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Inspection Summary

Overall summary & rating

Updated 25 November 2019

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We rated this service as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We previously carried out an announced comprehensive inspection in November 2017 and an announced focused inspection in September 2018 of DiMedic Limited. The full reports for these inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all services’ link for DiMedic Limited on our website at

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection at DiMedic Limited on 30 September 2019 as part of our inspection programme and in accordance with our updated methodology to inspect all key questions and provide a quality rating.

DiMedic Ltd provides an online clinic, consultation, treatment and prescribing service for a limited number of medical conditions to patients primarily from England, Poland and Germany. The providers website was in Polish but could be translated into English by clicking on a drop-down button.

At this inspection we found:

  • The service had good systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
  • The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. However, there was limited clinical audit carried out within the service. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • The provider organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. They considered carefully the range of services they delivered to patients to ensure this could be done effectively and safely. They took account of patient needs and preferences.
  • There was a clear vision and strategy to deliver high quality, sustainable care.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Improve recruitment records so they are routinely maintained in line with legislative requirements.
  • Improve the requirement for identity checks so the risks are managed where patients request medicines which have a higher risk level, such as obesity or thyroid conditions.
  • Improve the prescribing for cystitis to reduce any risks to patients whilst they wait for a prescription to be sent to them via post
  • Develop a clinical audit strategy to ensure the service is monitoring and taking action to improve outcomes for patients.
  • Develop and implement processes, in line with GMC guidance, for communicating with patients who choose not to consent to information about their consultation with the service being shared with their registered GP.
  • Develop arrangements for storage of legacy medical records in line with retention policies in the event the service should cease trading.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

Inspection areas

Updated 25 November 2019

We rated safe as Good because:

The service had good systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes. There were systems to ensure the proper and safe prescribing of medicines. There was a focus on evidence-based prescribing to safeguard patients.

Keeping people safe and safeguarded from abuse

Staff employed at the headquarters had received training in safeguarding and whistleblowing and knew the signs of abuse. All staff had access to the safeguarding policies and where to report a safeguarding concern. The policy included details of how to contact relevant local authorities via their websites should concerns arise in relation to patient’s who reside in England. All the doctors had received adult and level three child safeguarding training. It was a requirement for the doctors registering with the service to provide evidence of up to date safeguarding training certification.

The service did not treat children and there were arrangements in place to ensure children under the age of eighteen were unable to register for the service.

Monitoring health & safety and responding to risks

The provider held regular whole staff team meetings to discuss significant events, complaints, IT development and other relevant issues.

Prescriptions were double checked by both the doctor and by another member of staff (this was normally either the registered manager who was also a pharmacist or deputy manager) before being issued. A process was in place to enable the doctor to request further information from a patient if any risk was identified or incomplete medical questionnaires had been submitted.

The provider headquarters was located within a modern office accommodation which housed all of the staff. Patients were not treated on the premises as the doctors carried out the online consultations remotely. Staff had undertaken training in health and safety and fire safety. Each staff member used an encrypted, password secure laptop to log into the operating system, which was a secure programme.

There were processes in place to manage any emerging medical issues during a consultation. The service was not intended for use by patients with either long term conditions or as an emergency service.

All clinical consultations were rated by the doctors for risk and further discussions took place with the patient, where necessary, to inform the safety of prescribing. Where the doctor decided they could not safely prescribe the requested treatment, they refused service and directed the patient to contact their primary care provider for any follow up needed.

A range of clinical and non-clinical meetings were held with staff, where standing agenda items covered topics such as significant events, complaints and service issues. Clinical meetings also included case reviews and clinical updates. We saw evidence of meeting minutes to show where some of these topics had been discussed, for example, an annual discussion of significant events and clinical pathways in line with national guidance.

Staffing and Recruitment

There were enough staff, including doctors, to meet the demands for the service and there was a rota for the doctors. There was a support team available to the doctors during consultations and a contracted IT service for any technical support. The prescribing doctors were paid on a sessional basis.

The provider had a selection and recruitment process in place for all staff. There were a number of checks that were required to be undertaken prior to commencing employment, such as references and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. (DBS checks identify whether a person has a criminal record or is on an official list of people barred from working in roles where they may have contact with children or adults who may be vulnerable.)

Potential GPs and non-GP doctors had to be currently working in the NHS and be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). They had to provide evidence of having professional indemnity cover, an up to date appraisal and certificates relating to their qualification and training in safeguarding and the Mental Capacity Act.

Newly recruited doctors were supported during their induction period and an induction plan was in place to ensure all processes had been covered. We were told that doctors did not start consulting with patients until they had successfully completed induction and were mentored and given support from the clinical director during initial consultations.

We reviewed two recruitment files. The provider was not able to provide a copy of all recruitment information during the inspection but made this available to us within a few days of the inspection. The doctors could not be registered to start any consultations until these checks and induction training had been completed. The provider kept records of all staff including the doctors and there was a system in place that flagged up when any documentation was due for renewal such as their professional registration.

Prescribing safety

All medicines prescribed to patients from online forms were monitored by the provider to ensure prescribing was evidence based. If a medicine was deemed necessary following an online consultation, the doctors could issue a private prescription to patients. The doctors could only prescribe from a set list of medicines which the provider had risk-assessed. There were no controlled drugs, pain relief or high-risk medicines on this list. The provider did not prescribe any unlicensed medicines or medicines for unlicensed indications. (Medicines are given licences after trials have shown they are safe and effective for treating a particular condition. Use of a medicine for a different medical condition that is listed on their licence is called unlicensed use and is a higher risk because less information is available about the benefits and potential risks.) The service encouraged good antimicrobial stewardship by only prescribing one antibiotic for a very limited period of time, which was based on national guidance. However, as the service did not issue emergency prescriptions, there was a three-day period before patients received a prescription for antibiotics for cystitis through the post. Although the service provided patients with information on what to do if their symptoms got worse, we were concerned this delay in receiving treatment could be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the patient.

The provider did not prescribe any medicines in an emergency. Where a patient requested this, they were sign posted back to their local primary care service.

The service’s website advertised which medicines were available and there were systems in place to prevent the misuse of these medicines. Computer algorithms were in place to prevent, for example:

  • Repeat prescription overuse
  • Patients trying to register using multiple accounts
  • Contraindications for certain medicines
  • Treatment of patients with complex comorbidity

Once the doctor prescribed the medicine and dosage of choice, relevant instructions were given to the patient regarding when and how to take the medicine, the purpose of the medicine and any likely side effects and what they should do if they became unwell.

There were protocols in place for identifying and verifying the patient and General Medical Council guidance, or similar, was followed. Patients were required to undergo verification processes, prior to provision of the service. This was achieved by either the patient undertaking a nominal bank transfer or providing identity documents (such as driving licence or passport) to prove their identity. If a patient was unable to verify their identity their request for service was refused. There were processes in place to ensure multiple requests from the same person were not submitted via different accounts. However, the service had not considered whether some of the treatments they provided, such as for those patients seeking treatment for thyroid conditions or obesity necessitated the higher level of identity checks and checks on medical information provided to ensure safe prescribing. However, this constituted only a small part of their overall service, with very few prescriptions being issued for these. The service had, however, asked the patient for information about their health and condition, to allow them to safety prescribe the medication.

Any private prescription issued was posted to the patient at their home address.

Information to deliver safe care and treatment

On registering with the service, and at each online consultation patient identity was verified. The doctors had access to the patient’s previous records held by the service.

Management and learning from safety incidents and alerts

There were systems in place for identifying, investigating and learning from incidents relating to the safety of patients and staff members. We reviewed two incidents and found that these had been fully investigated, discussed and as a result action taken in the form of a change in processes. For example:

  • They had taken action to address any future occurrence of prescriptions spoiled in transit.
  • They had addressed an incident where two prescriptions were sent to the incorrect patient. However, they had not notified the Information Commissioners Office of this occurrence in line with information governance procedures.

Significant events and near misses were regularly discussed at team meetings and an annual discussion took place to identify and trends and themes within incidents.

We saw evidence from these two incidents which demonstrated the provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour by explaining to the patient what went wrong, offering an apology and advising them of any action taken.

We were shown records of the action taken in response to recent patient alerts.

Updated 25 November 2019

The service had systems to keep clinicians up to date with current evidence-based practice. We saw that clinicians assessed needs and delivered care and treatment in line with current legislation, standards and guidance. This was particularly evidenced by the approach to prescribing of contraception.

Assessment and treatment

We reviewed five examples of medical records that demonstrated that each doctor assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with relevant and current evidence-based guidance and standards, including National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evidence-based practice.

We saw several examples where the service had reviewed, refined and improved the service they offered to patients, based on updates from NICE guidance. This was particularly noted in relation to prescribing of contraceptives and or menopause. The approach included improving the information and advice provided to patients.

We reviewed the medical questionnaires which patients completed when requesting services which were dependent on the condition for which they were seeking treatment. If the doctor had not reached a satisfactory conclusion after they reviewed the information provided by the patient, there was a system in place where they could contact them again to gather more information. Computer algorithms automatically prevented patients from seeking treatment for certain conditions. For example, patients who indicated they had complex comorbidity or male patients trying to request contraception.

The doctors providing the service were aware of both the strengths (speed, convenience, choice of time) and the limitations (inability to perform physical examination) of working remotely from patients. They worked carefully to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks for patients. If a patient needed further examination, they were directed to an appropriate agency. If the provider could not deal with the patient’s request, this was explained to the patient and a record kept of the decision.

Patients completed an online form which included their past medical history. There was a set template to complete for the consultation that included the reasons for the consultation and the outcome to be manually recorded, along with any notes about past medical history and diagnosis. We reviewed five medical records which were complete records. We saw that adequate notes were recorded, and the doctors had access to all previous notes.

Quality improvement

The service collected and monitored information on patients’ care and treatment outcomes.

The service used information about patients’ outcomes to make improvements.

The service took part in some quality improvement activity, for example reviews of consultations and prescribing trends. They had completed one single cycle clinical audit on the prescribing of the combined contraceptive pill where patients also reported symptoms of migraine to determine if a prescription was refused appropriately. This found that 407 patients might have been rejected unnecessarily as they had reported migraines without aura. Changes were made to the system to collect more information on the types of migraine symptoms patients were experiencing to reflect current guidelines. The service planned to repeat this with a second cycle of audit to check on the improvements made. There were however, no other clinical audits undertaken or planned by the service.

Staff training

All staff had to complete induction training which consisted of an overview of the structure of the service, policies and procedures, health and safety, information governance and other relevant topics. Staff also completed other training on a regular basis, such as equality and diversity, infection prevention, conflict resolution and safeguarding. Staff training records were maintained in individual staff member records.

Non-clinical staff were given the opportunity of supervision sessions and annual appraisals during which development and training requirements were discussed.

The doctor had regular supervision sessions, and there were systems in place to ensure the doctor had received their own appraisal, which included consideration of their work as an online doctor. However, there was no in-house appraisal for clinical staff, with the service instead relying on the appraisal required as part of the doctor’s registration with the GMC. Good practice was for each service to hold an in-house appraisal which then feeds into the doctors GMC annual appraisal.

Coordinating patient care and information sharing

Before providing treatment, doctors at the service ensured they had adequate knowledge of the patient’s health, any relevant test results and their medicines history. We saw examples of patients being signposted to other services where this information was not available to ensure safe care and treatment.

All patients were asked for consent to share details of their consultation and any medicines prescribed with their registered GP on each occasion they used the service. The default position was enabled on the online questionnaire to always indicate this information was shared with the patients registered GP. However, when patients changed this to deselect sharing the information with their registered GP, the service did not have any processes to highlight the importance of this with the patient. We had previously highlighted this as something the service should address, when we inspected in September 2018. For patients based in England, the doctors recorded details of consultations in English. The IT system they used allowed all information to be translated into Polish or English as required.

The provider had risk assessed the treatments they offered. They did not prescribe any medicines where they identified they were not suitable for prescribing if the patient did not give their consent to share information with their GP, or they were not registered with a GP. The service did not prescribe any medicines liable to abuse or misuse or those for the treatment of long-term conditions such as asthma. Where patients agreed to share their information, we saw evidence of letters sent to their registered GP in line with GMC guidance.

Supporting patients to live healthier lives

The service identified patients who may be in need of extra support and had a range of information available on the website. In addition, the provider had developed a patient education program where patients who had undertaken a consultation were provided with targeted feedback via their account on the patient portal. This aimed to promote. maintaining a healthy life style, disease prevention and the importance of regular health checks. For example, patients prescribed contraception with borderline body mass index (BMI) rates were advised to keep their BMI below 30 and provided with weight management advice. The practice also produced a monthly newsletter on specific conditions and issues, such as menopause and the importance of attending breast, cervical and prostrate screening, to patients in the relevant patient demographic group.

Updated 25 November 2019

Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

Compassion, dignity and respect

All staff had undertaken training on their roles and responsibilities in relation to data protection and

information governance. The provider was registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. The doctor could access patient records remotely but ensured this was always done in a private and secure location. The computer system used by the service was encrypted.

Doctors undertook online consultations in a private area in the service premises and were not to be disturbed at any time during their working time. The provider carried out random spot checks to ensure the doctors were complying with the expected service standards and communicating appropriately with patients. Feedback arising from these spot checks was relayed to the doctor. Any areas for concern were followed up and the doctor was again reviewed to monitor improvement.

We did not speak to patients directly on the day of the inspection. However, we reviewed the latest survey information from June 2019. Patients were sent an email asking for their feedback after their consultation and there was also access to the survey via the service website. The result of this was an 82% satisfaction level, with 85% of patients responding they would recommend the service to a friend. The survey also enquired about which other functions patients would like to see the service provide. The provider was evaluating the results and considering which of the suggested functions they could deliver safely in the future.

We also received some positive feedback from patients of the service prior to the inspection which set out their high levels of satisfaction with the service.

Involvement in decisions about care and treatment

Patient information guides about how to use the service and technical issues were available. There was a dedicated team to respond to any enquiries.

Patients had access to information about the clinicians/doctors working for the service. As the provider had one doctor available per clinical session, patients were not able to request a consultation with a doctor of choice. However, all staff could speak both English and Polish.

The service offered a ‘live chat’ facility via their website which allowed patients to contact a non-clinical member of staff in real time during office hours. This could be used if a patient was experiencing difficulties in registering for or using the service but could not be used for advice on any medical topic.

Patients were able to access their notes and records via the patient portal which they could sign into via the website using the password they had created when registering with the service.

Updated 25 November 2019

The provider organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. They considered carefully the range of services they delivered to patients to ensure this could be done effectively and safely. They took account of patient needs and preferences.

Responding to and meeting patients’ needs

Patients were able to request a consultation at any time via the provider’s website. The website made it clear that request for consultations would be considered within one to three working days depending on when it was received. This service was not an emergency service. Patients who had a medical emergency were advised to ask for immediate medical help via 999 or if appropriate to contact their own GP or NHS 111.

The digital application allowed people to contact the service from abroad, but all medical practitioners were required to be based within the United Kingdom. Any prescriptions issued to patients in England were delivered to a patient’s home address which they could then present to a pharmacy of their choice. The service also issued prescriptions to patients in other countries, but this was outside the scope of our regulation.

The provider made it clear to patients what the limitations of the service were on their website and in their terms and conditions.

Tackling inequity and promoting equality

The provider offered consultations to anyone over the age of 18 who requested a service and paid the appropriate fee. They did not discriminate against any client group. The provider’s website was available in both English and Polish.

Patients could access a brief description of the clinicians. As the provider only employed female doctors’ patients were not able to choose either a male or female doctor or one that spoke a specific language or had a specific qualification. However, all employed clinicians could speak both English and Polish.

Managing complaints

Information about how to make a complaint was available on the service’s web site. The provider had developed a complaints policy and procedure. The policy contained appropriate timescales for dealing with the complaint. There was escalation guidance within the policy. A specific form for the recording of complaints has been developed and introduced for use. We reviewed the complaint system and noted that comments and complaints made to the service were recorded. We reviewed the two complaints received in the past 12 months.

The provider was able to demonstrate that the complaints we reviewed were handled correctly and patients received a satisfactory response. There was evidence of learning as a result of complaints, changes to the service had been made following complaints, and had been communicated to staff.

Consent to care and treatment

There was clear information on the service’s website describing how the service worked and the cost. A set of frequently asked questions was also available for further supporting information. The website had a set of terms and conditions and details on how the patient could contact them with any enquiries. Information about the cost of the consultation was known in advance but patients were only charged for the consultation if a prescription was issued.

All doctors had received training about the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff understood and sought patients’ consent to care and treatment in line with legislation and guidance.

Updated 25 November 2019

We rated well-led as Good because:

There was a clear vision and strategy to deliver high quality, sustainable care.

Business Strategy and Governance arrangements

The provider told us they had a clear vision to work together to provide a high-quality responsive service that put caring and patient safety at its heart. We reviewed business plans that covered the next financial year.

There was a clear organisational structure and staff were aware of their own roles and responsibilities. There was a range of service specific policies which were available to all staff. These were reviewed and updated when necessary.

Checks were in place to monitor the performance of the service and ensure a comprehensive understanding of the performance of the service was maintained. For example, there was evidence of a recent meeting to discuss and plan for the impact of the UK leaving the European Union.

The provider was able to tell us that approximately 72% of consultations with in the last 12 months had resulted in a prescription being issued. The registered manager told us that the vast majority of these patients were not resident in England but was unable to give us an exact figure for patient’s resident in England only. 91% of the prescriptions issued were for contraception.

There were arrangements for identifying, recording and managing risks, issues and implementing mitigating actions.

Care and treatment records were complete, accurate, and securely kept.

Leadership, values and culture

The registered manager had overall responsibility for the day to day operation of the service, including dealing with complaints and patient feedback. The doctors were responsible for any medical issues arising and there was always a doctor available for contact on a daily basis. The provider was considering extending the services they offered to include offering services to patients in other countries, introducing a tele-dermatology service. An action plan was in place to aid the developments.

The service had an open and transparent culture. We were told that if there were unexpected or unintended safety incidents, the service would give affected patients reasonable support, truthful information and a verbal and written apology. This was supported by an operational policy.

Safety and Security of Patient Information

Systems were in place to ensure that all patient information was stored and kept confidential.

There were policies and IT systems in place to protect the storage and use of all patient information. The service could provide a clear audit trail of who had access to records and from where and when. The service was registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. There were business contingency plans in place to minimise the risk of losing patient data. However, there was no plan in place or arrangements to ensure ongoing access to legacy medical records in the event the provider ceased trading.

Seeking and acting on feedback from patients and staff

Patients were not routinely sent a post consultation satisfaction survey but were able to provide feedback and rate the service they had received on the providers’ website.

The service used an online reviews site to gather feedback about the service. This showed 98% of patients who responded would recommend the company and there was a 4.9 out of five satisfaction rating (from 1401 reviews). Patient feedback was published on the service’s website.

There was evidence that the doctors could provide feedback about the quality of the operating system and any change requests were logged, discussed and decisions made for the improvements to be implemented.

The provider had a whistleblowing policy in place. (A whistle blower is someone who can raise concerns about practice or staff within the organisation.)

Continuous Improvement

The service consistently sought ways to improve. All staff were involved in discussions about how to run and develop the service and were encouraged to identify opportunities to improve the service delivered.

We saw from minutes of staff meetings where previous interactions and consultations were discussed.

Staff told us that the team meetings were the place where they could raise concerns and discuss areas of improvement. However, as the staff team was small, we saw evidence there was always ongoing discussions about service provision.

There was a quality improvement strategy and the service planned improvements. However, there was limited clinical audit carried out or planned within the service.


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• Craft Cotton Co

Patchwork Stocking

Nothing looks better at Christmas than a row of stockings lined up along a fireplace, eagerly waiting to be filled with goodies, and it's even better when you get to discover what’s been hidden in them on Christmas Day. I ran out of time for this make last year so I’m making sure I get it made with plenty of time to spare, as my current stockings are starting to look a little bit threadbare!

I was very lucky to receive some of The Craft Cotton Co. fabric for this make - the Stripes and Stars Fat Quarters. I love the colours of this Fat Quarter set; the greens and reds are just perfect for Christmas. I opted to do a striped patchwork effect for the stocking, with quilted detailing on the patchwork joins. I also opted to do a roll over top for the stocking as I like the effect it creates and I think it’s nice to see a little of the lining, especially when the fabric looks so nice!

You will need:

  • Pencil

  • Paper

  • Pins

  • Ruler

  • Needle and thread

  • Sewing machine

  • The Craft Cotton Company's Stars and Stripes fat quarter set, green plain

-dyed polycotton and Heritage wadding

First, make the stocking template:

Make a stocking template the size you would like – the bigger you make it the more presents you can squeeze into it! Cut two templates of this stocking - keep one template whole to do the lining, wadding, and wadding lining fabric, and with the other template, cut it into strips, mine were 4cm wide. Make sure that you number these pieces; otherwise it can get a bit confusing putting them all back together!

Now cut out the fabrics:

Cut out the lining fabric, wadding, and wadding lining fabric using the whole stocking template.

Now using the same whole stocking template, cut out the main stocking fabric (make sure you leave a 5mm seam allowance when cutting out). The layout of fabrics I chose for the strips is shown below:

Now to sew the strips together. Do this by placing two pieces right sides together and sewing down the seam. Once you have sewn them all together you should have one striped piece for the front and another for the back.

Adding the quilting detail:

Layer one piece of wadding, one piece of the lining fabric, and on piece of the striped outer stocking fabric pieces as shown:

Sew the detail you would like (as shown in the picture below). I chose to sew along the stripe joins for this and alternated between a straight stitch and a pre-set stitch on my machine that looked like a line of snowflakes.

Now to make the hanger:

Pick one of the fabrics to make the hanger and cut a strip of 24cm x 6cm - I chose to use the green snowflake.

Next, fold the strip in half length-ways with right sides facing and sew along the bottom and up the side leaving the top unsewn. Now just turn it the right way out and you have your hanging strip. Before sewing the front and back together, fold the strip in half to make the loop and pin to the back piece with the ends of the loop hanging 1cm over the edge of the back piece. I chose to place this 10cm down from the top edge to give enough space when the top edge is turned back over.

Now sew the front and back together:

Pin the front and back pieces together with right sides together - the loop will be on the inside. Now sew the whole way around but leaving the top edge unsewn. Turn the right way round.

Finally, making the lining:

Take the front and back lining pieces and place them right sides together - sew around this leaving the top edge unsewn. Leave the two pieces right sides facing together.

This lining can now be inserted into the stocking.

To attach to the stocking, fold the top of the stocking inward by 1cm and fold 1cm of the stocking lining outwards and slip stitch the two edges together.

Roll the top back over and you now have your stocking!

© By Lesley Foster at Hook, Stitch, Sew for The Craft Cotton Company 2015

#freesewingtutorials #craftcottonco #patchwork #christmas

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  • Instagram - White Circle

© 2016 created by Raeven Branch

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Peace & Pages is currently sold out!
Treat yourself to an intriguing story and unique items from small businesses in the US!

Plans as low as $22.99 / box

Peace & Pages reviewsReviews

Write a Review

Disappointing month

Oct 06, 2020
Kelly C.
1 Review
Subscribed for 1 month

I wasn’t really happy with this months

Verified Purchase
Peace & Pages said...Oct 06, 2020

Hi there! We are sorry this month's box missed the mark for you. I'll reach out by email to see if we can assist you further. We do switch up the products quite a bit each month, so if you stick around you can expect something totally different next time!

Buying Options


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In the UK, Kaspersky Internet Security 2015 is imminent. Whilst we wait for the launch of the 2015 edition, you can buy the 2014 edition at a hugely discounted price, then get the 2015 edition for free, at launch.

Simply buy Kaspersky Internet Security 2014 now, where you can buy the 1-PC version for only £17.99, a staggering 55% off the RRP, then download the 2015 edition from either the store or Kaspersky website, install and it will recognise and pickup your existing licence.

Note on the release of the Kaspersky 2015 range, due this week, all Kaspersky prices will rise across the stores.


text:
Black Grace to Tour Switzerland and Germany, Neil Ieremia awarded Arts Fellowship in Canada

21 Aug 2009

This content is tagged as Dance .

Neil Ieremia’s internationally acclaimed Dance Company Black Grace has been invited to tour Switzerland and Germany during the month of October 2009. The Company will be presented by Konzertdirektion Landgraf and will perform in 11 centres throughout Switzerland and Germany.

Neil Ieremia – Paul D. Fleck Fellowship
Black Grace is proud to announce that Artistic Director Neil Ieremia has been awarded a Paul D. Fleck Fellowship in the Arts from The Banff Centre, Canada. This prestigious fellowship recognises excellence and was developed to provide opportunities for accomplished artists to pursue projects which develop the artist both professionally and artistically, and contribute to the vibrancy of arts communities around the world.

For more information, please contact:

Wendy Wallace

Artistic Associate

Black Grace

p: + 64 9 358 0552 | f: + 64 9 358 0553 | e: | w:


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Cash Back

8 novels show how credit cards appear in fiction

Whether it’s “Gossip Girl,” “Twilight” or “The Stand,” popular works of fiction have shone a light on how we handle credit cards and debt.

The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Please review our list of best credit cards, or use our CardMatch™ tool to find cards matched to your needs.

Authors in all genres — from mystery to science fiction and chick lit to vampire sagas —  are increasingly reaching for that extra little bit of verisimilitude to connect with readers. What better way to show a character’s true colors than by revealing how he or she does — or doesn’t — manage credit cards and debt?

Today’s fictional characters max out their cards, get turned down for credit, try to impress potential dates by pulling out the platinum American Express card, and break into an enemy’s house or locker with nothing more than a credit card. And that’s just for starters.

Here are eight novels (or series of novels) in which credit cards twist the plot, provide insight into a character’s hidden motivations, offer a bit of comic relief or teach a lesson.

  1. “Confessions of a Shopaholic” by Sophie Kinsella, part of her “Shopaholic” series
  2. “Friday” by Robert A. Heinlein
  3. “Breaking Dawn” by Stephenie Meyer, part of her “Twilight” series
  4. “The Stand” by Stephen King
  5. “You Know You Love Me” by Cecily von Ziegesar, part of her “Gossip Girl” series
  6. The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich
  7. “The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer” by Neal Stephenson
  8. “Attack of the Theater People” by Marc Acito

Confessions of a ShopaholicBook: “Confessions of a Shopaholic” (2001); the entire Shopaholic series
Sophie Kinsella
Plastic moments:
Though Becky Bloomwood stars in this successful British import, credit cards play a prominent co-starring role in every book in the series, starting on the first page of the first book, “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” Becky conducts a bit of mental calculation to recall all of the charges from the previous month before she opens up her Visa bill. In the middle of her number-crunching, she conjures up her juiciest fantasy: By mistake, her bill is sent to someone else — a veritable credit teetotaler in comparison — and they both pay the other’s bills off without blinking. Of course, when she finally rips open the envelope, she is so far off base with her figures that she assumes her card was stolen. In “Shopaholic Takes Manhattan,” the second book in the series, Becky pays off her credit cards by writing “check after check” before inevitably running them up again. Subsequent books in the series include “Shopaholic Ties the Knot,” “Shopaholic & Sister” and “Shopaholic & Baby” where, it’s safe to say, she continues her love-hate relationship with credit cards.
Lesson learned:
As much as you’d like to, you can’t just dream away your credit card debt.

FridayBook: “Friday” (1982)
Robert A. Heinlein
Plastic moments:
Credit cards appear on almost every page throughout Heinlein’s story — one of the last in his long sci-fi career — about a futuristic society where it’s against the law to use cash since credit cards allow the government to track its citizens. The unnamed protagonist commits murder on the first page of the novel, and while frisking his victim’s body, he finds credit cards in the names of four different people. As the story progresses, he goes on the run, relying on the credit cards — including an American Express card issued by the Bank of Selene on the Moon — to throw off the authorities as to his whereabouts.
Lesson learned:
Be careful of where you use that plastic. Someone might be watching.

Breaking DawnBook: “Breaking Dawn” (2008)
Stephenie Meyer
Plastic moments:
Credit cards are prominently featured in the first few pages of the fourth installment in the best-selling “Twilight” series about the love triangle between a human girl, a werewolf and a vampire. Main character Bella Swan is embarrassed about being back in the hardscrabble working-class town of Forks, Wash., and feels painfully on display while using her ultrahigh class black credit card to fill up her flashy new car.
Lesson learned:
Some people judge you by the credit you keep.

The StandBook: “The Stand: Expanded Edition, for the First Time Complete and Uncut” (1991)
Stephen King
Plastic moments:
Credit cards are familiar friends in King’s worlds. In  his post-apocalyptic work “The Stand,” cash is the only currency with any value. (Money quote: “… Besides that dope and the guns, we got 16 bucks and 300 credit cards we don’t dare use.”) Later on, King, who likes to drop brand names into his stories whenever he can, describes credit card promotional signs hanging over a fireplace mantel in an ironic touch: “YOUR VISA CARD WELCOME HERE. JUST SAY MASTERCARD. WE HONOR AMERICAN EXPRESS. DINER’S CLUB.” In the mid-1980s, King appeared in an American Express commercial set against a Vincent-Price era horror flick backdrop, asking viewers, “Do you know me?”
Lesson learned:
With or without credit cards, the world can be a scary place.

Gossip GirlBook: “You Know You Love Me” (2002)
Cecily von Ziegesar
Plastic moments:
In the wildly popular “Gossip Girl” series about a group of upper-class prep school students in Manhattan, the abuse and overuse of credit cards is a way of life. In this second book in the series, protagonist Blair Cornelia Waldorf decides to buy a pair of cashmere pajamas for her boyfriend at pricey department store Barney’s using a credit card linked to her mother’s account. The purchase, however, is declined, so she steals the pants while her friend Serena uses plastic to pay for a “bathrobe she hadn’t meant to buy.” A few chapters later, on a road trip, Blair’s new stepbrother, Aaron, uses his mother’s Shop ‘n Save card to load up on junk food.
Lessons learned:
Parents should keep a watchful eye on accounts they share with their sweet little son or daughter.

Fearless FourteenBook: Stephanie Plum series (1994-present)
Janet Evanovich
Plastic moments.
Evanovich, the prolific author of numerous novels featuring bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, is a huge fan of pop culture and what makes Americans tick. That clearly includes credit cards: Nine of her numbered Plum books include references to credit cards in the storyline. In “Fearless Fourteen,” Ranger — Stephanie’s occasional love interest and bounty-hunting colleague — hands over his corporate card to buy an outfit for a formal dinner. And, like any good detective, Stephanie often uses credit card records to analyze her suspects. “He paid his mortgage and credit cards on time,” a somewhat disappointed Stephanie observes about a suspect in “To the Nines.” After all, a clean record makes her job more difficult. And in “Foul Play,” one of Evanovich’s early books, a character discusses using a credit card to jimmy a lock.
Lessons learned:
Credit cards don’t lie, and sometimes they’re useful if there’s no Swiss Army knife handy.

Diamond AgeBook: “The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer” (1995)
Author: Neal Stephenson
Plastic moment:
In the first chapter, noted science fiction author Stephenson describes how the Peacock Bank, in a far-into-the-future Shanghai, issues credit cards to customers by injecting small chips under the skin. “If they accepted you, they’d shoot the credit card right into you, then and there, on the spot,” Stephenson wrote. Each “cardholder” could choose where to place the chip, which is similar to the RFID chips in some credit cards that allow transactions to be conducted without swiping the card through a reader. “These guys implanted it in the iliac crest of the pelvis, some opted for the mastoid bone in the skull, anywhere a big bone was close to the surface,” Stephenson continued. Though one character asked what would happen if he failed to make his payments in a timely manner, the banker never quite gave a straight answer. (By the way, the technology is already here. The company Advanced Digital Solutions first introduced the VeriChip back in 2003. Their main selling point was that it would reduce identity theft and be ideal for people prone to misplacing their credit cards.)
Lesson learned: Someday, that attachment you feel to your credit cards may be more than just emotional.

Attack of the Theater PeopleBook: “Attack of the Theater People” (2008)
Marc Acito
Plastic moments:
In this madcap sequel to “How I Paid for College,” Acito doesn’t hesitate to use credit cards as a plot device to further the story and mire his characters deeply into the mud. Protagonist Edward Zanni is working as a “party motivator” — a kind of glorified cheerleader at private events and bar mitzvahs — when he overhears a few snippets of inside information about publicly traded companies. Since he’s flat broke, he applies for a credit card to buy stock options, hoping to cash in. Instead, the information turns out to be false, rendering the stock and options worthless. Plus, he has to pay off the credit card, and he’s still broke. In one scene, Edward and a friend impersonate rabbis at a pricey restaurant so they can spy on a shady stockbroker. When it comes time to pay the check, Edward’s credit card is denied, and the pair makes a beeline for the door. They run through the streets of Manhattan, tearing off the rabbi costumes while making their getaway. The next morning, a few residents of the area find the discarded garments, leading some to believe that a “rabbi rapture” took place in their neighborhood.
Lessons learned:
If it sounds too good to be true, it is. And impersonating a person of the cloth is bad karma.

See related: Top 10 credit card movies13 greatest credit card songs

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Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said Monday he sees a scenario in which the U.S. central bank may have to cut interest rates – but stressed that it must be justified by economic data.

Evans, who is a voting member on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), said economic fundamentals “remain good,” with growth coming in “a little below 2 percent” and inflation holding consistent with the Fed’s 2 percent objective.

But at the same time, the outlook looks “less sanguine” than it did last year, justifying a wait-and-see, data-dependent policy approach as officials judge the economic impact of Brexit, trade tensions and slowing growth abroad. Evans said he’d also like to see inflation pick up before hiking rates again.

“If growth runs close to its potential and inflation builds momentum, then some further rate increases may be appropriate over time,” the Chicago Fed chief said Monday in a speech at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong. “If activity softens more than expected, or if inflation and inflation expectations run too low, then policy may have to be left on hold — or perhaps even loosened.”

Evans’ remarks follow the Fed’s second rate-setting meeting of the year, when officials voted unanimously to hold borrowing costs unchanged in a target range of 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent. Policymakers also slashed their forecasts for further rate hikes, with most officials forecasting zero increases on the Fed’s so-called “dot plot.”

Reading the Federal Reserve dots (March 2019)

(READ: The Federal Reserve’s dot plot explained — and why you might want to ignore it for now)

During the press conference following the March meeting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stressed that officials would continue to uphold their “patient” stance to policy, as they await for these risks to abate.

Evans’ current estimates call for no interest rate increase until second half of 2020

Evans’ remarks, his first since casting a vote last week, light more fuel to the fire that the Fed’s next move could be a rate cut. Investors are now betting that there’s a higher likelihood the Fed will lower borrowing costs by the end of 2019, according to CME Group’s FedWatch. No officials, however, estimated this on the dot plot.

Though Evans didn’t use his speech to say whether a rate cut was more likely than a rate hike, he said risks are more heavily tilted toward the downside.

“At the moment, the risks from the downside scenarios loom larger than those from the upside ones,” Evans said. “The recent data on U.S. economic activity generally have been softer than anticipated.”

The Fed official, often deemed as the most dovish member of the FOMC, said he would personally like to see prices rise before the Fed makes it more expensive to borrow money again, adding that inflation could climb as high as 2.5 percent and it would still “not be a big concern to me at the moment.”

Inflation, as judged by the Fed’s preferred gauge, has held below the central bank’s target since it first explicitly defined a 2 percent objective in 2012. Within the monthly personal consumption expenditures index, the headline inflation number increased by 1.7 percent on annual basis, according to the Department of Commerce’s most recent monthly reading. The index excluding food and energy — the more volatile category — shows prices increasing by about 1.9 percent.

The fact that inflation has consistently come in below target caused Evans to lower his interest rate forecast this time around, Evans said in an interview on Bloomberg Television following his prepared remarks in Hong Kong.

“I’m worried that it still takes accommodation to keep inflation at that level, and so I actually marked down my path for policy rate increases,” Evans said. “I basically got policy on hold until the fall of 2020, so that we can see how the economy is playing out.”

Meanwhile, Fed’s Harker estimates one more increase this year

Nearly 6,000 miles away from Hong Kong, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker delivered a separate speech in London with a more aggressive tone. The U.S. central bank still has room for one more rate increase this year, even as the U.S. economy slows and threats to global growth loom, the Philadelphia Fed chief said.

“On balance, the potential risks tilt very slightly to the downside, but I emphasize the word slight,” Harker said in a speech at a monetary policy forum in London. “My current view is that, at most, one rate hike this year and one in 2020 is appropriate, and my stance will be guided by data as they come in and events as they unfold.”

Though the Fed’s Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) is anonymous, Harker’s remarks suggest that he may be one of the four officials on the dot plot currently estimating that one more increase this year will be necessary. Harker, however, doesn’t have a vote on the Fed’s policymaking arm this year.

Harker said he sees growth coming in at “a bit above 2 percent” this year and returning to a trend of around 2 percent next year. He also said he sees inflation edging slightly downward.

“I still see the outlook as positive,” Harker said. “The economy continues to grow in what is on pace to be the longest economic expansion in our history.”


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text:
The appointment of the Indian head coach was handled in a way only Indian cricket is capable of. Maximum drama, minimum tact, transparency of a prison wall with information, misinformation and leaks doing furious rounds.

From the build-up, which included ridiculous applications from Virender Sehwag and an injury-time inclusion of Ravi Shastri as a candidate, to a final series of announcements that would put the Afridi-retirement saga to shame, there was every bit of shambolic incompetence and unprofessionalism that has characterised Indian cricket governance for ages. Unfortunate really, given that the Cricket Advisory Committee had been formed to make such appointments a product of efficiency and expertise.

The aftermath has also remained true to the legacy of Indian cricket, as far as journalistic and fan reactions are concerned. Conclusions have been jumped to, and the newly appointed coach and his supportive Indian captain have both been hanged several times over, with ad hominem playing the principal role in the absence of concrete facts. They have been condemned and denounced by fans and journalists alike, and among the latter group by the eminent reputable figures as well as the keyboard-happy glorified fanboys.

First a disclaimer. As pointed out in this article, I had rooted, not for the first time, for Tom Moody. Shastri was not even at the starting line at that point of time. Even if he was, Moody, with his track record and experience as a coach, would have remained my primary choice.

However, now that Shastri comes out of the commentary box and makes his way to the dressing room, do we really need to rush in and vilify him, along with disparaging remarks about the motives of the captain? By an induction perhaps too much of a stretch for many to fathom, in doing so we also question the credibility of the esteemed men sitting on the CAC

It is probably time for us to come out of the circle of ad hominem, the trait that characterises everything to do with Indian cricket.

Why don’t we evaluate the credentials of the new man?

Shastri is not the favourite of many. His cliché-ridden commentary can be too loud and too unsubtle for the sensitive. His championing the cause of BCCI may have been too apparent in the past, rightly or wrongly earning him the tag of the cheerleader. Shastri the man may come across as too much of an epicurean to hold discipline in high regard.

As for Shastri the player, there is no denying that in his day he was about as unpopular as any Indian cricketer could get. Stadiums used to reverberate with ‘Shastri hai hai’ chants from the moment matches began, regardless of whether our man was in action, regardless of what he did in the game. He did rage as the new pin-up boy of Indian cricket during a brief period, especially when he won the Audi as Champion of Champions in early 1985. However, from the mid-1980s to the end of his career, his ultra-defensive batting, nagging but benign left-arm spin and a perpetual attitude of arrogance made him one of the most abhorred names in Indian cricket.

Time for a confession. When South Africa returned to the fold and played India at the Eden Gardens in 1991, Shastri was slated to open the innings for the home team. And yours truly, in his teens, had carried a massive volume titled ‘IIT Chemistry’ to the stadium, just to have something worthwhile to do in case the man played a long innings. Shastri could be that infuriating.

But, at the same time, all that cited above, however true they may be, have very little to do with Shastri the coach.

Embed from Getty Images

Shastri the commentator is not Shastri the coach. Shastri’s supposed cheerleading of BCCI cannot be irrevocably proven to be correlated to Shastri the coach. Also, Shastri the player is not Shastri the coach.

Yes, the last point is important. For those who don’t realise that remember that Tom Moody was a rather mediocre cricketer while Greg Chappell one of the greatest batsmen ever.

At the same time, Shastri does not have any real background of coaching. His claims to the post are a couple of short stints as coach and team director respectively, in 2007 and 2015-16, both rather successful.
That and the undeniable fact that the players, led by Kohli, do want him in that role.

We also do know that Kohli had some genuine differences of opinion with the erstwhile coach, Anil Kumble. The legendary leg-spinner’s way of man-management did not quite endear himself to the team.

In the complex world of obscure information that is the inner quarters of Indian cricket, these two above mentioned facts do serve as the platform for most to jump to several conclusions. These are essentially simplistic and go along the lines that Kohli and company are superstars who do not react well to the saintly discipline of proven performers like Kumble. They are therefore in favour of Shastri, a proven cheerleader, who won’t object to their taking it easy.

Well, that is too simplistic an explanation.

Here I must point out that just like Shastri, Kumble the cricketer is also not Kumble the coach. Champion that he was as a bowler, he might have had glaring shortcomings as the coach. And while the results of Kumble’s coaching stint was successful, so was Shastri’s. During Shastri’s tenure, the Indian team did climb to the top of Test rankings and did rather well in a couple of World Tournaments.

Hence, the first point is that Shastri does not have negatives as a coach … and he had been ousted without registering failures when Kumble threw his hat into the ring.

Secondly, be it Shastri or Kumble, it is always the cricketers who have to go out there, do battle and come back with the spoils. The coach can only influence. And it is therefore of rather paramount importance that these performers are comfortable as they gear up for the matches based on which they will become heroes or villains in the eyes of millions.

Yes, we like it or not, if it is Kohli who leads India, we need to ensure that he is comfortable with the man he works with. And it is just too puerile to jump to the conclusion that he did not like Kumble and favours Shastri because of their respective views about Kohli’s post-match parties. After all, Kohli is a world class cricketer, and so are many in his team. Perhaps it is not prudent to judge them using our day to day parameters of pettiness.

There are methods of man-management and if Kumble’s did not suit the team and Shastri’s does, the players, who have to work with them, are in a better position to make that call than we are.

It is not to say that Shastri will make a magnificent coach. But there is no evidence to say that he will make a lousy one.

Embed from Getty Images

Success alone will determine whether he is or not. But I guess we need to wait for the team to perform under the new stewardship before we can revise the decision. The call having been made, unanimously if we are to believe the reports, the only logical thing to do is to wait till there is some performance on which to base our evaluations. Otherwise, it will be a case of jumping the gun, something we may excel at, but which may not be the objective thing to do.

One last word about Shastri.

I have reiterated that Shastri the coach is not Shastri the jarring commentator, or the supposed BCCI Cheerleader, or the pathologically boring cricketer.

However, Shastri did have one of the best records in West Indies against their four-pronged bowling attack. He did score hundreds from the top of the order in locations as diverse as Lord’s, The Oval, Sydney and Karachi, Bridgetown and St John’s. He was a tedious batsman to watch, a killjoy if there ever was one, but a mighty combative one. And given his rather limited talent — many claim he had only two strokes — he was a resilient one. A fighter.

There are two images of Shastri that I recall with admiration, perhaps the only two.

One was during the 1993-94 season, when, his Test days over, he led Mumbai to Ranji Trophy triumph. There was a picture that was published in one of the magazines in those days, of the captain of the champion team proudly holding up a fish he had just caught on one of the days between the semi-final and final. Yes, Shastri the captain could mix recreation with his cricket, and the cricket of his team. They still won the Championship. Shastri led India in only one Test, against the mighty West Indies, and won it by a huge margin. He was only a caretaker captain, but perhaps the best regular captain India never had. The balance of work and recreation is perhaps the quality Virat Kohli and his men are looking for. And in an environment as demanding as that of Indian cricket, this is a sort of balance that the team can really do with.

The second image is more of a time-lapse variety. It is of Shastri in the field, or at the crease, with ‘Shastri hai-hai’ echoing in the background. This carried on to such an extent that in 1988 skipper Dilip Vengsarkar appealed to the fans to desist from this relentless barracking. Every ground Shastri went to, every stroke he played or did not play, the chant followed him around. Perhaps this affected his performance to a degree, perhaps there were more slumps than normal. But he did manage to remain his arrogant self through all this, and it did not wear him out. In fact, some of his best innings came in his last 15 Tests.

Performing and maintaining one’s equanimity through the raging fire of warranted and unwarranted criticism. Shastri does have a track record of achieving that.

In a boiling cauldron of ridiculous criticism and censure that is Indian cricket, there is perhaps no greater quality that the coach of the Indian team can possess. Unflappable arrogance has its uses. And in the coach of the Indian cricket team, that is an asset.


text:
Don Randall has become a minor celebrity for his attack on Cheryl Kernot in Parliament a few years back, but Lisa Liberal reports that the man in question has more than a few question marks hanging over his own behaviour.

Don Randall, then the Liberal member for the Western Australian federal seat of Swan launched his bitter attack upon Kernot because she was planning to visit the electorate of Swan in her capacity as a Shadow Minister. His premeditated outburst in the parliament was intended as a pre-emptive strike.

Randall’s speech, previously reported on Crikey, was by any measure a crude and grubby attack that matched anything that has been heard in the federal parliament in recent times.

Randall’s reference in his speech to Kernot having “the morals of an ally cat on heat” received wide adverse coverage in Western Australia and disgusted many Liberals, to the extent that the Prime Minister’s office instructed Randall to apologise when parliament next sat.

Following Oakes’ and Crikey’s disclosures of Kernot’s “big secret”, Howard’s office immediately instructed Randall not to gloat and what to say to the media, however he has not been able to restrain himself and has revelled in the notoriety the incidental part he played in the affair has brought him.

Liberals in Western Australia put Randall’s behaviour in attacking Kernot in the parliament and his subsequent conduct down to his bad taste and bad political judgment, however with his history it surprised many that he would stick his neck out.

Randall’s own entry into the federal parliament was not without controversy. He misled his Liberal Party preselection delegates by failing to disclose on his nomination form that he had a police record. The form particularly required that the applicant provide details of any police convictions.

Randall’s preselection was strongly opposed by a number of senior people in the Party including Wilson Tuckey who was supporting a popular local vet, Brian Hilbert who had contested the previous election as the endorsed Liberal candidate for Swan. In spite of being unsuccessful, Hilbert was regarded as having run an excellent campaign.

Hilbert had the support of the majority of the Branch delegates at the next election however notorious Liberal powerbroker Noel Crichton-Browne, in typical poor form, delivered Randall the State Council votes which got him over the line. Crichton-Browne now claims that he supported Randall at the request of his mate, the ex-State Minister, Doug “finance broking scandal” Shave. Whatever the case, it resulted in Randall winning the preselection.

Randall’s campaign was not without further controversy. He held a campaign fund raising barbecue at his home on behalf of the Belmont Liberal Party Branch of which he was the President. A number of people paid by cheque and a senior State member of parliament was amazed to find that his cheque had not been paid into the Branch’s bank account. It had been cashed along with others, by Randall at a sports store on the other side of the metropolitan area.

Randall’s opponents threatened to have the matter referred to the police. Randall’s explanation was that the Branch did not have a bank account and that he paid for the various costs of the function by cash and that he did not keep detailed book keeping records of the function. The matter was not further investigated by the Liberal Party.

Just weeks before the 1998 polling day, Randall as the sitting member, in an act of political stupidity, publicly attacked One Nation claiming to not want their preferences. He was shocked to find himself at the bottom of their ticket and out of parliament. Randall later personally lobbied One Nation for their preferences in spite of the fact that federal Liberal members were not supposed to be talking to One Nation about preferences.

After losing the seat Randall badgered for a government job and complained loudly that he had not been given a job for the boys. He was finally put on the staff of Senator Ian Campbell who at the time was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications. Without any previous experience in the industry, Randall promptly had introductory cards printed on which he described himself to the public as a communications consultant.

Randall spent time on Campbell’s staff stacking out Liberal Party Branches including traveling into the country at taxpayers expense to sign up members and attend Annual General Meetings. Campbell openly bragged on election night of the amount and the cost of taxpayer resources that his office had provided to Randall in his successful contest for the seat of Canning.

Randall joined Campbell in helping dump Senator Winston Crane from the Senate ticket and in seeking to also get rid of Senator Ross Lightfoot from the Senate. Sources close to Campbell claim Randall has provided Crane with a statutory declaration which would be of great interest to Lightfoot and his wife, relating to the removal of documents from Crane’s office which were the cause of a police investigation into Crane’s charter travel.

At one time Randall acted as a political lobbyist. He has bragged that ‘West Australian’ newspaper journalist, Tony Barrass is his man at that paper and has made claims about what that means. No doubt Barrass knows nothing of Randall’s claims although it is no secret amongst Randall’s colleagues that Randall is Barrass’s political ‘contact’.

It seems that Randall has still not got the lobbying out of his system. Recently he organised and attended lunch with ex-Western Australian Labor Premier Brian Burke to lobby Burke for work from the State Labor government for a road contractor mate of his.

What business Randall has got as a federal member of parliament lobbying past and present State politicians for government work for his mates and what the politics of approaching Labor figures are, raise interesting questions.

Early on in the last campaign Randall was stopped by a police booze bus and asked to blow into the bag however he refused the police request. He was subsequently charged and convicted for refusing a random breath test.

Randall failed to disclose to his electorate that he had been charged and convicted for this offence and it only became public when he was spotted applying for a new drivers licence. We can only speculate as to why Randall refused to obey a lawful instruction by a member of the Western Australian Police force.

It says a lot about his attitude towards law and order and honest disclosure to his voters.

Randall has been seen during what are normal working hours for most people, at various pubs and restaurants around Perth tired and emotional. Having lost one seat, the betting is on as to how long he will hold his present seat.

Feedback: but wait, there’s more

It gets better.

Before Randall was officially on “staff” Campbell paid him out of his contingency allowance. What I here is that for months Randall whilst on the taxpayer teat, did nothing but hang around around Campbell’s Perth office reading the newspapers and planning his comeback. Nice work if you can get it.

Meanwhile Campbell was running a branch-stacking campaign out of his office called “20 in 2000.”

All what we would expect from Campbell, an NCB protege and one who considers Paul Keating and Newt Gingrich worthy political role models. Campbell now considers himself a Costello supporter after having been repeatedly overlooked by the PM for a ministerial spot.

The world is full of strange but true ironies.

Name withheld

Peter Fray

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text:
The death of David Hookes and the subsequent media coverage has
provoked a huge response from Crikey readers.  Here’s what they
had to say:

Channel 10 cut tribute package short

In response
to your piece on the media coverage of David Hookes’s death. You might
be interested to know that, in Melbourne at least, a tribute package
put together by Ten’s Sports Tonight on Monday was interrupted, without
warning, by a commercial break (“This program brought to you by Ford”).

When the break finished, there was no mention of the stuff-up,
an apology or a repeat of the tribute package (or even the missing
part). Pretty weak. A champion sportsman only ever gets one obituary
package per show, to cut it off midway is inexcusable.

Hookes had some flaws as media goes over the top

in the street and cafes and pubs have been blowing up the tragedy of
David Hookes’ death following an assault on Sunday night.

education chat rooms (Australia) even had people calling for the death
penalty. Few people were bothering to place the word “alleged” before
the word perpetrator. They miss the point.

While I was a fan
of Hookes in his playing days, I remember him recently as a radio
demagogue who used his profile to dump on a South African accuser of
Shane Warne as “a hairy back” or some such.

I respect him for his community activism and his support of disabled citizens and athletes.

The pleb journalists have a lot to answer for in the misinformation they are generating.

Iain M

ACA plays it wrong in the West

Hookes death was mishandled by Nine/ACA here in the west.  The
announcement that David Hookes life support system had been shut off
came through in WA about 4.30pm.  That left Seven and Nine 90
minutes to fix their ‘Hookes fighting for his life story’ which both
news programs did admirably.

Today Tonight had the so-called
exclusive with the St Kilda resident who people in the West had already
seen on Sky News and heard on the Tony McManus program on 6PR.

2nd story was about Hookes and left us with the teaser about the latest
on Hookes still fighting for his life.  Surely it would be updated
we all thought, but no, it was the same story that would have run in
the east 3 hours earlier when he was still alive.

So Nine was
left telling their viewers that Hookes was dead at 6pm, but fighting
for his life 40 minutes later.  Is it any wonder TT flogs ACA over

Media squeezing every last drop

Keep up the
interesting reporting on the David Hookes story and the way it is being
run by the media which is an absolute joke!  Talk about squeezing
every last drop out of this story.

Last night a Current
Affair was so bad in its coverage as to be laughable with the cricket
fan breaking down in tears for the camera and a re-enactment including
visuals of the exact spot where Hookes was alleged to have been
assaulted and then revived by paramedics.  It just looked so
staged and superficial

I had visions of Steve Bisley in his
role as Executive Producer for Frontline wringing his hands in glee and
trying to work out what tomorrow nights spin on the story might

Also particularly poor was the Telegraph’s edition
today which talked about Hookes the hero donating his body
organs.  I think its all starting to get a bit out of hand.

Media should try to influence jury

I heard the news about David Hookes early on Monday morning it was
though a close friend had gone.  I listened to his radio
program about 6 hours a week.  Others in the house watched his
cricket show on Foxtel and his various other reporting.

am fed up with the crap that sports journalists in this country dish
up.  Apart from Peter Roebuck and Patrick Smith, they are all a
bunch of drivelling and sycophantic fools.  Channel 9 seems to
hire those with the lowest IQ and who want to flog stuff that you can
buy in Sunday markets 2 months later for half price.

least Hookes was passionate, interesting and thought outside of the
square.  I hope that the bastard that caused his death gets a long
stretch, but I would think he will get 3-5 years for involuntary

Most of the time I hate the mainstream press for the crap that it serves up which is why I am a subscriber to your newsletter.

this issue, I hope that they stir things up so that the creep gets what
he deserves, and that organ donation also gets a run out of this
terrible tragedy.

Australia’s tunnel vision

Well knock me over with a feather if the biggest story to come out of
Australia (besides the hilarious NAB cock up) is something about yet
another sports ‘hero’. No wonder the world views Australia as a bunch
of inconsequential no-ones. Focus on something important for a change
for christ sakes! And no, sport does not fall into that category! I
have nothing against this guy (whoever he is), but to see the summary
of media babble on your site about his death, you’d think he was
Australia’s first astronaut. I’d say get some perspective, but having
worked for the media (Fairfax) and knowing how sport obsessed the
Australian populace is, I know there’s no chance for a change for the
better. Until Australians learn that it’s a complete waste of time and
effort to glorify some moron just because they can hit/kick a ball,
there’s really not much hope for them.  Imagine if they took all
the money they spent on the institute of sport and all the associated
rubbish and channelled it into education and support Australian
inventions so they weren’t whisked off overseas. I guess I’d better
just go on imagining that, because I know it’s never going to happen.

J. Webster

Irresponsible and one-sided coverage

Here I was thinking that by early 2004 we’d left public lynchings a long, long way behind.

But, like Lindy Chamberlain and dozens before him, bouncer Zdravco
Micevic has been tried and convicted in the press long before he sets
foot in a court to stand trial for the manslaughter of cricket legend
David Hookes.

I’m shocked and saddened by Hookes’ death. I was a fan during his
all-too-short international playing career and remained a fan of the
Sports Today program he shared with footballer Gerard Healy on
Melbourne’s 3AW. Hookes, the player and the media commentator, is a
bright talent lost forever and I’m upset.

But the tragic circumstances of his death and the palpable nature of
the public grief over his death – most keenly felt from colleagues and
listeners at 3AW – is no excuse to deny Micevic a fair trial.

Much of the reporting of Hookes’ death gives a very one-sided account
of events – an account that should not be reported at all under the
strict sense of contempt of court laws put in place to ensure we all
get a fair trial after we are charged with an offence.

When it all comes out in the wash, all these reports that Hookes was
blameless might be true. I have no reason to doubt that.  The
point is the claim and counter-claim as to what happened that led to
Hookes’ death should only be played out in a court.

Press reports of Micevic’s address have forced him and his innocent family into hiding.

The pub where the trouble brewed, St Kilda’s Beaconsfield Hotel, has
been vandalised and the owners threatened. Micevic was employed as a
bouncer by another company, which was hired by the hotel’s management.

I’ve heard and seen some atrocious things about this case in recent
days, from 3AW, to news reports and bloggers inciting hate crimes. Any
defence lawyer worth their salt would be Googling ‘til the cows
come home, watching for any breach of the law that might mean Micevic
can’t stand trial. And wouldn’t all the pundits spew if that happened?

The Hack

Why Micevic’s address was revealed

After all the hot water you’ve been in with defamation payouts I would
have thought you’d learnt a thing or two. journos must give street name
and suburb to avoid claims of defamation from other people with same
name living in the same suburb. what was wrong with Monday’s age report
re naming streets was the placement of the street name adjacent to a
par that listed the rego or the car that picked the bouncer up. The age
journo might as well have drawn a noose

Shedding further light on the Hookes coverage
Privately several in the news department of Channel 9 (on air staff)
have expressed severe reservations about the coverage, accuracy of
same, and blanket coverage including the gross exaggerations and
inflations of performance and character.

The facts on Hookes career speak for themselves.  Certainly not a
star or a superhero, a dammed good cricketer is it.  If he was not
on 3AW this story would have received less coverage and further if he
were not a member of the media, even less coverage again.  Several
have already died at the hands of crowd controllers over the last 3
years to a lot less fanfare.

The police evidence to be presented appears to indicate a smart mouth
whose group was asked to leave the hotel (no indication of drunkenness)
because of excess noise and rowdy behaviour and to be quiet in the
street when they left. This same group then created a ruckus in the
street and prompted minor scuffles with the bouncers who were trying to
keep them quiet.

One person who verbally provoked a poorly trained not very bright
bouncer with a tendency to physical violence was hit with one punch to
the face and yet again landed in trouble, the sad thing is that he is

Let the media frenzy cease and let the family mourn in private and let
us hope the Labor Government who has sat on reforms to the guarding /
bouncer industry for 3 years finally implements what their expert
consultative panel recommended those 3 years ago.

If these policy changes and reforms had have been implemented when
proposed (and held back by Brumby and Thwaites) several people would
still be alive.  This bouncer would have lost his registration in
September 2002 after the Essendon incident under the proposed changes
to legislation and would not have been at the Beaconsfield hotel last
Sunday night

Who controls the crowd controllers?

Firstly, my sincere commiserations to the David Hookes nearest and dearest in these tragic circumstances.
Crikey postulates that police have not laid charges as it is likely
that the post mortem will establish cause of death as a heart attack.
Other things can cause hearts to stop as well as heart attacks, for
instance massive trauma. If the reports of the sound of the customers
head impact with the road are accurate, (and the bloodstains are
consistent with this) may I suggest that there was indeed a massive
trauma which could have stopped his heart. Only the postmortem will
If it was the trauma that stopped his heart and that trauma occurred as
a result of a premeditated assault surely then the police would have to
be looking hard at the nastiest act of manslaughter that we have heard
of in a long time.
And, sadly, the Beaconsfield management has to be counted in the
aftermath. Surely when employing staff of this nature strict guidelines
regarding bouncer conduct should be in place and surely, any education
body that graduated crowd controllers that are registered as such, had
to emphasise the need for professional conduct, not thuggery.

Bracks and Hulls will be beating their gums together for a long time
over this one. What a tragedy that one so well regarded by thousands of
good Australians should be the catalyst for the long overdue reform in
this area which will probably all now happen.

Ensuring the safety of all patrons

No doubt about it…have seen 3-4 occasions whilst working at Crown
were bouncers overreacted or “taught someone a lesson”.  I thought
that the role of a bouncer was to ensure the safety of all patrons
(including those they are ejecting from the premises).

Regardless of the behaviour of the patron the application of
“reasonable force” applies and if there is serious trouble then that’s
what police officers are for.

Look at it from the bouncer’s point of view

How many times in the past years have we heard about bouncers getting
knifed or stabbed with a syringe or even shot in the past years? How
long does it take for the media to forget these tragic incidents?

The majority of bouncers I have encountered, whilst being physically
intimidating due to their appearance, just want to do their job and
avoid as much trouble as possible. It can’t be easy dealing with
drunken revellers for a living, especially in this day and age of high
litigation. I acknowledge some bouncers go over the top, but these are
generally from places like Crown Casino and Star City.

Perhaps the industry does need an overhaul, but the media shouldn’t
label all bouncers as thugs, or even “Weapons of Mass Destruction” as a
cartoon in the Daily Telegraph the other day suggested.

Sam Hayward

Over the top coverage

I am a dissenter when it comes to the Hookes story.  Let’s keep
some perspective.  This is terrible for his family and friends but
— so far as reportage goes — he’s only a past cricketer!
Contrast this absurd hyperbole with the treatment — such as it usually
is — of the deaths of really significant Australians.

Take an example.  The great historian, Patrick O’Farrell [who
created Irish-Australian history and Catholic history] died on
Christmas day.  Admittedly there have been some fine recent
obituaries on Patrick, but as for straight reportage?  Well, if I
hadn’t rung the News Desk at the Sydney Morning Herald (a staff member
of which paper had already been told), then that paper’s newspages
would have ignored the event completely.  The Australian did
ignore it, I think (though I could have missed something tiny).

Will the papers and the electronic media, when they tire of sensation,
reflect at all of the role of excessive consumption of alcohol in this
tragedy and many other deplorable aspects of Australian society?
I doubt it.  I do note that one of your correspondents referred to
Australian cricketers’ “sledging” — there’s another issue: violence in
Australian society.  Will that be seriously reflected upon?
I’ll leave you to guess.

In the meantime, let’s not encourage the hyperbole.  Let’s take a
sober view of whether this death is so much more important and
significant than many others which are ignored and whether the
“blanket” treatment is seriously overdone?

John Carmody

The subtext in the Hookes story

The Hookes overkill? It’s the silly season. Stories are hard to come
by.  Plus this one has sub-text. Blue-eyed, (formerly)
blond-haired Aussie sporting icon killed by immigrant. It hits all the
buttons – the national sports obsession, tabloid-fuelled crime paranoia
and the new climate of xenophobia in John Howard’s little and insular
Australia. You get the media you deserve. And this load of tosh is what
Australians deserve.

John Allen

The media’s rush to judge

Reading a lot of letters about Hookes’ death, there seems to be quite
an acknowledgment that he was, in terms of his radio career,
intelligent and “thought outside the square”.  This is contrasted
by the “low IQ” of the commercial station journalists and
reporters.  A few even talk about how we are an educated nation.
And yet, there are such calls for massive retribution to the
perpetrator.  How does this fit with “an educated nation”.
There has been no trial yet, other than by media.  Let’s act
educated. If it were a case of assault and death was the terrible but
un-intended consequence, would not we wish justice for ourselves should
we ever find ourselves in that unfortunate position?  If it is
found that there was indeed intent to kill, the full force of the law
should then be executed.
At least let’s think about it a bit and recognise our emotions over
this terrible loss as being separate from what we have to do as part of
our justice system.
Pat W

Peter Fray

Fetch your first 12 weeks for $12

Here at Crikey, we saw a mighty surge in subscribers throughout 2020. Your support has been nothing short of amazing — we couldn’t have got through this year like no other without you, our readers.

If you haven’t joined us yet, fetch your first 12 weeks for $12 and start 2021 with the journalism you need to navigate whatever lies ahead.

Peter Fray
Editor-in-chief of Crikey


text:
Terry Television looks at the Sunday morning business programs.
And the week’s suspects were rounded up. Standard and Poor’s David Blitzer on Nine’s Business Sunday and the ABC’s Inside Business about the News Corp domicile and index presence issue. Business Sunday also did a panel on News Corp that was going nicely until it once again ran out of time.

The program is trying to cram too much into the time allotted and on a major issue like the News domicile, you’d have though that the priority would have been to let it run to get the views from the market.

Ross Greenwood had some reasonable points on the News issue, as did Michael Pascoe who reminded viewers of Seven’s Sunday Sunrise that the key to the deal was the estate planning aspect and the sale of Queensland Newspapers by Murdoch to News Corp.Pascoe pointed out that that particular deal should be stopped by the authorities, because it was so outrageously generous to Murdoch’s personal interests.

But the most sense on the issue came from the Intech man on the Business Sunday panel, Michael Coop, who said that investors could buy whatever overseas coverage or investments they liked.

Demolishing the twin arguments that News was a good proxy for international exposure to investors, and that News going overseas would mean less international exposure in the Australian market, Mr Coop reminded viewers that the international involvement by Australian companies had been falling in recent years, witness the decisions by the AMP and the NAB to withdraw from the UK and US respectively.

He said investors wanting international exposure could buy the foreign shares themselves or buy the foreign share funds if they wanted.
But you can bet that the pro-News gang will continue to trot that one out over the next few months as the arguments rage.
And what did David Blitzer of S&P say. More of the same, transition in months, smoothing and defending the argument that you can’t appear in two indices at once.

Greenwood did point out that a number of Australian companies did appear in both the S&P indices here and the Footsie 100 in the UK ( BHP-Billiton and Brambles), But while interesting, that is not the argument here. Both companies did not want to go into the S&P 500 in the US.

Eric Smith from Vanguard’s Australian office made the very nice point that he regarded News as a US company predominantly anyway because that’s where a majority of its earnings come from.

Crikey. What no one has considered is that News Corp could float News Ltd here and get the best of both worlds. Some cash, exposure in both indices and maybe help meet the coming argument about the foreign ownership of News’ media assets here once the company moves.

And there are plenty of examples. Rupe is confident with 34% of DirecTV in the US and around 80% of Fox Entertainment, and in the UK, sits on around 37% of Bosky (which is in the News books at a written down value of zilch). That’s the easy peasy way and local shareholders should point this out to the great man and his hench people as a doable way out of the argument.

Meanwhile the National Australia Bank’s Graham Kraehe was quizzed by Adam Shand on Business Sunday and you still got the feeling that here was a man on Mogadon who still didn’t understand what had happened to him. Judging by his performance, there’s an awful lot riding on the ability of John Stewart. Oh Dear.

And with three new directors needed and interviews and discussions underway, an announcement is due in the ‘next few months’ I would have thought the need was more pressing for a couple of good, experienced types with banking background to be found, vetted and appointed ASAP.

Several or a few months does not indicate the current reduced board still understands the need for speed on the new NAB directors to show the investors that the issue is being taken seriously.

On Inside Business Alan Kohler quizzed Andrew Mohl about the AMP’s change in fortunes. And shareholders may or may not get some good news in the next three months with a possible capital return.

But Kohler should have made a more direct point that the AMP has been saved really by the flood of liquidity from the US into world markets and the rebound on bourses around the world. They are only now just under levels reached three years ago and its hard to see another year of growth coming in share prices like we’ve seen since March of last year.

Mohl was sensible enough to realise that and use it as a caveat to bat down Kohler’s demand for the AMP to follow Telstra and lay down a policy for returning surplus capital to shareholders. Mohl cautioned that companies like the AMP, while it had surplus capital and non-core assets, it still depended on healthy markets for rising fees and income.

Don’t we all.

Peter Fray

Fetch your first 12 weeks for $12

Here at Crikey, we saw a mighty surge in subscribers throughout 2020. Your support has been nothing short of amazing — we couldn’t have got through this year like no other without you, our readers.

If you haven’t joined us yet, fetch your first 12 weeks for $12 and start 2021 with the journalism you need to navigate whatever lies ahead.

Peter Fray
Editor-in-chief of Crikey


text:
You are working in an environmental business or a business related to renewable energies, and try to understand the French market.

What are the opportunities in the french market ?

What is specific in this market ?

What are the traditional sales channels ?

How does internet interfere with them ?

How would a French office impact our market penetration ?

A lot of big players are already present on the market. Smaller as well.

But being present does not mean be efficient.

And the renewable energy market looks flat in France.

I write 'looks flat', because for some companies, the business is not flat.

Let's just take two examples :

Do you want to know more ? contact


text:
Circle Launches Free Cross-Border Mobile Payments Based on Blockchain

Circle, a Blockchain based Fintech startup backed by Goldman Sachs, announced recently it was launching its mobile payments solution to the US, UK, and Europe, which will allow people to transfer money across countries without any fees instantly.

Free and Instant Cross-Border Payments

Blockchain is the technology behind cryptocoins like Bitcoin and Ether, but the technology has a wide range of uses besides digital currencies, however. It was recently used by the UN to disburse aid to Syrian refugees; Thomas Reuters is launching a platform for distributing financial market data to its clients using blockchain; Toyota is developing a self-driving car using the technology as well. Now, Circle aims to use the same technology to allow for people to send payments to other countries free of charge.

Normally, when someone sends money to another country, they have to convert their local currency to that of the country they are sending it to, for example, dollars to euros. This transaction normally carries with it fees and sometimes an exchange markup for converting into the foreign currency. These transactions can also take time. Circle’s mobile payments app will allow people to avoid these fees and markups, and more importantly, allow people to send money instantly.

Blockchain-Based Digital Wallet

Circle, which is based out of Boston, is able to provide free and instant money transfers by utilizing blockchain technology. The company previously launched its open source digital wallet project called Spark last December. According to the company:

Spark is built on Ethereum and can run on private and public ethereum blockchains, while being designed for compatibility with other DLT technologies and runtimes. Spark provides a smart contract container that enables wallet-to-wallet transactions within and across currencies, including native digital assets as well as digital fiat assets (digital dollars, euros and other currencies). Also within Spark are all the rules for payment settlement and reversals, and the secure exchange of KYC/AML-related information to meet compliance obligations.

It seems like Circle’s business functions much in the same way as Venmo, the mobile payments platform owned by Paypal, except instead of just fiat currencies held in customer wallets, the use of Ethereum allows for the holding of cryptocoins as well. In fact, Circle mentions how active they are in trading cryptocoins like Bitcoin, Ether, and other ICOs. This might be an indication of Circle’s future plans for Spark which could involve more than just cross-border payments.

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Avalon Tapestry II deck 2 plan (Sapphire)

Deck layout and review

Review of Avalon Tapestry II deck 2 (Sapphire)

The Sapphire Deck layout starts (bow to stern) with service facilities – garbage storeroom, emergency generator room, cool- and freeze rooms, and the ship’s Galley / Kitchen.

The Tapestry Dining Room is with an open-seating arrangement (no table reservations needed). Dining options here include Breakfast (served /early-raiser from 6 am, and buffet breakfast with complimentary sparkling wine and soft drinks, made-to-order eggs station), Lunch buffet (stations for pasta, carving meats, light fare, soups, salads, desserts, complimentary soft drinks) and 4-course Dinner (including complimentary wine/beer/soft drinks). Dishes on the menu are based on the Avalon Tapestry II cruise itinerary (regional dishes) and also on Western recipes. Food is prepared with fresh locally sourced ingredients. Vegetarian, special diet, and healthy food in the Tapestry Dining Room is provided upon request (made upon booking and on embarkation day). The Dining Room dress code is casual (shorts allowed, except at dinner).

Sapphire Deck cruise cabins from 201 to 226, all of which are Panorama Suites of categories A (18 Suites) and B (8 Suites).

The aft-location service area has a laundry room, linen storage room, and the ship’s engine room.

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Get The Look: Highliner Pencil Eyeliner

Jan 22 2020

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