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The Credit Continuum Approach disrupts traditional practices and transcends silo organizations to deliver bespoke solutions with risk-adjusted yield targets.
Pascal BLANQUÉ, Global CIO of Amundi
Credit Continuum Definition
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The Credit Continuum Approach disrupts traditional practices and transcends silo organizations to deliver bespoke solutions with risk-adjusted yield targets.
Pascal BLANQUÉ, Global CIO of Amundi
Credit Continuum Definition
The Credit Continuum solution, while being a Buy & Watch1 solution, offers a high flexibility in terms of calibration of the key investment parameters and set of market segments.
We have been living for the past few years under an unprecedented regime of unconventional monetary policies. Abundant liquidity poured into developed economies has had a number of consequences on financial markets: very low and sometimes negative interest rates, inflation of asset prices under the pressure of investors starving for returns. The hunt for yield has pushed Bond prices upwards, probably translated into much more concentrated portfolios in some market segments, possibly leading to misallocation here and there.
What followed was a persistent decline in volatility and higher correlations across asset classes. By itself, this market regime is not enough to call for a turnaround anytime soon. However, we can argue that a long period of time with low volatility and high correlations could amplify market drawdowns.
Of course, nobody likes drawdowns. This is especially true when it comes to Fixed Income markets where there is no "risk-free" asset anymore and where a few basis points hike in rates could cancel out a full year of income.
Now that ultra-accommodative monetary policies have probably been having their days, especially amidst the current resynchronized economic cycle, market begs the questions:
In this context, we believe that Credit Continuum is an immediately applicable solution to address the next cycle. The Credit Continuum solution enables investors to make the most of the whole Credit spectrum including: Investment Grade, High Yield Bond investment and Private Debt. In addition, the Credit approach illustrates how we can adapt our portfolios to the current stage of the market cycle.
Wide Investment Universe
This is less about diversification - a commodity that tends to become scarce when volatility increasesthan about allocating across a wider spectrum of market segments. The inclusion of Private Debt securities allows adding names that are not available in the Listed Bond market. Finally, this multisegment allocation strategy offers higher flexibility and reduces concentration.
Flexible Allocation
In the current low volatility regime, several market segments behave in similar ways. For instance, from a risk-return perspective, nothing looks more like a Corporate Bond than another Corporate Bond irrespective of its geography or sector. Consequently, there is little to expect from a traditional bottomup approach. Conversely, there is much more to expect from the investors' ability to reallocate across segments, geographies… This implies to be able to acknowledge the market regime and to adapt the investment process towards a top-down approach that translates macro-economic scenarios, fundamentals, technicals and valuations into strategic and tactical allocations. Favoring flexibility at the expense of traditional investment style helps to adapt to these different phases. The Credit Continuum solution, while being a Buy & Watch1 solution, offers a high flexibility in terms of calibration of the key investment parameters and set of market segments.
Eric BRARD,
Our longstanding experience in Credit markets taught us that performance comes from Credit selection capabilities and momentum execution. Issuers' solvency and debt structure are of course key elements but are not sufficient. Market pricing drives the realized performance.
How to build a Credit Continuum portfolio and make the right asset allocation choices
The only common feature of this Continuum of asset classes, from Investment Grade to High Yield, secured assets to Private Debt, is Credit. In order to take full advantage of a Credit Continuum strategy and to make the right calls in terms of asset allocation, an asset manager will have to pay attention to each step of the process, from the client's risk/return profile definition to the portfolio construction and active investment.
In addition to traditional Credit analysis, mixing fundamental and quantitative research to assess the strength of each Credit instrument, we are convinced that the focus on market pricing is essential to deliver return in the portfolio. The constant analysis and follow-up of liquidity features is another prerequisite to bring real value to investors.
Market Pricing is a key driver of performance in a Credit Continuum strategy
Our longstanding experience in Credit markets taught us that performance comes from Credit selection capabilities and momentum execution. Issuers' solvency and debt structure are of course key elements but are not sufficient. Market pricing drives the realized performance.
For instance, financing an LBO structure does not only depend on Credit metrics and Debt characteristics. The Credit premium offered to investors, relative to market benchmarks, is the driving force of excess return for an active asset manager investing in the broadest range of debt types issued by a company. Pricing assessment must be carried out across a broadened universe: a senior secured loan can offer more value than a senior unsecured High Yield Bond issued by the same corporate thanks to a well-structured loan with protective covenants. Conversely, using a dynamic perspective, a benchmarked High Yield Bond from a weaker issuer could be a better investment: the idea being to divest the Bond as soon as the spread, benefiting from good market technicalities and supporting
The permanent monitoring of liquidity features highly contributes to the quality of asset allocation
This generic example shows that building performing Credit portfolios mixing public and Private Debt over time, requires numerous axes to make sound investment decisions. A Credit Continuum portfolio is first and foremost a Credit portfolio. Picking the optimal instrument and best allocating it across the wide-ranging available submarkets requires also permanent monitoring of the constantly evolving liquidity of each segment.
The specific Credit factors regroup the traditional fundamental metrics we can infer from a Credit research work and some quant indicators which estimate the sensitivity to market evolution and quantify the credit risk profile of an instrument.
Among the liquidity features, we must distinguish the elements which flag the existence of potential secondary liquidity and the way to value the cost of liquidity. Some illiquid products can become liquid if the investor accepts a significant haircut. The portfolio manager's ability to track this market
The ex-ante definition of investors' risk/return profiles is essential to build bespoke solutions, adapted to different investment horizons and liquidity constraints
To build the portfolio, the first step is to define the investor's risk/return profile, which in turn will define the investment universe of the portfolio. Establishing a cross-over profile will put aside the major part of the subordinated LBO debt; targeting a 4% to 6% return in Euro will make any purchase in the investment grade world very rare.
So a Credit Continuum solution must be defined precisely on an ex-ante basis with the final investors. First, the tolerance for illiquidity is a key characteristic: we can sum it up by a target proportion of the portfolio in Private Debt, which can be marginal near 10%, or which can be the main goal of the product by reaching up to 100% at the end of the investment period.
The length of the investment period is also important before entering an amortizing period. The longer it is the more active the portfolio can be. The investment manager can be focused on very rare and opportunistic transactions if he gets years to substitute Private Loans to conventional Listed Bonds. If he has a short time period, he will be more concentrated on classic deals such as large cap LBOs with potential secondary offers.
Jean-Marie DUMAS,
Should European High Yield Bonds continue to add value in a Credit Continuum strategy after such a strong performance? The answer is
European High Yield Bonds: taking advantage of their diversification and yield pick-up potential
The purpose of the Credit Continuum strategy is to make the most of Credit opportunities. European High Yield, which consists of Corporate Bonds at the lower end of the rating spectrum, is among the most attractive asset classes within the Credit universe.
High Yield in general has an atypical profile compared to other Fixed Income products due to its relatively high spread component, compensating investors for a higher credit risk. Over a long term period, High Yield exhibits a negative correlation to interest rates as well as a positive correlation to Equities. Therefore, investing into High Yield brings significant diversification to a Fixed Income portfolio.
European High Yield specifically offers a compelling risk/return profile. Over the past 10 years, except for 2008 and 2011, its total return/excess return performance has always been positive, at least driven by carry. At the same time, its volatility has been much lower than Equities for comparable or higher returns.
Both diversification qualities and an attractive risk/return profile have made Credit investors' allocation into European HY more structural over the past years. The significant growth of the asset class, from less than €50bn in 2008 to around €350bn now, and the increasing proportion of BB grades (i.e. 2/3 of the market, including Fallen Angels), have given investors more comfort, improved market diversification and above all, liquidity.
With an annualized average return of +7.6% over the past 5 years, the European High Yield market has also undoubtedly benefitted from cyclical factors, including the Eurozone macroeconomic recovery and a low rate environment driven by Central Banks actions. Though not eligible to the ECB's CSPP2, European High Yield has indirectly benefited from it with Investment Grade investors going down the rating spectrum.
Should European High Yield Bonds continue to add value to a Credit Continuum strategy after such a strong performance? The answer is clearly positive as this market segment will continue to be supported by a moderate but improving growth, strong High Yield companies' fundamentals (lower leverage, higher interest coverage, low refinancing needs, below average default rate expectations) and positive technicals as search for yield should continue in a low rate environment.
Accommodative monetary policies have reached their limits, at least within the current economic cycle. The consequences of the expected more restrictive Central Banks' policies will be a rerating of financial assets, part of which was due to very low interest rates. For the Euro zone, this does not translate into much higher spreads but this will surely put a brake on a further tightening of them. Carry more than capital gains will therefore be the drivers of performance for premium assets, notably European High Yield. In this context, Credit selection is key to avoid landmines.
Marina COHEN,
Private Debt offers investors an excellent way to diversify their Fixed Income exposure, allowing them to mitigate both duration and credit risk, which is particularly relevant in the current financial market environment.
Private Debt: providing access to senior debt holdings and capturing extra-return from additional risk premia
Private Debt is a singular asset class, with a dual DNA. While it owns similar characteristics to standard Credit Bonds, such as the search for regular income and capital preservation3, it also shares common features with private transactions markets, in particular a high level of decorrelation, as well as an access to asset classes with high barriers to entry and attractive risk premia to capture. In a Credit Continuum strategy, we progressively increase the share of Private Debt holdings until reaching the full ramp-up stage of the portfolio, as we believe Private Debt is a key driver of diversification and excess return for investors. Liquidity is one of the main parameters of the risk/return profile of the solution: it is adjusted according to the needs of the clients. The lower the liquidity of the securities, the higher the expected return to compensate.
Private Debt offers investors an excellent way to diversify their Fixed Income exposure, allowing them to mitigate both duration and credit risks, which is particularly relevant in the current financial market environment. In a context of low to negative returns, modified durations of traditional Fixed Income instruments are getting higher and higher. Private Debt, through the use of floating-rate loans, provides a hedge against this increasing duration risk. In addition, by using Private Debt instruments, investors gain access to highly senior debt, with a better recovery rate in case of default. The credit risk is also mitigated by the existence of several protection mechanisms, like collateral packages and negotiated covenants.
Senior Secured Loans (SSLs) illustrate very well how Private Debt instruments may be used as a way to mitigate both interest rate and credit risks. SSLs are characterized by an ultra-short duration via the use of floating-rate notes, with average interest rate reset periods of 45 to 60 days4. They also benefit from a comprehensive set of credit risk mitigation measures, from legal documentation to post-investment monitoring, enabling SSL's holders to be ranked first in the repayment list, should any default occurs.
Not only does Private Debt enable investors to reduce their exposure to major market risks thanks to its diversification properties, but it also represents an attractive asset class in terms of performance, by capturing extra return that lies in a number of additional risk premia, coming for example from a relative illiquidity and complexity of transactions. We estimate this gross extra return, which might be partly mitigated by costs inherent to stringent legal package and guarantees, to average between 75 bps and 100 bps5, compared to traditional Fixed Income returns.
In order to fully leverage on the potential of the asset class in a Credit continuum strategy, we have identified five key success factors to combine: large sourcing capability, in-depth Credit analysis, thorough transaction structuring, qualitative asset allocation, and active portfolio management. In the Private Debt sector, nothing can start without having an excellent sourcing network, in order to maintain a discriminant hit ratio (1/20) and capture the best deals. During the due diligence phase, we believe it is essential to have an unparalleled access to information and management for the Credit analysis. In order to properly identify the transaction embedded risks, the ability to structure the legal documentation is also key, as it will determine our future ability to steer the relationship with the counterparty in case of Credit deterioration. When allocating between the different private markets, the main performance driver will lie in our capacity to detect the relative value among them and to identify the best risk premia to capture. Last but not least, a Private Debt strategy cannot bring value in the long term without a permanent quality assessment and an active monitoring of the constructed portfolio.
Thierry VALLIERE,
While permanently adapting to the new "yield seeking" paradigm, investors have explored the Fixed Income landscape to push the old boundaries.
Credit Continuum strategy is a new way to look at the Fixed Income universe, without any boundaries related to the features of financial instruments.
"From constraint comes innovation"
While investors are more used to navigate market cycles, peak and valley or mean-reverting trends, the everlasting low rate environment forces asset-owners to broadly reconsider their investment approach. In the past, profound changes of investment behavior were rather triggered by disruptive events, should they take the form of a market crisis or a new regulation set-up. Today, investors are challenged by an environment whose time horizon is unknown: while it used to be seen as purely temporary, it now seems to be endless…until the next tipping point.
It appears difficult in such a slow-moving and long abnormal regime to act for structural changes, should it be in the investment policy, strategic allocation, investment universe or risk budgeting. But investors have proven their capability to adapt. With different timing and degree of intervention, they have explored new territories within the Fixed Income space in order to further diversify their debt exposure and access new sources of yield.
"From innovation comes new thinking"
While permanently adapting to the new "yield seeking" paradigm, investors have explored the Fixed Income landscape to push the old boundaries. Supported by a financial market in continuous evolution, the "illiquid" or "real-assets" world has significantly grown and been enriched, in particular with debt financing instruments. The limits of the liquid debt universe have been reached and overcome, creating new bridges between the "liquid" and the "illiquid" worlds for a far broader range of investors; the ones able to accept a certain level of illiquidity.
The destruction of this "illiquidity" wall has enabled asset-owners, more widely, to consider new asset classes like Private Debt, Corporate or Commercial Loans, etc. It has also triggered a new thinking regarding debt investment. Putting the liquidity nature of the asset in the background implies a focus shift to the underlying risk factor, should it be a corporate or financial risk, or a risk linked to real-assets projects.
Fixed Income landscape is now considered as a Continuum across the full spectrum of liquidity. But with this fallen wall and resulting enlarged horizon, come new questions and challenges. How to integrate the "illiquid" asset classes in the traditional "liquid" investment decision process? How to assess the relative value position of an opportunity within the Continuum? How should the overall portfolio blending these two natures of liquidity be constructed, monitored, and analyzed in terms of risks? How can the long-term feature of "illiquid" assets be integrated into portfolios for which the long-term risk is not even defined in the risk budgeting framework?
"From new thinking come new tools"
Exploration of new territories comes then with the development of new tools and methodologies, as they are the only means to transform theory into practice. Put in light of the historical time window of financial markets, Credit Continuum strategy is only at its beginning, but already highlights the key pillars to achieve the expected overall outcome:
–Large coverage of expertise: Fixed Income platform going from IG Bonds to Private Debt
"From new tools comes the outcome"
Credit Continuum strategy is a new way to look at the Fixed Income universe, without any boundaries related to the features of financial instruments. This new type of investment solution is focusing on the outcome rather than the mean. It allows harvesting the yields where they are, capturing the opportunities when they come, managing the inflows and outflows while coupons are paid or committed assets for illiquid investments are required. The permanent relative value positioning of investment opportunities, coupled with specific investors' objectives and constraints, appears today as the new way to unlock yields.
Elodie LAUGEL,
1. Buy and Watch is a semi-active investment strategy in which a fund buys Bonds and holds them until maturity, regardless of fluctuations in the market. Unlike Buy & Hold strategy, a Buy & Watch allows more flexibility as the portfolio manager could take preventive action when needed and do some arbitrages if Credit quality deteriorates.
2. CSPP: Corporate Sector Purchase Programme
3. There is no guarantee from Amundi on capital preservation
4. Source: Credit Suisse. Data as at 31 December 2016.


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WWE Challenges Glenn Beck: Come to Raw!by Hilton Hater at . Updated at .
Ding! Ding! Will Glenn Beck soon appear in the WWE squared circle?
On his TheBlaze TV show Thursday, the conservative commentator slammed the wrestling organization due to its portrayal of Zeb Colter, an overly patriotic grappler who Beck feels is "demonizing" the Tea Party.
"You're making a villain out of what?" Beck asked, adding that the company is alienating its fans: "Probably 80% of your audience who's tired as it is of being miscast? They're tired of this."
Beck went on to wonder: Has Vince McMahon been influenced by liberal billionaire George Soros?
"Did George Soros buy the WWE? I expect that from Hollywood, but I don't expect - if I'm getting my entertainment from somebody that I think is on my side - and I'm sorry. I just don't see a bunch of progressives going and buying their tickets to the WWE. Do you?"
In response to his rant, WWE executives have invite Beck to appear on Monday Night Raw, saying in a statement:
"WWE is giving Beck the opportunity to address our 14 million weekly viewers and our global fan base, as he believes we are offending our 'conservative' fans with this storyline."
Should Beck accept the offer?

subset: commoncrawl


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Humane societies rely on the generosity of donors and volunteers to help fund operations and care for animals until they can be adopted. A humane society's website is their most important marketing tool because it is often the first place people will look to adopt a pet, inquire about volunteer or foster opportunities, register for upcoming events or donate to their cause.
Humane societies require specific functionality from their content management system (CMS) to support these interactions on their website.
Through our extensive experience working with animal welfare organizations across North America, Morweb has devised the following best practices for designing an industry-leading humane society website:
If you are a humane society that is just starting out or you are a mature organization looking to redesign your site, read on to discover the best design practices for a humane society website.
Your visual identity encompasses everything from your branding, your cause, and the people that make up your organization. Humane societies understand that having an animal-centric website design is essential for connecting their cause with current and potential supporters.
A powerful visual identity will not only create a connection with your audience but also incite them to take action whether that's donating to your cause, volunteering, fostering, signing up for your newsletter or following your social media accounts.
When a new user goes to a humane society website, the first thing they expect to see is the adoptable animals. A great way to capture their attention on the homepage is through image banners. Rotating image sliders can be used to show adoptable animals, happy volunteers, the facility, and any featured promotions or upcoming events. You can further encourage action by linking these images to the corresponding pages on your site such as your donation form, volunteer sign-up or events page.
Best designed humane society websites will include strategic call-to-actions (CTAs) throughout their website inviting visitors to take a particular action. CTAs can take the form of headlines, buttons or featured images. One of the most important CTAs for humane society websites is the call to donate.
The donation page should be apparent and accessible from every web page across the entire website. The best way to ensure it is always accessible is to include a 'Donate' button in your main navigation menu.
Morweb's nonprofit CMS offers built-in functionality to effectively communicate your visual identity. We have strategically designed website themes specifically for animal-related causes.
Not only do these themes make it easy to incorporate your organization's logo and brand colors but they also include visual elements like image sliders and bright CTA buttons. Each nonprofit website theme comes with featured CTAs in the navigation menu and easily editable banner images.
When it comes to humane society web design, the animal listings page must be a top priority. A Bestfriends.org study found that the ability to search a database of pets for adoption and the ease of which users can find information is important for improving animal adoption rates.
Adoptable animals must be featured in a way that is intuitive, visually appealing, and informative to maximize their chances of finding a forever home. Powerful search and filtering is key to helping adopters find the information they need, quickly.
Best designed humane society websites will offer filtering options to search for pets by specific criteria. Some will also include icons in the pet bios to indicate whether an animal is compatible with cats, dogs, or children which can be a deciding factor for many families.
As a leader in humane society web design, Morweb's website platform offers an animal listings module with advanced search and filtering. Potential adopters can search through animal listings by custom criteria and click to view a full description of the animal. We also offer custom icon design which can be used in pet bios or featured on the homepage.
For humane societies who rely on Petfinder for their animal listings, Morweb offers API integration. Petfinder is an online database of homeless pets and pet adoption organizations. Potential adopters can search through their database, filtering by location and animal species to find their next pet pal.
Morweb's API integration allows humane societies to pull pet bios from their Petfinder account to feature on their website's animal listings page. For organization admins, this means only having to update information once because any changes made through Petfinder will automatically reflect on their website.
Among the top barriers to adoption for animal shelters and rescues is the amount of paperwork that leads to a lengthy adoption process.
Streamlining the adoption process through your website will help remove these barriers and get more animals into happy homes.
Morweb helps make the online application process as painless as possible with built-in forms. Instead of being redirected to a third-party site or having to print and scan pages, potential adopters can jump right to the adoption application once they have selected a pet. Adopters can fill out the form directly on the humane society's website and upload any supporting documents.
By housing all of the application paperwork online in a secure platform, humane societies are able to review applications faster thereby expediting the adoption process and getting animals into their forever homes faster.
Volunteers and fosters provide essential support for humane societies by caring for animals until they are adopted. Often the first place people will look to learn about opportunities for support is the organization's website.
Top humane societies know how to make use of their website as a volunteer recruitment tool. By offering online registration forms, supporters can sign-up through their website making the registration process as painless as possible.
Morweb forms were designed for maximum flexibility and customization. By having the forms built-in to the website platform, visitors can easily submit their information online without being directed to a third-party website. Morweb forms also support document uploads so potential volunteers and fosters can submit documents such as references along with their application.
By managing all documents through their website, humane societies can review applications faster and keep more accurate records of their volunteers. Website administrators can export volunteer information as a CSV at any time making reporting a breeze.
As with many nonprofits, online donations are often a top priority for humane societies. Donations are required to help locate and bring in homeless animals, feed and care for animals, and keep facilities in operation.
In order to maximize contributions, the online donation process must be as smooth and simple as possible.
Research has shown that self-hosted donation pages bring in more donations than those hosted on a third-party site. Accepting donations directly on your website helps maintain trust and gives the donor an overall better user experience. When users are directed away from your website to a third-party donation page, they may become confused and abandon their donation entirely. By keeping donors on your website, they are not only more likely to complete a transaction, but they are also more likely to consume more of your content.
Best designed humane society websites offer multiple options for giving such as animal sponsorships, monthly recurring, or one-time donations. Animal sponsorships should be offered in the pet bio, allowing donors to see who their contributions will be benefiting.
Morweb offers integrations with various payment processors to accept on-page donations. Our online donation forms support multiple ways to give including pet sponsorships, monthly recurring gifts or one-off donations. Each nonprofit website theme comes with call-to-action buttons like 'Donate' and 'Volunteer' that are highlighted in the navigation menu for maximum visibility. Homepage image sliders and featured donation callouts can be used to further call attention to your donation page.
Events are a great way to get the community involved in your organization's cause. Particularly for humane societies which are typically locally based, events are important for fundraising and community engagement. Many nonprofits rely on third-party sites such as Eventbrite to manage event registrations.
However, much like your donation page, accepting payment directly through your website helps maintain trust with your users and increases the chance of a completed transaction.
29% of donors say social media is the communication tool that most inspires giving. Social media is so powerful because it allows organizations to connect organically with their audience and rally more support for their cause.
Humane societies will often use social media to post photos of adoptable animals, share happy adoption stories or to appeal to the community for donations or help with their initiatives. There is a strong sense of pride associated with adopting a pet from an animal shelter which is reflected in popular hashtags like #adoptdontshop #rescueog and #adoptapet.
Most humane societies will include links to their social media accounts on their website. However, best designed humane society websites take it a step further by showing live feeds from Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter on their homepage. Live feeds help drive more traffic to your social media accounts and encourage engagement by increasing the visibility of your posts.
For humane societies who want to accept registrations or sell event tickets directly through their website, Morweb offers an events management module. This feature allows organizations to manage all aspects of event ticketing such as price, coupons, capacity and more. Event listings are generated on the events page by date allowing visitors to click to see more details or to register. Additionally, upcoming events can be featured on the homepage to further encourage participation.
Social media integration is offered as a standard feature with the Morweb platform. Organizations have the flexibility to add follow and share buttons or embed live social media feeds on their website.
A humane society's website is its most important marketing tool because it is often their primary method of communication. It acts as a bridge to share information and connect their cause with the broader community.
Best designed humane society websites incite visitors to want to take an action (such as adopting, volunteering or donating), and make taking that action as simple as possible. Website functionality that enables visitors to complete an action directly through the website increases the chances of a completed action.
Best designed humane society websites have a powerful visual identity and built-in functionality to display pet listings or integrate with larger databases like Petfinder.
Websites that offer self-hosted forms like pet adoption applications and volunteer or foster registration reduce barriers to adoption by streamlining the application process. Events management capabilities and social media integration further encourage engagement with your cause.
Humane society websites that are designed using these best practices equip website visitors with the right tools to take action and share your content with their personal networks.
Categories: Website Design Online Presence


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| 6.7°C Dublin

Depfa, the IFSC-based bank bailed out by German taxpayers, is seeking to force some of its losses on subordinated bondholders – just as happened at failed banks here

The bailed-out bank is hoping to write off around 70pc of €1.2bn in subordinated debts owed by the bank to bondholders, by buying back the debt at a steep discount.
The discounted buyback is a cost-saving technique that was used extensively here to shave billions off the costs to the State of rescuing Anglo Irish Bank, AIB, Bank of Ireland and other Irish lenders.
Like the Irish banks, Depfa and its parent bank Hypo Real Estate had to be bailed out and nationalised when the banks failed in the face of the global financial crisis.
In Depfa's case, German taxpayers have been on the hook for over €100bn, thanks to the collapse.
The latest deals are an attempt to spread some of the rescue costs back on the lenders.
The Depfa debt buyback is less aggressive than the "coercive" transactions undertaken by the Irish banks.
Those Irish deals were structured so that any investors who refused to sell back their bonds at prices of around 20pc of their face value risked being hit with even bigger losses.
Depfa is offering 29 cent in the euro to its bondholders or 30 cent in the euro if the holders sign up for the deal early.
The softer terms are likely to have been influenced by a recent legal action against Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), formerly Anglo Irish Bank. The High Court in England has ruled that its bond deal was overly aggressive, and therefore illegal.
The case is being appealed, but if IBRC loses Irish banks could face massive compensation bills.
Details of the Depfa buyback were posted on the Irish stock exchange this week, where bonds issued by the bank are registered and traded.
It's a reminder that taxpayers here might have been hit with some or even all of the costs associated with Depfa's collapse. The bank was classified as Irish from 2002 until 2007.
Depfa specialised in lending to governments and local authorities.
It had become an "Irish" bank after transferring its headquarters from Germany to the IFSC in 2002.
It was this country's biggest bank until 2008, when it returned to German control after being taken over by Munich-based Hypo Real Estate in a €5bn deal.
Irish Independent


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Strongback, Steel, for Single Bolt Manhole
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This past Memorial Day, J and I took a walk (and took lots of pictures) at Newton Cemetery, as we often do. Cemeteries are lovely places to walk, and Memorial Day is as good a day as any to visit your deceased neighbors.
While J and I were respectfully examining some of the stones in one of the sections devoted to military graves, we struck up a random conversation with a man and woman who were trimming the grass around the marker of a man they referred to as Uncle Fred. Uncle Fred, they explained, was an MIT graduate who served as a Navy fighter pilot because he loved fast cars and wanted a job that satisfied his thrill-seeking nature. Although he quickly rose in the ranks and had the opportunity to train other pilots, he preferred flying combat missions. Uncle Fred's military career was cut short when he was killed in an accident while landing his plane on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific in 1944. He was 27 years old.
Uncle Fred, it turns out, grew up in a house just a few blocks from ours, living the length of his too-short life a generation or two before J and I were born. Due to the contingencies of time, in other words, Uncle Fred is a would-be neighbor whom we never had the chance to know. As we continued talking with the man and woman who were tidying Uncle Fred's grave, J and I realized that they'd never had the chance to meet him, either. The woman had married into the family after Fred, her husband's brother, had died, and the man, her son, was born years later. "I'm almost glad I wasn't a member of the family then," the woman confided. "I don't think I could have handled that kind of loss."
I remembered this random conversation with two strangers about their Uncle Fred because it says so much about the power of memory. Neither this woman nor her son had met "Uncle Fred"; they'd simply heard the oft-repeated stories about him. And each Memorial Day, they kept these familial stories alive by visiting the cemetery where Uncle Fred and other family members are buried, bringing kitchen shears and garden tools to trim the grass around their graves.
Memorial Day is a holiday set aside to remember fallen soldiers, and November has its own share of remembrance days: All Souls' and All Saints' Days to remember the dead, and Veterans Day to honor living veterans and active servicemen and -women. Although a lot of folks dislike Veterans Day because of its association with war, in my mind today isn't about anything so abstract.
Veterans Day isn't a holiday to advocate war or support the troops in an abstract sense; instead, it's a day set aside for thanking the real-life men and women–our neighbors, relatives, friends, and friends of friends–who have served or currently are serving in the military. As Algernon noted recently, "[p]eople join the military for lots of reasons": some are in the military because they support and want to serve in a particular war, others enlist because they're looking for adventure, and others join the military because they see it as their best chance of getting an education and starting a career. Each and every "Fred," in other words, has a story all his or her own, and today is the day we remember those stories with gratitude. Veterans Day is an annual opportunity not only to remember but also to thank our own "Uncle Freds."


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The purpose o this paper is to trace the development of the military involvement in Sudanese politics and make some suggestions towards the general assessment of its nature and consequences.
In many African countries where civil war raged not so long ago, former warlords are today running for office in elections. This policy note assesses the effect that these warlord democrats have on democratisation and security.
A number of recent studies have expressed optimism about the constant decrease in armed conflicts around the world. The prognosis for Africa does not reflect the same optimism. Poverty reduction, transparent and accountable governance and citizen satisfaction with the delivery of public goods and service have shown no sign of significant improvement. In this lecture, Victor Adetula examines the performance of Africa's regional organisations in ensuring peace and security on the continent. In doing this, he draws attention to the need for national and regional actors to pay attention to good governance and development as part of their efforts to operate effective collective security systems and conflict resolution mechanisms without ignoring the essence of the global context.
With the coup d'etat of 24 December 1999 and the politico-military conflict that started on 19 September 2002, Côte d'Ivoire broke with its tradition of political stability, which had served as a model in the West African sub-region. It is now facing an unprecedented crisis that is not only jeopardising the continuity of the state, but has also introduced a culture of violence into the society.This study has three objectives. The primary one is to understand the nature of this socio-political crisis, and what is at stake in it. Secondly, the study examines the issue of ivoirité. Finally, it explores the escalation of violence in this socio-political crisis and the catalogue of justifications for that violence.It is argued that the recurrence of military coups d'etat in Côte d'Ivoire signifies the delegitimisation of the modes of regulation built on the tontine system, and calls for a renewal of the political grammar and socio-political regulatory modalities around integrating principles that have yet to be devised.
CHAPTER 1. The Three Parameters of the Houphouët Boigny Compromise
Deliberate and centralised openness policy to the outside world
Philosophy of the "peanut roasters"
Paternalistic management of social diversity
CHAPTER 2. Houphouetism Shows Signs of Wear and Tear under Democratisation
Confronting the issues: the political class and the criteria for political representation and legitimacy
"Ivoirité" under Bédié, or the selective function of an ideology
General Gueï's variable-geometry Houphouetism
The RDR, or Houphouetism the wrong way round
The FPI, or the theoretical expression radical schism Immigration and its politicisation
CHAPTER 3. The Problematic of "Ivoirité" and the Meaning of History in Côte d'Ivoire
The social and political construction of "Ivoirité"
Ideological justification
Political justification
Economic justification
The constitution and ethno-nationalism
Military coups d'état as therapy for "Ivoirité"?
CHAPTER 4. The Course of History, or the Need for the Invention of Another Social Contract
Alassane Dramane Ouattarra (ADO): symbol of the reality underlying the question of being a national
An alternative to "slice" citizenship
In light of a recent UN Security Council resolution on the Lake Chad region, this policy note identifies major challenges that need to be addressed to create conditions for actors in the region to build a lasting peace. The issues include demobilising local vigilantes and resolving land-related conflicts.
Constitutionally Ethiopia is a federal democratic state although in practice it is dominated by one political coalition. The opposition parties claim they have no chance of challenging the incumbent. The rural majority, as ever, feel controlled from above, unable to influence political decisions. Observers describe elections as manipulated and non-representative of the will of the people for whom the word "democracy" frequently appears to be synonymous with domination and coercion. Democracy is a concept reflecting European philosophies, struggles and concerns. Many Ethiopian ethnic groups have traditions which may offer more satisfactory and culturally acceptable foundations for a "sovereignty of the people" through time-honoured ways of voicing political ideas, ironic observations and vital interests. In line with modern urban life Ethiopians also organise and express their interests in non-governmental organisations, the independent press and advocacy groups representing political and social alternatives. The contributors to this book analyse the democratic potential of these movements and practices, their ability to give a voice to the view from below and their potential contribution to a more genuine participation by the majority of Ethiopians in democratic decision making and bringing the sovereignty of the people a step closer to reality.
Policing is crucial to how Africans experience the freedoms of democracy and determines to a large degree the levels of economic investment they will enjoy. Yet it is a neglected area of study. Based on field research, this book reveals the surprising variety of people involved in policing besides the state police. Indeed many Africans are faced with a wide choice of public and private, legal and illegal, effective and ineffective policing. Policing in Africa is very much more than what the police do. It concerns the activities of business interests, residential communities, cultural groups, criminal organisations, local political figures and governments. How people negotiate this 'multi-choice' of policing options, and the implications of this for government and donor security policy, is the subject of this book It covers policing in all its forms in Sub-Saharan Africa, including two case studies of Uganda and Sierra Leone.
Small towns have often been considered as unimportant and have been largely ignored by policy-makers and researchers. Instead, attention was focussed on the large city or on rural development and agricultural change without consideration of the positive contribution that small towns can make to rural transformation. But for the rural majority of Africa's population it is the small town with which they have the most intense contacts. Case studies are presented from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The United Ghana Farmers' Council was the farmers' wing of the Convention People's Party, which, led by Kwame Nkrumah, gained independence for Ghana in 1957. The Farmers' Council was dissolved and banned in 1966, together with other CPP organisations, after a military coup had overthrown the Nkrumah government. This book is primarly about the Farmers' Council and its functions in the political and economic system established by the CPP.
The Global South is generally understood to refer to less economically developed countries. It is a broad term that comprises a variety of states with diverse levels of economic, cultural, and political influence in the international order. Although International Relations is an interdisciplinary field of study, it has historically been studied from a very Eurocentric perspective that does not always help us to understand developments occurring in the Global South. Understanding Global South perspectives starts with a discussion of the Western-centric focus of mainstream IR theories. It also recognises the challenges facing scholars from the Global South that might help to explain why Global South perspectives are largely absent from mainstream debates. The ultimate goal is to broaden the field of view within IR theory to incorporate a more just and representative understanding of international relations.The main weakness of mainstream Western IR theories is that they are not universally experienced as mainstream. The concepts they are based on do not unequivocally reflect or match the reality in many Global South states. Furthermore, certain questions that are central to Global South perspectives are absent or under-theorised in mainstream scholarship. Tickner (2016, 1) for example points out that issues of race and empire have been missing from mainstream theories despite the existence of solid scholarship in postcolonial and poststructuralist studies. Curiously, she adds, colonial dominations profoundly shaped the state of the current global order, yet they are not even remotely central to mainstream IR. Today, there is a growing body of scholarship that pays attention to the context of international relations theories in Africa, Asia and Latin America and to the diverse interpretations within these vast regions. Much of this scholarship has been produced under the umbrella term of 'global IR'.
In June, Al-Bashir, Sudan's leader since 1989, was sworn in for another five years as president. Few if any experts had expected any other outcome of the 2015 election. But will the 71 year old ex-military leader, who is accused by the ICC of war crimes in Darfur, continue his initiatives for national dialogue and overcome the country's major economic and security hurdles?
This paper seeks to examine the post-liberation state building endeavour in South Sudan. Two civil wars stretching over more than five decades in quest for self-determination resulted in the secession of South Sudan. A negotiated settlement formalised in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed between the ruling National Congress Party and Sudan people's Liberation Movement in 2005 offered South Sudan the possibility to determine it destiny through popular plebiscite. When the plebiscite took place in January 2011, south Sudanese voted overwhelmingly for secession. On 9 July 2011 South Sudan was declared sovereign state that paved the way for the arduous process of state building. The nascent state was however born into serious problems. This article seeks to analyse the problems and enablement the nascent state encounters.
This book examines the Ethiopia–Eritrea rapprochement and asks whether it might lead to peace and stability in the Horn of Africa. The Algiers Agreement (2000) that was mediated by the international community – the UN, OAU, EU and USA (the same parties that also served as witnesses and guarantors) – was supposed to be final and binding. But when the Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) published its verdict, Ethiopia rejected it on the grounds that it awarded Badme, the flashpoint of the war, to Eritrea. The witnesses and guarantors, abdicating their responsibility, failed to exert pressure on Ethiopia, which led to a situation of 'no war, no peace'. This stalemate lasted for 16 years, until July 2018. The recent rapprochement is driven by internal dynamics, rather than by external mediation. This has fundamentally reshaped the relationship between the two countries. The impact of the resolution of the Ethiopia–Eritrea conflict goes beyond the borders of the two countries, and has indeed brought fundamental change to the region. Full diplomatic relations have been restored between Eritrea and Somalia; and the leaders of Eritrea and Djibouti have met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This all raises the issue of whether a peace deal driven by internal dynamics fares better than one that is externally mediated. The central question that this book attempts to address is: what factors led to the resolution of a festering conflict? The book explains and analyses the rapprochement, which it argues was made possible by the maturing of objective and subjective conditions in Ethiopia and by the trust factor in Eritrea.
In December 2013 war broke out in South Sudan as a result of the power struggle between President Salva Kiir and the ex-vice president Riek Machar. Violence from both sides led to massacres and millions of displaced persons. Agreements to end hostilities have so far been violated. A sustainable peace calls for Ugandan forces to leave South Sudan. The political parties have to reform and be a part of national reconciliation instead of fighting one another.
Enforce the 'African solutions to African problems' principle in the UN and promote cooperation with the African Union and its regional communities. That is what Ethiopia should work for during its two-year term in the Security Council. To perform on this global stage, the Ethiopian government has to address its domestic democracy and governance issues.
In the upcoming elections in Burkina Faso, there's a need for a clear democratic break with the three decades of de facto one-party rule. At the same time, a moderate approach is needed in dealing with the controversial legacy of the former regime, to avoid further polarisation in an already fraught political situation. These are the recommendations of Jesper Bjarnesen and Cristiano Lanzano, senior researchers at the Nordic Africa Institute, in a policy note on Burkina Faso's one-week coup and its implications for free and fair elections.
The link between security and development has been rediscovered after 9/11 by a broad range of scholars. Focusing on Southern Africa, the Security-Development Nexus shows that the much debated linkage is by no means a recent invention. Rather, the security/development linkage has been an important element of the state policies of colonial as well as post-colonial regimes during the Cold War, and it seems to be prospering in new configurations under the present wave of democratic transitions. Contributors focus on a variety of contexts from South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia, to Zimbabwe and Democratic Congo; they explore the nexus and our understanding of security and development through the prism of peace-keeping interventions, community policing, human rights, gender, land contests, squatters, nation and state-building, social movements, DDR programmes and the different trajectories democratization has taken in different parts of the region.
How should the Mozambican traditional leaders' double role as community representatives and state assistants be captured? This discussion paper addresses some fundamental questions pertaining to the 2002 official recognition of traditional leaders as community authorities. After a brief history of the changing role of, and faith in, traditional authorities as a basis for understanding the importance of their recent official recognition, the paper outlines the key objectives of the Decree 15/2000 that officially recognises community authorities. Some of the key concepts underpinning the Decree are then critically assessed. It is argued that the double role that community authorities are expected to fulfil as both community-representatives and state-assistants is not equally balanced in the Decree: the scale tips heavily towards the state-assistance aspect. The reasons for this are explored in the context of a set of reified notions underpinning the Decree, such as its understanding of 'traditional rules' and the concept of 'community'. The paper concludes by pointing out some unintended con-sequences of these reified notions for kin-based forms of community authority and especially for the ideal of community participation.
In recent years, China and India have become the most important economic partners of Africa and their footprints are growing by leaps and bounds, transforming Africa's international relations in a dramatic way. Although the overall impact of China and India's engagement in Africa has been positive in the short-term, partly as a result of higher returns from commodity exports fuelled by excessive demands from both countries, little research exists on the actual impact of China and India's growing involvement on Africa's economic transformation. This book examines in detail the opportunities and challenges posed by the increasing presence of China and India in Africa, and proposes critical interventions that African governments must undertake in order to negotiate with China and India from a stronger and more informed platform.
This Discussion paper addresses the linkages between the political economy of oil and violent conflict in Nigeria's main oil and gas producing region, the Niger Delta. It is based on a case study of the insurgent Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which has targeted and attacked the interests of international oil companies and the federal government in the oil-rich, but impoverished, Niger Delta region of Nigeria, in its professed campaign for the control of the oil wealth of the region for the benefit of local people. Through this study of MEND, fresh perspectives are brought to bear on the causes and ramifications of the oil conflict in the region, and the role of various actors at the local, national and international levels. This is important in grasping the nature of the violence in the Niger Delta and Nigeria and the enormity of the task of resolving the complex conflict in which the region is immersed. It is a challenge, which as the author argues, transcends the resort to the militarized or securitized solutions that often fail to adequately address the roots of conflict.
Ny omarbetad upplaga. Afrikas moderna politiska och sociala historia presenteras här insiktsfullt och översiktligt på ett sätt som gör den till ett standardverk i sig och en oundgänglig bakgrund till de enskilda afrikanska ländernas historia. Boken har skrivits i skuggan av de kriser som många afrikanska samhällen och institutioner drabbades av i slutet av 1900-talet och som fortfarande pågår. Bokens författare, den kände afrikaexperten Basil Davidson, diskuterar orsakerna till sönderfallet och de afrikanska staternas sårbarhet. Men han tar också itu med de industrialiserade ländernas misslyckanden att förändra förhållandet mellan de rika länderna i nord och de fattiga i syd. Boken avslutas med en diskussion om hur Afrika idag söker sina egna lösningar. I boken finns ett detaljrikt och praktiskt index och flera specialritade kartor. Den är lämplig som studie- och referensbok på gymnasiet och i vuxenutbildningen.
Med hjälp av tidigare okänt historiskt material, unika intervjuer och egna intryck från ett flertal resor till Kap Verde, levandegör den brittiske historikern Basil Davidson Kap Verdes långa historia av förtryck och hungersnöd, dess frigörelsekamp och dess unika experiment med demokratiskt styre efter självständigheten.
This book is the first full-length study of the land reform and the resultant social changes in rural Ethiopia.
The African renaissance - the renewal of the continent - effectively started in the last decade of the second millennium. A critical element is the increasing and widespread democratic awakening in all parts of Africa since the early 1990s as evidenced by the number of multi-party elections. Demonstrating their commitment to democracy, African leaders, under the auspices of regional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), have increasingly made a number of treaties, declarations and other political commitments in the field of democracy and good governance (including the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) and the Declaration on Africas Response to Unconstitutional Changes of Government). Significantly, the recent politico-constitutional crisis in Togo, occasioned by the sudden death of President Gnassingbe Eyadema in early February 2005, after he had ruled the country with an iron-fist for 38 years, and the interim succession of his son, Faure Gnassingbe, to the presidency, raised issues of democracy and good governance and provided an opportunity for African countries to test the effectiveness of the various democracy-related instruments. Adopting a legal-jurisprudential perspective, the author skillfully examines the contradictions between the regional-international legal instruments that permit interference in the internal affairs of a Member State of ECOWAS and AU and the principles of international law that provide for sovereign equality of States and non-interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State. Undoubtedly, this work will interest scholars, students and researchers in international law, international politics and international relations as well as general readers, especially those interested in African affairs.
Politico-Constitutional Antecedents of the Recent Developments
Regional Instruments on Democratic Principles in Africa
Some Basic Principles of International Law: In a Nutshell Faure's Succession: Validity of the Removal of Fambare Ouattara Natchaba from Office
Faure's Succession and Legality of Constitutional Amendment
Faure's Succession and the Doctrine of State Necessity
Faure's Succession and Regional Instruments on Democracy and Good Governance
Concluding Remarks
This study is a penetrating insight into the historical process of formation of a new state; the steps taken to create the basis for a democratic development, and the forces working for economic modernisation through centralisation and advanced technology. The study centers on conflicts between these two approaches in a poor and illiterate society. It connects the pre-independence processes with the politically dynamic period up to the the Party Congress of 1983 and the Nkomati Agreement with South Africa. It links the macro-perspective of Maputo to the efforts and frustrations of the simple peasants in the north.
Within the South African State there are ten different bantustan "states", complete with administrations, military and police. Once the bantustans were described as "dumping grounds". In this paper the author shows that they are much more than that. They have turned into scenes of protest and resistance against apartheid. The bantustan leaders today are needed both by Pretoria and the ANC, and also try to defend their own interests. A post-apartheid government may need the bantustan state machinery as instruments of order and reform. This paper discusses the implications of this scenario.


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LOOK TO THE REALSIDE LIFEIS by DuanEva UNUversalSeeers...
LOOK TO THE REALSIDE LIFEIS by DuanEva UNUversalSeeers...
"If YOU Want RealAnswers, moreso than just marketing 'ideas' from the so-called experts, then Learn to Look To The RealSide LifeIS, starting with Your DreamVisions & RealGuidance, and YU, The RealU, will be shown 'What IS Real Now!' The Unaware Masses have Fallen Prey to The Old World KONtrollers and their Abusive Marketing Tactics of Agreement. The created 'stuff' on This Planet Earth 'seems' to look good, but does it really Makes Sense that almost Everything that is created Here involves Polluting & Poisoning & Destroying The ALLNatural Environment Supporting ALL of US. How many Unaware Thinking People consider what is taking place right in front of them, and are they actually Doing Anything Beneficial for ALL? The so-called 'experts & officials' have more than CONvinced the Literally Educated that they are the 'know-it-alls' and that creating a document or policy or a Restricting Law will remedy any situation. The Original NatrualPeople learned from their environment and lived their lives according to The ALLNatural Environment Supporting ALL. There Always 'IS' More to The Whole of Life that 'IS' Not Seen. Do YOU Want to SeeeMore with US~UNUversal SuperBeings, or just stay Ordinarily Unaware with everyone else who has no idea What LifeIS and where to go from Here? Sing 'NU~U~U~U' and Watch Your DreamVisions for RealAnswers from The Whole of Life! YOU DECIDE... ASK KELSEY BROWN on FACEBOOK!
DUANEVA Represents REBISAR & The Real UNUversal Guides with The RealConnection 'NU~U~U~U' and THE NUWAVIS THE ALLLISSS LIFEIS!
SING 'NU~U~U~U' & WATCH THE REALSIDE LIFEIS for REALANSWERS!
JOIN US in NUGROUPS with Skype. ASK REBISAR on THE REALSIDE for REALANSWERS! THERE 'IS' A LOT MORE YOU ARE NOT SEEEING, SO LEARN TO RECOGNIZE & WAKEUP TO BECOMING MOREAWARE!
CONTACT KELSEY BROWN & 'DEAN' VAL on FACEBOOK & YOUTUBE.
SKYPE: misskelseyis +1.757.284.9689 valdisvitols +1.650.823.1460
WWWE are NOT POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS, SPIRITUAL...WWWE are REAL!
www.DuaneTheGreatWriter.Club / www.WonderfulWorldWideEducators.com
CHASING THOUGHT FORMS by DUANEIS THE GREAT WRITER...
"The idea of Consciousness is not what it 'seems' to be. Many 'think' that Consciousness is the ultimate with their experience Here in Creation, but it is Not! Consciousness is something created from The RealU, Your RealAwarenisss, that applies to Your Experiences in CauseEffect Creation. This is where most unaware people keep Chasing Thought Forms and 'thinking' they are connected to The ALLLAlivenisss, THE ISSSNISSS, LifeIS, but it is Not So. This is where I have defined the difference between The Real UNUversisss of RealFreedom and The Creative Realms of TimeSpace-CauseEffect. When Paul Twitchell was Here as The RealGuide, he created a 'God World Chart' which refereed to Consciousness, which has now become obsolete. This should be a 'hint' to those who are still Chasing Thought Forms that the Consciousness 'idea' has it's place as an Old Outdated Reference, but Nothing More! Creation is a 'simulator' that 'appears' to be something, but it is merely a 'process' we each go thru, until we are ready to Recogn'IS'e The TruReality LifeIS, THE ALLLISSS. The Unaware & KONtrolled Masses have been intimidated to worship & pray to invented gods from the Original Invaders, the Reptilian Alien TapLinings (RATS) who KONtrol This Planet Earth. YOU Always Decide Your Adventure with The Whole of Life, and YOU Decide to Stay in Creation and deal with all the Effects of YourSelf & Others, or Free YourSelf from Your Unconscious Agreements & TapLines by Singing 'NU~U~U~U' and StandingReal with REBISAR & The Real UNUversal Guides who provide RealGuidance and a RealEducation Like No Other! ASK KELSEY.
To Recogn'IS'e & PerSeeeve ALLL by DuanEva UNUversalSeeers...
"I am providing a NUWay to Communicate, so as to RecognISe & PerSeeeve what cannot be considered with any Literal Sense or Definition, and so it would 'seem' as though what I am sharing could not at all possibly exist, but ITTT Does! For lifetimes, You & Everyone have been cleverly indoctrinated to Agree to the Legalized Restrictions that have been created to keep as many as possible unaware of their TruPotential on This HUman Farming Planet for ongoing lifetimes! Your Five Bodies of Physical Senses, Astral Sensations & Emotions, Causal Memories, Mental Mind Thoughts, and Etheric Intuition & Subconsciousness, are the first steps to You WakingUp Here, until you discover The RealU, Your RealAwarenisss & The TruReality LifeIS, THE ALLLISSS. In the meantime, You are on Planet Earth and having to deal with Surviving The Natural Environment, Government Rules, Regulations, and all the Brutal Restrictions that apply Here. Even when a person does accomplish something Here, they are still growing old, until they pass over to the Astral Realm, as they will usually come back Here after their short visit to one of the many Heavens of Men and unconsciously try again for a RealWakeUp in the Physical Realm. To RecognISe something is to Seee more than what it is considered to be with an outer 'surfacey' view of the social consciousness. As a TruRecognition sets into a person, they can then decide to Seee & PerSeeeve what this Recognition 'IS' and what it is Not, and then begin to gain a Real~Insight into Something that cannot be defined with the mind and personal senses. By doing so, what can eventually be accomplished 'IS' a RealFreedom in Real UNUversisss that far surpasses anything in CauseEffect Creation. If you do not Decide to Take The Risk and SeeeMore for YourSelf, then it will be as though there can be Nothing else for YOU, but what has been created in front of you!
A RealChallenge Like No Other by DUANE THE GREAT WRITER...
"To Live Here, This Planet Earth, is a challenge for sure. For untold lifetimes you have taken on the challenge to figure YourSelf out in someway to better survive. YOU Decided to Come Here to Recognize how to Surpass just another limited and unaware lifetime as you have been thru before. Because of how The TruReality LifeIS, you need to first learn 'What The Whole of Life is Not!' This does sound funny, but once you have a RealUnderstanding, moreso than just a 'literal definition' and interpretation according to what you have come to know so far, then you will start to SeeeBeyond everything that limits you to CauseEffect Creation. The RealChallenge for YOU, is to Recognize Your RealAwarenisss, The RealU, that operates the Five Bodies you have to manage while you are learning about YourSelf in Creation. If you continue to stay positioned with just Your Personal Created Self and all the 'attitudes' you have created with a One-Dimensional Surface View, then you will have already decided to keep recycling into more unaware future lifetimes of even worse conditions than exist Now on This Planet Earth! WWWE~Wonderful WorldWide Educators show you how to take on The RealChallenge of Waking ALL The Way Up and Complete Your Learning Process in Creation to be able to get into Real UNUversisss of RealFreedom during this lifetime. Only YOU can Decide to continuously Recognize every NUMoment 'What IS Real Now' and what is not real with The Whole of Life. Very few Complete Their The RealEducation in Creation and have The RealCourage to do so. WWWE are Here For YOU... ARE YOU READY YET? ASK KELSEY BROWN on FACEBOOK NOW!
RECOGNIZING 'WHAT 'IS' REAL NOW' by DuanEva UNUversal Seeers...
"From what has come to be the History of This Planet Earth, there has also been the establishment of certain 'ideas' that are marketed to the UnAware Strugglers who have been Here for untold lifetimes. YOU are one of them! The Whole of Life, The TruReality LifeISSS, 'IS' Far MoreSo than anything in CauseEffect Creation. YOU and others have been indoctrinated and conditioned to 'think' that This Planet Earth is all there is to Life, or what is known as the 'life' you are living Here with a physical body. It is hard to consider anything other than what has already been considered for YOU, but if you do not, then you will continue to Recycle into Future Embodiment's and Not Remembering you were ever Here! There are those who know The RealWay Out of The Matrix of Creation, and they are known as The Real UNUversal Guides. REBISAR & The RealGuides asked Me, THE NUMAN, to create The NUPresentation for ALL. By doing so, I have Created the Best References to Become MoreAware of The TruReality LifeISSS, and 'IS' beyond the invented gods & saviors of The World Kontrollers. This 'Place in Life' known as the Earth World, is mainly of 'ideas' that YOU Keep Agreeing to that keep your focus on a One-Dimensional Surface View to be a Supporter of those Kontrolling YOU! If you take the time to Read The NUBooks and Sing 'NU~U~U~U' and Learn to Recognize 'What 'IS' Real' and what is Not Real, according to The TruReality LifeISSS, then you have a chance to Free YourSelf from ALL The Lifetimes you were not aware of Your RealAwarenisss.
ALLLNATURAL 'NU~U~U~U' by DuanEva UNUversal Seeers...
"WWWE~Wonderful WorldWide Educators Support The ALLNatural Environment Supporting US, which 'IS' The Whole LifeISSS. The ALLLNatural Sound of 'NU~U~U~U' is always part of What WWWE Do, such as The ALLSolar Research Vessel Projects. WWWE do not interfere with what has been established Here with the political, religious, spiritual, educational & scientific systems, nor do WWWE cater to the TapLining Effects of the HU, OM, AUM, AMEN and other noises that create an UnSeen Effect for those using them, nor with the masters, gurus, priests, and other solicitors who promote and administer the old noises with those who worship & pray to invented gods and saviors. Everyone Decides their life and WWWE Decide Ours! WWWE are US~UNUversal SuperBeings with The TruReality LifeIS, THE ALLLLISSS. Our RealGuidance & RealEducation comes from REBISAR & The Real UNUversal Guides with THE ISSSNISSS LIFEISSS. 'NU~U~U~U' IS The Sound of Sounds with 'ALLL THAT ISSS'
THE STANDARD EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS by DUANE THE GREAT WRITER...
"With how the Educational Systems have been created, what has come to be with them is a Restrictive Process that 'looks' as though people are accomplishing something, but OverALL, they are being 'setup & manipulated' to be Continually Recycled into the same Old Routines and Restrictions. With anything in Creation, there is a RealPotential, but only when the person has The RealAwarenisss to Seee this and utilize it for a RealValue for ALL. From the time a child starts their Social Education to the moment they graduate with their chosen way from the Standard Educational System, they are actually being prepared to work for the Kontrolling Systems who want to keep as many people as possible UnAware to What The Whole of LifeIS. Whatever is being experienced in CauseEffect Creation is part of The OverALL WakeUp for each of us, until we come to the part where we are ready for The RealKnowledge of The TruReality LifeIS. With the combination of what we have come thru for many lifetimes to this very moment, when a person WholeHeartedly studies The RealKnowledge with a TruIntent and Accomplishes Recognizing their RealAwarenisss, then they can compare what they have learned from lifetimes in Creation with their NURecognition and Decide to Recognize & Seee The TruReality LifeISSS, THE ALLLISSS, in Real UNUversisss of RealFreedom. It takes a Lot More than just a standard education and lifestyle on This Planet Earth to have a RealLife of RealFreedom! WWWE~Wonderful WorldWide Educators, know what WWWE are Doing Here, and WWWE are Here for YOU & Everyone to Succeed Beyond all the Restrictions you have come to know with YourSelf and what has been created Here. Only YOU can Decide Your RealAdventure with The Whole of Life! Ask Miss Kelsey Brown on Facebook.
WWWE~WWEE are FINE with EVERYTHING by DUANE THE GREAT WRITER...
"As Duane The Great Writer, I have written and spoken a lot about the invented and Created Systems on This Planet Earth, plus other worlds and dimensions in CauseEffect Creation that most people know nothing about. What I am referring to with what I present 'IS' merely 'References' to have as 'Comparisons' to eventually 'Recognizing' The TruReality LifeISSS. This 'IS' the Basic Formula for SeeeingBeyond what you have always known from what you have experienced Here. What The Whole of Life is Not, is what has been determined from the PersonalViews of people who 'think' they are only HUman with a Brain. Most people like to Agree to their Self-Made Restrictions and the Restrictions others have created. Restrictions have become a way of life for most unaware people who keep contributing to the Demise of this planet. If YOU and others were ReallyAware, then there would be No Pollution & Poison Here. WWWE are Fine with Everything, as WWWE are Not Here to change anything. YOU Decide what you want while you are Here, and this is what WWWE are Doing by Sharing Something Wonderful for ALL. IT IS a Huge Learning Curve to understand what WWWE~Wonderful WorldWide Educators are creating and presenting. YOU Decide when YOU want to WakeUp ALL The Way! ASK KELSEY LYNNE BROWN on FACEBOOK.
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I've start became brave enough to do a New York Beauty block and am now hooked. I love the ones you're showcasing.
Thanks so much for the kind words. This was my first attempt at New York Beauty. I'm hooked myself!
This is one of my fave quilt blocks, very nice!
Thanks so much!!


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Doing our part for World AIDS Day
By Phill Wilson
This week we are commemorating World AIDS Day. I don't know about you, but this is a time of year that I really think about responsibility and accountability. By all accounts, this has been an amazing year in the HIV/AIDS world. We've seen unprecedented scientific breakthroughs. The Supreme Court affirmed the Afford-able Care Act. The U.S. has hosted an extremely successful International AIDS Conference for the first time in 22 years — a gathering made possible by the lifting of the AIDS travel ban.
Clearly the pieces are in place to end the AIDS epidemic. And yet there is still extreme doubt about whether or not we will be able to actually do it. At this time of year, rather than get caught up in the macros of our task, I find it's helpful to bring it back home. The question for me is not just what the president, the government, or any other outside entity will do. This the time of year I ask myself, "What am I going to do? How will I do my part? How will I make sure that I do whatever it is that I can contribute to bring the AIDS epidemic to an end?"
So, here's my question, my challenge, my plea to you on this twenty-fourth annual World AIDS Day. What are you going to do to end the AIDS epidemic in your sphere of influence? What you do or don't do matters. Whatever your part is, it is critically import-ant.
You might be a person living with HIV/AIDS. Your part might be to come out about your HIV status, to add your voice to the symphony of those of us who are living our lives openly. You might be HIV negative. Your part might be to stand up against stigma and discrimination in your community and create an environment that makes it easier for people to come out. You might not know your HIV status. Your part is to find out your HIV status; knowing your HIV status should be a badge of honor. Your part might be to increase your own HIV science and treatment literacy to ensure that you'll know the answer if someone asks you a question about the new biomedical interventions, or the relationship between treatment, prevention and testing. Your part might be to help someone you know get into care or stay in care. Your part might be to convince policymakers in Washington, in state-houses and city halls to make the investments we need to make sure every American living with HIV has access to HIV treatment on demand.
My friend Tony Wafford says "Ending AIDS is like playing in a great symphony. You just have to pick out your instrument and play." We have the instruments to end the AIDS epidemic. The United States should be the first country to do so. It can be, if you and I do our part.
In this issue, a Black straight man overcomes denial and gets HIV tested, learn 5 things you can do on World AIDS Day to be Greater Than AIDS, what we've learned about Voting Rights from the 2012 election, and more.
And if you are in Los Angeles, join us at the 22nd Annual Divas Simply Singing event on World AIDS Day, Saturday, December 1, at 7:30 p.m. at Club Nokia L.A. Live at 800 West Olympic Blvd.
Yours in the struggle,


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The Ivy
Top Tags:
Popular dishes
Spinach and cheese ravioli
with tomato sauce or melted butter and sage
30 reviews
Fresh shrimp tacos
with Ortega chili aioli, Mexican rice and beans
22 reviews
Spaghetti or risotto
with 1.5 lb. Eastern lobster
22 reviews
It was a pleasure to be there without so many people. While I know the Ivy would have the restaurant full. It gave us a chance to really visit with the employees. The was delicious. The portions were more than we could eat. From beginning to end it was a wonderful experience.
Excellent as always
I was shocked to see the Ivy was one of the first places back open. Food is good (dinner), drinks are better! Sat outside and it was quiet and very cute.
It isn't cheap. It's worth every penny. Ambiance for days. Attentive service. The menu is pretty big, which makes choosing so much harder. The complimentary champagne as you enter, the cookies as you leave. Perfect.
The menu is extensive with unique and inventive choices. The drinks are amazing, often loaded with fresh fruit or fresh squeezed fruit. I have brunched here several times and the impeccable service never disappoints.
Place had many empty table when I arrived. We had a reservation. They tried to seat us butted up against another table. We were a party of 2. They offered us other tables as the same. When asked if we could have a 3 or 4 person table he said they were booked solid. We stayed for an hour and EVERY single table was still empty. Taking in consideration that as a society we are battling a pandemic. I thought this was unconscious-able. After decades of dining there. One would think they were concerned about their customers....Shame on you Ivy!!!
We loved it! Always a beautiful spot and a special time.
We were placed in a small table wedged in the back of the restaurant even though there were open tables in more spacious areas. Courtesy champagne is a plus, $50 double blackberry cocktail suggested by waiter was a negative. All the food beautifully prepared and presented. Birthday dessert very festive. Nice overall experience
The Ivy is a beautiful place to eat. We've eaten hear many times. Unfortunately this time I ordered my favorite grilled vegetable salad with lobster. I asked if the chef could mix up half the salad for dinner and package the other half without dressing to go. I was told no problem. I was given the whole salad dressed and they totally skimped on the lobster. I've had this exact meal at least six times. When the check came, the waiter said sorry about giving you the whole salad but we can wrap up what you have left. Anybody who's ever tried to save dressed salad knows it's no good the next day. I'm so disappointed in this most recent visit that it will be a very long time before we go back, if we go back.
Great, outstanding service food superb. One table was very loud but overall was terrific!
excellent service !!! excellent food and I absolutely loved the whole dining experience with the roses and fire place !!!!
Me dejaron esperando 1 hora parado para pasarme a mesa pero todo lo demás exclente!
We had a fantastic dinner. The service was amazing, greeted with a glass of champs while we waited 2 minutes for our table. We loved it!!
Poor service. Valet took forever. Was just standing ignoring customers. No hostess or host. No one greet us. Food was bad. I had filet raw and terrible tasting sauce on it and the Mexican rice was ice cold and very overcooked. We also had the Chilean Sea Bass and the portion was tiny and the white rice on the plate was cold. Bass was crunchy on the outside and mushy on the inside. Bill was $140 plus tip and $12 for valet for 2 with 2 ice teas. This place is really over rated. Disappointed the food and service sucked.
El mesero no quería darme mesa afuera y el restaurante tenía 15 mesas vacías. Le pedí me enseñe su lista de reservaciones y solo tenía 2 de 2 personas. Me dijo que tenis que consumir tres platillos por persona o no me daba servicio y le dije que si y aún así no me quiso sentar afuera. Me fui entre a OpenTable reserve y llame y pedí mesa afuera. Entre a los dos minutos me senté con tres amigos más y el mesero despota hablo con el otro mesero y nos señaló. Comimos delicioso y al final el servicio estuvo excelente. No veo porque un mesero prepotente prefiera dejar el restaurante vacío y no dar servicio en terraza si hay mucho lugar.
Reliable, delicious food, beautiful atmosphere , but the clientele has gotten increasingly annoying !!! Always love it
Met with bubbles and our host Gram was simply wonderful. Caviar to the best fried chicken awaits to be enjoyed one bite at time.
Good service, food, and atmosphere. Great for special occasion!! but too expensive for breakfast
Highly over rated experience. The food is extremely ordinary at this " to be seen scene " with very tired decor and an over priced menu in an already expensive 'hood that has plenty of options to open your wallet. Time has passed this place by yet I am one that doesn't care if I see an Entertainment type ( we did , so what?) . I actually go to dining establishments for the food , ambiance and experience. This has little to offer, especially for deep fried crab cakes that had no fresh flavour nor hint of any inventive twist. Shake Shack was more fun hours later!!
We were never asked about refilling our water. The food was average. The lettuce was wilted in the Caesar salad. The brownie dessert was dry. Beautiful day to sit on the patio, but the food and service did not live up to expectations.
A really fun institution with terrific service. The food is eclectic but well executed.
Charming old Beautiful restaurant with lots of roses. Fantastic food and beverage and service. Can't wait to go back. 🙏🏻👌🏻❤🌹
Daughter birthday
We will always love The Ivy. Many wonderful meals an good times. Salads were just average. Red velvet B-Day cake not tasty at all. I would have upgraded or switched and paid extra for better dessert
Can't get enough of the beautiful roses! Black truffle pizza was delish!
Good restaurant for a business meeting. We sat outside and enjoyed the ambience. Food is always good as is service.
Horrible service and food
This was my daughter's 16th birthday and I could not have imagined having dinner anywhere else the food was amazing and the staff was very accommodating (our Uber was lost twice). So after that the champagne was very much appreciated! Thanks for an amazing time.
Early birthday getaway with my daughter. Absolutely our favorite place, service, ambiance & food were to perfection❣Would go back every time I come to California!
We've been dining at The Ivy for over 20 years and make it a priority to dine there whenever we visit LA. They wouldn't seat us until our entire party was there, even though there were 4 out of 6 checking in. Also, the 2 appetizers that we ordered were very small. Overall, it's still a great place to dine, but you have to be willing to be treated like a tourist.
Everything was wonderful except the chicken dish was rather dry and lackluster. I think Lemon Chiken
Such a beautiful place but food was vile, service was ok, if I was to judge this place on their food I'd say it was my worst experience in LA. Ordered a coffee came 25 minutes later, I had to ask 2 times if I could have that coffee when it arrived it was a watery and weak and was not hot, The coffee came towards the end of my appetiser which was a pathetic excuse for a Cesar salad with around 5 croutons. I didn't want to complain about either and hoped my main would be better.
My burger came priced around $25-$35 with over cooked dry fries and a burger with no taste that left a horrible taste of meat fat in my mouth. I took one bite and left it. At the end the waiter asked on clearing the table if there was anything wrong with my meal which I then explained why I hadn't eaten it. He was kind enough to remove it from my bill and even agreed the fries looked over cooked, but my experience was not enjoyable here. The place is beautifully set up but the menu is over priced for what it is. This is defo a faze place where people will just try because it's a hot spot but pretty sure if you know good food and your an LA foodie you won't be rushing back here again.
Food at The Ivy is usually stupendous but both dishes were underwhelming today. Our server was lovely, but the rest of the staff was very hurried and brusque.
Quintessential Hollywood eating establishment. Just bring your wallet.
Place and and food are great. Costumer service is always excellent and they always go a little extra to make me and .y party happy. Thank you so much! Definitely will always recommend this place
A perfect afternoon. Food, ambiance and service, all top notch. Roses, champagne and fine dining. It's a must for your LA to do list.
I have had the pleasure to be at your restaurant a few times & as always I loved our server I loved how quickly we were acknowledged and given champagne and taken to our seat. So welcoming and they accommodated my special requests for food. Very relaxing Enjoying a special moment with my sister. We love the experience thank you so much ! Thank you & hope to visit again next time I'm in LA.❤
Absolutely splendid place for long champagne lunch with friends! We were visiting for a girl trip and the Ivy was the ultimate highlight!
Loved every aspect of dinner from the moment we walked in. Our server was the best!!
Very nice place with great food & ambiance!
Luv the free glass of champagne when you first arrive!!
The Ivy does offer delivery in partnership with Postmates. The Ivy also offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (310) 274-8303.
The Ivy is rated 4.6 stars by 5295 OpenTable diners.
The Ivy does offer gift cards which you can purchase here http://theivyrestaurants.com.
You can book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size.


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Greta Krippner
Capitalizing on Crisis: The Political Origins of the Rise of Finance
Each year, the Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award Committee reads and evaluates more than sixty nominated books, a great many of them excellent works of scholarship, and quite a few worthy of significant distinction. This year, the A.S.A.'s Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award goes to Greta Krippner for Capitalizing on Crisis: The Political Origins of the Rise of Finance. Capitalizing on Crisis is a very significant, and particularly timely, book. In it, Krippner illuminates the historical and structural origins of the recent financial crisis, and she does so in an extremely economical and elegant format. In particular, she shows how and why leaders embraced financialization as a solution to the problems of inequality, and how doing so depoliticized a significant source of conflict in American society. It tells a remarkably insightful story about a remarkably complex, and exceptionally consequential process, and as such represents the best of contemporary American sociology.
Krippner begins and ends her book with Daniel Bell. Agreeing with Bell that the rise of a service economy would come to characterize a "postindustrial society," Krippner nonetheless argues that this new economic and social structure was realized "with a slight twist: rather than the rise of services in a generic sense, the rise of a particular kind of service—finance—proved to be the dominant trend…" Her argument rests, however, on her agreement with Bell that "there is no escape from economics."
Capitalizing on Crisis has a large number of sociological virtues. In the first place, its theoretical framing, conceptual development, and empirical documentation are meticulous. The book has been widely praised, for instance, for its chapter on "financialization," which she defines as "the growing importance of financial activities as a source of profits in the economy." This first chapter not only explicates the concept, but presents a nuanced quantitative analysis which leaves no doubt that the process she sets out to explain clearly happened, and had the contours she attributes to it. The main body of the book then turns to explaining why financialization occurred, and what theoretical and practical lessons can be drawn.
Krippner's book is both a synthesis of, and advance on, a number of approaches. First, she examines those sociological approaches that criticize the economic theory that financial markets are by definition efficient by pointing out the dynamics inherent in markets that lead to manias and bubbles; the problem with these established critiques, she argues, is that they treat politics and the state as exogenous. Second, she addresses "shareholder value" approaches developed by organization theorists, which pay more attention to the state, but more as a context for firms than as something requiring explanation in its own right. Finally, Krippner examines Marxist and World-Systems perspectives, which account for financialization in terms of the goals of the state, but take such a broad historical sweep that the specific boundedness of these goals—and the limits on the ability to predict how proposed solutions will work out—is lost.
With this profound understanding of complex literatures, Krippner then delves into the details of the history, identifying the combination of three distinct processes: deregulation of financial markets, encouragement of global capital flows, and altered monetary policy. Each of these was a response to immediate problems as well as more general social and political crises. Beyond the important history Krippner thus tells, however, is the more general lesson that particular solutions pursued for particular purposes in response to particular crises produced consequences that could not possibly be predicted in advance. It thus leaves one with profound concerns not only about the course of public policy, but about its very possibility. As such, it is a powerful warning to any self-confident policy maker.
Though Krippner's work on these issue began before the financial crisis of 2008, Captalizing on Crisis illuminates the historical and structural origins of the recent crisis, proving once again the importance of sociological work to the most pressing contemporary events. It does so, moreover, in an extremely economical and elegant format. It tells a remarkably insightful story about a remarkably complex, and exceptionally consequential process, and as such represents the best of contemporary American sociology.


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The official 20 week training countdown to Ironman Arizona has begun. I've spent the past 4 months trying to maintain a base level of training and increased in different areas each month. The biggest change to this point has been the past month, as I increase my swimming to double the amount I've even done before. My longest swim ever prior to April '14 had been 2000 meters and that was only a few times. Mostly, my swims had been 1500 -1800 meters – maybe twice a week. Over the past three months, I've gotten up to 4800 meters max and between 6500 and 9500 m a week.
During the past 6 weeks, I've also began increasing the mileage on my rides, though slowly at first, I am finally in the 60-70 mile range for my long ride on the weekend. In addition, I've started adding short to moderate runs after a spin class or swim session, in the 3-5 mile range. This is the weakest area for me as a result of longstanding damage to the hips, knees and ankles. Some of it accident and injury related, and some of it is just damage since birth.
The bottom line is that this particular week (20) is actually a difficult week for me since I have increased so much over the past few months. I've felt sluggish and tired for the past two weeks from a lingering sinus and chest cold combined with increased training and actually reduced my volume and intensity for most of this week. Good idea, I think, since I was then able to post my longest bike ride to date at 77 miles through the Ranch and up the Coast. A positive ending to the week after a rough start.


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Life at Pittendreich House Care Centre
Close to Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh, Pittendreich in Lasswade is the former country home of an eminent local judge.
In extensive grounds and overlooking a golf course, the home is dedicated to the nursing care of 27 older people. Extensive refurbishment and re-decoration has restored the house to its former glory whilst providing cosy and comfortable surroundings. Modern equipment and facilities ensure the health and safety of residents with limited mobility.
Our activities co-ordinator organises regular games and hobbies including bingo, scrabble and arts and crafts as well as a programme of visits around and about the area including trips to nearby Blair Drummond, and particularly popular, The Highland Show. We have committees for both residents and relatives to ensure we keep in regular touch with their wishes and we can talk to them about plans and activities.
Susan Gibson
Donna Watson
Melville Dykes Road
Accommodation Enquiries Freephone: 0345 053 1689.
Latest Reviews
Yvonne M.
My mum had been a resident at The Grove since last September and I would just like to say how much she enjoyed it there.
She was kept clean and well-fed.She always said that the meals were lovely couldn't ask for better.She had clean clothes on everyday.
The staff were always kind and pleasant.When I visited every day they always opened the door to me with a warm welcome and a smile.
Nothing was too much trouble for them.When mum took ill in May they were very concerned, sent for the doctor when he was needed.They couldn't do enough for her or me while I stayed with her.The staff really did look after her in her final days.My brother and I cannot thank the staff enough for their kindness and thoughtfulness.
Thank you..
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Back to the Future.
- Moving!
- The "un-edited" version: Toronto & BarChef
- Nolet Pratt – Competition Cocktail
- Horchata
- Almonds & Orgeat
- The Pesto.
- The Cocktail Kitchen Series
- A Ginger Beer Bonanza
- The Vegan Diaries: #5
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
- The "Ultimate" Food Science.
- Raw Carnage: Continuity
- Raw Carnage: The Theory.
- American Whiskey – Ambrosia of the Common Wo/Man.
- Can you put a price on passion?
Tag Archives: vermouth
Nolet Pratt – Competition Cocktail
Although the posting to reflect on the entire experience of the competition itself, here is the recipe for my cocktail, the Nolet Pratt, which won second place on Tuesday night in the National Barchef Competition. The Nolet Pratt cocktail was … Continue reading
Posted in cocktail competitions, cocktails, recipes, spirits Tagged barchef, holland, jonathan chovancek, ketel one, lauren mote, nolet pratt, noyaux, orgeat, toronto, vermouth 1 Comment


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Patch House representatives were not available for an on-camera interview. Melissa Kahaly, a public relations representative, says the Patch House is hosting several SXSW parties. She added there are no planned events the rest of the year and that the house will serve as a quiet place for artists to stay.
..."The lease-holders of this house have been in transparent communications with the relevant city government departments," Kahaly said in a statement. "All departments know what is going on and have confirmed that we do not need any extra level of approval. We respect the community and have measures in place to help ensure that guests are mindful and courteous of the neighbors."
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