Through the magic that is facebook, I've reconnected with several high school friends. More than twenty years after the fact (can it possibly be that long ago?!), Lynn posted an album with some school photos as well as pages from the book that we all took home after our senior night -- including the class will and prophecy among other things.
The class prophecy turned out to be mildly prophetic. It predicted that, first off, my driving had not improved (was I that bad?), but was not an issue because I was walking a college campus as a professional student. It claimed I changed my major as often as I changed my hair and was still in school. So twenty(some) years later, here I am...a different hairstyle (just say "no" to perms)...and a different major (in my earlier years of college, I declared at least three separate career intentions)...and still in school.
I was surprised to be reminded that I had been voted by the class "Best Hair" (I think because it varied dramatically many times that year), "Most Revolutionary" and "Best Personality." Ohhh, and one writer decided it unimaginable that I might be a wallflower. I don't recall being a terribly boisterous student, but perhaps I stood out from the crowd back then just as I like to now (but this time around I'm the middle aged gal in class who blames her mistakes on a stroke).
OMG....I have sooooo many photos that look just like that. I must dig them up and share.
BTW, check out this cool site I just found. It's internet radio on nutrition. Sooo cool!


Ariel Mcglothin lives in an off-grid tiny house called Fy Nyth nestled into the western mountains of Wyoming, a little over 6,000 feet above sea level. She splits her own wood for heat, carries her water in by hand, and grows as much of her food as she can. If you're at all interested in tiny house off-grid living, don't miss this conversation with Ariel.
The post Off Grid Tiny House Living in a Cold Climate IS Possible Ariel Mcglothin Shows us How – #002 appeared first on The Tiny House.


Hello and welcome to 2017. We hope you had a chance to relax over the holidays. Some of us did, some of us didn't. We`ve got a cover reveal today, Just off the Path by Weston Sullivan. It falls into the fantasy genre, and the cover artists are Joemel Requeza and Sandra Valente. Drum roll, please.
Weston Sullivan lives and writes in Tampa, Florida. He spends his days splitting time between writing, a full time job, and studying for his degree in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida. He enjoys everything related to storytelling, including film and theater. He likes to read all genres, from contemporary fiction to classic favorites such as Faulkner and Woolf. After he finishes his undergraduate coursework and continues to build his career as an author, he plans to attend graduate school in New York City.
Weston dropped by today courtesy of Bewitching Book Tours.


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Chat with David Ross
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Ross won two College World Series titles, one with Auburn in 1997 and one with Florida in 1998.
Welcome to SportsNation! On Thursday, catcher for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox David Ross stops by to chat about his team's title run.
Despite being a backup during the regular season, appearing in 36 games, Ross stepped up during Boston's postseason run. He was the starting catcher in 7 of Boston's 11 playoff wins, including all four World Series victories. His game-winning, run-scoring double in the seventh inning of the pivotal Game 5, helped propel the Red Sox over the Cardinals and gave Boston a 3-2 series lead.
Ross is in his second stint with the Red Sox and is the sixth team he has played for in his 12-year career. The 36-year-old was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1995 draft, but decdided to go to college, before being drafted by the Dodgers again in 1998.
Send your questions now and join Ross Thursday at 1 p.m. ET!
More Special Guests: Previous chats | SportsNation
(12:59 PM)
David is here!
Ryan (Boston)
When does the beard come off?
David Ross
(1:00 PM)
I don't know exactly. Maybe Dec. 1. It's No Shave November, so it may be early December. I want to show some of my buddies back home. I think my wife and kids are over it.
pj (midlo)
Hi David, congrats to you and your teammates. Great to see teams go from last to first- really points out to me how little separates players at the top levels - did it ever feel to you during the season and when that the Sox were a team of destiny ? thanks
My first realization of being a really good team was when we went to New York late in the season to play the Yankees. We took 3 of 4 and the one we did lose was on a wild pitch. It was 12-11 games. They'd come back and we kept coming. I knew right then that we have a pretty good team here.
L.T. (ATL Georgia)
David, Walk us pitch by pitch through your big double, what were you looking for, what were you thinking? Just trying to get some good wood?
I wanted to see how they were going to pitch me so I took the first pitch. They gave me a slider. Then up and in for a ball. Then I fouled off a slider. Then it was a battle. I was looking for something out over the plate. He had something away and the breaking ball got back in on him. I was just trying to battle and I got some good wood on it.
Evan (RI)
Craziest thing that's happened to you since you guys won the World Series? (that you can tell us)
I'm like a rock star at my kids' elementary school. All of the kids stayed up late to watch the game. I have 90 year old ladies trying to come up to me and touch my beard. So much attention. It's not something that normally happens to a backup catcher. It's fun.
Jeff (Boston)
Have you seen the video of your boy Mike Napoli walking around Boston shirtless? What did you think? Have you talked to him about it?
Yeah, I saw it. I laughed. I love Nap. That's his personality. I told him all year what a great base tan he has and he loves showing it. I have two kids and a wife I had to get back to, but he's living it up for all of us.
Peter (CT)
Boston was coming off a terrible season last year, so when did you guys start to feel that the memories of last year were completely gone?
Not being here last year, it was never a thought in my mind. I'm a day to day guy, working hard on a daily basis. If you look too far back or forward, this game will swallow you whole. We came prepared every day and that's why we won. No one got too far ahead of himself.
Ingy (NH)
Hi David, how many more seasons do you feel you have left in you?
Great question. I don't know. I know that I love this game. I'm only going to play as long as I can be successful. When you start, you want to get 10 years in, be financially secure and win a World Series. I have knocked those off my bucket list. I love playing in Boston.
Sunny Patel (Boston, MA)
What do you think this series win meant to the city of Boston especially with what we have been through this year?
Truly, that's what made it so special. We feel like we won it for hte city. It's above us, as players and an organization, it's a BOSTON title. To give it to the city that went through so much and flipped us on the TV to put smiles on their faces. I feel like I'm part Bostonian now.
Ryan K (CT)
Was this some of the most fun you've had as a baseball player? As a fan, just watching you guys play was fun, couldn't imagine being a part of it.
Yes. Yes. On a daily basis, it was fun to come to work and compete with the guys. It's a great group of guys. Winning is great, but I'll cherish the relationships that I built with this team for the rest of my life. Love these guys.
Tyler (Atlanta)
Hey David. I am very happy for you about the world series win. Thanks for your service here in Atlanta. Got one question for you. How different is it in Boston than Atlanta?
It's a pretty big difference. The organizations are run differently. Great players in Atlanta. Some of my best friends play for the Braves. Some of the best talent of any team is in Atlanta. The city itself is so passionate in Boston. I have never been around so much passion as in Boston. I have a big connection with them because of all that happened this year. But I did love my time in Atlanta. We had some good teams.
Lee (DC)
So how's it coming on convincing Brian McCann to come to Boston?
I have been in touch with Brian. Just because we're friends. We haven't talked about contract stuff. We have group text messages going on with the guys we played with this year. I'm trying to enjoy the offseason. It's almost time to start working out again. There's not much break there. It's time to focus on 2014. This game doesn't wait for anybody.
Hoss (Austin)
Is Xander as cool a customer as he appears to be? What will we be saying about him in 10 years?
Yes. He is as cool. Him and Jason Heyward are two of the most humble, nice and talented rookies I've ever been around. He'll be around for a long time. He's a great person and player. For him to produce, shows him what kind of mentality he'll have.
Nick (Woburn, MA)
How many high fives did Koji give out throughout the season (approximately)
Oh man...countless. I don't even know. It has to be in the thousands. He high-fived everybody. What a great energy he brings. Great teammate and fun guy to be around.
JACK (FL)
David where do you make your home in the offseason? How many guys live in the Boston area year round?
I live in Tallahassee, Fla. I will probably see the guys in an event or two that we have. I probably won't see many of them until spring training. One of my favorite things to do in the offseason is taking my kids to school and picking them up. I'll lift weights. I may hit the golf course once in a while. Family time. We're going to see Free Bird, the cartoon movie. That will be a highlight. My daughter is excited.
Carl B (NY)
Who is your favorite pitcher to catch, current and all time? What do you guys really talk about on the mound?
Favorite all-time? I have to go with my buddy Tim Hudson. We went to college together. We went to the CWS together. I played with him in Atlanta. I love his mentality. I love how he competes. On the mound, it's usually to give him a break, if it's been a long inning. "Hey, you've had a couple of tough at bats. Let's regroup and focus." Or if I see they're frustrated, I'll go out to get their mind back on making that pitch. Some guys get distracted and it's my job to get them back in.
Brendan (Boston, MA)
What types of things do you do to stay loose and conditioned in the offseason?
Working out. I'll do some spin classes. I try to mix it up. I'll go do some TRX stuff one day. Go to the gym. Do some yoga. Lift weights. Sprints on the treadmill. I have to mix it up. I get really bored. I don't like running. When I start, I begin to think of when I can finish.
Joe Schmoe (CT)
What is John Farrell's best asset as a manager for this team? Also, do you ever see yourself becoming a coach/manager in the future?
John Farrell does a great job of staying calm when things are at their craziest. He doesn't change who he is or what he does to the situation. As soon as you start changing, the players will think you're panicking. He's real methodical and reasoning. As long as you have a plan, the players won't question you.
I've also feel like I've been so blessed to be in the game a long time and learned a lot, I feel like I need to pass the information on. Either coaching or on TV or radio. I love the game, being around the guys. I feel like I have so much to give back to the game that the game has given me.
Thanks for all of the questions. Go Sox!
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Anyone who's been around understands that it's the assistants who rule the world. They decide what calls get through. They have countless contacts. They handle all the daily details. Simply put, if you want to get something done, chances are good that at some point in the process you'll have to go through an assistant.


HNTB designed the $123.9-million, "The Hop" Milwaukee Streetcar. The 2.1-mile initial phase of the project was completed last summer. It connects the Milwaukee Intermodal Station and downtown Milwaukee to the Lower East Side and the Historic Third Ward. Image courtesy of HNTB Corp.
Kansas City-based HNTB has consistently ranked in the top five since we started ranking Midwest design firms by revenue in 2012. HNTB Reported more than $208 million in 2018 revenue climbing back to the number three slot (so far) on the Top Design Firms list. That's up from $199 million last year HNTB's work included at least $1 million in revenue from each state in the region.
One of the major projects HNTB completed last years was the design of O'Hare Airport runway 9C-27C. This $500-million, 11,245-ft-long and 200-ft-wide runway project created the second-largest runway in the busiest airport in the nation. HNTB's scope of work include design of north and south full-length parallel taxiways, three high-speed taxiways, several connecting taxiways, and two hold aprons. The pavement section of the runway consists of 19 inches of Portland cement concrete pavement over six inches of bituminous base course over six inches of asphalt-treated permeable base. The project won several awards from aviation and airport organizations and, more importantly to passengers, has helped O'Hare improve its on-time performance. It's step one in a modernization that will eventually see terminal 1 demolished and, because of HNTB's design of 9C that connects other runways, it allowed Chicago Department of Aviation to demolish two taxiways and open up space for the planned expansion.
HNTB is program manager of Chicago's Red Line extension project, a proposed $2.3-billion, 5.3-mile extension of Chicago Transit Authority's red line train that includes four new stations near 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue and 130th Street. The plan is to use existing rail lines like the Union Pacific's abandoned tracks to make up the new line. As program manager, HNTB is responsible for developing the best plan to ultimately seek federal funding for the extension. HNTB previously designed the $203-million CTA Wilson Station.
HNTB has been a transit adviser for the City of Milwaukee since 1999 and was responsible for final engineering of the streetcar, which opened in 2018.
HNTB is also at the forefront of integrating technology into transportation design. HNTB Engineers designed the $92-million US 23 Flex Route, Michigan's first active-traffic management road. Real-time data is being used to actively manage traffic to open the shoulder, harmonize speeds, warn drivers of conditions ahead and respond to accidents.
For embracing transportation innovation, taking the region's most difficult design jobs and consistently delivering infrastructure that makes the region work, ENR Midwest is proud to recognize HNTB as Design Firm of the Year.


As a life-long, self-employed businessman and REALTOR® since 2000 I know what it takes to ensure a smooth real estate transaction; hard work, dedication, loyalty, knowledge, and effective communication. It is this philosophy that has helped me to consistently be one of the top producing agents in the Lakes Region. I am proud to be affiliated with Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty. Sotheby's is known worldwide for representing the finest homes in all price ranges.


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Venezuela Says It Defeated Attack by Soldiers Urging Others to Rebel
General says 'the scoundrels have been defeated'; insurgent soldiers apparently controlled parts of base in Valencia
A still image from video released by Operation David Carabobo, in which a group of men dressed in military fatigues declare themselves in rebellion.
Photo: handout/Reuters
By Anatoly Kurmanaev in Caracas and Tibisay Romero in Valencia
Venezuela's army said two people died Sunday in what it described as a "paramilitary" attack on an important military base by former army officers and civilians, only days after embattled President Nicolás Maduro installed an all-powerful assembly tasked with consolidating his authoritarian reign.
The army said it had regained control of the base, but added that several members of the group that conducted the raid had escaped and taken weapons with them. It said an intense manhunt was under way.


Tomorrow is the end of the month which is Halloween but it also means I get to plan my schedule for the whole day. To start the day I am going to read Fahrenheit 451 which I have been reading for 2 weeks and I like it so far. For the second hour I am going to being working on science. In science I am learning about polymers. For the third hour I will be working on art. In art I have being doing water colors. Then I am going to take a lunch break. Then for the fourth hour i will be working on a script for a project Then for the fifth I will be working on some more art. Then for the sixth hour I will be working on my tree house to. That will be my day tomorrow.


The 7:30 a.m. bell blared.
"Get ready, ladies. Here they come," Cafeteria Manager Cathy Wilson said to her team.
They took the cue to slip on plastic gloves and stand in position behind trays of food, just as dozens of students rounded the corner into the cafeteria to line up for breakfast. The hungry kids were greeted with "good mornings" on their way in and stickers that read "Wake up to breakfast at Frederick Douglass" on their way out.
On a typical day, the Leesburg school serves about 175 students breakfast. Most schools don't see such a crowd for what's often referred to as the most important meal of the day.
But Frederick Douglass administrators and teachers have fine-tuned the breakfast program to make it easier for more students to begin their school day with a full stomach. In the past year, Frederick Douglass has seen the number of students who eat school breakfast grow by 117 percent.
The surge in participation was enough to draw a USDA administrator to belly up to the cafeteria table alongside students Thursday morning.
Katie Wilson, deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, visited the school to celebrate School Breakfast Week and find out what's luring so many students to make the cafeteria the first stop of their day.
A little over a year ago, the cafeteria staff stocked more packaged foods and allowed students to grab food and take it with them to class.
Then, word spread about the breakfast program as kids saw their classmates eating their meal during the first few minutes of class.
Plus, students have more than a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch as an incentive to come to breakfast. Kids who line up for breakfast have a chance to win prizes, such as stickers and breakfast with Principal Paula Huffman.
Students throughout Loudoun County's 88 public schools have, recently, gotten more of a nudge to eat breakfast. More middle and high schools have launched "grab and go" programs similar to Frederick Douglass' and allowed students to eat during the first few minutes of class. Sugarland Run Elementary in Sterling has seen success in getting kids to eat when cafeteria workers deliver coolers of breakfast foods to the classrooms each morning.
The changes have boosted participation in the breakfast program by 28 percent system wide, according to School Nutrition Services Supervisor Becky Bays. "Kids want fast, especially when you get to the middle school and high school level, and that's made all the difference," she said.
Research shows that breakfast is tied to improved math scores and lower tardiness and truancy levels, Bays said.
USDA's Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services' Deputy Undersecretary Katie Wilson and Loudoun County School Nutrition Services Supervisor Becky Bays greet students Thursday morning.
About 31 million students nationally eat school lunch, and about 10 million participate in school breakfast programs. Throughout the country, the number of students who eat school breakfast is on the rise, Wilson said, but not quite to the degree it is in Loudoun.
Wilson followed her own advice. She joined kindergartners for a round of breakfast pizza sticks—a favorite among Frederick Douglass students—before touring the school garden and visiting with fourth-graders as they planted vegetables.
Breakfast in Loudoun's public schools cost $2.10. Learn more about what's served in the schools' cafeterias at lcpshealthycafe.org.


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Home Opinions Bitfury's North American Mining Proxy Hut 8 to List on TSX This...
Bitfury's North American Mining Proxy Hut 8 to List on TSX This Month
Canada appears poised to become a new global hub for bitcoin miners. Already known to be attracting Chinese miners diversifying away from their home market with its cheap hydro-power electricity and cold climate, the country's latest draw is easy access to capital. Firms such as Hut 8 are set to tap its welcoming market for early stage ventures.
Bitfury IPO
Vancouver-based Hut 8 Mining Corp., a part of the Bitfury Group, is scheduled to list on the TSX Venture Exchange in Toronto, Canada this month. After its debut, Hut 8 will be 49 percent owned by the parent group, and the remaining stock in the hands of insiders and private placement investors.
It is planned that by mid of the year, Hut 8 will acquired 60 megawatts of Bitfury's mining power in Canada and have an exclusive agreement with the parent company to develop new farms in all of North America, according to its investor presentation. Hedge fund mogul Mike Novogratz is also said to be financing the deal.
Bitfury reportedly has 172 megawatts of hashing power, mined over a million coins, and its yearly revenue was an estimated $350 million. And Chief Executive Officer Valery Vavilov puts the company's market share at about 10 to 12 percent…
Read Full: Bitfury's North American Mining Proxy Hut 8 to List on TSX This Month
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Handcrafted Magical Jewelry for Power, Protection & Strength.
The Pentacle has been a Protective Symbol for thousands of years. Its earliest connections were with the worship of the Earth Mother Goddess; from whose sacred five pedaled apple blossom and seeds the symbol may have been derived. It is the simplest form of star that can be drawn with a single line - hence it is sometimes called the Endless Knot.
Other names are: the Goblin's Cross, the Pentalpha, the Witch's Foot, the Devil's Star, and the Seal of Solomon (more correctly attributed to the hexagram).
Like the Circle the Pentacle is considered a Protective Symbol because its continuous lines keep all evil out.
It has also been called The Symbol of Man, of Truth, as well as a Symbol of Completion.
Ancient Alchemists paired the Elements of the Earth to those of Man- Flesh & Bones to Earth, Blood to Water, Breath to Air, Body Heat to Fire, and the Soul to Heavenly Ether.
This Pentacle bears the Runic Alphabet: the Futhark, along its perimeter. This Ancient Magical Nordic Alphabet contains a Mystery of Wisdoms within each letter.
With such Magical Properties encircling the Pentacle a Powerful Defense is created through which naught may penetrate.
It has long been believed to be a Potent Protection against evil and demons, hence a Symbol of Safety.
A unique double-sided design from a drawing by the late Garret Riordan. Each is handcrafted in the U.S. by skilled artisans. Made of high quality, lead-free pewter. Measures 1 1/4 inches in diameter and includes an adjustable black cord included.


I must retract what was said before. After my misfortune, I have to admit Dream Beauty went above and beyond to correct my order. Their customer service is amazing, they truly care about their customers and go out of their way to fix the problem, to the point of even sending me a replacement for free. Something you don't see much of these days and a pleasant surprise.
They have truly won me over and I will gladly purchase from them again. A loyal company that stands behind their product and merchandise. Actually looking forward to doing business with them again. Can't wait to see the new unit/wig which should be here in a few days.
Again, thank you Dream Beauty, best customer service ever… you are genuine.After this experience I will be sure to refer everyone I know to them for quality hair and customer service.
This entry was posted in Real Hair Wigs by realhairwigs. Bookmark the permalink.


New! Sign up today to be notified when 2020 meeting registration becomes available.
The Exhibit Hall for the SNMMI 2019 Mid-Winter Meeting will be located in the Catalina and Madera Rooms at the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel in Palm Springs, California. Be sure to stop and meet with top companies, eager to share the latest technologies and products available in the field.
Thanks for attending the 2019 SNMMI Mid-Winter and ACNM Annual Meeting. We hope to see you next year at the 2020 meeting, January 23-25 in Tampa, Florida. Sign up today to be notified when registration information becomes available.
Download the Meeting App and put the entire meeting at your fingertips. Customize your meeting experience with one-touch access to the entire educational program, exhibiting companies, and governance. SNMMI recommends downloading the app before you arrive at the meeting to familiarize yourself with its features.
View the complete list of Meeting Sponsors.


On Tuesday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m., Glencoe-Silver Lake (GSL) will host the Jazz Ensemble from Southwest Minnesota State University and guest artist Mike Clark, an acclaimed drummer. The concert also will feature GSL Jazz I.
There is no admission charge for the concert, which will be held in the high school auditorium.
The city of Brownton's street and utility project probably won't get under way until 2017, the City Council heard at its March 8 meeting.
Engineer John Rodeberg of Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) said that the review of the project by the Rural Development program of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is taking longer than anticipated.
Brent and Ashley Hahn of Litchfield announce the birth of their daughter, Corinne Marie, born Feb. 26, 2016. Corinne wieghed 8 pounds, 1 ounce and was 19 inches long. She joins brother Charlie. Grandparents are Brad and Bonnie Hahn of Glencoe and Doug and Cindy Schmitz of Cold Spring.
Jadyn Weibel of Glencoe graduated from the University of Northwestern in St. Paul on Dec. 18, 2015. Weibel earned a bachelor of science in psychology. Weibel also earned a spot on the university's dean's list for the fall 2015 semester.


Originally crafted by Kentucky Bourbon Hall-of-Famer Eddie Russell as "Wild Turkey® 81," Wild Turkey Bourbon is aged in American White Oak barrels with the deepest, No. 4 "alligator" char. With notes of sweet vanilla, pear and hints of spice, this bourbon finishes with a flavor that is full and rich, whether enjoyed straight or with a mixer.
Master distillers and premier whiskey makers Jimmy and Eddie Russell have brought nearly 100 years of combined experience together to artfully craft Russell's Reserve® 10 Year Old Bourbon. Bottled at 90 proof, this hand-selected small-batch bourbon has a rich caramel and vanilla taste and a uniquely smooth finish.
Established in 1840, Glen Grant® is located in the Speyside town of Rothes, Scotland. James 'The Major' Grant, the nephew of the founder, innovated a unique distillation process in 1872 by installing tall, slender copper pot stills and purifiers. This ensures only the most refined vapors condense into spirit to create an elegant single malt scotch whisky bursting with floral and fruit notes. Today, Glen Grant is carefully crafted by Master Distiller Dennis Malcolm, recipient of Whisky Advocate's 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award for over 55 years of service.
At Forty Creek®, they are not so much bound by tradition as they are inspired by it. Forty Creek is made with passion and patience, and blended for complex and rich flavors – but above all else, smooth taste and drinkability. Their range of whiskies evoke notes of honey, vanilla, nuts, stone fruits and spice. Produced in Grimsby, Ontario, it is one of the most awarded whiskies in North America.


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Case conceptualization and target selection in EMDR therapy
21st April 2021 @ 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
« Introductory Webinar for safe online EMDR Therapy (USA / Canada)
A review of EMDR Therapy Standard Protocol and Applications »
Presented by Ad De Jongh and Suzy Matthijssen
21st of April 2021 – 9:00am BST
Online Webinar.
Ad De Jongh
Ad de Jongh, Ph.D. is clinical psychologist and professor of Anxiety and Behavior Disorders at the University of Amsterdam. Further, he is honorary professor in psychology at the School of Health Sciences of Salford University in Manchester, at the Institute of Health and Society of the University of Worcester, and at the School of Psychology of Queen's University in Belfast. In 2015 Ad de Jongh was involved in establishing the Psychotrauma Expertise Center (PSYTREC), a mental health institution in the Netherlands that uses a short, and highly intensive treatment program for Complex PTSD, where he is a member of the board of directors. He is approved trainer for the EMDR Europe association. He is an expert in the treatment of anxiety disorders, and involved in research on the efficacy of evidence-based treatments for a wide variety of patient groups, including traumatized children, people with intellectual disabilities and other complex psychiatric conditions such as psychosis. He (co-)authored more than 400 articles/book chapters and 6 books on his areas of expertise.
Suzy Matthijssen
Suzy Matthijssen Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist-psychotherapist, senior researcher, cognitive behavioural therapist, psychotraumatherapist NtVP, NRGD registered pro justice reporter, EFT therapist, EMDR supervisor in training and is a lecturer at university and post-doctorate psychology specialization programs. The focus of her research is on the optimization of trauma treatments. She works at the Altrecht Academic Anxiety Centre where she is head of an intensive trauma treatment program and she is expert leader on PTSS. She is affiliated with Utrecht University. She is involved in research on the enhancement of trauma therapy, intensive trauma treatments and working mechanisms of trauma therapy. She is on the scientific committee of the Dutch and the EMDR Europe association and is a member of the Council of Scholars; the Future of EMDR project.
There are many different ways or strategies or "routes" for proper case conceptualization, i.e., selecting the most suitable target memories for EMDR treatment. These different types of case conceptualizations have been tested in our clinical work and through scientific research. There is the (1) "Floatback route", for difficult emotions or bodily symptoms, the method EMDR therapists are probably most familiar with, the (2)"Intrusion route" for trauma-related conditions, such as PTSD, the (3) "Timeline route" for most mental health symptoms, such as sleeping problems, or feeling depressed, (4) the "Belief route" for cases where irrational and negative core cognitions, about the person themselves, are central, (5) the "Emotion route" for when strong emotions such as guilt and anger are in the foreground, and the (6) "Flashforward route", for anticipatory fear and anxiety disorders.
In this practicum we will explained and demonstrate the six different routes or strategies for proper case conceptualization. You will be instructed to carry out the various case conceptualizations and by practicing with the material in groups, you will acquire the competences and master the material so that you become more effective in applying EMDR therapy.
Webinar Price – £75.00
info@twandm.com
twandm.com


Close Quarter Combatives | Captivate Action Ltd.
Award-winning fight director and biomechanics specialist, Nigel Poulton, will be taking a fantastic session in close-quarter fighting and how it applies to stage and screen. With his extensive background in kinaesthetic movement process and combat systems, particularly with edged weapons, Nigel gives a unique insight in how to perform these techniques accurately, efficiently and realistically as is required in the industry.
Nigel is offering this session while he is in Melbourne working with Opera Australia, and is the last we shall see him for a few months. So this workshop is a rare chance to for you work with one of Australia's most experienced Fight Directors, with recent projects including Pirates of the Caribbean, Bell Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Singing in the Rain.
The techniques and training in this class will not just apply to Close Quarter combat, but to movement as a whole. So by the end of the class you will have widened your understanding of both this genre and also other areas of dramatic combat and physical performance.
Fitness24Hours, 2/131 Johnston Street, Fitzroy, 3065.
The workshop will cater to all levels of experience and abilities – those who have done this work before and those who are fresh. We heartily invite all actors, dancers, stunt performers, clowns, and martial arts… or anyone who has ever had an interest in learning these techniques for theatre and film.
When you registered we will send you a confirmation with payment details. We accept online transfer, PayPal (3% additional charge) and cash.
Nigel is an award winning fight director/coordinator, weapon and movement specialist and performer with particular expertise in edged weapons, classical and historical swordplay, kinesthetic movement processes and combat systems. Nigel has worked internationally over the last nine years and is a classically trained fencer (Martinez Academy of Arms), past President of the Society of Australian Fight Directors Inc, a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, has been certified with the British Academy of Dramatic Combat and is a practitioner of Meyerhold's Theatrical Biomechanics system, having trained intensively with the system's current custodian Gennadi Bogdanov.
Nigel's film work as Swordmaster/fight coordinator and or technical advisor includes Deadline Gallipoli, The Bourne Legacy, The Water Diviner, Vikingdom and Winters Tale (also stunt double for Russell Crowe). Other choreography credits include The (New York City) Metropolitan Opera (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015), the New York City Ballet (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015), Sydney Theatre Company, the Bell Shakespeare Company, Washington Opera Company, Opera Australia, Circus Oz, Melbourne Theatre Company.


During my sophomore year of college, I went through a plant-hoarding phase. That is, I thoroughly enjoyed walking aimlessly through the numerous, filled greenhouses that were down the street from ECU and buying every plant in sight. I particularly loved the Norfolk Island Pines, the bleeding hearts, and the little pepper plants. By the second semester of that year, I had no less than thirty plants in my tiny apartment room… and I wish I were kidding.
In addition to buying all the plants I could get my hands on, I bought and planted seeds. Years later, I still have about ten of my original plants, including a hibiscus tree and some cacti that I managed to grow from seeds. Out of the six or seven cacti seeds I planted, four grew into actual, living cacti, and they survived the trip to Georgia with me this past year!
A few weeks ago, I repotted the cacti for the first time in their lives. They hadn't grown any taller in years, from what I could see. I put each cactus into their very own pot and placed them on the back porch where they would get sun and rain. A few days later I went to check on them, and they had doubled in size! My tiny cacti had grown inches in a matter of days just because I gave them fresh mulch and room to grow.
Looking back on it, it's simple science. I gave those plants the tools they needed to thrive, and they did so. Since coming to the George Center, I've had the pleasure of serving many different clients with many different treatment plans. Up until very recently, I was stuck using the same songs repeatedly for my clients. As soon as I started branching out and using songs and activities that not only motivated my clients but also allowed them to be the most successful, I saw a change in my clients' growth.
By keeping my clients in the same pot, so to speak, with the same song and dance, I was hindering their growth. Through my exploration of new territory, my clients are able to spread their roots and have the most successful sessions. Whenever I get stuck while writing session plans, I remember how small my cacti used to be, and how a simple act of "fresh mulch" can do wonders for growth.


To understand this reference, you'd either need to memorize what the second field contains or you'd need to look at the USER SGSs to see what it contains. Even this might not be much help: It obviously contains a date but what kind of date (birthdate, hire date, user-id issue date)? This might not be much of an inconvience if you only had to do it once or twice, but in a large skeleton with many SGSs you'd be constantly flipping to the SGSs to try to figure out what's going on in the code. Comprehension would be slow.
If you can read English, you can get most or all of the meaning from this reference.
Another reason for avoiding numeric references is the maintenance problem that would arise if you must add, delete or move fields within an SGS. Imagine that the hire date field is no longer needed. You'd like to get rid of it but doing so would cause what's now the third field to become the second field, the fourth to become the third, etc. You'd need to locate and change every reference to the third and following fields in USER SGS references in all your skeletons--a tedious and error-prone task.
I call the RELATION SGS a metaSGS because it describes another SGS (i.e., the USER SGS in this case). You can read the first RELATION SGS above to be saying, "For SGS with label USER, field #1 will be referred to as USER_ID." A *COPY proc will emit the *SET directives to create the variables defined in the RELATION SGSs.
This technique of including RELATION SGSs in the same element as the SGSs they describe gives the SGSs a self-contained quality--they are comprehensible on their own terms, without forcing the reader to look at the skeletons that use them.


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Health Plans Should Act Quickly To Prepare Affordable Care Act Required Summary of Benefits & Communications & Update Other Health Plan Communications
Save The Date For SLP Webinar
"Health Plan Communications Update: New Affordable Care Act SBC Rules & Beyond" April 25, 2012
Time is running short for health insurers and employer, union and other health plans, their sponsors and administrators to complete the necessary arrangements to be prepared to give the new "Summary of Benefits and Coverage" (SBC) and "Uniform Glossary" disclosure documents mandated by the summary of benefits and coverage requirements enacted under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act).
Final SBC Regulations[*] implementing the Affordable Care Act's summary of benefits and coverage requirements jointly published February 14, 2012 by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury (the Departments) will require most health plans and health insurers begin providing the SBC and Uniform Glossary meeting Department standards to covered persons and coverage applicants beginning on the opening day of the first enrollment period beginning after September 22, 2012.
Completing the preparations to meet this deadline won't be easy for most health plans and insurers. Expect to need significant lead time to tailor a SBC and Glossary to your health plan, and complete other necessary arrangements to timely comply with the Final SBC Regulations. Most health plans will need significant time to complete the analysis needed to prepare a SBC appropriately tailored to their health plan. In addition, most group health plans and insurers, their sponsors, administrators and fiduciaries also generally want to identify and make changes to their health plan design, documents, summary plan descriptions and other materials and practices in response to the new requirements.
The SBC Regulations contained detailed requirements about the required content of the SBC, as well as dictate that health plans and insurers covered by the SBC rules provide a Uniform Glossary of terms, many of which are likely to differ from definitions of the same or similar terms in plan documents, summary plan descriptions or other plan related documents. To help further clarify these requirements, the Departments on March 19, 2012 published a new FAQ[†] that clarifies certain information about the SBC Regulation and its deadline and other requirements. In addition, the Affordable Care Act also requires that the SBC and other documents be translated where necessary to comply with the Affordable Care Act's requirement that health plans and insurers communicate in culturally and linguistic manner.
Taking time to make changes needed to identify and resolve potential conflicts and other ambiguities between required terms of the SBC and Glossary and existing health plan documentation, communications and procedures is particularly important in light of the United States Supreme Court's May 16, 2011 ruling in Cigna Corp. v. Amara In Amara, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts may use equitable remedies provided for under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to give a remedy to individuals hurt because summary plan descriptions or other communication or disclosure documents provided by the health plan contain terms that conflict with the official health plan documents under certain conditions.
April 25 Briefing Helps Health Plans, Fiduciaries, Insurers & Administrators Prepare
Solutions Law Press, Inc. plans to help health plans, their fiduciaries, employer and other sponsors, insurers and administrators prepare to comply with the new SBC and other requirements by hosting a webinar on "Health Plan Communications Update: New Affordable Care Act SBC Rules & Beyond" April 25, 2012" from Noon to 1:30 Central Time on April 25. 2012. For an invitation or more details about becoming an advertising sponsor or a participant, e-mail here.
For Help or More Information
If you need help preparing to comply with the SBC requirements or other help with reviewing and updating, administering or defending your group health or other employee benefit, human resources, insurance, health care matters or related documents or practices, please contact the author of this update, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer.
A Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefit Council, immediate past Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) RPTE Employee Benefits & Other Compensation Group and current Co-Chair of its Welfare Benefit Committee, Vice-Chair of the ABA TIPS Employee Benefits Committee, a council member of the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, and past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group, Ms. Stamer is recognized, internationally, nationally and locally for her more than 24 years of work, advocacy, education and publications on cutting edge health and managed care, employee benefit, human resources and related workforce, insurance and financial services, and health care matters.
A board certified labor and employment attorney widely known for her extensive and creative knowledge and experienced with these and other employment, employee benefit and compensation matters, Ms. Stamer continuously advises and assists employers, employee benefit plans, their sponsoring employers, fiduciaries, insurers, administrators, service providers, insurers and others to monitor and respond to evolving legal and operational requirements and to design, administer, document and defend medical and other welfare benefit, qualified and non-qualified deferred compensation and retirement, severance and other employee benefit, compensation, and human resources, management and other programs and practices tailored to the client's human resources, employee benefits or other management goals. A primary drafter of the Bolivian Social Security pension privatization law, Ms. Stamer also works extensively with management, service provider and other clients to monitor legislative and regulatory developments and to deal with Congressional and state legislators, regulators, and enforcement officials concerning regulatory, investigatory or enforcement concerns.
Recognized in Who's Who In American Professionals and both an American Bar Association (ABA) and a State Bar of Texas Fellow, Ms. Stamer serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Employee Benefits News, the editor and publisher of Solutions Law Press HR & Benefits Update and other Solutions Law Press Publications, and active in a multitude of other employee benefits, human resources and other professional and civic organizations. She also is a widely published author and highly regarded speaker on these matters. Her insights on these and other matters appear in the Bureau of National Affairs, Spencer Publications, the Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Business Journal, the Houston Business Journal, Modern Health Care and many other national and local publications. You can learn more about Ms. Stamer and her experience, review some of her other training, speaking, publications and other resources, and register to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns from Ms. Stamer here.
If you found this update of interest, you also may be interested in reviewing some of the other updates and publications authored by Ms. Stamer available including:
Small Employers Should Evaluate Eligibility For Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
Health Plan BCBST To Pay $1.5 Million In 1st OCR Enforcement Action Prompted By HITECH Breach Report
March 21 New Deadline To Comment On Proposal To Extend Minimum Wage, Overtime Rules To In Home Care Workers
NLRB Report Shows Rise In Unfair Labor Practice Complaints & Formal Proceedings
Sullivan University System to Pay $483,000 in Back Wages Overtime Violations Stemming From Worker Misclassifications
New DOL Final Rules Tighten Requirements For Employers To Hire Alien Workers Using H-2B Visas
OSHA $1Million Award Against AirTran Airways Highlights Retaliation Risks
HHS Chides Trustmark Life Insurance Company For "Excessive" Health Premium Increases After Affordable Care Act Rate Audit
Labor Department Final Rule Defines Recreation Vehicle For Longshore & Harbor Workers' Compensation Act
Portion of Health Care Costs Paid By Government Programs Rose As Employer Provided & Other Private Health Care Coverage Declined In 2010
Manufacturer's Excessive I-9 Documentation Triggers Discrimination Liability
Stamer Dallas Bar Journal Article Cautions Employers Must Take Holistic Approach To Address Worker Misclassification Risks
For important information concerning this communication click here. THE FOLLOWING DISCLAIMER IS INCLUDED TO COMPLY WITH AND IN RESPONSE TOU.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 230 REGULATIONS. ANY STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE NOT INTENDED OR WRITTEN BY THE WRITER TO BE USED, AND NOTHING CONTAINED HEREIN CAN BE USED BY YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF (1) AVOIDING PENALTIES THAT MAY BE IMPOSED UNDER FEDERAL TAX LAW, OR (2) PROMOTING, MARKETING OR RECOMMENDING TO ANOTHER PARTY ANY TAX-RELATED TRANSACTION OR MATTER ADDRESSED HEREIN.
©2012 Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, P.C. All rights reserved.
[*] See 26 CFR 54.9815-2715, 29 CFR 2590.715-2715, and 45 CFR 147.200, published February 14, 2012 at 77 FR 8668.
[†] See FAQS About Affordable Care Act
Implementation (Part VIII) at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/faq-aca8.pdf.
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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
Small employers that provide health insurance coverage to their employees should consider whether they qualify for and should claim the small business health care tax credit authorized by Congress as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act).
The small business health care tax credit enacted two years ago may provide a tax credit for certain small employers that pay at least half of the premiums for employee health insurance coverage under a qualifying arrangement may be eligible for this credit. The credit is specifically targeted to help small businesses and tax-exempt organizations provide health insurance for their employees.
Depending upon how they are structured, eligible small employers are likely subject to one of the following three tax-filing deadlines, which fall in coming weeks:
March 15: Corporations that file on a calendar year basis can figure the credit on Form 8941 and claim it as part of the general business credit on Form 3800, both of which are attached to their corporate income tax return.
April 17: Individuals have until April 17 to complete and file their returns on Form 1040. This includes Sole proprietors, as well as people who have business income reported to them on Schedules K-1—partners in partnerships, S corporation shareholders and beneficiaries of estates and trusts. They also attach Forms 8941 and 3800 to their return. The resulting credit is entered on Form 1040 Line 53.
May 15: Tax-exempt organizations that file on a calendar year basis can use Form 8941 and then claim the credit on Form 990-T, Line 44f.
Taxpayers needing more time to determine eligibility might consider obtaining an automatic tax-filing extension, usually for six months. See Form 4868 for individuals, Form 7004 and its instructions for businesses and Form 8868 for tax-exempt organizations.
Businesses that have already filed and later find that they qualified in 2010 or 2011 can still claim the credit by filing an amended return for one or both years. Corporations use Form 1120X, individuals use Form 1040X and tax-exempt organizations use Form 990-T.
Some businesses and tax-exempt organizations that already locked into health insurance plan structures and contributions may not have had the opportunity to make any needed adjustments to qualify for the credit for 2010 or 2011. These employers can still make the necessary changes to their health insurance plans so they qualify to claim the credit on 2012 returns or in years beyond. Eligible small employers can claim the credit for 2010 through 2013 and for two additional years beginning in 2014.
The recently-revamped Small Business Health Care Tax Credit page on IRS.gov provides additional information and resources designed to help small employers see if they qualify for the credit and then figure the amount of the credit, if any, that the employer qualifies to claim. These include a step-by-step guide for determining eligibility, examples of typical tax savings under various scenarios, answers to frequently-asked questions, a YouTube video and a webinar.
For More Information Or Assistance
If you need help reviewing or updating your health benefit program for compliance with ACA or other laws or with any other employment, employee benefit, compensation or internal controls matter, please contact the author of this article, attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer.
A 2011 inductee to the American College of Employee Benefits Council, immediate past-Chair and current Welfare Benefit Committee Co-Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) RPPT Employee Benefits & Other Compensation Arrangements, an ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits Council Representative, the ABA TIPS Employee Benefit Plan Committee Vice Chair, former ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group Chair, past Southwest Benefits Association Board Member, Employee Benefit News Editorial Advisory Board Member, and a widely published speaker and author, Ms. Stamer has more than 24 years experience advising businesses, plans, fiduciaries, insurers. plan administrators and other services providers, and governments on health care, retirement, employment, insurance, and tax program design, administration, defense and policy. Nationally and internationally known for her creative and highly pragmatic knowledge and work on health benefit and insurance programs, Ms. Stamer's experience includes extensive involvement in advising and representing these and other clients on ACA and other health care legislation, regulation, enforcement and administration.
Widely published on health benefit and other related matters, Ms. Stamer's insights and articles have appeared in HealthLeaders, Modern Health Care, Managed Care Executive, the Bureau of National Affairs, Aspen Publishers, Business Insurance, Employee Benefit News, the Wall Street Journal, the American Bar Association, Aspen Publishers, World At Work, Spencer Publications, SHRM, the International Foundation, Solutions Law Press and many others.
For additional information about Ms. Stamer and her experience, see www.CynthiaStamer.com.
Leave a Comment »	| 105(h), Affordable Care Act, CHIP, COBRA, Employee Benefits, Employers, Employment Tax, ERISA, Excise Tax, Fiduciary Responsibility, FMLA, Health Care Reform, Health Plans, HIPAA, Human Resources, Income Tax, Insurance, Malpractice, Medicare Part D, Mental Health, Mental Health Parity, Patient Empowerment, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Payroll Tax, Preemption, Prescription Drugs, Protected Health Information, Reporting & Disclosure, Tax Credit, Wellness Programs	| Tagged: ACA, Health Plans, small business health plan credit	| Permalink
Resolution Agreement Also 1st Announced With Health Plan
Health plans and other covered entities beware and prepare! Health plans and other covered entities that report large breaches of unsecured protected health information to the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights and face potential civil monetary penalties (CMPs) for violating the Privacy & Security Rules of the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
The HIPAA investigation and exposures to CMPs likely to result following the report of a large breach of unsecured protected health information is demonstrated by a new Resolution Agreement announced March 13, 2012 by OCR.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $1,500,000 and to take certain other actions specified in a corrective action plan to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules. The BCBST Resolution Agreement is particularly significant, both as:
The first reported enforcement action directly resulting from the filing by a covered entity of a breach report required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act Breach Notification Rule; and
The first reported resolution agreement reached with a covered entity that is a health plan.
These notable enforcement firsts prove both the importance the HITECH Breach Notification Rule's significance as an OCR HIPAA enforcement tool, and the readiness of OCR to sanction health plans that breach HIPAA's Privacy or Security Rules.
The OCR investigation that lead to the BCBST settlement began in response to the submission by BCBST of a notice required under the Breach Notification Rule of the theft of 57 unencrypted computer hard drives from a leased facility in Tennessee, which contained the protected health information (PHI) of over 1 million individuals. Read more details here.
The Breach Notification Rule requires covered entities to report an impermissible use or disclosure of protected health information, or a "breach," of 500 individuals or more to HHS and the media as well as an annual consolidated report of smaller breeches to HHS.[1]
To resolve being officially sanctioned for HIPAA violations stemming from these findings under the strengthened enforcement rules and sanctions enacted as part of the HITECH Act, BCBST has agreed to pay $1,500,000 and adopt other corrective actions detailed in a corrective action plan.
Enforcement Actions Highlight Growing HIPAA Exposures For Covered Entities
The BCBST Resolution Agreements, like the 1st-ever $4.3 million HIPAA CMP that OCR imposed against Cignet Health of Prince George's County, Md. (Cignet) in 2011 and a series of high dollar Resolution Agreements OCR has announced against various health care providers over the past few years highlight the significance of the HITECH Act amendments to HIPAA's enforcement and CMP rules, as well as use of its Breach Notification Rule as a tool in OCR's investigation and enforcement efforts.
"This settlement sends an important message that OCR expects health plans and health care providers to have in place a carefully designed, delivered, and monitored HIPAA compliance program," said OCR Director Leon Rodriguez. "The HITECH Breach Notification Rule is an important enforcement tool and OCR will continue to vigorously protect patients' right to private and secure health information."
BCBST's breach notification report clearly prompted the investigation that lead to the Resolution Agreement. The opening of the investigation in response to the BCBST Breach Notification report reflects the need for covered entities to be prepared to respond to an investigation when these reports are made. OCR officials previously have stated that it is the practice of OCR to conduct an investigation into all breaches of the protected health information of 500 individuals or more reported to it under the Breach Notification Rule.
The BCBST Resolution Agreement provides yet another reminder to covered entities and their business associates of the need to carefully and appropriately manage their HIPAA responsibilities. See HIPAA Heats Up: HITECH Act Changes Take Effect & OCR Begins Posting Names, Other Details Of Unsecured PHI Breach Reports On Website. Covered entities are urged to heed these warning by strengthening their HIPAA compliance and adopting other suitable safeguards to minimize HIPAA exposures. For more tips, see here.
[1] The Breach Notification Rule also requires that covered entities report smaller breaches annually to OCR as part of a consolidated disclosure.
If you need help reviewing and updating, administering or defending your group health or other employee benefit, human resources, insurance, health care matters or related documents or practices, please contact the author of this update, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer.
Recognized in Who's Who In American Professionals and both an American Bar Association (ABA) and a State Bar of Texas Fellow, Ms. Stamer serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Employee Benefits News, the editor and publisher of Solutions Law Press HR & Benefits Update and other Solutions Law Press Publications, and active in a multitude of other employee benefits, human resources and other professional and civic organizations. She also is a widely published author and highly regarded speaker on these matters. Her insights on these and other matters appear in the Bureau of National Affairs, Spencer Publications, the Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Business Journal, the Houston Business Journal, Modern and many other national and local publications. You can learn more about Ms. Stamer and her experience, review some of her other training, speaking, publications and other resources, and register to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns from Ms. Stamer here.
New Guidance On Fiduciary Duties In Handling ACA Group Health Plan Premium Rebates Highlight Advisability Of Tightening Funding Terms & Fund Handling Practices To Manage Fiduciary Risks
Mental Health Parity Guidance On Mental Health & Substance Abuse Copays, Utilization Management Limits Released
DFW Hospital Council Foundation Among 26 Organizations Selected To Lead Quality Effort
Group Health Plans & Insurer To Get More Time To Meet Affordable Care Act Summary of Benefits and Coverage Requirements
CMS Final Medicare Rule Imposes Many Conditions On Access To Medicare Claims Data To Evaluate Providers & Suppliers
OSHA Updates Safety Resources To Prevent Construction, Other "Top 10″ Exposures
OSHA Silo Safety Citations Heads Up To Grain Operators To Manage Safety
EBSA Releases Collection of New M-1 and Other Guidance Impacting Multiple Employer Welfare Plans
New Obama Administration Affirmative Action Guidance Highlights Organization's Need To Tighten Nondiscrimination Practices
Incentives To Get Employee Into Wellness Education Requires Legal Risk Management
HR Key Player In Managing Rising Risk of Disability, Other Discrimination Suits Under Obama Administration Justice Department
HHS Chides Insurer For "Excessive" Premium Increases After Affordable Care Act Rate Audit
IRS U-Tube Video Discusses 2012 Flexible Benefit Plan Rule Change
Employers Considering Using New IRS Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program To Resolve Payroll Tax Risks Must Also Manage Other Legal Exposures
Participant Notification Added To Required Procedures For Church Plan Determination Letter Requests
HHS Credits Affordable Care Act Adult Dependent Child Coverage Rule With Getting 1 Million Young Adults Health Coverage
2010 Webcast Series on Federal Employer Employment of Persons With Disabilities Planned
EBSA Plans To Include Health Care Reform Compliance In Health Plan Audits Beginning In FY 2012; Disputes OIG Criticism Of ACA Enforcement Efforts
New Labor Department Video Tries To Educate Young Workers About Benefits & Benefit Rights
Employer Assistance and Resource Network Offers Free Webinars For Employers During October In Honor of Disability Employment Awareness Month on Thursdays in October from 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Topics will include Employer Preparedness to Include Veterans with Disabilities
HHS Projects Medicare Advantage Enrollment Will Rise As Premiums Decline In 2012; Plans Face Increased Regulation & Enforcement
HHS Credits Health Reform For Getting Health Coverage For Added 1 Million Young Adults
4th Circuit Rejects Two Challenges To Affordable Care Act Constitutionality
Stamer Named Fellow In American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
ABA TIPS Section Appoints Cynthia Marcotte Stamer Vice Chair of Employee Benefits General Committee
Affordable Care Act To Require Health Plans Cover Contraception & Other Women's Health Procedures In 2012
Company Executives, Plan Sponsors & Others May Face Personal Liability When Others Defraud Plans or Mismanage Employee Benefit Plan Responsibilities
EEOC Finalizes Updates To Disability Regulations In Response to ADA Amendments Act: Employers Should Manage Risks
Employer Charged With Misclassifying & Underpaying Workers To Pay $754,578 FLSA Back pay Settlement
HHS Imposes 1st HIPAA Privacy Civil Penalty of $4.3 Million
NLRB Settlement Shows Care Necessary When Employers Use Social Networking & Other Policies Restricting Employee Communications
Wage & Hour Law Settlements Highlight Rising Wage & Hour Risks of U.S. Employers
OCR Requires Rhode Island DHS To Provide Translation, Other Services For Limited English, Other Language Impaired Accommodations
Bill Extending Funding For Certain Veteran Medical and Other Projects Heads To President
Texas Health Care Organizations Among 26 Organizations Receiving Awards To Promote Health Care Quality, Safety & Affordability
Education Key To Helping Low-Income Families Make Better Health Choices
Poor Planning & Execution Often Tank Wellness Programs
Health Care Reform's Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan Covers Fewer Than 50,000 of Millions With Pre-Existing Conditions
Personal Responsibility: How Should It Play Into Who Gets Help Under Health Care Reform?
ONC Awards Key Contract To Develop Patient Electronic Consent Trial Project
Finding Ways To Pay For Mental Health: Kaiser Studies Examine Medicaid & Other Mental Health Financing Needs & Options
Recap of IRS Employee Plans 2011 1st Quarter Guidance
CMS Adds "Physician Compare" Feature To Healthcare Provider Directory
Join Project COPE: Help Develop Real Tools To Meaningfully Empower Patients & Improve Health Care Access, Affordability & Quality
About Solutions Law Press
Solutions Law Press™ provides business risk management, legal compliance, management effectiveness and other resources, training and education on human resources, employee benefits, compensation, data security and privacy, health care, insurance, and other key compliance, risk management, internal controls and other key operational concerns. If you find this of interest, you also be interested reviewing some of our other Solutions Law Press resources available at ww.solutionslawpress.com.
THE FOLLOWING DISCLAIMER IS INCLUDED TO COMPLY WITH AND IN RESPONSE TO U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 230 REGULATIONS. ANY STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE NOT INTENDED OR WRITTEN BY THE WRITER TO BE USED, AND NOTHING CONTAINED HEREIN CAN BE USED BY YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF (1) AVOIDING PENALTIES THAT MAY BE IMPOSED UNDER FEDERAL TAX LAW, OR (2) PROMOTING, MARKETING OR RECOMMENDING TO ANOTHER PARTY ANY TAX-RELATED TRANSACTION OR MATTER ADDRESSED HEREIN.
©2011 Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, P.C. Non-exclusive license to republish granted to Solutions Law Press. All other rights reserved.
Leave a Comment »	| Claims Administration, Employee Benefits, Employers, ERISA, Health Plans, Mental Health, Mental Health Parity, Retirement Plans, Tax	| Tagged: 36B, Affordable Care Act, exchanges, group health plan, health care exchanges, Health Insurance, Health Plans, HIPAA, Mental Health Benefits, Mental Health Parity, Patient Empowerment, premium subsidies, Substance Abuse Benefits	| Permalink
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has extended until March 12 the comment period for its proposed rule to provide minimum wage and overtime protections for nearly 2 million workers who provide in-home care services. See here.
In December, 2011, the WHD published a proposed rule that would expand minimum wage and overtime protections to all home care workers employed by third parties, such as staffing agencies. It also would clarify that individuals performing skilled in-home care work are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay. However, individuals engaged by families for true companionship or fellowship activities, such as visiting with friends or pursuing hobbies, still would be considered "companions" and not be required to meet the act's labor standards provisions. See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking[1] (NPRM).
Among other things, the NPRM proposes to revise the companionship and live-in worker regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA):
To more clearly define the tasks that may be performed by an exempt companion;
To limit the companionship exemption to companions employed only by the family or household using the services; and
To provide that third party employers, such as in-home care staffing agencies, could not claim the companionship exemption or the overtime exemption for live-in domestic workers, even if the employee is jointly employed by the third party and the family or household.
When Congress expanded protections to "domestic service" workers in 1974, it exempted casual babysitters and companions for the aged and inform from both the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements of the FLSA and exempted live-in domestic workers from the overtime pay requirement only. While WHD has left regulations governing this exemption substantially unchanged since first issued in 1975, it now believes the in-home care service industry. workers employed by in-home care staffing agencies are not the workers that Congress envisioned in enacting the companionship exemption (i.e., neighbors performing elder sitting).
As a result of these determines, WHD is moving to modify its existing rules to broaden protections for professionally employed home care workers as well as outreaching to inform employers and workers about the requirements that it perceives employers of these workers must meet.
The proposed tightening of regulations for home health workers follows a general toughening by WHD of its regulation and enforcement of wage and hour laws in the health care industry. See, e.g. Home health care company in Dallas agrees to pay 80 nurses more than $92,000 in back wages following US Labor Department investigation; US Department of Labor secures nearly $62,000 in back overtime wages for 21 health care employees in Pine Bluff, Ark.; US Department of Labor initiative targeted toward increasing FLSA compliance in New York's health care industry; US Department of Labor initiative targeted toward residential health care industry in Connecticut and Rhode Island to increase FLSA compliance; Partners HealthCare Systems agrees to pay 700 employees more than $2.7 million in overtime back wages to resolve U.S. Labor Department lawsuit; US Labor Department sues Kentucky home health care provider to obtain more than $512,000 in back wages and damages for 22 employees; and Buffalo, Minn.-based home health care provider agrees to pay more than $150,000 in back wages following US Labor Department investigation.
Many have expressed concerns about the potential added costs that changes proposed in the NPRM would trigger in providing in home health and companion care for aging and disabled family members. The extension of the comment deadline provides added time for members of the public concerned about these rules to share their input.
Whether or not the proposed rule is adopted, the growing aggressiveness of the WHD and private plaintiffs to bring actions against employers violating minimum wage and overtime rules means health care and others employing home care workers should take well-documented steps to manage their risks. These employers should both confirm the adequacy of their practices under existing rules, as well as evaluate and begin preparing to respond to the proposed modifications to these rules. In both cases, employers of home care or other health care workers are encouraged to critically evaluate their classification or workers, both with respect to their status as employees versus contractor or leased employees, as well as their characterization as exempt versus non-exempt for wage and hour law purposes. In addition, given the nature of the scheduled frequently worked by home care givers, their employers also generally should pay particular attention to the adequacy of practices for recordkeeping.
If you need help with these and other human resources or health care concerns controls matters, please contact the author of this article, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer. Board Certified in Labor & employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization,management attorney, author and consultant Ms. Stamer is nationally and internationally recognized for more than 24 years of work helping private and governmental organizations and their management; employee benefit plans and their sponsors, administrators, fiduciaries; employee leasing, recruiting, staffing and other professional employment organizations; schools and other governmental agencies and others design, administer and defend innovative compliance, risk management, workforce, compensation, employee benefit, privacy, procurement and other management policies and practices. Her experience includes extensive work helping employers carry out, audit, manage and defend worker classification,union-management relations, wage and hour, discrimination and other labor and employment laws, procurement, conflict of interest, discrimination management, privacy and data security, internal investigation and discipline and other workforce and internal controls policies, procedures and actions.
Widely published on worker classification and other workforce risk management and compliance concerns, the immediate past-Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) RPTE Employee Benefits & Other Compensation Committee and current Co-Chair of its Welfare Plan Committee, Vice Chair of the ABA TIPS Section Employee Benefits Committee, a Council Representative of the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, Government Affairs Committee Legislative Chair for the Dallas Human Resources Management Association, and past Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group, Ms. Stamer works, publishes and speaks extensively on management, worker classification, re-engineering, investigations, human resources and workforce, employee benefits, compensation, internal controls and risk management, federal sentencing guideline and other enforcement resolution actions, and related matters. She also is recognized for her publications, industry leadership, workshops and presentations on these and other human resources concerns and regularly speaks and conducts training on these matters. Her insights on these and other matters appear in the Bureau of National Affairs, Spencer Publications, the Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Business Journal, the Houston Business Journal, and many other national and local publications. For additional information about Ms. Stamer and her experience or to access other publications by Ms. Stamer see here or contact Ms. Stamer directly.
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Solutions Law Press™ provides business risk management, legal compliance, management effectiveness and other resources, training and education on human resources, employee benefits, compensation, data security and privacy, health care, insurance, and other key compliance, risk management, internal controls and other key operational concerns. If you find this of interest, you also be interested reviewing some of our other Solutions Law Press resources available at www.solutionslawpress.com.
Leave a Comment »	| Corporate Compliance, Employers, Fair Labor Standards Act, Human Resources, Internal Controls, Internal Investigations, Wage & Hour	| Tagged: department of labor, Employment, Health Care, Independent Contractor, Overtime, payroll tax, Wage & Hour, Worker Classification	| Permalink
The National Labor Relations Board Summary of Activities for Fiscal Year 2011 (Summary) released by NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon this week reflects the increased activism and streamlined handling of matters by the NLRB in 2011
Statistics in the Summary reflect an increase in unfair labor practice complaints as well as an increase in the number of complaints that NLRB Regional offices found to merit formal prosecutions. According to the Summary, In FY 2011, the Regional Offices issued 1,342 complaints as compared to 1,243 in FY 2010. In addition to issuing almost 100 more complaints, the percentage of unfair labor practice cases in which a Regional Director determined that formal proceedings were warranted (the merit factor) rose from 35.6% in FY 2010 to 37%. Since 1980, the merit factor has fluctuated between 32% and 40%.
In addition to these results, the General Counsel chose to highlight accomplishments by the NLRB in expediting the handling of investigations and proceedings in several areas. NLRB cut its working inventory of cases by moving matters through faster. The working inventory of cases at the end of FY 2011 was 4,421, compared to 4,063 at the end of FY 2010. Other processing efficiency highlights included:
91.7% of all initial elections were conducted within 56 days of the filing of the petition.
Initial elections in union representation elections were conducted in a median of 38 days from the filing of the petition.
A 93% settlement rate was achieved in the Regional Offices in meritorious unfair labor practice cases.
The Regional Offices won 87% of Board and Administrative Law Judge unfair labor practice and compliance decisions in whole or in part in FY 2011.
A total of $60,514,922 was recovered on behalf of employees as backpay or reimbursement of fees, dues, and fines, with 1,644 employees offered reinstatement.
The Agency exceeded two of its three ambitious overarching goals and came close to achieving the third, closing 84.7% of all representation cases within 100 days (target 85%), 72.5% of all unfair labor practice cases within 120 days (target 71.2%), and 83.2% of all meritorious unfair labor practice cases within 365 days (target 80.2%). The target for each 2011 overarching goal was higher than in FY 2010 and has been increased for FY 2012.
Agency representatives participated in over 600 outreach events during FY 2011.
Other statistics of note include:
The NLRB"s total case intake during FY 2011 declined to 24,990, compared to 26,585 cases in FY 2010, representing a 5.9% decrease in overall intake. Unfair labor practice case intake declined 5.1% compared to 2010..Total representation case intake declined 2,813, a 12.2% decrease from the FY 2010.
Petitions filed in certification and decertification decreased 11.2% from 2,969 in FY 2010 to 2,634 in FY 2011. Petitions filed in unit deauthorization, unit amendment and unit clarification (UD, AC and UC) cases decreased by 23.8% from the previous year's intake, with the filing of 179 petitions in FY 2011 compared to 235 filed in FY 2010.
If you need help with labor and employment or other human resource, performance management, internal controls or compliance and risk management matters, please contact the author of this article, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer. Board Certified in Labor & employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization,management attorney, author and consultant Ms. Stamer is nationally and internationally recognized for more than 24 years of work helping private and governmental organizations and their management; employee benefit plans and their sponsors, administrators, fiduciaries; employee leasing, recruiting, staffing and other professional employment organizations; schools and other governmental agencies and others design, administer and defend innovative compliance, risk management, workforce, compensation, employee benefit, privacy, procurement and other management policies and practices. Her experience includes extensive work helping employers carry out, audit, manage and defend worker classification,union-management relations, wage and hour, discrimination and other labor and employment laws, procurement, conflict of interest, discrimination management, privacy and data security, internal investigation and discipline and other workforce and internal controls policies, procedures and actions.
Sullivan University System, Inc. learned the hard way that U.S employers that misclassify workers as independent contractors, as exempt for wage and hour law purposes or otherwise increasingly risk investigation and enforcement from federal and state agencies targeting perceived misclassification abuses.
Following an investigation by the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, Kentucky based Sullivan University System Inc. will pay $483,201 in back wages to 248 employees who the Department found it wrongfully denied overtime pay while working as admissions officers and high school representatives. The investigation found that employees were incorrectly classified as exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the employer failed to keep accurate records of the employees' hours.
The Sullivan University System, Inc. settlement provides another example of the growing risks that U.S. employers face from misclassifying workers as exempt employees for purposes of wage and hour and overtime laws. As a result of the mischaracterization of workers as contractors that the Labor Department determined to qualify as employees for purposes of wage and hour and overtime laws, the Labor Department found the employer failed to pay required overtime and to maintain required time records in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Wage and hour laws are only one of a myriad of areas in which the Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service and other federal and state regulators increasingloy are scrutinizing worker classifications to uncover violations of applicable law resulting from the mischaracterization of workers as exempt or as non-employee service providers.
The Obama Administration is targeting employers that misclassify workers for enforcement.
Agency officials and members of Congress have sent numerous messages to U.S. employers to clean up their worker classification practices. For instance, Labor Department enforcement actions increasingly show its employer misclassification audit and enforcement emphasis. See, e.g.Employer Charged With Misclassifying & Underpaying Workers To Pay $754,578 FLSA Backpay Settlement; $1 Million + FLSA Overtime Settlement Shows Employers Should Tighten On-Call, Other Wage & Hour Practices.
Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues to conduct worker classification audits while encouraging employers to self correct existing payroll tax misclassifications by participating in a new Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program ("Settlement Program") announced in September. However the limited scope of the relief provided makes use of the program challenging for most employers. See New IRS Voluntary IRS Settlement Program Offers New Option For Resolving Payroll Tax Risks Of Misclassification But Employers Also Must Manage Other Legal Risks; Medical Resident Stipend Ruling Shows Health Care, Other Employers Should Review Payroll Practices; Employment Tax Takes Center Stage as IRS Begins National Research Project , Executive Compensation Audits.
While these and other agencies continue to keep the heat up on employers that misclassify workers, Congress also continues to consider legislation that would further clarify and tighten worker classification rules. See e.g., Review & Strengthen Defensibility of Existing Worker Classification Practices In Light of Rising Congressional & Regulatory Scrutiny; New IRS Worker Classification Settlement Program and Its Risks.
In her November 3, 2011 testimony to the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. Labor Department Wage & Hour Division (WHD) Deputy Administrator (WHD) Nancy Leppink confirmed that the Labor Department is joining a growing list of federal and state agencies that are making ending employee misclassification an audit and enforcement priority. Ms Leppink testified that "employee misclassification is a serious and, according to all available evidence, growing problem" that the Obama Administration is "committed to working to end." See Testimony of Nancy J. Leppink, Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor before the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives (November 3, 2011).
Her testimony also makes clear that interagency coöperation and sharing of information among agencies is an increasingly valuable tool to this effort. Ms. Leppink told the Subcommittee that the Labor Department is a part of a multi-agency Misclassification Initiative that seeks to strengthen and coördinate Federal and State efforts to enforce violations of the law that result from employee misclassification.
According to Ms. Leppink, the WHD's exchange of information about investigations with other law enforcement agencies is as "particularly important with respect to our efforts to combat the violations of our laws that occur because of employees who are misclassified as independent contractors or other non-employees." On September 19, 2011 the Labor Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to share information about investigations with each other. The MOU helps the IRS investigate if employers the Labor Department has found in violation of federal labor laws have paid the proper employment taxes. Similarly, the WHD also entered into MOUs with several state labor agencies that allow the Labor Department to share information about its investigations and coordinate misclassification enforcement when appropriate.
"These agreements mean that all levels of government are working together to solve this critical problem," she said.
Employers Urged To Audit & Strengthen Worker Classification Practices
As Federal and state regulators take aim at misclassification abuses, U.S. employers need to review each arrangement where their business receives services that the business treats as not employed by their business, as well as any employees of their business that the business treats as exempt employees keeping in mind that they generally will bear the burden of proving the appropriateness of that characterization for most purposes of law.
To guard against these and other growing risks of worker classification, employers receiving services from workers who are not considered employees for purposes of income or payroll should review within the scope of attorney-client privilege the defensibility of their existing worker classification, employee benefit, fringe benefit, employment, wage and hour, and other workforce policies and consult with qualified legal counsel about the advisability to adjust these practices to mitigate exposures to potential IRS, Labor Department or other penalties associated with worker misclassification.
Review and management of these issues is particularly timely in light of the opening by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of a new settlement program for resolving payroll tax issues resulting from misclassification. Given broader labor and other risks, however, before taking advantage of a new Internal Revenue Service program offering employers the opportunity to resolve potential payroll tax liabilities arising from the misclassification of workers, employers should consider and develop a risk management their overall worker misclassification liability exposures. See "New IRS Worker Classification Settlement Program and its Risks," in the January, 2011 issue of the Dallas Bar Journal To read her article, see page 8 of the January, 2012 Dallas Bar Journal here.
If you need help with worker classification or other human resources or internal controls matters, please contact the author of this article, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer. Board Certified in Labor & employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization,management attorney, author and consultant Ms. Stamer is nationally and internationally recognized for more than 24 years of work helping private and governmental organizations and their management; employee benefit plans and their sponsors, administrators, fiduciaries; employee leasing, recruiting, staffing and other professional employment organizations; schools and other governmental agencies and others design, administer and defend innovative compliance, risk management, workforce, compensation, employee benefit, privacy, procurement and other management policies and practices. Her experience includes extensive work helping employers carry out, audit, manage and defend worker classification,union-management relations, wage and hour, discrimination and other labor and employment laws, procurement, conflict of interest, discrimination management, privacy and data security, internal investigation and discipline and other workforce and internal controls policies, procedures and actions.
Labor Department Final Rule Defines Recreation Vehical For Longshore & Harbor Workers' Compensation Act
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Since the fund's inception, it has recorded an annualized return of 10.63% through the end of last year, beating the benchmark portfolio of 60% global stocks and 40% global bonds by more than 250 basis points a year. A $100,000 investment in the fund at inception would have grown to just over $1.1 million today, $500,000 more than the benchmark portfolio. That outperformance has come with about one-third of the downside.
While this record under the guidance of a long-term main manager is certainly impressive, as usual it is worth taking a look at the most recent performance of the fund.
First, the fund has multiple share classes; for the purpose of this analysis, Investor A class shares (MDLOX) with a maximum sales charge of 5.25% and net expense ratio of 1.07% will be used.
Second, the fund has grown to $57.3 billion in AUM. This will make it more difficult for the fund to provide a 100% return over each future ten-year period, as its institutional share class did in the past.
The reference benchmark consists of 36% S&P 500 Index, 24% FTSE World (ex. US), 24% BofA ML 5-year US Treasury Bond Index and 16% Citigroup Non-US Dollar World Govt. Bond Index.
Since the Fund's launch in 1989, investors have doubled their money every 10 years, no matter when they bought the fund… The fund has outperformed global equities with 1/3 less risk [based on annualized standard deviation of monthly returns for Institutional shares from 2/28/89 to 12/31/13, compared to the FTSE World Index].
From early 2005 to mid-2008, the fund generated a fair amount of RealAlpha™ but lost most of it in the second half of 2008. After a two-year recovery to the previous peak level, the cumulative RealAlpha™ for the fund stayed largely flat until it rebounded in 2013. Even though the fund suffered a smaller decline in 2008 than its peer world allocation funds did (-20.6 vs. -29% per Morningstar), it significantly declined against its reference portfolio of ETFs. In addition, the ETF reference portfolio had a much smaller volatility than that of the fund.
The fund's equivalent position in cash and short-term investments was in the iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY; average weight of 35.4%). Domestic large-cap stocks were represented by the iShares S&P 100 ETF (OEF; 16%). The fund's foreign stock holdings were covered by the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ; 9.6%) and iShares MSCI EMU ETF (EZU; 6.5%). Finally, the fund's domestic bond holdings were embodied by the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD; 5%) and iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP; 5%).
While the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund has added value for investors over its long history, its performance in 2008 shows that it may quickly lose a lot of that value in a market downturn. Despite a large number of holdings (about 700 global securities), the fund may find it hard to outperform in the future due to its size. Finally, in good past years the fund had significant distributions, which makes it more suitable for tax-exempt accounts.
To learn more about the BlackRock Global Allocation and other mutual funds, please register on our website.


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Q: Dynamic dependency view SQL and SSIS packages In my enterprise project we have nearly 800 tables with 7 staging areas. We have developed nearly 100 packages to implement the DW.
Business users constantly chaging the requirements after completing all the packages like table/column names, PK/FK columns with many other changes due to business requirements.
Being changes in the table structure we need to refresh all the packages related to the corresponding talbes changes.
Now, sometimes we are missing the changes to packages due to lack of which package will effect of changes to which table.
So I need to know is there any process to track on pakcage dependency so we can easily know on changing any table structure we can directly know which pakcage will effect and needs to setup new metadata.
thanks
prav

A: Each dtsx file is xml, so you could attempt to parse properties of whatever tasks you are using.  But when they change the format, your code will break.
.Net code can load packages into an Application object and you can get at the package that way:  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms211665%28v=SQL.90%29.aspx.
You could also create a documentation database/application and make that part of your deployment and change process.
If you kept all your sql code in stored procedures you could query dependencies in sql.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Google officials believe that in 2018, the Android ecosystem will be invaded by augmented reality applications and believes that "hundreds of millions of devices will support AR".
At least this is what Google's VP of business and operations for virtual reality Amit Singh said at the Web Summit in Lisbon. He said that that will be achieved thanks to Google's ARCore development framework and pointed that AR will be a daily thing for millions of people around the world in 2018.
"There will be hundreds of millions of phones that will be AR ready" Singh said during a talk at the summit, who explained that currently they are helping developers in creating a new AR experience.
Singh also touched on the opportunities for monetizing AR content, such as games and shopping applications.
Google's ARCore SDK was released in August and is intended for development of AR applications on devices without specialized depth sensors, and as such, it will widely available and easily accessible. It is currently available on the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8, but by the end of this year, Google promises to have ARCore running on more than 100 million Android devices worldwide.


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Sarah Hurwitz
Here All Along Book
AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE: 8 Nights, 8 Jewish Values: Reflections for Chanukah on the Jewish Obligation to Build a Better World
by Sarah Hurwitz
I've spent my career largely in public service, most recently as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama. And having grown up with little Jewish background, for most of my life, if you had asked me what Judaism meant to me, I would have said something like, "working for social justice is how I do Judaism." But working for social justice is also how one does Christianity, Islam, secular humanism, and many other belief systems.
After doing some Jewish learning as an adult—an experience so transformative that I decided to write a book about it—I now understand that while Judaism doesn't have a monopoly on social justice, there is a particular Jewish approach to social justice, one that American Jewish World Service (AJWS) embodies every day with its work around the world. And as we approach the eight nights of Chanukah, I'd like to highlight eight Jewish social justice values:
UNORTHODOX PODCAST: Tradition and Myth (Episode 207)
WGBH News: Greater Boston
Brightest Young Things — BYT INTERVIEWS: SARAH HURWITZ
Amanpour & Co. — Sarah Hurwitz: What Judaism Can Teach Us in Divisive Times
NPR — All Things Considered: Jewish Perspectives On Recent Anti-Semitic Violence
NPR –Here and Now: Obamas' Speechwriter Explores Her Return To Judaism In 'Here All Along'
© 2019 Sarah Hurwitz. All Rights Reserved
About Sarah Hurwitz


After reading about the album Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys on NPR, I spent more about 15 minutes to figure out how to listen to a sample from this album at NPR.org (apparently clicking on the "Click here to listen" link wasn't enough for this technically-challenged sailor).
Luckily, NPR provided me with another link that DID work for me, and it brought me to a cools site called ANTI.com, where you can legally download this tune for free.
Best of all, because you put up with the hassle of reading about my hassle, I'll save you the hassle and give you the direct link to the page with the song, 'Mingulay Boat Song' featuring Richard Thompson on Richard Thompson on vocals and guitar. Careful - once you go this page, clicking the song name opens it in Quicktime by default for me, which I don't usually like but it played rather quickly. If you click on the link title "CD 1 & 2 Medley" you'll hear samples from most of the songs on this most excellent album.
Oh, and of course you can learn A LOT more about the entire album at NPR or at Anti.com.
Did I mention that both Sting and Bono also appear on this album?