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Arab Spring's Costs Still Being Counted
By Jamie Dettmer
Anti-government protesters shout during a rally organized by the 20th February, the Moroccan Arab Spring movement in Casablanca, Morocco, Sunday, Nov 20, 2011, in a mass popular call to bring more democracy into this North African kingdom. Some thous
ROME - Revolutions have a nasty habit of taking off in unexpected directions, Friedrich Engels noted more than a century ago. The morning after, people realize "the revolution they made was nothing like the one they had wanted to make."
The 19th century political philosopher's words seem especially apt for the Arab Spring uprisings. Seven years after a wave of protests erupted across the Middle East and North Africa, turning the region upside down, none have met the hopes of the revolutionaries, mainly ordinary Arabs seeking an escape from stagnation and corruption.
Nor have they fulfilled the expectations of Western onlookers and enablers.
Once celebrated in Western capitals, and inspiring progressive dreams of many young Arabs, the uprisings within months, turned nasty, souring the optimism of those who believed that overthrowing autocrats and holding elections would herald a more stable region less given to eruptions and brutal repression.
FILE - A civilian fighter holding the Libyan flag
FILE - A civilian fighter holding the Libyan flag stands in front of damaged buildings in Benghazi, Libya, Feb. 23, 2016.
?Benghazi attack
For the West, the first moment of real doubt came with the jihadist attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound and a nearby intelligence annex in Libya's Benghazi, which claimed the lives of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, a champion of the Arab Spring, and three other Americans.
That attack underscored how chaotic and unruly the Middle East had become and how easily jihadists could foment upheaval.
Ordinary Arabs didn't like what they had woken up to just months into what they had hoped would be a new era of individual dignity, personal autonomy and improved living standards.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi meets wit
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi prepares to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, March 2, 2017.
?Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria
In Egypt, a high-handed Islamist government enraged both progressives and "deep state" loyalists, prompting a popular backlash the army hijacked to install into power General Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, a copycat of ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak.
This week el-Sissi ordered the arrest of a former Egyptian army general who planned to run against him in forthcoming elections, the fourth potential challenger to be detained in what appears to be a coordinated state campaign to drive would-be candidates from the race and to manage the campaign. Analysts say Egypt's latest strongman and his allies in the military and security services appear determined to ensure a trouble-free re-election, a move that makes a mockery of the 2011 uprising, activists say.
In Libya, in the wake of the ouster of its leader, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, a series of prime ministers floundered in their efforts to establish order and to decommission ideological and town-based militias, fracturing the North African country. An Islamic State affiliate emerged, beheading Christians and foes as it seized coastal territory.
Yemen descended into brutal civil war and starvation, inviting in outside powers Saudi Arabia and Iran and empowering extremists.
A Syrian girl holds an oxygen mask over the face o
A Syrian girl holds an oxygen mask over the face of an infant at a make-shift hospital following a reported gas attack on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, Jan. 22, 2018.
In Syria, the heart of the Middle East, vicious repression of non-violent reform protests featuring systematic rape, mass detentions and torture, gave way to an armed revolt, which again encouraged the intervention of outside powers, including Russia, the United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.The revolt was quickly distorted by the emergence of the Islamic State terror group and rivalry between Islamists and moderates.With hundreds of thousands of dead, there still is no end in sight.
Where did West go wrong?
With the collapse of governments and the break up of Arab states, religious visionaries and fanatics, from Sunni jihadists and Islamists to militant Shiites, filled the void. Progressives and moderates were ill-equipped to cope, and a confused West lost hope, analysts say.
Skeptics like John Bradley, author of the book After the Arab Spring: How Islamists Hijacked the Middle East Revolts, argued early on the West and local progressives were guilty of wishful thinking and were too quick to hail the stirrings of the Arab Spring and draw parallels to the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.
Others maintain the Arab Spring could have worked out. The choice wasn't binary argued Matthew Partridge in a review of Bradley's book. "America and Europe need to lead from the front — not from behind," he said as the Arab Spring's consequences unfolded.
Another expert, Bill Lawrence, a former analyst at the International Crisis Group, a New York and Brussels-based research organization, has said the West was as much onlooker as participant, arguing "a big mix of forces came together in the region to express rage over hopeless economics, corruption and abusive government."
The demographics of the region suggest that one cause of the Arab spring turbulence, jobless young men, will long remain. All the Arab spring countries share at least two things: They have very young populations and they are unable to create jobs.
Tunisian protesters clash with riot police during
Tunisian protesters clash with riot police during demonstrations against rising prices and tax increases, in Tunis, Tunisia, Jan. 12, 2018.
The birthplace of the Arab Spring, Tunisia, has managed a relatively peaceful transition from an authoritarian regime to a functioning democracy.
But this month and in December a new round of austerity measures, with higher prices for basic foods, fuel and energy, sparked street protests. Police and protesters drawn from the youth movement Fesh Nestannew, which means "What are we waiting for?" supported by youngsters from working class areas, clashed. Like the 2011 protesters, they are demanding better lives.
New Demonstrations in Tunisia as it Marks 7th Anniversary of Arab Spring Uprising
Hundreds of people took the streets of Tunisia's capital for a new demonstration Sunday, and in one district police fired tear gas to disperse dozens of stone-throwing youths on the seventh anniversary of the ousting of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.Fueled by rising frustrations with the country's social and economic issues, protesters have been demonstrating, at times violently, in Tunis and across the North African country this past week.A witness told…
By Henry Ridgwell
Sun, 01/14/2018 - 06:37 AM
For Mideast in 2018, Threats and Opportunities Reign
Will 2018 dampen the fires that rage across the Middle East? Although skepticism is understandable, there is a glimmer of change.The fight against the Islamic State group is mostly over, and the war in Syria may finally be winding down. The region is transitioning from fighting those wars to dealing with their aftermath — the destruction and dispersal of populations they wrought and the political fallout. Iran's influence has grown after its proxies were generally…
Hunger at Damascus' Door as Syrian Government Blocks Aid
At the doors of the Syrian capital, children with wrinkled faces and arms like sticks are going hungry because President Bashar Assad's forces, supported by Russia and Iran, are blocking trucks filled with humanitarian relief. As the government and its opponents wrap up another fruitless round of talks in Geneva, humanitarian officials warn that conditions outside Damascus have reached crisis levels, with the government maintaining a siege on the Eastern Ghouta…
Jamie Dettmer
Shoura - An Experiment in Reconciliation in Post-Islamic State Iraq
VOA News About Iran


This week 5 elite athletes give an insight into their careers.
This includes some of the habits that have helped them achieve their success.
Which should help you on the path to your own success.
Mimi holds multiple records for ultra running events and challenges across the world.
These include the record for the fastest run from John o' Groats to Lands End for a female.
To do that, she ran more than 800 miles in 12 days.
Which makes her the perfect coach for me as I attempt to break the men's world record for the opposite route, Lands End to John o' Groats, in May 2019.
She's also won multiple endurance events, including many outright wins, beating males as well as females!
Lisa has world class running pedigree and represented Australia at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in the 1,500m.
She's also been the Australian champion over 800m and 1,500m multiple times.
Evie competed in the ITU Triathlon World Championships on the Gold Coast in Australia in September 2018.
And combining this high level of performance with her day job as a sports psychologist means that she can give us all a huge amount of valuable advice across a number of topics.
She's also doing a fantastic job as my sports psychologist.
Steve is a very experienced British marathon and ultra marathon runner living in the US.
He's got a phenomenal 100 mile PB of 15 hours, 26 minutes and 25 seconds, has run 140 miles in a 24 hour race and placed 4th in the famous Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Race.
James was a fairly latecomer to running, but has achieved high levels of success very quickly.
He's won the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile race, the West Highland Way Race and represents Scotland and Great Britain in ultra running events, including the GB 24 hour squad.
This is the first of two parts of the interviews with these elite athletes.
Simply provide your email to get updated when part 2 comes.
You'll also get a FREE training plan template, which will save you time, money and effort when creating your own training programme!
Now, it's time to hear from the elite athletes!
What's Your Proudest Athletic Achievement?
Mimi Anderson - I'm proud of everything I've achieved in my running career, all for different reasons.
But I think my two best achievements are the Spartathlon in 2011 and my Malin Head to Mizen Head World Record in 2012.
The Spartathlon is a 153 mile non-stop race in Greece starting at the Acropolis in Athens and finishing at Sparta in 36 hours.
At the 100 mile point there is a mountain to go up and over (always in the dark).
The race is made more difficult because of the 74 check points along the route, all with their own cut-offs. So competitors are constantly chasing time.
In 2011 I finished 3rd female.
A moment I will never forget, especially as the race attracts high calibre runners from around the world.
The Malin Head to Mizen Head challenge took place in September 2012.
During the 345 mile world record attempt I had a support crew of three looking after me.
My aim was to complete the run in 3.5 days which I knew would be a big ask.
Everything went well and I felt good breaking the record in 3 days 15 hours, taking over 10 hours off the previous record that had only been set in March of that year.
Although not my 3.5 days I came away knowing I had given it my all.
I couldn't have asked any more of my body!
Lisa Corrigan - Competing in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for Australia.
I raced in the 1500m. So a tad different to the distance you run James!
The first was helping a fellow triathlete during the run stage of a race.
As I ran up alongside her, it was clear she was struggling.
I happened to have water and gels on me and offered her some. She was so grateful and after the race, came to thank me for slowing down to help her.
The second was taking part in the ITU World Series Age Group standard triathlon on the Gold Coast, because my family and friends were all there to cheer me on!
I loved the race and the atmosphere. To come 3rd Brit and 13th overall in my age group was unexpected and a proud moment too!
Steve Speirs - Tough question!
Possibly finishing the Western States 100 and earning the sub-24 buckle.
James Stewart - It has to be going from being 5 stone heavier than I am now in late 2011 to winning my first GB vest in 2017.
That was a remarkable, incremental, 'howthehelldidIenduphere' journey.
The things I did along the way such as winning the West Highland Way, running for Scotland or winning Rocky Raccoon wouldn't have made any sense to my pre-2011 self. Nor would they have even been remotely believable.
Mimi - Difficult to say which is my favourite race as they are all so different and you can't really compare.
But I think the Arctic race has to be up there.
The 6633 Arctic Ultra was a 352 mile (it's now longer) non-stop, self sufficiency race in the Canadian Arctic over 8 days, in temperatures as low as minus 40!
There really isn't anything quite like it.
It's the only race that starts so far north, goes through the Arctic Circle, takes runners for 120 miles on an ice road and finishes on the Arctic Ocean!
I finished in just under 6 days, winning the race overall (male and female) and finishing 24 hours ahead of the only other person to finish that year.
Lisa - The Noosa Bolt 5km here in Australia. Noosa is a beautiful place and it's such a fun and competitive race.
Evie - Again there are two.
New York Marathon in 2010. The support from the crowd and all those involved was unforgettable.
And a mountain marathon in Austria with my best friend. The scenery was breathtaking and sharing it with my husband and good friends was unforgettable.
Steve - So many great events out there, but the Western States 100 was probably the most special.
James - The West Highland Way.
This is the home big one. It's not got the sense of worldwide grandeur a Western States or UTMB has – and in some ways that makes it more endearing - but it is on some of the most amazing scenery on the planet and shows Scotland off magnificently.
The fact I have only run it once rankles with me!
James Stewart's favourite face is the West Highland Way in Scotland.
What's Your Favourite Race Food?
Mimi - Food is something that I struggle with while racing as my body doesn't seem to tell me when I'm hungry!
The cravings for food depends on the climate I'm racing in.
During Badwater in the USA I loved fizzy water and iced coffee!
On my run across America it was ice cream.
On staged races it would be nuts and raisins.
And if I'm struggling to get food into me then baby food is ideal!
Lisa - I would always have spaghetti bolognese.
Evie - Dates and madeleine cakes on long rides!
James - Home baking. But the #1 answer here is my sister-in-law Alison's banana bread.
What's The One Piece of Kit You Couldn't Live Without?
It can be used for a multitude of things from keeping my hair off my face and wrapping it around my wrist having soaked it in water to keep me cool in hot races.
I've used it on my face in a sandstorm and have been known to wear it as a mini skirt while sitting in camp during a multi-staged race in South Africa.
Lisa - My running spikes!
Do You Have Any Strange, Interesting or Weird Race Superstitions, Routines, Charms, etc?
Mimi - Since doing the Marathon des Sables in 2001 I have always worn a beautiful bar broach that was given to me by my Godmother.
It would be pinned to the inside of my crop-top above my heart.
But I know that whoever finds it will carry good luck with them - it was obviously time for me to move onto something else.
Lisa - I always kept a small 'lucky' teddy in my spike bag and kissed it before a race!!!
Evie - Even race numbers!
One day I was given an odd race number and obviously had to race with it - nothing out of the ordinary happened so I gave myself a good talking to and decided that odd or even, a race is a race!
Steve - I guess my lucky pre-race Guinness.
James - Nah. Apart from the pre-race need to empty the bowels I just lace up and run. Oh, wait, actually, I always buy new socks before an ultra.
Simply sign up with your email to get updated when part 2 of the interview is out.
it will include even more tips and interesting information.
Older Post1st Place at the Autumn 100 Mile Race - My Preparation, Race Review and A Free Checklist!


You expect a celebrity's beauty routine to be — well, celeb status. So, when you see the kinds of products (one in particular) that this model used on her wedding day, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Miranda Kerr used a super popular and unexpected beauty product for her wedding day makeup, and you may recognize it from your own regimen. Go, you!
According to a Vogue exclusive video, Kerr was going for something "simple and timeless" for her wedding day, and she absolutely nailed it. At about the two minute 19 second mark of the tutorial, you'll notice Kerr applies the cult favorite, best-selling Boy Brow from Glossier to her brows. So, if you thought you and Kerr weren't on the same level in terms of makeup application — think again. Turns out, she's just as "obsessed" with Boy Brow as you are.
Of course, there are some very luxurious steps in her routine, too. She used the NuFACE microcurrent tool to give her skin an instant lift. Owning something like this will cost you a minimum of $199, but hey — it could very well give you Kerr-status skin. So, worth it? Umm, probably. But, that's why it's especially nice to know that you can get model-level brows for just 16 bucks, you know?
Not only did Glossier help bring Kerr's flawless wedding look to life, but affordable brands such as Kora Organics and Laura Mercier were also used to make the makeup moment extra magical.
Knowing that getting brows this good took such minimal effort will change your makeup routine for the better, if Boy Brow isn't already apart of it — that is.
This item has gained its major popularity for a reason.
People who have tried it can hardly go a day without it. I mean, Kerr even used it on her "big day," if that's any indication of how special it is.
Kerr used Boy Brow in brown, but it also comes in clear, black and blond, so there's bound to be a shade to suit you.
Feeling inspired by her wedding day style? Then hit up the Glossier website and fill your cart with Boy Brow. Clearly, that's the thing to do.


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CGuard
MGuard Prime™
Leading Physicians on CGuard
Home > News & Events > News > Press Release
InspireMD Announces Positive Twelve Month Follow-Up CARENET Trial Data at VEITH Symposium 2015
BOSTON, MA – November 20, 2015 – InspireMD, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NSPR) ("InspireMD" or the "Company"), a leader in embolic prevention systems (EPS), neurovascular devices and thrombus management technologies, announced today positive 12 month follow up data from its CGuardTM CARENET (CARotid Embolic protection Study using microNET) trial at the 42nd Annual Symposium on Vascular and Endovascular Issues (VEITH) in New York. Prof. Piotr Musiałek, Co-Principal Investigator for the CARENET study, from Jagiellonian University Medical College at John Paul II Hospital, Krakow, Poland, presented the 12 month follow up data, an industry first on a mesh covered carotid stent technology.
At the New Techniques, Technologies and Concepts session, Prof. Musialek presented the new data on the InspireMD CGuardTM Mesh Covered Carotid Stent Program. His lecture, entitled "MicroNet Covered Embolic Prevention Carotid Stent System: From CARENET And PARADIGM Studies To Routine Clinical Practice," focused on the CARENET 12 month results, which demonstrated zero strokes or stroke-related deaths at 12 months. Further, duplex ultrasound analysis confirmed no changes in the in-stent velocities between 6 and 12 months. This indicates no sign of vessel narrowing and is consistent with the durability of carotid artery treatment seen using CGuardTM. According to Prof. Musialek, previously demonstrated reduction in both the incidence and the volume of new ischemic lesions, together with the 12 month data that show minimal restenosis concern, suggests that the therapeutic benefits of the CGuardTM technology may extend well beyond the acute procedural period.
Prof. Piotr Musialek commented, "It is very exciting to present the 12 month follow up data from the CGuardTM CARENET study, which continues to validate the use of the MicroNetTM covered CGuardTM, with zero strokes at 12 months. In addition, the 12 month data showed no change in peak systolic velocity between 6 months and 12 months, suggesting no restenosis concerns. These findings, combined with the results from our recent all-comer single center PARADIGM trial, continue to show the increased therapeutic benefits of the CGuardTM technology in treating patients with carotid artery disease. This technology is a game-changer in today's practice of carotid revascularization and my colleagues and I look forward to continued use of this unique technology in routine clinical practice."
Alan Milinazzo, CEO of InspireMD commented, "Twelve month CARENET results further validate that the CGuardTM represents a superior next generation stenting technology, supporting broader application in carotid artery disease treatment, with physicians steadily impressed with its superior clinical data. We plan to leverage compelling CARENET and PARADIGM clinical evidence to expand upon our ongoing, active CGuardTM commercial activities."
PARADIGM, led by principal investigator Prof. Musialek, is an investigator-initiated Prospective evaluation of All-comer peRcutaneous cArotiD revascularization In symptomatic and increased-risk asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis, using CGuard™ Mesh-covered embolic prevention stent system, indicated that the CGuard™ system is appropriate for use in an all-comer carotid revascularization population and is associated with an extremely favorable angiographic and clinical outcome.
VEITH Symposium 2015 provides vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists, interventional cardiologists and other vascular specialists with a unique and exciting format to learn the most current information about what is new and important in the treatment of vascular disease. The event features presentations from world renowned vascular specialists with emphasis on the latest advances, changing concepts in diagnosis and management, pressing controversies and new techniques.
About InspireMD, Inc.
InspireMD seeks to utilize its proprietary MGuard™ with MicroNetTM technology to make its products the industry standard for embolic protection and to provide a superior solution to the key clinical issues of current stenting in patients with a high risk of distal embolization, no reflow and major adverse cardiac events.
InspireMD intends to pursue applications of this MicroNet technology in coronary, carotid (CGuardTM), neurovascular, and peripheral artery procedures. InspireMD's common stock is quoted on the NYSE MKT under the ticker symbol NSPR.
About CGuard™ EPS
The proprietary CGuard™ Embolic Prevention System (EPS) uses the same MicroNet™ technology featured on the MGuard™ and MGuard Prime™ coronary Embolic Protection Systems. The CGuard™ EPS is designed to prevent peri-procedural and late embolization by trapping potential emboli against the arterial wall while maintaining excellent perfusion to the external carotid artery and branch vessels.
MicroNet™ is a bio-stable mesh woven from a single strand of 20 micron Polyethylene Terephthalate.
CGuard™ EPS is CE Marked and not approved for sale in the U.S. by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at this time.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Such statements may be preceded by the words "intends," "may," "will," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "predicts," "estimates," "aims," "believes," "hopes," "potential" or similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, and cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) market acceptance of our existing and new products, (ii) negative clinical trial results or lengthy product delays in key markets, (iii) an inability to secure regulatory approvals for the sale of our products, (iv) intense competition in the medical device industry from much larger, multinational companies, (v) product liability claims, (vi) product malfunctions, (vii) our limited manufacturing capabilities and reliance on subcontractors for assistance, (viii) insufficient or inadequate reimbursement by governmental and other third party payers for our products, (ix) our efforts to successfully obtain and maintain intellectual property protection covering our products, which may not be successful, (x) legislative or regulatory reform of the healthcare system in both the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions, (xi) our reliance on single suppliers for certain product components, (xii) the fact that we will need to raise additional capital to meet our business requirements in the future and that such capital raising may be costly, dilutive or difficult to obtain and (xiii) the fact that we conduct business in multiple foreign jurisdictions, exposing us to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, logistical and communications challenges, burdens and costs of compliance with foreign laws and political and economic instability in each jurisdiction. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward looking statements is set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's web site at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
InspireMD, Inc.
Craig Shore
Phone: 1-888-776-6804 FREE
Email: craigs@inspiremd.com
PCG Advisory
Vivian Cervantes
MGuard Prime
Copyright © 2018 InspireMD Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of UseLast updated August 2018
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Yirgacheffe (alternative Schreibweisen Yirga Cheffe, Irgachefe, Yergacheffe; früherer Name Finchoa oder Finchawa) ist eine Stadt im Südwesten Äthiopiens. Sie liegt östlich des Abajasees und des Nechisar-Nationalparks und ist Hauptstadt der Woreda Yirgacheffe innerhalb der Gedeo-Zone in der Region der südlichen Nationen, Nationalitäten und Völker. 2005 hatte Yirgacheffe gemäß der Zentralen Statistikagentur Äthiopiens 20.979 Einwohner.

1967 hatte die Einwohnerzahl bei 4.094 gelegen, 1984 lag sie bei etwa 8.300. 1994 hatte Yirgacheffe 11.579 Einwohner, wovon 23,13 % Amharen, 23,09 % Oromo, 16,27 % Soddo-Gurage, 13,61 % Gedeo, 7,94 % Silt'e, 7,72 % Sebat-Bet-Gurage und 1,74 % Welaytta waren. 63,07 % sprachen Amharisch als Muttersprache, 11,59 % Gedeo, 11,52 % Oromo, 5,17 % Soddo, 3,31 % Silt'e und 2,86 % Gurage.

International ist Yirgacheffe vor allem für den Kaffee bekannt, der in der Umgebung angebaut wird.

Quellen
 Central Statistical Agency: 2005 National Statistics, Section–B Population, Table B.4 (PDF; 1,8 MB)
 CSA: The 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region, Volume I: Part I. Statistical Report on Population Size and Characteristics (PDF; 87,4 MB), 1996 (S. 155, 197)
 Local History in Ethiopia (PDF)

Ort in der Region der südlichen Nationen, Nationalitäten und Völker
Ort in Afrika

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Cast and Bandage Protector - Adult - Short Leg.
This is the adult-size Cast and Bandage Protector in the short leg fitting. It is a light, waterproof covering that allows the user to bathe without damaging their dressings. It is designed to cover the ankle and lower leg to just below the knee and it has a flexible seal at the top that prevents the ingress of water. It is re-usable and may be used either in the bath or shower.
It does the job well but care is required when removing after showering as water collects on top of the sealing ring. It has certainly kept the dressing dry so is fit for purpose.
Great fit, great value, great item!


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oa First evidence of scavenging behavior in the herbivorous lizard
Authors: Aurora Castilla1,2,3,4,5,6,7, Renee Richer1,2,3,4,5,6,7, Anthony Herrel1,2,3,4,5,6,7, April Ann Torres Conkey1,2,3,4,5,6,7, John Tribuna1,2,3,4,5,6,7, Mohammed Al Thani1,2,3,4,5,6,7, Rita Chan1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Affiliations: 1 Forest Technology Centre of Catalonia, Solsona, Spain 2 National Museum of Natural Sciences, Madrid, Spain 3 Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Doha, Qatar 4 Museum national D'Histoire naturelle, France 5 Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Doha, Qatar 6 Qatar University, Doha, Qatar 7 Qatar Veterinary Center, Doha, Qatar
Source: Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Proceedings, Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Volume 2010 Issue 1, Dec 2010, Volume 2010, EEP26
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5339/qfarf.2010.EEP26
Optimal foraging theory predicts flexibility in feeding behaviour which enables species to survive in harsh environments where food resources may be scarce and unpredictable in space and time. In this study we explored the hypothesis that the lizard Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis, a species living in dry desert areas may behave as an omnivore under conditions of limited food availability. To do so, we examined the diet of this species based on 294 faecal pellets collected in the field. This species has been traditionally considered as a strict herbivore. However, our study based on a population in the Qatar desert provides the first evidence of scavenging behaviour for Uromastyx. We found remains of mammals, reptiles, birds and insects in their faecal pellets. We also found significant differences between our study zones in the type of food consumed by lizards. This highlights the importance of environmental conditions and human activity on lizard behaviour. The consumption of vertebrate carcases was only detected in the study area located near the main road, suggesting that scavengers may benefit from the availability of dead animals along roads that result from collisions with vehicles. The consumption of barley by lizards was observed only in the study area near a camel farm, suggesting that lizards can also benefit from the food provided by farmers to livestock. Our findings of scavenging behaviour have important implications for the application of management actions, such as the provisioning of carcases near the lizard colonies. That may help preserving the species in situations of extreme food scarcity under the threat of global warming. Lizards near farms can also benefit from extra food of human origin. Because the current decrease in, and loss of biodiversity is a real threat, the identification of different tools that may help to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss is crucial.
© 2010 Castilla; licensee Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals.
/content/papers/10.5339/qfarf.2010.EEP26
A. Castilla, R. Richer, A. Herrel, A.A.T. Conkey, J. Tribuna, M. Al Thani, R. Chan, First evidence of scavenging behavior in the herbivorous lizard, QFARF Proceedings, 2010, EEP26.
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/papers/10.5339/qfarf.2010.EEP26
10.5339/qfarf.2010.EEP26


Dad hats aren't just for dads. This one's got a low profile with an adjustable strap and curved visor. This hat has the phrase the Franciscan Friars are known for embroidered on it: "Poco a Poco" ("Little by little").
Please note that because this product is printed on demand, all sales are final and no returns will be accepted.
Design and photo credit - Meaningful Market.


Regular readers of this column know that besides working as a writer, I'm a doctoral student in archetypal psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara. A couple of years ago, fascinated with the idea that the aesthetic-based psychology of James Hillman (and Thomas Moore and Pat Berry) might offer a theoretical foundation for an alternative to developmental psychotherapy, I created a workshop called "Greeting the Muse."
In the last few months, the workshop has received a good bit of publicity. At the national level, Common Boundary magazine ran an article about it in its January issue. (You can read the article by Jane McGoldrick on my website.) Atlanta magazine's January issue also mentioned the workshop in a brief piece about my work as an "anti-therapist."
I know I reveal some hubris in using this space to talk about the workshop. However, I receive at least 20 calls a week from local people curious about it. Some recent experience taught me that this work, contrary to my hope, is for a minority and thus the conversation that follows and continues next week is as much about the question of what it means to "heal" as it is about my own work.
As is usual in these kinds of columns, I take Hillman's approach by writing a kind of self-interview. It is more than that, though. The voices of the curious, of former participants, of my professors and of my own gestalts come present as imaginal inquisitors. In that, the writing resembles the very process I teach. Rose D'Agostino also contributes here.
What is the purpose of the Greeting the Muse Workshop?
Originally, I conceived it as a means of developing a therapoeisis, a therapeutic system based on the use of the imagination -- a poetics for the ailing soul. It irritated me that Hillman and Moore, for all their brilliant writing, had not developed a very articulate praxis. My own background in humanistic and transpersonal psychology, with long experience in 12-step recovery, had left me adrift. None went deep enough. I rediscovered the depth psychology of Freud and Jung.
Then I found Hillman and archetypal psychology, which takes classic depth psychology deeper. Or, I should say it adds breadth as well as depth by enlarging psychology's concern to the public sphere. Through the figure of the daimon, a personification of destiny and the soul, we are brought into direct contact with our symptoms, our defenses, and our path to healing. But we find this path in the world, not just in the therapy room. Hillman, of course, is a Jungian but he has freed Jung's psychology from a lot of its dogma.
And how did all of this work out in your development of the workshop?
Well, without anyone to guide me, I felt that I had to choose a very limited population with which to work. So I picked writers and artists who feel blocked. I knew, of course, they would be naturally disposed to approaching their blocks -- their creative blocks and their psychological blocks, which are the same -- through exercise of the imagination. My hypothesis was that if you approach the creative block effectively, something will shift more generally in the life of the client. This reverses the usual process of working with the psychological block itself with the hope that the creative block will spontaneously heal itself. This is why the Greeks all went to the theater and listened to the Iliad time and again. It's a symbolic, curative enactment.
And what did you find out? Did people's lives change?
Well, I found that to be true in my early work. The most astonishing case was of a terminally ill man who spontaneously confronted his dead and over-idealized father and then his own dying through the imagery of his writing and drawing. That was, of course, a radical exception. It was very clear to me from the start that intention and motivation mattered a lot. The work is extremely demanding. It involves a series of written and visual assignments designed to disassemble the notion of identity as conditioned solely by childhood. Many people are so attached to this idea or to their defenses that they just can't do the assignments. I try to respect the defenses but people who undertake the workshop are by definition inviting a confrontation of them. This part of the work calls on my experience in both the Fischer-Hoffman and Ira Progoff journaling processes.
So why are you trying to break people's attachment to their biography?
Because biography is remembered. It is a fantasy of the past. An artist writes or paints into the future. The very act of creation is future-oriented. When you can write and paint easily, you can begin to imagine your life differently. Imagination is really the only lens we have to examine the past. A professor of mine recently told me that one of her patients brought in a picture of himself as an infant being held at arm's length by his father. Early in his analysis, this was an image of distancing by the father. But as his analysis proceeded, the image became one of the father offering the son up in pride to the cosmos. Of course, you can say that the earlier interpretation may have been the more accurate reading of the symptom of their relationship. But the second interpretation reveals the deeper meaning beneath the symptomatic one. In the father's distancing he revealed his adulation. He reveals the gods to his sons in his act of concealment. At the level of depth, as Jung noted repeatedly, paradox rules.
But it must be terribly uncomfortable to be ripped from your biography.
Yes, it is extremely uncomfortable. It plunges you into a liminal space -- a space between identities. I call it a nekyia, a journey to the underworld on behalf of the soul. In another culture, you'd call it soul retrieval.
How does one get through that?
The glib answer is to say you write or paint or compose your way through it. When I speak of the muse, I mean to indicate the aesthetic function of the soul -- the part of the soul that produces images. It is active in everyone as the dream ego at night but it is especially active in creative people all the time. As the ego is sent to the underworld, so to speak, the muse can personify itself to interpret, comment, give comfort. Alas, the muse is a moral creature though, and, cuts very little slack. It's not one of those little New Age angels. It has more in common with Rilke's "terrible birds." In the workshop, we create a kind of spontaneous theater of the deep psyche. So imagine that all the lunacy of your dream life is brought into public view.
So, this is really hard work.
Yes, I have found that serious artists and writers, who are by nature accustomed to exposing themselves and taking risks, find it extremely valuable. It can also be valuable for people who have made a commitment to exploring the deep contents of the psyche but are stable. But people who have done no therapy or insufficient therapy and are wounded deeply find it intolerable. I always tell people it's not a support group. It's a group for confronting the core defense and the evocation of the muse. It's not intended to support the status quo.
It almost sounds like you discourage people.
I tend too. I require screening interviews now. Part of the reason for developing this one-day session was to give interested people -- and myself -- a clearer idea of an individual's readiness for the intensity of the 11-week work. I also see it as a way for people who might feel a little fragile or who don't have time to attend 11 weeks to learn a few of the basic tools.
What is the relationship between the body and the imagination in psychological healing?
This week's column is a continuation of last week's. In that column, I talked about my work in the Greeting the Muse Workshop, an 11-week process that I developed for writers and artists a few years ago to experiment with the principles of archetypal psychology developed by James Hillman. Because the workshop recently received a good bit of national and local publicity, I have developed a one-day "sample" of the work for people who cannot take the entire workshop or who want to know more before deciding to undertake the 11-week process.
I'll be conducting the one-day workshops with my friend and colleague Rose D'Agostino, M.A., whose expertise is body-based psychology. Her master's degree is in somatic psychology from Antioch and she is also a graduate of Core Energetics training and the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. We'll be conducting the workshops on Saturdays, March 28, April 18 and May 23. Cost is $100, but $40 is allocated toward the cost of the 11-week group if you choose to undertake it. Call D'Agostino, 404-873-2645, for more information. Groups are kept under 10.
In the workshop, we'll be teaching and experiencing some basic principles of my work: recovering a sense of the muse, or the image-producing aspect of the soul; learning the aesthetic function's role in ordinary life as well as in creative work; learning the historic function of the heart as an organ of perception and the way the body represents a field that provides access to the imagination. (If you are interested in the workshop and have Internet access, I suggest you read last week's column on my website.
This week's column is a conversation between Rose and me. My part is in bold type.
Yes, but most people have no sense of the actuality of this. It's just words. I remember in one of my somatic psychology classes there was a man, a man with HIV, who said he could feel his heart breaking. I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. I was so blocked from feeling that I thought those were just words, maybe a metaphor for something.
And yet if you read Sufi mysticism, you find very elaborated practices for thinking and imagining with the heart. Much of Hillman's work is based in this idea, borrowed from the French scholar Henry Corbin's studies of the Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi. ... I wonder why so many people have lost the capacity to think with their hearts.
I think the individual process is that we are taught very early to withdraw consciousness from the experience of pain. I usually talk about how you can hit your finger with a hammer and you pull your awareness away from the pain. We seek an outside remedy, anything to avoid the pain. The problem, of course, is that the trauma remains there to be healed.
And of course, no heart is immune to pain in growing up. But why do we handle it this way? Why do we withdraw awareness instead of, say, paying attention to the pain?
I have to think it's cultural. I mean it's partly an effective defense, but the culture doesn't support the experience of the pain.
Yeah, there's that jingle: "I haven't got time for the pain." Now, I'm curious to know how you recovered your heart's capacity to sense.
Basically, I just think it was my destiny to get on this path. I was driven to inhabit my physical body more fully. Being very mental -- reading is still my favorite escape -- I needed to ground myself in my body. This was something that unfolded over time for me.
I remember the exact moment I got that my heart was a sensing organ. I had a very emotional reaction while I watched a mother shame her young son in public. When I got home, I came unglued and I literally felt like I'd been kicked in the chest. Then I realized that the "kicked" feeling was exactly the same feeling I associated with love. In other words, I had the feelings of love and pain enmeshed. It was then that I realized I was not ever going to experience anything like real love as an adult until I sank completely into the pain in my heart, when I learned to see with and through the pain in my heart.
Yes, that's what I mean when I say the trauma becomes part of the body, in that case in the heart.
So, as Hillman would say, the way to healing is through the wound.
Yes. I have a story about that. When I was in that same class, I did some work with someone who was role-playing my father. Suddenly, I had this terrific pain in my nose that moved under my eye. Well, I had been told that my nose was broken when I was a kid but I never knew how.
That brings up two questions for me. First, how is such an experience healing? Second, I presume you're talking about recovered memory. How do you know it's for real?
It's always healing when you unravel a block. In the way I think of it, you are establishing a free flow of energy where it was blocked and that is inherently healing. As for whether the so-called memory is real, I don't know.
This is very important to me. Because, to my mind, what has happened in your willingness to penetrate, to stay with, the pain is that an image arises and a story comes out of it. To me it's irrelevant whether your father actually hit you -- you just can't say so -- but the psyche has produced an image and a story that incarnates the fact of a combative relationship between the two of you. So, what you call energy is to me the flow of creativity. The imagination is restored to its image-making capacity by the willingness to penetrate the pain and write or paint or play music. This is what the dream-ego does quite spontaneously for everyone at night. In the workshop, I try to create a kind of waking dream with the muse as representative of the soul present.
The connection to soul is essential to me. I went from usual psychology, to bioenergetics and a lot of body work. It wasn't until I added soul and spirit that my path seemed clear.
I agree, but it's important to me to say that when I speak of the soul, I don't mean to imply something that is purely spiritual. I mean to imply something that mediates the body and the spirit. The soul's main means of expression is creativity and its perceptions are registered by the heart. When the broken heart of personal experience is finally acknowledged -- when we get on with the grieving of our biographies -- then we are opened to the positive aspects of the numinous, the archetypal, and then art and writing become processes that occur through the individual. They are works of the Self instead of the blocked, struggling, agonizing, tormented and judgmental ego.
Yes, until that happens, we tend to be driven by our lower self, the shadow. This part of us, despite the discomfort it causes, is a great gift because it points us exactly toward what needs to be healed. The shadow is the experience of constriction, whereas the higher self seeks expansion, creativity.
I've thought a lot about the way the shadow gets expressed in writers and artists. I think the avoidance of grieving our own pain is a refusal to treat ourselves with compassion. For a writer or artist this often gets expressed as literal creative block -- paralysis. But just as often you encounter technical proficiency without any real juice in the writing. The characters have the quality of zombies or one-dimensionality. A lack of self-compassion gets projected on the work.
You sacrifice the heart connection, and the work loses its authenticity. It can be exquisitely crafted but without passion. People live that way.
Clearly it takes courage -- a strong heart -- to do it differently.


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Real Disease vs. Mental "Disorder"
Psychiatric Disorders Voted Into Existence
Psychiatry Admits It Has No Cures
No Brain Scans For Mental Illness
Psychiatric Drugs—Side Effects
No Genetic Proof of Mental Illnesses
Real Disease vs. Mental "Disorder"
Psychiatric disorders are not medical diseases. There are no lab tests, brain scans, X-rays or chemical imbalance tests that can verify any mental disorder is a physical condition. This is not to say that people do not get depressed, or that people can't experience emotional or mental duress, but psychiatry has repackaged these emotions and behaviors as "disease" in order to sell drugs. This is a brilliant marketing campaign, but it is not science.
"…modern psychiatry has yet to convincingly prove the genetic/biologic cause of any single mental illness…Patients [have] been diagnosed with 'chemical imbalances' despite the fact that no test exists to support such a claim, and…there is no real conception of what a correct chemical balance would look like." —Dr. David Kaiser, psychiatrist
"There's no biological imbalance. When people come to me and they say, 'I have a biochemical imbalance,' I say, 'Show me your lab tests.' There are no lab tests. So what's the biochemical imbalance?" —Dr. Ron Leifer, psychiatrist
"All psychiatrists have in common that when they are caught on camera or on microphone, they cower and admit that there are no such things as chemical imbalances/diseases, or examinations or tests for them. What they do in practice, lying in every instance, abrogating [revoking] the informed consent right of every patient and poisoning them in the name of 'treatment' is nothing short of criminal." —Dr. Fred Baughman Jr., Pediatric Neurologist
"Psychiatry makes unproven claims that depression, bipolar illness, anxiety, alcoholism and a host of other disorders are in fact primarily biologic and probably genetic in origin…This kind of faith in science and progress is staggering, not to mention naïve and perhaps delusional." —Dr. David Kaiser, psychiatrist
While "there has been no shortage of alleged biochemical explanations for psychiatric conditions…not one has been proven. Quite the contrary. In every instance where such an imbalance was thought to have been found, it was later proven false." —Dr. Joseph Glenmullen, Harvard Medical School psychiatrist
"The theories are held on to not only because there is nothing else to take their place, but also because they are useful in promoting drug treatment." —Dr. Elliott Valenstein Ph.D., author of Blaming the Brain
"There is no blood or other biological test to ascertain the presence or absence of a mental illness, as there is for most bodily diseases. If such a test were developed…then the condition would cease to be a mental illness and would be classified, instead, as a symptom of a bodily disease." —Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, New York University Medical School, Syracuse
"I believe, until the public and psychiatry itself see that DSM labels are not only useless as medical 'diagnoses' but also have the potential to do great harm—particularly when they are used as means to deny individual freedoms, or as weapons by psychiatrists acting as hired guns for the legal system." —Dr. Sydney Walker III, psychiatrist
"No biochemical, neurological, or genetic markers have been found for Attention Deficit Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Depression, Schizophrenia, anxiety, compulsive alcohol and drug abuse, overeating, gambling or any other so-called mental illness, disease, or disorder." —Bruce Levine, Ph.D., psychologist and author of Commonsense Rebellion
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New Orleans developers Iris Development Co. and Green Coast Enterprises have announced plans for a $30 million five-story, mixed-use apartment building in the Bywater.
The development will be built at 2930 Burgundy Street, currently vacant land and a warehouse. The project will feature 105 units, of which they plan to set aside 15 or 16 units for lower income residents. Market rate rents will range from $1,300-1,600 for one bed rooms to $3,000 for three bed units. The affordable units will range from $300-$1,000.
You can read more about the project at nola.com.
The project sits next to the site of the proposed 260 unit Via Latrobe project and is being designed by Rozas Ward Architects.
Rendering of the newly proposed Bywater development by Rozas Ward Architects.


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Where: A Secret Location in Nehru Place, Kalkaji, Delhi.
19th April, Friday 2019. Arrival time: 7:30 pm.
In an intimate space on 19th April, Friday, Delhi , it can be a house, terrace or any non commercial space. The exact address is revealed the day before and we'll send you an email, add you to Whatsapp group, so make sure you add the correct email id and whatsapp number while making the payment.


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Roger Ailes (AP/Reed Saxon)
The story behind the "Roger Ailes indictment" story
Tracking down the origins of an unsubstantiated report about the imminent indictment of the Fox News chief
Check out this article! https://www.salon.com/2011/02/27/ailes_indictment_story/
Justin Elliott
On Sunday morning, the economics analyst and TV commentator Barry Ritholtz dropped a bombshell on his blog: Roger Ailes, the powerful president of Fox News, will be indicted in connection with allegedly telling a News Corp. executive to lie to federal investigators, according to Ritholtz's blog post.
The story, which was based on what an unnamed source told Ritholtz, quickly boomeranged around the Web and Twitter. Several well-read web sites, including Business Insider and Political Wire, picked up the report.
As it turns out, Ritholtz's source for the post was a man he happened to meet and strike up a conversation with at a Barbados airport over the weekend, he told me in an interview this afternoon.
Here's what happened, according to Ritholtz, who just got back from a vacation on the tropical island: He was sitting in the Barbados airport waiting for a plane to arrive and he struck up a conversation with an older man sitting next to him.
"We started chatting and next thing I know, we're waiting to leave the gate, his phone rings and he tells his wife, 'yeah Ailes just canceled the event,' Ritholtz says, describing the man as "obviously annoyed and frustrated."
The man runs an annual event in March at which Ailes was scheduled to speak, according to Ritholtz, who declined to specify the event. When he asked the man why Ailes canceled, the man said Ailes was about to be indicted. He describes the man, who he would not name, as an "Upper East Side Democrat."
Ritholtz says that everyone assumed any indictment would be related to a matter reported on by the New York Times last week: that Ailes allegedly told News Corp. executive Judith Regan to lie to federal investigators who were vetting Bernie Kerik, the New York police commissioner who was nominated to be the first Secretary of Homeland Security. Regan had had an affair with Kerik at a lovenest near Ground Zero; Ailes allegedly wanted to protect the political ambitions of Kerik's boss, Rudy Giuliani. The allegations emerged in a civil lawsuit filed by Regan -- who claimed that she had a phone recording of Ailes talking about the matter -- against News Corp. Much about the episode is still unclear because Regan was paid $10 million to settle the suit, and she signed a confidentiality agreement.
It's not entirely clear what Ailes would be charged with in connection with the episode. I've reached out to a Fox spokesperson for a response to all this, and I will update this post if I hear back.
Ritholtz, for his part, describes his attitude in writing the post as "passing along what an informed person had said."
"If it's true we'll find out. If it's not, no big deal," he says. "We'll see where this goes."
Justin Elliott is a reporter for ProPublica. You can follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin
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The Illuminati have held onto control politically, economically and technologically several years longer than reasonably anticipated when the Golden Age master plan was designed.
They know that despite the erosion of their global network, they still can control the population unless spiritually advanced civilizations come to Earth.
That would completely doom all of the Illuminati's dark activities, so they are determined to do everything within their power to prevent the arrival of our benevolent universal family members.
On one hand, the peak of the Illuminati has not been yet dislodged, and except for starting a nuclear war, those individuals' free will choice to take other steps to prevent extraterrestrials from landing must be honored.
On the other hand, Earth is in great need of technology that can rid her of toxic pollution, particularly at Japan's damaged nuclear facility; that technology, which is aboard the ships surrounding Earth and has been of some assistance ever since the earthquake damaged the reactors, will be much more effective on site.
There is another issue of urgency too. The nonstop man-made geophysical events and weather manipulation is having a double negative effect. The death toll, property damage, financial loss and other hardships to residents in the affected areas is obvious, but the other effect is global and not realized except by the perpetrators.
At the same time that you are continuously adjusting to the higher vibrations Earth keeps traveling into and the influence of the changing juxtaposition of celestial bodies, you are being bombarded with low vibrations emitted by the quake and storm-causing technology, and the combination is producing new or stronger physical, emotional and mental anomalies.
This is affecting persons who otherwise would be in sound health and it is exacerbating the dis-ease of persons with organic malfunctions and weakened immune systems. At the least, low energy and exhaustion are prevalent, and at worst, many individuals are experiencing severe pain, illness, depression and mental confusion.
Only the elimination of those low frequency emissions can eliminate their effects, and because the various technologies being misused are integrated with power and communication systems, dismantling them without interrupting the services you need must be done at the sites.
Security measures preclude unauthorized persons from entering those areas; however, members of our universal family have the ability to bypass those measures and successfully separate the various systems.
Those two vitally important situations are the reasons for their imminent arrival, but please do continue being patient. Prudent preparations to manage all potential situations on the ground are imperative, and the locations and timing of landings are crucial factors of overall readiness.
Another consideration is the realistic anticipation that a media blitz of "alien invaders!" will attempt to evoke fear among the masses. Although you will greet landings with jubilation, for most people it is one thing to see crafts in your skies and quite another to see them on the ground.
By Illuminati intention, there is an abundance of "entertainment" that reinforces the invasion idea and a dearth of information about the civilizations that have been helping Earth ever since the populating programs started in antiquity.
Let us return to the effects of the low vibrations previously mentioned—that is, how you can obtain some relief until the source is eliminated. It is important to not become fatigued and to avoid abrasive personal encounters and crowds. While the planet's movement into a more favorable celestial alignment will be helpful, the collective energy level at the moment still is unusually low.
Get as much sleep and rest as possible, even if this means foregoing usual activities except exercising in moderation, which also is helpful in keeping yourselves in balance. Walking—not sauntering, but as fast a rhythmic pace as you can manage without overexertion—is the best exercise during this time.
Spend as much time as possible in natural settings—the energy of trees is immensely beneficial—and listening to soothing music promotes smoother energy flow throughout your bodies.
Eat less than usual, and a diet of primarily fresh fruit and vegetables will be more beneficial because those foods contain more light than cooked foods. Especially now those foods are more easily digested than meat, sea food and starchy foods, and it is advisable to reduce your intake of salt, sugar, sodas, tobacco and alcohol.
Drinking a lot of pure water helps your bodies' electrical systems to function properly, and monatomic gold will be helpful in ridding confusion and permitting clear thought, also in restoring temporarily faulty memory.
If you are taking prescription drugs, especially antidepressants, ask your health care specialist if the dosage can be reduced—the chemicals in all drugs always have adverse side effects, and these are exacerbating the effects of the conflicting vibrations.
Take no thought for the 'morrow!
Original image by ArtbyDrew, edit by Sharka.
'Body in the bed' syndrome!
After the Germans got to me.
New growth in the Australian bush.
The warm fence of a good livelihood.
Nothing is forced upon them.
Everything pure and holy is here!
moon landings- did they happen?
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How side pocketing in ABSL funds affects investors
By Morningstar Analysts | 29-11-19 |
Though side pockets was one of the tactics used by hedge funds during the credit crisis in 2008, India had its first brush with it in 2015. That was when JP Morgan India Treasury Fund and JP Morgan India Short Term Income Fund side pocketed their exposure to Amtek Auto.
According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), a segregated portfolio can be created in the case of a credit event at the issuer level. So far, SEBI has come out with two circulars on the creation and segregation of mutual funds.
The December 2018 circular clearly states that mutual fund needs to start the process of creating a segregated portfolio on the day of the event. Almost a year later, SEBI issued a second notification allowing for the creation of a segregated portfolio for unrated papers.
To make side-pocketing effective, changes need to be incorporated in the Scheme Information Document, or SID, of the fund, which then requires investors to be given a 30-day load free exit window.
Aditya Birla Mutual Fund chose to create a segregated portfolio for three of its funds:
Aditya BSL Credit Fund
Aditya BSL Dynamic Bond Fund
Aditya BSL Medium Term Fund
How it was done:
Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund holds an exposure of around Rs 780 crores towards an Essel Group company by the name of Adilink Infra & Multitrading Pvt Ltd. The underlying paper is unrated and the fund company opted to create a side pocket for this paper in line with SEBI regulations on the day the credit event took place.
How the credit event took place:
Payments from Adilink Infra & Multitrading Pvt Ltd. were due to a minority investor as this particular investor chose to exercise the Put Option on his investments. The issuer was unable to meet his payment obligation on November 25, 2019. Consequently, fund house having considered this as a credit event chose to create a side pocket by segregating their exposure to the Adilink papers.
The asset management company, or AMC, has followed all the procedures as prescribed by SEBI in doing so and issues a press release to this effect.
How it impacts the portfolio:
The AMC had preemptively taken a 35% markdown on the stressed paper almost 3 weeks prior to the segregation of the portfolio. Post segregation, the value of the main portfolio would come down by the extent of the value of the Adilink Security held in the segregated portfolio. However, the aggregated portfolio will continue to have the same valuation as at the day of the segregation event.
In effect, the combined portfolio values will not see any impact. Investors, however, will not be able to redeem from the segregated portfolio, as per SEBI's directive. Technically, if and when the recovery happens, subject to the recovery amount, investors would receive their monies.
Update on other holdings:
The AMC has been working on a resolution with respect to the other stressed assets and has made good progress on many of them.
Jharkhand Road Projects Implementation Co. Ltd.: The NCLAT order converted the rating on their holding in the IL&FS SPV of Jharkhand Road Projects Implementation Company from amber to green, as a result of which they have been accruing interest payments on this holding.
Group companies of IL&FS were classified according to their financial health and ability to meet payment obligations. GREEN referred to those able to meet all payment obligations of secured and unsecured creditors, AMBER were only able to meet operational payments and secured debt obligations, the rest were RED. The latter were in no position to pay any creditor.
They also have an exposure to the education business of IL&FS which is in the process of being bought out Career Point. Career Point will now get 80% ownership in IL&FS Skills Development Corp., held by Schoolnet India
Their exposure to Spirit Infra & Multiventures Ltd., another Essel Group Company has also reached a resolution with the mutual fund receiving payments towards the same. Their exposure is now zero.
With respect to the unrated security – Adilink Infra & Multitrading Pvt Ltd., despite having created a segregated portfolio, they have received the first tranche of payment that was due to them from Adilink. The payment for the second tranche is only due by the first quarter of 2020. Moreover, Adilink papers are secured against a few road assets from Essel Infraprojects. Essel Group is in discussions with prospective buyers sell their road projects and monetise these assets. If these discussions go through, they may be able to make a prepayment towards the NCD's of Adilink Infra & Multitrading Pvt Ltd.
How it impacts the investor:
We think that the segregation of the portfolio is in the best interests of all the stakeholders, considering that a resolution in this particular case could take a little longer as compared to the ones that we have witnesses in the past (given that payments from Adilink Infra & Multitrading are only due in March 2020).
We think that side pocketing is a good way to protect investor interest. While in theory one would expect investors to behave rationally, their psychology might prompt them to redeem their investment from the main portfolio once available, to prevent any potential future losses and still have the optionality of the side pocket yielding some value. But in doing so, investors will convert their mark to market losses into real losses should they chose to exit the fund at this point in time.
It's important to look at the underlying reasons and the likelihood of the AMC reaching a resolution with respect to the downgraded papers, rather than exiting them in a hurry.
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