Women’s T20 World Cup team of the tournament: Shafali Verma, Nat Sciver in Lydia Greenway’s side
Power-hitting and prized wickets aplenty have lit up the Women’s T20 World Cup so far – but who has caught your eye?
Ahead of Sunday’s final between India and hosts and defending champions Australia, in Melbourne, we asked former England international Lydia Greenway to pick her team of the tournament so far. Take a look at her XI and then let us know who would make your side by tweeting your XI to @SkyCricket.
Shafali Verma (India): 161 runs at 40.25
Shafali has taken to international cricket like a duck to water and has set this World Cup alight with her hard-hitting approach. Her dynamism at the top of the order has enabled her to jump to the number one spot in the ICC T20 rankings, a place Suzie Bates had occupied since 2018!
Alyssa Healy (Australia): 161 runs at 32.20
Alyssa just pips Beth Mooney to the post to take the second opening spot. She has performed when it has most counted after a run of bad form coming in to the tournament and provides a reliable set of hands behind the stumps.
Nat Sciver (England): 202 runs at 67.33, two wickets at 27.00
Nat has had a brilliant tournament with both bat and ball, and is back to her best form earning her a place as the side’s number three. She’s currently the tournament’s leading run-scorer despite not getting a hit in the semi-finals.
Heather Knight (England) – captain: 193 runs at 64.33
Heather has led the way with the bat for England but has also captained brilliantly, often coming in after quick wickets have fallen. She has rebuilt for England and demonstrated her much improved power hitting game at the back end of an innings.
Chamari Atapattu (SL): 154 runs at 38.50, two wickets at 45.50
Chamari has continued to show why teams pick her up in the domestic tournaments around the world. Not only does she have the ability to single-handedly win games for Sri Lanka with the bat but she also offers some handy overs with her off-spin bowling.
Marizanne Kapp (South Africa): 69 runs at 34.50, two wickets at 9.50
A virus ruled her out of the semi-final and South Africa missed her – although Nadine de Klerk did an admirable job. Marizanne continues to be one of the most dangerous power play bowlers in the world, managing to take key wickets and keep things tight. She has also played some crucial innings in this tournament batting at three.
Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa): 94 runs with no dismissals
Laura has shown great flexibility and nous in the middle order for South Africa during this tournament – almost dragging them to victory over Australia – and possesses a strike rate (149) only second to Shafali Verma (161).
Sophie Ecclestone (England): eight wickets at 6.12
The most economical bowler in the tournament so far and has recently risen to number one in the ICC T20 bowling rankings off the back of her performances, while bringing on the talents of Sarah Glenn and Mady Villiers.
Shabnim Ismail (South Africa): five wickets at 14.20
The seamer has once again shown just how capable she is of blowing teams away in the power play and continues to be dynamic leader on the pitch.
Megan Schutt (Australia): nine wickets at 12.88
Megan is one of, if not the most reliable death bowler in the tournament; her ability to pick up vital wickets is crucial, as she proved once again in the semi-final against South Africa.
Poonam Yadav (India): nine wickets at 9.88
She stunned Australia in the opening game and continues to pick up wickets throughout the tournament, making her the joint leading wicket-taker in the World Cup alongside Schutt.
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Preventing a covid-19 pandemicBMJ 2020; 368 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m810 (Published 28 February 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;368:m810
All rapid responses
Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not including references and author details. We will no longer post responses that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
I am grateful to Ms Jane Robertson for telling me that what I suggested in March is now happening.
I ask the powers that be:
How many months does it take to implement a simple suggestion? A medical officer of health would have done it within a couple of days.
And I ask: this tardiness has been responsible for spread of the disease, possibly, deaths.
Will the House of Commons determine who was responsible for damaging public health?
Competing interests: No competing interests
JK Anand previously suggested at the start of the UK’s response to the epidemic that sewage be examined.
I thought they would like to know about the following that a government-led project is successfully detecting traces of coronavirus in sewerage, providing an early warning for local outbreaks across the country
Competing interests: No competing interests
I read with interest this article and related rapid responses, and I would like to contribute with some observations and hypotheses that will hopefully take us closer to understanding the role of smoking in the ongoing spread of the disease COVID-19.
But first let us note that medicine is a statistical science, where sometimes false statements are embedded among true relationships. For instance, the same studies that reveal the risk factors of comorbidities such as obesity and diabetes on the prognosis of COVID-19, seem to tiptoe around the issue of data in relation to alcohol consumption and smoking habits.
Indeed, in the New York City area, mortality has been null for patients younger than 20 years but above 30% for those over 70 yr. old . In addition, preliminary analysis suggests that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D status may play a role in COVID-19 fatality , which confirms clinical observations among patients admitted to hospital in England that being overweight and non-Caucasian (i.e. Blacks, Asians, Hispanics or the like) is associated with a higher odds of testing positive for COVID-19 , while surprisingly, a regular smoker has reduced odds. The same is true among an ample cohort of patients from a hospital in Wuhan, China: few patients had a current or former cigarette smoking history . Notably, it might seem that alcohol drinking also has a protective effect against COVID-19 . Similar results can be concluded from a multicentre cohort study throughout Spain .
Exposure to tobacco has consistently been associated with several autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus , yet a lower risk of developing inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. The mechanism by which this occurs is unclear, although it has been recently suggested that nicotine regulates the ACE2 enzyme pathway involved in the “cytokine storm syndrome”, a systemic inflammatory response in many COVID-19 patients .
However, we prefer to hypothesize that it is not the nicotine, but the tobacco virus that cross-react with coronaviruses, and thus, may play a key role in the prognosis of COVID-19 infection.
Although it is usually claimed that tobacco plants cannot host human pathogens, tobacco virus has been described as viable in cigarettes and recovered from smokers' saliva . In line with our hypothesis, it is suspected that immunological cross-protection from previous exposure to A-type influenza viruses other than H1N1 (e.g. 1889 pandemic) may have played a role in the low mortality rates among the middle-aged and older individuals during the Spanish Flu . Similarly, evidence of SARS-CoV-2 immunity induced by antibodies from memory B cells of an individual who was infected with SARS-CoV in 2003 , probably stems from the fact that spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV are structurally very similar .
As we have previously highlighted, shape and size matter when it comes to determining the characteristics of nanoentities . In this regard, we note positive-stranded RNA tobacco virions (for which tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are also a host) are hollow rod-shaped particles about ~300 nm in length and ~18 nm in diameter , while the positive-stranded RNA SARS-CoV-2 virus has round crown-like appearance and a diameter of approximately 100 nm , which is perhaps consistent with the speculation that they share structural similarity of antigenic determinants. In this regard one should note that smokers have a higher level of serum immunoglobulin IgG antibodies , the receptor for viruses that cause cold-like symptoms, fever, sore throat, bronchitis, pneumonia, diarrhea, and conjunctivitis, much like the COVID-19 . As such, cross-reactivity against coronaviruses has recently been demonstrated by connecting human ACE2 to immunoglobulin IgG1 . But, unfortunately, on the sad side is the fact that ACE2 expression mediates both in infections by coronaviruses and influenza A , and could pose a higher level of infectivity for vaccinated individuals . This could explain the worsening of disease among the elderly with comorbidities, which are included among the high priority groups for routine influenza vaccination by many national health authorities. If confirmed, this observation would have implications for annual vaccination recommendations and policies, given the little impact on mortality rates that would have occurred during flu season had none of the elderly been vaccinated .
In conclusion, I have described what I believe is the first instance of tobacco virus is confirmed as the cause of smoking oddity when it comes to coronavirus disease. If this is proven to be correct, there is a possibility of effective adaptive immune responses in a naïve vaccination model . Something similar has been developed against avian influenza [23, 24].
We finish by noting that tobacco and tomatoes are extensively cultivated in the Mediterranean area…I let the reader wonder whether this has something to do with the significant regional differences in the COVID-19 epidemic.
1. S. Richardson, et al. Presenting Characteristics, Comorbidities, and Outcomes Among 5700 Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 in the New York City Area. JAMA (2020); doi:10.1001/jama.2020.6775
2. A. Daneshkhah, et al. The Possible Role of Vitamin D in Suppressing Cytokine Storm and Associated Mortality in COVID-19 Patients. (2020). medRxiv 2020.04.08.20058578; doi:10.1101/2020.04.08.20058578
3. A. L. Darling, et al. Vitamin D status, body mass index, ethnicity and COVID-19: Initial analysis of the first-reported UK Biobank COVID-19 positive cases (n 580) compared with negative controls (n 723). (2020). medRxiv 2020.04.29.20084277; doi:10.1101/2020.04.29.20084277
4. T. Chen, et al. Clinical characteristics of 113 deceased patients with coronavirus disease 2019: retrospective study. BMJ 368, m1091 (2020)
5. S. Liu, et al. Characteristics and Associations with Severity in COVID-19 Patients: A Multicentre Cohort Study from Jiangsu Province, China. (2020). https://ssrn.com/abstract=3548753; doi:10.2139/ssrn.3548753
6. J. M. Casas Rojo, et al. Clinical characteristics of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Spain: results from the SEMI-COVID-19 Network. (2020). medRxiv 2020.05.24.20111971; doi:10.1101/2020.05.24.20111971
7. D. S. Majka & V. M. Holers. Cigarette smoking and the risk of systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 65, 561-563 (2006)
8. K. Farsalinos, et al. Editorial: Nicotine and SARS-CoV-2: COVID-19 may be a disease of the nicotinic cholinergic system. Toxicol. Rep. 7, 658–663 (2020). doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2020.04.012
9. F. Balique, et al. Tobacco mosaic virus in cigarettes and saliva of smokers. J. Clin. Virol. 55, 374‐376 (2012)
10. S. E. Mamelund, et al. A Missed Summer Wave of the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic: Evidence From Household Surveys in the United States and Norway. Open Forum Infect. Dis. 3, ofw040 (2016)
11. D. Pinto, et al. Cross-neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by a human monoclonal SARS-CoV antibody. Nature (2020). doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2349-y
12. C. Wang, et al. A human monoclonal antibody blocking SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nature Comm. 11, 2251 (2020)
13. C. Martinez-Boubeta, et al. Learning from Nature to Improve the Heat Generation of Iron-Oxide Nanoparticles for Magnetic Hyperthermia Applications. Sci. Rep. 3, 1652 (2013)
14. K. C. Holmes. Flexibility in tobacco mosaic virus. Ciba Found Symp. 93, 116‐138 (1983)
15. S. Prasad, et al. Transmission electron microscopy imaging of SARS-CoV-2. Indian J. Med. Res. 151, 241-243 (2020)
16. R. Liu, et al. Humans have antibodies against a plant virus: evidence from tobacco mosaic virus. PLoS One 8, e60621 (2013)
17. J. Sui, et al. Evaluation of human monoclonal antibody 80R for immunoprophylaxis of severe acute respiratory syndrome by an animal study, epitope mapping, and analysis of spike variants. J. Virol. 79, 5900-5906 (2005)
18. C. Lei, et al. Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotyped virus by recombinant ACE2-Ig. Nat. Commun. 11, 2070 (2020)
19. P. Yang, et al. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) mediates influenza H7N9 virus-induced acute lung injury. Sci Rep. 4, 7027 (2014)
20. L. Zhang & Y. Zhang. Influenza Viral Infection is a High-Risk Factor for Developing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). (2020). doi: 10.20944/preprints202003.0307.v1
21. B. Fireman, et al. Influenza Vaccination and Mortality: Differentiating Vaccine Effects From Bias. Am. J. Epidemiol. 170, 650–656 (2009)
22. M. D. Langowski, et al. Optimization of a Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein repeat vaccine using the tobacco mosaic virus platform. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117, 3114-3122 (2020)
23. J. K. Mallajosyula, et al. A Single Dose TMV-HA Vaccine Protects Mice from H5N1 Influenza Challenge. Int. J. Vaccine Res. 1, 6 (2016)
24. Y. Ceballo, et al. High accumulation in tobacco seeds of hemagglutinin antigen from avian (H5N1) influenza. Transgenic Res. 26, 775‐789 (2017)
Competing interests: No competing interests
Hypoalbuminemia is frequently observed in conditions like diabetes, hypertension and chronic heart failure, the cohort which is hardest hit with COVID-19 infection.(1)(2)(3) In our vast experience in India in a cardiac care unit, we have observed significant benefits of carefully administered albumin in patients with acute coronary syndrome, sepsis and septic shock.(4) Based on our observation we propose a trial of slow IV albumin with diuretics in COVID-19 patients suffering from ARDS along with hypoalbuminemia.
Amongst COVID-19 patients, those with low albumin levels have a poorer prognosis and low albumin levels are seen in 80% of the nonsurviving patients.(5) Its association with poor outcomes thus is conceivable since serum albumin maintains plasma oncotic pressure and acts as a carrier molecule for various endogenous and exogenous compounds. It has significant antioxidant properties responsible for maintaining plasma redox state.(6)
Although hypoalbuminemia is often an effect rather than the cause of the underlying pathology, targeted therapy with intravenous albumin has shown to improve serum albumin levels and improve respiratory, cardiovascular, and central nervous system components of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score.(7) In patients with acute lung injury in spite of altered capillary permeability, intravenous administration on IV albumin with diuretics improved oxygenation via increase in colloidal oncotic pressures, improved cardiac output and better ventilation–perfusion matching.(8)(9) A small pilot study has also shown favourable metabolic profile in patients of acute lung injury treated with I.V. albumin. (10)
In view of its abovementioned benefits, its trial is warranted in the current scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have already registered a trial under Clinical trial Registry-India to examine the effect of intravenous infusion of albumin with diuretics in COVID-19 patients with respiratory insufficiency.
Competing interest : No competing interest.
1. Gopal D, Kalogeropoulos AP, Georgiopoulou VV, Tang WWH, Methvin A, Smith AL, et al. Serum Albumin Concentration and Heart Failure Risk. Am Heart J. 2010 Aug;160(2):279–85.
2. Stranges S, Rafalson LB, Dmochowski J, Rejman K, Tracy RP, Trevisan M, et al. Additional contribution of emerging risk factors to the prediction of the risk of type 2 diabetes: evidence from the Western New York Study. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 Jun;16(6):1370–6.
3. Guan W-J, Liang W, Zhao Y, Liang H, Chen Z, Li Y, et al. Comorbidity and its impact on 1,590 patients with COVID-19 in China: A Nationwide Analysis. 2020.
4. Sharma YP, Krishnappa D, Kanabar K, Kasinadhuni G, Sharma R, Kishore K, et al. Clinical characteristics and outcome in patients with a delayed presentation after ST-elevation myocardial infarction and complicated by cardiogenic shock. Indian Heart Journal. 2019 Sep 1;71(5):387–93.
5. Huang Y, Yang R, Xu Y, Gong P. Clinical characteristics of 36 non-survivors with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. medRxiv. 2020 Mar 5;2020.02.27.20029009.
6. Taverna M, Marie A-L, Mira J-P, Guidet B. Specific antioxidant properties of human serum albumin. Ann Intensive Care. 2013 Feb 15;3:4.
7. Dubois M-J, Orellana-Jimenez C, Melot C, De Backer D, Berre J, Leeman M, et al. Albumin administration improves organ function in critically ill hypoalbuminemic patients: A prospective, randomized, controlled, pilot study*: Critical Care Medicine. 2006 Oct;34(10):2536–40.
8. Uhlig C, Silva PL, Deckert S, Schmitt J, Abreu MG de. Albumin versus crystalloid solutions in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Crit Care. 2014 Feb;18(1):1–8.
9. Geer RT, Soma LR, Barnes C, Leatherman JL, Marshall BE. EFFECTS OF ALBUMIN AND/OR FUROSEMIDE THERAPY ON PULMONARY EDEMA INDUCED BY HYDROCHLORIC ACID ASPIRATION IN RABBITS: The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care. 1976 Oct;16(10):788–91.
10. Park Y, Jones DP, Ziegler TR, Lee K, Kotha K, Yu T, et al. Metabolic effects of albumin therapy in acute lung injury measured by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of plasma: A pilot study*: Critical Care Medicine. 2011 Oct;39(10):2308–13.
Competing interests: No competing interests
On 12 March in a rapid response, I suggested that the sewage be examined to form an idea of where there are excreters of Coronavirus.
No one has debunked the suggestion. It is not a brand new idea - it has been used, for example, in Poliomyelitis epidemiology.
Is PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND carrying out this work?
And if not, is it not criminally negligent?
1 Mallapaty S. How sewage could reveal true scale of coronavirus outbreak. How sewage water testing could also be used as an early warning sign if the virus returns. Nature 2020 Apr 9;580:176-7.
Competing interests: Resident in Pace Britannia
Vitamin D may directly prevent COVID-19 from entering lung epithelial cells; this means that Vitamin D might be a specific treatment (in addition to its potential role in prophylaxis). Here is the rationale:
1. COVID-19 enters lung cells by binding to ACE2 receptors .
2. ACE2 receptors utilize a specific interleukin (IL-6) when normally activated .
3. Blockade of IL-6 by tocilizumab may be an effective treatment for COVID-19 .
4. Vitamin D reduces IL-6 production in monocytes (and, presumably, macrophages) .
This provides a rationale for administration of Vitamin D (eg by intramuscular injection) as treatment in acutely ill patients with COVID-19.
1. Kuba K, Imai Y, Rao S, et al. A crucial role of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in SARS coronavirus-induced lung injury. Nat Med. 2005;11(8):875–879. doi:10.1038/nm1267
2. Senchenkova EY, Russell J, Yildirim A, Granger DN, Gavins FNE. Novel Role of T Cells and IL-6 (Interleukin-6) in Angiotensin II-Induced Microvascular Dysfunction. Hypertension. 2019;73(4):829–838. doi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.12286
3. Michot JM, Albiges L, Chaput N, et al.Tocilizumab, an anti-IL6 receptor antibody, to treat Covid-19-related respiratory failure: a case report. Annals Oncology. 2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2020.03.300.
4. Sadeghi K1, Wessner B, Laggner U, et al. Vitamin D3 down-regulates monocyte TLR expression and triggers hyporesponsiveness to pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Eur J Immunol. 2006;36(2):361-70. doi:10.1002/eji.200425995
Competing interests: No competing interests
I'm responding to the response made by Emilio Maestri (endocrinologist) on 12 March 2020 regarding contradictory studies using 'vitamin' D supplementation.
I have not read the references he has cited but, although I am not a nutritionist, I have read enough over the years to know that supplementation of just one micronutrient in large doses is not necessarily advisable and may well give poor results. In the case of 'vitamin/hormone' D, I am aware that a deficiency of magnesium, said to be rife in developed countries (due to modern farming methods and depletion through what we call "stress"), can manifest also as a vitamin D deficiency so that increasing supplemental dose of vitamin D will not have the desired effect precisely because the deficiency concerned is magnesium (which is needed to 'activate' vitamin D.)
Furthermore, in the case of trying to improve osteoporosis with supplemental vitamin D, there is the necessity of vitamin K (in the form of K2) which 'directs' dietary calcium in the presence of vitamin D to the bone rather than soft tissues. Vitamin K is found, for example, in dark green leafy vegetables in the form of K1, but is not always easily converted to K2 in the body and therefore animal sources are preferable, a factor which may produce even more health problems in the future with the increasing popularity of a vegan diet.
As I have said, I am not a nutritionist and may have simplified my explanations somewhat, but merely wished to point out that micronutrients work in harmony with one another and studies focusing on just one discrete micronutrient are likely to have already failed at the outset.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Prevention and Cure of Covid 19? – A Discussion about Vitamin D Deficiency.
Fiona Smith 7th April 2020
Let’s be clear about this please, I’m not a doctor… But, with years of experience of being a loving mother and registered manager in charge of care for thousands of our older generation, I have had to live with the constant spur of an enquiring mind, especially in relation to procuring best care and support for the people I had responsibility for…
Having recently taken early retirement, my partner and I spent much of February 2020 travelling the Far East; we lived and breathed the emergence of Covid 19 through news and internet. Hand washing and mask wearing was a daily, minute by minute duty. But, on our travels through the heat and sunlight of Cambodia, Lao and Thailand, not only did we learn from locals that the Chinese were their most frequent visitors, but it was also evident they have close economic ties – widespread Chinese, housing and road construction work was heavily in progress; if Covid 19 was going to come knocking on any door, these three Countries would likely be the first to experience a pandemic. But, no pandemic appeared then, or even now. So, WHY?
Sunlight brings the benefit of vitamin D through its interaction and chemical synthesis with our epidermis – the benefits of which go far beyond the production of vitamin D. But, ‘cutting to the chase’, we theorised back then in February, that optimum levels of vitamin D, not only make you feel great, but medical studies (Martineau 2017) suggest it can help prevent respiratory tract infections; we also wondered whether optimum levels of vitamin D could make symptoms of Covid 19, asymptomatic or just extremely mild?
It is known that the death rate from Covid 19 is higher in men than women. It is also known that obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and old age make your chances of survival more difficult too. It is my opinion that vitamin D deficiency is likely to be the reason, firstly that those with obesity, diabetes and the elderly have suffered more severe conditions related to Covid 19, but that others who don’t have known underlying conditions have suffered such terrible fates too, and these are my reasons:
1. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in people with high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity
2. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in the winter months due to lack of therapeutic levels of sunshine.
3. The overuse of sunscreens has reduced vitamin D absorption in summer months.
4. Women generally have higher vitamin D levels than men because oestrogen encourages the uptake of this vitamin into the body.
5. Older people don’t absorb vitamin D as effectively as younger people, and are often severely deficient. Generally older people who regularly sunbathe, not only live longer, but are much healthier, suffer less obesity and blood pressure problems and are less likely to suffer bone fractures – I have made this observation from 15 years of caring for the elderly.
I therefore suggest the following measures be taken:
1. Every new suspected case of Covid 19 be tested for vitamin D deficiency, and treated bringing vitamin D status to optimum levels. This would require several measured therapeutic doses of vitamin D, or several doses of full body UVB exposure.
2. Government advice be updated to encourage the UK population to take sensible levels of sunshine therapy and/or vitamin D supplementation at higher levels (4000iu – the upper level recommendation on the NHS website). People who live in flats should be allowed a permit to sunbathe in public areas.
3. Therapeutic vitamin D supplementation be provided to frontline staff and the most vulnerable.
4. Medical trials be actioned immediately, with results available within weeks regarding the value of therapeutic levels of vitamin D supplementation.
Competing interests: No competing interests
The role of vitamin D in the prevention of COVID-19: Stay rational during an urgent epidemic outbreak Re: Preventing a covid-19 pandemic
In the prevention of COVID-19 pandemic, Robert A Brown suggests that vitamin D may contribute to the prevention of COVID-19 and should be applied in a wider clinical practice immediately. The reason was that the higher mortality rates in Spain and Italy in comparison with northern European Countries may arise from vitamin D deficiency.  However, I have the same concerns as George Trovas.  Although there is probably a correlation between the level of vitamin D and the epidemiological data of COVID-19, it may be caused by other underlying risk factors.
A meta-analysis reported that vitamin D supplementation alone had no connection with the mortality in adults.  Another study demonstrated that sufficient vitamin D supplementation (≥ 25 nmol/L) did not improve the condition of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), compared with patients taking a placebo. Thus the NICE 2018 guideline does not suggest vitamin D.
The data of global incidence and deaths from the World Health Organization showed that the morbidity of COVID-19 in developed countries is obviously higher than that in developing countries. The data of Max Roser and colleagues indicated that total tests for COVID-19 in Germany was 918 460, which was 454 030 in Italy as of 29 March 2020.  Although Germany has more people than Italy, total tests for COVID-19 per thousand people was 11.13 in Germany, 48.03 in Iceland, and only 7.68 in Italy. On 5 April 2020, daily COVID-19 tests per thousand people in Iceland were 7.24, Italy was 0.58, South Africa was 0.0.5, and India was less than 0.01.  Mild cases took up a major part of the COVID-19 in Germany. Therefore, the high mortality rates in Italy may because many mild COVID-19 patients were not detected. And the most notable point is that low incidence does not mean a mild epidemic: on the contrary, there may be a large number of undetected COVID-19 patients which could make the outbreak worse in developing countries.
In conclusion, vitamin D should not be used blindly in wider clinical trials because of the urgent epidemic. If not, it may cause people to miss more effective treatments, and more valuable research may lose subject resources. Researchers should confront COVID-19 rationally and scientifically, especially when the epidemic is serious.
1. Robert A Brown. (7th April 2020). BMJ 2020;368:m810 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m810
2. George Trovas. (2nd April 2020). BMJ 2020;368:m810 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m810
3. Yu Zhang, Fang Fang, Jingjing Tang, et al. Association between vitamin D supplementation and mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2019;366: l4673.
4. Cook R, Thomas V, Martin R. Can treating vitamin D deficiency reduce exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? BMJ. 2019;364:l1025. doi: 10.1136/bmj.l1025.
5. Max Roser, Hannah Ritchie, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) – Statistics and Research. Our World In Data. 2020. Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus. [Online Resource]
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Preventing a covid-19 pandemic - COVID-19: Vitamin D deficiency; and, death rates; are both disproportionately higher in elderly Italians, Spanish, Swedish Somali, and African Americans? A connection? Research urgently required!
It is posited by contributors [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] to BMJ, ‘Preventing a covid-19 pandemic’, others, [6, 7, 8] and myself,  that vitamin D, and particularly vitamin D deficiency, is a likely factor in the progression, and/ or severity, and/ or mortality of COVID-19; and also may present clinical treatment opportunities.
My preprint, ‘Vitamin D deficiency: a factor in COVID-19, progression, severity and mortality? – An urgent call for research’,  posits, greater vitamin D deficiency <25nmol/L in southern (E.g. Spain and Italy), than northern European Countries (E.g. Germany, Norway, Finland, Iceland), may help account for differentials, in mortality rates per million. Consistent with this, Northern Europeans have higher vitamin D food intakes, food fortification, and supplement more. This is an easily testable posit.
Northerly resident; Europeans with darker skins; BAME, and African Americans; as well as more southerly elderly Spanish and Italians; are often vitamin D deficient. IF, vitamin D deficiency, increases the risk of COVID-19 related; infection, hospitalisation and mortality; one would expect, and indeed sees, higher COVID-19 hospitalisation and mortality, in; dark-skinned (Fitzpatrick scale) northerly residents; those with dress codes that inhibit sunlight; and generally in groups likely to include the ‘D’ deficient.
Whilst data is still sparse, it supports the above contention; albeit lack of distancing, and vitamin D deficiency, may both be contributing factors; for example: “40 % of the reported COVID-19 related deaths occurring in Stockholm involve the Somali diaspora communities”; yet they only represent 0.84% of the population] [10, 11, 12, 13] Data clearly shows, Somalis, and wider immigrant groups, are D deficient, for example, “Vitamin D deficiency ( < 25 nmol/l) was found in 73% of the Somali women and in 1% of the controls” [14, 15, 16]
In respect of African Americans, a headline, April 3rd, 2020, states, ‘Early Data Shows African Americans Have Contracted and Died of Coronavirus at an Alarming Rate  “In Chicago, 70% of COVID-19 Deaths Are Black,”  The review, APHA ‘Call for Education and Research Into Vitamin D Deficiency/Insufficiency’, in 2008, noted, “84% of African American men and women (over 65) were vitamin D deficient.” [19, 20, 21] (‘D’ deficiency definitions vary).
In contrast, in continental Africa, whilst Vitamin D deficiency exists, it does not appear to be as widespread as in the United States: “one in five people living in Africa had a low 25(OH)D concentration with use of a less than 30 nmol/L.”  COVID-19 data for Somalia is limited. Tests are done externally: current data; 7 cases, 1 recovered, no deaths.  The first recorded case was confirmed on the 16th of March. Twenty volunteer doctors from Somali National University went to Italy to help fight COVID-19 there. [24, 25] Case numbers in wider Africa are currently relatively low, compared to the most infected countries, but arguably there is insufficient data, or certainty, as to initial infection dates, to, at this point, even postulate as to future COVID-19 infection, or mortality rates, in Africa.
Differences appear to exist in the metabolism of Vitamin D; ‘The D paradox’;  between Caucasians and African Americans, particularly in terms of bone density. However, the metabolism of vitamin D is complex, and pathways impacting COVID-19 likely differ from those regulating bone densities.
The COVID-19 mortality rate, has very sadly, been high in Italy (15,887 as at 5th April 2020).  A rapid response to the BMJ titled ‘Re: Preventing a covid-19 pandemic Can high prevalence of severe hypovitaminosis D play a role in the high impact of Covid infection in Italy? ’ notes, “700 women aged 60-80 yrs in Italy had values of 25OH vitamin D lower than 5 ng/ml in 27% of the women and lower than 12 ng/ml in as many as 76%.”
BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) persons in the United Kingdom, may be more susceptible. A UK study of 2,249 patients by the ‘Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre’, noted “Despite making up just 13 per cent of the UK population, a third of patients who fall critically ill with COVID-19 are from black, Asian or minority ethnic (BME) groups.”  Further, sadly, 6 out of 8, UK COVID-19 medical staff deaths, were British Muslims. Hasidic Jews in Israel may also be at higher COVID-19 risk, due to failure to isolate and/ or greater risk of vitamin D deficiency.[33, 34]
Arguably it is urgent, that research is done, to determine if vitamin D deficiency factors in COVID-19, infection, progression, severity and mortality. Vitamin D blood spot tests are cheap. Patient records have to be maintained in any event. The additional work, and risk burden, in taking vitamin D measurements are limited. However, the reward could be very significant, even a ‘game changer’.
Further, any determination that vitamin D factors in COVID-19, incidence progression and outcome, would point to the likelihood of COVID-19 following a seasonal pattern in populations, which would require factoring into determination of Governmental COVID-19 forward planning policies; mortality risk modelling; social distancing polices; and population vitamin D optimisation, including access to outside spaces, to facilitate sensible, ethnicity appropriate, exposure to UVB in sunlight; and/ or free ‘D’ supplementation, at least for the most vulnerable and financially insecure.
COVID-19 studies might comprise:
• Test all COVID-19 patients in hospital/s at a given point in time for Vit D, follow, and report results.
• Take finger prick samples at the same time as COVID-19 test – follow through with laboratory vitamin D tests on the samples of all positives, and an equal number of controls; report results.
• A study using Vit D clinically – test for low vit D – where low supplement with vitamin D3, and/ or as an alternative to above, try a 1,25-active form;  report results.
Vitamin D, could usefully be immediately incorporated into wider clinical nutritional COVID-19 protocols, [36, 37] but, to better understand the role of vitamin D in COVID-19; for the formulation of; treatment, prevention, and wider, policies; the above studies would still be urgently required.
1. Rhein, H. (6th March 2020). BMJ 2020;368:m810 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m810
2. Cobbold, P. (2nd March 2020). BMJ 2020;368:m810 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m810
3. Maestri, E., Formoso, G., Da Cas R., Mammarella, F,. Trotta, F. (12th March 2020)
Vitamin D against COVID 19: Clinicians need more than observations and hope. BMJ 2020;368:m810 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m810
4. Grant, W. (1st April 2020). Can vitamin D supplementation reduce the spread of COVID-19? Try first with health care workers and first responders.: BMJ 2020;368:m810 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m810
5. Cobbold, P. (8th March 2020). BMJ 2020;368:m810 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m810
6. McCartney, D., Byrne, D. (2020). Optimisation of Vitamin D Status for Enhanced Immuno-protection Against Covid-19. Issue: Ir Med J; Vol 113; No. 4; P58. http://imj.ie/optimisation-of-vitamin-d-status-for-enhanced-immuno-prote...
7. Grant, W., Lahore, H., McDonnell, S., Baggerly, C., French, C., Aliano, J., & Bhattoa, (30th March 2020 2nd version) H. Evidence that Vitamin D Supplementation Could Reduce Risk of Influenza and COVID-19 Infections and Deaths. Nutrients 2020, 12, 988. https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202003.0235/v2
8. Isaia, G. (25th March 2020). Possibile ruolo preventivo e terapeutico della vitamina D nella gestione della pandemia da COVID-19 Enzo Medico, Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino,
9. Brown, R. Sarkar, A. (29th Feb. 2020 – submitted 24th). Vitamin D deficiency: a factor in COVID-19, progression, severity and mortality? – An urgent call for research. Preprint. https://www.mitofit.org/index.php/Brown_2020_MitoFit_Preprint_Arch
10. Speckhard, A., Mahamud O., Ellenberg M. (April 3, 2020). When Religion and Culture Kill: COVID-19 in the Somali Diaspora Communities in Sweden (Retrieved 5th April 2020). https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/counterterrorism/when-religi...
11. McElroy, D. (April 5th, 2020). Sweden is making a dangerous bet on a 'cultural cure' to Covid-19 N opinion. (Retrieved 5th April 2020). https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/sweden-is-making-a-dangerous-bet-on-a...
12. Stockholm Wikipedia. (Retrieved 6th April 2020). https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stockholm&oldid=949204856 "Statistisk arsbok for Stockholm 2018" (PDF). Statistik Stockholm. (Retrieved 5 October 2018). https://start.stockholm/om-stockholms-stad/utredningar-statistik-och-fak...
13. Somalis in Sweden Wikipedia. (Retrieved 6th April 2020). https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Somalis_in_Sweden&oldid=94812...
14. Demeke, T., Osmancevic, A., Gillstedt, M., Krogstad, A., Angesjö, E., . . . & Landin-Wilhelmsen, K, (2019). Comorbidity and health-related quality of life in Somali women living in Sweden, Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 37:2, 174-181, DOI:10.1080/02813432.2019.1608043
15. Bergstro, ̈ I., Palme, ́M., Persson, J., & Blanck, A. Observational study of vitamin D levels and pain in pregnant immigrant women living in Sweden. Gynecol Endocrinol, 2014; 30(1): 74–77. 2014 Informa UK Ltd. DOI: 10.3109/09513590.2013.856408
16. Islam, M., Viljakainen, T., Kärkkäinen, M., Saarnio, E., Laitinen, K., & Lamberg-Allardt, C. (2011). Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and secondary hyperparathyroidism during winter in pre-menopausal Bangladeshi and Somali immigrant and ethnic Finnish women: associations with forearm bone mineral density Br J Nutr. 2012 Jan;107(2):277-83. doi: 10.1017/S0007114511002893. Epub 2011 Aug 9.
17. Johnson, A., Buford, T. (April 3rd 2020). Early Data Shows African Americans Have Contracted and Died of Coronavirus at an Alarming Rate. No, the coronavirus is not an “equalizer.” Black people are being infected and dying at higher rates. Here’s what Milwaukee is doing about it — and why governments need to start releasing data on the race of COVID-19 patients. ProPublica. (Retrieved 5th April 2020) https://www.propublica.org/article/early-data-shows-african-americans-ha... https://www.propublica.org/article/early-data-shows-african-americans-ha...
18. Zamudio, M., Ramos, E. (5th April 2020). In Chicago, 70% of COVID-19 Deaths Are Black. (Retrieved 6th April). https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/in-chicago-70-of-covid19-deaths-are...
19. APHA. (2008). Call for Education and Research Into Vitamin D Deficiency/Insufficiency Policy Number: 20081 (Retrieved 5th April 2020). https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statemen...
20. Freeland, A. (2019). African-Americans At Greatest Risk of Vitamin D Deficiency. Pediatrics. 2009 Mar;123(3):797-803. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-1195. http://www.cooperinstitute.org/2019/09/24/african-americans-at-greatest-...
21. Saintonge, S., Bang, H., & Gerber, et Al. (2009). Implications of a new definition of vitamin D deficiency in a multiracial us adolescent population: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. Pediatrics. Mar;123(3):797-803. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-1195.
22. Mogire, R., Mutua, A., Kimita, W., Kamau, A., Bejon, P., … & Atkinson, S. (2019) Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis The Lancet Volume 8, ISSUE 1, Pe134-e142. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30457-7
23. Worldometer. Somalia Coronavirus. (Retrieved 6th April 2020). https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/somalia/
24. 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Somalia Wikipedia. (Retrieved 6th April 2020). https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_...
25. Dhaysane, M. (27th March 2020). Somalia sending 20 doctors to help Italy fight virus. Doctors from Horn of Africa nation will help fight against coronavirus in Italy. Anadolu Agency. (Retrieved 6th April 2020). https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-sending-20-doctors-to-help-italy...
26. 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Africa. Wikipedia. (Retrieved 6th April 2020). https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_...
27. Brown, L., Cohen, B., Tabor, D., Zappalà, G., Maruvada, P., Coates, P. (2018). The vitamin D paradox in Black Americans: a systems-based approach to investigating clinical practice, research, and public health - expert panel meeting report. BMC Proc 12, 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12919-018-0102-4
28. 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Italy. Wikipedia. (Retrieved 6th April 2020) https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_...
29. Giustina, A. Rapid response to Watkins J. Preventing a covid-19 pandemic. BMJ 2020;368:m810. https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m810/rr-36
30. Boyd, C. (6th April 2020) Coronavirus warning for people from black and minority backgrounds as NHS data suggests they are at more risk of life-threatening complications. MailOnline. (Retrieved 7th April 2020) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8191443/NHS-data-suggests-peopl...
31. El-Bar, K. (3rd April 2020). British Muslim nurse dies after contracting coronavirus. 6 out of 8 of deaths from coronavirus so far in UK's National Health Service have been British Muslims. (Retrieved 5th April 2020). https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/british-muslim-nurse-dies-after-contract...
32. Halbfinger, D. (30th March 2020). Virus Soars Among Ultra-Orthodox Jews as Many Flout Israel’s Rules Failure to comply with government restrictions is causing the coronavirus to spread in ultra-Orthodox communities up to eight times faster than elsewhere in Israel. New York Times. (Retrieved 5th April 2020). https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/world/middleeast/coronavirus-israel-c...
33. Tsur, A., Metzger, M., Dresner-Pollak, R. (2011). Effect of different dress style on vitamin D level in healthy young Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox students in Israel. Osteoporos Int. Nov;22(11):2895-8. doi: 10.1007/s00198-010-1492-y.
34. Mukamel, M., Weisman, Y., Somech, R., Eisenberg, Z., Landman, J., Shapira, I, Spirer, Z., Jurgenson U. (2001). Vitamin D Deficiency and Insufficiency in Orthodox and Non-Orthodox Jewish Mothers in Israel. Isr Med Assoc J. Jun;3(6):419-21.
35. Yang, J,. Zhang, H., Xu, Z. (2016). Effect of Vitamin D on ACE2 and Vitamin D receptor expression in rats with LPS-induced acute lung injury. DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1671-0282.2016.12.016
36. Caccialanza, R., Laviano, A., Lobascio, F., Montagna E., ... & Cereda E. (2020). Early nutritional supplementation in non-critically ill patients hospitalized for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Rationale and feasibility of a shared pragmatic protocol. In Press, Journal Pre-proof, Available online 3 April 2020
37. Barazzoni R et al., (2020). ESPEN expert statements and practical guidance for nutritional management of individuals withSARS-CoV-2 infection, Clinical Nutrition, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2020.03.022
Competing interests: No competing interests

domain: medical


text:
SEVENTY PERCENT of mental-health professionals have had no training on parental problem-alcohol use (PPAU), according to a new study from University College Cork (UCC) and Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI).
600,000 people in Ireland live with the adverse childhood experience of PPAU, and that research demonstrates a link between PPAU and mental-health problems.
PPAU can have a lifelong impact on children. Children can experience adversity even when their parent’s alcohol use doesn’t reach the threshold of dependency, and that the quantity of alcohol consumed by a parent is less important than the pattern of use, the motivation for use, and its consequences.
The collaborative study, between the School of Applied Psychology in UCC and AAI, surveyed 132 mental-health professionals in Ireland, 70% of whom reported that they had never received any training on PPAU.
AAI chief executive Sheila Gilheany said that there is a high prevalence of PPAU in people with mental-health issues, and the statistics around the lack of professional training on the topic are “shocking”.
“Mental-health professionals must understand this in order that people can get the correct assistance,” Ms Gilheany said.
“It also illustrates a need for a whole-of-government approach, with an identifiable senior government official who has responsibility to advise, develop, and plan appropriate services to address the multiple needs of the 600,000 children and adults affected,” she said.
The study, ‘Understanding the Views of Professionals of the Impact of Parental Problem Alcohol Use on Clients’, also found that 92% of participants would be supportive of all mental-health professionals being trained to a minimum degree to identify children who experience PPAU.
97% of professionals stated they would also support anonymous data collection of the number of clients impacted by PPAU, through reporting to a central database, such as the Health Research Board.
Dr Sharon Lambert, from UCC’s School of Applied Psychology, said that families who experience PPAU may have their rituals, roles, and routines disrupted and “this places some children at risk of developing a range of difficulties with psychological well-being and other challenges”.
“For many years, the research has been clear about the impact of PPAU on children,” Dr Lambert said. “
Yet still we do not make the links between the impact of these experiences and psychological distress in adolescence and adulthood. Based on this survey, professionals are asking for training in this area and this shows awareness about the topic is growing,” she said.
The results of the study are being launched as part of AAI’s national awareness week, End the Silence (October 17-21), which will highlight the issues arising from growing up with alcohol harm in the home.
As part of this week and in response to the survey results, AAI has developed a digital toolkit to assist professionals and people who are affected by PPAU.
Co-produced with people who have lived experience and with professionals, and downloadable for free on AAI’s website, the toolkit will “help to end the silence around this issue and normalise talking about what is a very common problem”, Dr Gilheany said.

domain: news


text:
The myth of a New Nazism
Udi Greenberg on why today’s populism isn’t a replay of the Thirties.
In June, former UK prime minister and Labour leader Tony Blair warned that today’s rising tide of populism risked ‘a return to the 1930s’. He is far from alone in drawing such an analogy. Over the past two years, since the election of Donald Trump in the US, and the Brexit vote in the UK, a flurry of op-eds, endless political speeches and countless books have all made a similar claim: that just as the institutions of liberal democracy nurtured, and then fell to, Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party, so too might our institutions nurture and fall to contemporary fascists in populist clothing.
Yet just how accurate is this analogy? It certainly does a service for those seeking to delegitimise the Trump or Brexit votes, but does it do a disservice to history? To answer these questions, we decided to speak to associate professor of history Udi Greenberg, author of the superb The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and the Ideological Foundations of the Cold War, and, with Daniel Bessner, co-author of the essay ‘The Weimar Analogy’.
spiked review: Do you think the Weimar analogy – that, effectively, today’s populists are yesterday’s fascists – obscures the historical specificity of the rise of Nazis?
Udi Greenberg: Every analogy has its limits, but that doesn’t mean analogies can’t be useful. The question is how we use it and to what purpose, and I think the usage of the Weimar analogy for our specific moment is more distracting than helpful. That is in part because the differences between the fall of the Weimar Republic and the populist surge today far outweigh the similarities.
For a start, the collapse of the Weimar Republic happened in the midst of the worst economic crisis of the 20th century, when a third of the potential workforce was unemployed. Nothing on the scale of that economic calamity is happening today. Yes, the rise of populism is still tied to important economic transformations that have happened in the past two decades, but these do not amount to anything of the order of the Great Depression.
The Weimar Republic also fell because the fascist movement used mass violence on the streets and decimated democratic and socialist, left-wing political forces. We have not seen anything similar to that today. Even the despicable violent march of white supremacists in Charlottesville in Virginia last summer, which rightfully drew so much media attention, was nothing like the violence that erupted in the streets of Germany and other European countries in the 1930s.
So it seems to me the analogy between today and the rise of the Nazis obscures far more than it illuminates.
review: Did the intense class conflict of the 1920s and 1930s not also play a considerable role? Bolshevism, in light of the Russian Revolution, was considered a real threat, certainly in light of the Munich Soviet of 1918-19. There was so much to frighten certain sections of German society towards the National Socialists.
Greenberg: That is very accurate. The politics of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe were defined perhaps more than anything by anti-Communism, by a fear of a potential popular Communist uprising, the fear of a violent transformation of society along the lines of the Soviet model. Nothing of this kind is really in operation today in our political culture. The rise of fascism was an explicitly right-wing response to the rise of militant Communism. And that makes it very, very different from the rise of populism today.
Finally, in terms of the historical specificity of the rise of the Nazis, political life in the 1920s and 1930s was shaped by the experience of mass war. Entire nations and whole generations experienced war firsthand. The formative experience of almost all the leaders of fascist movements in Germany and elsewhere was fighting as soldiers in the First World War. The leaders of populist movements today do not have any experience of military conflict. War is not an important experience for them. It is a very distant memory, if indeed it is a memory at all in our political culture today.
review: There was also the sense then that war, and not just in the context of German nationalism, was almost a spiritually rejuvenating process, wasn’t there?
Greenberg: Indeed, fascist theory glorified war as a transcendental, spiritual experience that transformed the soul. Fascists and semi-fascist art celebrated the experience of war. War was a major trope in fascist ideology, even in its depiction of a future classless society, in which the working class and the middle class worked together just as they had done during the First World War. This is something that is very foreign to the rhetoric or experiences of, say, Viktor Orban or Donald Trump, neither of whom has served in combat (or in the case of Trump, in the military at all).
review: What do you make of the argument that democracy was experienced almost as foreign imposition on the authoritarian body of German nationalism? After all, Germany’s transformation into a modern nation state in the second half of the 19th century was undertaken by Otto von Bismarck, a Prussian junker and monarchist, who famously declared ‘I am not a democrat’.
Greenberg: There is a long and very important debate among historians about how deep or shallow democratic culture was in German politics in the 1920s and 1930s. For a long time many assumed that because Germany was founded by a conservative militarist who co-opted nationalist and democratic sentiments in the 19th century, its democracy was therefore weak and easy to topple. But over the past couple of decades, an important group of scholars has challenged this narrative, arguing that Germany did in fact have a very vibrant democratic political life, with meaningful elections and parliamentary debates. And that in the late 19th century and early 20th century, people voted in very high numbers for parties that competed fairly peaceably with one another before and after the First World War. As a result, parliament became more and more important as time progressed. It is one of the reasons why, after the First World War, when the German monarchy collapsed, the expectation among Germans was that it would be replaced by a republic, not a military dictatorship. And that was because German citizens had been socialised into democratic norms, and took it for granted that that was the next step for politics.
In some ways, scholars of this school argue that what truly made democracy in Germany so weak was that it was very polarised throughout the 1920s. The fascists and the Nazis were able to appropriate democratic language, gestures and ideas for what we would see as very undemocratic ends. So, for example, the leaders of the Nazi party all came from very humble backgrounds. They were not military generals or aristocrats. Hitler himself spoke with a working-class German accent. So much of the Nazis’ appeal rested on their claim to be the real democracy, the force that was really giving the people control over politics in a way that was dramatically different from the Prussian aristocrats and militarists of the 19th century.
So there is an ongoing debate as to how important the militarist foundations of the German state was versus how robustly democratic it was. This democratic culture, and its appropriation by the Nazis, is key to understanding the rise of fascism.
review: But that is not to say that the Nazis rose to power because of democracy, is it?
Greenberg: No. As historians know, the Nazis never actually managed to win a majority in free and open elections. The largest share of the vote they ever received, in 1932, was about a third. The reason they were able to secure power was because of the active support of conservatives, the aristocrats and militarists, who sided with them in parliament, and, most importantly, because they were using mass violence and intimidation, exiling and murdering their opponents. This is how they came to power, through ruling-class support and force, not because of free and democratic elections.
review: What is interesting about the ‘Weimar Analogy’ piece is that you were both able to bring out a far more telling analogy between then and now, and that is in the response to the rise of fascism, and the response to today’s populist revolt.
Greenberg: Yes, what prompted Professor Bessner and me to write this piece was that the over-reliance on the fascist analogy would lead us down the same path taken by pro-democratic and anti-fascist thinkers in the 1940s, like Hans Spier and Karl Loewenstein, both of whom fled Germany to the US in the 1930s. They came to the conclusion that fascism proved that democracy could not be trusted. And that for democracy to survive, the state had to curtail some freedoms. This line of thinking, this idea of militant democracy, which proved very influential in the US, led to the creation of very undemocratic, unaccountable institutions like the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council in the US. It was an ideological tendency that also led to the dramatic limiting of political horizons in postwar Europe. Most famously, in West Germany for example, the Supreme Court outlawed the Communist Party in 1956. And although the Communists were not a significant force in West Germany, the logic of militant democracy – and the West German Supreme Court used this very term when outlawing the Communists – rendered certain political visions illegitimate, and banished them from political discourse. And this created very elitist and what we would call anti-democratic institutions and norms in the 1940s and 1950s.
This does not mean to say that everyone who invokes the Weimar or Nazi analogy immediately ends up an anti-democrat, but Professor Bessner and me worry that we could eventually end up in a similar place. We are both scholars of the Cold War, and we both studied how political theorists in the 1940s and 1950s claimed that in order to achieve stable democracy you need to limit political activism and people’s involvement in politics. And we were worried that the same logic might lead us in the same direction today.
In our view, the right, progressive response to the contemporary moment should be a doubling down in our commitment to democracy, limiting technocracy and increasing democratic and grassroots involvement in politics.
review: Yet it does seem that the predominant response to the populist moment, certainly in left-wing and liberal circles in both the US and the UK, has been to make a stronger appeal to technocracy, to a rule by expertise.
Greenberg: That is true for some, certainly. It has actually been developing since at least the 1990s, with the so-called left moving more and more in the direction of technocracy, and trying to achieve progress through technocracy, rather than through more popular control of the economy. And I think that is born of a deep disappointment with the masses, and a belief that the masses cannot be trusted to make the right economic decisions. And that tendency developed and deepened right through to the Obama administration, which was very much defined by technocracy.
The reason this recent development on the left stood out for us was that too many on the left today make the same argument as the militant democrats – both contend that technocracy is the best means to preserve democracy. So, if the masses are not to be trusted, then you have to transfer as much power as possible into the hands of technocrats, who know what’s good for the masses, who will make the right call. And you have to shield technocrats from democratic accountability precisely to make those calls.
We have seen this logic operating in the past two decades among centrist politicians, and political elites more generally. And we were worried that the rise of populism on the right will further exacerbate and intensify this technocratic way of thinking. We believe that the left should adopt a very different model of thinking. In some ways, we believe that the logic of militant democracy and technocracy is precisely what led us to where we are now.
review: How difficult will it be for the left to embrace what used to be its own radical democratic heritage, given the extent to which it has turned away from, and often against, the masses?
Greenberg: It’s certainly not going to be easy, but democracy has never been easy. Each generation of political theorists and activists has to reimagine and rethink democracy, and chart new opportunities and possibilities. I believe the crisis of the past few years, and the rise of the radical right in Europe and the US is also an opportunity to do precisely that — to rethink the possibilities of the left. To think of its past, of what it got right, and what it got wrong, and maybe chart new possibilities. We already see it happening in grassroots politics in Britain and in the US, and we can only hope it continues to go in this direction.
Udi Greenberg is an associate professor of history at Dartmouth College. He is the author of The Weimar Century: German Émigrés and the Ideological Foundations of the Cold War, published by Princeton University Press. (Buy this book from Amazon(UK).)
To enquire about republishing spiked’s content, a right to reply or to request a correction, please contact the managing editor, Viv Regan.

domain: history


text:
Today I am delighted to talk to Tanya J. Peterson about her latest novel.
My Life in a Nutshell: A Novel is the story of one man's struggles with debilitating anxiety. Brian Cunningham has isolated himself to such a degree that his human contact is barely more than an hour a day. While lonely, he feels powerless to change his life. Unexpectedly, his safe little world is invaded by one Abigail Harris, a seven-year-old girl who, for the last five years, has bounced from foster home to foster home. She has come to live with an aunt and uncle she has never known. Unsure if she can trust her new environment, she turns to Brian. Neither one quite knows how to live in the world. Can they possibly help each other?
Hello Tanya and thank you so much for coming on the blog today to talk about yourself and your writing.First of all, can you tell us a little about you?
Hmmm. I’m thinking about this, and I keep coming back to one word: strange! I have a blue beta fish that no one in my house would name, so I named him RedFish. I love the show Phineas and Ferb because I’m pretty sure that Dr. Doofenschmirtz is my soul mate. I tend to get myself into trouble by going against the grain and speaking up for the underdog. I love to camp and hike and kayak. Family time is amazing. I mask social anxiety by talking too much, and then I worry about it for days afterward. I’ve been a teacher, a counselor, a support group facilitator for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (US). I have bipolar 1 disorder. I’m a proud mom of two wonderful adolescents and a happy wife of my husband.
Well, you may call yourself strange, but I think you sound fascinating and it's no wonder that you became a writer. What did you want to be when you were a child? Did you always know you wanted to write?
I’ve always loved writing! But after one person scoffed at a story I was writing about forest animals when I was in second grade, my creative writing days were over (yeah, I was a bit too sensitive, I think). I’ve also always wanted to help people and to make a difference in the world. For the longest time, I wanted to be a doctor. For different reasons, I became a teacher. But I really wanted to be a counselor, so I became one. Then I ended up spending some time in a behavioural health hospital (after a traumatic brain injury in a car accident) and receiving a (very accurate) diagnosis of bipolar 1 disorder. So many passions and experiences of mine have come together into novel writing, and I feel like I’m finally doing what I’ve wanted to do my whole life: write and do something to help people.
You definitely sound very brave and determined, and very passionate about your work and your writing. Where do you get your ideas for your stories, and for My Life in a Nutshell more specifically?
My novels always address certain themes or concepts around mental illness/mental health. I want to use characters that people bond with to show what certain aspects of mental illness are truly like (as opposed to what is stereotyped on the news, in films, etc.). With each book, I pick something specific, create a character (and then the other characters) to reach out to readers, and then I build the story. With My Life in a Nutshell, I wanted to show what certain anxiety disorders are like because anxiety is so common and so misunderstood. I wanted to put people inside the mind of someone who lives with debilitating anxiety.
Do you have a writing routine?
Sort of. I write or do some writing-related tasks every day. I think I’m the most creative in the mornings, so I try to do actual writing then. However, that’s a bit hard when my youngest child doesn’t go to school until 9:00. Additionally, I’m also a columnist for a mental health website (healthyplace.com), so I have to work on my articles in addition to my novels. It doesn’t work for me to have a rigid schedule. As long as I start my day with coffee, drink tea, water, and Sobe LifeWater throughout the day, I’m good.
What is the one thing you absolutely need to write?
Quiet! (And no distractions)
So do I! Unfortunately I don't get enough of it. Can you describe your writing space?
I actually don’t have a single space. I move about the house to various places that feel inspiring (and that varies from day to day). Part of that is indeed for inspiration. Part of that, though, is because my actual space (my desk in my office) can be described thus: Captain ADHD meets the Tasmanian Devil.
I wish I had a special writing space with a lovely and inspiring view, or even a 'writing shed' in my tiny garden...
In three words - What kind of man is Brain Cunningham , your hero?
Caring, sensitive, anxious
And finally, what are you working on at the moment?
I’m nearly 200 pages into my latest novel, which of course is mental-health-themed! It’s about a man and his family who are struggling to adjust to his new diagnosis of…
Thank you so much Marie! I’ve enjoyed your interview, and I’m happy that you and your readers have taken the time to get to know me and my writing!
It was a pleasure talking to you Tanya. Thank you for coming on the blog.
Tanya J. Peterson holds a Bachelor of Science in secondary education, Master of Science in counseling, and is a Nationally Certified Counselor. She has been a teacher and a counselor in various settings, including a traditional high school and an alternative school for homeless and runaway adolescents, and she has volunteered her services in both schools and communities. Peterson is an active volunteer with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and she is a regular columnist for the Anxiety-Schmanxiety blog on HealthyPlace.com.
She draws on her education, experience, and personal background with bipolar 1 disorder and anxiety to write stories about the psychological aspect of the human condition, specifically mental illness and the impact it has on human beings. Her goal is to change the way the world thinks about mental illness and the people who live with it.
Peterson believes that fiction is a powerful vehicle for teaching fact. Further, she knows that people empathize with characters in novels, and commonly they transfer their empathy to real-life human beings. To that end, she has published Leave of Absence, My Life in a Nutshell, and the YA novel Losing Elizabeth. Additionally, she has published Challenge!, a short story about a person who finds the confidence to overcome criticism and achieve a goal, and a book review of Linley and Joseph’s Positive Therapy: A Meta-Theory for Positive Psychological Practice that appeared in Counseling Today, the national publication of the American Counseling Association.
Peterson has also been interviewed on numerous radio shows, given presentations on mental illness and book readings nationwide, spoken on mental illness at the 2013 national conference of the Mothers of Incarcerated Sons Society, Inc., and has been quoted in various articles about mental health and mental illness.BUY LINKS AND AUTHOR LINKS
Tanya J. Peterson, MS, NCCFACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/TanyaJPeterson
Mental Health Novelist, Writer, & Speaker
Mental Health Novelist, Writer, & Speaker
Twitter - https://twitter.com/tanyajpeterson1
AMAZON UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Life-Nutshell-Tanya-Peterson-ebook/dp/B00KOEXTKK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1402155632&sr=8-4&keywords=tANYA+J+PETERSON
AMAZON.COM - http://www.amazon.com/My-Life-Nutshell-Tanya-Peterson-ebook/dp/B00KOEXTKK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402155716&sr=8-1&keywords=TANYA+J+PETERSON
Barnes & Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-life-in-a-nutshell-tanya-j-peterson/1119633899?ean=2940149500956

domain: psychology


text:
BISMARCK, N.D. — Kids staying at Sanford Children’s Hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota, received a special surprise on Thursday when Santa Claus and a few of his friends stopped by.
Among them were crew members of the country music band Old Dominion, one of whom played Santa.
“It just makes my heart warm to see them smile,” he said.
Santa and the band regularly visit children’s hospitals in cities they perform at across the country during the holiday season.
“We’ve gotten some opportunities to do this kind of thing before, and we always leave feeling like we should do it more,” said lead singer Matthew Ramsey. “So, this just seemed like a little extra special just to be able to bring Santa.”
Smiles surrounded the band. Kids lined up in the play area to see Santa and give him their Christmas wish list. They also took pictures with him and the Old Dominion band members., who said these visits are about spreading holiday cheer.
“A lot of kids don’t get to see Santa because they’re in a place like this, so if we can bring a little bit of happiness, then of course we’re going to,” said Ramsey. “That’s one of the favorite parts of our shows, too, is to look out and see the smiles because of our music. So if we can do that with Santa and our music, we’re going to leave here with a little bit of holiday spirit, for sure.”
The band says hopefully each visit to a children’s hospital makes a child’s day.
“You know that they probably have a lot of tough days and when you see them light up and not think about anything else, it’s awesome,” said guitarist Trevor Rosen.
“They’re going through such a rough time and just to make a child smile is what Santa is all about,” Santa added.
Old Dominion plays at the Bismarck Event Center on Thursday night. Next stops include Fargo, North Dakota, and Duluth, Minnesota, before taking a few weeks off for the holidays.

domain: artistic


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The PRW820UST series DLP 3D Projector has WXGA resolution (native 1,280*800 Pixels 16:9 image) and delivers 4,500 lumens of brightness, ultra short throw projector speciality allows the user to project images onto a large 100-inchs screen with a short projection of 0.95m. With such high brightness and a high contrast ratio of 10,000:1, the projectors ensures bright and easy-to-see image projection for all kinds … read more
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text:
Estate Administration Article
What happens after a family member has died?
Hopefully, the decedent will have left funeral instructions. If not, New Jersey statute indicates that the next of kin is the person with authority to make funeral and burial arrangements. If the next of kin is not also the executor, this leaves the next of kin making the decisions and the executor responsible to pay the bill from the decedent’s estate. Fortunately, actual conflicts seem to be rare.
After the funeral, it is time to probate the will. This requires the original Will, a death certificate, the executor, and a trip to the office of the Surrogate in the county where the decedent resided. (The executor will be permitted to enter the decedent’s safe deposit box, accompanied by a bank officer, to remove the Will). If the Will is not “self-proving,” it will also be necessary for a witness of the will to appear. If the witness lives at a distance, the necessary papers can be sent to the Surrogate where the witness lives, but this will delay matters for a few weeks. If the decedent left no Will, the next of kin should apply to be appointed “administrator” (rather than executor) and New Jersey statute (rather than a Will) will determine who receives the estate.
During the visit to the Surrogate’s office, the person named as executor or administrator will be asked to provide the names, addresses and (if known) the social security numbers of himself, the spouse, and the children or other next of kin. The executor also signs an application to admit the Will to probate, an authorization for the Surrogate to accept service of process (claims) against the estate, and a qualification whereby the executor agrees to collect the assets, pay the bills, pay the death taxes, and make distribution as required by the Will. (In some states, such as Florida, the executor is called a “personal representative”).
An administrator will be required to post bond, to guarantee that he or she will properly administer the estate. The bonding company agrees to pay for the completion of the task if the administrator fails to do so, or for the errors, omissions or thefts of the administrator; and if such occurs the bonding company will also seek reimbursement from the administrator. Wills normally waive the requirement that an executor post bond, thereby saving an annual premium of $5 per $1,000.00 of assets.
There will be a ten day wait from date of death before the Surrogate will issue the “short certificate” indicating appointment of the executor or administrator. This waiting period allows time for someone to challenge the validity of the Will. Again, this rarely happens. (If it does happen, no one is authorized to administer the estate until a court considers the dispute and appoints a provisional administrator.)
The executor’s or administrator’s short certificate is a half-page paper, with a seal at the bottom, signed by the Surrogate saying that John Doe has been appointed executor of the decedent’s estate. In effect, the executor or administrator stands in place of the decedent. This certificate must be provided to each bank, stockbroker or other person when collecting or transferring property of the decedent.
If the executor is a bank trust department, a trust officer will be assigned to oversee the estate administration, with the assistance of an investment committee, a real estate department and a tax department. An individual executor faces the same tasks and the same responsibilities, but without the same experience or staff. The individual executor should not hesitate to hire the needed help, particularly if there are other beneficiaries in addition to the executor. What follows is a description of what is expected of an individual executor; a bank executor will do essentially the same thing, but the family may be less involved. (An administrator performs the same functions for an intestate estate; hereafter we will use the term “executor.”)
With the short certificate in hand, the executor will open a bank account or brokerage account in the name of the estate. All receipts and all disbursements will pass to or from this account. From these records the executor will be required to prepare income tax returns for the estate, and a final summary of receipts and disbursements so that the residuary beneficiaries can see that they have received what is due to them. When the estate bank account is opened, the bank will ask for a federal tax identification number (TIN) for the estate. The TIN can be obtained by filing form SS-4 with IRS: if we fax the SS-4 for you, we will also need power of attorney to do so (form 2848).
As attorneys, we have found that record keeping is often easier if we make the deposits and prepare the checks for signature by the individual executor. We have copiers, a bookkeeping system and familiarity with estates. It is much easier to set up the records correctly in the first place than to try to sort it out weeks or months later. It puts us in a much better position to give advice when decisions are being made. The executor retains ultimate control as the only person with check signing power. However, with small estates or if there is a surviving spouse, this may not be necessary, and some clients prefer to use their own accountants for records.
The executor must promptly make an inventory of the assets in the estate. In New Jersey, the inventory need not be filed with the Surrogate, but it will be important for preparing death tax returns and preparing the final accounting to beneficiaries. It will also reveal particular assets requiring transfer, sale or appraisal. The decedent’s last federal income tax return provides a good start, and for this reason New Jersey requires a copy of it to accompany the inheritance tax return.
The furniture, jewelry and other tangible personal property should not be distributed until it has been appraised. The appraisal will be needed for any required death tax returns, and for determining the shares of beneficiaries.
The house and car should be kept insured. The car, if it is in the decedent’s name alone, should not be driven because of problems with insurance coverage. Sell or transfer the car as soon as possible. Insurance companies do not like to insure empty houses, so if the house is to be sold it is best to proceed promptly.
Real estate and family businesses will have to be appraised. This will require some time. If the estate will be subject to death taxes, the appraisal can be very important in determining the amount of death tax liability; it will need to stand up to IRS review. Even if there are no death taxes, appraisal may be needed to establish the “stepped-up” basis of the property for computing gain or loss upon sale in future years.
Some assets are subject to death taxes, but are not “probate assets” under the control of the executor and forming part of the estate. Such “non-probate assets” include joint property, life insurance, pensions and trusts. Non-probate property must be valued and appraised and is subject to tax, but the executor has no control over it, nor any responsibility to transfer it to the new owner. Some cooperation and coordination between the new owner and the executor is needed.
New Jersey has two types of death taxes: an inheritance tax and an estate tax. The inheritance tax is based upon the identity of the beneficiary: since 1988 it no longer applies to bequests to the surviving spouse or to lineal ancestors and lineal descendants. In most cases the beneficiaries are spouse and/or children, so the tax does not apply. In other cases the tax ranges from 11% to 16%. The New Jersey estate tax applies only to estates of $675,000 or more. The New Jersey estate tax soaks up the amount of the credit allowed against the federal estate tax for state death taxes paid.
New Jersey imposes a lien on New Jersey real estate, stocks of New Jersey corporations, and New Jersey bank accounts, as security for the payment of taxes. The stocks and half of each bank account are frozen in place until the state reviews the inheritance tax return and issues “tax waivers.” A spouse or lineal ancestor or lineal descendant can avoid the lien (because no tax is due) by presenting a form “L-8″ and a copy of the Will, to show that no tax is due. In such cases the property can be sold or transferred without a tax waiver. In cases where there are beneficiaries other than spouse, lineal descendants and lineal ancestors, an inheritance tax return must be filed in order to obtain the tax waiver. Real estate passing to an exempt beneficiary requires an L-9 form to obtain the tax waiver. Real estate can be sold before the waiver is obtained by leaving the sales proceeds on deposit in an interest bearing escrow account with the title company. “Frozen” bank accounts and proceeds from real estate may be used to pay inheritance taxes.
Real estate is also subject to a lien, for one year after death, for payment of decedent’s debts; again the title company may require an escrow account, and will certainly require an indemnity from the executor. Real estate outside of New Jersey will be subject to death taxes and title requirements of the state where it is located.
Death taxes are not the only taxes of concern to the executor or administrator. An estate is an income taxpayer. Income received or accrued prior to the death is reportable on a final form 1040 which the executor files on behalf of the decedent. If there is a surviving spouse, a joint return can be filed, showing decedent’s income to date of death, plus the surviving spouse’s income for the entire calendar year.
The estate files its income tax on form 1041, beginning with the date of death. The estate may adopt a fiscal (rather than calendar) tax year, but there is no longer much advantage to doing so. The estate will report much the same way that an individual does, with one large difference. The estate will deduct income which is distributed to beneficiaries during the tax year. Any distribution, except a specific bequest or satisfaction of a cash bequest, will carry out the “distributable net income” to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries must then report this income on their own tax returns, form 1040. The executor will provide each beneficiary with a K-1 form which indicates what income must be reported. Because distribution may be part income and part non-taxable principal (the inheritance itself is normally not income), the K-1 figures are usually very different (and less than) the dollars actually received by the beneficiary. If you are beneficiary of an estate, be sure to wait for or ask for the K-1 before preparing your income tax return. For estimated tax purposes, income received from an estate is deemed received on the last day of the estate’s tax year, regardless of when it was actually received.
Administration expenses can be deducted on either the federal death tax return or the federal income tax return, but not both. The choice will depend upon whether the estate is subject to federal estate tax or not, and the time at which expenses are incurred. Knowing such things is one of the ways that the professional executor or the attorney can help earn his keep.
After the bills are paid and the taxes are paid, the remaining assets can be distributed. Usually this is done only after the tax auditors have reviewed the return and indicated approval. Any earlier distribution requires confidence that the death tax returns can’t be challenged and a reserve against unexpected claims.
Transfer of assets, whether at the time of inventory and consolidation, or at time of sale, or at time of distribution, will require certain documents. Probate property requires an executor’s short certificate to document the authority of the executor to act. A death certificate may or may not be requested. Non-probate property will require a death certificate and identification of the claimant (who may be the surviving joint owner or the designated beneficiary); life insurance involves a proof of claim form from the company. All New Jersey securities, bank accounts and real estate (whether probate property or joint property) will also require an inheritance tax waiver, or L-8 or L-9 form with copy of the will attached. Securities are usually transferred through a broker, which requires opening an account (contract, W-9). Each security will require a stock power and affidavit of domicile.
At or prior to final distribution the executor is entitled to be paid. Individuals do the same tasks that bank executors perform, so they are usually paid the same sort of compensation. A typical rate of compensation is 5% of the first $200,000 of gross assets, plus 3½% of the next $400,000, plus 2½% of the next $400,000, plus 6% of all income received, plus reimbursement of out of pocket expenses. Add 1% of assets for each additional executor. An executor who is also sole beneficiary will normally decline payment if the income tax rate exceeds the death tax rate. Recently the IRS has taken the position that individual executors are not entitled to be paid as much as a bank executor would be paid. IRS is also demanding that individual executors keep a record of time spent and tasks performed. The IRS position does not preclude payment, but it makes it difficult to deduct the payment.
The estate is “wound up” by the executor presenting his “accounting” to the beneficiaries, and the beneficiaries approving the accounting. At a minimum the accounting will show all receipts and disbursements. More elaborate accountings may contain sub-accounts of specific receipts or expenditures, schedules of investments, gains and losses, assets on hand, and a schedule of proposed distribution.
If any beneficiary has a question about why an asset was not collected, whether it was sold for the right price, why certain expenses were incurred, or how the executor or attorney was compensated, then the executor should be prepared to provide explanation and substantiation. If the beneficiary and executor cannot agree then the account must be filed in the Superior Court and a judge, after review by and advice from the Surrogate, will rule on the dispute. This will involve several months time and substantial expense. Such procedure, time, and expense may also be required if any beneficiary is a minor or incompetent, or a charity. The Deputy Attorney General represents charities, whether or not they have their own counsel, and must be notified and satisfied.
Assuming no disagreement between the executor and the beneficiaries and that all are adult and competent, there is no need to expend the time and money for court accounting. The beneficiaries can sign documents indicating their approval and releasing the executor from claims. It is also customary for the beneficiaries to sign “Releases and Refunding Bonds.” This is a two page paper whereby each beneficiary acknowledges receipt of the inheritance, releases all claims against the executor and agrees to refund all or a portion of what has been received should a valid claim be made against the estate at a later date. The executor then files these papers with the Surrogate, signifying that the estate is closed.
The executor will normally require that the beneficiary sign the Release and Refunding Bond before handing over the money, because after a beneficiary has received his money it will be difficult to obtain his attention or cooperation. It is also customary to require a Release and Refunding Bond when making a partial distribution before estate administration is ready for winding up.
After final distribution the executor still has work to do; someone must file a final estate income tax return. There will be no tax due, as the distribution will have carried the income out to the beneficiaries. Nevertheless, the IRS will want to know this and the beneficiaries need to know what to report. For the next three years the executor will hope that IRS does not audit an earlier year and claim additional taxes, for the executor is now without assets and would have to rely on the refunding bonds of the beneficiaries. This illustrates the desirability of trying to distribute income currently, to shift the risk to the beneficiaries (who have the funds). It also illustrates one reason why executors are paid a percentage (reflecting risk) rather than by the hour.
Clearly, some estates are more complicated than others. The decedent will have made an initial decision about the level of professional help needed to settle it, in his choice of executor and attorneys. The executor also faces a choice in selecting help–attorney, investment advisor, custodian, accountant, realtor, appraiser. Some or all of these may be needed. The executor, particularly if he or she is also the beneficiary, may decide to do without one or more of these to reduce costs. The proper decision depends on the complexity of the estate, the risks, the talents of the individual executor, the time available, the degree of family cohesiveness. If the executor is the surviving spouse or a child, emotion or sense of loss may interfere with judgment or even simple willingness to approach the task.
Hopefully, this explanation will help you, as planner, as individual executor, or as beneficiary, to understand the process of estate administration and to make better decisions about what you need and what you want to see accomplished.

domain: law


text:
This are some drawers that I rescued from an old sewing machine cabinet that my sister was getting rid of. The cabinet itself was not very nice looking and very rickety so I put it on my front porch and I didn't dare put anything on it that I didn't want on the ground It had several coats of paint in different shades of white and off white paint. But I absolutely fell in love with all the detail on the drawers so I pulled them out of the cabinet and put them in the corner of my bedroom with the idea of someday doing something with them. I was thinking perhaps hanging them on the wall for shelves or something, I didn't know what for sure, I just knew I loved them. Then one day while moving them to dust and vacuum, I had a revolution, have someone build a little cabinet so I could use them for drawers. So I asked my friend Susan (whom I believed to have a husband that was a miracle worker when it comes to wood) if her husband would be interested in building a little cabinet for me. She said he would love to and after getting the drawers he was wondering if I was planning on stripping the paint and staining them. I told her I was not the least bit interested in doing that sort of thing, she then said he could do it if I wanted him to. Will I jumped at the chance, let him do his magic and this is what I got back.
This is the side view. My original plan was just to leave them off white and paint the cabinet off white and I would just have kind of a shabby chic thing going. Boy am I glad I didn't do that! I lined the drawers with brown Prestofelt. I can hardly wait to to fill them with beads, laces, hankies and doilies. Opening the drawers will be like opening a treasure chest.
I wish I would have taken a before picture of the drawers and had I known how wonderful they were going to turn out I would have. But I do have a picture of the rickety old cabinet.
Here is the bag for my daughter. Then I just couldn't stop there, so I made a coupon holder that will be finished in the car on the way to Mpls today and then I went even further and made a 'what's in the bottom of your purse' holder.
I went to a couple of quilt shops on Saturday with my daughter and in one of them they had to cutest bags made with these stickin' cute grommets. They also had patterns with kits but it was for a small purse that would have been way to small for me. So I said my famous words, 'that looks easy enough, I don't need a pattern'. Besides that fact that I already have way too many bags and purse patterns and home, I couldn't justify buying another one. When I went to pay for the grommets the owner told me there were enough grommets for two bags so my daughter decided, or was it me, anyway, someone decided she should have a bag too. So off to the next quilt shop we went to buy fabric. ( Being a business owner, I like to spread my business around) This was the bag I made for myself and considering, I didn't have a pattern and just winged it as I went along, it went together amazingly fast. Now I'm off to make another one.
Close up of the front. Both the front and back. I just got this back from a round robin. She went to 6 different very talented crazy quilters in the local group that I'm in. Now I just need to get her eyes, nose, mouth and perhaps a few whiskers on her and she will be ready to stitch and stuff. She was inspired from the real Sophie Mae. The real Sophie Mae. She isn't nearly as evil as she looks. Really truly, she can be very sweet.
Pat Winter is doing a pieces of friendship swap on her blog. We start with a puzzle piece template and embellish any way we chose. This is my first experimental puzzle piece. I started mine before she gave a little tutorial so I did learn a few things the hard way. First I learned not to attach the front to the middle pellon before embellishing. One reason being, it's very difficult to sew through and almost impossible to get a beading needle through and I don't even want to think about the trouble I had with the silk ribbon. Secondly, when you go to sew the back on, all the lumps and bumps, especially the silk ribbon all show through. The other thing I learned was that the fancy dancy stitches on the machine don't really do justice when I comes to finishing the edges. With all the curves and turns I just don't like the look. I started a second piece and I'm all ready liking that better. You can find more great puzzle pieces here.
It's the coolest idea since sliced bread. This is a few of the many plastic bags that I just can't throw away. This was the brain child of Lettie and you can find the tutorial at Polka Dot Pineapple. She has come up with a ingenious way to fold these bags so they take almost no space at all. She has a wonderful blog, so plan on staying awhile.