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Honors and Awards
- Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten (Coaches, Media, 2013)
- Academic All-Big Ten (2011)
- Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Spring 2013)
- Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Academic Honor Roll (2010)
- Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Academic Honor Roll (2011)
Andrew Rodriguez was a mainstay on the offensive line throughout his Nebraska career, consistently showing the versatility to play multiple positions on the line. One of five senior offensive line regulars in 2013, the 6-6, 330-pound Rodriguez was one of only two linemen to start all 13 games on an injury-plagued unit in 2013.
Rodriguez manned the right tackle spot for the first eight games of the season, before injuries hit the Nebraska guard position, forcing him to move inside to guard, a position he played his first two seasons in the program. Rodriguez continued to split time between guard and tackle in the final few games.
Rodriguez received honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades for his play in 2013. He is on track to earn his degree in ethnic studies in May of 2014, despite completing his career without a redshirt season.
2013 (Senior)
Rodriguez started all 13 games for the Huskers, including the first eight games of the year at right tackle, and the final five at right guard. The play of Rodriguez and the offensive line helped Nebraska feature one of the top rushing offenses in the Big Ten, including five games with 250 or more rushing yards.
Junior I-back Ameer Abdullah rushed for 1,690 yards behind the play of the offensive line, the most rushing yards by a Husker since 1997. The line also solidified an offense that had three different starting quarterbacks during the regular season.
2012 (Junior)
Rodriguez played in every game with a start at Northwestern, and was the third tackle in the regular rotation along with fellow juniors Jeremiah Sirles and Brent Qvale. Rodriguez typically spelled Sirles on the right side, allowing Sirles to swing to both tackle spots. The line helped sophomore I-back Ameer Abdullah rush for 1,137 yards, while quarterback Taylor Martinez accounted for 3,890 yards of total offense, including 1,019 rushing yards.
2011 (Sophomore)
Rodriguez started the first two contests and five straight games at mid-season, before an injury sidelined him in early November. Rodriguez helped Nebraska rush for 217.2 yards per game, including 200 or more yards on the ground seven times.
The Husker offensive line helped I-back Rex Burkhead rush for 1,357 yards and score 17 touchdowns to earn All-Big Ten honors. Rodriguez was part of two 300-yard rushing outings for the offense, including 333 yards at Wyoming and a season-high 346 yards at Minnesota.
Off the field, Rodriguez earned academic All-Big Ten honors.
2010 (Freshman)
Rodriguez saw game action in his first available opportunity when he played in the season opener against Western Kentucky, and he went on to play in a total of five games as a reserve guard.
Before Nebraska (Aurora HS)
As a senior, Rodriguez's physical presence on both lines helped Aurora and Coach Randy Huebert to a perfect 13-0 record. Offensively, Rodriguez paved the way for a powerful offense that averaged nearly 40 points a game, and defensively he made 38 tackles for the Huskies.
Rodriguez was a first-team All-Nebraska selection by the Omaha World-Herald as an offensive lineman, while the Lincoln Journal Star made him a first-team Super-State pick as a defensive lineman. Rodriguez was also honored on the national level, being selected to play in the prestigious U.S. Army All-America Game in San Antonio in January.
Rodriguez also excelled as a junior in 2008, helping the Huskies to a 12-1 record and a Class B state title. He was a second-team Super-State selection as a junior after first playing with the Husky varsity in 2007, when Aurora reached the state quarterfinals. Rodriguez was ranked as the top prospect in Nebraska by Rivals.com, which also listed him among the nation's top 25 offensive tackles and top 250 overall prospects. SuperPrep also recognized him as the state's No. 1 player, among the top 10 offensive linemen in the country and the No. 11 player in the Midlands region, while Scout.com listed him as the nation's No. 105 overall prospect and among the top 15 offensive tackles.
Rodriguez also played basketball for Aurora and excelled in track. As a senior, Rodriguez finished second in Class B in the shot put and third in the discus. As a junior, he finished third in the shot put and was seventh in the discus.
Andrew was born to Myrna Castellar in Harlem, and lived in New York until 2003. He moved to Nebraska where he lived with guardians Eric and Nicole Collazo. Andrew was born on May 15, 1991. He is majoring in sociology and claimed academic All-Big Ten honors in 2011. He earned a spot on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in the spring of 2013. He was named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll each of his first two semesters. Rodriguez has volunteered his time with Husker Heroes, the YMCA and hospital outreach activities.
Rodriguez's Career Statistics
» Games Played - 40 (5 in 2010; 8 in 2011, 14 in 2012; 13 in 2013)
» Games Started - 21 (7 in 2011, 1 in 2012; 13 in 2013)


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'American Idol' Top 7: Too much time on their hands
With fewer singers each week, American Idol's producers find themselves with more and more time to fill. Wednesday, they trotted out a random assortment of celebrities — Terry Bradshaw, UFC women's champion Ronda Rousey, teen EDM musician Martin Garrix and former X Factor judge Demi Lovato.
As for the songs, the producers went with a Competitors' Pick theme, where each finalist had to choose from a list of material selected by the other contestants. Caleb Johnson seemed to particularly relish the idea, to the point that Randy Jackson had to remind him, "That does not mean sabotage."
The results were one of the most musically satisfying shows of the season, with one singer in particular solidifying her position in the competition.
Here's how I ranked the solo performances:
Jena Irene, Creep (Radiohead). Johnson picked this song for Irene because of her "powerhouse voice" and "dark elements." Irene returns to the piano for a performance that combines tenderness and harsh dissonance. When the guitar enters, it's jarring, but it unleashes Irene's inner Hayley Williams in a way we don't see often. She also finds the emotional arc of the song, bringing it back down to an achingly vulnerable finish. "I love your fearlessness, and I love how bold you are," Urban says. Lopez adds, "You Jena-fy everything that you do. … You're going to be here for the long haul." Connick calls her a "phenomenal talent" and says she's "unquestionably the best performance of the night. … I think you did some major damage tonight." Grade: A
Alex Preston, The A Team (Ed Sheeran). There's a lot of Sheeran and his idiosyncratic delivery in Preston, so Roberts' choice was a good one for him. Preston plays with the melody a little but wins the crowd over in a big way. "I agree with them, Alex," Lopez says. "You should thank your boy Dexter, because it was a perfect song for you." Connick agrees: "You realize that there's great beauty in small performances," he says, adding that Preston's conviction in those seems to be winning over the audience. Urban praises the unique flourishes he brings in at surprising, and surprisingly natural, moments. Grade: A
Caleb Johnson, Family Tree (Kings of Leon). Johnson's roommate, Alex Preston, couldn't have picked a better song for Johnson. The Kings of Leon tune finally shows the classic rocker in a contemporary context. There's still plenty of that '70s rock, like with the Steven Tyler mic-stand move he used to start the song. But it's just different enough — both from what he's done from the Kings original — that he makes it something special. "That was a good choice, man," Urban tells him. "You're such a consistent, dynamic performer week after week." Lopez tells him it's dangerous to put him first in the lineup because then everybody else has to measure up. Connick liked the way he changed the melody: "Great way to start the show." Grade: A
C.J. Harris, Gravity (John Mayer). Harris' gravelly Gravity, picked for him by Caleb Johnson, suits him well, accenting the Southern, bluesy qualities in his delivery. He picked one of Urban's favorite Mayer songs, and he liked it, though he would like to have seen more of an emotional arc to the performance: "Your voice, every time I hear it in songs like that, it's a bull's-eye." Lopez thinks he seems more and more comfortable every week and calls it one of his best performances: "You're going to have to start looking for the moments that really lift the crowd." Connick thinks he has the greatest gift any performer could hope to have, the ability to connect with an audience: "Personally, I think that was your best performance to date." Grade: B+
Jessica Meuse, Gunpowder & Lead (Miranda Lambert). Sam Woolf picked this early Lambert hit for Meuse because "she's a bad***." Meuse starts the abused-woman's story with an eerie pattern, a la Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart, but quickly transforms it into a rocker along the lines of something Caleb Johnson might do. Meuse looks great, with a wind machine blowing her pink hair and plumes of smoke billowing around her. Lopez thought she was off a little vocally during the verses: "You just seemed a little uncomfortable." Connick notices a lack of rhythmic delivery and suggests listening to some funk or hip-hop, then watch herself in the mirror as she dances: "When your rhythm is in your body, it's going to inform everything from the neck up." Urban brings her back a little with a complement, saying he loves her voice but found that performance dissipated the song's energy too much: "If you want to stay in this competition, baby, get centered, get serious and really commit to that lyric." Grade: B+
Dexter Roberts, Muckalee Creek Water (Luke Bryan). Harris went deep into Bryan's catalog to get this song, but it's the sort of thing Roberts needs — a song that's not so well-known, where not so many people will compare him to the original. It's not a perfect performance, but it brings out the tough farmboy in Roberts. And that's a good thing. Urban, who's all about having the band onstage, warns him to be careful when the band's playing energetically but the melody stays down in one place. Lopez likes that it had "a darker quality, a nice edge" that showed a different side of him. But he needs to look for more spectacular moments. Connick was impressed with the changes he made to the original arrangement. "I want to hear you sing other things than singing along with the radio." Grade: B
Sam Woolf, Sail Away (David Gray). Meuse picked this song to help Sam "with the ladies." I'm not sure that it worked, though — for maybe the first time this season, Woolf seems to struggle a little with the pitch. He gets it under control, though, and those intense glares he gives the camera go well with the song's smoldering arrangement. Connick calls him a "work in progress," though that does mean he's progressing. Also, "at this point in the competition, familiarity is your friend." Urban likes the way he looks, the way he's starting to get comfortable with singing. He thinks Woolf's doing a good job considering his age. Lopez noticed how good he looks in close-ups, connecting with the camera in a way he may not with the audience. Grade: B
The show also features a pair of duets and one trio song.
Caleb Johnson and Jena Irene, Gimme Shelter (The Rolling Stones). The perfect Rolling Stones cover for these two, and they looked like they had a blast. Of course, Irene's no Merry Clayton, but she sure sounded good. "That was a moment!" Lopez says. And "The bangs?" — referring to Irene's new 'do, which makes her resemble Glee's Lea Michele — "Always." Grade: B
Sam Woolf and Alex Preston, Let Her Go (Passenger). Doubling up might not be the worst idea for Woolf and Preston. Their voices blend well, they appeal to a similar audience and a duo would be a change of pace for an act coming off Idol. The two sat on a stage set like a living room, replicating the scene where they came up with their arrangement. Connick tells them they looked like they were having fun, and it was kind of sweet — "saccharine," even. Urban called it "cute" but "chintzy." Guest Lovato thought "it had good energy" but she "wanted to hear you guys do more." All that may be true, but the performance still did what it needed to do. Grade: B
C.J. Harris, Dexter Roberts and Jessica Meuse, Compass (Lady Antebellum). Called "Idol Antebellum" by Randy Jackson, the show's three Alabama singers don't have the exquisite blend or perfect in-performance pitch. Connick speaks bluntly: "Guys, it just wasn't good." Lovato, who's acting as sort of a de facto fourth judges, compliments them individually but thinks they didn't come together. Grade: C-

subset: commoncrawl


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If you take opioid pain medications, you'll want to read the following letter from Jan Chambers, President and Founder of the National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association, inviting you to take part in a survey regarding your ability to get your pain medication prescriptions filled.
Dear Constituent,
As a result of enforcement changes made by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to deter illegal prescription drug use and abuse, more scrutiny is used on how people with chronic pain fill their prescriptions for opioid pain medications. The effect is already being felt across the nation as people try to fill their prescriptions.
Guidelines for doctors and patients have been determined, including a required signed contract between the physician, with the patient stating the name of the pharmacy where the prescription will be filled. Opioid prescriptions would no longer be faxed or phoned in to the pharmacy and could only be written for one month at a time with no refills. This means the patient would have to visit the doctor once a month to receive a new prescription for their pain condition. If the designated pharmacy refuses to fill the prescription, then the patient would return to the doctor for a new written prescription and add to the contract the name of another pharmacy where it will be filled. In one instance, a patient had to repeat this process ten times before finding a pharmacy to fill his opioid medication.
Responding to pressure from the DEA to implement tighter controls on filling these prescriptions, Walgreen Pharmacies recently sent letters to physicians which state: "Our pharmacists are required to take additional steps when verifying certain prescriptions for controlled substances. This verification process may, at times, require the pharmacist to contact you for additional information necessary to fill the prescription. While the information requested may vary, potential questions could include information about the diagnosis, ICD-9 code, expected length of therapy and previous medications/therapies tried and failed. Privacy laws allow you to share this information with another healthcare professional who is providing care to the patient." The American Medical Association is in the process of responding.
The NFMCPA's concern is that this practice will expand and denial of pain medications will become common through the inappropriate use of DEA and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) power to withhold prescription pain relief from people who are suffering.
The NFMCPA is creating a position paper on patient rights to access pain medication, and we need your help. Your valuable input will guide us. If you take an opioid pain medication for your condition, please click here to take the National Pain Medication Survey. We will report the results in an upcoming monthly newsletter.
Sincerely yours,
Jan Chambers
President & Founder
National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association


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Stanczyk always loves finding something unusual or unexpected. I guess that is just my eternal boyish wonder of finding/unearthing a treasure. Immigration or the diaspora of Polish citizens about the globe holds a fascination for me. It is a difficult puzzle to solve for your own ancestors. So if I unexpectedly find something else in an unexpected place for another Polish genealogist then I feel compelled to post it in my blog.
Dateline – 22 September, 1954 – Birchgrove, New South Wales, Australia. As a fluke while researching some cholera pandemics, I decided to see if there was any news in this Historical Australian Newspaper website from the Biechow/Pacanow area. To my wonder, I spied a hidden jewel in these far away shores. Up popped, an "advertisement". Shoot, I was hoping for something historical, not something mercantile. Oh well, lets just see what these Aussies have about Pacanow, shall we?
What did I find? No it was not for me (although it is an affiliated family, so who knows). Click on the image if you wish to follow along … (transcription follows):
I, JOZEF PIOTROWSKI, born in Pacanow, Poland, resident 5 years in Australia, now residing at 39 Wharf Rd. Birchgrove. N.S.W.. Intend to apply for Naturalisation under the Nationality and Citzenship[sic] Act, 1948-1953.
Well, Well, an affiliated family member from my ancestral village (Pacanow) declaring his intention to become a citizen of Australia (NSW=New South Wales state) post World War II.
Source: Trove Digitised Newspapers – The Sydney Morning Herald (22 September 1954)


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What is a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Loan?
An FHA mortgage is a loan that's insured by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). FHA loans are an especially appealing option for first time home buyers (FTHB), as they offer a down payment as low as 3.5% if you have a credit score above 579. If your credit score is above 500 but below 580, you are eligible for an FHA loan with a 10% down payment and a higher interest rate.
While FHA loans offer an affordable option for home ownership, they come with an extra cost. Borrowers are required to pay mortgage insurance (PMI), which is usually an extra 1% in interest.
FHA loans were created in 1934 as a way to stimulate the housing market through new construction, and by providing loans to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford or qualify for a traditional mortgage. The FHA gives qualified lenders the ability to issues loans they wouldn't feel comfortable underwriting on their own by accepting liability for default, and using mortgage insurance to mitigate that risk.
Key FHA Loan Benefits
FHA and FHA 203k Loans have several unique benefits:
- Homes can be purchased for as little as 3.5% down
- Mortgage insurance allows borrows with lower credit to qualify
- Down payments can be gifted by family members
- FHA 203k loans let borrowers purchase a home in need of renovation, and allow them to finance the improvements
FHA Loan Requirements in Iowa
FHA loans have specific down payment requirements:
- In order to qualify for an FHA loan with a 3.5% down payment, you need a minimum FICO score of 580.
- In order to qualify for an FHA loan with a 10% down payment, you need a minimum FICO credit score of 500.
These are the two most important qualifications, but in order to fully qualify for an FHA loan in Iowa, you must meet the following requirements:
- Must have 2 years of continuous employment history (W-2 preferred)
- Must have a valid Social Security number, be of legal age to sign for a mortgage in your state, and have legal residency in the US.
- Borrowers have to pay at least 3.5% down. The funds can be gifted by a family member
- FHA loans are only available for a primary residence. 2-4 unit buildings are allowed, as long as you live in one of the units
- Your mortgage must be an appraisal by an FHA approved appraiser
- Borrower's debt to income must be less than 43%. In some instances lenders can allows up to 50%, if they can justify how you're qualified to cover the mortgage.
- Usually borrowers must be at least two years out of bankruptcy (Chapter 13, Chapter 7, etc). Exceptions can be made if the bankruptcy was beyond your control.
- Usually borrowers must be at least 3 years out of foreclosure. Exceptions can be made if there were unusual circumstances, and you've repaired your credit.
- The property must pass an FHA inspection. The goal of an FHA inspection is to prove that the property is ready to be occupied. If the property fails an FHA inspection, the seller needs to make the required repairs, or you need to deposit funds in escrow to pay for repairs at closing. You can also do an FHA 203k renovation loan for a property that won't pass an inspection, as long as it passes upon completion of renovations.
FHA Loan Limits In Iowa
If you're buying a home in Iowa, you need to be aware of the FHA loan limits. Whether you're buying a single family, duplex, triplex, or quadplex, you need to know the maximum that the federal housing authority will lend to you.
The chart below shows the maximum FHA loan you can receive for various property types in Iowa:
FHA Loan Limits for Cities in Iowa
FHA Loan vs Conventional Loan: What's the difference?
If you're thinking about buying a home, you're probably wondering which loan is the best fit for your needs. Both conventional loans and FHA loans have their pros and cons, and it's important to understand them both so you can make the best decision.
A conventional loan usually requires more than 10 percent down, but doesn't require mortgage insurance, or an FHA inspection, which makes it easier to close on a property, and provides an affordable interest rate.
An FHA loan offers a lower down payment, and you can qualify with a drastically lower credit score. However, the additional mortgage insurance can be expensive, and limit your disposable income.
If you have enough cash for a downpayment, a conventional loan can be a great way to lock in a low interest rate on attractive terms. If you're looking to become a first time home owner without much capital, and you're willing to pay a premium on interest, an FHA loan is a great fit.
What are Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) Rates In Iowa?
Private mortgage insurance is the Federal Housing Administration's method of mitigating their risk for loans with low down payments. If an FHA loan defaults, the insurance premium from other loans will protect their loss.
FHA's mortgage insurance comes in two forms, up front mortgage insurance that is paid when you close your loan, and annual mortgage insurance paid monthly.
The Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium is almost always the same for most borrowers, at 1.75% of the loan amount.
Annual Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) varies based on your loan amount, the length of your mortgage, and the loan to value in your area.
The Mortgage Insurance Premiums in Iowa are:
FHA Loans Greater Than 15 Years
|Base Loan Amount
|Annual MIP
|80 bps(0.80%)
|85 bps(0.80%)
|100 bps(0.00%)
|105 bps(1.05%)
FHA Loans Less Than 15 Years
|Base Loan Amount
|Annual MIP
|80 bps(0.80%)
|85 bps(0.80%)
|100 bps(0.00%)
|105 bps(1.05%)
What is an FHA 203k loan?
If you're looking to purchase a property that needs more improvement to pass an FHA inspection, or you want to remodel a home you're buying, an FHA 203k rehab Loan could be a perfect fit. A 203k loan lets you purchase a home that can't pass an FHA inspection, and needs substantial repairs.
The 203k rehab loan provides funds for the renovations, allowing you to purchase a fixer-upper, or to improve the existing home to your standards.
There are two kinds of FHA 203k loans:
- 1. FHA 203k light loans allow you to borrow up to $35,000 for renovations, without much oversight from the lender.
- 2. A Standard 203k loan allows you to borrow up to the normal FHA loan limits, but you must follow strict guidelines from your lender, provide detailed bids for all repairs, and only work with FHA approved contractors. You will also usually be required to pay your contractors in installments that must be approved by the lender.
What are 203k Loan Requirements in Iowa?
Qualifying homes for a FHA 203k loan include:
- Up to four family residences that have been completed for a least a year
- A home that's been torn down, as long as some of the existing foundation is still in place.
- A property you want to move to a new location.
- Some condos are eligible, as long as they are completed, and less than 50% of the building is a primary residence for the owners.
The home will still have to qualify under the normal FHA guidelines, and pass a standard FHA inspection after all repairs are completed.
FHA 203k Loan Rates in Iowa
FHA loans usually offer lower rates than a conventional mortgage. However, this can be misleading, as both upfront and annual mortgage insurance drastically raise the effective rate.
When you're shopping for lenders for your FHA 203k loan, make sure you specifically ask if they do 203k loans, and not just FHA. Some lenders will do FHA loans, but aren't qualified to issue a 203k renovation loan.
It's recommended that you compare rates from at least 3 different lenders, and ask them to disclose every fee they charge.
Rates are just one of the many ways that lenders can compete for your business. You also need to be mindful or points, origination fees, closing costs, and appraisal fees in order to compare lenders.
Applying for an FHA Loan in Iowa
Finding the right FHA lender in Iowa is an important step in buying your next home. Your lender will give you a pre approval and loan estimate, which will determine the size of the home you can afford.
There are several ways to find a great FHA lender to work with:
- 1. Ask your real estate agent who they recommend and have had success with.
- 2. If you have a good relationship with your current bank or credit union, ask them for a quote.
- 3. Ask friends and family, and see if they would recommend their lender
- 4. Compare FHA home loan rates online
Once you found a lender, be sure to interview them thoroughly. After all, you'll be relying on your lender to close the loan that lets you buy your next home. It's important that your lender is responsive, professional, and has experience navigating the FHA process.
Combining a Home Buyer Rebate with an FHA Loan
Many first time home buyers choose an FHA due to the reduced down payment, and keeping the most cash in their pocket is their top priority.
A Home Buyer Rebate is a perfect fit for any home buyer that's looking for help coming up with their down payment.
A home buyer rebate is when your buyer's agent rebates you a portion of the commission they receive from the seller back to you. You can use this rebate to cover your down payment, buy points on your mortgage, reduce your principal, and in some cases, take the rebate as cash at close.
If you're looking to learn more about a home buyer rebate, you can get connected to a local, top rated Clever Partner Agent near you.
Need Additional Resources?
FHA Mortgage Limits
FHA Loan guidelines from HUD
FHA 203k guidelines from HUD
If you have any additional questions about buying a home with an FHA loan, please reach using our contact form or the chat feature, located in the bottom right hand site of our website!


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Ok. I've written a bit about music over the last few days, so now it's time for something far more serious. Cake!
Now the Great British Bake Off has finished for another year, I've been looking around for a way to satisfy my love of cake, and what better way than eating cake? As much cake as I possible could?
Today has been my fist three-cake day for a while. Don't judge me, I just love cake!
Cakes I've eaten today, in order brilliantness
1 – Chocolate pudding
Do you remember when they use to make puddings? Proper sponge cake puddings, with custard. It might seem a bit school dinnerish, but personally, I don't think you can beat rich, moist chocolate pudding with thick Birds-Eye custard. It's so stodgy that it's almost a meal in itself, but boy, I'd choose it over any other food any time.
I had this cake after dinner in the evening, and ended up so stuffed I felt like Henry the Eighth. If Henry the Eighth ate puddings, instead of chickens and larks tongues and jugged hare.
We actually baked it ourselves using this recipe, which means there's plenty more if I get a bit peckish. And I will keep getting peckish as long as there's some chocolate pudding left 🙂
2 – Tiramisu cupcake from 'Cupcakes by Charlie'
So I was wandering around Harrogate, and passed a lovely little cake shop called Cupcakes by Charlie. The display looked gorgeous so I popped in, in search of cake, and I'd come to the right place. Now you might not like this, but I still call cupcakes 'buns'. Maybe it's a northern thing, but to me, they'll always be buns.
In the same way as I ask for a 'large chips' in McDonalds, instead of fries. It's partly me being annoying, but I also resent being made to call things by stupid American names. Anyhow, buns now seem to be called cupcakes, so I'll go along with that for now.
So, how was it? Chocolate sponge (again), topped with coffee and Baileys buttercream, and a jaunty little wafer. it was very nice thank you, and a great addition to my cup of coffee. The buns (cupcakes) are works or art, and I'd love to be able to make them myself. maybe the shop could get involved with cupcake making experience gifts, and charge people to learn how to do it, because they know what they're doing.
I'll be going back there again, but probably be buying a box of four, so I can scoff them at home too.
3 – Tarte au citron
Lemons – they're brilliant aren't they? From Italian Limoncello on its own or in cocktails, to lemon drizzle cake, and my favourite, the tarte au citron. Like a zingy lemon curd dream inside a delicious pastry case, I picked up this tart au citron from Marks and Spencer. It wasn't this specific one cos you have to order this, but it's exactly the same product.
Interestingly, this was by far the highest calorie of any of my cakes, but then I probably ate enough for four people. Never mind, it's not like I only had cake to eat that day.
As a final thought, I was recently reminded about the UK Pudding Club. where a club gathers every now and then to eats dozens of different sorts of puddings. It's my idea of heaven, but based in the Costwolds which is a fair old drive for me. I might start my own 'Robert's pudding Club', where I eat lost of puddings, and cakes, and biscuits, and anything else I can find.
How come I'm not the fattest man in the world? It's probably only a matter of time 🙂


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The battle to win the hearts – and credit card details – of shoppers this Christmas is taking place on our screens.
Each of the main supermarkets and high street stores have released their latest festive adverts in the hope of persuading consumers to part with their cash.
And in the interest of science, we have decided to put a few of them to the test.
Can they melt the hard heart of this reporter or will they prove that Scrooge was right?
Using emotion sensing technology that measures changes in the conductivity of the skin caused by sweating, we were able to measure my unconscious response to each advert (the solid line in the results below).
A touch pad also measured my conscious response (the dotted line in the results below) by allowing me to select whether I enjoyed or disliked each advert as it progressed.
The technology, which has been developed by Sensum, a company that works with market researchers and the film industry to measure emotional engagement, provides a moment by moment breakdown of my reaction to each advert.
We chose three of the most popular adverts to examine how they fared:
John Lewis – the Bear and the Hare
This year John Lewis hired animators to create a Watership Down style tale of gift giving at Christmas that has received more than five million hits on Youtube.
It has already proved more popular than the store's previous adverts, although unlike its famous 2011 advert – which featured an excited young boy counting down the days before Christmas, it has not left grown men blubbing into their mince pies.
The department store has also run out of merchandise linked to the two minute-long animated advert, which cost £7 million to make.
If I am honest, this advert left me slightly baffled – but perhaps I took it too literally. Why was the hare riding on the back of the bear? And why did the hare even care?
Surely waking a hungry hibernating bear is the last thing you would want to do if you were a small, defenceless forest animal. The scientist in me was not convinced.
However, the results seemed to tell a different story. Despite myself, the skin sensor shows my emotions being triggered by the cute yawning bear and doe-eyed hare.
Gawain Morrison, co-founder of Sensum who analysed my results, said: "You can see that by about half way through it was really struggling to hold your attention.
"At first there is a spike in interest but that tails off. Towards the end when the bear comes back and it becomes quite uplifting, you had a big spike in interest again.
"The message at the end lingers for a long time though and you can see that good feeling drifts away."
Marks & Spencer - Believe in Magic and Sparkle
Marks & Spencers have gone with a star-studded fairy-tale theme that jumps from location to location – and features model Rosie Huntingdon Whiteley in her underwear.
It is probably the glossiest and most Hollywood of the adverts and even features a little white dog at the start. I can't help feeling that Marks and Spencers have got a bit carried away with the fairy-tale theme.
Is the white dog Toto from the Wizard of Oz? I'm pretty sure that was a black Cairn Terrier and not a West Highland Terrier. Then Rosie falls down a hole, and her clothes fall off. I'm not even sure it is family friendly.
There is a strong Alice in Wonderland theme and as far as I can make out, our heroine appears to shoplift a handbag, gets chased by some scary looking playing cards and then flies away on a magic carpet with model David Gandy.
And her clothes fall off again. Before she is on the Yellow Brick Road and Helena Bonham Carter rounds off the star value with a surprise appearance at the end.
On YouTube the video has had just under 1 million views, so falls short of the John Lewis advert, but has still done very well.
Mr Morrison said: "This advert actually overall seemed to appeal to you the most. Your unconcious engagment is fairly steady all the way through and we can see some definite spikes around where Rosie Huntingdon Whiteley is wearing underwear.
"Interestingly, on the second occasion your engagement drops right off when David Gandy joins her on the carpet.
"Despite your cynicism, you actually seemed to respond quite well to the scenes where the dog was too.
"We can see at the end your engagement rises up to the highest point around about when we see Helena Bonham Carter and that stays high for the final branding message. As an advert it works well."
Sainsbury's - Christmas in a day
Directed by an Oscar winning film maker and produced by Ridley Scott, Sainsbury's seem to have thought they were producing a feature length movie rather than something to get shoppers to part with their cash.
Indeed, the full length advert runs at around 48 minutes after being edited down from 360 hours of video supplied by members of the public showing their families celebrating Christmas.
The full length version starts with a ultrasound scan of a baby in a womb and the bells from the start of Emerson Lake and Palmer's I Believe in Father Christmas. Amazingly it has had more than 630,000 views on Sainsbury's YouTube channel.
Alarmingly it comes with the warning: "Contains scenes that may be unsuitable for younger viewers, including animal slaughter and partial nudity."
A shorter three minutes and 30 second version - nudity and slaughter free - is the one they have been broadcasting on television and the film we tested.
Mr Morrison said: "This is the advert that produced the most varied response. You start off quite interested by the bad singing at the start but you can see it really tails off towards the middle and falls away to nothing.
"But it is also the advert that produced the largest unconcious response at the end when the solider comes home for Christmas."


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PER: Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad
On-line version ISSN 1727-3781
PER vol.13 n.1 Potchefstroom Jan. 2010
The role of good environmental governance in the sustainable development of South Africa*
LA Feris
Loretta Feris. BA LLB (Stell) LLM (Georgetown) LLD (Stell). Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town
This article seeks to analyse good governance decision-making in the environmental context through an understanding and interpretation of the relationship between good environmental governance (evidenced inter alia by decision-making by public authorities) and sustainable development in South Africa. It critically assesses recent case law in an attempt to understand the way in which our courts are evaluating authorities' environmental decisions. In reaching its objectives, this article considers also how environmental decisions are made in the first place and asks the question: what are the value choices underlying government's decisions and what role does sustainable development play in informing decisions for good environmental governance.
Keywords: environmental law, environmental governance, sustainable development, environmental decision-making, good governance
1 Introduction
Environmental governance has been the subject of numerous scholarly writings and the concept is now firmly established both in international1 and domestic law. Yet environmental decisions of administrators are constantly challenged, which suggests that their decisions do not always amount to good environmental governance. We are increasingly seeing opposition to decisions regarding projects or activities that may impact on the environment.2 This is demonstrated not only by way of public protest action led by non-governmental groups, but it can also be seen in the growing number of court cases raising challenges to environmental decisions.3
These challenges to environmental decision-making have the potential to contribute to good governance imperatives such as transparency and accountability, as they highlight not only the substance of decisions, but also the process and procedures followed, especially the issue of consultation of interested and affected parties.4 At the same time these challenges raise a wider concern as they highlight the value choices employed by officials in making decisions. These are often choices that seem to elevate economic or wider developmental considerations at the expense of the environment.
This raises the further question: how are decisions which enhance good environmental governance made? What are the value choices underlying these decisions, and what role does sustainable development play in informing decisions for good environmental governance? This article seeks to analyse good governance decision-making through an understanding and interpretation of the relationship between good environmental governance and sustainable development in the South African context. It also critically assesses recent case law in an attempt to understand the way in which our courts are evaluating these decisions.
2 Governance for the Environment
Governance is a function of public administration which has been defined as
...the use of managerial, political and legal theories and processes to fulfil legislative, executive and judicial governmental mandates for the provision of regulatory and service functions for the society as a whole or for some segments of it.5
It has also been described as all processes, organisations and individuals (the latter acting in official positions and roles) that are associated with carrying out laws and other policy measures adopted by the legislature or the executive and interpreted by courts.6 It essentially involves a process of decision-making, i.e. decisions relating to managerial, political and legal processes, and that grant privileges and powers. Good governance depends on how these decisions are made, implemented and executed. Section 195 of the Constitution7 is instructive in this regard. It requires that public administration be governed by the democratic principles and values enshrined in the Constitution and that it be inter alia accountable, transparent, and efficient and that it should involve public participation. Section 195 thus sets a yardstick for decision-making from a good governance perspective.
The values referred to in section 195 of the Constitution include the values enshrined in the Bill of Rights. The nexus between section 195 and the Bill of rights is created in section 8(1) of the Bill of Rights, which binds the legislature, the executive, the judiciary and all organs of state, and section 7(2) of the Bill of Rights, which provides that "the state must respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights in the Bill of Rights". These two sections confirm that governance should accord with the Bill of Rights.
Environmental governance should therefore adhere to values such as transparency, accountability, public participation in decision-making and freedom of association. These are values that are indispensable in implementing and enforcing substantive environmental law as they ensure that citizens are aware and involved in the abovementioned decision-making processes and have the ability to effectively advocate for environmental protection.8
Environmental governance should also involve a social element. The aspiration towards establishing a society based on social justice is clearly envisioned in the South African Constitution. The Preamble notes that the aim of the Constitution is to "heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights" (author's emphasis). Keeping in mind that "environmental problems are also social problems, both in their causes and their effects", and that the effects of environmental degradation are felt most acutely by people who are also already subject to socio-economic disadvantage,9 environmental governance should be responsive to equity and justice concerns, especially amidst the deep-seated socio-economic divides that persist in South African society. This notion of environmental justice was legally recognised and included in South African law for the first time by way of the National Environmental Management Act.10 Section 2(4)(c) states:
Environmental justice must be pursued so that adverse environmental impacts shall not be distributed in such a manner as to unfairly discriminate against any person, particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged persons.
However, the clearest mandate for environmental governance in the South African context may be found in section 24 of the Constitution, the environmental right. Section 24 provides:
Everyone has the right -
(a) to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and
(b) to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that -
(i) prevent pollution and ecological degradation
(ii) promote conservation; and
(iii) secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.
Whilst subsection (a) operates in general, subsection (b) specifically mandates the state to take certain measures in order to realise the guarantee proclaimed in the first part of the section.11 Subsection (b) furthermore places a duty on the state to ensure sustainable development by (i) protecting the environment for the benefit of present and future generations; and (ii), in doing so, taking measures that "secure ecologically sustainable development...". Section 24(b) thus places a positive obligation on the state to "make decisions" that would ensure the protection of the environment and to execute this governance function in a manner that would ensure sustainable development. Consequently a clear nexus is established between good environmental governance and section 24 of the Bill of Rights. Giving effect to section 24 is therefore part of good environmental governance. Arguably, every decision that may impact on the environment must be considered against the dictates of section 24.
In view of sections 24's particular emphasis on sustainable development, one can further argue that good environmental governance will take into account the requirements for sustainable development. This link between environmental governance and sustainable development is an important one and Nel and Du Plessis12 consequently include sustainable development in their definition of environmental governance:
The collection of legislative, executive and administrative functions, processes and instruments used by government to ensure sustainable behaviour by all as far as governance of environmental activities, products, services, processes and tools are concerned.
Kotzé13 explains the connection between environmental governance and sustainable development as follows:
A management process executed by institutions and individuals in the public and private sector to holistically regulate human activities and the effects of human activities on the total environment (including all environmental media, and biological, chemical, aesthetic and socio-economic processes and conditions) at international, regional, national and local levels; by means of formal and informal institutions, processes and mechanisms embedded in and mandated by law, so as to promote the present and future interests human beings hold in the environment.
In order to be able to measure whether or not environmental governance takes sustainable development into account, one needs to fully understand the concept of sustainable development. The next section thus explores the concept of sustainable development and focuses specifically on the origin and development of the concept as well as its normative value.
3 The Origins, Development and Meaning of Sustainable Development
It has been argued that sustainable development is by no means a modern concept and Weeramantry J noted in the Gabikovo-Nagymaros case14 that
[t]he concept of reconciling the needs of development with the protection of the environment is ... not new. Millennia ago these concerns were noted and their twin demands well reconciled in a manner so meaningful as to carry a message to our age.15
Yet, as is widely known, modern conceptualisation and understanding began to surface only in the early 1970s when the Stockholm Declaration linked social and economic development. Article 8 states as follows:
[e]conomic and social development are essential for ensuring a favourable living and working environment for man and for creating conditions on earth that is necessary for the improvement of the quality of life.16
Whilst Article 8 recognises the inter-action between social and economic needs to ensure the quality of life, it does not, however, recognise the important third ingredient, i.e. the environment.17 This inter-action was formally recognised only in 1987 with the publication of the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), "Our Common Future".18 The report called for the overall transformation of policy and law based on the concept of sustainable development, which it defined as "development which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."19 It explained sustainable development as:
A process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional changes are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.20
The Brundtland Report was followed in 1990 by the Rio Declaration, which affirmed the concept of sustainable development and in Principle 4 recognised that in order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection must constitute an integral part of the development process.21
The publication of the Brundtland Report is widely viewed as the moment in environmental history at which sustainable development became a broad policy objective or at least an aspirational goal,22 and its main concept has been endorsed by governments, international organisations and non-governmental actors alike. Despite this general acceptance of the principle, divergence continues to exist over its meaning and what has been termed its "core normative content".23
Sands24 takes the approach of identifying the "legal elements" of sustainable development as reflected in international agreements. They consist of the integration of environmental protection and economic development (the principle of integration); sustainable utilisation of natural resources (the principle of sustainable use); the pursuit of equity in the use and allocation of natural resources (the principle of intra-generational equity); and the need to preserve natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations (the principle of inter-generational equity).25 South African environmental law generally also avoids a definition of sustainable development and instead "describes" it by way of a set of principles.26 These principles apply to the actions of all organs of state that may significantly affect the environment.27 It follows that these principles are the guiding principles for environmental governance in the South African context.
Field notes that in trying to capture a pithy definition of sustainable development, the principle of integration is most often emphasised.28 Principle 4 of the Rio Declaration captures the integration principle and states:
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.29
It has been argued that the principle of integration is central to the attainment of sustainable development and indeed it forms the backbone of sustainable development.30 It is concerned with ensuring that environmental issues are considered alongside aspects of the development process that have traditionally had more influence on economic and political decision-making.31 It applies to governance at all levels and should ideally influence the composition and implementation of specific measures, while at the same time it should impact on the creation and realisation of policy.32 Whilst principle 4 does not define "development" it has been argued convincingly that integration should extend beyond economic and environmental factors to include also social and cultural considerations, as sustainable development is concerned not only with environmental protection but also with wider issues of social development and cultural advancement.33
As we shall see further on, scholars disagree on how exactly the three (or four) pillars of integration should relate to one another and how the balancing with regard to decision-making should occur. For the purpose of this contribution, however, it seems important to consider the relationship between integration and governance and how decision-making for good environmental governance is situated in the interstices of integration.
4 Sustainable Development and Environmental Governance
In considering the relationship between sustainable development and environmental governance one needs to consider how decision-making would in practice incorporate the principle. A starting point is the definition of sustainable development as set out in the Brundlandt Report, i.e. "development which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This could be viewed as the aim of sustainable development i.e. that which we want to achieve. This aim operates in acknowledgement of the fact that whilst human beings are driven by their developmental needs to use, exploit and even exhaust natural resources, this can and may not happen in a limitless way. Thus, as noted by Field, sustainable development could be described as the "conceptual vehicle chosen by a diverse range of actors to negotiate the tensions arising from the need for social and economic development on a planet with finite resources".34 From an environmental governance perspective, it represents the objective of decision-makers; i.e. making decisions in the present that would not instil undue environmental burdens on future generations.
As noted above, this earlier definition has been elaborated upon by more recent authors through the identification of different elements of the concept of sustainable development. I would suggest that these elements can, in turn, be viewed as the "means to achieve the end". These means would therefore include sustainable utilisation of natural resources, the pursuit of equity in the use and allocation of natural resources, and the integration of environmental protection and economic development.35 These elements attempt to give concrete existence to a concept that may be viewed as elusive and impractical, largely because the concept involves competing considerations or normative impulses.
Of the three elements, the principle of integration has been identified as the most important. However, this element remains open to contestation. Winter, for example, argues that the sense in which the term 'integration' is used by the Brundtland Commission implies that socio-economic development has to be sustained, i.e. bearable, supported by its basis, the biosphere. As a result, the biosphere is the vital ingredient, as it can exist without humans but humans cannot exist without the biosphere - and this makes the economy and society the weaker partners.36 He suggests that the appropriate way of viewing integration in the context of the Brundtland report is not that it is one of three pillars, but rather that it is a foundation supporting two pillars.
He suggests in the three-pillar version, in contrast, that the term "sustainable" loses its reference to this material basis and merely means that the three factors should coexist as equivalent entities. In the event of conflict they are to be balanced, mutual consideration must be given to them, and a compromise found.
The above paradigm is often illustrated by way of three intersecting circles with the "sustainable development solution" integrated amongst the three circles.
Winter critiques this three-pillar approach and argues that it could easily lead to mock compromises. Prevailing short-term economic or social interests might lead to the sacrificing of the environment, with results that would be detrimental to the economy and society in the long run. 37 He illustrates his argument by referring to the annual decision of the EC Council to set fishing quotas that are regularly larger than the reproduction rate of certain fish species. This type of governance decision is justified by references to job and food security considerations. However, as entire fish populations may eventually be lost through over-fishing, this short-term compromise could rebound on humans in the long run.
Whilst Winter is correct in claiming that short-term compromises, where the environment is concerned, will eventually lead to long-term problems or even disasters, not all governance decisions based on a three-pillar approach have these extreme outcomes. Furthermore, a three-pillar approach may sometimes come closer to true compromise. Consider the following example: If a waste site is situated close to a residential area, where that site generates an income not only for the managing company but also for the residents that live nearby, should that site be closed down to accommodate environmental health considerations or should it be allowed to remain open in order to accommodate social and economic considerations? How does one integrate these three contesting considerations, if at all? One could argue that integration is the "happy medium" or compromise where one tightly regulates the operations of the waste site so as to minimise the exposure of the nearby residents while still ensuring that the site contributes to the economy and provides a source of income for the community.
This "happy medium" represents in actual fact a choice among values made by the decision-maker concerned. In this instance the decision-making is primarily driven by socio-economic considerations. Requiring strict operating conditions, however, means that the third pillar, the environment, remains part of the overall decision-making process and is not sacrificed in the name of social and economic development. Thus, whilst the diagram suggests that optimal overlap is always possible, a sense of the reality of matters suggests otherwise, and there may be many cases where there is very little overlap and where the emphasis will be primarily on one of the circles. In other words, it must be acknowledged that the three elements, environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability, do not always carry equal weight in decision-making.
For example, a burning issue in South Africa currently is that of land restitution and its relationship with sustainable development.38 A number of current land claims include claims to land that have been declared protected areas. This includes both private and state-owned land, and includes claims for land situated in the Kruger National Park, for example. In making a decision on whether or not to award such claims, decision-makers would have to take into account the possibility that claimants may not utilise the land for conservation purposes, but rather to engage in strictly commercial ventures such as farming. This would clearly promote an economic and social goal as opposed to an environmental goal. However, whilst the environmental aim of preserving our natural heritage may weigh very heavily, the idea of restoring land to people who were unjustly deprived of it in the past may weigh equally heavily with the decision makers.
It is a truism, of course, that the integration principle could be used equally effectively by diverse groups with conflicting aims, i.e. environmentalists, as against those pursuing economic development aims.39 Tladi argues that sustainable development is inherently a flexible concept which would have the effect that for those advocating economic growth the emphasis would fall on the economic growth value of sustainable development. As such, sustainable development could mean: lasting economic growth, the aim being to sustain economic growth.40 This effectively dilutes and detracts from the original aim of requiring that development be sustainable, which, if one considers the other two elements, the sustainable use of natural resources and the equitable utilisation of natural resources, was to attempt to safeguard the environment against unbridled economic development.
Decisions motivated by socio-economic considerations can, therefore, potentially be disguised as decisions prompted by environmental concerns. This was, in fact, the argument by the applicants in BP Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd v MEC for Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs.41 The applicant sought the review and setting aside of a decision by the Gauteng Provincial Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs (GDACE) to refuse the applicant's application in terms of s 22(1) of the ECA for authorisation to develop a filling station on one of its properties. The Department based its refusal, inter alia, on environmental concerns. The applicant contended, however, that its application was refused not because the new filling station itself posed a danger to the environment, but rather because of the fact that there were already two other filling stations within three kilometres of applicant's site and the Department regarded it as unacceptable to allow the proliferation of filling stations where existing filling stations were economically vulnerable to more competition. It argued that under the guise of "environmental concerns", the department was seeking to regulate the economy on the basis of what were essentially economic considerations unrelated to the environment.
In scenarios such as the above, good governance practice provides, of course, for the review of decisions, and it would be up to senior decision-makers (such as in the case of an internal review) or the courts (in the case of judicial review) to measure the decision against the requirements for sustainable development and test whether good faith decisions were or were not in fact made.
In practice, when a decision-maker, whether an administrative official or a judicial officer, takes into account sustainable development in the decision-making process, he or she inevitably makes a value-based judgement. While this judgment is informed by the values of environmental, social or economic sustainability as part of the integration process, one (or sometimes two) of these values may trump another. Tladi therefore suggests a more nuanced approach in the application of sustainable development, one that provides three variations of integration based on the value that is the preferred one in cases of conflict. In the economic growth-centred variation, economic growth takes centre stage, whilst in the environment-centred variation, the natural environment triumphs. Finally, in the human needs-centred (or social needs centred) variation the social needs of humans are placed at the forefront.42 He argues that such a varied approach allows decision-makers to decide which variation best serves the aims of sustainable development.43 In essence this suggests that decisions relating to sustainable development are inevitably value driven. Decision-makers decide in advance which of the values they prefer to advance, and whilst still taking into account the other two values, base the decision primarily on the preferred value.
Whilst the integration process is a value-driven process, the preference for a value cannot be without a legitimate basis. In other words, a decision-maker's decision should be grounded in law and there should be some justifiable base in law for the preference. Such a basis may be found in a legal or policy instrument, for instance.
It is useful to consider in this respect Sachs J's dissent in Fuel Retailers Association of Southern Africa v Director-General Environmental Management, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Mpumalanga Province, and Others.44 The applicant in this matter objected to an authorisation that was granted by the Mpumalanga provincial environmental authorities for the establishment of a filling station in White River in Mpumalanga. The applicant argued that the Director-General in his decision to issue a record of decision in terms of section 21 of the Environment Conservation Act 73 of 1989 (ECA) had not considered socio-economic issues. The Director was of the opinion that the "need and desirability" (in this case for a filling station in the area) had been considered during the rezoning application in terms of the Town-Planning and Townships Ordinance 15 of 1986 (T).45 The High Court confirmed the Director's decision in the light of the principle of cooperative governance,46 and the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) held similarly.47 The SCA further rejected the applicant's arguments based on environmental considerations (for example that filling stations may become derelict in future, causing an environmental hazard) as mere speculation.48
The majority decision in the Constitutional Court set aside the decision of the environmental authorities of Mpumalanga on a number of bases, including the failure of the department to take into account socio-economic conditions. In this respect the Court argued that the "nature and scope of the obligation to consider the impact of the proposed development on socio-economic conditions must be determined in the light of the concept of sustainable development and the principle of integration of socio-economic development and the protection of the environment."49 In essence it was the Court's position that a failure to consider socio-economic considerations amounted to a failure by the environmental authorities of Mpumalanga to make a decision that was grounded in sustainable development. The Court thus treated sustainable development as a checklist consisting of three elements. A failure by the decision-makers to consider each of these elements amounted in the Court's opinion to a failure to adhere to the dictates of the Constitution.
Sachs J, however, departed from the majority decision with respect to the materiality of the failure to consider socio-economic considerations. In essence he provides us with the application of the abovementioned "variation" approach to the integration element of sustainable development and takes NEMA as his "legitimising base". With regards to the application of the preamble and principles of NEMA he notes that "economic sustainability" is not treated as an independent factor to be evaluated as a discrete element in its own terms, but rather that the focus is on the inter-relationship between economic sustainability and environmental protection.50 Accordingly, he argues, NEMA does not envisage that social, environment and economic sustainability should proceed along separate tracks, with each being assessed separately and only considered together at the end of the decision-making process. It is his contention that economic sustainability takes on significance only to the extent that it implicates the environment. As such, it is only "when economic development potentially threatens the environment that it becomes relevant to NEMA" and it is only at this point that it should be considered within the context of the sustainable development requirements of NEMA.51 Sachs bases this argument on the factual elements that "all environmental controls were in place and that any potential deleterious effect of over-trading was speculative and remote."52
Sachs thus situates his position within the dictates of sustainable development as required by NEMA. The overall aim of NEMA is, first and foremost, to ensure environmental protection. NEMA thus chooses the environment-centred variation of sustainable development, which would require that in situations of conflict between economic, social and environmental considerations, the latter must be preferred. Given that NEMA operates within this model Sachs's argument that social and economic considerations are only "triggered" once the environment is implicated makes sense. Thus, there was no need for the environmental authorities of Mpumalanga to consider socio-economic considerations as their sustainable development decision-making is driven by the mandates of NEMA, which places the protection of the environment centre-stage.
Sachs could equally have used section 24 of the Constitution as his "legitimising base". Section 24(b)(iii) of the Constitution refers to the need to "secure ecologically sustainable development" [own emphasis]. It can be argued that "ecologically" qualifies the type of sustainable development that is envisioned by the Constitution, i.e. development that retains a preference for the natural or ecological base. It therefore clearly places an emphasis on environmental considerations and as such it places the environmental value centre-stage. Section 24 of the Constitution therefore mandates decision-making that favours the environment-centred variation of sustainable development. Any decision-making regarding sustainable development that is mandated by section 24 should, arguably, be situated within this model.
5. Conclusion
This article has attempted to reflect on the relationship between good environmental governance and sustainable development in the South African context with particular reference to the way in which decision-makers employ considerations of sustainable development in their practical decision-making processes and the extent to which their practice accords with good environmental governance. In this respect it is the writer's contention that decision-makers cannot operate outside of the mandates of the Constitution and that section 24 of the Constitution compels decisions that seek to achieve sustainable development.
Given the centrality of the integration principle the article has sought to highlight the way in which the three pillars of sustainable development are employed in decision-making. The dissenting opinion in the recent Fuel Retailers decision provides a good starting point. The Sachs approach could be termed "applied variation," as it gives us some guidance on how to interpret governance instruments at the heart of decision-making, such as legislation and policy that requires sustainable development. In applying the model not only to the majority decision in the Fuel Retailers case but also to the decision in the BP case, both are exposed as inadequate and ultimately unsatisfying applications of the notion of sustainable development. Whilst both decisions were at first glance "good for the environment", they were really motivated by socio-economic considerations, and amount to the application of the economic-centred variation of integration.
Ultimately what section 24 of the Constitution and NEMA require is that decision makers employ the environment-centred variation of sustainable development, which in essence entails making a value-laden choice in favour of the environment. It is hoped that the Sachs dissent will provide some food for thought in this regard.
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Register of cases
BP Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd v MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and Land Affairs 2004 (5) SA 124 (WLD)
Capital Park Motors CC and Fuel Retailers Association of SA (Pty) Ltd v Shell SA Marketing (Pty) Ltd (Unreported TPD case No 3016/05, 18 March 2005)
Case Concerning the Gabikovo-Nagymaros Project ICJ Reports
Director: Mineral Development Gauteng Region v Save the Vaal Environment and Others 1999 (2) SA 709 (SCA)
Earthlife Africa (Cape Town) v Director-General: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and Another 2005 (3) SA 156
Fuel Retailers Association of Southern Africa v Director-General Environmental Management, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Mpumalanga Province, and Others 2007 (6) SA 4 (CC)
Fuel Retailers Association of SA (Pty) Ltd v Director-General, Environmental Management, Mpumalanga 2007 (2) SA 163 (SCA) 168A-171A
MEC for Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs, Gauteng v Sasol Oil and Another (368/2004) 2005 SCA 76
Sasol Oil (Pty) Ltd & another v Metcalf 2004 (5) SA 161 (W)
Register of Internet resources
United Nations 1987 Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm (accessed 12 February 2010) [ Links ]
Van der Merwe C 2010 Xolobeni appeal hearings cancelled www.miningweekly.com/article/mrc-granted-right-to-mine-along-sas-wild-coast-2008-08-04 (accessed on 12 February 2010) [ Links ]
Register of legislation
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm) 16 June 1972 A/CONF. 151/26 (Vol I)
Environment Conservation Act 73 of 1989
National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992 UN Doc A/Conf.151/26
Town-Planning and Townships Ordinance 15 of 1986 (T)
* This contribution is based on a paper delivered at the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation's Colloquium on "Good Governance as a Mechanism to Promote Sustainable Development in Southern Africa" in collaboration with the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), held at Maropeng, Cradle of Humankind, Johannesburg, on 21 August 2009.
1 See for example Burnstein 2004 Journal of International Law and International Relations 139. Esty 1999 (74) New York University Law Review 1495, Bray 2005 THRHR 357 for work relating to the international law dimension. See also Bray 1999 SAJELP 1 and Kotzé A Legal Framework.
2 The most vocal and forceful opposition to new development has arisen in the mining sector with controversy surrounding the mining of Xolobeni, along the Wild Coast after the Department of Minerals and Energy, now the Department of Mining, granted an Australian company mining rights to a portion of land situated in a highly sensitive coastal marine area. See for example Van der Merwe 2008 www.miningweekly.com
3 Quite a number of challenges relate to filling stations. They include BP Southern Africa(Pty) Ltd v MEC for Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs 2004 (5) SA 124 (W), Capital Park Motors CC and Fuel Retailers Association of SA (Pty) Ltd v Shell SA Marketing (Pty) Ltd (Unreported TPD case No 3016/05, 18 March 2005), Sasol Oil (Pty) Ltd & another v Metcalf 2004 (5) SA 161 (W), MEC for Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs, Gauteng v Sasol Oil and Another (368/2004) (2005) SCA 76 and most recently Fuel Retailers Association of Southern Africa v Director-General Environmental Management, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Mpumalanga Province, and Others 2007 (6) SA 4 (CC). In the mining and energy sector challenges include Director: Mineral Development, Gauteng Region and Another v Save the Vaal Environment and Others 1999 (2) SA 709 (SCA) and Earthlife Africa (Cape Town) v Director-General: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and Another 2005 (3) SA 156.
4 One of the main points of critique in awarding mining rights in Xolobeni is the fact that not all interested and affected parties were consulted. See Van der Merwe 2008 www.miningweekly.com.
5 Rosenbloom Public Administration as quoted in Kotzé Legal Framework.
6 Gordon and Milakovich Public Administration 6. It is essentially through public administration that institutions are created and where individuals work to achieve the stated objectives by means of available public funds, human capacity and proper procedures. Mfene 2009 Journal of Public Administration 210.
7 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Hereafter the Constitution.
8 In Director: Mineral Development Gauteng Region v Save the Vaal Environment and Others 1999 (2) SA 709 (SCA) the court held that before a permit is issued interested parties should have an opportunity to raise their objections. At 710G.
9 Hayward "Introduction 1.
10 107 of 1998 (hereafter NEMA).
11 Feris "Environment" 521 and 522. See also BP Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd v MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and Land Affairs 2004 (5) SA 124 (WLD).
12 Nel and Du Plessis 2004 SA Public Law 181.
13 Kotzé Environmental Compliance 107-108.
14 Case Concerning the Gabikovo-Nagymaros Project ICJ Reports 7 (Separate Opinion of Vice-President Judge Weeramantry). Hereafter referred to as the Gabikovo-Nagymaros case.
15 Gabikovo-Nagymaros case 6. Weeramantry links the concept to ancient irrigation practices in Sri-Lanka, sub-Sahran cultures, and practices in China and South America and Europe.
16 Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm) 16 June 1972, A/CONF. 151/26 (Vol I). Hereafter referred to as the Stockholm Declaration.
17 Article 11 of the Stockholm Declaration gave recognition to the environment and called on States not to take any steps to promote environmental protection without duly taking into account the effects on development policy.
18 Brundtland Report 1987 www.un-documents.net
19 Brundtland Report 1987 www.un-documents.net 8.
20 Brundtland Report 1987 www.un-documents.net 46.
21 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992. UN Doc A/Conf.151/26. Ten years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio conference) the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was held. It added little in terms of the development of the concept, focusing instead on the now more challenging matter of implementation.
22 Voigt Sustainable Development 15.
23 See Field 2006 SALJ 409.
24 Sands P Principles of International Environmental Law (Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2003) 253.
25 Sands International Environmental 253.
26 S 2(4)(a) of NEMA. According to this sustainable development requires the consideration of all of the relevant factors including
(i) That the disturbance of ecosystems and loss of biological diversity are avoided, or, where they cannot be altogether avoided, are minimised and remedied;
(ii) that pollution and degradation of the environment are avoided, or, where they cannot be altogether avoided, are minimised and remedied;
(iii) that the disturbance of landscapes and sites that constitute the nation's cultural heritage is avoided, or where it cannot be altogether avoided, is minimised and remedied;
(iv) that waste is avoided, or where it cannot be altogether avoided, minimised and re-used or recycled where possible and otherwise disposed of in a responsible manner;
(v) that the use and exploitation of non-renewable natural resources is responsible and equitable, and takes into account the consequences of the depletion of the resource;
(vi) that the development, use and exploitation of renewable resources and the ecosystems of which they are part do not exceed the level beyond which their integrity is jeopardised;
(vii) that a risk-averse and cautious approach is applied, which takes into account the limits of current knowledge about the consequences of decisions and actions; and
(viii) that negative impacts on the environment and on people's environmental rights be anticipated and prevented, and where they cannot be altogether prevented, are minimised and remedied.
27 S 2(3) of NEMA states that "[D]evelopment must be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable." S 2(4)(a) delineates a number of requirements for sustainable development. It states:
"(4) (a) Sustainable development requires the consideration of all relevant factors including the following:
(i) That the disturbance of ecosystems and loss of biological diversity are avoided, or, where they cannot be altogether avoided, are minimised and remedied;
(ii) that pollution and degradation of the environment are avoided, or, where they cannot be altogether avoided, are minimised and remedied;
(iii) that the disturbance of landscapes and sites that constitute the nation's cultural heritage is avoided, or where it cannot be altogether avoided, is minimised and remedied;
(iv) that waste is avoided, or where it cannot be altogether avoided, minimised and re-used or recycled where possible and otherwise disposed of in a responsible manner;
(v) that the use and exploitation of non-renewable natural resources is responsible and equitable, and takes into account the consequences of the depletion of the resource;
(vi) that the development, use and exploitation of renewable resources and the ecosystems of which they are part do not exceed the level beyond which their integrity is jeopardised;
(vii) that a risk-averse and cautious approach is applied, which takes into account the limits of current knowledge about the consequences of decisions and actions; and
(viii) that negative impacts on the environment and on people's environmental rights be anticipated and prevented, and where they cannot be altogether prevented, are minimised and remedied."
28 Field 2006 SALJ 413.
29 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992.
30 French International Law 54 quoting from Paper No 3: Report of the Expert Group Meeting on Identification of Principles of International Law for Sustainable Development (Geneva Switzerland 26-28 September 1995) prepared by the Division for Sustainable Development for the fourth session of Commission on Sustainable Development 18 April-3 May 1996, New York.
31 French International Law and Policy of Sustainable Development 54.
32 French International Law and Policy of Sustainable Development 55.
33 French International Law and Policy of Sustainable Development 56. Elsewhere this author argued that whereas the three pillars of integration are usually referred to as the environmental considerations, economic considerations and social considerations, culture should not be ignored in general debates and decisions dealing with sustainable development as culture often influences social behaviour. Du Plessis and Feris 2008 (15) SAJELP 157. Other authors have furthermore argued:
"However, the four considerations - environmental, economic, social and cultural - are not separate issues, but are inter-related and interdependent. These considerations should be regarded in a balanced manner and always in relation to environmental issues. Purely social or purely economic issues should not sway a decision in a particular direction - the same could be said of purely environmental issues. Social and economic issues should be linked as socio-economic issues in order to ensure that the correct issues are addressed regarding a project. Sustainability rests on four pillars ... if one of the pillars is not taken into account, sustainability may not be achieved. If governance and decision-making are skewed, sustainability will never be achieved." Du Plessis and Britz 2007 (2) Journal of South African Law 263 and 275.
34 Field 2006 SALJ 411.
35 See Sands International Environmental Law 253. Field notes that some scholars refer to a wider range of elements and include elements such as "observance of the rule of law in international relations"; the "duty to co-operate towards global sustainable development"; and "the observance of human rights". Field 2006 SALJ 412. The three elements noted by Sands are, however, the most widely recognised elements of sustainable development.
36 Winter "A Fundament and Two Pillars" 24 27.
37 Winter "A Fundament and Two Pillars" 28.
38 For a more detailed discussion see Du Plessis 2006 PER 1.
39 Tladi Sustainable Development 75.
40 Tladi Sustainable Development 75.
42 Tladi Sustainable Development 80. His idea is not that placing one value centre stage would obliterate the others, but rather that this would reinforce the other two.
43 Tladi Sustainable Development 82.
44 2007 (6) SA 4 (CC). For a more detailed discussion of this case see Feris 2008 Constitutional Court Review 235. See also Kidd 2008 SAJELP 85-102, Couzens 2009 SAJELP 23-56, Bray 2009 SAJELP 3-22, and Kotzé and Retief 2009 SAJELP 139-155.
47 16A-C; Fuel Retailers Association of SA (Pty) Ltd v Director-General, Environmental Management, Mpumalanga 2007 (2) SA 163 (SCA) 168A-171A.
49 Para 71.
50 Para 113.
51 Para 113.
52 Para 112.


text:
Edwin L. Aguirre
On July 11, 2006, a Chicago Transit Authority subway train derailed between two of the city's downtown stations. Following the derailment, the train came to a stop and an electrical arc developed between the last car and the 600-volt third rail, generating a lot of acrid smoke. Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt or killed in the accident, but as a precaution, the train's 1,000 passengers were evacuated. Total property damage was estimated at more than $1 million.
According to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the accident was probably caused by the "Chicago Transit Authority's ineffective management and oversight of its track inspection and maintenance program and its system safety program, which resulted in unsafe track conditions."
A team of researchers from UMass Lowell, Duke University, the University of Vermont, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and Penn State Altoona has recently received a two-year award of $1 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) to develop a high-tech automated system for inspecting and monitoring the health of the country's rail transit infrastructure. Keeping better tabs of railroad tracks, bridges and tunnels could help prevent passenger trains like the one in Chicago from derailing.
"Our system will use ground-penetrating radar, laser, geographic information system and GPS to automatically check and collect surface and subsurface data on the track's steel rails, concrete ties, fastening systems and ballast," says Yuanchang Xie, an assistant professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and the principal investigator (PI) for the entire project.
Xie says special algorithms and software tools will analyze and interpret the data and assist in detecting and locating rail defects and safety hazards, such as broken ties, missing bolts, fouled ballast and wide rail gauge. In addition, a WebGIS-based decision support system will be developed to help visualize the inspection results.
"This will make it very easy for railroad track owners and operators to identify where the problems are and how severe they are," he says.
A Growing Problem
In a 2008 report, the Federal Transit Administration estimated that approximately 25 percent of the nation's rail and bus assets are in marginal or poor condition. Confounding the issue is the fact that rail transit agencies rely heavily on visual observations to inspect the tracks.
"This manual method is time-consuming, costly and unsafe and cannot effectively identify safety hazards below the surface," says Xie. "Given our aging rail infrastructure, our proposed system is expected to substantially benefit the rail transit industry by improving the track inspection's efficiency and accuracy, as well as the safety of both the rail transit systems and track workers."
The team is currently working with the consulting firms CodeRed Business Solutions and Pavemetrics Systems to develop the system, which will be tested in collaboration with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Metro St. Louis.
In addition to Xie, other members of the UMass Lowell team include civil engineering Asst. Prof. Tzu-Yang Yu, who is the co-PI, and graduate students Jessica Wang, Tugba Arsava and Chao Zhang.
UMass Lowell's share of the RITA funding is nearly $410,000; the rest of the award money goes to the other universities and firms. This award is part of RITA's Commercial Remote Sensing & Spatial Information technologies program for transportation infrastructure development and construction.
For more information, go to project's website.


text:
For chefs with more epicurean ambition than space in their kitchen comes Bento & co's Bin 8 bottle which at first glance looks like an empty wine bottle. But on closer inspection you'll discover it hides a kitchen's worth of cooking implements.
When disassembled the Bin 8 reveals that it's actually composed of a funnel with an adapter for filling narrow-necked bottles, a lemon juicer, fine and coarse graters, an egg yolk separator, a masher, a jar opener, and a measuring cup with just under a two cup capacity. For $28 it's almost everything a budding chef could possibly need in a form factor that doesn't have to be stashed away in a drawer. Nor will it cramp their precious counter space.
[Bento & Co. via Notcot]


text:
Sweet! I'm a picture of Scarlett Johansson! I'm good with that!
Oy. You can't do too much with my 6 digit number. Unless you want to sign me into your safety briefings monthly. BTW, you'd be stunned at the number of people who have their CAP ID in their email sig. Seriously.
I just saw the Justin Beiber Photos on the other page...CRAP...Some things you just can not UN-SEE. (Reaching for the Mental Clorox)


text:
The latest album might be called 'The Mighty Death Pop!' but Insane Clown Posse is very much alive - and plans to prove it this year.
In the wake of a battle with the FBI, which has classified the Detroit rap duo's Juggalo fans as a gang, ICP is getting ready for an extensive road trek, its 14th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos summer festival, a steady stream of videos for 'The Mighty Death Pop' songs and 'a huge project' that the group's Violent J promises will 'shock the world' - which, of course, is about all he'll say about it.
But, he adds, ICP will be packing plenty of surprises when it hits the road May 1 in Rochester, N.Y., with plans to stay out until its annual Hallowicked show on Halloween night in Detroit.
'We're going to ... pound the pavement this summer,' promises Violent J (real name Joe Bruce), 40, who had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee earlier this month. 'This next tour is going to be a brand-new show - not just the Clowns and the zombies and the Faygo, but a lot of new stuff going on and a bunch of songs we don't normally do in concert.
'We're going into the catalog and are gonna stop doing the same batch of songs that we always do every tour because they're the concert hits. We're going to do a lot of songs we've never done in concert. We'll get back to doing the regular stuff that we know everybody loves, but for 'The Mighty Death Pop' tour we're going into the crates to do some new stuff and try some new tactics.'
Violent J and his partner Shaggy 2 Dope (Joe Utsler), who formed ICP during 1989, telegraphed this move at last year's Gathering, and the reasoning behind it is simple.
'Y'know, most people that come to see us have been coming for years and seen ICP, like, 12 times or something,' Violent J explains. 'We still get a lot of new people, a lot of young faces. But the majority of the crowd has seen us multiple times, so we want to give them something really different and fresh this time.
'So we're gonna open some new doors, kick some new flavor and show we don't have to rely on our regular bag of tricks. We're looking forward to the challenge and providing something new and innovative and unexpected. We can't wait for people to come and think they're gonna see the same old thing and then, boom!, the death pop.'
FBI casts shadow on Juggalos ICP's latest tour, of course, comes amid the specter of its battle with the FBI, which began last year when the agency announced its gang designation for the Juggalos. That led partly to ICP's ouster from the Royal Oak Music Theatre for last year's Hallowicked show and has resulted in other booking challenges as well as negatively impacting the group's merchandise sales.
The Bloomfield Hills-based law firm Hertz Schram PC has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit on behalf of ICP and its Psychopathic Records company seeking documents related to the gang classification. A trial date is set for next March. The firm also has been talking to Juggalos who feel their civil rights have been infringed upon by the designation in preparation for another suit asking for the fans to be removed from the list.
'The whole thing is absurd,' says attorney Howard Hertz, who says the firm has 'gotten thousands of responses' from Juggalos and is 'weeding through them to come up with a handful of plaintiffs' to move the second suit forward. 'We're not ready to file yet,' Hertz says, 'but it's getting close.'
For his part, Violent J says he tries 'to keep my mind off it, honestly.'
'It bums me out, and I get winded when I think of the challenge,' he says. 'But we're fighting it. They're gonna have to do their researching in trying to prove the Juggalos are a gang, but that scares me, what they're going to find to say. I don't know what to expect.'
Nevertheless, he's buoyed by the support ICP has received.
'People are on our side, especially the clubs and places we've been coming for years,' Violent J says. 'They know that's (wrong). It's so ridiculously stupid. I expect (the FBI) to say something like, 'You misunderstood what we mean. We're just saying (the Juggalos) behave LIKE gangs ... but to make you happy we'll take your name off the list.' They'll try to talk their way out of it like that.
'It's so dumb and ridiculous and untrue that they're gonna have to do something like that.'
While the legal wrangling continues, the duo is staying focused on its music. 'The Mighty Death Pop,' which was released in three different versions last August, debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Independent Albums chart. ICP plans to make videos for at least 10 of the album's tracks and recently released the fifth - for 'Where's God?' a lament that's self-evident from the title.
'I'm sure everyone will say God has a plan, but tell that to someone who just lost a loved one to some unfair tragedy,' says Violent J, who has two adolescent children. 'God has a plan? F--- that plan if it involves losing your daughter or something. Everybody, unfortunately, feels that way at some point, just ... where's God, y'know?'
The video, interestingly, depicts Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope in monks' robes, carrying large crosses past scenes of death, drug use, poverty and other tragedies. Their religious beliefs have always factored into their music, but the 'Where's God' clip is the most explicit expression of faith they've made to date.
'I personally believe in God. God gives people hope,' says Violent J, who was raised Catholic. 'People seem to make a big deal out of the fact that we're religious; some people say we're far more religious than we really are. So with everybody pointing the religious finger at us, we figured we might as well address it and put it front and center.
'It's something else different to do at this stage of the game. We don't have all the answers. We're not educated in religion. We can't sit here like a priest or a preacher; I haven't read the Bible myself. But we believe in God, yes. We say it in the song - we still believe and we need him here and all that. But we can't explain why he's not there to help.'
ICP has filmed its next video, for 'When I'm Clownin',' and Violent J says the rest of the album's songs will follow in due course.
'Our plan is to release 10 music videos,' he confirms. 'Making a video today is like releasing a single. More and more people want to have that visual look along with the song. It's just a different industry now.'
Meanwhile, the group will soon announce details about this year's Gathering, Aug. 7-11 at Cave-in Rock, Ill., which Violent J says will be themed The Rise of the Underground and concentrate 'less on stuff that was huge commercial hits and more on independent, underground stuff.'
Then there's the next ICP album, which by the band's timetable should most likely roll out in 2014. 'We're starting to think about it now, just recently, and I'm excited,' Violent J says. 'I'm trying to see what's gonna pop into my head as far as a name or an image. Once we settle on that, then it'll be full speed ahead.'