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Efforts to harmonize rules on supplements between Australia and New Zealand, by establishing a Trans-Tasman joint agency for the control of natural health products have been going on for some time. I previously reported on this. (The Tasman Sea is a large body of water that separates New Zealand from the Australian continent.)
The situation "down under" really got hot when the Australian health products and medicines regulator (the Therapeutical Goods Administration) in June 2003 yanked over 1600 supplements off the market over a pretext, and forced the producer, PAN Pharmaceuticals, into bankruptcy.
How this ties in with the international plans of Codex Alimentarius to "reign in" nutritional supplements is the subject of an excellent article, quite a piece of investigative journalism by Eve Hillary, a medical reform advocate and health writer, which you find in the second part of this post. In addition to discussing Codex, Eve treats us to an in-depth report on the aftermath of the PAN Pharma products recall and recent regulatory moves underway in Australia.
It seems that Australia might be symptomatic of what we can expect to happen the world over in the next few years, so seems a good idea to study up on this. If we accept what Eve Hillary says, that Codex really is "the sickness industry's last stand", we should also pay attention to a comment I recently received from a lady in the UK who is interested in natural health. Introducing a new angle to what seems to be a world wide Codex control agenda, she writes:
To understand what drives Codex and the Pharma agenda, you need to understand the future direction of health care ....
The Pharma industry as it stands is in a cul de sac - it needs to re-invent itself as a 'health' industry to survive. So they started to explore pharmaceutical genomics - as an output of the human genome project, and discovered instead nutritional genomics, which 50% of the time means that chronic diseases can be treated, prevented and cured by nutritional interventions. Proven. But these treatments under current laws cannot be patented, nor protected - so how can they gain ownership and make money from this, to replace pharmaceutical revenues? (Sepp's comment: here is an actual recent example of what nutrigenomics is coming up with - Vitamin E helps block Alzheimer's)
And this has given rise to the FSD (Food Supplements Directive), Codex, Health Claims Regulations - so that when the supplement sector is safely removed from the [public health area] or reduced to a few major players, they can trumpet the 'discovery' and own it and make money from it, buy out remaining firms and make the financial barriers to entry so large no one else can 'play' as they will be the only operators that can afford to be in the game.
This view seems to be a perfect match to what is - according to Eve Hillary - already happening in Australia.
And if you wonder about Codex actually protecting your health, start researching what else they are doing, for instance this information on a French site on the levels of nuclear contamination Codex allows in foods. Another area to look into is the advice Codex has on genetically modified organisms (GMO) in our foods, which sounds good but is entirely toothless. Consider it is only due to continuous consumer pressure that the uncontrolled spread of the highly dangerous world wide GMO public feeding experiment is being contained at least to some degree.
Anyway, back to Australia. Here is Eve Hillary's article:
CODEX – THE SICKNESS INDU$TRY's LAST STAND
by Eve Hillary
April 1, 2005 Sydney
Millions of words have been written about Codex. Few of which have been printed in today's mainstream media. The data comes mainly from health freedom activists in various countries and from obscure government documents hidden to all but those who know where to look. In 2002 I unveiled Codex to a Brisbane, Australia audience of 300 people. Only 3 knew anything about it. The same three I'd spoken with before the lecture. I then wrote a chapter on Codex in my book "Health Betrayal". Thanks to health freedom activists now Codex information is on many websites and a topic for discussion around the world. But there remains official SILENCE and deliberate misinformation from sources close to corporations.
In writing this article it is my intention to reveal what has been done to move us toward CODEX in the Asia Pacific region. We must not allow this to happen if we value our lives. It is my intention to shatter the silence that threatens to engulf our freedom in order to allow its effects to be reversed by the electors, the only legitimate proprietors of government. But first, some definitions of nutritional supplements and Codex located on footnotes numbered 34 and 35.
Agree or Not
Even amongst activists, there is very little agreement on the issue of Codex, partly because of official propaganda that seeks to confuse the issue and partly because of the incomplete picture that is being presented. I do not expect the reader to agree with all that I write. I have sourced the article extensively and admittedly, I have expressed my own opinions and conclusions after studying dozens of primary documents. However, I invite anyone to undertake for themselves the exhaustive study that I have made over the past 4 years on Codex and to analyse the many documents and sources I have discovered, many of them in obscure archives. Of the many interviews I have conducted, most of the interviewees have not wished to be identified.
Some readers will agree that Codex is a menace but fail to see how it has come to influence the Australia Pacific region. I hope this article leads to that understanding and reveals the tragic consequences to our families and way of life so that we can take the appropriate steps to stop it. I am indebted to many of my fellow activists such as Dave Sloan from the NZ Health Trust and Sepp Hasslberger of Health Supreme, for providing so much extra data that when sifted through has only strengthened my conclusions on the matter. (31,32) Please take what you like and leave the rest.
To seasoned activists; I know you have heard some of it before but there is much new information and I will unveil some ideas you might find inviting. To all readers; we will get to CODEX towards the end but it is important to understand the secretive nature of events that have occurred recently and the unusual laws passed by governments that will put CODEX in a much clearer context.
Personal Note
I'm a health writer. I track the sickness industry. I watch while powerful vested interests infiltrate governments of sovereign nations. I watch and watch and then I write about it. Lately I've been busy on some other issues and nearly missed a hat trick that was being performed by our politicians that would wrench freedom of choice out of the people's hands once and for all if we let them get away with it. I discovered it just in time when an article came across my desk entitled "The Codex threat to Australia – fact or fiction?" written by a chap who sourced his information from a few government websites. He opined that the Codex issue was merely hype and nonsense and nothing much for Aussies or anybody else in the world to worry about. His article was published by the Australian Traditional Medicine Society, an organisation that is supposed to represent complementary health practitioners and provide them with clear information about exactly WHO's in charge of making decisions about supplements. Frankly, I expected such a hose-down article as this to more likely appear in a pharmaceutical company trade magazine or as a press release from the TGA. But I assumed the drug giants have their own spin doctors, legions of them. And they are quite content to have useful gophers disseminate their whitewash to the rest of us. Later I discovered the article's author regularly sat on a TGA committee called the Interim Advertising Council, which has, along with several pharmaceutical front organisations such as the Medicines Australia, CHC, and the Self-Medication Industry set up an advertising agency that so blatantly serves drug company corporate interests that even the AMA objects to it on the grounds that "the process is occurring against a backdrop of enormous pressure…from pharmaceutical companies and others to open up to direct consumer advertising".(24,20)
I must however give thanks to the article in question, and to its author, Raymond Khoury, for it led me to cast my attention back to Codex and focus on a currently unfolding disaster here in the Pacific region that is only avoidable if the electors get a grip on the reins very soon. To understand Codex, you need to know something of the sickness industry which I will outline in the first section.
If you believe, as I do, that in time the stench of sleaze, bribery, greed and dishonesty will reach the nose of the ethical majority to be dealt with accordingly, then you might agree that the sickness industry is about to collapse in on itself by the sheer weight of its own corruption. This is a time when the drug industry and our "regulators" are committing some stupid and desperate acts against the human rights of people. And our politicians don't look good aiding and abetting them. Remember their names, for it is they who are accountable to us.
Getting Health Care into Perspective
It's official. US research shows that inappropriate and dangerous medical treatments and adverse drug reactions are now the number one cause of death (4). To some it was no surprise. It seemed an inevitable outcome from the 1980's when health care was taken over by "health care" corporations and the pharmaceutical industry. Then the bottom line in health care became profit instead of sending the patient home well and drug free, if possible. (13)
There are still no Parliamentary enquiries into the deaths of 18,000 Australians each year, killed by inappropriate doctoring and prescribed pharmaceutical drugs that are licensed by the TGA (the Australian regulator). The cause of these avoidable deaths has been known by the government for over ten years when Dr. Runciman made it known in a report he prepared to the government in 1995. And yet nothing has been done about it. This makes these unnecessary deaths a deliberate act on the part of the perpetrators, the medical and pharmaceutical industry and the Australian government. This act is the equivalent of deliberately exterminating all living beings from an entire large sized Australian country town each year. (1,2,3). This killing for profit has been going on knowingly for the past 10 years.
In addition to the death toll, 50,000 Australians are maimed and disabled, not by their diseases, but by the "health Care System" which includes; bad doctoring and serious or permanent damage from drugs that were licensed by the TGA. Yet there are no outraged politicians giving undertakings on the Senate steps to find the culprits, to stop the criminality of it, a fact in itself astonishing, since there is a great deal of unnecessary killing and maiming going on; 187 Australians each day. That's seven Australians killed or maimed per hour. This is more Australians than were ever killed in all the wars. By the time you have read this another Australian will die or be disabled by inappropriate medical treatment or an adverse reaction from a drug that was licensed and approved by the TGA. Where are the memorials erected to these victims? (1,2,3)
For those who rely on their information from the media, where is the media reporting of this national catastrophe? A few years ago the media went on a feeding frenzy about an unfortunate person who died allegedly of an allergic reaction to royal jelly, a naturally nutritious food that worker bees feed to their queen bee. (Unfortunately many more fatal allergic reactions occur annually than ever before, to both synthetic and to natural substances, due to the fact that general immunological health is declining through environmental degradation.) The person had ingested both the jelly and a meat sausage before the allergic reaction occurred, one that could equally have been caused by the preservative in the sausage. However, the TGA launched a lengthy investigation into the royal jelly, and required Royal Jelly to carry a health warning on the label. The sausage, of course was not investigated, nor allocated a health hazard label, one that the fatty, preserved product could arguably deserve, since the nitrite preservatives in sausages are responsible for many serious or fatal allergic reactions.
WHO is the TGA?
The TGA (therapeutic goods administration) is the Australian "regulator" of drugs, chemicals, genetically modified products, medical devices and now nutritional supplements and herbs which it calls "complementary medicines". The TGA was set up by Parliament over 20 years ago (on behalf of the electors, you and I). Its motto is "to ensure the safety of all Australians".
Since its inception as "watchdog", the TGA has licensed and allowed genetically modified foods into the country which opinion polls showed the overwhelming majority of Australians did not want.
Despite hundreds of letters from concerned citizens and chemically injured persons, the TGA has continued to allow chemicals onto the market which are shown to have toxic effects on humans even when used as directed.
In addition the TGA has licensed pharmaceutical drugs such as Zyban, Vioxx and mercury laden vaccines among others, despite available data about the potentially serious and fatal effects these drugs have on humans. The TGA still allows the drugs that cause a large proportion of the 18,000 deaths and 50,000 serious injuries through adverse drug reactions while on the other hand it has compiled a large data base on its regulation of natural substances including vitamins, minerals, and even honey and olive oil, listing them as medicines.
The TGA has taken over the regulation of nutrients which have traditionally been produced by a separate and unique industry and are not part of the pharmaceutical industry because nutrients are not drugs, they are essential to all humans. Most health conscious persons now take supplements because it is known that food produced by modern agriculture is depleted in essential nutrients. There can be no "clinical trials" to determine whether persons need calcium or any other essential nutrient. It is a well known fact that all essential nutrients are needed daily. TGA regulates nutrients virtually as drugs, with both under the heading of therapeutic goods. Nutrients cannot really be regulated as drugs because there is such a thing as nutrient deficiency but there is no such a thing as Prozac deficiency.
The TGA maintains close ties to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and to the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Domestically, it convenes various committees upon which sit well known representatives of pharmaceutical interests and pharmaceutical front organisations. (19,20,21) It regularly consults with pharmaceutical and food companies such as Proctor and Gamble, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Eli Lily, Glaxo, Pfizer, Wyeth and many other multination drug corporations. Without Australians' knowledge or consent, the TGA routinely allows and invites corporations to make decisions about Australian's health. (23)
TGA Targets Pan
Globally there was one privately owned large supplier of raw ingredients for the manufacture of nutritional supplements that was big enough to be in direct competition with the big drug companies. The supply chain of nutritionals and drugs has been dominated by the multi-national pharmaceutical industry such as Roche, Merck and Wyeth, to name just a few. But Sydney based Pan Pharmaceuticals, was just such a privately owned company, a relatively big player that supplied most of Australia and some of the world with a few pharmaceuticals but mainly with ingredients for the formulation of nutritional supplements and a large variety of natural supplement products.
In April 2003 the TGA raided Pan Pharmaceuticals, giving the grounds that the company's travel sickness product had included a faulty batch. The company had already voluntarily recalled it and was addressing the problem as was customary in the industry to self address and fix problems as they arose. However, TGA treated Pan far differently from the way it had treated any multi-national drug company. The regulator forced Pan to shut down and within a few days recalled over 1600 natural supplement products with which nothing was found amiss on the routine testing that had occurred just previously. (5) The regulator created chaos among consumers and retailers alike as the TGA recall went on to become the largest recall of natural products in history, all the more extraordinary since there had been no complaints about the supplements.
Moreover, the vitamin and mineral supplements, which had caused no known ill effects, were classed by the TGA as necessitating a class 1 recall, meaning the regulator claimed the natural products would "cause death or permanent injury". Since the TGA provided no evidence that any vitamin or mineral, and in particular Pan's had ever caused death or disability to anyone the regulator deliberately set about to claim, to the Australian public by way of calling a class one recall, that these products were likely to cause death or disability. This created wide spread anxiety about nutritional supplements in the public mind. A feat that would have cost the Pharmaceutical industry public relations machine millions of dollars, was thus done overnight by the TGA "regulator". The ruse terrified scores of little old ladies who thought their calcium tablet would kill them and demanded a refund from their health food store, but it failed to impress those who already knew about the war on alternative and complementary health. And it particularly failed to convince those who relied on logical and rational data to come to their conclusions. What this deception did, however, was to reveal the TGA double standard in favour of drugs from drug giants and against natural products that were produced by Australian companies who were big enough to cut into multinational drug company market shares. Meanwhile, any evidence that was in the mountain of recalled vitamins and minerals, disappeared without a bubble.
This conclusion was particularly borne out by the way TGA conducted future recalls. Interestingly, the regulator conducted a class 2 recall on VIOXX a drug manufactured by drug giant Merck, a drug which did cause death and injury to 55,000 Americans alone. A Class 2 recall meant the TGA believed the "defects could cause illness…but are not class one" that is, the regulator did not deem the drug could kill or disable anyone, and this was after 55,000 confirmed US deaths and 180,000 strokes and heart attacks occurred as a result of the drug! (6). If Pan was shut down after nobody complained about its vitamins or suffered a single problem, then it would be reasonable for Merk to be shut down for selling a drug that killed tens of thousands of Americans alone. But no. TGA has not even conducted an investigation into how many Australians or New Zealanders might have been killed by the Drug Vioxx to which it issued a license. But back to Pan.
Within days of the raid the hapless Pan company and its founder were embroiled in official red tape and TGA forced Pan to close its doors permanently. After the kill, someone called in KPMG, the liquidator, so fast, that the owner, Jim Selim was removed from his own company with the velocity of a speeding bullet and the manufacturing plant and company was sold lock stock and barrel, in only six months for a pittance. The Pan company that Mr. Selim had built up over 20 years, worth over 500 million dollars was sold for only 20 million within a few months of the TGA raid. (10) Interestingly, KPMG is a multinational power broker based in Switzerland that deals in accounting, mergers, liquidation and you guessed it, also chemicals and pharmaceuticals. KPMG's specialty however, is offering financial advice and other consultant "services" to the pharmaceutical industry. (8).
Over the ensuing 2 years the TGA has kept Mr. Selim busy in a grueling round of court battles while the liquidator, KPMG continued to pick the carcass clean. Recently, KPMG filed a statement of claim against Mr. Selim for the amount of 300 million over the collapse of Pan brought about by the TGA. (10)
Since the Pan debacle, the beleaguered but apparently spirited former owner of Pan intended to start another business in Viet Nam as a manufacturer of health products there but TGA and now ASIC (the Australian company watchdog) is attempting to stop his manufacturing license in Viet Nam, alleging irregularities in the paperwork. Interestingly, most of the big pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline have now set up offices in Vietnam. (9, 10).
TGA on Post-Pan Rampage
After the TGA disposed of Pan, it systematically ran through other small Australian vitamin and supplement manufacturers like a dose of Epsom salts in a frenzy of "inspections" and "regulatory activities".
Small Australian-owned supplement manufacturers allege TGA used a variety of intimidatory methods against them including the halting of manufacturing operations and near impossible requirements that cost over $500,000 to implement. NZ Health Trust reports "recent reports out of Australia … include comments such as compliance costs having increased by 800% for one firm, another has had to spend an extra $2 million in compliance costs, another still faces a $1.86 million bill to upgrade their computer systems as now required." TGA officials allegedly demanded proprietors sign confidentiality agreements and other agreements demanding that the proprietor will not hold TGA liable for the loss of their business after such "regulating activities". (11) Australian supplement companies remain silent after TGA's "inspections". Many are bound by agreements and none I interviewed wanted me to reveal their names in this article for fear of a fresh round of "TGA regulatory activities". (Although a few are now considering legal action regardless. An enquiry into TGA corruption should get these witnesses testifying with a little help from a subpoena. )
The regulator routinely inspected the Australian supplement industry in the 2 years before Pan, and did not suspend a single manufacturer's license but after Pan, dozens of manufacturers were driven out of business and over 12 Australian supplement companies "voluntarily" turned in their manufacturing licenses and went out of business after TGA scoured through them. (All the manufacturers had already passed previous years' rigorous TGA inspections.) (18, 11) Those who could afford it just paid the money and did what was required of them to stay in business for the time being. Other manufacturers sold out to big corporations for fire sale prices. As a result of this witch hunt, many vitamin and supplement product lines remain out of stock in Australia and many nutritional supplements have been permanently discontinued as have the smaller companies who made them.
The question this begs is; if the Australian privately owned supplement industry was running well and passing stringent TGA regulatory inspections before Pan then why was the Australian supplement industry gutted after Pan?
TGA and FRIENDS Set up Committee
In May 2003, only a month after TGA destroyed Pan, the regulator issued a public statement alleging that "concerns" had been raised about the quality of complementary medicines (supplements) and indeed even the competency of complementary practitioners (naturopaths). All this after:
1. the defective travel sickness pill was a drug and not a supplement and had been removed 2. the company had been closed, and dismantled, 3. none of the 1600 Pan dietary supplements were found to have caused any problems, and 4. no naturopath or alternative practitioner had killed or harmed anyone! (In the time it takes you to read this far another 4 Australians have been killed or seriously injured by dangerous medical procedures or pharmaceutical drugs licensed by the TGA while no patient has died from taking supplements or seeing a naturopath.)
Ignoring all the evidence to the contrary, The TGA stated on its website; "In May 2003, to reassure the public and maintain confidence in Australia's reputation as a supplier of high quality and safe medicines, the Australian Government established the Expert Committee on Complementary Medicines in the Health System (the Expert Committee)"
The TGA "expert" committee designated to investigate supplements includes pharmaceutically orientated individuals and several pharmaceutical front organsiations. (12) The committee has been busily at work during the past 2 years and it has recently released fifty more expert recommendations that has resulted in 107 pages of proposed amendments to the TGA Act which would increase the powers of the TGA to "regulate" even more stringently. This would give it police powers and the power to impose criminal charges and penalties on Australian supplement manufacturers. All this when there has never been a problem with supplements.
Notably, another "expert" Committee member who had helped deal another fatal blow to Australian supplement manufacturers included the Vice President of manufacturing operations in the Asia Pacific Region of Wyeth, a multinational drug company that markets drugs, vaccines and also nutrient supplements including the raw ingredients to supplements. (12)
Just before Pan's demise, Wyeth was in direct competition to the products and raw ingredients that Pan supplied in the Asia Pacific region. Wyeth has a huge Asia Pacific base of operation and is aggressively expanding its corporate territory. (16) Interestingly, Wyeth's profits plunged a few months before the Pan affair and the company was only saved a substantial loss that quarter by its small but profitable range of vitamin products. (17) (14, 15). (Another topic, perhaps for a Parliamentary enquiry into corruption.)
The Agenda
Without Australians' knowledge or consent the TGA gave multinational drug companies the power to expand into and monopolise Australian markets and shake out the Australian competition, all under the guise of protecting the Australian public health when there is nothing more than a trade war going on. As is customary in wars of any kind, people die in trade wars too, and another Australian has died as you read this because our regulator is busy suppressing supplements while allowing drug companies to control the market and sell some particularly dangerous drugs. Despite the shakeout, however, many small fry companies did survive and while the pesky little Aussie battlers were still taking a breath, the corporates and their TGA friends had to swing into action on an urgent agenda.
The giant drug companies had long ago swallowed the small pharmaceutical manufacturers and even merged with each other to form huge drug company conglomerates. They now competed with each other in a global market. This was aided by various treaties and trade organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) that allowed multinationals free access to all countries' markets without barriers. Countries become giant lucrative markets when governments attempt to make vaccines and other drugs compulsory for their citizens.
By now the only real cut into drug company profits was the number of people that stayed healthy or got healthy from taking regular supplements - bad news for drug sellers. In addition, nutritional supplement manufacturers prospered on healthful products which again cut into drug company profits and market share. Some drug companies then diverged into making supplement lines and it is those products that are in competition with local manufacturers. Coupled with the bad publicity drugs are getting for contributing to the highest cause of deaths in the US, the new challenge for drug companies was to make drugs look healthy and good, to make them more available over the counter and to make vitamins and supplements look dangerous with the exception of those made by drug companies.
For that, the multinationals needed the following:
1. The World Trade Organization (WTO) for gaining entry into domestic markets and levelling the competition.
2. World health organization (WTO) Codex committee that sets "standards" for all supplements to be classed as drugs, which can only be allowed to be made synthetically by drug companies in line with "international standards" and not by local manufacturers using inexpensive natural raw ingredients.
3. A corporately structured regulator out of the elector's reach who would "regulate" wholly in the interests of the drug companies.
4. An international treaty (Joint trans-Tasman treaty) that would set up a new international regulator of Australia and New Zealand (the Trans Tasman joint Agency) that would be run as a corporation – even easier for drug corporations to manage.
5. An advertising agency that would serve the new Trans-Tasman Joint Agency with an advertising code that would "legalize" a way of advertising multinational's pharmaceutical drugs directly to consumers, while at the same time the advertising code would prevent supplements from being advertised. These aims required a whole gaggle of government persons to draft up some tricky new laws, this time in the form of an international treaty.
The Treaty Not Many Knew About
In the months after the Pan debacle an international treaty between Australia and New Zealand was being drafted by persons unknown to the Australian electorate. The treaty is called "Agreement Between the Government of Australia and the Government of New Zealand for the Establishment of a Joint Scheme for the Regulation of Therapeutic products", and is known as the JTA treaty for short.
This treaty was signed on December 10, 2003 by the health Ministers of both countries without any public debate and without the consent or consultation of Australian or New Zealand electors. It is certain to have major consequences to health freedom of these countries, in that it will make the new regulating agency even less accessible to the scrutiny of the electorate. It is intended to come into full effect on July 1, 2005 if Australians do not stop this enactment process by telling their Parliamentary representatives and the Australian Health minister who signed it that no legislation that is passed by stealth has legitimate force of law in a democracy.
The Agency Not Many Knew About
The JTA treaty is intended to be the purported "legal" foundation upon which a monstrously powerful "world class" regulatory "agency" has been created. Known as the "Agency" or "the Trans-Tasman Joint agency" it would do away with the TGA as a statutory entity, which was at least theoretically accountable to Australian electors and it would render Medsafe the New Zealand regulator absorbed within its tangled structure. With those two entities nullified the newly born mammoth "Agency", scheduled to come into effect on July 1, 2005 is in fact structurally an off shore corporate business set to be run by a chairman of the board, a managing director, two persons with "regulating experience" and a person with "broad experience in commercial matters". This throws the powerful new Agency wide open to administration by corporate interests and also removes it a further step from the Australian and New Zealand elector and into the direct jurisdiction of the World Health Authority global regulator CODEX. (18)
This process has been conducted in such a secret manner that even Dr. Robyn Napier the AMA representative said of it; "the process has largely occurred without the knowledge of the public."
HARM-onizing our Kiwi Cousins
One of the "fringe benefits" to corporations of the JTA treaty with New Zealand and its follow-on "Trans Tasman joint Agency" is to ensure trans-Tasman harmonization of therapeutic goods takes place expediently. That is, to force the Australian "regulatory standards" onto New Zealand's supplement industry which up until recently enjoyed relative prosperity and freedom. "Harmonization", creates the same global standards in each country that are in the interests of multi-national companies. Aussies have been designated as the vitamin police to do the dirty work in the South Pacific region.
Immediately after Pan was disposed of, extra plane loads of gray be-suited men from the TGA were flown across the Tasman at taxpayer's expense to do to the KIWI industry what TGA did to the Australian supplement industry – making way for the big corporatations. (Kiwi is a slang word meaning New Zealand or New Zealander). They've done this with hard earned Australian tax money without consulting the electors whose interests they should have been serving but didn't. Like a squad of mafia hit men the TGA visited upon our Kiwi cousins its new "international standards in regulatory excellence" and sent their vitamin businesses to the wall as they "regulated" their way through Kiwi companies like an over-dose of cascara (cascara-a diarrhea inducing herb when taken in high doses). Our cousins did not appreciate our HARM-onizing efforts, as their many websites and activists attest. Aussies, however, took no notice of their kin across the Tasman. They continued to allow the corrupt regulator to cook up yet another scheme.
The Trans-Tasman Advertising Scheme Not Many Knew About
In mid 2003 the Pan carcass was barely cold but the TGA remained a hotbed of activity. With so much big business coming together under the JTA treaty and its "Trans-Tasman joint Agency", TGA embarked on a new round of committees that ensured the panopoly of corporations would have a collective voice in the media to advertise their goods. New "standards" had to be urgently drafted up by the TGA (in consultation with its friends) that would be known as the "Therapeutic Products Advertising Code".
To many Australian electors it would seem unusual for its official regulator to collaborate with media moguls and drug executives and create an advertising agency, but that is what happened in mid 2003, when one of the first of a series of many consultation meetings took place with the "stakeholders". The advertising agency would come to be called the trans-Tasman advertising scheme. Among the delegates attending were representatives from Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, ReckitBenckiser, Procter and Gamble, and Roche. (19, 20). Later in the year a similar meeting was convened at the Sydney Masonic hall and attended by many delegates including from Eli Lilly, News Ltd, Boots, various advertising agencies, Faulding, Astra Zeneca, Baxter, Glaxo, Boehringer Inngelheim, Fairfax, Merk, Novartis, Schering Plough, Pfitzer, Roche and of course who else but Wyeth. [Further explanatory note in reference number (21)]
Dr. Robyn Napier of the AMA, normally an ultra conservative organization, stated in her submission to a Parliament committee on April 30 2004; "the process is occurring against a backdrop of enormous pressure on a number of fronts, including: (pressure) from pharmaceutical companies ... to open up direct consumer advertising. To down schedule medicines to categories where direct consumer advertising is possible." (24)
It seemed the drug companies were finally going to be able to write their own advertising "code of ethics" allowing them to advertise their prescription drugs over the media. This necessitated that prescription drugs would be down regulated to become over the counter drugs. The doctor's organization was unhappy about this but did not cite patient safety concerns such as the new regulations allowing a confused grandma or teenager to purchase prescription drugs directly from the chemist. On the other hand the code was also drafted in such a way as to tighten up regulations on supplement advertising making it virtually impossible to even mention a positive health effect from a vitamin in public!
The Front Organisations
Some time ago I noticed that a world wide dietary supplement trade organization called the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) seemed to pop up regularly on Codex committees in Europe and it also wafted around the Aussie TGA. The CRN has chapters in most developed countries and takes a lead role in advising governments on issues such as nutritional supplements. It represents over 100 companies in the "dietary supplement industry".
On January 1, 1999 the CRN and another trade organization merged to form the Complementary Health Council of Australia CHC a "peak body" that claims to "represent the complementary health care industry in Australia". Its executive director is Val Johansen who has; "held positions in the Australian Public Service as head of food standards at Federal level and she also established the Therapeutic Goods Administration's surveillance unit, which she headed for almost four years," according to her bio. (28) Ms Johanson has been ever present in most TGA complementary medicine's committees and is a member of the Interim Advertising committee which has determined the Trans-Tasman advertising schemes' advertising "code". In an article published in the ACNEM Journal in 1999, she claims that the new reforms the regulator has brought in means "growth in the supplement industry" and consumers having access to a wider range of safe complementary health products, as well as balanced and factual information."
The CRN's membership (now Ms. Johanson's CHC) includes multinational corporations such as: Eastman chemical company, BASF, Bayer corporation, Monsanto and the ever present Wyeth pharmaceutical company whose interests are represented by the organisation. (26.27)
The CODEX They Tell You Isn't Real
The public constantly sends me information asking me to comment on it. Recently a flurry of official information updates have landed on my desk, all from the Ms Johanson's Complementary Health Council (CHC). The updates have been so widely disseminated to groups and individuals that I thought there must be someone on round the clock duty at headquarters. Interestingly I have seen almost identical information originating from similar trade and front organizations in other countries.
In essence, the official CHC "tech update" alleges: CODEX is only about food and not about supplements. The public is being ill informed about CODEX and confused by persons on the internet with "alarmist views" who "do not fully understand how Codex works". It says the only Codex representative Australia has is from the fisheries department and he doesn't make decisions about supplements, (only fish). And no one in Australia is sitting on any Codex committee having anything to do with vitamins and supplements. Only about food. Nothing about supplements… (29 ) In an extra warning in bold letters the CHC urges all members to be cautious of CODEX information from the internet and other forums, claiming it may be "inaccurate", "alarmist" and "ill informed".
I read the two page "article" and immediately suffered a bad case of deja`vue. It sounded so much like Raymond Khoury's article I could have sworn it was written by one and the same person and merely recycled - possibly not surprising since both Ms. Johanson and Mr. Khoury are on the same TGA committees.
AUSSIES Deep in CODEX
For many years now Australians have been regularly sent on a nice trip to CODEX in Europe by their government, which officially denies Codex exists in the context of supplements. In November 2003 an Australian delegation landed in Bonn, Germany. They must have felt cold coming from the Aussie summer. The three day CODEX meeting was to be hosted by the Federal Republic of Germany.
Inside the stark German Government building the 25th session was held of the "CODEX COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION AND FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY USES". It was convened by the authoritarian President and Chairman Herr Rolf Grossklaus. (I should say at this point there was no one from the Aussie fisheries department present in the Aussie delegation.) The session was well attended by 225 delegates and advisors representing 48 member countries, including Australia and 29 organisations and multinational companies.
Herr Toepner from the German Federal Ministry opened the meeting with a timely reminder of why they were all here; "to protect the health of consumers, to ensure 'fair trade practices' and the committee's important responsibilities under the WTO". (WTO is the global trade police ensuring trade barriers fall, local competition is removed and global corporations can dominate national markets – all in the name of "world class standards" and "fair trade practices".)
Herr Toepner apparently stressed the same message given to the delegates with TGA HQ, for they made a terrific effort at the CODEX meeting. The Chairman was well pleased with their work. The funereal looking Herr Grossklaus happily accepted the Australian proposal to apply a "risk" analysis to nutritional supplements. The committee once again expressed its appreciation to the "Delegation of Australia for its work in this important area and agreed that a "risk-based approach" should be followed for the establishment of upper limits for nutrients," stated the 2003 CODEX minutes report. That meant the Committee was busy putting a limit on the amount of supplements we are allowed. The Aussies agreed with the Chariman that the next 2004 Codex "session should be kept informed of the progress achieved by WHO in order to facilitate its further work on vitamins and minerals." (Author's translation of meaning of this is in footnote 33) Moreover the CODEX observer from the Council for responsible nutrition agreed wholeheartedly - (remember, the Aussie chapter of the CRN merged with Ms Johansen's CHC) - Probably much to the approval of its members Bayer, BASF, Monsanto and of course, Wyeth.
Among the CODEX participants that year, there were at least eleven multinational food and pharmaceutical companies including of course, Nestle and Roche. However, three participants were from - you guessed it – Wyeth.
The 2003 CODEX must have been such a success that one of the Aussie delegates, Ms. Janine Lewis, Principal nutritionist, returned with another delegate the following year, Ms. Jane Allen, Senior nutritionist. Both are employees of the Food standards Australia and New Zealand, a sister department of the TGA that has joint committees with the TGA. The two departments share personnel, resources and identical agendas.
Interestingly, Val Johanson of CHC states in her bio that she; "held positions in the Australian Public Service as head of food standards at Federal level and she also established the Therapeutic Goods Administration's surveillance unit, which she headed for almost four years. Positions currently held include; member of the Complementary Medicines Evaluation Committee, Chair of the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code Council, Head of the International Herbal Regulatory Task Force of the International Alliance of Dietary Supplement Associations".
There is much confusion deliberately generated to obscure the real agendas. Is our participation in CODEX about food or supplements (therapeutic goods). The answer is both. This is what a law link had to say about the legal interface between foods and supplements after the changes to the therapeutic goods act that was rammed through after Pan.
"Food can now be a therapeutic good. The TGA is now able to designate food items as therapeutic goods. Previously, prescribed foods were not classified as therapeutic goods. Now, where a food product prescribed under the Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code is designated by TGA as having therapeutic properties, the TGA may declare the product to be a therapeutic good, and therefore as subject to regulation under the Act." (30)
That includes vitamins and supplements which the TGA Act regards as medicines and drugs under the title of therapeutic goods.
The TGA has this to say about food being classed as medicine;
"products which may fit within the definition of either a food or a medicine [supplements] are referred to a joint TGA/FOOD STANDARDS Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) committee which recommends whether the goods should be regulated as a therapeutic good or as food."
This means TGA/FSANZ sends delegates to CODEX to get their orders about supplement regulations from overseas.
There is no more point to denying it. Australia happens to be up to its didgeridoos in CODEX - in a last ditch effort for the drug industry to stay in the game by attempting to dominate God given natural nutritional vitamins, minerals, oils and herbs before the word gets out about their drugs contributing to the leading cause of death.


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There is a drought of good news on the stock market and whatever good news came in the last few months, it failed to lift stock indices. On the last two occasions when RBI cut the repo rate, the market did not close in the positive zone. For instance on 4 March, when the rate cut was announced the market, instead of closing in a positive zone, declined from 29594 to 29381 levels. The same thing happened recently on 2 June when the market tanked from 27849 levels to 27188 levels. It was the same when parliament passed the bill for FDI hike in insurance sector from 26 to 49 per cent. The bill was passed in the late evening of 12 March and hence market could react to this news only on 13 March. On that day the Sensex fell from 28930 levels to 28503 levels. These instances clearly show that market is in no mood to move into the positive territory zone despite positive cues. On the other hand, the market's sharp reaction to negative news suggests that the sentiment is fragile. Last month, there was a flurry of negative news – be it poor monsoon predictions, poor corporate eafnings, or lack of reforms like dithering on GST or land acquisition bills. To add to its woes, global uncertainty continues to keep the market on tenterhooks. Even RBI governor in his latest monetary policy suggested that global recovery is fragile. There have been great speculations on when Fed would start raising the interest rate. As and when that happens there is a fear that there could be a run on emerging market bonds creating some kind of uncertainty including India on the liquidity situations.
So as an investor what should one do? In the new financial year, many of the stocks have taken a huge beating – Unitech is down by 42 per cent while Jaipraksh Associates is down by 47 per cent and Jet Airways is down by 36 per cent. But this confidence crisis
is not only on the mid-cap and Stnall cap counters but also seen in some of the blue chip stocks like Nestle which is down from 77,500 in March to
- as the company is struggling with Maggi recall due to alleged high lead content in it and also likely presence of Monosodium Glutamate. At the same time, one of the rock solid counters in the last few years was ITC, which has also come under pressure as the company is struggling to report growth in its main business – cigarettes. ITC is down by 15 per cent in 2015 which is rare to see as in the last few years the company emerged as investors' darling. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, another favourite of investors, came under pressure and is now quoting at 7832, down by 30 per cent after touching a high of 71,200 in April 2015. TCS, which gave handsome CAGR of 20 per cent in the last few years despite overall market sentiment, seems to be facing headwinds. In 2015 it has not gone up as much as the market would have loved it (up by only 2 per cent). Investors' fancy towards the stock is not as high as what it was till the end of 2014. Another large cap, Reliance Industries, continues to move in narrow range as market is waiting for its ambitious telecom service roll out, which many believe, would be a game-changer for the industry.
|Losers in FY2016
|Company Name
|% Cain
|PMC Fincorp
|RISA International
|Tilak Finance
|PS IT Infrastructure
|Trinity Tradelink
|Jaiprakash Associates
|KPIT Technologies
|Axiscades Engineering Tech
|ABG Shipyard.
|Infinite Computer Solutions
|Mangalore Chemicals
|Jaiprakash Power Ventures
|jet Airways (India)
|Rolta India
|Adani Power
|jindal Steel & Power
|SE Investments
|Kesoram Industries
|Asian Star Company
|Metalyst Forgings
|% Gain from 1 st April 2015 to 4th june 2015
In a way the market is confused at the present moment. No one knows for sure which direction the market would move! Many believe that the fall in the share prices of many companies have made them attractive but an equal number of people believe that the counters that have fallen may not bounce back. The likes of Jaypee and Unitech are facing confidence crisis. Hence there is little reason for one to buy them in a hurry.
This is not the first time the market is giving confused signals. Many times in the past too it behaved similarly. There is a famous saying in the stock market – and it is more cliched now – but very important to remember, "Buy low and sell high." On the same line, a famous investment guru has suggested, "Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful." Right now many are fearful in the market thinking that market may fall further and they are waiting for the right opportunity. But unfortunately, the right opportunity is known only after it has passed. Also, one can rarely buy at the bottom price and sell at the top price.
Today many stocks in the frontline are available at attractive valuations. Due to market sentiments they have taken a beating but their fundamentals continue to remain strong. When this fear goes away, good sense will prevail and investors would lap up these very stocks. Also for investors there are not many other profitable avenues available to invest in. Fixed deposits will not give you more than 7-8 per cent returns and after deducting tax,
Dividend yieldthe returns would not be more than 6 per cent. Real estate sector is facing its own problems and there is a strong possibility that one would lose money in short term instead of making money from real estate investment. Gold as an investment has lost its sheen as prices are either stagnant or falling – making it a bad investment. Keeping these facts in mind equity seems to be the only option for investors, provided one is willing to have a reasonable holding period of 12-18 months. Indian growth story is not in doubt. When sentiments change they change very fast and then many investors would repent of having missed a golden opportunity to buy shares at low valuations. Investors will recollect that the market gave similar opportunity in February 2013 when sentiments turned negative, but many of the stocks gave more than 100 per cent returns in the next 12-18 months period. Something similar can happen in the next 12-18 months provided you have patience to hold the shares.
Those who wish to play safe in this volatile market can go for the time- tested formula of dividend yields to make money in the market. Also the time is right as many companies announce dividend around this time of the year. So if one buys stocks now they would get two dividends in the period of 15 months, giving a higher dividend yield. When sentiment turns positive one can get capital appreciations too. What is an added bonus is that dividends are tax-free making its post tax yield excellent.
What to do with Nestle now?
Nestle has been one of the well performing stocks even when sentiments were down. The company's scrip, at the beginning of 2009, was available at ?1,400 and is now trading at ?6,000. In other words, it surged by more than four times in six-and-a-half years. Also this surge has been consistent making it a steady performer. But recent news gives clear indication that Nestle's image has taken a beating. It's believed that Maggi contributes nearly 20 per cent to its topline and it is a market
leader in instant noodle business in India. There is little clarity at this point of time how much it adds to the bottom line. Since Maggi is a matured product it should be a highly profitable business for Nestle and hence contribution to bottom line could be more than 20 per cent. Now<the company has recalled Maggi products from all over India. That means Maggi's sales contribution would be impacted on the company's topline as well as bottom line. Normally this kind of product recall in FMCG business is a very costly affair. The company will now have to spend heavily on promotions to regain consumers' confidence. Also it would take some time for Maggi to report volume growth as and when it is available on the market. That means its counter is unlikely to move up in a hurry. What is interesting is that Fils as well as Dlls have been reducing their stake in the company for the last three to four quarters, suggesting that even institutional fancy is on the wane on the counter. We believe that it would take some time for Nestle to regain investors' confidence and hence suggest investors to move to some other FMCG counters till the dust settles on Maggi.
Go and bay equity
We continue to believe that the market is in a multi-year Bull Run. This correction is part of that Bull Run and hence should be used as an opportunity to invest new money. As a smart strategy, one should look at rate sensitive sectors as repo rate cut should benefit them. Go for companies from housing finance as they would get benefits of lower cost of borrowings and higher volume. Also the government wants housing for all. It makes sense to even invest in some of the leading infra companies now as their valuations are attractive. Also risk vs reward ratio continues to be in favour of equity. We don't expect the Sensex to dip below 26500. In other words there is not much downside. Dan ke age jeet hai! Go grab good quality shares. You will make good capital appreciations in the next 12-18 months.
- SUNIL DAMANIA [email protected]


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text:
Abah has been informed about his condition. Dr. Nazim talked to him this morning. I guess Dato' Dr. Haron tak sampai hati. Padahal he came to see Abah earlier. I was scared being the only one there. Cannot imagine how he would react. And how I am going to act.
He took it very well actually. Better than all of us. But then again, he was not told exactly what we have been told. Certain things has been kept from him. And Dr. Nazim punye cara to inform pun, like it's not so serious.
But it is.
He didn't know we knew. So he told us...
we're gonna do all we can. Please pray with us ya?
another update, he and I decided to cool it off for a while. Please don't ask why. Am actually quite happy with the arrangement. Still hope things would work out. We're still seeing each other a lot. Smsing like there's no tomorrow. On the phone, tak yah cakap la. He's still 'anugerah terindah yang pernah ku miliki'. Owh, geli geli. And we're still in love. Tambah geli kan? haha.
But why do I say we're cooling it off?
Coz we are.
And I miss him so.
Isnin, September 20, 2004
Tiada ulasan:
Langgan: Catat Ulasan (Atom)
March 2017 - 'Ada Apa Dengan Jogja?' (Part 2.5)
Honestly tho, I have nothing much to say about the show, except what everyone would already know...It was AH-MAY-ZINGGGG!!! *fangirling mod...
Honestly tho, I have nothing much to say about the show, except what everyone would already know...It was AH-MAY-ZINGGGG!!! *fangirling mod...
Member sorang ni, kalau pasal menganjing memang first class 💣💣💣 #insidejoke


text:
On Wednesday of this week I took Charlie to the doctors to have this 1 year vaccinations. It's always hard doing this as you know it is going to hurt them, that they are going to cry and that they will feel poorly after them.
But you know that they need them, and you trust the medical professionals that are administering them.
When we arrived to the room, the nurse did comment that with the new computer system it looked as though Charlie had already had his injections, but he in fact had not. She said she was still getting used to it. I smiled and chatted to her.
Se gave him 3 injections from 3 needles and he cried such a pitiful cry. But it was all to protect him, and it was something that needed to happen.
She filled in his red book and we left.
After we were leaving the surgery, I opened his red book to see what she had written. To my horror I realised she had filled in details for his 16 week injections. I ran back into the surgery where I knew the health visitor was running a clinic. I was reassured by them that he had had the right injections.
I left still feeling unsure. We went for coffee with a friend that afternoon and I asked her about Poppy's injections. She had only had 2 injections. I felt sure that Charlie should have been getting MMR, but this was not on the records. She encouraged me to ring my HV again and enquire a 2nd time. I spoke to a different HV and was reassured a 2nd time that he had had the right injections. I dropped it.
Today I just received a phone call from my GP who is also a partner at the surgery. She told me that a mistake had been made and that Charlie had been given the wrong injections. My immediate reaction was 'what are the implications for Charlie?' she said she didn't know and was waiting for a response from a paediatrician at the hospital. I felt sick.
My poor poor baby.
To her credit, the nurse who had given the injections had gone and admitted to the doc that she had made a mistake. Or at least highlighted that she may have made a mistake. Once they looked into it, it was clear. She was very apologetic. I got emotional, and they offered for me to go and speak to them and have a meeting about it. I just wanted to know that Charlie was going to be ok.
She rang me back an hour later with the news from the paediatrician. It shouldn't harm him. I guess it hasn't happened too many times before for them to be sure. I still feel sick about the whole thing.
I feel cross with myself for not realising the mistake before it happened. The Dr told me it wasn't my fault. I told the Dr to send a message to the nurse that I forgive her, and that I wouldn't take the matter any further.
We are all human, and we make mistakes. I am myself am a medical professional and I have also been in the situation where I have realised that I have made a mistake. Once the patient has indicated that they are not cross it is such a huge weight off my shoulders and I wanted her to feel this. I am sure she will learn from the situation.
I tell you what I am angry about though… the 2 health visitors that reassured me he had had the right shots. If the nurse hadn't come forward, it would have been left. As it was I brought it up twice. Once of them should have looked into it without fobbing me off. I told the GP this. I hope she takes some action!
A mistake had been made
June 17, 2011 by mummylass
On Wednesday of this week I took Charlie to the doctors to have this 1 year vaccinations. It's always hard doing this as you know it is going to hurt them, that they are going to cry and that they will feel poorly after them.
2 Responses
I am so sorry about this mistake! He is a healthy little one and I am sure he will be fine. It is a shame health care providers brush off a Mom's instinct so quickly when we are more right than they are when it comes to our children.
Oh my goodness you must have been a WRECK!! I am so happy to read that the doc says Charlie should be fine. How scary!! You have every right to upset, and I agree with you…how terrible for 2 nurses to brush off your concerns ESPECIALLY when one of them realized that they had, in fact, made a mistake!!! I think your story will definitely make lots of parents pay extra attention at their child's next vaccination appointment!!!


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Menu principale:
ENG > Information
Rome, 24th January 2012
Dear Presidents,
I write you to welcome this year 2012 with occasion on the publication of this new Newsletter of World Confederation – I really thank Vicepresident GEX Ángel Gudiña – which will represent a quick and useful communication tool between us and you, and the activities in your Associations and the activities developed by World Presidency. I would like to share with you someinformations of our Association.
I have taken part – together with the Treasurer Cubeta and other Past Pupils from Italy and Spain – in the Conclusion of the 30th Edition of Salesian Family Days.
On Sunday 23th January Rector Mayor has presented, during the Conclusion of this event, the new "Identity and Charismatic Letter of Salesian Family" an extremely important document to give more unity both on the internal part of the Family as for the external world to which we address and work for. We will give you more news about how to consult this document, which up to the moment it is only published in Italian.
I invite you to share a deep study of Don Bosco's life, which is the beginning of the three-year preparation programme for 2015's anniversary of our Saint's birth.
We are getting closer, as you already know, to celebrate our Centenary Congress in Torino which will take place from 26th to 29th April 2012.
I ask you, particulary you dear President, to continue with your PERSONAL COMMITMENT of guaranteeing the presence of Past Pupils and Delgeates, and all together greet Don Bosco
Remember: is the first challenge! The more we are the more visible we will be! I count on you!
With this feelings, I greet you and with the soon happening of Don Bosco's Feast, I give you my congratulations, in name of Confederal Presidency and in my name, and I wish you the best in all the events – I am sure of that – you will organize.
In Saint John Bosco.
Francesco Muceo
Wolrd Confedeartion President
Confederal President


text:
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Nirmal Metro Newspaper
This Newspaper is established in India and giving important News of Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India. You can find news about Movies, Insurance, Cars, Mobiles, Computers, Laptops, Politics, Games etc in Nirmal Metro. iphone app store and Google play are the source of Nirmal Metro app. News about forecasts, movies reviews, horoscopes, Matrimonial, Sports, Business, Economics, fashion, entertainment, design, travel, Mortgage and more can be found on Nirmal Metro epaper. archives or old editions are provided by our Nirmal Metro website.
Nirmal Metro Epaper Information
» Newspaper: Nirmal Metro
» City or State: Ahmadabad
» County or State: Gujarat
» Country: India
» Office Address: Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India
» Language/Dialect: Gujarati
» Publishing Days: Daily
» Website url: http://www.nirmalmetro.in/


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The Food Event: From the Vine '10
Sunday, Oct 24, 2010 1:00 PM PDT
(1:00 PM Doors)
- Sunday, Oct 24, 2010 4:00 PM PDT
Saddlerock Ranch, Malibu, CA
21 years and over
Purchase Tickets
Additional Information
The Food Event General Admission Ticket: $95 Online ticket sale ends on Saturday, October 23rd at 4PM. (Limited tickets available at the door: $110)
On Sunday, October 24th from 1-4PM Los Angeles magazine will be hosting it's the fifth annual culinary extravaganza "The Food Event: From the Vine 2010" and will also be celebrating Los Angeles magazine's 50th anniversary as well as the November "Mexican Food Lovers Guide" issue. The day features great chefs, culinary experts, sommeliers, and more, up close and personal, plus lots of food, wine, and other treats, all for one price—unlimited food and beverages; all demonstrations by celebrity chefs in the Snyder Diamond Sub-Zero/Wolf Kitchen and panels like the Top Chef Masters panel in the Conversation Lounge (on comfy furniture); plus parking included. The icing on our cake and secret weapon that sets this culinary event above others is our host partner and the incredible setting for the event, the Saddlerock Ranch in the Malibu Hills, home to Semler and Saddlerock wines. Acres and acres of natural beauty; vineyards; rolling hills and ponds; shade trees with swings; animals like llamas and zebras; and space to spread out and relax, a true escape from the city, but just a short drive. For more information visit www.lamag.com/thefoodevent
The Food Event General Admission Ticket with $5, one-year Los Angeles magazine subscription: $100
Add a one-year subscription to Los Angeles magazine for just $5 with your Food Event ticket order. Los Angeles magazine is the leading authority and indispensable guide for the affluent and influential population of Southern California, illuminating and chronicling one of the most important regions of the world.


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Dun has a great start needs a rider to finish him..He loves attention loves trails .A prospect for dressage-hunter jumper-eventing. He is a big Love Bug.Ready to finish!
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Cloudy with light rain showers
Precipitation: 64%
Humidity: 89%
Wind: 4 mph
After spending an amazing week packed with visitors' stories, immersive environmental sounds and iconic imagery, the time has come for us to depart from our slate-built Geoffrey Grey on our last day at CAT.
Today we placed Geoffrey on the water powered funicular train that takes visitors up the hill to the beginning of the centre. As we ascend, the water-heavy carriage coming down from the top of the hill passes by, its weight pulling our carriage up the hill. This is the setup for our final shot, with Geoffrey listening to the creaking train tracks and water flowing sounds as we travel up and downhill, marking the beginning and the end of our and everyone else's journey at CAT. As we reach the top station, the last vibration of the carriage clicking into place draws a crack across Geoffrey's fragile structure. While the rest of the carriage is emptying out, we are collecting the slate pieces that were once part of our stories-gatherer and gently pick up the remains, heading towards his final dwelling in the polytunnel.
We end our piece with Geoffrey's placement on the top of an ivy covered slate wall, where he will be reclaimed back into the environment.
It has been an inspiring and emotional week with so much shared knowledge and experiences by visitors, volunteers and staff at the Centre for Alternative Technology. Today we stand in awe before the generations of people whose lives have been shaped by this truly remarkable place whose experimentation, lived expertise, passion and dedication continue to drive and evolve this unique place in the Welsh wilderness as a centre for true inspiration.
SH-SMtQ Day 7 - My Earth
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 67%
Wind: 11mph
At CAT we like rain.
When the sun is shining everyone heads for the long, white sandy beaches of Borth and Aberdyfi, or to the panoramic mountain views of Snowdonia, but when it rains there is nowhere better to spend an afternoon than at CAT. Today being a fairly sunny day meant there weren't many visitors for Geoffrey to interact with, but he did have one cheeky winged visitor to keep him company under CAT's sleek photovoltaic roof. Tina and I caught the little wren on camera stealing little pieces of strategically placed flapjack (kindly donated by the café) from the grooves in Geoffrey's slate skull.
Finding a moment to ourselves I read to Geoffrey from the pigment journal I kept during my residency at CAT last year. Part journal, part abstract map of the centre the work entitled My Earth is an intimate insight into my time at CAT through the collecting, processing and creating of 32 earth pigment colour swatches that encourage us to look deeper into the world around us.
With no one left to speak to, Tina, Geoffrey and I brought our filming day to a close ready for our final day of filming at the Centre for Alternative Technology tomorrow.
SH-SMtQ Day 6 - Silence
Mostly Sunny
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 65%
Wind: 11mph
CAT was unusually quiet today, so after filming the breath-taking view over the valley from the top station Tina and I took advantage of the silence, moving Geoffrey around site to capture CAT's environmental sounds. Inside the Sheppard theatre our slate head was plunged into darkness as the ceiling eclipsed the sun. The mechanical whirring high above his head hummed into a meditative drone as the ceiling disc pivoted on its axis, sucking the solar glow from the room.
Summing all of our strength Tina and I carried our slate head around the back of CAT and up the steep, loose slate path up to the new Woodland Walk that skims the edge of Llwyngwern quarry. Placing Geoffrey precariously on the edge Tina read a poem written by a local schoolgirl Jessica Lumley entitled Man's Destruction of the Environment. We then moved him even higher up the steep sloping quarry to the reservoir where we sat in silence watching dragonflies flit and bob around us and fish leap from the dark water.
Mostly Cloudy
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 87%
Wind: 11mph
Tina, Geoffery and I started our day with CAT's Building with Straw Bales short course. Setting Geoffery down on a slightly wobbly stack of bales we watched as the students stripped off their boots and socks and jumped into a pile of deep red clay, sand and chopped up miscanthus straw, stomping and churning it to make a strong, eco plaster mix. Grabbing great handfuls they slopped the mixture onto the straw bales structure they have been building together all week, smoothing as they went.
The muddy, miscanthus mix has inspired Tina and I to create a Cob Geoffery for a future Switching Heads project, but that we will leave for another day.
Out into the rain we headed for Head Gardener Roger's shed where we planned to interview him but spotting gardening action happening inside one of the polytunnels we quickly stacked up some empty plant pots topped them with our slate head and captured a behind the scenes moment with CAT's gardening volunteers.
After a short tea break we got back on track and set Geoffery and Roger up for a chat in a gardening shed stuffed with tools, pots, gardening paraphernalia and with a powerful scent of garlic in the air. Roger told us of his many years at CAT and how it has shaped his life and the lives of his family. He confided with Geoffery that he had said he would retire but can't seem to bring himself to do it.
In contrast we then had a chat with new gardening volunteer Bal who gave us her perspective on life at CAT after just two weeks. She told us that she had escaped her normal life in London for a few months and found a utopian retreat in CAT.
Mostly Cloudy
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 67%
Wind: 9mph
Under a round wood timber framed canopy our slate head listened intently to the morning birds and the ancient sounds of pole lathe woodturning.
Gareth, CAT's woodturning craftsman, took us through the stages of green woodturning, removing the bark from a split quarter log of ash on the handmade shave horse right the way through the turning process, describing each specific tool as he went until he finished with a beautifully crafted and polished baby's rattle. He described how, with each bark ring he shaved away he revealed the unique story trapped inside the locally and sustainably sourced log.
As the layers and years were stripped away the sound of the wood being rotated on the handcrafted pole lathe changed, picking up every knot, imperfection and new growth as the wood was smoothed into shape.
With the Welsh sun rising high at midday we gently placed Geoffery next to CAT's new beehive. He listened without fear as excitable worker honeybees whizzed in and out of the hive entrance often burdened by legs bulging with bright yellow pollen.
Following the bee's flight path we relocated Geoffery again this time into the sunshine where we were joined by afternoon visitors who were all keen to share their day with him on their way round the centre. It seemed that everyone at CAT was feeling the positive affects of the sun and with it the relaxed atmosphere as many people told Geoffery how inspired they felt.
As the sun sank lower and the visitors made their sleepy way home CAT's own Sally Carr began to sing. Gliding past our slate head her voice intertwined with the aromatic scents of head gardener Roger's multi-coloured flowerbeds, bouncing from pollinator to petal.
SH-SMtQ Day 3 - You Can Do It!
Precipitation: 3%
Humidity: 93%
Wind: 7mph
Sheltering from the beautiful Welsh weather under CAT's photovoltaic roof our slate head captured lunchtime stories of frogs, chickens and moles from the visiting children.
On holiday these kids run freely through the over flowing gardens, winding pathways and wooden handcrafted play parks of CAT's site relishing the opportunity to muddy up their knees and discover the creeping, crawling world amongst the flowerbeds.
Brimming with curiosity Geoffery's mossy tactile surface was irresistible for tiny fingers encouraged for the day to get messy, but with only a few minor cuts and bruises and quite a bit more moss added by tiny hands Geoffery survived to listen another day.
Waiting for the centre to go quiet at the end of the visiting day Tina and I have just moved Geoffery to an idyllic spot under an oak tree where local storyteller and poet Ippy will be performing her poem The Story of the Oak. We have also set up a place beneath a round wood archway and on a bench backing onto CAT's flowering gardens where she will read You Can Do It and her new, as yet untitled, poem that she wrote only yesterday inspired by our project.
SH-SMtQ Day2 - Generations of CAT
Mostly Cloudy
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 80%
Wind: 9mph
We arrived at CAT this morning in a slightly lighter shade of grey cloud so we decided to brave Geoffery out in the open, picking a spot behind the iconic CAT windmill pump that was creaking and spinning in the breeze.
Placing him on a totem of found logs he was soon joined by passing families who were more than happy to chat away to him about why they were visiting and, in many cases, revisiting CAT this summer.
Tina, Geoffery and I met families today that were several generations strong. On many occasions the Grandparents of the different families explained to us that they had brought their children years ago and they had now brought their Grandchildren back to CAT to share in their memorable first experience. As we chatted to more and more families we began to realise just how many families have a long-standing relationship with CAT, delighting in seeing the site develop and grow over the years. Older and younger family members were only too happy to share with us, and our future audience the intricate and personal relationships they have had with the evolving CAT community over the many years they have been visiting, and in many cases how CAT continues to shape their lives.
Luke, a student, Norfolk seal warden and keen marine conservationist, expressed how his experiences at CAT have inspired him since his early visits as a child to pursue a career in conservation and how he hopes his visit today will give him plenty to talk about at his University interview soon.
Tina and I are consistently humbled by the modest enthusiasm, determination and dedication of the every day people we meet through Switching Heads. Sharing and celebrating their individual stories of hope and positivity is why we consider this project so special and important.
Sun, scattered showers
Precipitation: 40%
Humidity: 91%
Wind: 13mph
After 5 months nestling in the jungle like polytunnel in the middle of the Centre for Alternative Technology our new site-specific sculpture has begun to crumble back into it's surrounding. Built from tiny shards of Llwyngwern slate and different moss species collected from the quarry our Welsh slate head looks as old as the hills enveloping the site. Keeping to our strict rule of adding nothing and taking nothing from the environment means the sculpture is very fragile and has already suffered an irreparable injury. However, like our melting snow heads in the Arctic, the projects celebrates the natural qualities of organic materials so we will continue with care and just hope the new sculpture will last out our week of filming.
While Tina and I have been making preparations for Switching Heads-sound mapping the Quarry West Wales has been drenched in sunshine, on our first day of filming at the Centre for Alternative Technology it looked like we were just going to get drenched.
Taking no chances with the blackening sky we carefully installed our fragile slate head named Geoffery Grey underneath a shelter that sits alongside one of the main visitor pathways and above it we raised our Switching Heads flag.
It wasn't long before slightly soggy families joined us under the shelter, half drawn in after recognising Geoffery from the flyers in their hands and half to share in our dry spot. Our friendly captive audience were keen to chat with us and with a little encouragement began to share their stories with Geoffery as well as Tina and I.
Despite the persistent rain Tina and I engaged with a lot of different CAT visitors on our first day but four young girls stole the show. Regular visitors to the site the girl's knowledge and enthusiasm for sustainable energy was very impressive and, as their Mum watched proudly, they told us all about solar and wind energy and advised us on the best places to see around CAT.
The more action we had going on around Geoffery the more people clustered around so in between visitor's stories Tina and I created a slate percussion performance designed to both attract new people to the action and to emphasis the perspective quality of the binaural microphones by tapping, scrapping and scratching slate on slate.
Day 8
On our final day carrying Fram to audiences in central Paris we first visited the square outside the Hotel de Ville which has been filled with renewable energy and sustainability solutions. We continued to the bibliotheque inside the Centre de Pompidou and from there back to La Gaîté Lyrique for the ArtCOP21 closing ceremony.
As we enter into the final few critical moments of the Paris COP21 we are hearing that there are some positive steps being made on our behalf. As it stands it has been agreed that no more than a 1.5°C planetary warming is the target to stick to across both the global north and the south. However, the action required to keep to this limit has not been agreed, with a suggested review date being as late as 2020. In the next 24 hours we will know what the United Nations are prepared to do in order to slow global warming and who is going to pay.
During these 2 weeks of global negotiations Switching Heads has marched the streets of Paris, connecting creative and alternative events all of which are united in the fight against climate change. We have met many inspiring people who are using their skills to empower the individual to raise their voice in urgency and we are proud to say that our film and action during Paris Cop21 has been part of that movement.
We have heard time and time again that what happens post Paris COP will be critical to the health of our planet and our following generations. During our journey around a capital city that is still suffering grief and fear from the terrible and tragic events of November 13th we have found hope, strength and unity. The fight against our planet's rapidly changing climate is much larger than any divide in language, culture or religion and the people we have met here have proven that. It remains to be seen how our world representatives will conclude COP21 but for Tina and I and many, many others we will keep pushing Fram (forward).
Oily caffe at the Louvre
Day 6 and Day 7
I would firstly like to apologise for my silence yesterday. Tina and I have been using our film to connect events through out the city during Paris COP21, however we are finding that many of the programmed art/culture events and direct action have been cancelled, changed or moved with little or no notice. Until yesterday when this has happened we have simply moved on to the next event but unfortunately we found ourselves with a day of unexpected changes and cancellations. At La Gaîté Lyrique instead of a Face to Face with Tomas Saraceno we sat in on the Bear Grylls of France who gave a fascinating and animated course in distopian survival, so all was not lost.
12 noon today Switching Heads were at the Pyramide du Louvre armed with a black umbrella and excited to join in ART NOT OIL's planned action. I don't think I have ever seen so many police and military per square meter. But despite this oppressive presence the action went ahead and whilst we stood together under a canopy of black umbrellas and chanted in unison about the Louvre's oil sponsorship inside a small party spread an oil slick across the pristine gallery. They were of course surrounded by police but the whole action was very peaceful and somber.
Sadly the rest of the day continued as it had yesterday with changes and closures meaning the spaces and audiences we hoped to borrow were no longer available. However we did get a few sneaky photos of our film at the Louvre whilst the police were taking their caffe break.
SH at Pyramide du Louvre during ART NOT OIL's action.
Holly Owen & Kristina Pulejkova


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Dwight Howard Plans to Energize Team with '300' SpeechApril 17, 2013
Dwight Howard has always been a character. So, it comes as no surprise that he has planned an epic locker-room speech to motivate his team to clinch a playoff berth. He has it all rehearsed and he gave us a funny sneak peek Wednesday.
Would his speech get you to play hard? Let us know in the comments below.


text: Hvide Marine, Inc. has filed a proposed Plan of Reorganization that, if confirmed, would deleverage its balance sheet, restore liquidity and enhance the Company's competitive position in the marketplace. The Plan is a result from discussions with the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors appointed in Hvide's Chapter 11 case, including representatives of the holders of about 63 percent of the company's $300 million of 8 3/8 percent senior notes would exchange their Senior Notes for 9,800,000 shares of common stock of the reorganized Hvide Marine, representing 98 percent of the new common equity. Holders of the Trust Convertible Preferred Securities would receive 200,000 shares of common stock of the reorganized Hvide Marine, representing 2 percent of the new common equity, together with warrants to purchase an additional 125,000 shares of the common stock of the reorganized Hvide Marine. The warrants would be exercisable at $38.49 per share and would have a term of four years.


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Product 8/8
These hooded rain ponchos are made of PVC plastic. They have snap closures in the front and additional snaps on the sides to help keep your arm-holes in place. The ponchos are extra large to accommodate heavy clothes and/or packs and gear underneath them. These are surplus items in excellent condition. They might be slightly different in style and/or color from the poncho pictured.