Yesterday we had a R3 trip scheduled on the Escapade. We were hoping to dive some of the amazing sites in Carmel/Big Sur, as for example, Flintstone, Soberanes Wall, Alan Arch and many others but the weather was less that cooperating so we ended diving in the bay. On the boat were Allison/Clinton, Brian, Ted and Ben, and Dionna and Beto.
The first dive was at Kawika's Gorgonias Garden. This is always a fun dive with a lot of gorgonias and nudies to see. Dionna and I found 2 toquinas, one of them a little baby that were eating the gorgonias. There we many large vermillions and tons of small lincods at the reef.
Second dive was at "The Drop Zone" #1 alias the Pipeline and we swam a long a nice ledge at 100ft for about 30min. We found a very nice octopus and some of the largest clown nudies I have ever seen. There were tons of juv rockfish on the reef which was really nice to see swim as we moved our lights.
Vis was 20-30ft at the bottom and 10ft during the ascend with tons of jellies to take care of during the deco.
We met at the dock Saturday morning with somewhat muted expectations. The wind was forecast at 10-20 building to 15-25 in the afternoon. This usually rules out Carmel and enthusiasm for diving Monterey was low. After some discussion we lost a couple of teams who decided to sit it out rather than burn a lot of helium on a braille dive in the bay. Kevin, Jim, Joakim and I voted to go diving anyway. Good thing we did.
As we got underway it became clear the wind had already died a bit from when we'd started loading. In fact, it there was relatively little wind at all so we pointed the boat south and headed for Carmel. Once there it was even calmer than in Monterey and we dropped the ball at Lunaticos.
Visibility on the bottom was surprisingly good -perhaps 40 feet. We meandered along the south wall of Lunaticos looking for slugs and other small life. Somewhere in there I realized that when I'd fixed my light cord I'd then fouled my scooter tow cord slightly and we stopped to fix that too. Jeesh.
Eventually my minor gear issues added up to a bit more gas usage than I'd expected and we called the dive 2 minutes early. Deco was uneventful with the highlight being a big sea nettle with a juvenile fish hiding in the bell. Kevin tried to point this out to me but by the time I saw it the nettle had moved up to 15 feet and was too far away from our 20 foot stop for me to take pictures.
We surfaced to a scene that was so placid it was almost surreal. The boat was sitting about 30 yards from us in glassy calm water. The crew was sitting on the swimstep enjoying the sun while they waited for us. We scootered over an leisurely handed the gear back onto the boat. The ride home was as easy as you can imagine.
By the time we finished lunch at the 17th Street Grill in Pacific Grove it was getting windy again so I guess we timed it right. Nice day on the ocean.
For several weeks we had been trying to go diving on a Friday but the weather has not cooperate with us. For that reason we decided to switch the Mondays, which recently had been the best diving day of the week.
Susan, Rob, Jim and myself heading south hoping for some cleaner water, and calm seas. We had about 6 hrs weather window before the wind pick-up again so we headed for Ed Cooper wall and had a nice dive there.
We anchored at the deep end and motored the wall all the way to 70ft. We saw tons of vase sponges, several Yellow eye juveniles, one scorpion fish and one sail-fin sculping during the deep portion of the dive. Towards the shallow we found some large lingcods, large school of blue rockfishs, several tree-fish and a very nice wolf-eels at 120ft.
Visibility was actually good. We had 20ft at bottom and 40ft as we got to shallower water. Much better than the Bay!!!
Temp was 46F most of the time, with 50 during the O2 hang.
It was BAUE day at Point Lobos as well as Earth Day Celebration. I heard the vis was not suppose to be that great, but, it was nice to be in the water and hanging out with friends. I was also going to try doing 2 dives with a single tank, to see how my back would tolerate it.
There appeared to have been a few new harbor seal pups born and perhaps some on the way. Spring is always a great time for a new life. The BAUE days are a special day to dive with someone that you normally do not dive with. I buddied up with Mykle and Clinton joined us. Jim McDonald was suppose to join us, but, he had to plan his wedding. Mykle and Clinton were perfect buddies when you want to brush up on your species identification. Especially Nudibranchs!! We geared up, splashed in and kicked out to around the worm patch area. We descended and swam west on the 40ft conture. We followed the trails until we got to a sight that appeared good for Clinton to take macro pics. Mykle and I both saw a big lingcod. I thought it could have been Lingzilla. The visibility was not the greatest, but, the topography was beautiful.
I managed two dives without serious back pain. Just had your typical soreness, that is my usual. Mission accomplished!!
Thanks for Diving Clinton and Mykle.
Weather forecast for this morning was NW 15 knots winds which is not the best, but we had been busy with teaching for a couple of weeks so we were itchy for a nice dive. We met capt Jeem in the morning. The idea was to go check and see if we could go out that bay and head for Mid-Way pinnacle, aka MW. We got out of the bay no problem and headed south. We crossed the Kitty team at K2 (diving from Phil's boat) and we continued towards are destination another 30min down the coast. However, the white caps where getting more abundant as we headed south so after another 10min we decided to turn around and go join the Kitties for a dive at K2.
We dropped down at the south wall, motored south for a minute or two until we got to the wall. After that we followed the wall south until we got to the drop-off at the West end .We were hovering close to the 200ft mark as we were looking down and trying not to drop pass the mark. The end of the wall was covered with a large school of juv rock fish. I love to scooter in and out of the fish ball and this time I tried to corral the fish toward Susan and Jim. Susan spotted 6 juv yellow eye on the wall and we also saw two Quillback rock-fish. I haven't see one of those in a while. Eventually we headed back inside the wall while moving th some cool canyons and swimming through. We all wished we have save more bottom time in this section to go back through them, but after 20min it was time to head up to 150ft.
the GPO hideout. No luck this time.
Water has very cold. My G2 read 41 at the bottom and most of the deco was 46-48 degrees. I wished I used my 200gr vest today.
here are some images from Rob.
This past week the weather had been quite volatile. We endured a gale, winds blowing from all directions and the swells were up & down. We had scheduled a tech charter for Saturday, but due to the weather forecast we moved it to Sunday with the option of bailing out if the wind/surge was too large.
On Saturday afternoon I drove to Point Lobos to pick up our forgotten tables that were there since the last day of the Science Camp. I found very calm conditions and nobody at the parking lot. I drove around the park and I could see diveable conditions south of Lobos. I sent an email to the team to motivate them to go for a fun dive on Sunday.
We motored out Sunday morning and were able to get out of the bay with no problems. There were some large swells and anything close to shore was out of the question, so we headed towards Yankee Point. We first thought about doing Mt. Chamberlin's South Wall but we decided to try something new so we headed to Gran Sabana which is a little father south from Yankee Point with the idea of getting away from the overflowing water from Carmel River.
Gran Sabana is a large round pinnacle with the top at 120ft, then a large plateau at 150-160ft and a vertical wall from 160 to 200. We last dove this a couple of years ago and we always wanted to come back.
Susan and I descended to the top of the pinnacle and headed West to find the deep water. At about 180ft we found a nice set of metridium which were quite deep for this kind of marine life. Maybe they get a lot of current from the north-west direction. From there we headed clock-wise on the pinnacle. Susan found a large patch of sea pens littering the sand. There were lingcods if all sizes swimming around and tons of decorate crabs feeding with the current. We found a nice yellow eye on a white sponge, and a reluctant little octopus on a purple sponge.
We spent 20min at the bottom before heading up to 160ft for the second part of the dive. Here we meet with the rest of the team and enjoyed some photo and video session for a while. The 150ft area was covered with elephant ear sponges and the peak of the pinnacle was very impressive. It was covered with corynactus and reached up from 140 to 120ft. There was a lot of current as you moved around the peaks which made for a fun time at the top.
On the way back we saw a large pod of risso dolphins and the top side weather was fabulous with the incredible Pacific Ocean and the mountains in the background.
Yesterday we had several folks on the Escapade for our first R3 trip of the year. We're gearing up to create a new type of charters on the Escapade. This will sit in between our tech trips and our basic recreation diving trip. The goal is to visit sites that are not deep enough for the "tech" trips but a title too adventures or deep for the rec boats, with access to deep water in the 120-130ft.
We had several sites in mind but the swells where large enough yesterday that the only sensible diving range was away from shore. After a little bit of deliberation we settled for Flintstone rock. This is the perfect R3 site as the top of the pinnacle is a 40ft and it has access to a first deep section at 130ft.
still full it's showing a lot of deterioration :-0. We also checked an old crab trap that's a the base on the main wall.
We finished our dive moving through the main crack on the structure. It goes from 120-100 ft and there are some nice hydrocoral, bryozoan and metridiums making it the perfect photo area on the site.
After some 30min at the base we moved to 70ft and switched to our deco gas. Here is where the fun part of the dive is as you can still dive while conducting part of your decompression stops. We move around the pinnacle at 70, 60, 50ft, while enjoying the view and swim around large school of rock fish. We found a very large cabezon with very green coloration. It was a beautiful fish.
Toward the top of the pinnacle we could really feel the large swell going over us. I love hovering near the kelp with the gentle back and forth movement as the swells go by. This is probably one of my favorite dive site!
After another 30min at the shallow part of the the pinnacle we head for the down-line/up-line and finish the top part of the deco on the line.
Here are some images from Clinton.
too adventures or deep for the rec boats, with access to deep water in the 120-130ft.
R3 site as the top of the pinnacle is a 40ft and it has access to a first deep section at 130ft.
hydrocoral, bryozoan and metridiums making it the perfect photo area on the site.
around large school of rock fish. We found a very large cabezon with very green coloration. It was a beautiful fish.
movement as the swells go by. This is probably one of my favorite dive site!
After hearing the dive reports of being good after the Tsunami, Harry B and I wanted to take his boat out for a test drive and dive. He had it serviced with new and improved parts. ;-) Getting up one hour early was the hardest part of the day. We arrived and chatted with Carol and Royston for a bit. Got the boat in the water. The boat started right up and we motored out. We were greeted by a pod of 40 Risso dolphins as we turned the corner at the Breakwater. We followed them for some time towards Del Monte and cheered when they breached and twirled in mid air. We motored out to see where to anchor, and get other dive reports. The boat was purring like a kitty. Yay for the boat. Came up to Carol's and John's boats at Trevor's. They reported about 10ft, surge and current. Harry and I decided to anchor at Hopkins Deep. There was no wind or surface current and it seem very calm and peaceful. We got down and tied off on the anchor and reeled around. Saw the usual suspects. Alot of fish hiding inside the cracks and crevises. Saw a nice cabezon. Most of the Metridium were shrivelled up.. :( There was a strong slow surge. Harry thought the vis was 10ft at most. I thought it was about 20ft at most. Back on board, Harry let me take the wheel. There were big long swells as I drove in toward Breakwater. At one time it looked like we were driving up a hill of water. Very weird. Just did one dive. Harry's back was bothering him from all the Hockey he plays. We came in and chatted with Carol, Larry and Royston. We ordered our usual sandwiches from the Deli and called Mark Lloyd to offer him a pork sandwich. Teased him about the BBQ aromas. Not too much stands between Mark and his pork sandwich on dive days on Harry's boat, but, today it was school work that kept Mark home.
On the way out we stopped by and chatted with other BAUE folks just coming off the Escapade and hearing about their dive. Thank-you Mary Jo for the delicious brownies!!
Despite not the best conditions in the bay... it was fun.


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Lugar Institute Aims to Bridge Chasm Between Capitol Hill, Embassy Row
By John Shaw
Uploaded on July 30, 2013
Richard Lugar, the two-time chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, returned to his old haunts in mid-June to celebrate a new initiative to connect the worlds of Capitol Hill and Embassy Row.
Photos: Drew Angerer
From left, Ambassador of Morocco Rachad Bouhlal, former Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), and Ambassador of Montenegro Srdjan Darmanovic listen as Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Lugar's successor as the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, gives remarks at the launch of Richard G. Lugar Institute for Diplomacy and Congress, held in the chamber where Lugar presided twice as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Lugar, a moderate Indiana Republican known for reaching across the aisle during his 36-year Senate career, lost a primary challenge in 2012 to a tea party-backed candidate, Richard Mourdock (who in turn lost the general election a few months later). Lugar's defeat was not only a stinging indictment of the bipartisanship he espoused, it was also a huge blow to the diplomatic community, which lost one of its top foreign policy minds in a Congress consumed by domestic matters.
But the revered statesman hasn't gone into retirement. Since leaving the Senate in January 2013, Lugar has been involved with a number of projects related to his career-long interest in foreign affairs. Now a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, Lugar has worked with GMF to create the Richard G. Lugar Institute for Diplomacy and Congress, which seeks to increase cooperation and understanding between the foreign diplomatic community in Washington and the U.S. Congress.
The institute celebrated its launch on June 19 with a reception in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing room, where Lugar, 81, was joined by former congressional colleagues and members of the diplomatic community. Guests included Secretary of State John Kerry, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, Ambassador Rachad Bouhlal of Morocco, and Ambassador Srdjan Darmanovic of Montenegro. Morocco and Montenegro are founding country members of the Lugar Institute, while Wolfgang Pordzik of DHL is the founding partner.
In comments at the gathering, Lugar said he was delighted to return to the Foreign Relations Committee room where he spent important moments of his professional career and worked with such colleagues as John Kerry, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel when all three served in the Senate.
Lugar said he hopes the newly formed Institute for Diplomacy and Congress can "bridge that gap" that often divides American lawmakers and international diplomats assigned to Washington. Members of Congress, the six-term senator said, can profit from relationships with the diplomatic community to better understand policy issues and learn how to better attract investment and boost jobs for their constituents.
That's a key mission of the new institute: to educate American legislators about world affairs and how events abroad can have an impact at home — while teaching diplomats how to explain that narrative to Congress.
Corker, Lugar's successor as the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said Lugar "continues to create legacies" and cited this new program as an important post-senatorial contribution.
Craig Kennedy, president of the German Marshall Fund, said, "The Lugar Institute's mission of strengthening ties between diplomats and lawmakers in Washington fills a great need to support robust diplomacy in a complex globalized world."
The nonprofit Richard G. Lugar Institute for Diplomacy and Congress resides under the umbrella of the German Marshall Fund, a nonpartisan American public-policy and grant-making institution dedicated to strengthening transatlantic relations.
From left, Ambassador of Montenegro Srdjan Darmanovic is introduced by former Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) to Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) at the June 19 launch of the Richard G. Lugar Institute for Diplomacy and Congress, a new initiative housed under the German Marshall Fund to bring embassies and Congress closer together.
The Lugar Institute will try to close the gap between Embassy Row and Capitol Hill by offering regularly scheduled training courses for incoming diplomats and members of Congress, monthly networking and policy events including a Senate speaker series, and an annual retreat for ambassadors and members of Congress. Embassies sign up for annual memberships to access the workshops and events, which are designed to build relationships and examine strategic issues, from energy security to transatlantic cooperation.
Already, the institute has hosted several ambassadorial roundtables where Lugar talked about the fiscal cliff debate and its impact on U.S. and world affairs, as well as the implications of America's polarized political system for international affairs in President Obama's second term. Each off-the-record discussion drew some two dozen diplomats from countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America.
In addition, Lugar welcomed ambassadors from the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Israel, South Africa and elsewhere for a January reception and dinner at the U.S. Botanical Gardens honoring the freshman congressional class.
Lugar, who was a freshman in the fall of 1976 when he was first elected to the Senate, left the chamber with a considerable legacy. He is regarded as one of the most influential senators in the realm of foreign policy in the last quarter of a century.
A stalwart proponent of comity and compromise, Lugar worked for 36 years with presidents and lawmakers of both parties to promote arms control, combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, craft sensible energy policies, tackle the global food crisis, and make his nation's foreign policy machinery work more effectively. A lifelong and loyal Republican, Lugar often teamed up Democratic lawmakers over the years, including senators such as Sam Nunn, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Bob Casey and Chris Dodd.
Lugar's central legislative accomplishment was the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. Working with Democratic Sen. Nunn, he developed a program to help the nations of the former Soviet Union secure and then dismantle weapons of mass destruction. It has grown into a global program with initiatives in Africa, Asia and Europe. Lugar proudly notes the program has eliminated more nuclear weapons than the combined nuclear arsenals of France, China and the United Kingdom. (Russia almost abandoned the program this summer until a last-minute deal was struck to extend the arms agreement; also see "Few Options as Landmark Pact With Russia Set to Expire" in the June 2013 issue of The Washington Diplomat.)
Lugar also played a major role in helping to secure Senate approval of important arms controls treaties, including the START treaties, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Agreement and the Chemical Weapons Convention.
From left, Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Ambassador of Morocco Rachad Bouhlal and Ambassador of Montenegro Srdjan Darmanovic, both founding country members of the Richard G. Lugar Institute for Diplomacy and Congress.
Lugar helped to persuade the Reagan administration to change its policy toward the apartheid regime in South Africa in the mid-1980s and to recognize Corazon Aquino as the winner of the disputed Philippines presidential election in 1986 between Aquino and Ferdinand Marcos.
While serving in the Senate, Lugar did the important but unglamorous work of making American foreign policy operate more smoothly. He served as a presidential envoy to Libya, an election observer in the Philippines and Ukraine, a congressional observer to arms control talks with the Soviet Union, and a U.S. observer to the ceremony announcing the Nabucco pipeline aimed at diversifying Europe's natural gas supplies.
Lugar was also one of the first lawmakers that diplomats sought out when they visited the United States, and he arranged time in his schedule to meet with overseas visitors who were in Washington (read more on what Lugar's departure meant for the diplomatic community in the June 2012 edition of the Diplomatic Pouch online).
In addition to lending his name and support to the Lugar Institute for Diplomacy and Congress, he has affiliations with the University of Indianapolis, Indiana University, Georgetown University, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the German Marshall Fund.
The former senator has also created the Lugar Center, which seeks to generate policy proposals that transcend short-term political considerations. The Lugar Center concentrates on three areas that Lugar is passionate about: controlling weapons of mass destruction, enhancing global food security, and reforming America's foreign assistance programs.
John Shaw is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat. He is the author of the 2012 book "Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate: Crafting Foreign Policy from Capitol Hill."
Last Edited on July 30, 2013
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It's been four years since the Australian government introduced its Significant Investor visa program, and while rule changes have affected its popularity, wealthy migrants continue to show strong interest, across a number of pathways, in their desire to move to Australia.
Global market research group New World Wealth estimates 11,000 high-net-worth migrants settled in Australia in 2016 and business investor visa statistics were a major part of its research. This was up from 8000 in 2015.
The Significant Investor visa enables an applicant and his or her family to obtain permanent residency if they invest $5 million dollars into a complying investment framework "that benefits the nation". And now the first tranche of migrants who took up the visa will soon qualify to apply for their permanent residency.
Though fewer people have applied for this visa since the government introduced a more rigid investment framework to the program in 2015, interest in Australia from wealthy migrants hasn't changed.
What does appear to have changed is the mix of nationalities expressing interest in the visa, says ANZ Private head of international segment Grace Bacon. More recently, she has seen more interest from residents of non-Asian regions, including North America, Africa and Europe.
"What we recognised is that high-net-worth clients are coming to Australia under other visa classes as well, particularly when capital-flow restrictions from other countries may make it difficult for them to contribute the $5 million required for the Significant Investor visa," Bacon says.
These visa classes consist of five streams – Business Innovation, Investor, Significant Investor, Premium Investor and Entrepreneur – which are all classed under the Australian government's Business Innovation and Investment Program.
Each of the streams demand particular requirements from applicants, such as a certain value of net assets, business ownership or a certain amount of capital to invest. You can read more on the Department of Immigration's website.
The purpose of the program, according to the government, is to increase entrepreneurial talent and diversify business expertise in the country.
The Significant Investor and Premium Investor visas require larger amounts of capital than other categories. But they offer the advantage that applicants only need to spend 40 days in Australia during each year of their four-year provisional visa in order to qualify for permanent residency. The other streams require two out of four years to be spent in Australia.
Significant Investor visa applicants can submit expressions of interest and need to be nominated by a state or territory government before they can proceed with their application.
All up, 1778 preliminary Significant Investor visas have been granted since the program began in 2012. The lion's share were granted before July 1, 2015, with only 155 issued after that date when new regulations barred investments in property and stipulated $2 million be invested in higher risk asset classes such as venture capital, small-cap and emerging companies.
In reviewing the visa settings, Australia's policymakers argued investment requirements were too weak, drawing passive investments in government bonds and residential real-estate schemes that already attracted large capital flows. The visa's revised investment requirements directed funds to areas more beneficial to Australia's future, such as the commercialisation of Australian ideas, research and development.
Most Australian banks, and some financial institutions, have investment solutions that meet all of the Australian government's requirements for Significant Investor applicants, and ANZ Private is no exception. Bacon says there is still appetite for the visa and expressions of interest continue to flow in despite the rule changes.
"There has been a slowdown from countries like China because people are still concerned that under the new scheme they have to invest in quite a rigid, complying investment program," Bacon says. "In particular, the exposure to venture capital is what people are concerned about."
Applying for a Significant Investor visa can take up to nine months and applicants must be willing to disclose their business and personal backgrounds and provide detailed evidence supporting their application. The money applicants are required to invest cannot be borrowed, and applications are often rejected when authorities are not convinced the funds come from legitimate sources.
Australian authorities will request a range of personal information such as family structures and their asset base and applicants' business dealings. And with the Common Reporting Standard operating from July 2017 as part of Australia's participation in Automatic Exchange of Information regimes, it is expected that applicants will have to provide more information regarding their tax status from their country of origin. Given the complexity, many applicants find a licensed immigration agent to help them through the process.
Major Australian cities consistently rated among the most liveable cities around the world, and so the country and Australia's Business Innovation Investment Program as a whole is showing no sign of waning in popularity among would-be immigrants.
ANZ Private understand the complexities of moving to Australia.
"There is still appetite for the (SIV) visa and expressions of interest continue to flow in despite the rule changes."


With the variety of activities both at Grand Hotel and throughout Mackinac Island, there are lots of things to do for guests of all ages. Make your plans to experience everything offered and make your vacation as Grand as can be by getting outdoors and experiencing the scenic beauty of Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel grounds.
These are just a few of the fun things to do while visiting Grand Hotel and Mackinac Island. For a full list of ideas and suggestions view all of the activities in the sidebar or start to plan your day with suggested things to do on our Itineraries page.


MEDFORD, Ore. -- It may feel like Spring out, but mold experts are encouraging southern Oregonians to take an extra look around the house.
ACE Mold Inspector Joe Sells said his company has seen a 20-30 percent increase in mold problems compared to last year, specifically in attics.
"The snow can block up ventilation and not allow the moisture to evaporate out of the attic like it normally would and also create a colder surface temperature on a roof sheeting, which increases the likelihood of condensation inside," Sells said.
He said it is a good idea to put a thermometer in the attic and keep track of the temperature. If it starts to go over 50-60 percent humidity, it is a good idea to check out the ventilation.
Sells said he deals with a lot of tenant issues since there is no law in Oregon that requires landlords to bring in professional help for mold problems, and it is a good idea to make it a Spring cleaning habit.
"Take a look under the house, take a look above the house look in the places that you don't normally look," Sells said.
He also said some of the worst cases he has seen usually come from people ignoring them.
Sells said the mold increase means workers at his business are putting in extra work to get all the jobs done.
"We bring in more people, subcontract more work and it really just comes down to us burning the candle at both ends working weekends, overtime and whatever has to happen," Sells said.
Medford resident Roz Garcia said the jump in mold cases is a huge concern.
"It creates a lot of problems for people and their health," Garcia said. "I know a few people who have had problems with it and once it gets in your apartment you can't get rid of it and you need to call in a professional," Garcia said.


Home › News › Rhuli Gel to the Rescue!
Rhuli Gel has been a well-loved household first aid staple since the 1980s and is back by popular demand. It is fast acting, with two active analgesic ingredients, it is easy to apply in a non-drip topical gel formulation and provides effective relief from skin itching and discomfort due to insect bites and stings, contact with poison ivy, oak and sumac, or minor skin irritations. What's not to love about Rhuli Gel?
Here are our top four instances where Rhuli Gel will save the day!
It's an outdoor adventure you've been planning for weeks with friends. Sleeping under the stars, hiking by day and warm campfires and s'mores in the evening. Today has not been your day though, and the group ends the day's walk having brushed up against some very unfriendly poison oak. As darkness falls, people are feeling miserable, until you remember the Rhuli Gel stashed safely in your camping first aid kit. Rhuli Gel to the Rescue! Rhuli Gel is well-known as a fast-acting, non-drip remedy for poison ivy, poison oak and sumac and provides effective, soothing relief for even the clumsiest camper. With Rhuli Gel's analgesic properties and cooling camphor taking effect, s'mores are back on the menu. Rhuli Gel saves the day!
Summer vacations can be so relaxing, especially if you're taking a break from juggling a busy work schedule, the school year and countless extra-curricular and social activities. It's enough to make anyone sleepy, especially with the sound of the lake lapping against the sides of the pier and the warm sunshine on your face. You drift off, dreaming of freshly caught fish sizzling as it's being cooked for dinner. When you wake, it's more your skin that has been sizzling in that midday sunshine than any lakeside dinner. Rhuli Gel to the Rescue! The lake house first aid kit has always contained Rhuli Gel for minor skin irritations, including sunburn, and today is the day you need it! Rhuli Gel contains two analgesic that act fast to reduce pain and discomfort, and camphor for cooling the burnt area. With soothed skin, you move to the shade to resume your daydreaming about dinner. Summer vacation is saved! Thanks, Rhuli Gel!
It's Thanksgiving and the pressure cooker that is cold weather and extended family has come together. The younger cousins are wrestling like puppies, dads are discussing football stats, grandparents are catching up on college news and everyone is hungry. Aunt Louise is in the kitchen preparing her famous, traditional turkey for the Thanksgiving feast when she catches her wrist on a hot tray. Is the holiday doomed for failure? No! Mom swoops in and it's Rhuli Gel to the rescue! Aunt Louise's wrist is soothed with a quick swipe of Rhuli Gel with its analgesic properties and cooling camphor and Thanksgiving dinner is back on track. Rhuli Gel has saved the day!
Another beautiful spring day and you've sent the kids outside to play. Birds are chirping, and the sun is shining, bees are buzzing around the flowers…and suddenly the peaceful scene is interrupted by the wailing of your curious toddler. You rush outside and find he has gone too close to the flowers and has been stung by a bee! In the 1980s, Rhuli Gel was a household staple brought out immediately to treat the pain and discomfort of insect bites and stings, and due to its popularity, it is now available again. Rhuli Gel to the Rescue! You reach for your home first-aid kit and apply Rhuli Gel liberally to your toddler's finger. That, along with his favorite cartoon character bandaid, (and, of course, a therapeutic popsicle) allows playtime to continue as before. Bees beware! We've got Rhuli Gel as a remedy for all garden-based stingers and biters!


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We understand that a quality event deserves quality service; that is the essence of Jericho Terrace. Our carefully curated selection of premium wedding and event vendors have been long-standing members of the Jericho Terrace family. We promise only the best, most professional, experienced vendors for each and every event.
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Continuing Education Division fonds
CA UMASC Ua 23 (A1978-002, A1978-012, A1978-034, A1978-053, A1979-029, A1979-035, A1979-042, A1979-073, A1991-020, A1991-059)
The fonds is organized in series pertaining to the administrative and program units which have existed within the Division. The records include budget files, correspondence, policy and procedure manuals, committee minutes and reports, student reco...
Continuing Education Division
Correspondence 1979
Coubrough Family fonds
CA UMASC Mss Sc 163
The fonds consists of Canadian Wheat Board Permit Books. These were issued to grain producers Donald and Kevin Coubrough, and identified as landlords Mrs. Merle Bailey and John Crosland. The permit books for Donald Coubrough cover the years 1954 t...
Coubrough Family
DOROTHY LIVESAY MATERIAL 1974-1991
Danny Schur fonds
CA UMASC MSS 40 (A.05-111)
The fonds contains a playbill from Strike! The Musical signed by playwright Danny Schur. This published material contains biographical information of those involved in the production as well as the itinerary for the opening night of the play, May ...
Schur, Danny
Dauphin Agricultural Society fonds
The fonds consists of ledgers, cash books, minute books, cheque journals, auditors reports, and account books of the Dauphin Agricultural Society and associated agricultural clubs.
Dauphin Agricultural Society
Dave Brownell fonds
The fonds consists of a collection of poetry entitled "Warrior of the Rainbow."
Brownell, David
David A. Golden fonds
The fonds consists of the speech delivered by David Golden at the 1986 University of Manitoba Convocation ceremonies.
Golden, David A.
David Arnason and Wayne Tefs fonds
The fonds consists of 45 one-hour audiotaped interviews of several well-known Canadian writers. Professor David Arnason and Wayne Tefs conducted these interviews between 1975 and 1977 for the radio program Canadian Writers Symposium. Many of the i...
Tefs, Wayne
David Arnason fonds
A portion of the fonds (MSS SC 171) consists of Arnason's Ph.D. thesis titled, The Development of the Prairie Realism: Robert J.C. Stead, Douglas Durkin, Martha Ostenso and Frederick Philip Grove (1980). Included are four copies of a transcri...
Arnason, David
David Bergen fonds
The first accession (A.00-41) has been arranged into 4 series. They include biographical materials, manuscripts, reviews, and correspondence. The 2008 accession (A.08-79) has also been arranged into four series: prewriting and notes, drafts and ma...
Bergen, David
David Rabinovitch fonds
CA UMASC MSS 421, TC 124 (A07-47, A13-110)
The first accession (TC 124, A07-47) contains 19 hours of 36 taped documentaries and interviews of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio shows by David Rabinovitch dating from May 1970 to May 1973. The lengths of each production varies fr...
Rabinovitch, David
Davidson Enquiry
CA UMCMA 10.2.3.
File contains the following items: 1940-1952 incl Man Cancer Enquiry Commission report 1945, Leader autopsy report 1946, corres, clippings.
Davidson Family fonds
The fonds consists of ledger books, farm accounts, records, newspaper clippings, photographs, and a family history and genealogy.
Dechene-May Indigenous Languages of Rupert'€s Land Collection
CA UMASC Tc 149 (A.02-18)
c. 1960s-1980s
The collection consists of ephemeral publications and audio recordings related to the Indigenous languages of Rupert'€™s Land. Many of these were originally produced for language instruction and included teacher's manuals, readers, workbook...
Dechene-May Indigenous Languages of Rupert'€™s Land
Delbert Owens fonds
CA UMASC MSS SC 144 (A.95-47)
The fonds consists of a large agricultural account ledger of a terminal grain elevator near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. The ledger includes accounts of warehouses in Ogilvie, Minnedosa, Burnside, Binscarth, Austin, Gladstone, and McDonald, Manit...
Owens, Delbert
Dennis Cooley fonds
The fonds consists of published and unpublished manuscripts of poetry, essays, book reviews, interviews, and articles. The fonds includes Dennis Cooley's CV's, awards, correspondence, conferences, and courses taught at the University of ...
Cooley, Dennis
Department Heads Council
Series consists of the following materials: minutes of meetings and corres(1) 1966-67, 1971-72; incl paper on proposed establishment of a clinical pharmacology program; DP Snidal's proposal re Educational Register; (2) 1973; (3) 1974; incl...
Dean's Office - Faculty of Medicine
Department of Clinical Health Psychology historical materials
File consists of information relating to the establishment of the Department. (1994 statement)
Department of Emergency Medicine historical materials
Department of Emergency Medicine
Department of Family Medicine - Newsletter
File contains the following materials: : (1) V 6(3) 1994; v.7 (4) 1996; V 9(1-4) 1997,1998, 2001; (2) Family Medicine Research U of M Sep Dec 1996, Mar Jun Nov 1997, Mar 1998.
Department of Family Medicine historical materials
File contains the following items: Historical material incl re-cap of program 1960-77; list of statistics & graduates, copy of Man Med issue on family med (1991) 61(1); Kirk "What do family physicians do in Winnipeg" "in rural ...


text:
Global Risk Management
As general counsel of NASDAQ OMX Group, Ed Knight utilizes technology to manage multinational legal issues
By	Julie Schaeffer
When Ed Knight joined NASDAQ OMX Group in 2001 as general counsel, the company served only a few markets worldwide. Now, 14 years later, it serves 25 markets—a level of growth Knight attributes to the use of best-in-class technology and regulatory programs. "We've been able to mine these synergies and implement this strategy in markets around the world."
When most people think of the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ) system, they think of the global electronic marketplace for the buying and selling of stocks. That's one of the offerings of NASDAQ OMX Group. The system was formed because the National Association of Securities Dealers wanted to create a way for investors to buy and sell stocks on a transparent computerized system. Thus, the NASDAQ went live in 1971 with quotes for 2,500 over-the-counter securities. Today, the exchange is home to more than 3,400 listed companies, with a market value greater than $8.5 trillion. But NASDAQ is also a leading provider of technology and information, powering more than 70 marketplaces in 50 countries, 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions, and more than 10,000 corporate clients.
"We purposely created a diversified business model designed to minimize financial risk and provide shareholders with varied sources of revenue in numerous geographic markets and product types, so we are not dependent on any one market or product," Knight says.
Given the company's complexity—and its large expansion in a relatively short amount of time—Knight had his work cut out for him. "In today's modern public company, risk management is at the top of the agenda for the board and senior management, and really, for everyone in the company," he says. "Technology risk, legal complexity, financial risk—you could write volumes about these issues. At NASDAQ, given our market responsibilities, risk takes on another dimension entirely, and we organize ourselves accordingly." This is why Knight has implemented a number of processes and procedures that help identify and mitigate risk for the organization.
Before becoming general counsel of NASDAQ in 2001, Knight served as the chief legal officer for the National Association of Securities Dealers, now the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Before that, he served as general counsel of the Department of the Treasury from 1994 to 1999, making him the department's longest-serving general counsel since the position was created in 1934. Upon his departure, Knight received the department's highest honor, the Alexander Hamilton Award, from Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.
As general counsel for NASDAQ, he leverages this experience to guide the protection of the organization's integrity. "This is our focus, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," he says. "We are never complacent, and we are always mindful of the special responsibilities we have as the operators of marketplaces around the world."
Knight started with a solid core of legal, compliance, and regulatory personnel and added employees as NASDAQ acquired companies and markets. Driving their efforts is NASDAQ's compliance council, a committee of regulatory officers from around the world. This includes the chief compliance and regulatory officers from each of NASDAQ's 26 markets, internal audit personnel, and human resources employees from the general counsel and ethics offices. The council maps the organization's strategy for regulatory compliance on an annual basis and every month meets to review its progress. The team also seeks outside assistance when needed. "Our legal and compliance team has conducted a thorough gap analysis with a third-party management consultant, with a goal of matching or exceeding the best legal and compliance program in the world today," Knight says.
The team's efforts have established NASDAQ as an industry pioneer. "We've instituted many innovative regulatory and compliance programs, often before any other exchange in the world," Knight says, pointing to NASDAQ's regulatory testing program as an example. "It tests every change to our technology before it's configured in our system, which ensures that we're compliant with our regulatory obligations even though we change our core technology over time. It applies more than 6,000 compliance test scripts to each change."
Supporting NASDAQ's risk management efforts, as noted, is best-in-class technology that is designed to support the legal and regulatory function. In today's era of global trading across a multitude of asset classes, it is difficult for regulators and compliance officers at financial companies, such as broker-dealers, to maintain a single consolidated view of trading. To that end, NASDAQ acquired Australia-based SMARTS Group, the leading provider of market surveillance solutions for exchanges, regulators, and brokers, in 2010. The SMARTS technology allows regulators, exchanges, and broker-dealers to carry out real-time, cross-venue surveillance—essentially, sourcing, capturing, and maintaining the trading data required to conduct in-depth analyses to identify potential abuse. One offering, SMARTS Broker, is a managed service that helps market participants comply with regulations and internal policies. Another, SMARTS Integrity, is a surveillance tool that allows regulators to maintain an orderly market by providing a consolidated visual view of real-time market activity; it is accompanied by sophisticated alerting tools, such as detection of unusual trading patterns that could be potential breaches of exchange or regulator trading rules. To date, SMARTS is used by more than 90 market participants across 65 global markets and all asset classes, and it processes billions of messages per day. The technology has been so pivotal it led Waters Technology, in its 2013 and 2014 Waters Rankings, to give NASDAQ the award for Best Market Surveillance Provider.
Also at the top of Knight's risk-management watch list is cybersecurity. The Internet has become essential to the global economy, and businesses of all sizes are increasingly dependent on it for their day-to-day operations. Though cyberspace helps businesses achieve greater efficiencies, it's increasingly become the target of criminal hackers, from industrial spies to foreign governments. Amid the growing number of cyber attacks, companies like NASDAQ are seeking more stringent security solutions as the first step to solving a complex problem. "We have made our technology resilient, with proper failovers to combat against cyber attacks and other issues," Knight says. "We brought in some of the world's best cybersecurity technologists."
Learn more about cybersecurity prevention and response in the legal field with a white paper from Modern Counsel titled The General Counsel's Guide to Digital Defense. The Legal Side of Cybersecurity. Click below to download this complimentary industry insight report.


Berry Cobbler the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.
The "cobbled" or bumpy appearance of the rich biscuit topping gives this favorite fruit dish its unique name.
*One 16-ounce bag frozen raspberries and one 16-ounce bag frozen blueberries or strawberries can be substituted for fresh berries. Thaw berries, reserving juices. Increase cornstarch to 3 tablespoons.
Combine berries and cornstarch in medium bowl; toss lightly to coat. Add sugar to taste; mix well. Spoon into 1-1/2-quart or 8-inch square baking dish. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Add milk, butter and juice concentrate; mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Drop 6 heaping tablespoonfuls batter evenly over berries; sprinkle with nutmeg.
Bake 25 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbly. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Cobblers are best served warm or at room temperature on the day they are made. Leftovers should be kept covered and refrigerated for up to two days. Reheat leftovers, covered, in a 350°F oven until warm.


For about a year Gelh Architects worked on research for Moscow preparing recommendations for making the city livable and comfortable for people. The full report is published as a very nice book. On this video you can see a short presentation of the report.


Summer is over and the leaves are turning. The US' Federal Reserve branch in Atlanta continued to lower US growth expectations from +3.5% annualized to only +2.2% annualized. The IMF also chimed in with a lower GDP growth revision though for all of 2016 at +1.6%, down from their July forecast of +2.2%. Economic news continues to be mixed though no obvious systemic risk is out there (we believe that both the election as well as any interest rate hike in December will have only a modest and perhaps offsetting impact on the markets). The Puerto Rico bankruptcy (or equivalent) will also not move forward until December or early 2017 – far off in the future in these markets. The ECB stepped up its corporate bond buying and more concerns were raised over the misalignment between the country breakdown targets of their purchases versus the availability of sovereign bonds to actually buy; at the current rate and targets, the ECB will run out of eligible German and Finnish bonds in February next year. Will they lower their standards or taper their purchases? The answer is obvious. The Italian referendum to restructure their government and the third Spanish election attempt to form a government are upcoming in December. Meanwhile, more concerns over internal Chinese debt were raised as the central government expanded its municipal bond swap program and combined a few money-losing heavy industry government enterprises without culling workers or excess capacity. Extend and pretend. Japan's central bank changed some of its yield curve targeting but in a confusing way so that even bank analysts failed to have cohesive opinions on what it meant. Not a successful communication policy at least. OPEC at least can communicate that it wants to cut oil production – though no certainty on by whom and how much – that is for November's meeting. Big producers like Russia, US, China and Mexico are not bound to any cuts so it seems implausible that any agreement will hold together for long. In addition, the timing happens to coincide with seasonal maintenance for many of the OPEC members so they may declare victory with the temporary seasonal cuts and then re-expand citing changing circumstances. Grain harvests are in full swing in the North America with decent progress, though a little behind last year. Softs (coffee, sugar and cocoa) still are dealing with adverse weather reports. US livestock supplies are looking particularly plentiful and a weaker Yuan is holding back export demand. Although much in the markets and news seems more of the same, we expect some of the above events will shake the markets by the end of the year. Until then, safe trading!
Still No Surprises! Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve may have been officially split about raising rates at the September meeting, but the Federal Reserve will not do anything before the election. Furthermore, the Fed governors' median interest rate projections for 2017 fell from 1.6% to 1.1% and for 2018 from 2.4% to 1.9% – in other words, "lower for longer." The current "dot plot" is to the right, showing that the majority of the members are expecting one more increase in 2016 – and it sure will not occur at the November 1st and 2nd meeting. Look ahead to December 13-14th for that possibility. However, with the Atlanta Federal Reserve's projection for Q3 GDP revised down continuously during September from +3.5% annualized to only +2.2% annualized, inflation concerns are also correspondingly deflating and with them the likelihood of that final increase. Q2 GDP growth was finalized at +1.4% annualized rate – not great but better than the previous estimate of +1.1%. We shall see how Q3 plays out.
In more granular US economic news, imports from China dropped -3.5% in July, showing slowing trade despite the upcoming US holiday seasons of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Pending US sales of existing homes fell to a seven-month low as high prices discouraged buyers. New home sales (about 10% of the market) beat the survey at 609,000 sold versus 600,000, continuing the uptrend since 2010. Borrowing costs were steady and some wage growth should be supportive but strong price appreciation is a challenge. Retail sales declined more than expected (-0.3% versus -0.1%) as a downtick in automobile purchases met a decline in seven of the twelve categories besides autos. Durable goods orders were little changed in August, though non-military, non-aircraft grew +0.6%, higher than expected. Factory output declined more than forecast in August (-0.4% versus -0.3%) – though oil and gas drilling expanded +3.2%, confirming the increase in rig counts reported separately. Jobless claims stayed low (see graph to the right) while vehicle sales to consumers stayed flat versus the start of the year. Finally, foreign central banks have cut their purchases of US government bonds, with China and Japan cutting their purchases for the third consecutive quarter and Saudi Arabia reducing their holdings. These top holders of US debt need to fund their deficits and with possible rate hikes, taking some money off the table (perhaps just temporarily) fits their needs. While a non-issue in the immediate future, the US deficits are set to increase in the coming fiscal year and beyond per the Congressional Budget Office. Something to monitor as we finish the year and go into 2017.
We all are familiar with the financial woes of Venezuela by now, but even their oil company (PDVSA) may finally succumb to the country's economic collapse. PDVSA is seeking to swap $7 billion of bonds maturing in 2017 for 2020 durations – a small reprieve but they certainly do not have the money now to repay the principal. Can they buy time? With little in assets, PDVSA bonds look like a losing bet. Meanwhile, Canada's firms and consumers are layering on the debt almost unnoticed – the attached graphs show levels approaching the US highs before the 2008 crash on one measure. Certainly on a GDP basis the trend is obvious – if not accelerating. With bad oil loans souring bank balance sheets, could the US' northern neighbor slip on the ice this winter?
ECB Pushing on the String: Seven years in, QE in its various forms is not doing anything, apart from the first US program which arguably provided liquidity when the markets needed it (temporarily). The graphs from Citigroup on the right do not include Japan, but given that country's decline in PMIs and inflation, the result would be in line with the QE2/QE3/ECB experience. Meanwhile, the ECB's bond buying program is expected to reach its limits in German and Finnish bonds before the program finishes in March – unless the ECB changes the rules and ditches its country limits (increasing its exposure to more risky countries – such as the PIIGS), its minimum yield limits (allowing it to buy negative-yielding bonds and thus locking in losses) or more corporate bonds (more credit risk and picking corporate favorites – the ultimate too-protected-to-fail since the ECB would bail out any corporates that it would invest in to again avoid losses – per its mandate). All bad choices if one seeks transparency and accountability in markets, but that is not the goal. More market distortion will not solve the ECB's / EU's problems, but it does push tough decisions further away (by a few months at least). The UK announced a corporate bond-buying program as well (£10 billion per month for eighteen months). The big banks certainly are still in trouble – Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, ING, Banco Popular have all announced planned layoffs totaling over 20,000 employees. No one is going bankrupt but no one is recovering either.
In economic news, German exports fell surprisingly by -2.6% in July, very different than the +0.2% rise expected. Relatedly, Eurozone industrial production fell -1.1% that month, with the chart to the right indicating that the trend may not be friendly. French 2Q GDP was revised down to -0.1% from 0.0%. Construction was more positive than expected (+1.8% versus +0.3% from the month prior). The UK posted some positive economic news with positive manufacturing PMIs. Russia is still struggling with disposable income falling more than expected (-8.3% versus -5.7%, year-on-year) and retail sales continued to stagnate (-5.1% versus -4.9% expected, year-on-year). Turkey's debt was downgraded to junk levels by Moody's, which still lags S&P's rating. Erdogan is making nice with Putin, increasing political risk in the region by an ostensible NATO ally. Finally, Italy will be holding a reforms referendum in December to completely change the structure of their parliament, eliminating one house from all but the most important legislative procedures and shrinking the primary chamber by 2/3s to 100 representatives, speeding up the legislative process overall. PM Renzi has promised to resign if the measure fails – which it could do so easily – and thus potentially send the country into political crisis. December 4th is the date to watch.
Is Bigger Better? What is the best way to deal with massive steel companies with bloated capacity? China thinks the answer is to combine them! Baosteel and Wu-Han Iron & Steel Group announced their merger with a third company possible to be added to the mix. Baosteel alone employs 130,000 workers – about the same as the entire steel industry in the US. With a return of -3.63% on assets, China's largest mills need to become more efficient, which requires mass layoffs and increased productivity. As 1/3rd of capacity is unused in the oil-processing and steel sectors, there are no easy choices for a Communist government committed ideologically to heavy industry and its related proletariat. Meanwhile the export markets are still under pressure, with container throughput in Hong Kong down 10% year-on-year. Hong Kong retail sales also missed as they declined -10.5% year-on-year versus the -6.9% expected. Chinese excess port capacity is equal to the entire active capacity of Russia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan combined, per the Financial Times! And unused Chinese capacity is expected to double by 2030 as local governments expand ports to compete on larger facilities to attract business and jobs. Sounds like a losing game. On the plus side, the official figures were positive for August as industrial production grew +6.3% (the fasted annualized pace since March), retail sales increased +10.6% annualized (versus +10.2% in July) and the official PMI number hit a ten-month high of 50.4, showing a mild increase. Property prices accelerated their move back up and per the graph on the left, the gains are broad-based (90% of the major cities). There is official reporting that the central government is permitting higher local government spending to maintain the economy – "off-balance sheet" financing has already hit RMB 1.1 trillion ($160 billion) through September versus RMB 0.9 trillion ($150 billion) of "extra" spending for all of 2015. Fiscal stimulus is in full swing, though not much to show for it as state spending is crowding out private spending (see graph to the left). The ascribed opposite view is that the government is simply stepping into the private economy's weakness. However, when to back off from the torrent of spending is the question.
The Bank of Japan at its September meeting committed to keeping ten-year bond yields at zero – essentially being ready to buy any amount to keep yields at that level. Reaction was mixed as this approach has only be used once before (in the US after World War II), and it was considered ineffective and abandoned. Of BOJ is still buying equities and changed their purchases to include the TOPIX index and related ETFs (annual amount at ¥5.7 trillion or about $55 billion). A little prop to equity holders. Finally Australia is looking to issue its longest-maturity bond yet – thirty years – to lock in low financing rates for longer. How low will its rates go?
OilPECalypse: OPEC may have sparked the price reaction that they were looking for when Saudi Arabia finally caved and a deal was announced to cut the group's production. Of course, the amount and by whom was put off until the November 30th meeting and by then production will have declined naturally because of seasonal maintenance. In the meantime, Russian production hit a post-Soviet high to 11.11 million barrels per day (mbpd), the highest for any producer. Iran is still looking to expand from recent highs – their oil and condensate exports reached pre-sanction levels of 2.8 mpbd. Iraq's production is set to increase, Brazilian production is back to its 2015 highs, Libya reopened exports and began shipping, and Nigerian production is expanding and re-exporting. In short, OPEC oil output is set to reach an all-time high in September and perhaps beyond. Ironically, in the beginning of September, both OPEC and the International Energy Agency both predicted that the oil supply glut will continue through 2017. OPEC's actions may change that trajectory but if the world economy stays sluggish, then prices would likely stay low without more drastic action. US shale oil is already reacting as rig counts continued their increase from 407 on September 2nd to 425 on September 30th. Costs are falling sharply, with an example well on the east side of the Permian Basin in Texas seeing cost per square foot falling by 48% since Q1 2015 while average Permian oil well output has increased 122% since 2012. The FT graphs to the right outline the dramatic geographical impact. Mexico too this month outlined its shale potential as the Eagle Ford Basin extends not only south of the US border but well into the heart of Mexico. China is ending its routine maintenance season and bringing back on line its idled refiners, which may improve oil demand but also gasoline and diesel supply. At some point soon the refining business may have to deal with its own overcapacity. Finally, Argentina and the UK are considering a joint venture to develop oil fields around the Falklands Islands: an ironic turn of events given the war fought over these rocks back in 1982.
In grain news, Australia's wheat crop is to be the largest in five years – a record 28 million tonnes. Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer at over 12,000 annually (Indonesia is number two at 8,000 as a point of comparison), suspended imports temporarily over flip-flopping on its fungus standards – imposing at first a zero tolerance versus the world standard of 0.05% and then finding that no one could meet that criterion (at least at a price that Egypt could afford). Brazil is producing a bumper crop of coffee at 54.9 million bags and it is of good quality too per reports. Cocoa production is still reeling in Ivory Coast but Ghana (who makes excellent beans) has increased its crop by 11% versus last year (and is expected to increase it again next year the same percentage). Sugar production remains tight as forecasts look worse for next year. In livestock, an abundance of hogs is depressing prices as the number of piglets per litter continued its steady increase back over 10.5 and US inventory reached a record 65 million hogs. Chinese demand growth is also slowing year-on-year on the weaker Yuan and tepid economic activity. However, China is opening its doors to US beef "soon" but at an unknown time. The country has been closed since 2003 over "mad cow" disease concerns but that may be changing. US exports will face tough competition from Brazil and Australia, the incumbents. Brazil also has received permission to expand its exports to the US to include fresh beef, though no plants have yet been approved for import by the USDA.