorough (if somewhat confused) account of the administration's sundry excuses and shams. Now that's a topic I've been working on a bit myself lately in the aftermath of Boumediene, just trying to sort through where the issues stand, and I've had it in mind to do a series of posts on the various issues in the detainee cases moving forward -- the reason I decided to do a little blogging.
I'm going to start with the central topic of Tuesdays hearing with Prof. Feith -- central in the sense that most of Feith's arguments revolved around it even though the questioning never quite managed to reach the nuts and bolts of the thing. (My greatest frustration with these hearings and the standard five-minutes-per-member format they employ is how routinely they fail to do so.) What it all comes down to for Feith is the February 7, 2002 Bush order that allegedly required the "humane treatment" of detainees "consistent" with Geneva, a topic I've written about before... exactly five years ago; see: Jennifer Van Bergen & Charles Gittings, BUSH WAR: MILITARY NECESSITY OR WAR CRIMES?, truthout (2003.07.14) Since then, the memos on which the order was based have been released, in particluar, OLC Memo, APPLICATION OF TREATIES AND LAWS TO DETAINEES (Yoo draft, 2002.01.09); for the other memos in the series, see the PEGC History Page starting at 2002 (and just before). Here I want to zero in on the fatal defect.
Guantanamo Bay is subject to an order issued in February 2002:
Presidential Order (memo from Bush to Cheney), HUMANE TREATMENT OF TALIBAN AND AL QAEDA DETAINEES, The White House (2002.02.07).
The key provision ('Geneva Order') states:
"I hereby reaffirm the order previously issued by the secretary of defense to the United States Armed Forces requiring that the detainees be treated humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of Geneva."
At the outset, two premises apply to an analysis of that order:
1. It is a fundamental breach of military duty to either issue or obey an unlawful order.
2. It is a fundamental breach of military discipline to act on an order which you do not understand.
The first is clear. The second simply observes that you can't do a thing unless you know what it is you're supposed to do; and if you don't understand an order, you're supposed to ask for a clarification. If you're ordered to attack some particular target, but the identification of it is ambiguous, it might be the case you would make your best guess if you knew the attack was expected in support of further operations which couldn't be delayed or recalled; but in that case, you are acting on the part of the order you do understand in the belief the risk of attacking the wrong target is out-weighed by the risks of not attacking at all; in an alternative, the intent of the attack might be diversionary, leading you to suppose the precise target didn't matter.
So what is the meaning of the Geneva Order?
Clearly, everything at OMC and Gitmo is subject to that order, since it applies to all detainees. "Consistent with Geneva" is clear enough, so the question goes to military necessity, which is a term of art with a precise meaning in military law:
military necessity
"(DOD, NATO) The principle whereby a belligerent has the right to apply any measures which are required to bring about the successful conclusion of a military operation and which are not forbidden by the laws of war."
Any trial can potentially inflict inhumane treatment -- the panel might be ordered to find a defendant guilty without regard for the evidence for instance -- and the detention for trial can as well, obviously.
So the difficulty is this: how is military necessity per se applicable to a prisoner who is "hors de combat" (out of action)?
The laws of war forbid attacks on places which are undefended, and equally, all intentional abuse of detainees. It's difficult to see how ANY consideration of military necessity would apply to a detainee, and if that's the case, then the order essentially reduces to "we will obey Geneva unless we violate it".
Which brings a third premise:
3. An order which fails to state a definite object is 'void for vagueness'.
The Geneva Order fails to state any concrete object, while at the same time it presupposes an understanding of what "humane treatment" and "military necessity" mean. It ordered nothing, it was just a fraudulent smokescreen for committing war crimes against prisoners. If Mr. Feith (or Mr. Bush for that matter) want us to believe the order actually meant something, they could prove it easily simply by telling us what it means in plain English. Instead, they've spent six years trying to cover up their crimes and their lies.
Notes...
* Lieber Code (General Orders No. 100, US War Department, 1863.04.24), arts. 14-16:
"14. Military necessity, as understood by modern civilized nations, consists in the necessity of those measures which are indispensable for securing the ends of the war, and which are lawful according to the modern law and usages of war.
"15. Military necessity admits of all direct destruction of life or limb of armed enemies, and of other persons whose destruction is incidentally unavoidable in the armed contests of the war; it allows of the capturing of every armed enemy, and every enemy of importance to the hostile government, or of peculiar danger to the captor; it allows of all destruction of property, and obstruction of the ways and channels of traffic, travel, or communication, and of all withholding of sustenance or means of life from the enemy; of the appropriation of whatever an enemy's country affords necessary for the subsistence and safety of the Army, and of such deception as does not involve the breaking of good faith either positively pledged, regarding agreements entered into during the war, or supposed by the modern law of war to exist. Men who take up arms against one another in public war do not cease on this account to be moral beings, responsible to one another and to God.
"16. Military necessity does not admit of cruelty -- that is, the infliction of suffering for the sake of suffering or for revenge, nor of maiming or wounding except in fight, nor of torture to extort confessions. It does not admit of the use of poison in any way, nor of the wanton devastation of a district. It admits of deception, but disclaims acts of perfidy; and, in general, military necessity does not include any act of hostility which makes the return to peace unnecessarily difficult."
* Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006), KENNEDY, J., concurring in part, slip opinion at 6-7:
"The Court is correct to concentrate on one provision of the law of war that is applicable to our Nation's armed conflict with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and, as a result, to the use of a military commission to try Hamdan. Ante, at 65-70; see also 415 F.3d 33, 44 (CADC 2005)(Williams, J., concurring). That provision is Common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. It prohibits, as relevant here, "[t]he passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples." See, e.g., Article 3 of the Geneva Convention (III) Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Aug. 12, 1949, [1955] 6 U.S.T. 3316, 3318, T.I.A.S. No. 3364. The provision is part of a treaty the United States has ratified and thus accepted as binding law. See id., at 3316. By Act of Congress, moreover, violations of Common Article 3 are considered "war crimes," punishable as federal offenses, when committed by or against United States nationals and military personnel. See 18 U.S.C. §2441. There should be no doubt, then, that Common Article 3 is part of the law of war as that term is used in §821."
Posted by Charles Gittings at 7/17/2008 09:12:00 PM 3 comments
Detainee Cases Begin Restart
2008.07.08 - PEGC Update
I've decided to start posting PEGC Updates on a blog. It's something I've resisted but have decided to try for a bit.
The URL for the PEGC Blog is...
http://pegc.blogspot.com/
...and there's an Atom feed at the lower left if you want to subscribe.
Meanwhile, I want to start right here, right now...
1) THE DETAINEE CASES
SCOTUSblog --
SENSE OF URGENCY ON DETAINEES
by Lyle Denniston
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/sense-of-urgency-on-detainees/
McClatchy Newspapers --
BUSH LAWYERS TOLD TO SPEED GUANTANAMO DETENTION APPEALS
By Marisa Taylor
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/43481.html
Associated Press --
JUDGE TO WHITE HOUSE: GUANTANAMO IS TOP PRIORITY
By Matt Apuzzo
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gUxng-zkl2uhqdCATFQyY9_8QV3QD91PUHSG2
Reuters --
US JUDGE WARNS AGAINST DELAY FOR GUANTANAMO CASES
By James Vicini
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN0831935620080708
2) SUMMARY OF HOLDINGS TO DATE
* Rumsfeld v. PADILLA, 542 U.S. 426 (2004).
- Habeas venue lies in the district with jurisdiction over the custodian.
* RASUL v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004).
- Guantanamo Bay is de facto US territory subject to Article III jurisdiction.
- Detainees have a statutory right to habeas p. 18 USC 2241.
- Proper venue for detainees not present in the US is the USDC D.D.C.
* HAMDI v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004).
- US citizen on US soil has due process right to impartial review of detention.
* HAMDAN v. Rumsfeld, 344 F. Supp. 2d 152 (D.D.C. 2004).
- Hamdan has POW status under GPW art. 5, and may only be tried by a properly constituted court-martial under the UCMJ.
* KHALID v. Bush, 355 F. Supp. 2d 311 (D.D.C. 2005).
- Granted government motion to dismiss; reversed by BOUMEDIENE.
* IN RE GUANTANAMO DETAINEE CASES, 355 F.Supp.2d 443 (D.D.C. 2005).
- All detainees protected by 5th Amendment.
- Al Qaeda detainees not protected by Geneva.
* HAMDAN v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006).
- Hamdan is protected by CA3 at the minimum.
- Whether Hamdan is protected by CA2 or CA3 was not resolved.
- Military commissions are invalid under CA3.
* BOUMEDIENE v. Bush, 553 U.S.___ (2008).
- Detainees are entitled to seek habeas.
- DTA review procedures are an inadequate substitute for habeas.
- Detainees need not exhaust the review procedures in USCA D.C. Cir. before proceeding with their habeas actions in USDC D.D.C.
- MCA §7, 28 U.S.C.A. § 2241(e)(Supp. 2007) is unconstitutional.
- Both the DTA and the CSRT process remain intact.
- Executive branch is entitled to a reasonable period of time to determine a detainee's status before a court entertains a habeas petition.
3) CITATIONS
* PADILLA
"District courts are limited to granting habeas relief 'within their respective jurisdictions.' 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a). We have interpreted this language to require 'nothing more than that the court issuing the writ have jurisdiction over the custodian.' Braden, 410 U. S., at 495. Thus, jurisdiction over Padilla's habeas petition lies in the Southern District only if it has jurisdiction over Commander Marr. We conclude it does not. Congress added the limiting clause -- 'within their respective jurisdictions' -- to the habeas statute in 1867 to avert the 'inconvenient [and] potentially embarrassing' possibility that 'every judge anywhere [could] issue the Great Writ on behalf of applicants far distantly removed from the courts whereon they sat.' Carbo v. United States, 364 U. S. 611, 617 (1961). Accordingly, with respect to habeas petitions 'designed to relieve an individual from oppressive confinement,' the traditional rule has always been that the Great Writ is 'issuable only in the district of confinement.' " Id. at 618."
Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426 (2004), at 442.
"The District of South Carolina, not the Southern District of New York, was the district court in which Padilla should have brought his habeas petition. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the case for entry of an order of dismissal without prejudice."
* RASUL
"In the end, the answer to the question presented is clear. Petitioners contend that they are being held in federal custody in violation of the laws of the United States. No party questions the District Court's jurisdiction over petitioners' custodians. Cf. Braden, 410 U. S., at 495. [18 USC § 2241], by its terms, requires nothing more. We therefore hold that § 2241 confers on the [US District Court for the District of Columbia] jurisdiction to hear petitioners' habeas corpus challenges to the legality of their detention at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base."
Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004), 483-484.
* HAMDI
"At this difficult time in our Nation's history, we are called upon to consider the legality of the Government's detention of a United States citizen on United States soil as an 'enemy combatant' and to address the process that is constitutionally owed to one who seeks to challenge his classification as such. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that petitioner's detention was legally authorized and that he was entitled to no further opportunity to challenge his enemy-combatant label. We now vacate and remand. We hold that although Congress authorized the detention of combatants in the narrow circumstances alleged here, due process demands that a citizen held in the United States as an enemy combatant be given a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for that detention before a neutral decisionmaker."
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004), at 509.
* HAMDAN
"Because the Geneva Conventions were written to protect individuals, because the Executive Branch of our government has implemented the Geneva Conventions for fifty years without questioning the absence of implementing legislation, because Congress clearly understood that the Conventions did not require implementing legislation except in a few specific areas, and because nothing in the Third Geneva Convention itself manifests the contracting parties' intention that it not become effective as domestic law without the enactment of implementing legislation, I conclude that, insofar as it is pertinent here, the Third Geneva Convention is a self-executing treaty. I further conclude that it is at least a matter of some doubt as to whether or not Hamdan is entitled to the protections of the Third Geneva Convention as a prisoner of war and that accordingly he must be given those protections unless and until the 'competent tribunal' referred to in Article 5 concludes otherwise. It follows from those conclusions that Hamdan may not be tried for the war crimes he is charged with except by a court-martial duly convened under the Uniform Code of Military Justice."
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 344 F. Supp. 2d 152 (D.D.C. 2004), slip opinion at 25-26.
* KHALID
"[T]o the extent these non-resident detainees have rights, they are subject to both the military review process already in place and the laws Congress has passed defining the appropriate scope of military conduct towards these detainees. The extent to which these rights and conditions should be modified or extended is a matter for the political branches to determine and effectuate either through Constitutional amendments, federal laws, or treaties with the appropriate international entities. Thus, until Congress and the President act further, there is similarly no viable legal theory under international law by which a federal court could issue a writ. Accordingly, for this and all the reasons stated above, the [government's] motion to dismiss must be granted."
Khalid v. Bush, 355 F. Supp. 2d 311 (D.D.C. 2005), slip opinion at 33-34.
* IN RE GUANTANAMO DETAINEE CASES
"In sum, there can be no question that the Fifth Amendment right asserted by the Guantanamo detainees in this litigation 'the right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law' is one of the most fundamental rights recognized by the U.S. Constitution. In light of the Supreme Court's decision in Rasul, it is clear that Guantanamo Bay must be considered the equivalent of a U.S. territory in which fundamental constitutional rights apply. Accordingly, and under the precedent set forth in Verdugo-Urquidez, Ralpho, and the earlier Insular Cases, the respondents' contention that the Guantanamo detainees have no constitutional rights is rejected, and the Court recognizes the detainees' rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment."
In re Guantanamo Detainee Cases, 355 F.Supp.2d 443 (D.D.C. 2005), at 464.
"Clearly, al Qaeda is not a 'High Contracting Party' to the [Geneva] Conventions, and thus individuals detained on the ground that they are members of that terrorist organization are not entitled to the protections of the treaties."
"The conflict with al Qaeda is not,according to the Government, a conflict to which the full protections afforded detainees under the 1949 Geneva Conventions apply because Article 2 of those Conventions (which appears in all four Conventions) renders the full protections applicable only to 'all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties.' 6 U.S.T., at 3318. Since Hamdan was captured and detained incident to the conflict with al Qaeda and not the conflict with the Taliban, and since al Qaeda, unlike Afghanistan, is not a 'High Contracting Party' -- i.e., a signatory of the Conventions, the protections of those Conventions are not, it is argued, applicable to Hamdan.
"We need not decide the merits of this argument because there is at least one provision of the Geneva Conventions that applies here even if the relevant conflict is not one between signatories. Article 3, often referred to as Common Article 3 because, like Article 2, it appears in all four Geneva Conventions, provides that in a 'conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply,as a minimum,' certain provisions protecting '[p]ersons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by ... detention.' Id. at 3318. One such provision prohibits 'the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.' Ibid."
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006), slip opinion at 65-67.
* BOUMEDIENE
"[T]he Government's view is that the Constitution had no effect [in Guantanamo Bay], at least as to noncitizens, because the United States disclaimed sovereignty in the formal sense of the term. The necessary implication of the argument is that by surrendering formal sovereignty over any unincorporated territory to a third party, while at the same time entering into a lease that grants total control over the territory back to the United States, it would be possible for the political branches to govern without legal constraint.
"Our basic charter cannot be contracted away like this. The Constitution grants Congress and the President the power to acquire, dispose of, and govern territory, not the power to decide when and where its terms apply. Even when the United States acts outside its borders, its powers are not 'absolute and unlimited' but are subject 'to such restrictions as are expressed in the Constitution.' Murphy v.Ramsey, 114 U.S. 15, 44 (1885). Abstaining from questions involving formal sovereignty and territorial governance is one thing. To hold the political branches have the power to switch the Constitution on or off at will is quite another. The former position reflects this Court's recognition that certain matters requiring political judgments are best left to the political branches. The latter would permit a striking anomaly in our tripartite system of government, leading to a regime in which Congress and the President, not this Court, say 'what the law is.' Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 177 (1803).
"These concerns have particular bearing upon the Suspension Clause question in the cases now before us, for the writ of habeas corpus is itself an indispensable mechanism for monitoring the separation of powers. The test for determining the scope of this provision must not be subject to manipulation by those whose power it is designed to restrain."
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S.___ (2008), slip opinion at 35-36.
"We hold that Art. I, § 9, cl. 2, of the Constitution has full effect at Guantanamo Bay. If the privilege of habeas corpus is to be denied to the detainees now before us, Congress must act in accordance with the requirements of the Suspension Clause." Cf. Hamdi, 542 U.S., at 564 (SCALIA, J., dissenting) ('[I]ndefinite imprisonment on reasonable suspicion is not an available option of treatment for those accused of aiding the enemy, absent a suspension of the writ'). This Court may not impose a de facto suspension by abstaining from these controversies. See Hamdan, 548 U.S., at 585, n.16 ('[A]bstention is not appropriate in cases ... in which the legal challenge 'turn[s] on the status of the persons as to whom the military asserted its power '(quoting Schlesinger v. Councilman, 420 U.S. 738, 759 (1975)). The MCA does not purport to be a formal suspension of the writ; and the Government, in its submissions to us, has not argued that it is. Petitioners, therefore, are entitled to the privilege of habeas corpus to challenge the legality of their detention."
"We do not endeavor to offer a comprehensive summary of the requisites for an adequate substitute for habeas corpus. We do consider it uncontroversial, however, that the privilege of habeas corpus entitles the prisoner to a meaningful opportunity to demonstrate that he is being held pursuant to 'the erroneous application or interpretation' of relevant law. St. Cyr, 533 U.S., at 302. And the habeas court must have the power to order the conditional release of an individual unlawfully detained -- though release need not be the exclusive remedy and is not the appropriate one in every case in which the writ is granted."
Id. at 49-50.
"The extent of the showing required of the Government in these cases is a matter to be determined. We need not explore it further at this stage. We do hold that when the judicial power to issue habeas corpus properly is invoked the judicial officer must have adequate authority to make a determination in light of the relevant law and facts and to formulate and issue appropriate orders for relief, including, if necessary, an order directing the prisoner's release."
"Our decision today holds only that the petitioners before us are entitled to seek the writ; that the DTA review procedures are an inadequate substitute for habeas corpus; and that the petitioners in these cases need not exhaust the review procedures in the Court of Appeals before proceeding with their habeas actions in the District Court. The only law we identify as unconstitutional is MCA §7, 28 U.S.C.A. § 2241(e)(Supp. 2007). Accordingly, both the DTA and the CSRT process remain intact. Our holding with regard to exhaustion should not be read to imply that a habeas court should intervene the moment an enemy combatant steps foot in a territory where the writ runs. The Executive is entitled to a reasonable period of time to determine a detainee's status before a court entertains that detainee's habeas corpus petition. The CSRT process is the mechanism Congress and the President set up to deal with these issues. Except in cases of undue delay, federal courts should refrain from entertaining an enemy combatant's habeas corpus petition at least until after the Department, acting via the CSRT, has had a chance to review his status."
4) LEAD CASES GOING FORWARD
1:02-cv-00828 (CKK), AL ODAH v. UNITED STATES <1> <2>
1:04-cv-00547 (JDB), KHADR v. BUSH <1> <3>
1:04-cv-01142 (RJL), KHALID v. BUSH
1:04-cv-01519 (JR), HAMDAN v. RUMSFELD; CAD (DTA) No. 07-05042 <3>
1:08-mc-00442 (TFH), IN RE: GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEE LITIGATION <4>
KSM et al. <3>
1 - Assigned for coordination per order of D.D.C. executive session (TFH):
http://www.pegc.us/archive/In_re_Gitmo_II/order_for_coord_TFH_20080702.pdf
2 - AL ODAH is the senior docket now, as the last detainee in RASUL was David Hicks, who was repatriated to Australia last year.
3 - "Military Commission" pending.
4 - Special docket for coordinating cases under Judge Hogan.
(4) D.D.C. JUDGES
JUDGE THOMAS F. HOGAN (In re Guantanamo Detainee Litigation)
Judge Hogan was appointed to the United States District Court in August 1982 and became Chief Judge on June 19, 2001. He graduated from Georgetown University, receiving an A.B. (classical) in 1960. He attended George Washington University's masters program in American and English literature from 1960 to 1962, and he graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1966, where he was the St. Thomas More Fellow. Following law school, Judge Hogan clerked for Judge William B. Jones of the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia from 1966 to 1967. He served as counsel to the National Commission for the Reform of Federal Criminal Laws from 1967 to 1968, and was engaged in private practice from 1968 to 1982. He has been an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center and a Master of the Prettyman-Leventhal Inn of Court. He is Chair of the Executive Committee of the U.S. Judicial Conference, Chair of the Courtroom Technology Subcommittee, and served on the Board of the Federal Judicial Center.
JUDGE JAMES ROBERTSON (Hamdan)
Judge Robertson was appointed United States District Judge in December 1994. He graduated from Princeton University in 1959 and received an LL.B. from George Washington University Law School in 1965 after serving in the U.S. Navy. From 1965 to 1969, he was in private practice with the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. From 1969 to 1972, Judge Robertson served with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, as chief counsel of the Committee's litigation offices in Jackson, Mississippi, and as director in Washington, D.C. Judge Robertson then returned to private practice with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, where he practiced until his appointment to the federal bench. While in private practice, he served as president of the District of Columbia Bar, co- chair of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and president of Southern Africa Legal Services and Legal Education Project, Inc.
JUDGE RICHARD J. LEON (Khalid & Boumediene)
Judge Leon was appointed to the United States District Court in February 2002. He received his A.B. from Holy Cross College in 1971, his J.D. cum laude from Suffolk Law School in 1974, and his LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 1981. Immediately prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Leon was engaged in private practice in Washington, D.C., as a partner in the Washington office of Baker & Hostetler (1989-1999), and Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease (1999-2002). Prior to and while in private practice, Judge Leon served as counsel to Congress in the investigations of three sitting Presidents. In 1987, he was the Deputy Chief Minority Counsel for the U.S. House Select "Iran-Contra" Committee. From 1992-1993, he was the Chief Minority Counsel to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee's "October Surprise" Task Force. In 1994, Judge Leon was Special Counsel to the U.S. House Banking Committee for its "Whitewater" investigation. He also served in 1997 as Special Counsel to the bipartisan U.S. House Ethics Reform Task Force. Earlier in his career, Judge Leon served at the U.S. Department of Justice in a number of positions including Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment Division, Senior Trial Attorney in the Criminal Section of the Tax Division, and as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York. He also served as a Commissioner on the White House Fellows Commission and the Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control. A former full-time law professor at St. John's Law School (1979-1983), Judge Leon is currently an adjunct law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and the George Washington University Law School.
CHIEF JUDGE ROYCE C. LAMBERTH
Judge Lamberth received his appointment to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in November 1987. He was appointed Presiding Judge of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in May 1995 by Chief Justice Rehnquist.
Judge Lamberth graduated from the University of Texas and from the University of Texas School of Law, receiving an LL.B. in 1967. He served as a captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army from 1968 to 1974, including one year in Vietnam. After that, he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1978, Judge Lamberth became Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office, a position he held until his appointment to the federal bench.
18 USC § 2441
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text:
Alex Chauvancy The Hockey Writers
Devils' Zacha Breaking Out to Start 2020-21
If you had told me Pavel Zacha would be the New Jersey Devils' leading scorer through 15 games of the season, I wouldn't have believed you. But after a three-point performance that included the game-winning goal against the Buffalo Sabres last night, he now leads the team with 12 points in 15 games.
It's been a long road coming for the former sixth overall pick. This is Zacha's fifth full season in the NHL, but he's never totaled more than 32 points in a season, which he set in 2019-20. If he keeps it up, he'll be on pace to finish with 45 points this season, a 66-point pace over 82 games.
And with last night's performance, Zacha has 10 points across his last eight games. Let's take a look at the young forward's play and what's led to the sudden breakout.
Zacha's Out of the Blue Performance
Zacha has never shown the potential to be a top scorer for the Devils before. If anything, he showed he could be a bottom-six forward who plays solid two-way hockey while providing some depth scoring. Prior to this season, he had never averaged more than 1.48 points per 60 minutes (points/60) at even strength, not exactly indicative of a high-end scorer.
Related: Devils Youthful Year is Progressing Well, the Kids Are Alright
But suddenly, Zacha has become the Devils' go-to offensive threat. Not only does he have 10 points in his last eight games, but he's played at just above a point-per-game pace over his last 11 games. It shouldn't be a surprise given his past production, but it's the best stretch of his career, without a doubt.
During his scoring surge, Zacha's even-strength numbers have seen a dramatic uptick compared to previous seasons. He has a Corsi-for percentage (CF%) of 51.9 percent and expected goals percentage (xG%) of 55.5 percent. And for what it's worth, he has a CF% of 50.1 percent and xG% of 51.9 percent for the season. The points aren't really a fluke; he's legitimately playing well.
Forward Pavel Zacha has been one of the New Jersey Devils' top forwards (Photo by Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
One thing that may have helped Zacha is head coach Lindy Ruff switching him to left wing from center. He's played both positions before but was primarily a center up until this season. Now, he's getting more time at left wing, and he's producing.
In the Devils' most recent four games, he's played on a line with Nico Hischier at center and Jesper Bratt at right wing. The early returns weren't great, but it all came together last night in the Devils' overtime win. The team had a CF% of 73 percent and xG% of 76 percent when they were on the ice at five-on-five. They were arguably the team's best line and would not have won the game without them.
What's Changed for Zacha?
In last night's postgame press conference, Zacha was asked by Robert Aitken Jr. of The Bergen Record (about 3:10 into the video), "what has been working so well for you, personally, to have so much success?"
Zacha responded by saying, "It starts with the coaches and trying to battle in corners, how to win pucks and how to play for my line. I'm just trying to find open areas, which Bratt and Nico are finding me there. It's just fun to play like that and keep going." (From 'Pavel Zacha's surge continues, helps Devils outlast Sabres in OT to end three-game skid', The Bergen Record – 2/25/2021)
Zacha's response is pretty interesting in a couple of regards. His ability to win battles in corners has improved, but his ability to win pucks has stood out, as well. Hischier's go-ahead goal in the third period wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Zacha winning a one-on-one battle that allowed him to get the puck to the front of the net to Hischier.
Pavel Zacha has noticeably improved to start 2020-21 (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Likewise, the Devils' first goal doesn't happen without Zacha creating spacing just along his blue line. That allowed Bratt to gain speed through the neutral zone, where Zacha hit him with a crisp pass. That caught the Sabres' defense off-guard and gave Bratt all the space to fire off a wicked shot.
The changes in Zacha's play are noticeable. He's not the same player he was two or three years ago, or even at this time last season. He looks closer to a player that was a top 10 pick about five and a half years ago. If he keeps making plays as he did last night, then he should continue to have success.
With that said, there probably is some regression coming for Zacha at some point. His shooting percentage is just under 18 percent, though he does have a pretty wicked shot himself. Still, that percentage is likely to come back down to Earth a bit at some point. He's also producing at a higher rate than his career averages on the power play. At the same time, he's logging the most power play minutes he ever has in his career. So his production there could be sustainable moving forward.
Related: Devils' Smith & Severson Make Case to Be Top Defensive Pair
There have been plenty of good stories to the Devils' 7-6-2 start, but none of them have been better than Zacha's. He's gone through plenty of adversity in his young career (it's easy to forget he's still only 23 years old).
There were plenty of expectations placed on Zacha after being the sixth overall pick at the 2015 Draft. They hadn't been met to this point, but that seems to be changing now. Whether he can maintain his play remains to be seen. But either way, he's been a feel-good story worth soaking in during a 2020-21 NHL season that's already had its fair share of difficulties.
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