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December 12, 2013
I am trying to get myself back into action on here.
What better to blog about then my failed attempts, multiple failed attempts to make Yorkshire pudding?
I have tried four times to make it and each time I get just a little closer, but still, fail. Everyone told me how easy it is. OH its so easy, its only floud, salt, and milk. just toss it in the oven, so easy. with a flap of the hand.
I can bake, so why not, right? Wrong.
I started out thinking it was the pan. I used the wrong kind and it wasnt hot enough.
next I tried a different recipe.
the third time I was sure to spend a good hour plus googling "troubleshooting Yorkshire pudding" first. I even read "the science of Yorkshire pudding".
This helped a lot.
I also made sure I checked my experiation dates (not every bag of flour has one), made sure I had full fat milk, and measured exactly.
My fourth attempt I actually added fat to the pan while it was heating up. Ah, see the science I read explained how the fat heats to a specific temp to make the such and such react and boom, the batter rises. Luckily I had some left over por roast in the fridge. And it was really a lucky thing since I rarely make pot roast or anything like it.
so I picked out the few pieces of fat and put it in the pan, put the pan in the oven, and let it heat up.
The I poured the batter into the sizzling hot pan, and stuck it back in the oven.
and awited.
and guess what, it sort of looked less wrong! Still not correct, but it did rise in a few spots! Score! I think on my 5th attempt I need more fat. (so gross) Since I never cook meat, it might be a good while before I attempt this again.


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Posts Tagged 'Rey Mysterio'
12-16-13 WWE RAWDecember 16, 2013
Smackdown [December 6, 2013]December 6, 2013
Dean Ambrose and CM Punk give us a great first hour main event
Smackdown [November 29, 2013]November 29, 2013
Because we can never have enough Shield vs. (insert names here) matches.
Smackdown [November 22, 2013]November 22, 2013
The Usos, Rey Rey, and the Shield tear the house down.
02-04-13 WWE RAWFebruary 4, 2013
2 solid matches, a huge Hall of Fame announcement, a good ending and oh yeah a lot of filler…
11-26-12 WWE RAWNovember 26, 2012
The Shield is officially the name of this trio, love gets too much air time and Rey vs. Bryan was good shit.
Survivor Series 2012 [Live Updates]November 18, 2012
Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
They show a slick video package featuring a timeline of CM Punk's title reign.
Traditional Survivor Series Match
Brodus Clay, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Rey Mysterio, & Sin Cara defeated The Primetime Players (Titus O'Neil & Darren Young), Tensai, Primo, Epico
- Tensai eliminates Brodus Clay via running senton
- Justin Gabriel eliminates Tensai by crucifix pin
- Tyson Kidd eliminates Titus O'Neil modified Victory Roll
- Tyson Kidd eliminates Epico by submission with a Sharpshooter
- Rey Mysterio eliminates Primo with a roll up.
- Rey Mysterio eliminates Darren Young via Missile Splash to win the match.
Aksana tried to attack Kaitlyn again but her attempt failed when Kaitlyn fought her off.
Great Puma: Great curtain jerker. I wish Primo and Epico had a little more time to shine, but all the participants put forth a sick match.
Mascara de Fuego: Good opener, but I wish they would have pushed this match prior to the ppv, especially since it was a good match.
Smackdown Thoughts & Review [September 7, 2012]September 7, 2012
When the Texas Cloverleaf became the Irish Cloverleaf.
Smackdown Thoughts & Review [August 31, 2012]August 31, 2012
Damien Sandow starts a possible feud with Sheamus, and Kane struggles with his anger management issues.
Summerslam 2012 Live BlogAugust 19, 2012
Welcome to Fighter Hayabusa's Summerslam 2012 Live Blog! Remember to refresh to receive match by match live updates!
Internet Pre-Show Match
New United States Champion Antonio Cesaro pins Santino via Cradle Styles Clash
Mascara de Fuego: Pre show was a lot of recaps to matches but it was good to see Cesaro get his first WWE Title.
Great Puma: Fun opener for the crowd. Cesaro looked strong and earned a convincing win.
1. Chris Jericho submits Dolph Ziggler via Walls of Jericho (this was Lion Tamer-WCW style with the right knee down)
Great Puma: I wish this went longer and that's because this was a hell of a curtain jerker. Great match with a great finish!
Mascara de Fuego: Solid opener, I hope this feud goes on these guys did nice work here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Let me give you a hint: if you're one of those tenacious assholes who believes that someone telling you "No" means you're getting shitty service, then you're wrong. Your definition of service is wrong. Your understanding of what it means to be treated well by a business is wrong. In a word, you're ... (wait for it) ... WRONG.
Quick aside: Before I hear a single complain-y comment about my being an uppity waitress, let me make it clear... I'm not. I was a waitress a long time ago, but for the past decade or so I've been a white collar creative professional. These observations are courtesy of observing people on social media and even occasionally IRL. I will admit that having had a past in the service industry does make me more sympathetic to people in that position.
Now, back to the point. Good service is just that, good service. It's not about someone being able to move heaven and earth so you can have a gluten free muffin (when they're not on the menu). It's not about being able to taste a wine that's currently only available for wine club members (when you're not a member and don't plan on joining), it's not about you getting exactly what you want every time you want something.
Good service is the holistic result of a lot of things, but as far as I'm concerned at its best it's about the handling of denial. How does someone tell you that "No" you really didn't want to hear? How does someone try to make your experience excellent, sans gluten-free muffin? I'm not kidding. It takes a fucking wizard to make up for a lack of [insert thing you want and can't have].
Can't get your order shipped because a mountain is fucking on fire somewhere? Don't leave a bad review for the company on Yelp, that's some bullshit. Your item coming in late isn't "bad service," but them explaining the delay to you kindly despite your being near-impossible to get ahold of, and offering you a shipping discount, *is* good service.
** All examples used above are from my imagination and are employed purely as hypotheticals to make a point.


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You can easily pay your bill via your credit or debit card and set up recurring payments via our Mobile App or in My Account. There is a 1.0 percent fee of the payment amount if using a credit/debit card.
Similar to Reliabill but you'll decide the amount you want to pay each week, fortnight or month. To get the 20% Prompt Payment Discount you'll need to ensure the payments are enough to clear your full monthly power bill. Details to provide to your bank are:
Energy Online Bank Account Number: 03 0584 0225333 00
Energy Online Bank: Westpac Bank
Reference: Please use your Customer Number
Print Form
We've put together a simple guide with all the nitty gritty details to help you understand your bill.
Prompt payment discount applies to electricity and natural gas only


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things I thought you should know
How To Sell Yourself Short.
Things I Thought You Should Know
I'm not crazy.
I know I might come across that way, and trust me, I don't mean to. I'll explain. My friends have always laughed about the fact that my mind never stops, and often the end result is that I'll come out with very bizarre statements that frequently have very little to do with anything we've been discussing. At all. But in my head, I made the transitions, the connections that lead me to that point. And just because I didn't say all of it out loud, doesn't mean it doesn't make sense… To me, anyway. Point is, I may have done that with 'us'… Made the transitions and connections in my head and heart, that lead me to the point where I knew I liked you. So whilst I said it out loud, you were still several steps behind me, wondering how on Earth I'd ended up where I did. So, believe me when I say I'm not crazy. I just like you.
I will miss you.
I know it's a really small statement to make, but people don't say it enough – especially when it is exactly what they're feeling. I think of everything we've shared, and how I went and messed it all up – because let's be honest, I did a bit – and I have only one clear emotion (I refuse to ever regret anything) and that is that I will miss you. Time will heal us both. We will move on. In a few months, perhaps a year, I'll find someone who'll make me laugh and I'll start to like him, instead. But I can guarantee this – I will miss you. I may not feel it every moment of every day, but there'll be moments in each day – lots at first, and less with time. Perhaps a song will come on, or I'll come across a line in a book that reminds me of you. Perhaps I'll play that game we always used to play where we'd open a book and read the first line our eyes fell on as the answer to the questions of the world… Point is, I will miss you.
I didn't mean to make a mess of everything.
It'd be alright, I think, if it had been the first time this time. But it wasn't. And the more you seemed to point out where I was falling short, the shorter I seemed to fall. I genuinely don't know if it's just me who learns by making mistakes, but I seem to have made almost every mistake imaginable. And then I just make more. The first time, I got scared and ran away. And I thought you'd never forgive me for it. Then you got scared and ran away, and I thought I'd never forgive you. Then we forgave each other and seemed to launch into a whole new exciting and potential-filled phase… Until you ran away. Again. This time, however, I have to forgive you. Because you only ran, when I chased you.
I believed you.
I have this stupid habit where I believe people – I've researched cures for it, but there don't seem to be any that don't involve being a 99-year-old spinster with 17 cats whose fluent in cynicism. Not a great look for me. So, I believed you when you told me how important I was to you. And when you said we'd be friends for life in the very least, and that you did have feelings for me, it just wasn't the right time… Well, I believed it all. I drank it up. I was onboard – hook, line and sinker! Even now, I'm not entirely certain that I don't still believe you… I know. I'm a bit of a sucker for punishment.
I'm sorry.
Just that… I'm sorry.


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Articles in Paradigm Hill WINE, Elgee Park WINE, Dessert Wine and Rare Hare WINE
Paradigm Hill Pinot Noir Adesso
by Paradigm Hill on
As many will recall, this is the happy result of "an experiment gone right" and just the third release of the wine! It was left in barrel for 18 months to evolve and mature but it was only after 10 months that we added some preservative. ... Read full article
Paradigm Hill Pinot Noir L'ami sage
by Paradigm Hill on
L'ami sage in 2014 reflects more perfume and elegance, yet, paradoxically exhibiting both subtlety and power. The fine tannin structure builds on the palate and as with the Les cinq, there is a generosity together with a long complex and balanced...... Read full article
Paradigm Hill Riesling
Fruit is crushed, stems removed and the must is left to soak a while before pressing off the juice & overnight cooling. The clear juice that is fermented in open 2000 litre vats [14oC to 16oC]. Wine is bottled after a further 6 months.... Read full article
Paradigm Hill Pinot Gris
by Paradigm Hill on
The Pinot Gris is crushed and stems removed. The must is left to soak a while before pressing off the juice & overnight cooling before the clear juice is fermented in French oak barrels – 50% new Vosges forrest sourced oak is used [16oC to 18oC].... Read full article
Rare Hare White
by Willow Creek on
Let there be white. This cool-climate conception bounds with aromatic fruit flavour. Extra texture adds a savoury element make this an ideal wine for modern food.... Read full article
NV Rare Hare Sparkling
by Willow Creek on
Full of flair, this beaded blend is an appealing aperitif. Approachable, rich, refined and easy to love - all the hallmarks of a perfect life partner… and it probably is. Consume in celebration.... Read full article
2014 Rare Hare Shiraz
by Willow Creek on
This seductive shiraz abounds with intense fruit flavours, a generous, soft mid-palate and fine tannins on the finish. Effortlessly enjoyable, whatever the food or mood.... Read full article
Rare Hare Rosé
by Willow Creek on
From 100% pristine Willow Creek Vineyard fruit, this rosé release is perfectly poised for summer enjoyment. With an delicately attractive peach hue, the wine shows lifted aromas of enticing wild strawberries and redcurrants, and an intriguing hint ..... Read full article
Rahona Valley Late Harvest Riesling
This style is rather more like a German Auslese style; it is very sweet and proudly intended to be a rich, dessert style wine. Sometimes Auslese styles have Botrytis influence but not in this case. It features riper citrus notes on the nose, nudging ... Read full article
Paradigm Hill Transition Rosé
Carefully selected shiraz fruit was crushed and allowed to soak on skins for about 8 hours before pressing. The approach to making this wine is the same as for Pinot Gris with cooled ferments in Vosges-forest-sourced oak barrels [25% new] till zero..... Read full article


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Now that it is fully a month into spring, we made another visit to Stonecrop Gardens. We brought along Rachel's mother who has never been here before. We were very excited to show her around.
During our previous trip (see March 22, 2014), the ground was still covered by snow and we were confined to the Conservatory, the Pit House and other enclosed spaces.
This time around, the snow is long gone (not counting Tuesday night's dusting, which only disappeared on Wednesday; see April 16, 2014), the skies are clear and brilliantly blue and, remarkably, it is comfortably warm. Perfect for a stroll through the outdoor gardens.
It's a good time to see daffodils, hyacinths and other flowering bulbs (although it is still too early for irises and tulips). Not many of the trees have blossomed yet but the weeping cherry tree, the view of which is perfectly framed by one of the moon windows of the Wisteria Pavilion, looked beautiful anyway. Its slender branches have been carefully pruned to cascade downwards in a spherical spray of tiny buds.
This is the earliest we've been in the enclosed flower and vegetable gardens and their appearance is strikingly different from how we've seen them before. Late last summer (see July 27, 2013) for instance, the beds were overflowing with a rich variety of flowers, groundcovers and vegetable plants. The pathways between them were difficult to navigate without brushing against outreached branches or getting in the way of busy bees and other pollinators.
Today, these gardens are practically bare. Anything annual is long gone—cleared away in the fall, no doubt—and everything perennial has been trimmed back, almost to the roots in some cases. It is hard to believe that it will ever return to its abundant summer state.
But there are promising signs that this will indeed be the case. The Stonecrop gardeners were busy planting peas, lettuce and root vegetables, all under the watchful eyes of the benevolent scarecrow Miss Gertrude Jekyll (who was herself receiving restorative attention after what must have been a tough winter outdoors).


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Award-winning whiskey distiller releases new small batch Dry Gin
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) November 10, 2014 — KOVAL Distillery is excited to announce the release of a new organic and small batch Dry Gin. After making a name in the world of whiskey and liqueurs, KOVAL is ready to launch into this new style of spirit making using a blend of unique woodland botanicals in the recipe.
With a base of their award-winning white whiskey, KOVAL's Dry Gin adds flavors from grains of paradise, rose hip, juniper, angelica root, and coriander. This recipe makes a gin that is crisp enough to be enjoyed straight and complex enough to be an ideal base for both classic and contemporary cocktails. The attention to detail that KOVAL's grain-to-bottle process allows shines through in the final product. At 47% ABV, this gin offers a higher alcohol content than others found on the market.
KOVAL changed up the bottle and label to reflect the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into making the spirit itself. Printed using innovative and environmentally sustainable techniques, this new label features Flexo paper with gold foil, embossing, laser cutting, and diecutting. Gold foil disks surround the traditional KOVAL plaque.
Sonat Birnecker Hart, President of KOVAL, knew that a high quality product deserved high quality packaging. "At KOVAL we value the creativity of our design team," said Birnecker Hart. "We wanted to have an artistic label that maintained the sophistication of our overall brand story." The one of a kind laser press used to make the label was the perfect match for this fresh new style of gin.
Gin has been connected with some of the best parts of our culture. Whether we're talking about all the gin joints Ilsa chooses to walk into in Casablanca or F. Scott Fitzgerald's preference in cocktail for The Great Gatsby, KOVAL is excited to throw their name into the options for gin drinkers all over. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, we hope you walk into KOVAL's.
KOVAL Distillery is Chicago's first distillery since Prohibition, making small batch, hand crafted organic and kosher whiskey, brandy, liqueurs, and vodka. The husband and wife team behind KOVAL are also the craft spirit movement's leading consultants, having educated over 2000 people in the art of distilling and the craft industry, and have helped set up over 60 distilleries from the ground up in the US and Canada. Robert Birnecker is also a distilling instructor at the Siebel Institute in Chicago. KOVAL Distillery has won numerous awards in the US and Europe and was named by Whiskey Magazine one of the greatest 100 distilleries in the world to visit.


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After showing my first digital experiment to my peers, I went back onto Adobe Premier Pro and altered my digital narrative piece.
As you can see, I changed the beginning and got rid of my name, and I made the text appear longer on the screen too.
Looking back at the small alterations I made, I felt that this video didn't quite tell the narrative I wanted it to portray. I got the basics of what school I was at at what age and the thing I remembered when I was so young. This narrative is very straight forward and very informative and I wanted it to be personal and slightly more interesting.
I went back to the drawing board and after discussion with my tutors, I decided the next best move was to scrap the text/captions and change everything to audio – in particular a recording of me explaining everything in detail.
By doing this, I feel that my video will be more personal and when my audience will listen to my video, they will hopefully have discovered some sort of connection with my school years to how they was at school – even if it sparks a memory or from personal adventures.


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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
|Structural and molecular characterization of human FK506-binding protein 25 (FKBP25), a nuclear immunophilin
|Prakash, Ajit
|DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences
|Issue Date:
|Prakash, A. (2016). Structural and molecular characterization of human FK506-binding protein 25 (FKBP25), a nuclear immunophilin. Doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
|Human FK506 binding protein (FKBP25), a 25 kDa nuclear protein, is a member of the FK506-binding protein family with peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) activity. It has a conserved C-terminal FK506 binding domain (FKBD), which binds with immunosuppressive drugs such as FK506 and rapamycin and a unique N-terminal helix-loop-helix domain (HLH). These two domains are linked through a long flexible loop. FKBP25 is known to interact with proteins like Nucleolin, MDM2, YY1 and most importantly HDAC1/2. While the structures of two the individual domains of human FKBP25 are known, the structure of full-length FKBP25 and the molecular mechanism of its interaction with nucleic acids remain unknown. The main objective of this thesis research is to perform the structural and molecular characterization of FKBP25 in order to explore the mechanism of its interaction with other proteins, nucleic acids and drugs with an aim of delineating its molecular function. In this study, we determined the crystal structure of human FKBD25 in complex with FK506 drug and attempted to explore the mechanism by which FKBP25 shows differential binding affinity to FK506 and rapamycin (200-fold higher affinity), which is unique feature of FKBP25 among other FKBPs. Later we also determined the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) solution structure of the human full-length FKBP25. The topology of FKBP25 showed that the HLH and FKBD are connected by a long and unstructured flexible linker between the domains. The N-terminal domain consists of five α-helices (Helix-Loop-Helix domain), whereas the C-terminal domain shows a canonical FKBD fold which consists of six antiparallel β-strands and a short central α-helix. Further using gel shift assay, we showed that FKBP25 can interact with DNA in sequence-independent manner. This binding was confirmed by biophysical assays including isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), tryptophan fluorescent quenching and NMR experiments. The binding affinity was estimated around 1.23 μM. We then identified the DNA binding site on FKBP25 by NMR titration and confirmed that mutations of some of the amino acids from the DNA binding site caused reduced DNA binding. We also observed intermolecular NOEs between FKBP25 and DNA. Based on multinational studies and NMR data, we performed docking of FKBP25 with DNA. The FKBP25-DNA complex model revealed that both N-terminal domain and the basic loop of the C-terminal domain are important for nucleic acid recognition. Sequence alignment of FKBP25 with other human FKBPs and homologs of FKBPs showed that the basic loop is exclusively present in human FKBP25 and could be important for nucleic acid binding. The fourth helix of the HLH domain forms major-groove interactions and the basic FKBD loop cooperates to form interactions with an adjacent minor-groove of DNA. The FKBP25-DNA complex model provides structural and mechanistic insights into the nuclear immunophilin-mediated nucleic acid recognition
|Fulltext Permission:
|Fulltext Availability:
|With Fulltext
|Appears in Collections:
|SBS Theses
Files in This Item:
|Ajit's Thesis Final .pdf
|PhD Thesis
|Adobe PDF
Items in DR-NTU are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.


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Tag: epidemiology
Ebola: How a People's Science Helped End an Epidemic
Guest book review from Anita Makri, an editor and writer going freelance after 5+ years with SciDev.Net. (@anita_makri) I'm sure that to readers of this blog the Ebola epidemic that devastated West Africa a couple of years ago needs no introduction (just in case, here's a nice summary by the Guardian's health editor). So I'll […]Read More »


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A Florida federal court in Miami awarded D&O and property insurers summary judgment in a declaratory action, ruling in their favor on essentially every coverage issue, while also ruling that the damages for which their insured was found liable were uninsurable. Twin City Fire Ins. Co. v. CR Technologies, Inc., 25 F.L.W.Fed. D113a (SDFL Mar. 11, 2015). Even if some of the court's rulings, strictly speaking, may be dicta, an unqualified win for insurers can seem rare. Potentially most important as precedent are the rulings that liability for civil theft, a statutory tort often alleged in Florida commercial litigation, is neither a "loss" as commonly defined nor, as a matter of Florida public policy, even insurable.
Insureds were a parent and subsidiary providing business communications services. The parent's termination of a contract with an unaffiliated company (CRT) providing similar services led to a dispute. CRT was plaintiff in the underlying action. A jury returned a verdict against the defendant parent on contract and both common law and statutory tort claims, including civil theft, and against its subsidiary on torts including civil theft. Evidently, their property insurer provided a defense under a reservation of rights, but declined to indemnify. CRT then litigated coverage with the insureds' D&O carrier and property insurer (by implication, the insureds were not parties to the coverage action) .
On D&O issues, the court first found: (a) the insureds' liability for civil theft under s. 772.11, Fla. Stat., was not a "loss" as defined because, "as a matter of law," loss excludes "restoration of ill-gotten gains"; (b) "civil theft is not insurable as a matter of [Florida] public policy"; and (c) the policy expressly excluded coverage for the treble damages portion of the verdict (i.e., twice the 'actual' damages). The few cases cited for points (a) and (b) — conceptually hard to distinguish — appear to provide only analogous authority. Point (c) is noteworthy as the policy provided that " 'Loss' shall include punitive and exemplary damages where insurable" and prohibited the insurer from "contend[ing] for any reason, unless appropriate . . . as a matter of law or public policy, that such damages are uninsurable." The court considered controlling the exclusion for "the multiple portion of any multiple damage award," thus distinguishing statutory multiple from punitive or exemplary damages.
Although unnecessary given these rulings, the court also found three exclusions in the D&O policy barred coverage: (x) insureds' liability for civil theft arose or related to their "deliberately fraudulent or criminal act or omission or [a] willful violation of law"; (y) likewise, their adjudicated liability arose from or related to their "gaining . . . personal profit, remuneration or advantage to which [they were] not legally entitled"; and (z) the crime cover in the policy excluded "Loss resulting from Theft or any other dishonest or criminal acts committed by the Insured," which the court deemed encompassed civil theft.
Addressing the insureds' property policy, the court found: (i) liability for civil theft was neither property damage nor an occurrence as defined, because the insureds' property incurred no damage or loss of use and the intent element of civil theft was inconsistent with the definition of "occurrence" in terms of "accident"; (ii) even assuming otherwise, the exclusion for "expected or intended injury" applied given the insureds' "criminal intent"; (iii) similarly, the policy excluded coverage for CRT's property that was "in the care, custody or control of the insured." Finally, several deficiencies CRT alleged in the carrier's reservation of rights letters could not by wavier or estoppel "be used to create coverage beyond the [policy's] terms."
While not explicit in the decision, it appears that CRT won resoundingly at trial against the seriously misbehaving insureds, only to end up empty-handed. By inference, CRT would have no reason to litigate with the insurers if their insureds had paid the judgment CRT recovered against them. Having so convincingly proved the insureds' intentional misconduct, CRT had prevented itself from recovering from the defendants' insurers.


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OPTUS Stadium ground staff are addressing concerns over the rock-hard playing surface ahead of next Saturday's NRL double header and the AFL season.
Now that Ed Sheeran has warbled his final note at the venue, curators HG Sports Turf will begin the transition to NRL and AFL mode.
The turf will be watered, mowed at a slightly longer length and aerated to relieve ground compaction and hardness.
Win big this footy season at thegame.com.au with $150,000 in tipping and fantasy prizes up for grabs, including a Mazda BT-50. Sign up today!
There has already been talk from AFL players that the ground is even harder than Melbourne's Etihad Stadium, which has had a checkered history with a spate of knee injuries and concussions blamed on the hard surface, the result of a concrete base.
The Optus Stadium turf is a combination of natural couch, rye and artificial grass.
A stadium spokesperson said the hybrid "provides outstanding stability and durability, and also responds well to regular maintenance.
"The same turf is successfully used at ANZ Stadium (Sydney), Eden Park (Auckland), Gabba (Brisbane), nib Stadium (Perth) and MCG (Melbourne). All of these venues manage a mix of sporting and entertainment events each year," the spokesperson said.
"For the two cricket matches at Optus Stadium earlier this year, the turf was purposely prepared to be firm, low and tight, which is ideal for a ball roll."
Turf protection was in place for the 110,000 sold-out Sheeran concerts.
"Specific tests were undertaken by HG Sports Turf ahead of the AFL Women's match on February 10 to ensure the surface met AFL standards, which have been met for tests conducted to date," the spokesperson said.
"The turf will continue to meet all necessary performance requirements for AFL, NRL and other events."


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|Audi R8 #402 "Infineon" Winner Sebring´00 Biela/Kristensen/Pirro
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UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. $186,416.00 IN U.S. CURRENCY, Defendant. United Medical Caregivers Clinic, Inc., Claimant-Appellant.
California state law differs from federal law in its treatment of the distribution and possession of marijuana for purportedly medical purposes. California has concluded that marijuana may have medicinal value, and under California law the distribution and possession of "medical marijuana" is not illegal. See Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11362.5(b)(1)(A) (declaring that one purpose of a 1996 voter-approved medical marijuana initiative is "[t]o ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes"); id. § 11362.765 (exempting from criminal liability individuals who perform certain actions involving medical marijuana). The federal government has not recognized a legitimate medical use for marijuana, however, and there is no exception for medical marijuana distribution or possession under the federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 801-971. See Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1, 14-15, 125 S.Ct. 2195, 162 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005) (explaining that the distribution or possession of marijuana is a criminal offense under the Controlled Substances Act); Raich v. Gonzales, 500 F.3d 850, 854-55 (9th Cir.2007) (discussing marijuana's status as a "Schedule I" controlled substance, a designation available only to certain substances found to have "no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" (quoting 21 U.S.C. § 812(b)(1))).
This difference lies behind the civil forfeiture case before us. The case concerns $186,416.00 in U.S. currency seized by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department ("LAPD") during a search of the United Medical Caregivers Clinic ("UMCC" or "Clinic"), a non-profit medical marijuana dispensary owned by United Medical Caregivers Clinic, Inc. Although the LAPD secured a state court warrant for the search, the Department failed to inform the issuing court of extensive evidence that UMCC may have been operating in accordance with California's medical marijuana laws. The state court subsequently approved the release of the seized currency to the United States, which then initiated a federal civil forfeiture action against it. UMCC presented its own claim to the currency. On UMCC's motion the District Court suppressed the currency as evidence, holding the search to have been illegal. The District Court held, however, that the government had sufficient evidence, independent of the currency itself and of any other evidence tainted by the illegal search, to initiate the forfeiture action against the currency. We conclude that the evidence relied upon by the District Court was itself tainted by the illegal search and should be suppressed, and that without the suppressed evidence the government lacked probable cause to connect the defendant currency to a violation of federal law. We thus reverse the judgment of the District Court and remand for further proceedings.
I. Background
In early 2005 LAPD Sergeant Miguel Lopez began receiving complaints of marijuana smoking near the UMCC offices on Wilshire Boulevard. Many of the complainants observed that the individuals smoking marijuana carried the drug in small brown paper bags.
On March 15, 2005, Lopez investigated and found a flyer referring to "UMCC" and advising Clinic patrons to leave the premises after purchasing marijuana. Lopez located the UMCC facility and entered the building's lobby. Once inside he "immediately smelled the strong odor of marijuana" and observed a number of people leaving the Clinic's offices with small brown paper bags.
UMCC staff admitted Lopez into its offices. While he was there, at least three individuals appear to have told Lopez that UMCC was a medical marijuana provider: Scott Feil, UMCC's chief executive officer; Gabriella Jaramillo, a manager; and Michael Bryan, a security guard. Additionally, Jaramillo provided Lopez with copies of UMCC's corporate papers and its City of Los Angeles Tax Registration Certificate, as well as with written information about California's medical marijuana laws. In a declaration filed later, Jaramillo agreed with Lopez's estimate that he viewed approximately 50 individuals purchasing marijuana from UMCC within a 45-minute period. She added that "[e]ach of these patients was purchasing medical marijuana pursuant to a doctor's written recommendation" and that Lopez did not object to any of the transactions.
Lopez called his watch commander to report the situation. The LAPD applied for a search warrant to search the UMCC facility. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge issued the warrant, and it was executed the same evening. During the search LAPD officers seized $186,416.00 in U.S. currency from the Clinic's safe and from a cash register, along with about 209 pounds of marijuana, 21 pounds of hashish, and 12 pounds of marijuana oil.
No criminal charges were filed against UMCC or any of its employees, but the LAPD continued to hold the currency. About two months later UMCC filed a motion in Los Angeles Superior Court for return of the currency and other items seized by the LAPD on March 15. Attached to this motion was a declaration by Feil, the chief executive officer of UMCC, executed on May 12, 2005 ("Feil declaration").1
In his declaration Feil acknowledged the connection between the currency and UMCC's activities but insisted that UMCC was, under California state law, a lawful medical marijuana provider. The declaration stated, among other things, that "[a]ll cannabis products obtained or produced by UMCC are only distributed to patient members of UMCC․ UMCC does not allow the distribution of cannabis products to non-patients or non-members[.]" Feil continued: "On March 15, 2005, the Los Angeles Police Department seized numerous cannabis products, approximately $200,000 in currency, and other items including security equipment. The materials seized were all, to the best of my knowledge and belief, legitimately used in the course of UMCC's activities as described above."
In late August 2005, the state court ordered the release of the seized currency from state court jurisdiction to allow the initiation of federal forfeiture proceedings. An LAPD detective had presented this order for the state court's approval.
On September 12, 2005, the federal government filed in District Court a complaint for forfeiture pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(6), alleging that the defendant currency was seized from UMCC and was traceable to narcotics violations under 21 U.S.C. §§ 841, 846. UMCC claimed ownership of the currency and filed a motion to suppress all evidence seized pursuant to the state search warrant issued on March 15, 2005. The District Court granted the motion to suppress, holding that there had not been probable cause to issue the warrant for a violation of state law. In considering probable cause under state law, the District Court found that the warrant affidavit submitted by the LAPD had been "misleading" and contained "reckless" omissions of numerous relevant facts pertaining to UMCC's status as a medical marijuana dispensary.
UMCC subsequently brought a motion for summary judgment in the federal civil forfeiture action, arguing that the government lacked sufficient evidence to initiate the action against the defendant currency. The District Court denied that motion, holding in a reported decision that the government had sufficient evidence to initiate its action, even in the absence of all evidence excluded under the court's prior suppression ruling and the fruits of the suppressed evidence. United States v. $186,416.00 in U.S. Currency, 527 F.Supp.2d 1103, 1107 (C.D.Cal.2007). Specifically, the District Court held that the Feil declaration "provided the Government with sufficient untainted probable cause" to proceed, as the declaration was not subject to suppression under any of a variety of theories. Id. at 1141-42. UMCC then consented to a judgment forfeiting the currency to the government and filed a timely appeal.
II. Discussion
UMCC argues on appeal that the District Court erred in concluding that the government had probable cause to initiate the forfeiture proceeding. The Clinic contends that the Feil declaration was "the only possible basis for the Government to establish probable cause" and that the court should not have considered the declaration because it was tainted by the unlawful search of UMCC's offices. The government, in turn, defends the District Court's ruling that the government properly could rely on the Feil declaration to establish the defendant currency's alleged connection to marijuana activities unlawful under federal law. In addition, the government offers further evidence that it contends could support a determination of probable cause, even if it were unable to rely on the Feil declaration.
A. Illegality of the Search
We begin by noting that the government does not contest the District Court's finding that the search by the LAPD was unlawful despite the state court warrant, nor does it contest the resulting suppression of the currency and other evidence seized during that search. Accordingly, the District Court's August 2006 order quashing the search warrant and suppressing the defendant currency is not before us. See, e.g., Spurlock v. FBI, 69 F.3d 1010, 1018 (9th Cir.1995).
There is a disagreement as to the nature of the search's illegality, however. When the District Court granted UMCC's suppression motion in August 2006, it did so on Fourth Amendment grounds, citing United States v. Stanert, 762 F.2d 775, 780-81 (9th Cir.1985), in which we held that "the Fourth Amendment mandates that a defendant be permitted to challenge a warrant affidavit valid on its face when it contains deliberate or reckless omissions of facts that tend to mislead."
In its summary judgment order of August 2007, the District Court reconsidered and instead described the warrant as invalid not for a constitutional infirmity but for its failure to meet the procedural requirements provided in Rule 41 for obtaining a federal search warrant. $186,416.00 in U.S. Currency, 527 F.Supp.2d at 1138. The court reasoned that the LAPD had probable cause to believe that UMCC was operating in violation of federal narcotics law, even though it lacked probable cause with regards to state law. Id. As such, the LAPD's only error, according to the District Court, was in failing to comply with the procedural requirements of Rule 41, such as having a federal law enforcement officer request the warrant and obtaining approval from a magistrate judge unless none was reasonably available. Id.; see also Fed.R.Crim.P. 41(b).
We cannot approve this analysis. Rule 41 is inapplicable to "searches conducted by state officers with state warrants issued by state judges, with minimal or no federal involvement," even if federal prosecution results. United States v. Piver, 899 F.2d 881, 882 (9th Cir.1990). The present case fits this description. Only a "federal law enforcement officer or an attorney for the government" can request a search warrant under Rule 41, and no such individual was involved in requesting the warrant at issue here. Fed.R.Crim.P. 41(b).
While there may have been probable cause to search UMCC for a violation of federal law, that was not what the LAPD was doing. Nothing in the documents prepared at the time the warrant was obtained from the state court or in the procedure followed to obtain that warrant supports the proposition that the LAPD thought it was pursuing a violation of federal law. Instead, it sought a warrant from a state court judge, though, as the District Court found, it lacked probable cause for a state law violation and failed to inform the state court judge of relevant facts that supported the conclusion that UMCC was not in violation of state law. The LAPD, a city agency, never initiated the process of seeking a federal search warrant from a federal magistrate or indicated that it was pursuing a violation of federal law.
Accordingly, the search was not illegal simply because it failed to comply with Rule 41 but because it violated UMCC's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures, in light of the absence of probable cause under state law. See Piver, 899 F.2d at 882 (holding that state warrants must adhere to federal constitutional standards).
B. Probable Cause To Institute the Forfeiture Action
The fact that the currency was seized by the LAPD unlawfully does not necessarily mean that it cannot be subject to forfeiture. See United States v. One (1) 1971 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Serial # 4A25791H1, 508 F.2d 351, 351 (9th Cir.1974) (per curiam) ("The mere fact of the illegal seizure, standing alone, does not immunize the goods from forfeiture." (internal quotation marks omitted)). The government may still institute a forfeiture action if it can demonstrate probable cause for doing so, based upon untainted evidence. See United States v. $493,850.00 in U.S. Currency, 518 F.3d 1159, 1169 (9th Cir.2008). The probable cause requirement is statutory. Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1615, which also assigns the burden of proof in forfeiture proceedings, the government must show that probable cause exists to institute its action. We recently held that this requirement survived the enactment of the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000. $493,850.00 in U.S. Currency, 518 F.3d at 1169.
"The government has probable cause to institute a forfeiture action when it has reasonable grounds to believe that the property was related to an illegal drug transaction, supported by less than prima facie proof but more than mere suspicion." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Probable cause may be supported only by facts "untainted" by any prior illegality. See United States v. Driver, 776 F.2d 807, 812 (9th Cir.1985). It may be based only upon information gathered before the forfeiture action was instituted. $493,850.00 in U.S. Currency, 518 F.3d at 1169.
We therefore must determine whether the government had probable cause to file its complaint on September 12, 2005. The government argues that probable cause was supported by the Feil declaration and, alternatively, by its knowledge of UMCC's marijuana sales at the time the forfeiture action was instituted, independent of any evidence tainted by the unlawful search. The District Court held that the Feil declaration was admissible and by itself gave the government sufficient probable cause for bringing this action. $186,416.00 in U.S. Currency, 527 F.Supp.2d at 1142. We review the District Court's determination of probable cause de novo. $493,850.00 in U.S. Currency, 518 F.3d at 1164.
1. The Feil Declaration
In his declaration, Feil, UMCC's CEO, admitted that UMCC "distributed" marijuana. The declaration stated: "All cannabis products obtained or produced by UMCC are only distributed to patient members of UMCC." Feil then linked the defendant currency to the distribution of marijuana by declaring that seized items were "used in the course of UMCC's activities as described above." Because there is no exception for medical marijuana distribution under the federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 801-971, see Raich, 545 U.S. at 14-15, 125 S.Ct. 2195, the Feil declaration would suffice to establish probable cause to believe that the money in question was linked to sales of marijuana, if we conclude that the government was permitted to rely on it.
UMCC argues that the government is barred from relying on the Feil declaration because it is tainted by the unlawful search conducted by the LAPD. We consider, then, whether the Feil declaration must be excluded as the "fruit" of the LAPD's unconstitutional actions. See United States v. Crews, 445 U.S. 463, 470, 100 S.Ct. 1244, 63 L.Ed.2d 537 (1980) ("[T]he exclusionary sanction applies to any 'fruits' of a constitutional violation․"). The Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule applies to civil forfeiture proceedings. One 1958 Plymouth Sedan v. Pennsylvania, 380 U.S. 693, 696, 85 S.Ct. 1246, 14 L.Ed.2d 170 (1965); United States v. $191,910.00 in U.S. Currency, 16 F.3d 1051, 1063 (9th Cir.1994), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in United States v. $80,180.00 in U.S. Currency, 303 F.3d 1182, 1184 (9th Cir.2002). We review de novo the District Court's refusal to set aside the Feil declaration on these grounds. See United States v. Crawford, 372 F.3d 1048, 1053 (9th Cir.2004) (en banc).
We recognize, as have other courts, that the fact-intensive nature of Fourth Amendment cases demands that each be evaluated on its own facts. United States v. Fifty-Three Thousand Eighty-Two Dollars in U.S. Currency, $53,082.00, 985 F.2d 245, 248 (6th Cir.1993); see also Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590, 603, 95 S.Ct. 2254, 45 L.Ed.2d 416 (1975) ("The question whether a [criminal defendant's] confession is the product of a free will ․ must be answered on the facts of each case."). To apply the exclusionary rule to the unique set of facts presented here, we must consider the rule's dual purposes: to deter similar police misconduct in the future and to preserve the integrity of the courts. See Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 217-18, 99 S.Ct. 2248, 60 L.Ed.2d 824 (1979). We have observed that "[w]hether the twin aims of deterrence and judicial integrity warrant application of the exclusionary rule depends largely on the facts of each case." Crawford, 372 F.3d at 1054.
Before beginning our analysis we note that the exclusionary rule is particularly well-suited to advance both of these goals in the context of civil forfeiture proceedings. Law enforcement agencies today depend, at least in part, on the proceeds of forfeiture actions to finance their activities. See Mark J. Crandley, A Plymouth, A Parolee, and the Police: The Case for the Exclusionary Rule in Civil Forfeiture After Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole v. Scott, 65 Alb. L.Rev. 147, 160 (2001). The Supreme Court has recognized that, as a consequence, the government has a substantial financial stake in drug forfeitures. See United States v. James Daniel Good Real Prop., 510 U.S. 43, 56 n. 2, 114 S.Ct. 492, 126 L.Ed.2d 490 (1993) (citing a 1990 memorandum by the Attorney General urging United States Attorneys "to increase the volume of forfeitures in order to meet the Department of Justice's annual budget target"). Given the government's strong financial incentive to prevail in civil forfeiture actions, the application of the exclusionary sanction in these cases is likely to prove especially effective in deterring law enforcement agents from engaging in illegal activity.2 Applying the exclusionary rule in forfeiture proceedings also protects judicial integrity by ensuring that the courts do not serve as a conduit through which the government fills its coffers at the expense of those whose constitutional rights its agents violated.
Moreover, the exclusion of evidence in forfeiture proceedings is without the major societal cost associated with exclusion in criminal cases: setting a criminal free. Justice Cardozo's famous critique of the exclusionary rule, that it allows "[t]he criminal ․ to go free because the constable has blundered," does not apply to forfeitures. People v. Defore, 242 N.Y. 13, 150 N.E. 585, 587 (1926). The only tangible cost to society from excluding evidence in a case like ours is monetary, a far less compelling reason to restrict the rule's application than the risk of freeing a guilty party.
To determine whether evidence, such as the Feil declaration, is subject to exclusion as the fruit of a constitutional violation, we must ask whether the evidence has been obtained "by exploitation of [the] illegality or instead by means sufficiently distinguishable to be purged of the primary taint." Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963) (internal quotation marks omitted). Challenged evidence is not considered the fruit of lawless police conduct when the connection between the illegality and the evidence becomes "so attenuated as to dissipate the taint." Id. at 491, 83 S.Ct. 407 (internal quotation marks omitted).
As a preliminary step, it is plain that the Feil declaration was the product of the LAPD's illegal activity. See New York v. Harris, 495 U.S. 14, 19, 110 S.Ct. 1640, 109 L.Ed.2d 13 (1990). "There is no question of 'attenuation' until the connection between the primary illegality and the evidence obtained is established." Crawford, 372 F.3d at 1058 (quotation marks omitted). As the Supreme Court has recognized, "most cases begin with the premise that the challenged evidence is in some sense the product of illegal governmental activity." Crews, 445 U.S. at 471, 100 S.Ct. 1244. This case is no exception. The LAPD's illegal search revealed the defendant currency and allowed for its seizure. Feil, in turn, submitted his declaration for the express purpose of securing the return of the illegally seized currency. This being so, there indisputably is a strong connection between the unlawful search and the Feil declaration.
The question then becomes whether the attenuated basis exception applies. We observe that UMCC does not dispute, nor would there be grounds for doing so, that Feil's declaration was "voluntary," in the sense pertinent to the Fifth Amendment. Nevertheless, whether a statement is voluntary is merely a "threshold requirement" for admissibility. Brown, 422 U.S. at 604, 95 S.Ct. 2254. For the "causal chain" between the illegality and the subsequent statement to be broken, the statement also must be "sufficiently an act of free will to purge the primary taint." Id. at 602, 95 S.Ct. 2254 (quoting Wong Sun, 371 U.S. at 486, 83 S.Ct. 407). To guide this inquiry, the Brown Court identified several factors relevant to whether a statement is sufficiently attenuated from the illegality as to be admissible: "[t]he temporal proximity of the arrest and the confession, the presence of intervening circumstances, and, particularly, the purpose and flagrancy of the official misconduct." Id. at 603-04, 95 S.Ct. 2254 (footnotes and internal citation omitted). The Court also emphasized that the Fourth Amendment cannot turn on any single "talismanic test," given the diverse "possibilities of misconduct" that exist. Id. at 603, 95 S.Ct. 2254.
With this in mind, we now determine "[w]hether the twin aims of deterrence and judicial integrity warrant application of the exclusionary rule" under the unique facts of the present case. Crawford, 372 F.3d at 1054. Applying the factors put forth by the Supreme Court in Brown, we consider, first, that Feil executed his declaration on May 12, 2005, nearly two months after the illegal search of UMCC. While this is a relatively long time, "there is no 'bright-line' test for temporal proximity" in an attenuation analysis. United States v. Reed, 349 F.3d 457, 463 (7th Cir.2003). Rather, we must consider whether intervening circumstances may have purged the Feil declaration of taint from the illegal search. Brown, 422 U.S. at 603-04, 95 S.Ct. 2254.
Under this factor, we do not find any intervening circumstances that would allow us to say that Feil made "an unconstrained, independent decision that was completely unrelated to the initial unlawful violation." United States v. Washington, 387 F.3d 1060, 1074 (9th Cir.2004) (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted). Far from making an "unconstrained, independent decision" to file his declaration, Feil had to offer a declaration of ownership on UMCC's behalf, or else UMCC would have lost all hope of rectifying the "initial unlawful violation" by the LAPD. Id. This is so because at the time UMCC filed its motion for return of the seized currency in state court, with the Feil declaration attached, such a filing appeared to be its only option for regaining the currency unlawfully seized by the LAPD. Feil's declaration, therefore, was not only closely tied to the LAPD's illegal activity but was virtually compelled by it.
In addition, when discussing the first two attenuation factors, we have held that "[i]t is not enough for Fourth Amendment attenuation that [a] statement be uncoerced; the defendant's 'free will' must also be sufficient to render inapplicable the deterrence and judicial integrity purposes that justify excluding his statement." United States v. Perez-Esparza, 609 F.2d 1284, 1289 (9th Cir.1979). Considering Feil in place of "the defendant" referenced in our precedent, we conclude that Feil's act was not one of free will that would overcome our substantial interests in deterring official illegality and upholding judicial integrity. As we have discussed, Feil could obtain return of UMCC's illegally seized money only by asserting UMCC's ownership interest in the currency, thereby leaving his decision well short of being a product of an "unconstrained" and "independent" free will. Washington, 387 F.3d at 1074. At the same time, substantial deterrence interests will be served by refusing to allow the government to rely on the Feil declaration, given law enforcement's strong incentive to prevail in forfeiture actions. The integrity of this court also is served by our refusal to allow the government to profit from illegal activity by law enforcement when such activity produces incriminating evidence like the Feil declaration.
The third attenuation factor is "the purpose and flagrancy of the official misconduct." Brown, 422 U.S. at 604, 95 S.Ct. 2254. When applying for a warrant to search UMCC, the LAPD was aware of extensive evidence to suggest that the Clinic may have been operating in compliance with California law permitting medical marijuana sales. Nevertheless, in its warrant affidavit, the LAPD omitted any reference to this evidence when applying to a state magistrate for a search warrant under state law. The District Court properly found that the warrant affidavit omitted the following undisputed facts:
• that Lopez [the first officer to arrive at UMCC] and other officers at the clinic were repeatedly told that UMCC was a valid medical marijuana dispensary under California's medical marijuana laws, and were handed copies of the relevant statutes and associated literature;
• that patients who entered the clinic held letters from physicians recommending marijuana for their ailments;
• that while LAPD officers were on the scene, approximately fifty patients obtained marijuana with doctor's letters and without objection from the officers;
• that Lopez was voluntarily buzzed in by UMCC staff, who were polite and cooperative throughout the encounter;
• and that Lopez was shown UMCC's incorporation papers and a copy of its City of Los Angeles Tax Registration Certificate for a retail business.
By omitting these facts, the LAPD misled a state judge into perceiving UMCC's conduct as criminal when, in fact, it was probably legal under California law. This is no trivial distinction under California narcotics law. While designated owners, operators, or employees of medical marijuana clinics are not subject to state criminal liability for certain marijuana-related offenses, see Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 11362.7, 11362.765, individuals not covered by California's medical marijuana laws still face prison time if convicted of, among other offenses, selling marijuana or possessing it for sale, id. §§ 11359, 11360. Under California law these two situations differ dramatically, and the difference hinges entirely on information the LAPD failed to provide the state magistrate. In short, the LAPD simply ignored copious evidence of UMCC's compliance with state law and failed to inform the state court judge of it.
This police misconduct is both highly objectionable and closely connected to the Feil declaration. The LAPD's omission of crucial information from the warrant affidavit enabled its illegal search of UMCC's offices and its seizure of the defendant currency. This, in turn, led directly to Feil's declaration as, without a statement of ownership, UMCC would have been left without legal recourse to regain the currency that was illegally taken from its possession. Because this unbroken "causal chain" links the initial illegality and Feil's subsequent statement, the Feil declaration is not "sufficiently an act of free will to purge the primary taint" from the LAPD's unlawful actions. Brown, 422 U.S. at 602, 95 S.Ct. 2254 (quoting Wong Sun, 371 U.S. at 486, 83 S.Ct. 407).3
We are particularly concerned by the possibility that the LAPD might stand to profit from unlawful activity. It would be objectionable that any unit of government might profit from the LAPD's actions, but even greater concern arises here from the suggestion in UMCC's opening brief, not denied by the government, that the LAPD "stands to receive up to 80% of any forfeiture obtained by the federal government in this case." Although the record on appeal contains no indication of how any forfeiture proceeds might be divided between the federal government and the LAPD, we recognize the distinct and disturbing possibility that the LAPD could profit from its own illegal activity, were the government to prevail. Under federal forfeiture statutes, the Secretary of the Treasury is permitted to transfer forfeited property to "any State or local law enforcement agency that participated directly or indirectly in the seizure or forfeiture of the property." 19 U.S.C. § 1616a(c)(1)(B)(ii). The LAPD would qualify to receive forfeited funds under this provision, should the federal government elect to make such a transfer.
Accordingly, we exclude the Feil declaration as tainted by the unlawful search and hold that the government may not rely on it to establish probable cause for instituting its forfeiture action.4
2. Other Government Evidence
The burden thus falls on the government to show that it had probable cause to institute a forfeiture action against the defendant currency, independent of the tainted and suppressed evidence. $493,850.00 in U.S. Currency, 518 F.3d at 1169; Driver, 776 F.2d at 812; One (1) 1971 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, 508 F.2d at 351 (holding that evidence may be introduced in a forfeiture proceeding if it was "derived independently" of an unconstitutional seizure of the res). In other words, the government must demonstrate that at the time it instituted the forfeiture action it had "reasonable grounds," separate from evidence connected to the illegal seizure of the defendant currency, for believing that the cash money was related to an illegal drug transaction. $493,850.00 in U.S. Currency, 518 F.3d at 1169; One (1) 1971 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, 508 F.2d at 351. The evidence the government offers us fails to meet this standard.
The government points to the knowledge of UMCC's marijuana sales that it gained from LAPD officers' observations on the day of the search, independent of the search itself. These observations include Sergeant Lopez's receipt of a flyer advertising UMCC, his perception of the scent of marijuana inside the UMCC building, the individuals he saw leaving the Clinic with brown paper bags (as consistent with complaints of marijuana smokers in the neighborhood holding such bags), the statements that employees of UMCC made to Lopez indicating that the Clinic sold marijuana, and another officer's corroborating observations. Although, taken together, this evidence may indicate, as the government contends, that UMCC was selling marijuana, the evidence does not reference the defendant currency and thus cannot alone establish any connection between UMCC's marijuana sales and the currency.
According to the government, however, we must consider this evidence in conjunction with the lack of evidence suggesting that UMCC had any source of revenue apart from marijuana sales. On this logic, there was probable cause to believe that "any money found on the premises at UMCC represented proceeds of sales of marijuana, and was therefore forfeitable." Yet under our precedent we cannot consider in a forfeiture proceeding the amount of currency that the government illegally seized. $493,850.00 in U.S. Currency, 518 F.3d at 1165 (citing $191,910.00 in U.S. Currency, 16 F.3d at 1059, 1065). This being so, we are left without a clue as to whether currency of an unknown amount discovered at UMCC was indeed revenue from the Clinic's operations or was, for instance, a small amount of personal cash that an employee had acquired elsewhere and kept in a locked drawer at work. Because we are precluded from considering how much currency the LAPD illegally seized, we cannot agree with the government that the mere presence of currency, of any amount, at UMCC established probable cause to find that such currency was connected to marijuana sales. See $493,850.00 in U.S. Currency, 518 F.3d at 1165. Accordingly, the government has failed to show that it had probable cause to institute its forfeiture action against the defendant currency.
III. Conclusion
Having determined that the government failed to show probable cause, we reverse the District Court's denial of UMCC's motion for summary judgment and order the District Court to enter judgment for UMCC.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
1. UMCC filed a second copy of this motion and the Feil declaration in early August 2005, again in Los Angeles Superior Court, as attachments to a motion entitled "Motion for Order To Show Cause Why the Court's 'Order for Release of Property Pursuant to Search Warrant for Federal Forfeiture Proceedings' Should Not Be Set Aside."
2. One observer contends that "[t]he deterrence to police misconduct created by the exclusionary rule in civil forfeiture is unique because forfeiture plays a large role in modern police work, officers have a financial stake in seized assets, and the proceedings themselves are quasi-criminal." Crandley, 65 Alb. L.Rev. at 178.
3. The government cites United States v. Raposa, 84 F.3d 502 (1st Cir.1996), as an example of a court holding that a voluntary statement was "sufficiently an act of free will to purge the primary taint" of a prior illegal search. Id. at 505 n. 7 (quoting Wong Sun, 371 U.S. at 486, 83 S.Ct. 407). In Raposa, a criminal defendant succeeded on a motion to suppress cocaine found in his apartment as the fruit of an illegal search, but subsequently agreed to plead guilty to a separate charge of heroin possession. Through his attorney, the defendant submitted to the federal probation officer for inclusion in his pre-sentence report ("PSR") a signed statement in which he voluntarily admitted ownership of the cocaine that had been suppressed. Id. at 503-05. The First Circuit held that the exclusionary rule "clearly could not have barred the district court from considering the defendant's voluntary statements as set forth in the PSR." Id. at 505. Indeed, the "[d]efendant [did] not and could not credibly argue that the statements recounted in the PSR constituted a fruit of the illegal search conducted on the day of his arrest," for the statements were voluntarily submitted and were provided after the ruling on the suppression motion. Id. at 505 n. 7.Feil likewise made a voluntary statement regarding ownership, but Feil's statement was made before the decision on the suppression motion, was directly aimed at remedying the illegal seizure of the currency, and so was tightly linked to the illegal seizure, as we have discussed. In Raposa, in contrast, the defendant's statements in the PSR were not so motivated. Accordingly, we do not consider the reasoning in Raposa to be relevant to the present case.
4. Having excluded the Feil declaration on Fourth Amendment grounds, we need not reach UMCC's other arguments against permitting the government to rely on the declaration, specifically that the government should be judicially estopped from so relying and that the declaration should be set aside on a rationale similar to that employed in Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968), and Safarik v. United States, 62 F.2d 892 (8th Cir.1933).
CLIFTON, Circuit Judge:


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Using Social Media Images to Enhance Your Brand
Study after study indicates images create more excitement, more likes, and more shares on social media than text. However, the popularity of images in general does not unilaterally guarantee success. To create the greatest impact and the most buzz, select the images you share strategically. Inspire yourself by taking a look at how different companies successfully navigate the visual realm of social media:
Fun and Function
All work and no play makes life dull, and Oreo embraces this axiom in its Instagram feed. This purveyor of cream-filled cookie goodness posts a range of quirky, artistic images — all containing Oreos — to its feed, but it also includes photos of Oreo desserts and recipes.
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Instructive Ideas
Instead of just relying on images, tech giant Intel blends images with facts and ideas. With its stream of tech, science, and nature-related photos and facts, this company turns Instagram instructive. The carefully curated images appeal to the company's client base of people who presumably love to access info on Intel products.
Rather than being mired in science and tech, other brands promote the type of learning that appeals to their client base, and this approach can include instructive photos on scarf knots, historical sites, food pairing, entertainment trivia, or virtually any other niche. The key is combining a show-stopping image with shareable info.
Brand Image
When it comes to shaping brands, images have always been extremely powerful. From the rugged and strong look of the Marlboro Man to the soft and cuddly appearance of the Downy bear, the right visual image sets the tone for a brand.
Taco Bell is tapping into the power of social media imagery to reset its brand associations, and this taco trader is taking its concept well beyond the iconic little Chihuahua. Using artsy shots of sophisticated clients and tantalizing images of its food, the company is effectively using social media to reshape its brand as innovative and cool. These images push Taco Bell forward as a potential spot for date night, a relatively new concept for the brand.
Customer Engagement
Rather than crafting images of what its clients look like to create its brand, LifeLock invites its clients to post images of themselves. The identity theft protection company draws awareness to its products and engages it clients by combining hashtags and images.
Using Facebook and Twitter as well as other platforms, LifeLock customers post pics of themselves volunteering, and they add the LifeLock hashtag in the caption. This approach has a twofold effect — it paints the brand as community-oriented and it engages clients. Clients are much more likely to follow a company and share its posts if they feel personally engaged.
Social media photos can be used to create fun buzz, inform clients, shape your brand, or engage your client base, but they can also be used to tell a story about your company or your products. Visit Media Bakery to find the best images for your social campaigns and use code SAVE20 to take 20% off your order.


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Brazilian lawmakers tossed out a corruption charge against scandal-plagued President Michel Temer on Wednesday, saving the center-right leader from becoming the country's second leader in 12 months to be forced from office.
Despite hugely embarrassing bribery allegations, Temer had been expected to survive. But the ease of his victory was a surprise at a time when Brazil is at the height of its biggest ever anti-graft investigation, dubbed Car Wash.
The lower house of Congress needed a two-thirds majority to authorize a trial in the Supreme Court, while Temer needed only one third, or 172 deputies, either to support him or to abstain and get the charge shelved.
In the end, he got 263 votes out of a possible 513 in a process where lawmakers voted one by one, making short, often emotional statements live on national television. That was more than half of the whole chamber.
Temer called it "a clear, indisputable" victory.
A deeply unpopular veteran of the ruling center-right PMDB party, Temer is accused of taking bribes from a meatpacking industry executive. He is the first sitting president to face a criminal charge.
If Congress had authorized the trial and the Supreme court accepted it, he would have been suspended for 180 days and the speaker of the lower house would have become interim president.
Leftist opponents were hoping the scandal would sink Temer and halt economic austerity reforms that have prompted violent protests, but which Temer says will rescue the economy after a two-year recession.
The left also wanted revenge for his rise to power a year ago, when his allies in Congress ejected leftist president Dilma Rousseff in an impeachment trial for breaking budget rules. Temer, her vice president in a shaky coalition, immediately took over.
Wednesday's debate was interrupted repeatedly by yelling and occasional scuffles, illustrating divisions across Brazil.
The escape does not mean the end of Temer's problems.
Expectations are that top prosecutor Rodrigo Janot could file at least one more criminal charge, including for obstruction of justice, in the coming weeks. Opponents have also vowed to stage new street protest against the economic reforms.
But Temer celebrated his reprieve, saying "we are pulling Brazil out of its worst economic crisis in our history," he said. "I want to complete the biggest transformation ever done in our country."
- Bag full of money -
In the current charge, Temer is alleged to have agreed to receive millions of dollars in bribes from the JBS meatpacking giant.
Car Wash prosecutors say the alleged arrangement was typical of systemic bribery and embezzlement at the top of Brazilian politics and big business. Scores of lawmakers, eight ministers and ex-president Lula have all fallen into the Car Wash crosshairs.
What was different this time was that Temer himself was targeted.
In the most damning evidence, a close aide was filmed by police running through Sao Paulo with a suitcase stuffed with the equivalent of $150,000 in Brazilian reais -- money that the prosecutor says was being delivered to Temer.
In a separate investigation, prosecutors cite a secretly recorded late-night meeting between Temer and one of JBS's owners, Joesley Batista. In the recording, Temer allegedly is heard authorizing hush money payments to a onetime senior politician convicted of corruption, Eduardo Cunha.
Batista gave prosecutors the recording as part of his cooperation in a plea deal, one of the many that Car Wash investigators have used to build graft cases.
Temer has denied bribe-taking and says the secret recording does not include anything incriminating.
He has proved a canny operator in Brazil's toxic political landscape, presenting himself as a success in leading market reforms aimed at jump starting the recession-crippled economy.
And unlike Rousseff, who was abandoned by many of her own allies, Temer shored up his coalition with political patronage and support from business interests.
Eurasia Group analysts said that with a big victory he would not only have a good chance of riding out further charges but will help him in negotiations with Congress on passing unpopular cuts to the generous pension system and other reforms.


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Monday through Friday, 7:00 – 7:25 AM, you'll find me in my recliner, cup of coffee in hand and cat in lap. That's because I'm addicted to the Today Show, and for those twenty-five minutes of news, Matt, Savannah, Al & Natalie are my friends,
After that, with the show devoted to other stuff, they're background noise, as I try to get one housekeeping chore or another out of t he way before I go to work.
But last week, my curiosity was stoked by the steadily growing throng of pre-adolescent and adolescent girls staking their claim to Rockefeller Plaza so they'd have prime viewing space to see a band called One Direction – 1D for those in the know. It started out on Monday, exponentially increasing each day, until Friday, the morning of the concert, the hysterical crowd stretched from Fifth to Sixth Avenues and 48 to 50th street with an estimated 18,000 girls filling every square inch and their screams rising up to at least the tenth floor of the office towers penning then in . Mind you – maybe 300 of them might, just might be lucky to get a glimpse of the boy band. But for each girl, being able to add their screams to the other 17,999 was worth it to them
It brought to mind Beatlemania, and I couldn't help contrast my viewing experience in a much quieter, less connected era. I loved Paul, John, Ringo, and George, (and yes, in that order), but let's just say I was an armchair fan, making due with watching their three celebrated appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. "Ladies & Gentleman, Four fine lads all the Way from Liverpool – The Beatles"!!!! And the girls in the audience would scream every bit as frantically as the 1D'ers,
Now, the Ed Sullivan Show was a viewing staple in my house,
but, after sharing the Four Fine Lads with my parents and brothers for their first two appearance, unlike the 1D girls, by the third go round, I was determined to have a solitary viewing . So I quietly slipped away to watch the TV down in the basement room, where at least if I couldn't scream, I could unabashedly let those tears run down my cheeks. I've never figured out why the sight of young rock idols brings forth involuntary tears in adolescent girls.
Don't ask me why but my father came down a few minutes later. Knowing him, he probably just wanted to keep me company. And what timing! He settled into an armchair just in time for "Ladies, and Gentleman, all the way" etc, etc. Out trotted the Beatles, their hair bouncing and flouncing with every step. They immediately launched into Love, Love me do. (I don't know how I remember these things – I just do.) Well, they hadn't even gotten as far as "You know I love you" when Daddy hauls himself out of the chair and marches to the door in a huff, proclaiming over his shoulder as he left the room.
" I can't watch these sissies with that long hair." Long hair?" Now I ask you? This is how they looked at the time.
At any rate, Having been raised to be respectful, ( and wanting to live at least fifty more years) I refrained from asking "Who asked you to come down here in the first place?'
Which brings me back to last Friday morning, and 1D. Being curious as to just what kind of hunk of boydom would motivate 18,000 girls ,with fall closing in and with it an end to sleeping late, to get up at God knows what hour to come down and join these seriously die-hard fans who'd been sleeping on the streets of New York for five days, I had to see them, and hoped they'd begin their concert before 8:30 when I'd have to leave for work.
Ah, I was in luck. the screams grew in intensity as I bent over the bathroom sink, brushing my teeth. I straightened up and padded barefoot into the living room, toothbrush in hand, as Matt Lauer, serving for me as a twenty-first century Ed Sullivan, yelled into his microphone, "Here they come, One Direction!' I grabbed my glasses for a good look as, five young men, in their late teens(?), early 20'S.s (?) in disparate types of out on the street dress, emerged from 30 Rock and bound up on stage. My attention was drawn to one, who had a flannel shirt tied around his waist, a la yours truly when I get hot raking leaves in the fall leaves.
As the cameras zeroed in on him, I took in his scruffy beard, somehow out of keeping with his youthful face, and his carefully trimmed short hair. I turned on my heels and returned to the bathroom. I didn't say a word, but a thought was resounding in my head, "Short hair! I don't want to watch this."
And then the echo of a long ago voice – "Who asked you to come out of the bathroom?"


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€117m raised to invest in innovative early stage ideas
Independent early-stage and growth fund, imec.xpand, initiated by imec, has announced the closing of its first fund at €117m in committed capital. The amount raised exceeds the initial target of €100m and positions imec.xpand as a major player in the deep tech venture capital ecosystem.
Imec.xpand is an early stage and growth fund with a game-changing approach to turn hardware driven nanotechnology innovation into successful global companies. The fund targets ambitious tech start-ups for whom imec knowledge, expertise and infrastructure can play a determining role in their success.
Imec.xpand wants to engage with companies at an early stage, at the same time reserving sufficient financial resources to support the selected ventures from the early stages of development all the way through the commercialisation of their product. This will enable start-ups to focus on developing a technology and on building a business, rather than spending all their time and energy on securing the next round of financing.
This philosophy will increase the speed at which ventures can enter the market and help create the technology leaders of tomorrow that will generate above average financial returns for the investors in imec.xpand.
The fund is managed by Peter Vanbekbergen, Frank Bulens, Cyril Vančura and Tom Vanhoutte who each bring a wealth of entrepreneurial, venture capital and/or business expertise to the table. The combination of this independent management, corporate as well as financially driven investors, universities and imec, who are all committed to contribute to the success of the fund, sets imec.xpand apart from other venture capital initiatives.
The fund was launched in 2017 with the strong support of imec and the Flemish government. Since then, imec.xpand attracted renowned international strategic and institutional investors like Samsung Electronics, BNP Paribas Fortis, Applied Materials, SK Hynix, Philips, the Brabant development company BOM, KBC Insurance, the Belgian federal investment company SFPI-FPIM and several high net worth individuals and universities. Belfius Insurance, the Flemish investment company PMV and KPN Ventures joined most recently.


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First off i'd I would just like to wish everyone a Happy mothers day 🙂 I hope you had a nice time with your loved ones and family. Secondly, its recipe time! Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be travelling about a bit, so decided to come up with a recipe for a snack that is filling but easy to pop in a bag, all ready if I get a bit peckish. The bars are quite dense, but moist enough not to crumble and I have tried out two flavours.
Strawberry and chocolate:
1/2 punnet grated strawberries
2 handfuls of rasins
2 spoonfuls of coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
200g self raising flour
50g oatmeal
Pear and pumpkin seed:
2 grated pears
2 handfuls of raisins
2 handfuls of pumpkin seeds
50g oatmeal
200g self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 spoonfuls of coconut oil
Add all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until the mixture is easily rolled into a ball. If the mixture isnt moist enough, add some soya milk. Line a baking tray with coconut oil, then press the mixture into a square shape, an inch in depth. Drizzle with sugar-free syrup then bake for 30 minutes at 180 celsius. Let them cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars. I wrapped my bars in clingfilm then freezed them. Enjoy!
Stay happy, stay confident.
Abs xox


text: Andy Warhol (civil name Andrew Warhola) was born in 1928 in Pittsburgh and died in 1987 in New York, NY. He left an extensive oeuvre of commercial art, paintings, films and books. Flowers were a popular subject for Warhol. He produced his famous pop Flowers in large, unnumbered quantities and installed them randomly on the walls of the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. They stood in contrast to the much more poetic and emotive expressionist works from the 1950's. But Warhol also created lesser known Flowers (hand-colored), as they are seen here. This version of the artist's floral motif is much quieter, calmer and paler and much less common.


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I wake this morning to the sound of my iPhone. The alarm is going off, as it does every weekday at 7am. I press snooze, my head hits the pillow and I get another nine minutes of lovely sleep, before it goes off again, and I tap my phone to silence it. After the fourth time of snoozing, I decide it's time to open my eyes properly and attempt to prepare myself for the task of getting up.
As I reach to unplug my phone, flat on the sheet beside my pillow, Bish stirs next to me, and I stroke his head gently. Morning B, I say, as I hold my thumb on my phone's thumbprint identification system, and it unlocks without me having to enter any security password. I check my emails first, scrolling through the fifteen or so that have arrived since I closed my eyes to sleep. I read only the four job emails, of which there is nothing of interest, and I delete them straight away. I close down my emails and go straight to the next app of my morning routine, Facebook. As I look at my news feed, Facebook informs me that I have MEMORIES TO LOOK BACK ON TODAY, and the first memory I see is from 14 June 2014. It contains a photo of actress Sarah Connelly in the film, Labyrinth, and was a Facebook post in which I shared what turned out to be one of my most popular blog posts: Homeless Sweet Homeless.
I click on the link and read the post nostalgically and with pride, as I do when I read any of my blog posts. I am reminded that this post was written two years ago, when I had moved out of a flat in Ealing, but hadn't yet found a suitable place for me and Bish to move to. I am reminded that during this time I had stayed with friends and in a B&B. I am reminded that Bish at the time was in a cattery in Edgeware, and my stuff was in storage in Hangar Lane. I am reminded that I had dejunked 12 bin bags full of crap to the charity shops, and sold almost all of my furniture to people via Gumtree. I am reminded of the difficulty I was having in finding something within budget and pet-allowing. I am reminded that I was encouraged, but resisted, to re-home Bish. I am reminded that I was able to write a blog that included one of my favourite childhood films. I am reminded that I have not written a blog in many many months.
I have thought about it, occasionally. There is certainly a lot to update you on. But the self-doubt part of me has heard my blog voice in my head, and cringed, and any thoughts I have had of writing it again have dissipated.
Having thought about it all day, I just re-read all my blog posts from 2016, and I am surprised to find there are actually five published this year. It is so long since I blogged that I have forgotten that I published any at all since the new year started. I am pleased to see that one of the five is a short story, a piece of fiction I wrote on my commute one day. This reminds me that I am capable of writing fiction, not just blog posts, and that on rare occasions I have even managed to put it out there for people to read, not just to resign it to a notepad or in the notes pages of my phone. I am encouraged by what I have read, and it sparks something in me, in my desire to write, to put words on paper, even a virtual page. Two years after a blog about being homeless, and I am determined to make today the day I start blogging again.
So here it is, a post, as yet, untitled. So what have I been doing when I've been not writing? Well a lot has changed. Back in September 2015, I made the decision to move back up north. You'll know if you have read previous posts that it was something that had been suggested to me by a friend during my time in London, but for reasons that seem beyond me now, I could not face. I had clung onto the idea that my future was in London for a long time, but I had to face up to the reality that I was treading water in an expensive, lonely city, and not progressing in any way, shape or form. I spent five months applying for jobs in the north, but not even being shortlisted for anything dampened my spirits. I had given myself six months to find something and set myself a deadline of the end of March to leave. As the middle of February approached and I was faced with two lengthy trips back home at the end of February and the middle of March for family birthdays, and two sets of travel and cattery costs, and I decided enough was enough, and after a few day's thought, handed my resignation in at work and gave notice on my flat. My dad had kindly offered me my old room back, and it meant that Bish and I could move back to Lincoln while I saved enough money to move onto Sheffield.
After saying goodbye to the few good friends I had made in London, on 13th March, Bish and I moved back to my childhood home in Lincoln. The relief of being away from the capital was increased at the sight of fields from my bedroom window, and while I knew Lincoln was only a temporary residence, I knew the move back north was the right thing for me and Bish.
After leaving my job in London, I had intended to find temp work here, but because I was only planning on being here 1-3 months before moving on again, I was told there was very little in the way of short-term temporary work. However, the agency offered me the opportunity to go back to my old department in the NHS, at a much lower rate of pay. Reluctantly, in order to save money to move, I took the job. While I was gutted at having to take a drop in pay yet again, the work was easy, and more importantly, I was surrounded by friends, people I had known and worked with for many years. I relished my new commute, one that took 25-30 minutes door to door, half of which I was able to walk or ride a bus alongside beautiful fields, instead of my former 60-90 minute London commute where I'd be in busy train carriages or running across the footbridge at Britain's busiest train station, Clapham Junction.
Bish has settled into life in the north although it hasn't been easy for him. Not long after we moved, he spent a day sleeping under the conifers in my dad's garden, and a few days later, I returned from a weekend away to find him covered in ticks. While dad and I removed the ones we could see over the next few days, it soon became clear that it would take a specialist. We took him to a local vets and it turned out he was riddled with them. After undergoing a multiple trips to the vets, with two lots of sedation and a hell of a lot of tricky tick removal, he is now clear of the little bastards, but it was a very stressful few weeks for all of us.
I've been in Lincoln for just over three months now, and in less than three weeks Bish and I will be moving on again. In order to tell you about our next move, I need to tell you about the biggest change in my life, which happened at the beginning of this year. Yes, after all those years of searching, I finally met a kind, caring, supportive and absolutely wonderful man who fills my heart with joy. Online dating finally paid off, and it was worth putting my hand in my pocket, as I met my guy on e-Harmony. After endless messages, it soon became clear that we were very well matched, and our mutual love of charity shops, board games, books and 80s films, created a foundation for our two creative souls to build a relationship. Six months later and I am happier than I have ever been, and I know that he was worth waiting for. So, mine and Bish's next move is to Derby, where my boyfriend lives, and I can't wait. It's been great staying with my dad, but I'm looking forward to having my independence back, to live with my boyfriend, in a decent size house, not a room, a place where Bish can enjoy the run of, and where he has his own cat flap, out into the garden where he can relax on a summer's day (and not a conifer in sight!).
Finding love hasn't made all my problems go away, but having someone by my side who understands depression, and is supportive and there for me at the times when I do fall apart, has made the transitional period so much easier.
So in just over two weeks I'll make another move, to another new place in which for me to re-invent myself. I think back to two years ago, when I had no fixed abode, and no idea what the future held. I still don't know what the future holds, but I know it contains a loving relationship with someone who thinks the world of me and Bish, and for whom the feeling is mutual (from me and my cat). And if being homeless taught me nothing else, it showed me that I can cope with what life throws at me, and I can live to tell the tale.
I think it's true to say you don't know what is round the corner, and you never know when your life will change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but always for a reason. And even the bad things can give you inspiration, when you look back upon them and can say: I survived that.


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Steve Song is an international development professional residing in Cape Town, South Africa and specializing in communication infrastructure in Africa. He is the founder of Village Telco, "a social enterprise that builds low-cost WiFi mesh VoIP technologies to deliver affordable voice and Internet in underserviced areas" (Many Possibilities). His previous work includes a fellowship with the Shuttleworth Foundation to work on telecommunications access in South Africa. The Shuttleworth Foundation provides funding for those it deems as on the forefront of social change. Additionally, Song spent 10 years at the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa. The center "supports research in developing countries to promote growth and development" (IDRC). Song's research there dealt primarily with ICT4D in Africa.
One of Song's main achievements is the creation of the Mesh Potato through Village Telco. The Mesh Potato (pictured below) combines voice and internet services in a low-cost, open software and hardware device.
Openness is a common theme in Song's work. He believes that open hardware and software are crucial to successful ICT4D. By designing hardware that is easily discernable more power is put into the hands of the user. Communication technologies are no longer a foreign product, but rather they are something that can be tinkered with and improved upon by the consumer. In a blog post titled "In Praise of Taking Things Apart" Song argues that the ability to create is ultimately what creates wealth, and thus development. A device like the Mesh Potato, which can be taken apart and analyzed, presents and opportunity for innovation where previously there were only indiscernible products. In the long run, this functions to open up the telecom industry to entrepreneurship, increasing competition, and bringing down prices for all.


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There are thousands of mechanical and electrical components built into a typical car, van or 4×4, is why the most frequently asked question is "What's Covered"?
The Click4Warranty website combines over a decade of experience to ensure important information is easy to locate and presented clearly. Part of this commitment is avoiding confusing generalisations about what parts are covered, instead we list all the mechanical and electrical components insured under the policy.
Below is an overview of the categories covered, to see the full list of specific components covered within each catagory, just click on VIEW LIST OF ALL PARTS COVERED
All Policies Cover Insured Faults At MOT.
All Policies Cover Insured Faults At Service.
AT A GLANCEDay one coverEven for wear & tear!


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I still re-iterate my insinuation and point, that Robinson isn't in a position to be expecting to be 1st choice at a top half Prem team yet.
Finally linked with the German left back. And he is crap. Everton that.
You're probably joking, but he's not crap. The defeat wasn't on him, because they never really went down his side of the pitch.
Doesnt stand out = Shite why are we trying to buy this fella.Stands out = no chance of us signing him then.Come on lads.
There's nothing he could do, a total eclipse of Plattenhardt
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