text:
Georges le Syncelle, en latin Georgius Syncellus, mort après 810, est un ecclésiastique et chroniqueur byzantin.

Biographie
Il a vécu de nombreuses années en Palestine comme moine quand il vient à Constantinople pour remplir le poste important de syncelle auprès de Tarasius, patriarche de Constantinople. Le syncelle, qui servait de secrétaire privé au patriarche, était généralement un évêque et l'ecclésiastique le plus important dans la capitale après le patriarche lui-même auquel souvent il succédait. Cependant Georges ne succéda pas à Tarasius et il se retira dans un monastère où il écrivit son Extrait de Chronographie (Ekloge chronographias), qui embrasse des événements du monde depuis Adam et Ève jusqu'au début du règne de Dioclétien.

Ouvrage
Sa chronique, comme le dit son titre, est moins une histoire qu'une table chronologique avec des notes. Georges a continué la structure chronologique de Sextus Julius Africanus, en arrangeant ses événements strictement dans l'ordre chronologique et en les plaçant dans l'année où ils s'étaient passés. Constamment le texte est interrompu par de longues tables de dates, à ce point que Krumbacher l'a décrit comme étant « plutôt une grande liste historique [Geschichtstabelle] avec explications ajoutées, qu'une histoire universelle. » Georges apparaît comme un défenseur résolu de l'orthodoxie et cite des Pères grecs comme Grégoire de Naziance et Jean Chrysostome. Mais malgré leur intention religieuse et leur caractère sec et peu intéressant, les fragments d'auteurs anciens et de livres apocryphes conservés dans son œuvre lui donnent une certaine valeur. Par exemple, des parties considérables du texte original de la Chronique d'Eusèbe ont été restituées grâce à son travail. Ses autorités principales étaient Anniane d'Alexandrie et Panodore d'Alexandrie (moines qui ont vécu vers le début du ), d'où Georges a tiré une grande partie de sa connaissance de l'histoire de Manéthon ; Georges dépend étroitement aussi d'Eusèbe, de Dexippe et de Sextus Julius Africanus.

La chronique du Syncelle a été continuée après sa mort par son ami Théophane. Anastase le Bibliothécaire a composé un Historia tripartita en latin, des chroniques du Syncelle, de Théophane et du patriarche Nicéphore. Ce travail, écrit entre 873 et 875, a fait prévaloir en Occident les dates choisies par le Syncelle pour les événements historiques. Pendant ce temps, en Orient, la gloire de Georges a été progressivement éclipsée par celle de Théophane.

Notes et références

Bibliographie
 Édition princeps grec/latin : Georgii Monachi et S.P.N. Tarasii Patriarchæ CP. Quondam Syncelli Chronographia et Nicephori Patriarchæ CP. Breviarium chronographicum, ab Adamo ad Michaelis & eius F. Theophili tempora. Georgius Syncellus è Bibliotheca Regia nun primum, adiecta versione Latina, editus Nicephori Breviarium ad varias editiones recensitum. His Tabulæ Chronologicæ & Annotatones additæ. Cura & studio P. Iacobi Goar Ordinis Prædicatorum Congregationis Reformatæ Sancti Ludouici, Parisiis e typographia regia, M. DC. LII [1652]. Google Books (voir Bonn Corpus scriptorum hist. Byz., par W Dindorf (1829)).
H Gelzer, Sextus Julius Africanus, ii. I (1885).
H Gelzer. Sextus Julius Africanus und die byzantinische Chronographie. New York: B. Franklin, 1967, réimpression de Leipzig: 1898.
 K Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinische Litteratur ( éd., Munich, 1897).
 William Adler. Time immemorial: archaic history and its sources in Christian chronography from Julius Africanus to George Syncellus. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, c1989.
Alden A. Mosshammer, éd., Georgii Syncelli Ecloga chronographica. Leipzig: Teubner, 1984.
 William Adler, Paul Tuffin, traducteurs. The chronography of George Synkellos: a Byzantine chronicle of universal history from the creation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Liens externes
 Choix de traductions de Georges le Syncelle
  Review of Adler and Tuffin's edition
  Article de la Catholic Encyclopedia

Historien byzantin au haut Moyen Âge
Théologien byzantin
Religieux orthodoxe
Personnalité du haut Moyen Âge par nom
Chroniqueur du haut Moyen Âge


text:
Bandar-e Emam Khomeynī o Bandar-e Imam Khomeini (farsi بندر امام خمینی) è una città portuale dello shahrestān di Mahshahr, circoscrizione di Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni, nella provincia del Khūzestān. Le è stato dato il nome dell'ayatollah Khomeini, mentre prima della Rivoluzione iraniana del 1979 era conosciuta con il nome di Bandar Shahpur. Aveva, nel 2006, una popolazione di 67.078 abitanti.

Il porto si trova al termine della linea ferroviaria trans-iraniana che collega il mar Caspio e Teheran con il golfo Persico ed è un importante punto di carico di container.

Note

Altri progetti

Centri abitati del Khuzestan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
package com.ilscipio.scipio.common.label;

import org.ofbiz.base.util.Debug;
import org.ofbiz.base.util.UtilMisc;
import org.ofbiz.base.util.UtilProperties;
import org.ofbiz.base.util.UtilValidate;
import org.ofbiz.entity.Delegator;
import org.ofbiz.entity.GenericEntityException;
import org.ofbiz.entity.GenericValue;
import org.ofbiz.entity.util.DistributedCacheClear;
import org.ofbiz.service.ServiceContext;
import org.ofbiz.service.ServiceUtil;

import java.util.Map;

/**
 * Property and label services (SCIPIO).
 * NOTE: Does not support tenant delegator.
 */
public class PropertyServices {

    private static final Debug.OfbizLogger module = Debug.getOfbizLogger(java.lang.invoke.MethodHandles.lookup().lookupClass());

    public static Map<String, Object> updateLocalizedProperty(ServiceContext ctx) {
        boolean preventEmpty = ctx.attr("preventEmpty", true);
        Delegator delegator = ctx.delegator();
        try {
            GenericValue prop = delegator.from("LocalizedProperty").where("resourceId", ctx.attr("resourceId"),
                    "propertyId", ctx.attr("propertyId"), "lang", ctx.attr("lang")).queryOne();
            if (prop != null) {
                prop.setNonPKFields(ctx);
                if (preventEmpty && UtilValidate.isEmpty(prop.getString("value")) && !Boolean.TRUE.equals(prop.getBoolean("useEmpty"))) {
                    prop.remove();
                } else {
                    prop.store();
                }
            } else {
                prop = delegator.makeValidValue("LocalizedProperty", ctx);
                if (preventEmpty && UtilValidate.isEmpty(prop.getString("value")) && !Boolean.TRUE.equals(prop.getBoolean("useEmpty"))) {
                    ; // don't create the property
                } else {
                    prop.create();
                }
            }
            return ServiceUtil.returnSuccessReadOnly();
        } catch (GenericEntityException e) {
            Debug.logError(e, module);
            return ServiceUtil.returnError(e.toString());
        }
    }

    public static Map<String, Object> updateLocalizedPropertyOptional(ServiceContext ctx) {
        if (UtilValidate.isEmpty((String) ctx.get("lang"))) {
            return ServiceUtil.returnSuccessReadOnly();
        }
        return updateLocalizedProperty(ctx);
    }

    public static Map<String, Object> clearLocalizedPropertyCaches(ServiceContext ctx) {
        String resourceId = ctx.attr("resourceId");
        UtilProperties.clearCachesForResourceBundle(resourceId);
        if (Boolean.TRUE.equals(ctx.attr("distribute"))) {
            DistributedCacheClear dcc = ctx.delegator().getDistributedCacheClear();
            if (dcc != null) {
                Map<String, Object> distCtx = UtilMisc.toMap("resourceId", resourceId);
                dcc.runDistributedService("distributedClearLocalizedPropertyCaches", distCtx);
            }
        }
        return ServiceUtil.returnSuccessReadOnly();
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This network brings together researchers from theoretical morphology and phonology to evaluate the properties of what we see as an emerging standard model of morphological exponence, and to explore how its core mechanisms can be simplified, minimized and restricted to the range of empirically observable data.
We focus on syntagmatic and paradigmatic aspects of four basic areas of exponence: identity of exponence, nonidentity of exponence, parasitic exponence and zero exponence.
Offering a platform for the exchange and the presentation of research results, there will be six network meetings throughout the next three years, the sixth coming up in June 2010.


text:
The Corpse of Anna Fritz (2015)
76min | Language: English | Producer: Bernat Vilaplana, Marc Gómez del Mora | Director: Hèctor Hernández Vicens
Sadly, Anna Fritz, the famous young actress and a fan of sailing and fast cars, has died inexplicably at a private party. With the news spreading like wildfire, fans and followers from around Spain try desperately to find out the name of the hospital where she was taken for an autopsy, nevertheless, in vain. However, when a hospital orderly working the night shift leaks photos of the deceased woman to his best friends, an invisible invitation for a quick look will attract both friends and perverts. From that point on, what will happen next, is anyone's guess.
CAST: Alba Ribas, Cristian Valencia, Albert Carbó, Bernat Saumell
Watch it now!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Thousands of people are set to descend on Tavistock, as it celebrates Goose Fair 2018!
As well as all the stalls, 'Goosey Fair' has markets, food, drink and of course, the famous fun fair!
Scroll down for everything you need to know, including where to find the stalls and how to get parked.
Mayor Paul Ward has told Pirate FM there is nothing like the atmosphere on the day!
"It dates back to the 12th century when its purpose was to provide a venue that people in the town and in the surrounding area could come to once a year to sell produce, to meet one another and to see and be seen.
"The sort of things being sold have changed of course, but it's still a fantastic opportunity for people to get together.
"We have visitors from all over Devon and much further away - I think it just has a tremendous atmosphere".
Goose Fair is held on the second Wednesday of October each year and the 2018 event begins on Wednesday 10th October.
"The annual Goose Fair in Tavistock dates back to the early 12th Century when a Michaelmas Fair, held every September 29th, provided the opportunity for business and animal trading, and was a social event for wives and daughters.
"The name Goose Fair probably came about as farmers brought their geese ready for fattening for Christmas, and the only other Goose Fair (in Nottingham) has a similar connection.
"When the new calendar was introduced in 1752 the 'loss' of 11 days changed the date of the Michaelmas Fair to October 10th, and now the Fair is held on the second Wednesday in October each year.
"Market traders come from all over the country to sell their wares and provide entertainment. Stalls and side shows are set up in the centre of the Town, and some 200 spaces are let by the Town Council for traders and community groups. A further 70 spaces in Bedford Car Park are let to members of the Showman's Guild by West Devon Borough Council with the car park being shut for the whole Goose Fair week".
The stalls can be found on Bedford Square, The Quay, Chapel Street and the Alexander Centre.
You can check the full list, along with all the evacuation and first aid points, on the council's website here.
There will be a clearly signposted one-way system operating around the town, coming into force with road closures from 5:00pm on Tuesday 9th October, lasting throughout Goose Fair day on Wednesday 10th October and ending at 7am on Thursday 11th October.
A Park and Ride Scheme will be operating from the following sites: Yelverton Aerodrome, Harford Bridge and Lumburn Rise on Callington Road.


Are you looking for the finest hair growth shampoos for women? Your hair style is one of the hardest things to change about your personal style. Unlike the clothes you want to wear, your lip colour, or nail polish, if you suddenly decide you want long hair down to your waist, or to just grow out you short bob, you have to wait months to do it. And worst of all, you have to go through that awkward period in between hair growth when your hair seems to look awful no matter what you do. It's no wonder we're really impatient when it comes to hair growth, we aren't used to waiting for such things. But, luckily, there are products on the market designed to make your wait a little bit shorter. Here are 9 of the best hair growth shampoos for women to help you reach your hair length goals a little bit faster.
We think you may also like: Best Shampoo for Kids.
Vie Naturelle hair loss treatment shampoo provides nourishment to the hair follicles to help them function at their maximum so your hair grows at its fastest. It contains caffeine to prolong the follicle's life cycle, ketoconazole to reduce inflammation, and saw palmetto which prevents the production of DHT, a chemical linked to male and female pattern baldness. The ingredients are 100% natural and comes with a money back guarantee so you have nothing to lose by trying.
This hair growth shampoo speeds up hair growth within 1-2 weeks of use. It contains only natural extracts, and gives the appearance of longer, fuller hair by speeding up hair growth, reducing your hair loss, and making your hair less prone to breakage – the last thing you need when you're trying to grow your hair is the bottom few inches you spent ages growing snapping off!
Now without even reading any further, you know this one must be a winner just because of its name. Everyone wanted hair like Rapunzel as a little girl right?! It contains natural extracts that provide nourishment to the hair follicles to stimulate hair growth, although honestly we doubt it will be enough to make your hair 12 feet long. It also comes with a money back guarantee if it doesn't deliver the results you want.
This shampoo is a great all-rounder. It inhibits the production of DHT, preventing it's build up around the hair follicles which slows growth, and can even result in hair loss. It also doubles as a scalp treatment, targeting dandruff which can clog the hair follicles and slow down its growth. And on the other end of the scale, it also combats oiliness on the scalp, another follicle clogger. AND it contains vitamins to promote growth. Phew.
This shampoo is 100% organic, and is free from any nasties such as mineral oil and parabens. It's another DHT blocker, this time using saw palmetto oil sources from cayenne pepper oil. Additionally, it stimulates blood flow to the scalp, specifically around the hair follicles, as a faster blood supply results in faster hair growth. Regularly using this shampoo can boost hair growth by up to 145%, so you'll see a very noticeable difference, fast.
The Dermachange shampoo is pH balanced, and matches the natural pH of your hair. By not altering it's natural acidity, it restores damage to your hair and scalp and helps it to remain in its most natural state where it can grow at its fastest. This is the most natural shampoo on the list, and is free from parabens, sulphates, SLS, fragrance or soap, and instead uses coconut oil as a natural foaming agent. There's another use of coconut oil you can add to the every-growing list: natural foaming agent.
This shampoo contains a pro-growth complex to strengthen the hair strands. It nourishes the hair follicles, optimizing them for hair growth, and keeps the scalp in the best condition, moisturized and irritation-free. It's probably the least 'technical' of all the shampoos on the list, but it has some great reviews so there must be something in there that works. And if nothing else it definitely has the nicest bottle.
So there are 9 different options for hair growth shampoos for women to try out if you are looking for a voluminous and luxurious bob of air that simply screams "confidence".
If you absolutely must have longer hair and want to try and speed it up a bit, then one of these will do it for you! We are a picky bunch so you can be sure we are offering you simply the best rated hair growth shampoos for women.
We hope you enjoyed our article on "The Best Hair Growth Shampoos for Women Who Want Mermaid Length Hair", if so, please share and rate it.


text:
49ers" Tomsula enjoying Gabbert"s second chance
By Carl Steward |
SANTA CLARA — Blaine Gabbert"s chance at becoming the 49ers" permanent starting quarterback — a prospect that once seemed a preposterous fantasy — took another big step Sunday, and coach Jim Tomsula sees a man making the most of his second chance.
So does a player who knows all about getting repeat chances, tailback Shaun Draughn, a midseason pickup playing for his eighth NFL franchise. After four fairly impressive starts in a row by Gabbert, Draughn believes their present quarterback could be their future one, too.
"He"s a take-charge guy, man," Draughn said Monday. "He"s definitely a leader, he"s definitely what you want to see in a quarterback. He"s poised, he"s calm. Every time we"re in the huddle, even if we"ve sputtered a couple times, he"s kept the same confidence and the same level head.
"It showed throughout" Sunday"s 26-20 overtime win against the Bears in Chicago.
Gabbert tied the score with a 44-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, then won it in overtime with a 71-yard strike to wide receiver Torrey Smith. It made Gabbert 2-2 as the starter since taking over for Colin Kaepernick, and his numbers are solid if not spectacular: a 63 percent completion percentage (80 for 127), 963 yards, five touchdown passes and three interceptions, but just one pick in the last three games. He also has 140 yards rushing, which might surprise some people. Not his coach.
"He"s a very good athlete and he can run," said Tomsula. "He"s fast, he"s strong, he"s in great shape and he can move around. Obviously, you saw that Sunday, but we"ve known that. We"ve seen it in practice."
When someone asked if Gabbert"s running ability could be specifically utilized, Tomsula smiled.
"I figured I"d get asked about the zone option," he said. "And that"s still part of our offense."
If nothing else, Gabbert"s performance has made the possibility of cutting ties with Kaepernick at season"s end more palatable. It also could influence the 49ers" draft strategy and provide considerable salary cap relief, considering his total contract hit in 2016 is a mere $2.25 million.
The key question, of course, is whether he can do the job for the long term. So far so good, Tomsula said.
"He"s been really steady," the coach said. "The way he"s approached his job since he"s been here has been really impressive, and I think since you"ve seen him in games on Sundays, you"ve seen him progress. He"s moving along well. Blaine"s a talented, talented quarterback, obviously. We"re really excited about where he"s at and where he"s headed. The way he interacts with everybody, the way he handles the offense, all those things are good."
Draughn echoed Tomsula"s praise.
"He"s taking what the defense gives him and not trying to force anything," he said. "He"s a smart guy, and he definitely knows from a study standpoint the tendencies of a defense. The way he"s playing, it definitely helps us build on what we feel we can continue to do."
It doesn"t surprise Tomsula that Gabbert is making the most of his second opportunity as a starter.
"I"ve been through some of those things with other players in my position groups," he said. "The bottom line to me is Blaine Gabbert came out of college at (21) years old and became a starting quarterback in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. I"m not critiquing anybody"s team, but it was a tough situation. OK, things don"t work out the way they should.
"Now he comes to the San Francisco 49ers and he"s (26) years old and he"s having a blast. Sometimes being able to look at it from a different vantage point can do a world of good for you."
"I know that with the particular injury and the way it"s being handled medically with Carlos, I know Carlos would like to try to play," Tomsula said. "I know they"re really working through it. But again, I don"t deal in that world."
Tomsula was asked if Hyde might be better served to take the rest of the season off.
"I"m going to stay out of those conversations," he said. "We"ll see where he ends up. Whatever"s best for Carlos."
The 49ers could be in crisis mode at tight end without McDonald and Celek, as rookie Blake Bell is the only other full-time end on the roster. The club does have tight end Brian Leonhardt on its practice squad. A third-year player out of Bemidji State, Leonhardt caught six passes for 35 yards and a touchdown in 12 games (three starts) with the Raiders last year.
"The way the game went, the ups and downs, it was by no means a perfect game," he said. "But to battle it all the way through, and come out with a victory, it makes those moments in the locker room after the game more exciting and more emotional. That part of it, we let that go a little bit longer and let them feel that."
Carl Steward
Bob Myers wrestling with where the Warriors stand in the West next season
Video: Bob Myers on Warriors' 2019 roster, Kevin Durant's departure, D'Angelo Russell and more


Can Your Swimming Pool Maintenance Company Answer These Questions to Your Satisfaction?
1. How can you help me stay on a budget?
ASP's dedicated pool professionals work with you to customize a maintenance plan that fits both your pools needs and your budget. We offer a variety of payment plans including a budget plan which gives you the freedom to pay a consistent monthly payment even in those dreaded summer months. No matter which plan you choose, chemicals are always included.
2. What is the required contract period?
ASP does not require any contracts. EVER. We believe in earning our customer's loyalty by providing exceptional levels of customer service.
3. Do you offer any specials or discounts?
When you sign up for a 12-month weekly maintenance plan, you will receive one month of cleaning and maintenance FREE. This is just one way we thank our loyal customers.
4. What experience do your swimming pool maintenance technicians have?
All employees of ASP Covington are certified, licensed and insured swimming pool service professionals. They have all the tools and training needed to handle any swimming pool maintenance issue or concern they come across.
5. What makes you different from other pool cleaning companies out there?
ASP is an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau and has been earned the title of America's Number One Swimming Pool Company. We work hard to make sure enjoying your pool is added to your to-do list and that you are ready to do backflips over the levels of service you receive.
ASP's proprietary software platform, PoolOps®, generates weekly emails with a digital report after each maintenance visit. These reports give you information that includes the time of service, what we specifically did for your pool, the chemical balance, what chemicals were added, and a picture of your clean swimming pool. You don't have to wonder what we did. You have all the details at your fingertips.
ASP Covington: We will EXCEED your expectations of pool maintenance!
Providing services in Covington, Loranger, Madisonville, Mandeville, Slidell and surrounding cities.


Join Us For the Melrose Coffee house Season Opener with JOHN MAY with his friend Heath sitting in. . .
No need to tell you how Awesome john is. . . .but . . .
John has performed with Jazz and contemporary legends and studio musicians such as Wayne Bergeron and Eric Marienthal, opened for such nationally acclaimed groups as The Three Twins Broadband (HBO's Treme), award winning songwriter Susan Gibson, The Young Dubliners of MTV's Real World, and most recently Steve Bailey and Victor Wooten.
Having grown up watching and listening to his Grandfather and namesake John Herrington "wang" away on his old Martin, he was inspired to play at an early age. John began playing publicly at parties when he was 14; he's been playing gigs throughout Casper and Wyoming since.
As Always. . . the "fee" is generous tips for the musician and Espresso Drinks are available for sale for way cheep!
Deserts and popcorn available for a buck!
Part of the Kitchen proceeds go to local charities . . .


Beautiful 3 bedroom home with 2 full bathrooms. 2 Stall garage, nice quite area and few blocks from Grant elementary school and Wilson Junior High.
IAHomes offers professional full service options to buy and sell a home! We have helped home buyers and sellers be successful for over 14 years. And, with over 70 years of combined real estate experience, we make buying and selling a home easy. We look forward to helping you with all of your real estate needs - contact us today with any questions!
Refrigerator, dishwasher, stove, microwave above stove, washer & dryer.
I was searching for a Property and found the listing (2610 1st St SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404). Please send me more information regarding 2610 1st St SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 52404. Thank you!
I'd like to request a showing of 2610 1st St SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 52404. Thank you!


text:
E. & H. Dworkin
E. & H. Dworkin Steamships and Bankers, later known as Dworkin Travel, was opened by brothers Henry ("Harry") Dworkin and Edward Dworkin in 1917. The prosperous tobacco business and steamship agency provided many services to Jews immigrating from Europe and was operated by Henry and his wife Dorothy.
Steamship agents were integral to shaping the cultural landscape of Toronto as they assisted with the travel arrangements for thousands of Jewish immigrants to Canada. Additionally, they assisted them with naturalization papers and translation services, easing their settlement in Canada.
Portrait of Henry Dworkin, ca. 1925. OJA, fonds 10, item 32.
Group of steamship agents on board a ship, including Henry Dworkin (back left), ca. 1920. OJA, item 6083.
In the early twentieth century, steamship agents transacted business by booking passages on ocean liners and selling money orders. Jewish immigrants often sent money to their relatives back home who depended on this financial support.
Dorothy and Henry were one of the most influential couples in the early days of Toronto's Jewish community. The duo worked vigorously to help European Jews immigrate to Canada. Henry co-founded the Labor Lyceum, a union hall that served as the headquarters for the local garment unions. Dorothy, a Jewish maternity nurse and midwife, was instrumental in establishing Mount Sinai Hospital on Yorkville Avenue.
Dworkin's sign appears in the background of this photograph of a young girl, ca. 1945. OJA, item 4015.
Receipt from E. & H. Dworkin Steamships and Bankers, including a ticket for travel from Warsaw to Toronto, 1927. OJA, fonds 83, file 15.
Henry died in a car accident in 1928. A community of over 20,000 people paid tribute to and mourned his legacy. Dorothy took over the travel business and continued her charitable work within the Toronto Jewish community. The Dworkins were survived by their daughter, Ellen "Honey" Dworkin who was born in 1912.
Today, 525 Dundas Street West is home to Pho Pasteur. Photo credit: Faye Blum.
E.& H. Dworkin Steamships and Bankers, 525 Dundas Street West, ca. 1920. OJA, accession 2006-1-2.
EXPLORE MORE STORES:
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About the OJA


text:
Brisbane sublease market stabilises as confidence improves
Peak reached in Perth sublease market
Less sublease options coming to market in Sydney
Sydney, 29 October 2013 – The volume of office sublease space in Sydney remains above historic levels, however few options are being added to the market and much of the existing stock is likely to revert to direct leases in the short to medium term according to the latest forecasts from CBRE.
The September Sublease Barometer highlights only a minimal increase in the supply of sublease space during the month, with stock levels rising by 2,033sqm to 80,196sqm.
Significantly, only four new options came to the market during the month, substantially fewer than the 11 options added in August.
CBRE Senior Director, Office Services, Jenine Cranston said a number of smaller tenancies had also been taken off the market as the costs associated with leasing the space – and the fact that they had relatively short lease tails – had impacted their viability.
"Much of the current stock available for sublease is subject to a lease expiry next year," Ms Cranston said.
"These are less likely to be taken up and the expectation is that much of this could revert to direct vacancy, which would significantly reduce the amount of sublease space in the market."
The CBRE Sublease Barometer tracks both the volume of sublease space and the trends occurring within different industry groups and market sectors.
It shows that the finance and insurance sector increased its dominance in the sublease arena during September, to account for some 55% of the available space.
However, Ms Cranston said employment in the Sydney finance and insurance sector had increased by 4.5% in the September quarter, outperforming the national figure of 0.4% and continuing the positive momentum from Q2.
"With this sector being the main contributor of sublease space, overall availabilities may start to decline to be more in line with the historical average," Ms Cranston said.
Public sector contraction is also playing a role in the sublease market, with budget constraints continuing to take a toll on demand conditions.
"Across the board, business contraction is the underlying driver behind 62% of the sublease space available in Sydney as companies assess ways to reduce their operational costs," Ms Cranston said.
Other points highlighted in the report include:
Tenancies greater than 1,000sqm account for 79% of all sublease options
Nine sublease options with space larger than 2,000sqm currently exist in the market
The Western Corridor saw the largest increase in availability through September, with a rise of 7% to account for 37% of all stock
A grade stock increased 7% to make up 48,800sqm of the available sublease space
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2012 revenue). The Company has approximately 37,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 300 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.au.


"The Amazing Race" (16.11): Turns Out Caite Isn't Dumb. Just a Be-yotch.
Hey there, my favorite gays! First, let me apologize for flaking on my Amazing Race recap last week. I had a Charlie Brown situation (personal storm cloud hovering over my head) going on, but I missed you! Second, last night's Amazing Race made me realize that one of the greatest debates in the history of the world could be settled on the finale next week. Is there a God? Not if Brent and Caite win.
The finale will be a showdown between frontrunner cowboys, Jet and Cord; quiet competitors, Dan and Jordan; and the most irritating contestant in the history of this show and her perpetually bamboozled (but earnest) boyfriend.
Here's what happened last night in Shanghai.
Who are you rooting for going into the finale?


"Six out of ten hospitals nationally are seeing a greater proportion of patients without insurance coming through their emergency departments ... At the same time, nearly half of hospitals reported they have cut staff."
This from a recent survey undertaken by the aforementioned American Hospital Association (AHA).
"(M)any hospitals are seeing more patients covered by Medicaid and other public programs for those in need."
Now we see reference to total quantity; in other words, more folks are covered by the gummint, which means at little or no cost to themselves. When something's essentially free, there's a greater demand for it. That's basic economics, which seems to have passed under the radar for so many in our political class.
Lest you think that you're the only one doing major belt-tightening, we learn that "the economy is affecting hospitals with nine in 10 hospitals making cutbacks to help weather the economic storm." Again, I see no indication that they're cutting costs, just expenses. Since we know that health care costs drive health insurance costs, perhaps we're seeing a glimpse of the future. Under a government-run health insurance scheme, everyone gets their coverage "free" (or nearly so), fueling demand, and leading to fewer resources. Fewer resources means more expensive resources, further fanning the financial fire [ed: enough with the alliteration!].
There's another element at work here, as well: the ER is arguably the most expensive room in the hospital (in terms of overall cost for services), yet "(t)he majority of hospitals reported fewer patients are seeking inpatient hospital care or elective care." Again, the wording leaves us wondering if the number of patients overall is shrinking; is it possible that they're simply bypassing the less convenient inpatient services (which require a "reservation") for the more readily accessible ER? The release doesn't say so, but it seems a reasonable inference.
"Many hospitals are struggling to make ends meet with over 40 percent expecting losses in the first quarter of 2009, jeopardizing their mission of caring for their communities."
Again, while it's easy to point at lower reimbursements from insurers, it's important to remember that those reflect reimbursement levels from Medicare. The gummint sets those rates, which hospitals really can't refuse, shifting costs to those with private insurance (or none). Imagine those levels if the state calls the shots for both providing and financing health care.
Health Wonk Review now online!
Health Wonkmeister Robert Laszewski hosts this week's compendium of health care policy and polity. It actually went "live" last evening, proving once again that he's always on top of the latest news and views.
There are (apparently) several high-power drugs available to treat the latest strain. They are all under patent, which means that their production is necessarily limited by the manufacturing capacity of the patent-holders.
■ Should the government order the patents "broken," and the formulae distributed (for lack of a better word) to various other manufacturers (the patent-holders' competitors) in order to increase the speed of production?
■ What, if any, message would that action send to the owners of other IP (Intellectual Property)?
■ Is potentially saving thousands of lives worth that risk?
Have you Twittered your Entitlements?
When was the last time you Twittered your entitlements? Has it been that long? Oh, my.
Now you can Twitter to your heart's content about all government handouts you may be missing.
Visit GovBenefits.gov and put your tax dollars to work! Connect with 1,000+ government benefit programs for your family, your job, your home, your health.
It's as if they can't give away our money fast enough already.
Seems I was a bit hasty. Stop me before I Twitter again!!!
Even more Twittering of tax dollars.
If you don't ask the right question, you're never going to get the right answer. Similarly, if you don't address the right problem, you're never going to find the right solution.
If health insurance is supposed to pay for health care, then there need to be adequate providers of that health care in the first place. Simply requiring everyone to have health insurance (and requiring insurers to take everyone regardless of health, circumstance or personal choice) does nothing to resolve the underlying shortage of folks who actually deliver the care ostensibly financed.
That seems fairly obvious to most, but then most aren't former college professors or community organizers. And that's exactly the problem with the current administration's grand vision of health care: if there's a shortage (and there is), then how do you provide it to everyone who needs it (you don't).
"Lawmakers from both parties say the shortage of health care professionals is already having serious consequences. "We don't have enough doctors in primary care or in any specialty," said Representative Shelley Berkley, Democrat of Nevada."
One proposed solution is to bump up Medicare reimbursements, but that's met with considerable resistance from the doc's themselves: since it's essentially a zero-sum game, increasing PCP reimbursements would cut into the specialists' income.
And, of course, Medicare itself is slowly, inexorably going broke, which one would think might be a wake-up call (but of course, it hasn't been).
Another proposal (which we've heard before), would be to (somehow) increase the supply of doctors [ed: really? How quickly can we clone them?]. That, too, has met with resistance from, you guessed it, physicians; more doctors means more available care (theoretically), but does nothing to reduce costs.
So we have a health care system with significant problems, but we're looking at changing the health insurance system to address them. Why does anyone think that makes sense?
Since we're often categorized as a "medblog," it seems natural to comment on the "health crisis du jour." While we would never minimize the danger of any potentially catastrophic health problem, I think that we should step back a moment, catch our collective breath, and think this through.
A few years ago, it was bird flu, and SARS before that. While the damage to those individuals who did contract those diseases was, of course, tragic, neither illness became the epidemic/pandemic that was feared.
It appears that, while serious, the swine flu doesn't pose an immediate, existential danger to citizens of our fair country. It's interesting to note that in Mexico, the apparent epicenter of the outbreak, the fatality rate is alarming; here, not so much. Perhaps that's because the Mexican health care system is run by the government.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, "(s)wine flu symptoms are very similar to seasonal influenza and generally include fever, fatigue, lack of appetite and coughing, although some people also develop a runny nose, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea."
In addition to common-sense prevention methods (such as covering one's nose and mouth, washing hands frequently and the like), the CDC recommends staying away from those who may be infected (coughing, sneezing and the like) and staying home if one has symptoms.
To quote Sergeant Esterhaus: "Hey, let's be careful out there."
D'Oh! Who Didn't See THIS Coming?
According to NPR, " (s)ome people can't buy health insurance because they have a pre-existing medical condition. But for most of the nation's 47 million uninsured, cost is the big obstacle — especially if they don't work for a company that pays part of the premium." No argument, but hardly news: we've been pointing this out for over 4 years.
But something else we've been singing from the rooftops (metaphorically, of course) is that most folks don't have any real clue how much insurance should cost, and balk at the high price when they finally bother to get a quote (usually for coverage they don't even need). As NPR reports, "even if they could find an affordable health plan, many are not used to building that cost into their monthly budget."
"Two out of three uninsured Americans say they'd be willing to pay no more than $100 a month for coverage. But, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average individual health plan costs about $400 a month, and a family policy costs more than $1,000."
First the wording is quite curious: "two out of three uninsured Americans..." Is NPR finally admitting that a huge swath of the uninsured are not, in fact, "Americans" at all, but indeed are illegal immigrants? We've made that point numerous times; is it possible that the wonks at NPR are secret IB readers?
Second, it's nice that uninsured folks are willing to pony up "$100 a month for coverage." On the one hand, if they're talking about individuals, that may well be "doable" through the use of High Deductibe Health Plans and perhaps a rollback of some of those expensive mandated benefits. If they're talking about $100 per family, well, rotsa ruck with that. By the way, how much is that digital cable bill each month?
Finally, the folks at Kaiser (quoted in the NPR story) continue to throw out that IB-trounced canard that "a family policy costs more than $1,000." Well sure, if we're talking low deductibles and co-pays for office visits, But if we could just get our fellow citizens to understand that health care costs drive health insurance costs, perhaps they'd cut back on the cigs and Big Macs, and the low deductibles and co-pays that encourage over-utilization (and thus drive up costs).
Kerri at Six Until Me hosts this week's round up of great medblog posts. Stop into her GR Cafe and grab some food for thought.
The good news is that we continue to see clarifications regarding how this massive new entitlement will be implemented. The bad news is that we continue to receive clarifications regarding how this massive new entitlement will be implemented.
Case in point: Ohio's "mini-COBRA" law.
Until a few weeks ago, the threshold for whether or not one would qualify under Ohio's (existing) insurance continuation law was simple: if you qualified for unemployment compensation and had been previously covered for 3 months, you're golden. The main sticking point was always that "eligible for unemployment" wording: the only way for one to know for certain was to apply and await a decision. If you passed, you were entitled to stay on the previous plan for up to 6 months (albeit completely on your own dime).
That's all changed now. The new regs, signed into law on April 1 (how appropriate), lift that key qualifier. Now, that threshold is simply that one has been involuntarily terminated (except for "gross misconduct"), and the continuation has been extended to 12 months (to more closely align with "regular" COBRA/ARRA).
And, of course, the insurer is responsible for forwarding the 65% subsidy. Contrary to popular belief, by the way, the insurer isn't really "paying" anything; they're simply rerouting dollars, which they'll recoup quickly enough at the next renewal. Something about a "free lunch."
We all caught up yet?
ADDENDUM/UPDATE (4-28-09): FoIB Don Deaton points out that since the new law was signed (and took effect) on April first, employees of groups that haven't renewed "until (April 2, 2009) will still only get 6 months of continuation, and ... will still have to be eligible for unemployment to get the coverage at all." The law specifically states that "policies issued, delivered or renewed after April 1, 2009, must include" the new language.
Chris Heydt, Senior Account Executive at Ogilvy Public Relations, clues us into a wonderful program sponsored by Zurich Life. According to Chris, "(f)or the past five years the Zurich Classic Golf Tournament has been raising money for children's charities ... there was an opportunity to do a little bit more for organizations who may be in even more need of support than usual ... Zurich is contributing up to $95,000 to two kids' charities - Fore!Kids Foundation and Practical Action based on participation in a fun online golf relay game."
So here's your opportunity to turn a diversion into a worthwhile effort. Playing is easy: just click over to the HelpPoint website, create a golfer (can I have Natalie Gulbis?), and tee off to send a message of hope. Based on the number of tee-offs (tees-off?) Zurich will donate money to these charities.
It's free, it's fun, what're you waiting for?
Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have been testing a Viagra rub on mice.
Of the seven rats treated by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, five showed signs of arousal, according to results presented to the American Urological Association (AUA).
Researchers also believe that the nanoparticle therapy could work much more quickly than Pfizer's market-leading drug, which takes up to an hour to kick in.
Full disclosure: I have not read the book that purportedly promulgates this myth, but was tipped to it by FoIB Wenchy. So I won't take the author to task, but merely use her premise as a "jumping off point" to discuss how the concept is so deeply flawed.
First, though, let's review how permanent life insurance works, and why it can be such a useful tool. Insurance is about risk, and life insurance is a particularly good example of why that's important. Life insurance is based on the premise that death is a certainty; the only question is when (and, in some cases, how, but that's another post). Notwithstanding the very useful LifeSpan widget we've previously discussed, no one but the guy on death row really knows when he's going to die (and he's not a particularly attractive prospect for most carriers). Since we don't know when, we buy permanent insurance as a tool to minimize the financial risk to our families.
To do this, permanent plans cost more than they need to in the early years, as a way to sock away reserves that keeps the plan affordable as we age. These "cash values" are comparable to the equity one builds in one's home, and can be used as a sort of savings account that can be accessed should the need arise. And just as one's house is the collateral for a home equity loan, the death benefit of the policy is the collateral for the policy loan.
Life insurance policies are rarely good "investments," however, and should never be confused with such. While the cash value builds on a tax-deferred basis, and can be accessed on a tax-advantaged one, they're really not cost effective as ATM's. For one thing, interest is charged on these loans; left unpaid, this can snowball, and even cause the policy to collapse.
For another, if one dies with a substantial loan against the policy, funds that had been counted on to help the family are unavailable at a time that they may be most needed.
"Here's the plan: you get a whole life insurance policy with a PUA rider (Paid-Up Additions) and invest (in yourself basically) up to the MEC limit. These investments will return dividends, which you reinvest in the policy. Now when you get to the MEC limit (during the capitalization period of about 5-6 years), you can take out loans on your policy (interest on which is tax deductible) and pay (yourself) back over time."
First, the most essential thing to determine when buying a policy - any policy - is how much one needs. Simply buying a policy for use as a potential cash cow is dangerous, and I would also characterize an agent who sells this way as ethically-challenged.
Second, it presupposes that one can find (and afford) a "participating" policy (one which pays dividends). These are not bad policies per se, but they can be more expensive than non-par plans, particularly Universal Life policies (which have their own issues, as well). And, of course, that one can afford to maintain the premiums on such a plan; as we'll see in a moment, letting the policy lapse (or "be foreclosed" to continue our homeownership analogy) can have serious tax consequences.
Third, dividends are not guaranteed; relying on them can lead to disastrous results. If they're lowered, or suspended in a given year (or years), the whole concept collapses. Skeptical? Ask a (former) Crown Life insured.
Fourth, by definition one cannot "reinvest" in a participating whole life policy, because there is no "investment" to be made. Lest readers think I'm parsing, be aware that policies which have investment-like components (called "Variable Life") are heavily regulated by federal and not just state agencies. They require special licenses and documentation, and more closely follow "the market" than the participating whole life plans suggested by the reviewer.
Fifth, interest on life insurance loans is not tax deductible, and hasn't been for many years. So any potential tax savings touted are nonexistent.
Lastly, let's talk about this "paying yourself back over time" nonsense. You're not paying yourself back: you're re-paying the insurer, which holds the death benefit as collateral. If one were to falter in that planned repayment, the possibility that the policy will lapse increases. If one doesn't need the plan anymore, then the loss of the potential death benefit is not a problem. But if one has borrowed out more than one has paid in (a very real possibility with a plan that's been in force for a while), and subsequently lapses the policy, the gain is fully taxable.
Kind of shoots the ol' ATM in the foot, doesn't it?
The bottom line is: this is a very bad idea. As I mentioned above, there are some really great reasons to own permanent insurance (I own three such plans, of varying design), but the idea that one can effectively use any one of them in this manner is at best silly, and at worst dangerous. Unfortunately, by the time one learns this the hard way, it may well be too late.
Make your "Way" over to Fire Finance's place for this week's link-fest of all things finance.
Medical insurance or medical care?
Isn't that the truth? But happily, more and more people are beginning to grasp this simple fact with all its profound implications - as well as the adverse implications for failure to acknowledge the fundamental difference between medical insurance and medical care.
You'll be glad if you read it all - because reading Dr. Sowell is always SO refreshing!
Finding affordable health insurance in Georgia is relatively easy for most folks. When you adopt a bare bones approach and only pay for coverage you actually need most people are surprised to see how much money they have wasted in the past and how much they can save going forward.
But when you are out of work and without a paycheck, even the employer subsidized COBRA premium can be beyond reach.
Danna Walker of Humble, Texas lost her job at DHL and along with it her health insurance. The bi-weekly unemployment check of $688 is not enough to cover the family's COBRA premium of $1360 ($467 after the COBRA subsidy).
Like many others, the Walkers live on a knife's edge of risk. Without insurance to cover her high blood pressure or his diabetes, they defer doctors' visits when possible and obtain their prescriptions - nine between the two of them - for $4 apiece at Wal-Mart.
But their primary concern has been finding insurance for Jake, who, after four operations, two stem cell transplants and round after grueling round of chemotherapy, has been cancer-free for a year.
He continues to face a significant threat of recurrence and requires regular monitoring for at least two years. His twice-a-year CT scans cost $3,000 each, and quarterly blood tests and X-rays run more than $1,000.
When you lose your job and COBRA is an option, each family member has COBRA rights independent of the other. It is rare that all family members would face insurability options, and when possible, the healthy ones should be separated from those who need coverage from the group insurance plan.
Other things, such as asking your doctor to change medication to something less expensive such as generics or older brand names is a good start. But the COBRA subsidy will run out in 9 months (some times sooner, depending on the size of the group) and COBRA will expire as an option after 18 months. Most states have risk pools and all have provisions for HIPAA eligible individuals to continue their coverage.
Late last month, in a race against the clock, the Walkers obtained a short-term policy for Jake through Oklahoma State University, where he is a junior studying animal science on a scholarship. Doing so could be crucial to his future insurability because federal law allows insurers to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions when there has been a gap in coverage of at least 63 days.
That may or may not have been the right thing to do. Some states do not recognize STM (short term medical insurance) plans as creditable coverage and not all STM plans meet the criteria of creditable coverage. Many of the plans offered through universities are little more than a mini-med health plan with limited benefits and will not preserve their HIPAA rights.
Our health care Resource (Patient Charity) page is a popular starting point for those who are unemployed or uninsured. People can find taxpayer subsidized health care programs along with a number of charitable organizations that provide assistance.
When Danna was employed at DHL she paid $426 per month for health insurance, DHL paid the rest. Their coverage with Cigna covered roughly $2,000,000 for the cost of Jake's cancer treatment.
Cancer is not just an old person's disease. Jake is only 21.
Roughly 35 states have a high risk pool for uninsurables. (Sadly, Georgia is not one of them). The Texas risk pool wants $414 for a $1,000 deductible plan to cover Jake but the Walker's say they can't afford it.
Even with help all around it is not enough when you cannot find work. The ripple effect of the housing meltdown created by government intervention in the free market is still claiming new victims. So where are those 6,000,000 jobs that would be saved or created with taxpayer "stimulus" money?
Apparently not in Humble, Texas.
Most folks who are out of work can find affordable health insurance. We get calls almost daily from people looking for solutions and most of the time we are able to find a solid plan at a price that fit's their budget.
• Their former employer has gone out of business.
As we noted earlier this week, "COBRA allows one to continue coverage even after one has left an employer. If that employer subsequently goes bankrupt ... the insurance goes away; there is nothing to "continue."
So-called "mini-COBRA" laws extend many of the COBRA requirements to employers with fewer than 20 employees, as we reported almost two months ago.
Unfortunately, this is one case where we're not particularly pleased to be right; a lot of folks have learned the hard way that government largesse often comes with major strings attached.
ADDENDUM: Okay, so you're not eligible for COBRA, let alone the subsidy. What options are available?
Well, that depends largely on your health. If you're in decent shape, not taking a lot of medications, individual medical plans are a great deal. For one thing, you can customize the plan to fit your own needs (unlike "one size fits all" group plans). For another, rates for these plans are often lower than comparable group policies. Your first step should be to consult with a professional, independent agent who specializes in this kind of insurance.
If you're in California, that means someone like Bill Halper; if you're in Georgia, look up Bob Vineyard. The key is to find someone who can help you explore all the alternatives.
But what if you're on a limited budget, especially after being laid off? Or perhaps you have major health issues? Then you need to click on over to Coverage4All, an online resource that helps you find low-cost, even free health care options.
It doesn't have to be the end of the world; it just takes a little time and effort to find the right solution.
As we've repeatedly shown, adding mandated benefits to health plans increases premiums for everyone, while rarely addressing underlying costs. Touted by special interest groups, it's sometimes difficult for politicians to say "no." And insurance companies make attractive targets: easily portrayed as "the bad guys," one almost imagines carrier CEOs twirling handlebar mustaches while grinning at how they've once again shortchanged their clients.
For Grace is a nonprofit advocacy group which claims to be "devoted to ensuring the ethical and equal treatment of all women in pain." While that sounds noble, their email betrays a rather twisted portrayal of how the system really works.
For starters, insurance companies have no power to dictate to providers how they treat their patients, nor can carriers prohibit their insureds "from getting the prescriptions their doctors have deemed best." Insurance companies have the power only to decide how much (if any) they will pay toward the cost of those treatments.
And then there's the snide reference to "step therapy." As defined in the email, this technique is "designed to lower costs and ostensibly provide higher-quality care. The policies are also called "fail first" policies by some, since the drugs must fail to help the patient before the patient receives coverage for a different option." And that's fairly accurate. But the email goes on to tout a bill in the California legislature that would prohibit insurers from overriding a doctor's prescription. The Golden State's legislators really ought to consult with their counterparts in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, since those states want to do exactly that.
And it's interesting that For Grace isn't training its sights on CMS, since Medicare does the exact same thing. Under Part D, one must go through a lengthy appeals process to overturn that agency's step therapy requirements. Perhaps the folks at For Grace know that it's far easier to fight an insurer than The Feds.
"Step therapy is a program where certain prescriptions will only be covered if a prior series of medications or treatments have been tried first. I cannot speak to other carriers, but we have a very limited step-therapy program. I would assume that other carriers programs mirror ours. As outlined by the doctor mentioned, it is usually the higher cost drugs or lifestyle drugs. That is not the whole picture, however, as effectiveness is also a key driver. Take Nexium for example. It was removed from our formulary not just because the cost was prohibitive, but because there were other PPIs that were more effective."
So in this case, a medication that was both more expensive and less effective was relegated to a non-preferred status. Does that mean that an insured is forbidden to buy and take it? Of course not, but that insured will pay more out of his own pocket for the privilege, which saves money for the carrier, and thus all the other insureds. Why would this be a bad thing?
And what about the argument that carriers only do this to avoid paying for more expensive meds?
"Step is a combination of effectiveness and cost control, and both of those pieces need to be in place in order for the program to be successful. If only the cheap drugs are used without an eye for effectiveness, we could see an increase in negative outcomes that have a higher treatment cost on the backend."
In other words, carriers recognize that cheaper isn't always less expensive in the long run.
For Grace is concerned about pain meds, but the same arguments would apply to any other class of drug. Whether it's Nexium, or Lipitor or steroids, it's important to remember that just because something costs more doesn't mean that it's more effective or desirable. And certainly, requiring carriers (not to mention Medicare) to avoid looking at "the big picture" increases costs for all of us.
Here's a loaded question: "Can You Drink Your Way to Sobriety?" The surprising answer is: Maybe.
The reason that such a non-committal answer is surprising is that simple common sense would dictate that the answer be "no way." Yet it's the premise behind a new treatment protocol being touted by Dr Roy Eskapa (Ph.D).
According to Dr Eskapa, there's a drug called naltrexone which apparently represses the opioid receptors in one's brain (these are what enable us to "feel high"). According to proponents of this method, if those receptors don't fire, "the addictive behavior ceases, and the problem drinker therefore loses interest in liquor."
That may be good news for alcoholics (or those predisposed toward alcoholism).
The "catch" is that, for the therapy to be be effective, the patient must continue to imbibe (if only for a while). That seems to me to be a rather sticky conundrum: isn't that going to continue to cause liver damage, for example? And then there's the insurance issue: is this going to be a covered expense?
That, of course, depends on what one's policy says. Unfortunately, most plans exclude expenses for things like smoking-cessation programs; it seems to me that this is akin to such regimens. And the cost can be prohibitive: the injectable form (which is apparently more attractive than the oral version) can run $700 a pop. The article says "(m)any health insurance plans pay for the injections," but I found no evidence cited to support this; it seems unlikely that this is the case. Perhaps IB readers with experience in this area could enlighten us?
"It would be nice if all you needed was one pill ... But alcoholism is not just uncontrolled drinking. It's a chronic medical disease and needs to be addressed in a multifaceted fashion."
Cavalcade of Risk #76 is up!
This week's collection of risky posts is hosted at Super Saver 's blog. Super's organized his edition around five general categories, which makes it quite user-friendly.
We like to stay on top of the news, and we know our readers probably missed this, so here goes.
Global warming is not caused by cars, factories or aerosol cans. It is caused by fat people.
"Moving about in a heavy body is like driving in a gas guzzler."
Each fat person is said to be responsible for emitting a tonne more of climate-warming carbon dioxide per year than a thin one.
Sounds like the making of a good Randy Newman song. "Fat people got more body to love . . ."
A staggering 40 per cent of Americans are obese, among 300 million worldwide.
Obesity also contributes to almost two thirds of illness that could be prevented.
Amy at Diabetes Mine hosts this week's Birthday Bash edition of Grand Rounds. Hey, it's worth stopping by just for the cupcakes!
Had a call today from a prospect looking for information on COBRA/ARRA, specifically how she could access the gummint's subsidy. It seems that until recently, she worked at a large national retailer which had shuttered its doors. She was under the impression that she could still elect COBRA (this was understandable, since she had already received the required paperwork for continuation). Unfortunately, the company folded before she could complete, let alone return, the forms.
COBRA allows one to continue coverage even after one has left an employer. If that employer subsequently goes bankrupt (completely, not a reorganization plan), the insurance goes away; there is nothing to "continue."
If there's nothing to continue, there's nothing to "subsidize." Indeed, since the company no longer exists, it's not possible for it to pay the 65% at issue. Being a persistent sort, my caller opined that this was okay, she'd opt for an individual medical plan, "since the government's subsidizing it anyway."
Once again, I had to explain that this was not the case (and it's truly disturbing how much misinformation abounds out there): the government never directly paid the subsidy anyway, and there was no provision for any subsidy for non-group plans [ed: Hush up - don't give 'em any ideas!].
In short, if your (previous) employer goes belly-up, so does your COBRA-based health insurance. By the way, this can also happen if the employer simply decides to cancel the group plan altogether (although, in that case, a conversion plan may be available). This is especially problematic for folks with chronic and/or severe pre-existing conditions.
This is just one more reason why I generally suggest to folks that they get off of COBRA as quickly as possible. If you're not on it, it can't bite you.
"Whomever pays the piper calls the tune" goes the (once-popular) adage. And that makes a certain amount of sense: if, for example, the government is paying for one's health care (which, of course, it's not; the taxpayer foots the bill), then the government has a stake in both the cost and outcome of that care.
I don't much disagree with that.
But that then begs the question of whether or not we should have the choice of opting out of such a system. As we've seen, when the gummint controls health care (and the funding thereof), it gets to "call the tune" in ways that folks may not have envisioned. Which brings us to the point of all these questions: if the gummint runs the health care system, does that mean it gets to override the advice and concerns of one's own physician?
"Because of strokes she suffered while in her mother's womb, 13-year-old Callie Moore of Danielsville has a host of complex medical problems. ... Callie's condition mandates round-the-clock care and treatment. Under federal and state Medicaid regulations and policies, she is entitled to screening, diagnostic and treatment services and, because she is medically fragile, skilled nursing care ... Callie's doctor prescribed 94 hours a week of nursing services, but state officials unilaterally reduced the hours to 84 in 2006."
Now it's important to remember that the state didn't (and thus far, can't) prohibit Callie from receiving the extra 10 hours, but it can certainly refuse to pay for them. And so it has. Since I'm not a doctor (nor do I play one on TV), I won't pass judgment on whether or not the disputed 10 hours are "medically necessary;" but certainly when the state deems them not to be, it's very difficult to "fight city hall."
Now, astute readers may observe that insurance carriers also have a say in whether or not the cost of care will be reimbursed. And that's true: if you've ever filed a claim, you know that the insurer will "reprice" it based on the rates they've previously negotiated with the provider. And sometimes, they'll deny a claim (or pay a reduced amount) based on medical necessity.
But there are some important distinctions: first, the contract itself is agreed to by the parties (the insurer and the insured), they are subject to several appeals processes, and, ultimately, the insurer may be sued by the insured or even fined by the state.
Meanwhile, one can shop around for a different carrier.
There are, in short, choices.
A gummint-sponsored plan, however, offers few of these safeguards, and no choices. The plans are not flexible, one doesn't get to see a policy, and the insured has two choices: abide by the decisions or forego the coverage. An insurer may well have "deep pockets," but they don't have bottomless ones. Not so with the state, which has powers far beyond those of mere insurers.
"In March, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama joined in an appeal of a 2008 U.S. District Court ruling that a patient's physician was better positioned – and better qualified – to make decisions about that patient's medical treatment than state bureaucrats."
Again, readers may argue that insurers make these kinds of decisions, as well, and they'd be correct. But insurers employ legions of medical folks, from CMO's to on-call nurses, to help make them. The state doesn't. There's no question that insurers make bone-headed decisions (one has only to read our on-going Stupid Carrier Tricks series for proof of that); but they are usually held to account for them, and the state has the power to change those decisions, and to enforce those changes.
But who enforces the enforcers?
If the state is the sole source of medical insurance, let alone the sole source of medical care, then who or what has the means to hold those bureaucrats' feet to the fire? That's the danger of socialized, government-run health care, and little Callie may indeed be the poster child for refusing it.
"Health Service paramedics have been told not to resuscitate terminally-ill patients who register on a controversial new database to say they want to die."
Granted, this is at least a kind of "choice," but is it really the kind of change we really want?
Hosted this week at the Mighty Bargain Hunter blog, the Carnival of Personal Finance is a weekly collection of interesting finance-related posts from around the blogosphere.
Is there a monopoly on health insurance? Some people seem to think so.
Government alternatives already exist for most people. Medicare for the elderly and disabled, Medicaid for the poor, SCHIP for children and most states have risk pools for those who have severe health issues. All of these programs are free (to the beneficiary) or highly subsidized by taxpayer dollars.
More government intrusion is in play now thanks to the ARRA amendment to COBRA. Employers are now required to subsidize 65% of the cost of COBRA for terminated employees. This subsidy can last for up to 9 months and creates and undue financial strain on companies feeling the pinch of a government induced recession.
So why do we need a government monopoly on health insurance? Think Fannie Med.
If you think health insurance is expensive now, just wait until the government takes charge. Trillion dollar deficits passed on to your children and grandchildren will become common place.
Previously, we noted that some states have so-called "mini-COBRA" laws which apply to smaller groups (under 20 employees). There was some confusion as to how COBRA/ARRA would apply in these situations, which has now been cleared up a bit, thanks to (no kidding!) Anthem.
Readers may recall that the new "regular" COBRA rules require the employer to bear the cost of the employees' subsidy; the rules for "mini-COBRA" differ in that they require the carrier to, um, carry those costs, and then (hopefully) recoup them through their own payroll tax filings.
While one may enjoy the "schadenfreude" of the carrier being put in the position of premium payer, it would be well to remember that these costs are actually borne by their insureds (that would be thee and me). Something about the Law of Unintended Consequences.
And, of course, these folks will be eligible for the subsidy effective last September (some 7 months ago). That could end up being a nice chunk of change coming out of carriers' coffers.
From the P&C Files: Insuring Piracy?
"... it doesn't take much imagination to see that kidnap and ransom insurance feeds a flourishing worldwide enterprise in criminal activity. It's the insurance equivalent of derivatives in the securities trading market. There's no stated law against it, so it must be okay."
Provocative, yes, but oddly compelling. Recommended.
Pizaazz blog's Glenn Laffel makes his HWR debut, presenting an outstanding roundup of all that's wonky in the healthcare side of the 'web. From poetry and an epic escalator fail, to posts on "Big Insurance" and Google Health, you're sure to find something to whet your appetite for info.
Hard as it may be to believe, I have never before participated in an organized protest.
So this afternoon proved a watershed event for me, as I mingled with thousands of fellow citizens in the brisk ( but dry!) Dayton weather. Because this was such a seminal moment for me, I'd like to share some of my thoughts and observations about my experience, while avoiding some of the more obvious politics [ed: rotsa ruck with that].
As I mentioned, I've never been to a protest before, so I really didn't know what to expect or even the appropriate time to arrive. The event was planned to officially kick off at 6:00, and I was concerned about parking (a perennial problem in our fair city). So I got downtown about 4:00, and turned into the first parking garage I saw; this was about three blocks from Courthouse Square.
As predicted, the walk didn't kill me.
When I arrived at the designated site, I found about a dozen or so other folks milling about. Several of us introduced ourselves, noting that this was our first protest (this later turned out to be a common theme). Gradually, the crowd grew, until about 5:30, when I looked around again - really looked around - and realized that there were many hundreds of people around me. I have no idea how many folks attended; the rumor was three thousand, perhaps more. Regardless, it was a lot of people.
Something else I noticed: there was a good mix of ages, with a lot of grandparents (or, at least, folks old enough to be grandparents). I found this intriguing. And it was a well-behaved crowd: folks helped each other up and down steps, that kind of thing. I was pleased that the event began with both the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.
I saw literally hundreds of home made signs, and a mere sprinkling of professionally manufactured ones. Make of that what you will, but I was heartened by this.
This was billed as a non-partisan event, and for the most part, it was. That is, it was not a matter of Democrat vs Republican, but it was not a non-ideological event, in that it appealed more to conservative than liberal values. Unfortunately, a lot of folks (judging by their signs) mistook Obama's recent efforts as the sole cause of our current situation. He is not: Republicans, including former President Bush, were complicit in much of what we now face.
One common chant was "Fire Them All," meaning all members of Congress, regardless of party affiliation. While I understand the sentiment, it is - let me find the right word - oh yes: stupid. Notwithstanding the legal and constitutional issues of such an idea, it fails to recognize that there are folks in both Houses, and on both sides of the aisle, who have fought against wasteful spending.
Another common sign was "Read The Bill!" Indeed, several of the speakers chastised members of congress for passing Spendulus without even reading it. This is also stupid: does anyone really think that if they'd read it, they wouldn't have passed it? Wishful thinking.
And of course, there were signs and speakers using the event to tout the Fair Tax. I have no particular disagreement with the concept of the Fair Tax, but the way it's being promoted is, you guessed it: stupid. The problem is that most people don't have a clear understanding of just how much they currently pay in taxes ("hey, I got a refund!"), and so have no particular reason to get all excited about doing away with the current code. The Fair Tax is certainly a reasonable ends, but as a means, it's, well, you know.
So, Henry, what's your solution if you think the Fair Tax "isn't all that?"
It's simple really, and would require only one bill and would cost virtually nothing to implement: merely outlaw all tax withholding. Business owners and entrepreneurs know all about quarterly filing; the average employee is clueless. If there's no withholding, everyone gets 100% of their paycheck, every week (or whatever).
The bad news is that everyone would then be required to file quarterly taxes. That means writing a potentially sizeable check, every three months. I suspect that after exactly two of those checks go out, we'd see the end of the tax code as it currently exists. Then the Fair Tax may become a viable option.
Okay, back to the Tea Party. With one exception, all of the speakers were "regular folks:" homemakers, business owners, a gentleman who grew up in East Germany who spoke eloquently about this land of opportunity and freedom. The last speaker was a state representative who did a passable job of staying non-partisan. By then, the crowd had started to thin, as folks looked at their watches and headed home for (one supposes) dinner. None of these were professional speakers (save for, obviously, the pol), but they were excited and exciting, and obviously "true believers" in the cause.
As for me, I was there for a much simpler reason: my daughters and their (eventual) children, and their children. It frightens me to think that we're purposefully burdening them with even more debt; a long term, perhaps permanent "solution" to an obviously short term problem.
Will these events make a difference? I really don't know. But for me, it seems necessary that we at least try because if we don't, the alternative is frightful to contemplate.
ADDENDUM: I neglected to mention something else that bothered me about today's rally. The signs and speakers focused primarily on the massive debt and increased taxes, but very little was said (or seen) about the bail-outs or (perhaps more importantly) the government takeover of parts of two major industries: automobile manufacturing and financial institutions (including insurers).
I think that one of the wonderful aspects of this "movement" (for lack of a better term) is its lack of centralized planning or sponsorship; on the other hand, one of the challenges of this movement is its lack of centralized planning. Because it is essentially a grassroots effort, it lacks a coherent and cohesive message. Perhaps that will change as it matures and coalesces, but I think the speakers (at least at the Dayton event) missed an opportunity to spotlight the increased government control of major sectors of our economy, and the dangers that such control represent.
I certainly hope that this is corrected at future such events.
COBRA . . .ARRA . . . Gotcha!
Just when you thought it was safe . . . the land shark is at your door.
So you thought the Porkulus Bill and the ARRA (American Recovery and Redundancy Act) was a good deal for those who opt for COBRA, right? After all, your employer is required to pay 65% of your COBRA premium for up to 9 months so life should be good.
By any chance did you have a Flex (FSA) plan in place for your group health insurance? If so, there may be a gotcha.
According to the folks at Conexis, this little goody is buried in the law according to a recent release from your friends at the U.S. Treasury.
COBRA premium reduction is available for any group health plan EXCEPT . . . vision only, dental only, mini-med plans, and . . . those administered under Section 106(c) as part of a flex spending plan. (See the bottom of page 3 and top of page 4 of the linked document).
Some have commented and emailed regarding the interpretation (above) of Treasury notice 2009-27, indicating perhaps Conexis missed the mark. Here is a direct quote from that notice.
Q-27. Is the premium reduction available for COBRA continuation coverage under a vision-only or dental-only plan?
A-27. Yes. The premium reduction is available for COBRA continuation coverage of any group health plan, except a flexible spending arrangement (FSA) under section 106(c) offered under a section 125 cafeteria plan. This includes vision-only or dental-only plans and "mini-med plans," whether or not the employer pays for a portion of the costs for active employees. The premium reduction is not available for continuation coverage offered by employers for non-health benefits that are not subject to COBRA continuation coverage, such as group life insurance.
Pap smears are a regular health care item for women, and are considered covered expenses under many health plans; indeed, many of the newer HDHP's cover them as first dollar expenses (meaning that most of the cost is borne by the carrier, regardless of whether or not one has met the deductible).
According to a recent NYT article, "(a) new DNA test for the virus that causes cervical cancer does so much better than current methods that some gynecologists hope it will eventually replace the Pap smear ... Not only could the new test for human papillomavirus, or HPV, save lives; scientists say that women over 30 could drop annual Pap smears and instead have the DNA test just once every 3, 5 or even 10 years."
Once a decade? That could represent a significant cost savings, for both insureds and insurers. But is cheaper better?
Scientists' "optimism is based on an eight-year study of 130,000 women in India financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and published ... in The New England Journal of Medicine. It is the first to show that a single screening with the DNA test beats all other methods at preventing advanced cancer and death."
"All other methods." That's significant.
"But whether the new test is adopted will depend on many factors, including hesitation by gynecologists to abandon Pap smears, which have been remarkably effective. Cervical cancer was a leading cause of death for American women in the 1950s; it now kills fewer than 4,000 a year."
That's a significant reduction on cervical cancer-related deaths; while 4,000 still leaves a lot of sad widowers, parents and children, it's a far cry from a "leading cause of death." So the question is whether the new test can put a significant enough dent on those remaining 4,000 to persuade OBGYN's to abandon the old Pap smear en masse.
"The bill's health rules will affect "every individual in the United States" (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors."
Now, that sounds fairly benign, until one realizes that it's Washington, DC ('dah capital') in charge of processing that information. And by "processing," we mean "selling:"
"The economic stimulus law plans for every American to use an electronic health record (EHR) and allows those records to be sold for research and public-health purposes – without patients' consent," says Sue Blevins, presient of the Institute for Health Freedom.
So-called "data sharing" has been around for a long time, of course (cf: "do not call list"), but this takes on a whole new meaning, perhaps an ominous one. After all, if the gummint is in charge of keeping and disseminating your information to health care providers, it's also able to sell that data to drug manufacturers, employers (and potential employers), anyone it chooses. On the one hand, that's a nice revenue stream (to offset some of Washington's other expenses), but at what cost?
Ms Blevins claims that "her goal is not to be alarmist." But why not? This is an alarming development. No, we're not talking black helicopters and tin-foil berets, but how easy would it be for this information to be abused? Or mishandled, or lost or stolen? The answer is probably "no more than if it was underatken by private industry." And that would be about right.
The problem is "accountability:" when private companies (e.g. credit card issuers, mortgage holders, etc) screw up, they're sued and fined. But one can't (easily) sue the government. And there's the rub: what good are assurances when there's no way to enforce them?
The question now is whether it's too late to derail this particular train.
Say you owned a business selling hot dogs on the street corner. Hot dogs are easy to prepare, affordable for most and in high demand (especially at lunch time).
You have run this business for some time, have established clientele for repeat business and even pick up new clients from time to time. Even though there are restaurants nearby, you really have a niche market with almost no competition.
But say a new hot dog vendor shows up one day and parks their cart next to yours. Your hot dogs sell for $2.50. Add a little more for cheese or chili.
The new guy is selling the same hot dog for $1.25 with all the works.
How long will you stay in business?
More importantly, how long will your competitor stick around when his dogs are half the price of yours?
If your competitor has an unfair advantage, such as the ability to draw unlimited cash to fund his business and never have to worry about paying it back then don't expect the competition to go away any time soon.
Now, instead of hot dogs, let's say you sell another high demand product like health insurance. Your product is priced to cover your costs and leave a little left over to provide you with some income.
But now a competitor comes along that doesn't have to play by the same rules. They have the ability to dictate what services are covered, who is entitled to those services, and how much they will pay medical providers for there services. But they have another advantage that you don't. They don't have to play by the same rules as you. They can borrow money at any time and never have to worry about paying it back. Nor do they have to "qualify" for the loan.
How long before your clients stop buying your product when they can get the same thing for half price?
If the new regime in Washington get's their way this might happen. Obama-care will work something like this.
Democrats this year want to institute a "public option" -- an insurance program financed by taxpayers, managed by government and open to everyone, much like Medicare.
Financed by taxpayers. In other words, you will be forced to pay for it whether you want it or not.
This public option will supposedly "compete" with private alternatives. As President Obama likes to put it, those who are happy with the insurance they have now can keep it -- and if they happen to prefer the government offering, well, gee whiz, that's the free market at work.
No one is forcing you to buy the new plan. You have a choice.
When Massachusetts mandated health insurance for everyone and offered a choice of a "free market" plan or a tax subsidized plan, guess what happened?
Many who had health insurance before dropped it in favor of the free or subsidized plan. After all, why pay for something when you can get it for free?
The other was a squeeze play on primary care. Suddenly, it was easier to get tickets to game 7 of the World Series than to get an appointment with a primary care doctor.
Unlimited access to cash without incurring risk.
Kind of like the mortgage crisis. All of us are now paying for the abuses of a few which were subsidized to a great extent by Fannie & Freddie . . . those quasi-government entities backed by the full faith and credit of the taxpayer.
Right now, hospitals and doctors are not required to accept Medicare patients unless they also receive taxpayer funds. Sound familiar? But there is talk about imposing severe payroll tax penalties on medical providers who do not accept Medicare patients. In other words, government sanctioned extortion.
In a recent analysis, Lewin estimates that enrollment in the public option will reach 131 million people if it is open to everyone and pays Medicare rates. Fully 119 million people will shift out of -- or lose -- private coverage.
If you think Medicare is currently working well, then you don't know Medicare.
About 170 million people currently have private insurance, which is already pressured by the price controls of Medicare and Medicaid. A significant share of government underpayments are simply transferred to the private sector, adding tens of billions of dollars every year to consumer health bills.
That is referred to as cost shifting.
What the government doesn't pay is made up by the rest of us.
We pay more so those on the taxpayer funded government health insurance plan can have their free care. Sweet deal, huh?
We, as taxpayers, pay for it any way.
Our taxes fund Medicare and then we pay again because Medicare short changes the medical providers.
Hank celebrates Pesach, or Passover.
We celebrate Pascha, or Easter.
But where do these words come from?
According to some, you can blame it on William Tyndale, the publisher of the first English translation of the Bible. The Tyndale Bible is also known as the King James Bible.
King James I of England ordered the translation of the Bible which was to become the "official" Bible of the Church of England. English translations existed prior to the Tyndale Bible but King James wanted one that would be officially accepted by the Church of England.
The Old Testament was originally translated from Hebrew while the New Testament from Greek. Old Testament documents referred to Pesach which Tyndale translated into a word he coined . . . Passover. Prior to that time the word Passover did not exist.
When Tyndale encountered Pascha in the New Testament Greek, he sought to make a distinction in the traditional Jewish celebration of Pesach (now known as Passover) and the Christian celebration of Pascha. Supposedly he coined the word Easter as a transliteration of a pagan celebration of Ishtar which was held about the same time of the year as Pesach.
Ishtar was a celebration of the new birth of spring, or a new beginning. Similarly, the celebration of Easter is also a new beginning in the Christian faith.
So whether you celebrate Pesach or Pascha, we wish you well.
It has been a while since we looked at the Massachusetts experiment to provide universal health care, so we decided to take a closer look. We were prompted, at least in part, by the fact that the folks in Washington who think money grows on trees seem to be eyeing the Mass plan as a model of efficiency and something that should spread to the other 49 states.
While the plan may not have driven off the Chappaquiddick bridge . . . yet . . . it is certainly in need of some retooling.
Massachusetts has significantly reduced the number of people in the state who lack health insurance. However, it has not achieved, nor does it expect to reach, universal coverage. (The best estimates suggest that more than 200,000 state residents remain uninsured). And, significantly, roughly 60 percent of newly insured state residents are receiving subsidized coverage, suggesting that the increase in insurance coverage has more to do with increased subsidies (the state now provides subsidies for those earning up to 300 percent of the poverty level or $66,150 for a family of four) than with the mandate.
The cost of those subsidies in the face of predictably rising health care costs has led to program costs far higher than originally predicted. Spending for the Commonwealth Care subsidized program has doubled, from $630 million in 2007 to an estimated $1.3 billion for 2009.
I have no idea about the standard of living in MA, but $66,150 for a family of four is probably not at poverty levels. The Kaiser Foundation reports the median income for 2005 - 2007 for Mass was $58,286 vs. $49.901 for the country. So you can earn 14% above the state median income and still qualify for taxpayer assisted health insurance.
And let's not overlook the doubling in spending for this program in two years time. Can you say government bailout?
But what about that NYT reference?
They report the bill to offer universal health care was passed "with Paul Revere speed" and that then Governor Mitt Romney "made an expedient choice, deferring until another day any serious effort to control the state's runaway health costs."
Deferring issues on cost until another day.
Somehow this sounds very familiar.
The plan will not be sustainable.
Once entitlements are put in place no politician wants to take them back. When is the last time you heard of government cutting out an entitlement program?
Mass has this great idea for controlling health care costs. They want to change the way docs & hospitals are comped.
They want a new payment method that rewards prevention and the effective control of chronic disease, instead of the current system, which pays according to the quantity of care provided.
Who determines what is "effective control"? Most chronic illness is preventable with lifestyle changes, so why penalize the medical provider for a lack of self discipline on the part of the patient?
Massachusetts has more doctors per capita than any state, Boston is home to some of the country's most expensive academic medical centers, and a new state law requires comprehensive benefits like prescription drug and mental health coverage.
So in the midst of expanding services and a health care budget that doubles every two years they opt to increase benefits.
Mass not only requires all residents to have health insurance or pay a fine ($1,068) but also requires insurance carriers to accept anyone regardless of health.
Think of it like you would a bank that will issue a mortgage to anyone, regardless of credit or their ability to pay back the loan.
There was another issue as well, as we reported before. The Big Squeeze means more patients for the doctors.
The bad news is, longer waits to see the doc.
Let's see. Free or almost free health care. Increased demand. More difficult to see a doc.
Can't figure out why no one saw that coming.
Novel. Has some promise. Tracks the HMO model where providers are paid a capitated fee rather than fee for service.


Well, Windows 10 is out, and you might have already installed it.
As usual, a few things are "broken", and there a few other things that some people will find rather different/annoying.
And as usual, it's pretty easy to fix most of it.
For those of you who still haven't even been able to upgrade to Windows 10, Fix #1 should take care of that problem.
Once you're done, check out the other 9+ tips and tricks!
Fix #0: What can I do about privacy issues in Windows 10?
That's easy: Follow my simple guide!
Fix #1: Why does Windows Update History report that the Windows 10 upgrade has failed?
If you're seeing this in your update history, it's not your turn for an upgrade yet.
You may have tried to use the Media Creation Tool to create an install USB stick or DVD and force the upgrade to Win 10.
Fix #2: When I click Start and search for something, nothing happens?!
Go to bed, and leave your puter on. When you wake up in the morning, Windows 10 will have finished indexing everything, and suddenly Search will work beautifully.
It doesn't matter if the Indexing Options shows that indexing is done; it's not.
Fix #3: What happened to my Gadgets?
They're gone. They were removed in Windows 8, and so not surprisingly they're also absent from Windows 10.
Fix #4: How do I make Explorer work like it used to?
Fix #5: How do I make the stupid Start Menu tiles go away?
Well, you can't make them go away, but you can customize them rather heavily.
Fix #6: My DVD burner or Blu-ray drive is missing! Gone!
This is pretty easy to fix, as well. If you're running Slysoft's AnyDVD, uninstall it (but keep your registration key when it offers you the choice). Then, reinstall AnyDVD.
The same fix has been reported to work for other software that might monkey with your optical drivers, such as PowerDVD or virtual drive types of software (for mounting ISO files and such).
Fix #7: Where did the Control Panel go?
So, you don't like the new Settings interface, eh?
Also note the other handy links on the Quick Access menu. I'm already using that one quite a bit.
Fix #8: Why can't I access old-fashioned shared folders on my local network?
Are you signed in to Windows 10 with a Microsoft Account?
If so, you'll want to switch to a Local Account if you're using old-fashioned folder sharing instead of a Homegroup. As far as I can tell, this is the only way to fix it.
Fix #9: Why is Windows Media Player missing after my upgrade to Windows 10?
Are you in the EU? If so, you may have an "N" version of Windows 10.
When you upgraded to Windows 10, Windows Media Player was removed – even if you had installed it manually on your old version of Windows. So much for choice, right?
Well, click here to download the Windows 10 Media Addon.
That will restore Media Player right quick.
Fix #10: Why can't I play DVDs in Windows 10?
This one is irritating: Because Microsoft removed DVD playback!
You're supposed to use something else now.
Fortunately, I highly recommend VLC Media Player.
It's free, it plays damn near everything, and generally it rocks. Oh, and it plays DVDs!
Fix #10+: Why is VirtualBox not loading my virtual machines in Windows 10?
Oh, that's easy: Because, as usual, VirtualBox is not working! Does it ever work right?
Not only does it work beautifully under Windows 10, but it seems all my virtual machines run a LOT faster and smoother. I guess it was time for a change!
You should be able to export your VirtualBox machines as .OVA files, and then import them into VMWare. That's the theory, anyway.
UPDATE: Oh, boy… Well, if you use VMWare Player 7, you're safe. But when I upgraded to VMWare Player 12, all hell broke loose. Big problems with the virtual ethernet drivers. Ultimately, I was forced to uninstall VMWare Player 12 manually. Fortunately, VirtualBox 5.0.6 appears to be working perfectly again in Win 10. Your mileage may vary!
My Windows 10 experience so far is pretty good. I expected some hiccups, so I'm still fairly happy with the end result… so far!
For a Media Center replacement, check out MediaPortal, XBMC, or Plex.
Alas 8GadgetPack seems to not work right in 10 final, at least since some recent windows updates. It will run once on reboot or install and then eventually freeze up and when you try to launch it again, it just crashes out. I think it was the reason for my recent bluescreen too.
I have more testing to do, but I think it's been narrowed down to that on my system at least.
I'm using it, and it's been working fine – even with the "SR1 mega-update" released by MS yesterday. Maybe it's one of the gadgets? Also, I turned off the "sidebar" feature of 8GadgetPack. I just use gadgets floating on the desktop. I suppose it could also be an issue with a graphics driver though, or something else like that.
Thank you, Scottie! This was a huge help to me.
Hi, I had just upgraded to the windows 10 and I lost all of my favorites. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal but I am about to travel to Italy and I had put a lot of important as well as helpful sites to help my trip go as smooth as possible. Please, if you know how to fix this email me at…….. skillet2008@gmail.com.
You should be able to open Edge (aka Internet Explorer in Win 10), click the Hub button (3 horizontal lines in upper right corner), and then click the Import Favorites link. That will let you import favorites from the old Internet Explorer.
The LINK "Sign in with a local account instead" is missing…!! HELP!!
Edge is not Internet Explorer, Edge is Edge. Edge is crap. Internet Explorer can be found by clicking on the start menu and typing internet explorer. once opened I would pin it to the taskbar.
I had read IE would be removed from the final version of Win 10, but I must admit I never even checked… Can't stand either IE or Edge!
When I open a photo folder it just closes itself after a few seconds… what can I do? This is very frustrating… Thanks!