Editorial/Fraudulent waivers?/Robots/Wine secrets
THE EDITOR SPEAKS: WHY ARE THERE NO REGULATIONS FOR ANIMAL BREEDERS?
Colin Wilson
I was somewhat surprised to learn that there are no regulations in the Cayman Islands for persons who breed animals.
This is highlighted in one of our iNews Briefs stories today – “Plight of pit bull revealed”.
Bella, a long-suffering pit bull, was used by her owners to produce up to 100 puppies and then abandoned when she had outlived her usefulness. She couldn’t breed any more.
She was found on a West Bay beach riddled with tumors, blind in one eye and suffering from heartworm.
Currently there are no licensing regulations in the Cayman Islands for dog breeders and they don’t even have to have a trade and business license.
Backyard dog breeding is big business. It is also called puppy mills.
All over the world these high volume back yard breeders are making huge amounts of money, one dog who has bred 100 puppies can net her owner over $50,000 in revenue.
What is even worse is the dogs mostly live in squalid conditions and when multi breeding dogs are used they are kept in rows of small or dirty cages.
There are, of course, the back yard breeders who only allow their bitch to have a litter or two and I am NOT targeting this group., although there is also a problem there too. They usually only know the history of their own dog and will make assumptions based on what they know. However, there may have been a genetic predisposition toward hip dysplasia in her dog’s line that she is unaware of. Because back yard breeders lack information regarding the traits of previous generations, puppies can have health problems.
The back yard breeder is the single greatest cause of pet overpopulation.
The multi back yard breeders usually bring two breeding animals together regardless of their quality. They are not interested in scientific breeding. Their aim is to fulfill a personal need or goal to make money not to improve the breed and bring excellent quality dogs to the world. Since breed excellence is generally unimportant, the breeding dogs in almost every case will not have been tested for genetic and health problems.
It is on the increase and it is about time the authorities here do something about it and quickly.
IS ROYAL CARIBBEAN COMMITTING FRAUD BY REQUIRING CRUISE PASSENGERS TO SIGN LEGALLY UNENFORCEABLE FLOWRIDER WAIVERS?
By Jim Walker, Walker & O’Neill Maritime Lawyers
If you want to participate in the FlowRider attraction on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the cruise line requires its passengers to sign an electronic waiver. The waiver purports to relieve the cruise line of any and all liability arising out of use of the FlowRider. However, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal ruled last year that the waiver violates U.S. Maritime Law and is legally unenforceable.
In a case our firm handled, the appellate court held that the Royal Caribbean waiver violated 46 U.S.C. § 30509 which prohibits contractual provisions which attempt to limit the liability of the owner of ships for “personal injury or death caused by the negligence or fault of the owner or the owner’s employees or agents.” The court held that the statute was clear and unambiguous, and there was no exception for recreational, inherently dangerous, or ultra hazardous activities. Although waivers of this type may be enforceable on land under certain circumstances, such waivers are illegal and unenforceable on the high seas.
The legal decision is significant because there has been at least one death and many serious injuries to cruise passengers on the Royal Caribbean FlowRiders.
On the article on the writer’s site (see below) can see an example how the cruise line electronic waiver works. The participants usually are in a long line near the “Wipeout Bar!” with music blaring when they have to sign the waiver. Quite often, the passengers don’t read anything and are led through the waiver by a cruise line employee very quickly. The waivers are not only legally unenforceable, but it seems like no one reads them anyway.
Ever since the Eleventh Circuit struck the waiver down, the cruise’s line’s requirement to force passengers to sign the waiver appears fraudulent to me. The waiver is unenforceable. Period. Executing an unenforceable waiver is meaningless. There is a danger that a passenger may not assert their legal rights after they were seriously injured on the FlowRider because the cruise line tricked them into believing that they waived their rights. This constitutes fraud.
If you were injured on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, and you didn’t file suit timely (one year) because you believed that you waived your rights, you may still have a basis for a lawsuit against the cruise line.
If you have a question about the Royal Caribbean Flowrider waiver, please contact our office.
For more on this story and to see the video go to:
ROBOTS FOR QUANTUM CLASS
By Rebecca Gibson From Cruise and Ferry
Two70° will feature a range of immersive entertainment and advanced technology
ABB Robotic is carrying out the final testing on its six innovative robotic arms for use in the innovative Two70° venue on Royal Caribbean International’s new generation Quantum-class ships.
The six arms have been designed in collaboration with Las Vegas-based Robotic Arts, which has provided its patented RoboScreen technology and high-definition projection screens. They will be placed on a moveable gantry, allowing technicians to lower LCD screens from the ceiling and programme them to move in synchronisation with the aerialists and other performers. This will create a multilayered, 3D and immersive experience for the audience.
“This is the most complex robotics project on the planet,” said Andy Fleeas, president of Robotic Arts. “We have all of the primary equipment including the robots, the screen and the controllers and we’re hooking them all up. I am interested in the choreography of the robot, how it moves to the music and how it interacts with the talent that’s walking around.”
Two70° has been created by Hollywood-based 5+design as a transformational space offering panoramic views of the sea through three-deck-high, floor-to-ceiling, inclined glass walls. Innovative technology, lighting and sound will enable the multidimensional venue, which is located at the stern of the ship, to provide a continually evolving space, able to accommodate a range of onboard activities, events and entertainment.
“We really can’t wait to see it come to life and more importantly, to watch the guests’ reaction because there will be a lot of magic connected the shows in Two70°,” said Charley McDonald, Royal Caribbean’s assistant vice president of guest activities and fleet entertainment.
For more on this story go to:
http://www.cruiseandferry.net/article/News/00864/Robots-for-Quantum-class
| SCIENTISTS SEQUENCE GENOME OF HIGH-VALUE GRAPE, SEEK SECRETS OF WINE’S AROMAFrom Nanowerk News |
 Demystifying the chemical processes that create a wine’s aroma, and the invaluable potential application of that understanding in winemaking, is the new objective of scientists in Uruguay who, with European partners, also recently sequenced the genome of the high-value Tannat grape, from which “the most healthy of red wines” are fermented. |
| Meanwhile, a quick, $1 test in development by researchers in Paraguay and Uruguay promises to reduce the economic and health burden of 3 million cases of syphilis in Latin America — a disease readily treated and cured if diagnosed early. |
| Though seemingly disparate, the twin breakthroughs have a common midwife: the UN University’s Venezuela-based BIOLAC programme, which in 2013 marks 25 years of advancing regional economic and health interests by building biotech science throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. |
| Wines made from the Tannat are known as the most healthy of red wines due to their high levels of procyanidins, said to be good for reducing blood pressure, lowering cholesterol and encouraging healthy blood clotting.Says Prof. Carrau: “A wine made with Tannat has twice the tannins of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Pinot Noir. Sequencing the grape’s genome will allow vintners to protect a valuable niche in the world’s $300 billion wine industry.”Now the same researchers are probing a secret of nature of potentially great commercial interest as well: how soil conditions, minerals, sun, temperature, climate, altitude and other environmental factors affect the expression of genes in grapes and the chemistry of wine’s aromas and color.”Winemaking has always been an art. Today it is also a science,” says Prof. Carrau. “If we can determine through biotechnology the factors that determine a wine’s aroma and color, we can potentially apply that information to create more pleasing and valuable products.” |
| “Such information can also valuably guide decisions about where to plant new vines, which typically produce their first fruit after five years and their best fruit in about a decade. Having the ability to predict successful vineyard location holds enormous value.” |
| Tannat is the “national grape” of Uruguay, South America’s 4th-largest wine producer with 8,500 hectares (21,000 acres) of vineyards. More than a third of the grapes grown are Tannat, from which the country’s signature wines are produced. |
| Plantings of Tannat (also known in Uruguay as Harriague) have been increasing each year as that country’s wine industry develops. Though a small player still, Uruguay is a rising star in the world’s wine industry, exporting about 17% of its production (over 20 million litres valued at $15 million in 2012; a roughly 500% jump in the value of exports from 2004). |
| The main exports are Tannat or Tannat blends and vineyards in Uruguay have begun to distinguish between “old vines” — descendants from the original cuttings brought over from Europe — and new clones being produced today. The newer vines tend to produce more powerful wines with higher alcohol levels but less acidity, as well as more complex fruit characteristics. |
| “Discovering in more detail the health-promoting compound in the Tannat grape requires us to continue work on its genome. I suspect that in future, such information will help the variety become far better known around the world.” |
For more on this story go to:
http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/biotech/newsid=32028.php
