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Claire Walter, Karen Abbott, David F Cutter and John Vishneski review some of the significant reinsurance cases in England and the US in 2004
Claims co-operation clause is a condition precedent
In Eagle Star Insurance Co Limited v JN Cresswell & Others(1) the Court of Appeal held that a particular claims control clause was a "condition precedent" despite the absence of those express words.
The relevant clause (which was entitled a "Claims Cooperation Clause" but which the Court of Appeal agreed was in effect a claims control clause) provided as follows: "The Underwriters hereon shall control the negotiations and settlements of any claims under this policy. In this event the Underwriters hereon will not be liable to pay any claim not controlled as set out above."
The Court of Appeal held that compliance with this clause was a condition precedent to reinsurers' liability and that the failure by the reinsured to comply with it prevented the reinsured from recovering under the reinsurance at all. This was subject to the reinsured showing, in the words of Rix LJ, "some reason for excusing" the failure.
The Court also noted that pursuant to Gan v Tai Ping, reinsurers would be subject to an implied obligation not to exercise their claims control right in bad faith, capriciously or arbitrarily.
The importance of this decision is that the reinsured, whether or not it could have proved a liability to the insured, was barred from making a reinsurance recovery in spite of the presence of a "follow the settlements" clause. What is clear is that the courts will look at how and when reinsureds invite reinsurers to exercise their rights in accordance with any claims control or claims cooperation clause and how reinsurers exercise such rights.
Exxon Valdez reinsurers' retrocession cover not back-to-back
The Exxon Valdez oil spill contaminated hundreds of miles of the Alaska coastline. In King v Brandywine Reinsurance Co (UK) Limited(2) the Commercial Court addressed whether direct insurers had been liable to indemnify Exxon Shipping Corporation for, inter alia, oil pollution clean-up costs under the direct policy.
The Court ruled in favour of retrocessionaires to the effect that there had been no cover under the original policy.
There was no coverage under Section I (first party loss or damage to property) of the direct policy because the key insuring clause " ... Removal of Debris ..." did not cover the oil pollution clean-up costs. The meaning of "Debris" did not encompass liquids, and therefore oil.
Although there were liability coverage sections - Sections IIIA (Marine Liabilities) or IIIB (Public and Third Party Liability) - a specific additional clause precluded recoveries under those sections where on the facts the property damage section did not respond.
This, in turn, meant that there was no liability for the purpose of the retrocession contracts' net loss provisions which had provided that the reinsurers could recover the sum actually paid in settlement of loss, liability, damage or expense, leaving reinsurers with a hefty loss. An appeal to the Court of Appeal is being heard in December 2004.
The decision emphasises the ever present problem of scrutinising the underlying liability from the reinsurers'/retrocessionaires' perspective.
Beware the unapportioned direct settlement
The decision in Lumbermans Mutual Casualty Co v Bovis Lend Lease Ltd(3) has caused some considerable comment in the market. This focuses again on the question of the nature of the underlying liability and its potential implications for reinsured and reinsurers. It was held that a global settlement agreement of various parties' claims and counterclaims did not satisfy the requirement of ascertainment of loss under liability insurance policies, because it did not impose on the insured any identifiable liability for loss in respect of any identifiable insured eventuality.
No doubt reinsurers will seek to use this to argue that there is no ascertained liability under the direct insurance policy in circumstances where the settlement merely identifies an overall monetary sum rather than establishing liability for particular heads of loss. A court cannot cure the deficiency in the validity of the ascertainment of loss by hearing evidence which goes behind the settlement agreement itself.
Breach of warranty at placement
In Toomey v Banco Vitalico de Seguros Y Reasseguros(4) the Court of Appeal upheld the first instance decision that reinsurers were entitled to avoid a reinsurance contract for misrepresentation in relation to a statement in the draft reinsurance slip that the underlying Spanish policy was an indemnity policy with a limit of Pts 2.9bn and not a valued policy. An alternative defence raised by reinsurers on appeal had been breach of warranty to this effect.
The Court of Appeal did not need to consider breach of warranty in light of its finding of misrepresentation, but decided to comment on it anyway. Although the statement in the draft slip was not described as a warranty, the Court of Appeal concluded that it was relevant because (1) reinsurers had entered into the reinsurance without sight of the underlying policy; the term as to the description of that policy went to the root of the transaction and was descriptive of and bore materially on the risk; and (2) the reinsurers' obligation was "back to back", being a proportional reinsurance of the risk insured under the direct policy.
This case is significant because it shows the Court's willingness to look at a document as a whole to determine the intention of the parties. By adopting its own approach in HIH Casualty and General Insurance Ltd v New Hampshire Insurance Co5, the Court of Appeal construed a term, which although not expressly defined as a warranty, to be a warranty in circumstances where the description of the subject matter of the insurance was clearly material to the risk underwritten by reinsurers. As in Eagle Star (see above) the courts have reiterated the importance of looking at the substance of a clause irrespective of how it is described by the parties in the contract.
Fair presentation of the risk: waiver
In WISE (Underwriting Agency) Limited v Groupo Nacional Provincial SA6, the reinsurer complained that they were not advised that the underlying insured retailer imported Rolex and other high-value branded watches, as opposed to more generic goods. Reinsurers had been advised that the original policy covered "Relojes" (Spanish for "clocks"). Of significance is the Court of Appeal's disagreement over the approach to the waiver principle that there is no duty of disclosure of "any circumstance as to which information is waived by the insured" - section 18(3)(c) Marine Insurance Act 1906.
Rix LJ approached the question by asking whether the presentation was unfair or whether it would be unfair of the reinsurer to seek to avoid on a ground on which he was put on inquiry.
Longmore LJ (with whom Peter Gibson LJ agreed) asked (1) was there a material non-disclosure? and (2) if there had been a material non-disclosure, was the reinsurer put on inquiry by the disclosure of other facts so that a reasonable reinsurer might suspect that there were other circumstances which would vitiate the presentation? On the facts, there had been nothing in the presentation that would have raised a suspicion that high value branded watches were to be included in the cargo and the reinsurers were entitled to take the slip at face value. This was in stark contrast to Rix LJ who concluded that there was nothing special or unusual about a Cancun retailer retailing high value branded watches.
This decision is of importance because the notion of fairness, as applying to both parties, seems to be evolving into an overriding test, at least for Rix LJ.
The outcome of the dispute was that, as the reinsurer had given notice of cancellation which was inconsistent with the right to avoid the policy, the reinsurer had affirmed the contract.
United States
Follow the settlements applies to cedant's allocation decision
In North River Ins Co v ACE American Reinsurance Co7, the issue in dispute was whether the post-settlement allocation decisions of the cedant were subject to the "follow the settlements" rule.
The Federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals answered this question with a resounding "yes". North River sought $49m pursuant to its reinsurance with ACE following a $335m asbestos settlement. ACE estimated that it owed North River only $24m because it disagreed with North River's use of the Wellington Agreement's "rising bathtub" allocation methodology. ACE argued that the fact that North River's post-settlement allocation approach differed from its pre-settlement risk analysis deprived the follow the settlements provision of any effect. The Court disagreed, however, noting that "it is precisely this kind of intrusive factual inquiry into the settlement process, and the accompanying litigation, that the deference prescribed by the follow-the-settlements doctrine is designed to prevent."
This position appears to be different to the principles adopted in England. Following Lumbermans (above), re/insurers may only be liable if the loss is ascertained by reference to an identifiable liability in the settlement agreement for an insured event.
This case reveals the vast scope of the follow-the-fortunes doctrine, at least in the Second Circuit, and provides a caveat emptor lesson for reinsurers. The Court in North River did point out that "(c)edants must make good-faith allocations, and reinsurers also cannot be held accountable for any loss not covered by the reinsurance policy". However, the decision makes clear that courts are hesitant to scrutinise the details of underlying settlement decisions. It is yet to be seen how other US jurisdictions will view the North River approach.
Late notice no bar to reinsurance recovery absent prejudice
In a recent case applying New York law, a US court held that late notice will not bar a reinsurance claim absent prejudice caused to the reinsurer. In Folksamerica Reinsurance Co v Republic Insurance Co8 2003, the court noted that although under New York law notice to direct insurers under a direct insurance is a condition precedent even where the policy does not make it so, New York law only offers such relief in the reinsurance context when the provision clearly and expressly requires notice as a condition precedent.
The Court determined that the provision was not a condition precedent and, therefore, required the reinsurer to establish prejudice or "tangible economic injury". Folksamerica was unable to articulate any real harm. This matter will be before the Second Circuit shortly.
This case is important because prejudice is a relatively high hurdle to overcome and may necessitate a time consuming (and costly) trial.
Utmost good faith inapplicable to reinsurance agreement
American courts have long held that the duty of utmost good faith is a key part of all reinsurance relationships. However, in PXRE Reinsurance Corp v Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co9, the Federal court held that in a reinsurance contract governed by Illinois law, utmost good faith had no part in determining PXRE's extensive discovery requests intended to support a right to rescind a reinsurance contract.
The contract's integration clause provided that, other than the contract, "there are no general or specific warranties, representations or other agreements by or among the parties". Given the lack of Illinois case law applying the doctrine to reinsurance relationships, the Court concluded on the basis of this clause that the doctrine of utmost good faith was inapplicable to the particular dispute.
It will be interesting to observe whether this decision is followed elsewhere, or whether it is confined to the wording of the particular contract.
(1) [2004] EWCA Civ 602.
(2) [2004] EWHC 1033 (Comm).
(3) [2004] EWCA 2197 (Comm).
(5) [2004] EWCA Civ 962.
(6) [2004] EWCA Civ 962.
(7) 361 F.3d 134 (2d Cir. 2004).
(8) 2003 WL22852737 (S.D.N.Y.) Dec 2, 2003.
(9) 330 F. Supp. 2d 981 (N.D.I11.981).
Claire Walter and Karen Abbott are in the London office and David F Cutter and John Vishneski are in the US office of the insurance and reinsurance group, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP.


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Yesterday I enjoyed an open conversation with a great teacher who is finding it frustrating to have a child in class who continually says no to doing school work. As one would expect it is a complicated situation where the teacher is trying so many things. The thought came to me that there is little positive emotion happening when there is no sense of achievement for a child.
Last night I was doing some interesting reading on breaking habits (Transform your Habits – ebook – jamesclear.com/transform–your–habits-2nd-edition) – a great read if you have time. The book carefully looked at the need to start small. The example was given if you want to start flossing your teeth, then you start one tooth at a time. This to me seemed ridiculous, but then the longer I thought about it, the more it made sense.
In my family I am always the last out of bed in the mornings and I have been badly wanting to change this. I keep telling myself 'this week I will start to get up earlier', but it never happens. After reading this e-book, I know I need to start small and plan it in my schedule. Thus I am planning to get up earlier on Wednesdays only (there, now I have committed to it publicly!) and then I will move on from that start.
Back to the child who is saying no to work. I wondered today if it might be a habit of not working and if so, what would happen if he was faced with a very small amount of work to do? Interesting. Just a thought. If anyone is in a situation to try it, I would love to know if it works?
Habit breaking is a difficult thing, but starting small is a great idea. Bad habits we know we are caught in, can really effect our outlook on life.
It takes time to develop habits and it takes time to break them, but often we want it instantly. We need to hang in there, start small and schedule the change into our days.

subset: commoncrawl


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Today I completed my latest workout round swinging my kettlebells through Skogg's Ladders, level 4 workout.
With breaks for tennis, it took me 102 days to complete the 84 day calendar. Not a problem. I was working hard on those tennis days and doing extra yoga sessions to keep limber. And, I'm injury free!
The final three weeks of the Skogg System calendar had me at Level 4. Level 4 continues to add time and reps to the various workouts in the DVD set. As expected, adding that time and those reps initially made Level 4 very challenging. But fairly quickly–about half way through those final 3 weeks–I started imagining that I could soon increase my weights. When I began Level 4, I was using the 12 kg bell on all the routines.
The question was: how do I safely increase the weight? Go back to level 2 or 3 with the higher weight? I posted the question on Skogg's facebook page, and was advised to stay at Level 4, increase the weight, but go back to the lower weight bell in the routine as I run out of gas. I followed this advice, with good success in my final three workouts: Roots, Intervals and Ladders.
Having completed this DVD set, I can report that I thoroughly enjoy the workouts and I am noticeably stronger everywhere. I've also clearly gained muscle mass in my thighs, butt, chest and arms. I think the kettlebell compliments tennis well, building both strength and endurance. And speed wasn't compromised moving around the court.
So my decision to mix things up and try something new proved beneficial. I like Skogg's approach and demeanor, so I purchased another of his DVDs: Skogg at Home, Phase 1.
Whatever I wind up doing next, kettlebells will figure into the plan.


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FDA lifts its hold on vadastuximab talirine after Seattle Genetics adds new safeguards
A little more than two months after the FDA put a clinical hold on early-stage work of its armed antibody dubbed SGN-CD33A (vadastuximab talirine) in acute myeloid leukemia following the deaths of 4 patients, the agency has come back to lift the hold and give Seattle Genetics the green light to continue.
Moving forward, the biotech says it's implementing added risk mitigation measures in all vadastuximab talirine studies, including "revised eligibility criteria and stopping rules for veno-occlusive disease."
Seattle Genetics has been attracting some positive attention for this program from analysts looking for the biotech to expand its portfolio beyond Adcetris. The biotech launched its late-stage study in May after posting positive Phase I data from a combination study reviewed at ASH.
Data demonstrated that 15 of 23 (65 percent) evaluable patients achieved CR/CRi. At a median follow-up of 7.7 months, median survival had not yet been reached, and 72 percent of patients remained alive and on study.
Some of the analysts who follow the company expected a quick resolution of the hold, and they weren't disappointed. Seattle Genetics stock was down slightly Monday afternoon.
"We will resume two Phase I trials in AML and plan to initiate a randomized Phase II trial during 2017 evaluating vadastuximab talirine in combination with standard of care chemotherapy in frontline, younger AML patients," said Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Drachman. "In addition, we are continuing to enroll our ongoing Phase III randomized CASCADE trial in frontline older AML patients and our phase 1/2 trial in frontline high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)."


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Color : Assorted/ Mixed
fabric: Hemp
Dimensions: 5.7 inches (14.5 cm) high x 5 inches (12.7 cm) wide x 1.3 inches (33 cm) deep
Strap: 34 inches (86.3 cm) long x 1.3 inches (3.3 cm ) wide
Unit Weight : 1.76 oz ( 50 grams)
Product Features :
This camera case has been made from hemp with soft padded inner lining to keep the contents safe. Its zip at the top prevent spillage. It is yellow and white with singular monograms embroidered on. It has a loop for it to be fastened to the belt. It weighs 50 grams.
Other Notes :
This item is handmade .As with all handcrafted work, it creates variations in color, size and design. Slight difference can be expected from one piece to other. Also color discrepancies may occur between this product and your computer screen.
Product is made by women of Himlayan country of Nepal.


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Terence D. Flanagan
Mr. Flanagan is currently Vice President and Transportation Group Director of HNTB Corporation in Kansas City. He is responsible for the office's transportation planning and highway/civil design groups, as well as the design services group (structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering). He has served as HNTB's firm-wide Project Management Operations Director and is involved in numerous transportation, motorsports, and Corps of Engineers projects. Terry is also a 1986 EMGT graduate.


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Beauty bloggers try a lot of makeup. We really do. I know, it's a hard life, but someone has to do it! There's the makeup we try on a weekly basis and then there are are the all-time staples that we always go back to. In the interest of being nosy, I spoke to some of my absolute favourite bloggers to find out what their one-true lipstick love is… Mine is mac Faux (more here), my wedding day lipstick. The perfect nude.
Jasmine, from Jasmine Talks Beauty
My favourite lipstick is ColourPop's Ultra Satin Lip in Echo Park. Firstly, I got it in New York, which means it always reminds me of that amazing birthday weekend! The formula is incredible – it's so long-wearing but very comfortable to wear and not at all drying, unlike most matte liquid lipsticks. The warm peachy nude colour makes it perfect for any makeup occasion (whether it's a workday or paired with a smoky eye for a night out). And best of all: it's only $6.50!
See Echo Park on Jasmine's blog here.
Hayley, from Hayley Hall
My current fave red lipstick is L'Oreal Age Perfect Rouge Lumiere Lipstick in 'Perfect Burgundy'. I adore the deep red shade, which is perfect for the colder months, but it's the formula that has me crushing; it's been developed specifically for older women, so it's incredibly hydrating (with an oil-infused core) and flattering on even the thinnest of lips too. It's the one I've been wearing all day long, without my lips feeling parched or in need of a break. Plus it's super affordable!
See Perfect Burgundy on Hayley's blog here.
Adrienne, from The Sunday Girl
Of course, it is Charlotte Tilbury Secret Salma from the Hot Lips collection; it is one of the few deeper nudes that suits my complexion and a rarity, in that I works with just about any make-up look – let alone occasion. I think I'm on my third tube since it launched in 2016, which I think says it all.
See Secret Salma on Adrienne's blog here.
Alice, from Alice Anne
My all time fave is MAC So Chaud. It's a gorgeous red/orange that looks fab come rain or shine. Hands down favourite shade everrrrr!
See So Chaud on Alice's blog here.
Jodie, from Jodie Melissa
Oo I love the idea of this, I think my all time favourite is Bitch Perfect from Charlotte Tilbury. The formula and colour are both perfect for me, I like to wear fairly natural makeup looks day to day and I find Bitch Perfect the perfect shade to compliment any makeup look and just bring my makeup together, it's always my most reached for. I find it lasts well throughout the day (especially with my fave lip liner Pillowtalk) and feels comfortable and non-drying on my lips.
See Bitch Perfect on Jodie's blog here.
Gemma, from Gemma Etc
I don't have a favourite lipstick as such as I'm more of a lip gloss fan but my favourite gloss is the Buxom White Russian Full On Cream. It's a relatively new addition to my collection but it's my perfect lip gloss in both shade and formula. It's non sticky, long lasting, plumps the lips without any burning sensations and it complements any makeup look.
See White Russian on Gemma's blog here.
Fee, from Makeup Savvy
It would have to be Charlotte Tilbury Penelope Pink, which was in fact my first ever lipstick from Charlotte Tilbury. Despite the name, it's not pink toned in the slightest but a slightly warm-toned nude that's beyond wearable and comfortable, suiting my pale complexion perfectly!
See Penelope Pink on Fee's blog here.
Mandy, from A Girl Obsessed
I'd have to say Charlotte Tilbury's Pillowtalk is my favourite lipstick at the moment. The color is so easy to wear and looks great for any occasion, plus her matte lipsticks feel so creamy and comfortable on the lips.
See Pillowtalk on Mandy's blog here.
Leanne, from LPage Beauty
My current favourite lipstick is actually a lip gloss haha! It's the ColourPop Lip gloss in the shade Moon child. I love it because it's the perfect creamy, nude colour. It has brown undertone which suites my skin tone really well. The formula is like silk on the lips. It's not sticky or gloppy at all. It's not the most long wearing lip product but that's to be expected with gloss. It's really easy to touch up throughout the day and goes with almost any makeup look. I also really like to use it as lip topper over my favourite liquid lipsticks. I just can't get enough of it!
See Moon Child on Leanne's blog here.


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India Police Guard Temple Treasure Haul Worth Billions
Armed commandos cordoned off a medieval Hindu temple in south India on Monday after gold coins and precious stones worth billions of dollars were found in its vaults.
The chief minister of southern Kerala state, Oommen Chandy, said local authorities needed to take precautions and had set up a three-tier security ring involving 100 armed police.
Surveillance will be in place around the clock, and security forces are setting up a special control center and looking at bringing in cameras.
"The treasure will be kept in the temple itself and Kerala police are taking over its security from temple staff," said Chandy, who valued the discovery at 500 billion rupees ($11.2 billion) on Saturday.
Five vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the Keralan capital Thiruvananthapuram were opened last week, yielding enormous quantities of gold and silver jewellery, coins and precious stones.
A sixth is set to be explored on Monday.
Retired Kerala High Court judge C.S. Rajan, who is part of a seven-member team named by India's Supreme Court to monitor the treasure hunt, estimated Sunday that the valuables could be worth up to a trillion rupees ($22 billion).
"Its antique and archeological value has not been yet been taken into account," he stressed.
A seventh vault reinforced with iron walls would be opened only after fresh instructions from India's top court, he said.
K.N. Panikkar, an eminent India historian, said the treasure was most likely a combination of gifts donated by devotees to the shrine and the wealth of the erstwhile Hindu royal family from the local kingdom of Travancore.
"The king ruled in the name of the temple and so one can say it is the accumulated wealth of the temple and the maharajah's own collection," Panikker told Agence France Presse in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Times of India said one tonne of gold coins -- some dating back to the era of French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte -- as well as sacks full of diamonds and golden statues were among the artefacts discovered in the temple.
The national conservation agency, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), said it was stunned by the findings.
"Right now we are working in absolute darkness and we only know that fabulous treasure is pouring out," ASI Director-General Gautam Sengupta told AFP.
"No archaeologist has ever experienced vault after vault being opened and treasures being discovered like this," Sengupta said in New Delhi, adding that many of the Hindu shrines across India were "very rich".
The discoveries have catapulted the Hindu shrine, renowned for its intricate sculptures, into the league of India's richest temples.
It was built hundreds of years ago by the king of Travancore and donations by devotees have been kept in the temple's seven vaults since.
Since India achieved independence from Britain in 1947, a trust managed by descendants of the Travancore royal family has controlled the temple.
Shashi Bhushan, a Kerala-based historian, told the Mint business newspaper that the treasure was likely to be "the proceeds of trade" from the state in southern India, which was a centre for spice trading.
The Supreme Court recently ordered that the temple be managed by the state of Kerala to ensure the security of its valuables.
Until now, the Thirupathy temple in southern Andhra Pradesh state was believed to be India's richest temple, with offerings from devotees worth 320 billion rupees.


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Hard Rock International Named Leader In Hotel/Casino Customer SatisfactionMarch 22, 2013
Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos Acknowledged For Top Performance by Market Metrix Hospitality Index (MMHI)
Orlando, Fla. – March 22, 2013 – Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos – with locations from Hollywood to San Diego, Chicago to Orlando– announces its ranking as the 2012 No. 1 overall leader in Customer Satisfaction in the "Upper Upscale Hotels" category, according to the Market Metrix Hospitality Index (MMHI). The award also places Hard Rock within the top five brands for Customer Satisfaction among all hotel brands and segments in the Americas for the year. Additionally, Hard Rock's individual properties were recently recognized for outstanding service, with Hard Rock Hotels in Biloxi and Orlando awarded as "Best Hotels" by US News & World Report in the Biloxi and Orlando categories.
"We're thrilled to lead the Upper Upscale category in the MMHI awards for customer satisfaction alongside trusted, esteemed brands and are particularly gratified Hard Rock ranked extremely high in the overall listing," said Andrea Melotti, head of global operations, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos. "This distinction demonstrates that the individualized and premium guest experiences in customer-centric environments at Hard Rock Hotels are resonating. Our recognition as a top-performing upper upscale hotel brand, both in business city hotels and leisure resorts, shows how extensively our fan base has grown. The good news for our 'raving fans' is that our recently launched Hard Rock Rewards loyalty program will better acknowledge and engage them throughout our network, from hotels and casinos to cafes."
As the largest and most in-depth measure of hotel, casino, car rental and airline performance available today, the Market Metrix Hospitality Index surveys more than 40,000 travelers each quarter to help hospitality businesses measure and improve their performance. Evaluating guest experiences at nearly 300 hotel and casino brands each quarter, MMHI analyzes the most reliable hospitality performance data in the industry – allowing brands to discover sources of competitive strength, loyalty and value.
Best practices and benchmark comparison metrics are identified through questions based on customer satisfaction and the emotional experience of each guest surveyed, in addition to a pricing analysis and demographic detail by brand and industry segment.
Internationally recognized as a world-class entertainment and lifestyle brand, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos offer stylish and contemporary design, unparalleled service and the thread that unites them all – music. Hard Rock's portfolio of Hotels and Casinos are located in the world's most enviable resort destinations, as well as urban gateway cities. Hard Rock Hotels cater to the evolving and distinctive needs of today's cosmopolitan, modern travelers, who seek a reprieve from traditional, predictable properties, whether for business or leisure travel.
For more information or to book a stay at any of the Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos, please visit www.hardrockhotels.com.
About Hard Rock International
With a total of 177 venues in 58 countries, including 141 cafes, 18 hotels and 8 casinos, Hard Rock International (HRI) is one of the most globally recognized companies. Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, Hard Rock owns the world's greatest collection of music memorabilia, which is displayed at its locations around the globe. Hard Rock is also known for its collectible fashion and music-related merchandise, Hard Rock Live performance venues and an award-winning website. HRI owns the global trademark for all Hard Rock brands. The company owns, operates and franchises Cafes in iconic cities including London, New York, San Francisco, Sydney and Dubai. HRI also owns, licenses and/or manages hotel/casino properties worldwide. Destinations include the companies' two most successful Hotel and Casino properties in Tampa and Hollywood, Fl., both owned and operated by HRI parent company The Seminole Tribe of Florida., as well as other exciting locations including Bali, Biloxi, Chicago, Cancun, Las Vegas, San Diego and Singapore. Upcoming new Hard Rock Cafe locations include Melaka and San Jose. New Hard Rock Hotel projects include Aruba, Riviera Maya, Abu Dhabi and Shenzhen and Haikou in China. New Hard Rock Casino projects in development include Hungary and Northfield, OH. For more information on Hard Rock International, visit www.hardrock.com, www.hardrockhotels.com, or www.facebook.com/hardrock.


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How to get protected, radiant, healthy-looking hair I Grow Gorgeous I NEW Defence Routine
Refresh and exfoliate the scalp from city pollution by removing excess sebum and dirt with this detoxifying primer.
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Hair Type: Hair with a tendency for grease and product build up
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Use as part of the Defence haircare regime. Wet hair, then scoop up a generous amount of scrub. Use your fingertips to massage the product into your scalp. Leave for a few minutes to enjoy the cooling sensation. Rinse thoroughly with Anti-Pollution Shampoo. Use 1-2 times per week.
Aqua/Water/Eau, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Polyglyceryl-4 Caprate, Fragrance (Parfum), Glycerin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Caffeine, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Oil, Bambusa Arundinacea (Bamboo) Stem Extract, Hydroxyacetophenone, Lactobacillus/Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Fruit Ferment Extract, Sodium Benzoate, Menthol, Disodium EDTA, Potassium Sorbate, Menthyl Lactate, Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, Allantoin, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Arginine, Aspartic Acid, PCA, Citric Acid, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Limonene, Glycine, Linalool, Alanine, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Serine, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Valine, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Isoleucine, Proline, Threonine, Histidine, Phenylalanine, Sodium Hydroxide.
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Welcome to my website!Mrs. E. Wertz
Art Room-Fine Arts Wing
Email: email@example.com myself.I obtained my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Arts Education K-12 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and have taught for Alamance-Burlington School System for 27 years. In addition, I have taught at Rockingham Community College and Piedmont Technical College. Elon University hired me to teach two specialized summer programs, EDGE and Elderhostel. In 2003-04, I achieved National Board Certification in Early Adolescent/Young Adulthood art. Just this summer, I attended College Board sessions at the National Conference and am now offering AP Studio Art:: Drawing and AP Studio Art : 2D-Design at WAHS.


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I was not suspecting that in 4 months I will visit 4 different parts of the Europe, 4 different cities that porbably to few of them it will be difficult to come back. During those trips i was surprised by many things that i was not suspected to see. But the main thing is that in few of them i made my dreams come true.
Finland. Helsinki. When my friend from my country came to see me, we decided to go to Helsinki. The bus ride was not so long so we get quickly to the capital of Finland. It was Fabruary so the weather was…well as the Finnish winter. It was windy with a lot of snow But it could not be otherwise, after all she came to visit Finland! But it was great anyway. I really liked the city because it is not so big and small. Everything what you want to see is close to each other. So easily we saw the most important buildings and with thin weather we took the boat on Suomenalinna. Again, amazing! Even that snow and wind gave the right climate for that place. Sometimes we feel that's a creepy place but we have a lot of fun taking the walk around that island. We felt like in the mysterious island from Leonardo DiCaprio movie. We came back home exhausted but happy. Hope I will come back there one day during the spring or summer.Finland. Lapland. Northern lights. Two words that made my dream come true. Hopefully I was able to saw it during the snowshoeing and aurora hunting event. A lot of snow, night, snowshoes, forest, small lights on the head and then surprised it comes out like in the Brother Bear movie from my childhood. The next amazing thing was to meet Santa Claus during this trip. The whole Santa's Village have amazing climate and you can feel back to the childhood again. I feel great that I have crossed the Arctic circle for few days. I also met the Sami Culture and fed reindeers on the reindeer farm. It is so distant for my that I felt even more in that culture. Obviously there was more thing to say because I was there for a week. But those were the main one for me. Of course i will remember whole of them for my whole life.
Text & photos: Aleksandra Bakowska


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The annual Joint Mathematics Meetings are one of those vast smörgåsbord meals where you can't possibly eat everything. I managed to sample 1 percent of the menu this year. By my count, the four days of meetings included 2,743 scheduled events (mostly talks, but also panel discussions, cocktail parties, poetry readings, film showings, and other diversions); I attended 28 of them. There are \[\binom{2743}{28} \approx 5 \times 10^{66}\] ways to choose such a sampling, so it's unlikely any of the other 6,424 participants experienced exactly the same meeting I did.
As a journalist and a generalist, I try to maintain a balanced mathematical diet, but this year I pigged out on number theory. A third of the talks I heard were in that area. There's been a a lot of buzz lately about progress toward a proof of the twin-primes conjecture, starting with a surprise announcement last spring by Yitang Zhang of the University of New Hampshire. Twin primes, such as \(5\) and \(7\) or \(101111\) and \(101113\), are primes as closely spaced as two odd primes can be. The twin-primes conjecture says there are infinitely many of these pairs. Zhang didn't prove there are infinitely many primes \(p\) and \(q\) with \(q-p=2\), but he came really close. He proved there are infinitely many primes \(p\) and \(q\) with \(q-p \le 70\,000\,000\). A few months later James Maynard, a postdoc at the Université de Montreal, brought the constant down from \(70\,000\,000\) to \(600\). (Maynard was inspired by Zhang's work but used different methods. Terry Tao got the same result at the same time.) Then a Polymath collaboration organized by Tao made further progress. At last report, the minimum gap for which we can say with certainty there are infinitely many primes is 270.
For more about the mathematics behind this work, I recommend two excellent articles by Erica Klarreich, published in the Simons Foundation's Quanta magazine:
I'd like to add a few thoughts about the human side of Zhang's story, as best I can piece that story together from published sources.
According to a profile by Virginia Stuart in UNH Magazine, Zhang was born in China in 1955 and was a boy when the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and the Red Guards movement convulsed the nation. With the rest of his family he was sent to the countryside for "re-education" through labor. The result of re-education was not much education, but he made up for lost time and in 1978 (at age 23) entered Peking University, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics.
In 1984 S. S. Chern took several American mathematicians to Beijing, where they spent a summer working with Chinese graduate students. Zhang was one of the students, and the following year he came to the U.S. to study at Purdue with T. T. Moh, who had been a member of the Chern delegation. Moh has recently written a short memoir on Zhang's period at Purdue, from which I quote at length:
When he arrived, we had a cordial talk. Yitang expressed his desire to work in the field of Algebraic Geometry…. Yitang also mentioned that he wanted to study under my guidance…. I was surprised by Yitang's next request of working on the Jacobian conjecture as his thesis topic. I felt it was odd to select such a difficult task.
The Jacobian conjecture is one of Steve Smale's "problems for the 21st century," which Smale describes as follows:
Suppose \(f : \mathbb{C}^n \to \mathbb{C}^n\) is a polynomial map with the property that the derivative at each point is non-singular. Then must \(f\) be one-to-one?
I can say nothing more about this question except that it remains open, and that Moh is the author of a long 1983 paper with computational results for all two-variable polynomials of degree less than 100. Moh continues:
Yitang spent all of his free time thinking of mathematics. After years, Yitang started to believe that he might have gotten a solution, one independent of my paper, to the Jacobian conjecture. As a gatekeeper of the palace of the Jacobian conjecture, I did my duty of examining every claim presented to me and denied the entrance of anybody (even if the claim has nothing to do with my work) if the proof was invalid. "Maybe the Jacobian conjecture is a problem for the future", I thought.
By 1991 Zhang was approaching the seven-year limit for Ph.D. candidates at Purdue. He wrote a brief thesis on a specialization of the Jacobian conjecture, which earned him his degree. Then he took off. Moh writes:
Sometimes I regreted not fixing him a job. But really, who could tell whether it was a good decision or not? Maybe it was his destiny to endure and turn out to be great…. When I looked into his eyes, I found a disturbing soul, a burning bush, an explorer who wanted to reach the north pole, a mountaineer who determined to scale Mt. Everest, and a traveler who would brave thunders and lightnings to reach his destination. Yitang never came back to me requesting recommendation letters. Apparently, he did not seek a job.
An interview with Zhang, conducted by Michael Segal and published in Nautilus, puts a somewhat different spin on the matter of recommendations. In the interview Zhang remarks: "During that period it was difficult to find a job in academics. That was a job market problem. Also, my advisor did not write me letters of recommendation."
Zhang spent most of the next decade without an academic position. Here's the Wikipedia account of that period: "Prior to getting back to academia, he worked for several years as an accountant and a delivery worker for a New York City restaurant. He also worked in a motel in Kentucky and in a Subway sandwich shop." The article by Virginia Stuart makes clear that the job as an accountant and the job at Subway were the same job. "In a pinch, he would help out behind the counter, a fact that has been exaggerated in the press and has inspired online banter about a mathematical genius making sandwiches for a living."
In 1999 Zhang was hired as a lecturer in the department of mathematics and statistics at UNH. I haven't been able to learn exactly how this came about. The chairman of the department of the time was Kenneth Appel, who had his own history of breakthrough proofs—in his case, the four-color theorem. Appel died just a few days after learning of Zhang's triumph.
UNH saved Zhang from a life of making footlong sandwiches, but for 15 years his job was a nontenured lectureship, on a year-to-year contract. He apparently taught a lot of first-year calculus—and got rave reviews on ratemyprofessors.com. One review says, in its entirety: "HOT!!!" The UNH web site still lists him as a lecturer, but news reports this month say he has been promoted to full professor.
At the JMM, Andrew Granville of Montreal gave a big tutorial talk summing up the recent and ongoing work on bounded gaps between primes. But the main event happened a day earlier, when both Maynard and Zhang spoke in the same session. The room was jammed. Maynard went first, and gave a lucid and precise account of his own work. When he finished, Zhang stepped forward with a sheaf of transparencies, which he'd been scribbling on with a Sharpie pen during some of the earlier talks in the session. There was a brief delay while the video projector was set aside and the overhead projector was moved into place and switched on. Still more people flowed into the room from the doors at the rear. (I had arrived early to get a seat up front.) The hubbub continued until Granville rose and bellowed out "Quiet!" Then Zhang turned to face the audience and announced: "I know you all expect me to talk about twin primes, as the abstract says, but I've decided to talk about something else." I was mildly shocked. I don't think I've ever seen anyone pull such a switcheroo at a major conference.
"Something else" turned out to be the Goldbach conjecture—the assertion that every even integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers. Zhang wasn't claiming to have proved the Goldbach conjecture; he wasn't even laying out a clear pathway to a proof; but he did vaguely hint that he has some idea of how to proceed. We'll see, I guess. For the moment he has a healthy balance of credibility.
An hour after he gave his talk, Zhang was awarded a share of the Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Number Theory.
Nonmathmatical geographic/autobiographic/photographic addendum. The JMM was held in Baltimore this year, a city I lived in from age 0 to age 4 and again from age 20 through 23. On this trip I spent my first few hours in town strolling around taking pictures, and belatedly discovered that my camera was set to one of the cute "illustration" modes that modern digital technology has to offer. I was shocked at this switcheroo, too, but after a few days the cartoonish pictures grew on me.
The image above shows the Morris A. Mechanic Theater, which was the centerpiece of an urban redevelopment project in the early 1970s, when I was a young man about town. The theater was supposed to bring Broadway tryouts and other forms of stagecraft back to the heart of the city. It closed in 2004, and now even the posters promising another phase of redevelopment are looking tattered.
As for the Hotel Junker/Envy Hotel, below, I didn't stay there, but it was just around the corner. Echt Baltimore.


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eBay's (EBAY) online payments company PayPal will open its payments platform to third party developers.
The new service, called Adaptive Payments Service, consists of a set of APIs that can interact with other programs, explains PCWorld:
In PayPal's case, the APIs will allow applications that can support transactions such as "chain payments," where a buyer sends a payment to a primary seller, which then can pass on portions of that money to others with an interest in the transaction.
PayPal says it launched the service to "unleash developer innovation," but TechCrunch says its a move to compete with Amazon's Flexible Payment Service. (Not to forget new payment systems like "Pay with Facebook.")
Both could be true, but more importantly, it's a way to increase revenue and meet the aggressive $4-$5 billion revenue target eBay set for PayPal to hit in 2011.
In a note to us, JP Morgan analyst Imran Khan says that currently PayPal's share of total off-eBay ecommerce and online travel is about 4.2%. He believes that at this rate PayPal cannot reach its 2011 target, and must push this market share up to more than 6% to make $4 billion in revenues in 2011.
PayPal did not provide pricing information for Adaptive Payments Service. But it promised to provide more information and preview the API at a limited-seating event on July 23, 2009 in San Jose.
Image: Clemson
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This has been spring break for me the past week. My plan? With my husband at work, one daughter at school, and the other daughter traveling with a very generous aunt, I hoped to meet with a few friends, drink a lot of coffee, and work on "Sophie's Gold Rush," book three of the three-book series about the great horned owl, Sophie Topfeather, and her friends in "the Park."
Sunday began a little ominously as we pulled out our phone to call our daughter at school, and instead we found three rather panicky messages from her telling us that she was with her roommate in the emergency room, and a call waiting from her roommate's concerned Mom, who lives in Oregon. What a blessing, as we stepped out of church, to realize we were only five minutes away from that ER, and could be there in a flash.
Well, five minutes away once we made it out of the parking lot! First, we had to deal with a bumper-to-bumper accident with a fellow church member and our daughter's academic advisor. Just a little awkward. What a blessing to realize that any new damage had already been covered by an insurance settlement from a different, recent accident! We were on our way to the hospital in no time, smiles all around. (Thankfully, the roommate is just fine.)
The word, "divine appointment," kept coming to my mind all week after these little incidents, and then a few more! A walk with a new friend ended with her registering for a Christian writer's conference and saying that God had provided the direction she had been praying for. Coffee with an old friend renewed a friendship and began an adventure together in a Bible study for this quarter–something she had been praying for. And then, lunch with one friend on Wednesday turned into lunch with three, and it ended on the note that they would pray for a divine appointment for me with an agent on Friday night.
I had decided that paying college tuition trumped my need for attending this year's annual Northwest Christian Writer's Association conference, but I did sign up for the dinner and main speaker on Friday night. If there was one person I wanted to meet, it was an agent who, lo and behold, actually represented children's writing! I had read her bio in the conference literature, and just started praying I would meet her. It was a long shot, as the sign-up appointments were earlier in the day. The banquet room was large and crowded, and I didn't know what the agent looked like other than a blog picture.
Someone at my dinner table mentioned he had had one of those appointments with this agent, and one thing he learned was that picture books are going nowhere. Since that was what I hoped to pitch to her, my hope faded a little, but he pointed her out to me after the presentation and I resolutely walked up to her table. "Hi. Can I meet you?" was all I could think of to say, but she graciously shook my hand and invited me to sit down. By the end of the conversation, she had declared my idea "commercial" and the word count right, and she would take a look at it.
Hurray! No guarantees, of course, but she'll read it, and that's all I can hope for.
Are you in need of a divine appointment? A connection you want to make? A person you need to find that can help you take a next step? Let me know in the comments, so I can pray for you!


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The four will join the 199 existing members of the organization when they are officially inducted during the 46th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala on Oct. 9.
Barker's songwriter credits include "Baby Blue" and "Love Without End, Amen" (George Strait) and "What About Now" (Lonestar). Nielsen Chapman's resume is known for "Nothing I Can Do About It Now" (Willie Nelson), "Strong Enough To Bend" (Tanya Tucker) and "This Kiss" (Faith Hill). Morrison is the tunesmith behind "Lookin' For Love" (Johnny Lee), "Whiskey, If You Were A Woman" (Highway 101) and "You Decorated My Life" (Kenny Rogers). Van Zandt songs included "If I Needed You," "Pancho And Lefty" and "To Live Is To Fly."
Van Zandt was widely regarded as one of the most influential Texas songwriters of his generation. Born in Ft. Worth, Texas, to an oil-rich family, Van Zandt rejected a life of privilege to begin his folk-singing career in Houston in 1965. In 1968, he was discovered by Mickey Newbury, who brought him to Nashville. Throughout the next quarter century Van Zant would live, write and record in Music City, creating favorites such as "For The Sake Of The Song," "Waiting 'Round To Die," "To Live Is To Fly," "No Place To Fall," "Rex's Blues," "St. John The Gambler," "Tecumseh Valley" and "White Freight Liner Blues." While not so well known for his own recording career, his songs were covered by more commercially successful artists. That included "If I Needed You" by Emmylou Harris and Don Williams and "Pancho And Lefty" by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. Van Zandt died Jan. 1, 1997, at age 52, after struggling with alcoholism throughout his career.
Morrison, a Biloxi, MIss. native, began writing songs while in college and performing in clubs up and down the east coast, which led to a record deal with Columbia Records in New York. In 1973, he moved to Nashville, where he signed with Combine Music and soon began getting cuts. In 1980, Morrison won a Best Country Song Grammy for "You Decorated My Life" by Kenny Rogers. The film "Urban Cowboy" featured two of Morrison's songs: "Lookin' For Love" by Johnny Lee and "Love The World Away" by Rogers. He also wrote "You're The One" by The Oak Ridge Boys, "The Love She Found In Me" by Gary Morris, "Don't Call Him A Cowboy" by Conway Twitty, "Are You On The Road To Loving Me Again" by Debby Boone, "Shine On (Shine All Your Sweet Love On Me)" by George Jones, "Whiskey, If You Were A Woman" by Highway 101 and "Tonight The Heartache's On Me" by The Dixie Chicks.
Barker spent the better part of two decades in a band that performed at military bases and public events across the U.S. During long bus rides, he wrote songs. His first attempt, "Baby Blue," was recorded by George Strait and topped the country chart. He soon began performing his original material in small clubs and cafes. One night after a long father-son talk, he wrote "Love Without End, Amen." Strait took it to the top of the charts. Strait also sang Barker's "Easy Come, Easy Go," "I'd Like To Have That One Back," "I Know She Still Loves Me" and "I Can Still Make Cheyenne." Hits with other artists include "Not Enough Hours In The Night" by Doug Supernaw, "Watch This" and "You're Beginning To Get To Me" by Clay Walker and "What About Now" by Lonestar.
Chapman, a Texas-born Air Force brat, began performing as a teenager in Montgomery, Ala. She signed her first song contract in 1979, then recorded her debut solo LP in 1980. After she moved to Nashville in 1985, she worked as a session singer while Bonnie Raitt, Neil Diamond, Michael McDonald and Bette Midler, Pam Tillis, Crystal Gayle, Kathy Mattea and Emmylou Harris cut her songs. Songs include "Ain't Necessarily So" and "Nothing I Can Do About It Now" by Willie Nelson, "Down On My Knees" by Trisha Yearwood, "Five Minutes" by Lorrie Morgan, "Happy Girl" by Martina McBride, "Here We Are" by Alabama, "Maybe That's All It Takes" by Don Williams, "Simple Things" by Jim Brickman and Rebecca Lynn Howard and "Strong Enough To Bend" by Tanya Tucker. "This Kiss" by Faith Hill won 1999 Song of the Year with both ASCAP and the CMA.