 guest post. (I’d rather all of you hear from the experts!)
Additional References: (links when possible)
1. Dutch study using the Sugarbaker procedure for intrathoracic infusion for pleural thymomas and malignant pleural mesothelioma. Bree et. al (2000) from Chest. Small study with only 14 patients but a nice discussion of the procedure with graphics. Multiple other studies from these authors, as mentioned above.
2. A nice blog that explains the Sugarbaker procedure.
3. Very small Japanese study from 2003 – five patients. Notably, these patients had a different disease process – lung cancer with pleuritic carcinomatosis. 4 out of five patients demonstrated significant longevity after the procedure with no recurrence.Lockdown has now lifted to allow self contained overnight stays and this is where all the hard work of making our van a moving home for dogs and humans comes to play! We can do our favourite thing of camping and training which is bliss after a dreary winter. We are still running as normal, big passenger rig runs along Salisbury Plain and splitting teams up to team puppy training and team veteran on forest trails. Pups are 11 months and doing really well. Below is a short clip of our four teams, happy, healthy and living their best lives!
As well as lots of lovely runs, we have built new platforms in the dogs playground at home and had lots of beach walks and free runs in secure fields.
Months seem to be blurring into one during this last lock down, life hasn't really changed work, run dogs, rest, repeat. But Spring is now here to brighten the days up and there is end of the 'lockdown' tunnel in sight so hopefully we can plan some camping and training adventures soon!
The pups are over 10 months and doing well so it's the next stage for them now and it has been time to add them to a four dog team on a 3 wheeler with excellent mentors, Mars, Zinny and kara. We aren't worried about distance right now with them so a casual, controlled 1.5 miles, although it's not an 'easy' 1.5 miles on hilly terrain but the aim is to give the puppies positive, fun hook up experiences and set them up for success. Distance and speed will come as they mature and plenty of time. Here they are in the video below, in wheel with Zinny and Mars in lead.
The big dogs have also been enjoying longer runs on the open trails of Salisbury Plain on the passenger rig as well as splitting the teams with 4 'younger guns' and a'senior' siberians on the three wheeler on forest trails and the dogs are all content and happy. They also enjoy their secure free run every Friday, in one of the 5 acre fields up the road, which is lovely for them all especially our oldies who have retired from harness work and you can see our lovelies having fun in this video.
Lockdown 3 AND SNOW!
Temperatures have been pretty good for us in the UK and we are getting out for lots of runs on the passenger rig, (following government guidance of course) temperatures have been pretty good down South and we have had some minus zero runs, we even had snow! It only lasted 24 hours and was the wet slushy kind we get in the UK so sled stayed at home but it made a nice difference to the mud and was very pretty for photographs! We have also made use of our local 5 acre free run field and it's great to see the dogs power around.
Going through the pandemic has been pretty stressful for everyone and we are extra grateful to have the dogs and this life. Taking the time to stop and stare and appreciate mother nature and seeing the seasons change by dog team is incredibly special. These pictures were taken on the same spot on the trail in January, May, August and November! Nothing is more beautiful than nature and I hope that moving forward we will look after the world a little bit better.
The Vermont Supreme Court will decide if a Burlington man should be able to view, free of charge, police body camera footage from the arrest of a minor.
It’s a case that raises the issue of the public’s ability to view a record at no expense, or whether the process involved in making redactions to the requested body cam footage requires creating a copy, which a public agency is allowed by law to charge for.
The legal dispute has attracted the attention of several groups and organizations who have filed amicus, or friend of the court, briefs outlining their concerns that charging for what they term an inspection of a record would create a roadblock to public accountability and transparency.
The high court heard arguments Wednesday from an attorney from the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union that Reed Doyle of Burlington simply wants to “inspect” the body camera footage, and therefore should not be charged by the Burlington Police Department.
“Inspection of public information without the burden of fees is necessary for transparency and accountability,” Jay Diaz, a lawyer for the ACLU of Vermont and representing Doyle, told the five justices of the state’s highest court.
The case stems from an incident on July 17, 2017, near Burlington’s Roosevelt Park. That’s when Doyle was walking his dog and saw police officers in a confrontation with a group of youths.
Before Doyle arrived, one youth had been arrested for disorderly conduct, and others were arguing with police about that arrest.
Doyle says he heard officers threaten to use pepper spray on those youth, and also saw an officer push a boy who was backing away. When the boy protested being pushed, he was arrested for disorderly conduct.
Doyle wanted to view the officer’s body cam footage to determine exactly what happened, he said, and if it showed any excessive force was used by Burlington police against children of color.
Diaz, the ACLU attorney, disputed the city of Burlington’s contention that redacting the video, including to conceal innocent third parties and protect minors, leads to the creation of a copy.
“Redacting information is actually just the blocking out or the hiding of certain information that’s in an existing public record,” Diaz told the high court.
“That’s not possible when you’re talking about video, you need to create a new compilation,” Justice Harold Eaton said.
“Whether it’s video or not, there is no distinction,” Diaz replied.
Diaz said Doyle was not seeking a copy, only to “inspect” or view, the body cam footage, even if it’s redacted.
“So for you it’s all about how it’s examined — physically how it’s examined — not what happens before to allow it to be examined. We ignore that?” Justice Karen Carroll asked Diaz.
A lawyer for the city of Burlington countered the municipality’s needed redactions to the video did lead to the creation of a copy.
Therefore, under the law, the city can charge Doyle for the making of that copy, he said, including the redactions that must be made, which carry a cost of hundreds of dollars.
“This case is emblematic of the balancing of privacy interest and public transparency that public agencies face every day,” attorney Justin St. James, representing the city of Burlington, told the high court Wednesday.
The video requires redactions because it contains images of minors, St. James said, some who were never charged with a crime and others who were sent to a court diversion program.
As a result, he added, the city needed to make a copy of the body cam footage to make those redactions.
“How is this case different then someone taking a stack a records in response to a request and going through the paper records to see which ones are actually subject to inspection and which ones are not?” Justice Eaton asked.
“This is a treated as a request for a copy because we knew that there was confidential exempt information,” St. James responded.
Justice Marilyn Skoglund then wanted to know what would happen if she wanted to see an officer’s body cam footage.
“I’m not going to say you can’t ask,” St. James replied.
However, he said, before the video is viewed it would need to be reviewed to determine if information on the footage is exempt under the Vermont Public Records Act.
Brandon del Pozo, Burlington’s police chief, has said that his department’s decision regarding the body cam footage is about striking a balance between protecting people’s privacy and government transparency.
He has said the ACLU model body camera policy calls for such footage to be redacted to protect privacy. Since that requires making a copy of the video to make redactions, the chief said Doyle’s request allows for the department to recoup that cost under the public records act.
Doyle brought a lawsuit in Washington County Superior Court in Montpelier seeking to require the city to make the officer’s body cam footage available at no charge.
The ACLU, in its arguments to the high court, points to a 2011 decision by Judge Geoffrey Crawford, then sitting in Washington Superior Court, in a public records case.
Secretary of State Jim Condos submitted a filing in Doyle’s case, in support of the ability to inspect a public record free of charge.
Several other organizations have signed onto amicus briefs in support of Doyle and the ACLU of Vermont. They include the Conservation Law Foundation, the Vermont Natural Resources Council, The Vermont Journalism Trust, Vermont Press Association, and the New England First Amendment Coalition.
The Vermont Journalism Trust is VTDigger’s parent organization.
Michael Donoghue, a former Burlington Free Press reporter, represented the Vermont