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Science Program Scholars
Blueprints & Statements
Papers & Articles
Regional Environmental Accounts
Accounts By Asset
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Environmental Accounts
Landscape Conservation
National Water Reform
"Committed and knowledgeable scientists can make a contribution to public policy,
if they are prepared to speak out."
– Peter Cullen 1943-2008
The Wentworth Group is dedicated to water and land policy reform to protect Australia's critical environments. We are composed of eminent scientists who are a trusted source of independent, non-government advice on issues related to water and land policy. We focus on solution-based policy reforms, which are of significant national interest.
The Group has a proven track record since 2002 of influencing legislative reform to improve environmental outcomes for water resources, biological diversity and natural landscapes.
Our members promote science-based solutions to achieve the following outcomes:
Water – Sound policy underpinned by robust science to maintain the health of our rivers and wetlands.
Land – A healthy landscape that supports rural communities and allows life in the unique Australian bush to flourish.
Biodiversity – Stewardship of our environment to conserve our rich and diverse species of flora and fauna.
The Wentworth Group has developed this guide to reviewing Water Resource Plans (WRPs) to help communities understand WRP legal inclusions, the WRP accreditation process and the key scientific issues which should be included in robust WRPs. More…
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Our work on landscape conservation centres around the clearing of native vegetation and its effects on ecosystems, and climate and the use of soil and vegetation to capture and store carbon. More…
Linking science to public policy, and working with local businesses and communities to adapt to a future with less water. Related analysis and reports by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists are available on this site. More…
We are an independent group of scientists and professionals, working to secure the long-term health of Australia's land, water and biodiversity.
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Center for Technology in Government at UAlbany Develops "How to" Guide and Planning Tools for Government Enterprise Content Management Strategies
Contact: Michael Parker
Federal and state agencies are looking for strategies to help them manage vast amounts of information in ways that can help reduce costs, eliminate inefficient paper driven processes, comply with e-discovery requirements, and increase openness and transparency. The Center for Technology in Government (CTG) at the University at Albany/SUNY is helping one such agency in New York State with a set of tools that will enable them to effectively and efficiently accomplish these critical needs.
CTG recently completed a project with the New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). This agency sought to integrate core business processes and associated records and other information resources into an agency wide Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system. In collaboration with HCR staff, a team of CTG researchers used business process mapping and its extensive experience working on government information management initiatives to help develop and pilot an ECM strategy that can be applied across the entire agency.
"A comprehensive enterprise content management strategy can be a powerful tool in this era of government restructuring and downsizing. Such a strategy with its policy, management, as well as technology components will enable agency staff to transform work practices and continue improving services to our customers," said Duane Averill, Assistant Director, Data Processing Technical Services, at HCR. "Our project with CTG provided us with a detailed How To Guide and set of practical tools to implement such a strategy."
"For over a decade government agencies have been under pressure to use information technologies to be more efficient and productive while reducing costs," said Derek Werthmuller, director of innovative technologies at CTG. "However, the implementation of these types of systems is no simple matter and requires that attention be paid to and investments made in management and policy capabilities as well as technology."
Specifically, the HCR project involved the following:
Exploring the capabilities of HCR's existing technology tools and identifying the business process to be used as a pilot during the project.
Mapping out the selected core business process and its information relationships to improve the process, identify key records, and determine the records to be retained in the ECM system.
Identifying records retention requirements and security classifications.
Mapping the business process and associated documents to the ECM system.
Developing project report, templates, and tools and products for agency wide implementation.
The HCR project resulted in a generalizable process and set of tools and strategies that can be applied to any organization seeking to develop strategies for improved information access, business process efficiency or improvement, e-discovery, or general information or records management issues.
These tools include an ECM Strategy Five Step Intake Process and a Guide to Business Process Analysis (BPA) for an Enterprise Content Management Intake Process, a "how to" guide including scripts and templates on conducting a BPA that can support the intake of program units records into an ECM.
For more information, visit the project page>>
The mission of the Center for Technology in Government at the University at Albany is to foster public sector innovation, enhance capability, generate public value, and support good governance. We carry out this mission through applied research, knowledge sharing, and collaboration at the intersection of policy, management, and technology.
The University at Albany-SUNY has a broad mission of excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, life-enhancing research and scholarship, and a commitment to public service. A University at Albany education brings the world within reach to students through nine schools and colleges, and an honors college. A student body of more than 17,000 students has a global connection to more than 140,000 alumni. For more information about this internationally ranked institution, visit www.albany.edu. For UAlbany's extensive roster of faculty experts, visit www.albany.edu/news/experts.php.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Thank you for supporting Emily Beach for Burlingame City Council 2019! Your contribution will appear on your Paypal statement as EMILYBEACH.
Interested in how you can endorse Emily, display a lawn sign or volunteer in other ways? Check out the GET INVOLVED tab to learn more!
Emily will work incredibly hard during this election, but she needs the support of others to help spread the word.


Henderson, Kentucky visitors often admit wanting to move to Henderson after they visit. Maybe you have entertained the thought of visiting Henderson once more. We are here to remind you that our doors are wide open whenever you decide to come front porch knockin'. Here are nine reasons why we think you should visit sooner rather than later!
One of Henderson's new traditions, the Diversity Parade, has been gaining momentum every year! Whether we are parading for a cause or just for fun, Henderson hosts several parades throughout the year. Our Christmas Parade is very popular among kids and families. I don't know if you heard, Tom, but Santa himself will be here in December, so it's a pretty big deal. Consider yourself invited!
8. To College… or Bust!
We heard you Tom when you tweeted to your followers, "I may go back to college. See you there?" We all know the best college to go to is the one close enough to where your mom can still do your laundry. You can round out those gen. ed. classes at the Henderson Community College. It's home to our beloved performing Preston Arts Center. This season's Nutcracker auditions are quickly approaching. We would totally support you if you choose to try-out.
We know you appreciate men and women who serve for our U.S. military, Tom. We value their sacrifice too. Walking through Central Park, you will find numerous memorials dedicated to war veterans who have served before us. And every Memorial Day, Henderson remembers our fallen loved ones by planting thousands of white crosses in Central Park, each respectfully displaying the name of a Henderson soldier or veteran. A short stroll through this scene will truly move your soul.
What's better than a stroll through the park – maybe a loft apartment that overlooks Central Park in a historic downtown? We can see you now, Tom, perched among the park, gazing out the tall windows of a 19th century building, enjoying a cup of coffee and the peacefulness that comes with having no noisy neighbors.
Speaking of 19th century architecture… Any cozy corner Bliss, an artisan ice cream and pizza shop, is a place perfectly capable of curing writer's block. This two-story downtown hub used to be Planter's Cafe and Coffee Bar. Before that it was Planter's Bank, a historic piece of Henderson's downtown history. Tennyson would approve if you so choose to reflect on some of his prose here.
Being the analog man that you are Tom, we know you would much rather read the old fashioned way. Express your thoughts on the Qwerty keys of a much-loved typewriter at one of our antique stores. We would recommend stopping at The Elm Antique Shop to settle your fix for the era-of-finer-things. They might just have a dusty typewriter that has been searching for a long-lost thought conductor like you!
Henderson's greatest writer and legendary naturalist, John James Audubon, would certainly approve of our downtown preservation. We are not sure if he would approve of our generation's need to take a selfie with him, but without a doubt he is the most selfie-ed statue in Henderson. And here is where we brag about our riverfront's status as "Best Selfie Location in Kentucky," voted by Kentucky Living Magazine readers. You know you want to selfie with Audubon!
1. There's No Crying in Baseball!
And the number one reason why you should want to move to Henderson, Tom, is to relive all of the memories made spent filming in the 90's motion picture, "A League of Their Own." Scenes from the movie of the women's baseball team boarded at the red-brick Victorian house actually takes place at the historic Soaper-Liles House located on Main Street in Henderson. Henderson has hosted a Movie on Main Street event; lawn chairs were set up in a theater-style fashion on Main Street. Locals gathered to watch the big-screen from the lawn of the house made famous by Hollywood. So Tom, whenever you decide you have a minute to break from being a busy movie star, just know you always have an invitation to stay in Henderson, Kentucky!
To get blog posts like this one sent to your inbox every Monday morning, subscribe to our e-newsletter!


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Can a priest marry you anywhere?
How much does it cost to have a Catholic priest marry you?
How do you ask a priest to marry you?
Can a Catholic priest perform a civil wedding?
Can a Catholic marry a non Catholic outside the church?
What are the requirements for church wedding?
How much do you tip a priest for wedding?
What is allowed in a Catholic marriage?
What is it called when a priest marries you?
Can you get married in a church without being christened?
Can a retired priest marry a couple?
What makes a marriage invalid in the Catholic Church?
Can Catholics use condoms?
Can Catholics get tattoos?
Can a Catholic remarry?
For couples who grew up or are regular members in the church, the fee could be none to minimal. It says at an average of $200. Other couples who're not members spend between $400 to $2000 for a church ceremony.
Etiquette states that you should ask the priest in person, if possible, to perform your wedding. Call the church and make an appointment to speak with him. Ideally, you will already be members of his church. Some priests find it uncomfortable to perform weddings for people that do not attend their churches.
Technically a priest / deacon doesn't perform the wedding when they officiate – they are the official witness of the Church. That's what I meant by witness. But, no – he can totally go & party.
Catholic Christians are permitted to marry non-Catholic Christians if they receive a dispensation to do so from a "competent authority" who is usually the Catholic Christian party's local ordinary; if the proper conditions are fulfilled, such a marriage entered into is seen as valid and also, since it is a marriage …
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Now we're listing down all the requirements you will need to submit for your Catholic church wedding.
New Baptismal and Confirmation Certificates.
Marriage License Application Form.
Canonical Interview.
Certificate of Attendance to a Pre-Marriage seminar.
Wedding/Marriage Permit.
Church Wedding/Marriage Banns.
Proper etiquette calls for thanking the rabbi, priest or clergyman with an honorarium of $100 that is separate from any fees paid for use of the worship facilities. If they traveled to perform the ceremony, a larger honorarium is in order.
"Every act — a type of caress, a sexual position — with the goal of arousal is permitted and pleases God," Knotz writes. "During sexual intercourse, married couples can show their love in every way, can offer one another the most sought after caresses. They can employ manual and oral stimulation."
Clerical marriage is a term used to describe the practice of allowing Christian clergy (those who have already been ordained) to marry. This practice is distinct from allowing married persons to become clergy. Clerical marriage is admitted among Protestants, including both Anglicans and Lutherans.
You can get married in a Church of England/Church of Scotland church without being christened but you will need to be christened if you want to get married in a Catholic church.
Something to consider, even if you have a retired priest perform the ceremony your marriage won't be recognized by the church and depending on the church, that would cause problems if you have children that you want to have baptized catholic.
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A marriage may be declared invalid because at least one of the two parties was not free to consent to the marriage or did not fully commit to the marriage.
Catholic views on condoms. The Catholic Church's opposition to contraception includes a prohibition on condoms. It believes that chastity should be the primary means of preventing the transmission of AIDS.
The Church doesn't have any strict teaching about tattoos because in most cases they are culturally based and according to the Church cultures should be respected. Unless something is objectively immoral, or we have immoral motives for doing it, Catholics are free to do as they wish.
He or she cannot validly marry again in the Catholic Church. Remarriage isn't out of the question for Catholics: … Due to the lifelong commitment that's required for the Sacrament of Matrimony, Catholics can marry only someone who's widowed or who wasn't married before.


When developing your code window, you need to consider different possibilities for code hierarchies. In this video I added the second high leverage teaching practice as another code and talk you through my thought process for creating a multi-tiered hierarchy rather than a linear hierarchy like we made for the first teaching practice.
In today's video I will further discuss the hierarchy I made and will add some exclusive links and deactivation links to complete the chains for turning on and off the codes for the first high leverage teaching practice.
As always, feel free to leave me comments, ask me questions, or make suggestions for improvement.
In this continuation of our new series, I will discuss how to start a code hierarchy and to decide whether you want to include new codes or new text labels in your hierarchy.
I am going to start a brand new video series. In my last series, I mostly did all of the work on my own and discussed some of my barriers and strategies, but the more I explain my code windows to other people, the more I realize people are having a difficult time wrapping their heads around the process of creating a code window. Seeing a blank slate can be intimidating, so I thought it would be nice to discuss the decision making that goes into developing a brand new code window from scratch.
This first video is very basic as I introduce the content for the new code window and some basics of adding buttons, changing the button type, and the appearance. In the next video (which I hope to have up in the next few days) I will dive into the planning process and moving from paper to a hierarchy of codes and/or text labels.
As always, if there is anything you want me to focus on or if you have any questions, feel free to post them in comments or to message me privately. Cheers!


You can earn a 5% commission by selling Prayers of the People: Pastoral Prayers for Worship and Personal Devotion on your website. It's easy to get started - we will give you example code. After you're set-up, your website can earn you money while you work, play or even sleep! You should start right now!


The Dreamforce Agenda Builder has been live for over a week now. Do you know which sessions to attend as a Sys Admin?
For most system administrators, you are the unsung hero in your organization – from choosing the right technology and apps to implementing the right business processes. Unfortunately, it's too often that organizations are selecting apps that run on separate databases with different user interfaces and security models – taking up too much of your time with system integrations and making your job a whole lot more difficult.
To help, FinancialForce.com is presenting 3 Sys Admin sessions at Dreamforce called "Salesforce Admin Survival Guide: Avoiding Platform Nightmares" featuring Salesforce MVP Nana Gregg from BRG and Salesforce Admin Jessika Botruff from Revolution Group. Join us and learn how to avoid application nightmares by embracing a single-cloud ecosystem, connecting your front office to the back, and bringing customer-centric applications into the mix.
Salesforce.com MVP. Administering Salesforce for almost 11 years. Light development, heavy on reporting and workflows and LOVE Clicks Not Code! Experience with FinancialForce PSA & Accounting Apps as well as various other AppExchange solutions. Multi-Company, multi-currency Org.
Salesforce Administrator at Revolution Group.
Salesforce Administrator since 2009 and became a Salesforce Certified Administrator in 2013. I have been working with FinancialForce PSA since April 2014 and implemented PSA in my company in October 2014.
Long time Force.com evangelist helping prospects, customers, partners and colleagues understand the benefits and power of adopting the leading cloud platform for businesses. Pioneer in the rapidly evolving salesforce.com, force.com and Financialforce.com ecosystems.
Richard is the IT Director at FinancialForce and responsible for the IT strategy from smartphones through to our own internal implementation of FinancialForce applications. He's worked at FinancialForce.com for 20 months now and spent a period of 12 months as the SFDC Administrator at FinancialForce.


By Michael Tewfik of Portland, Oregon. Michael is an internal medicine physician.
In the last week, 23 senators have signed a letter to bring back the public option through the budget reconciliation process. As an internal medicine doctor here in Portland, Oregon, this does not surprise me. The public option is the only long term health care option that makes sense.
This last January, most of us felt the sting of higher co-pays for appointments, medication costs and general private insurance premiums. As a primary care provider, I'm also seeing clinic visits drop across the board 10-20 percent. Our hospitals here in Portland have also seen a substantial decrease in elective procedures and general hospital admissions. The trajectory of health care costs is clear.
The public option is not just about providing competition for private health insurance providers. It is about providing health care to improve health, and not bolster quarterly profit reports. The big misconception about private insurers is that they make their profits from a percentage of the premiums. That couldn't be farther from the truth. They make their money by taking in premiums and then leveraging that money to invest across global markets and pay out health care expenses as far out in the future as possible. Time, in their case, is more money.
A public option seeks a different target, providing the highest quality of health care at the lowest cost to both the the system and the consumer. A public option system would leverage National Health Care guidelines based on clinical benefit and global economic costs to structure benefit plans.
Don't kid yourself if you think this if this kind of decision-making is happening with private insurers. Yes, private insurers follow National Health Care guidelines, except the financial goal is not the health of the overall system, but the individual insurers' bottom lines. The public option could also leverage premiums to make money, except the money would go back into the system and not to shareholders.
One unsubstantiated fear of the public option is that you'll lose the chance to pick your doctor. And yet last month I lost a chunk of patients who wanted to keep seeing me, but couldn't because their company switched insurers and they now had different "approved" providers. Seems like these patients--and tens of thousands like them in Portland--have already lost their choice of doctors.
What the twenty senators see is the writing on the wall. Americans are fed up sacrificing their health as a profit vehicle for multi-national companies. When we as Americans fear for our lives and the lives of our family members because we may or already have lost our health insurance, we can't be creative and help drive this economy forward. The public option is our chance to drive this democracy's economic future into the twenty-first century. The real question is how long it will take to realize it.
No reason, I guess? Just a blank space?
24 Senators now. Levin signed.
called Wyden: demand he get on board now & not at the 11th hour as he has done too often.
As for how long it will take, it will obviously take longer than this Congress.
Proud of Merkley. Fed up with Wyden.
The quote "A public option seeks a different target, providing the highest quality of health care at the lowest cost to both the the system and the consumer"
Sounds like the goals of our DMV and Post Office. When are we going to learn adding addition layers of bureaucracy, regulation, and of course increased cost, it take's away freedom of choice, innovation, which help lower our cost, Competition helps provide higher level of care.
Lets help lift the standard of living of our poor, not lower. Lets be progressive and put right decisions for the right reasons above our politics.
rdurig, you forgot to mention that a public option is socialism and a government take-over of health care. You also forgot to deny that for-profit insurance companies limit choice, fix prices through an exemption from anti-trust law, add layers of bureaucracy, add regulations, stifle innovation, and increase costs without providing any health care at all.
It would be so easy to expand Medicare to cover 100% of the country, to tweak the Medicare payment system to fairly compensate providers, and to increase the Medicare tax enough to cover the cost. But it will not happen.
The problem is health care and insurance is not he proper role of government. This is a collective power, which is a very dangerous power to give government (not that it has not given itself tons of illegal collective powers already). The whole foundation of our nation was to avoid such power manifested in the hands of a few. Don't get me wrong. I think most insurance companies offer fraud instead of coverage, we would be better of defining what can be called insurance in our market and creating a competitive environment or creating a non-profit who's sole purpose is to provide low cost insurance. Government regulations prohibit many of these remedies including alternative cures. Government is the problem folks. Don't ask the fox to guard the hen house. Demand changes in the current law the dis empower government and create results.
DeanOR, what evidence would you cite as proof that insurance companies "fix" prices and that they are enabled to do so by the anti-trust exemption?
doctor, if you're really 'concerned' about all of those lost patients and their quality of care you have a very simple solution. you merely sign up with the other provider network in addition to the current network(s) you participate in.
Of course that would be full disclosure and it might even cause you to take a little less in payment for your services. But then that would be in opposition to the point you just tried to make about the big, bad insurers then wouldn't it?
@Idler asks for proof of health insurance company price fixing.
Well, try this for starters: UnitedHealth Group had to cough up more than $350 million to settle a price fixing case brought against them in New York.
Galen, The proper role of government is watever the governed say it is. When the private sector has demonstated so convincingly that it can not or will not provide what society requires (as whith health care coverage) then it is the responsibility of government to fulfill its obligation to the citizenry and make the necessary changes. That is certainly what happened with the creation of Medicare and Social Security. It is instructive to note that the 36 countries that have better health outcomes than the US all have more government involvement in health care than does the US. And I would say that the US and its citizenry have created a government that is at least as capable as those other 36 national governments.
"You also forgot to deny that for-profit insurance companies limit choice, fix prices through an exemption from anti-trust law, add layers of bureaucracy, add regulations, stifle innovation, and increase costs without providing any health care at all."
We have built such a complex and regulated system, including insurance, medicare, and health care, that it is truly a bureaucratic, legislative and administrative nightmare, for all parties involved. It's hard to believe but all the rules and regs have just pilled on so much that is the single reason why the whole system a failing.
The more freedom of choice, the freer the market and yes we need to free up insurance industry, and it would be shocking how very quickly competition will weed cost down.
Lets help the poor, and lift our American Standard of living, allow more personal freedoms and less government.
rdurig, your market fundamentalism is just as mindless as Jimmy Swaggart's xtian fundamentalism. The invisible hand will not save you; in fact, it has sent the economy over a cliff. Time to grow up now. Join the rest of the planet. Single payer.
Please stop the attracts and at least try be progressive and professional. Attacking is poor way to show anger and hide the truth.
You say free market don't work well, compare. North Korea to South Korea, China to Hong Kong, East to West Germany they all started at the same time. It's proven that the higher level of personal freedom the higher level of society standard, and that lets lift the poor.
PS Hitler used attacking other to hide his unethical policies. If we go to best decisions for best reason with real transparency, before politics we could turn our country great again.
When are we going to learn adding addition layers of bureaucracy, regulation, and of course increased cost, it take's away freedom of choice, innovation, which help lower our cost, Competition helps provide higher level of care.
I agree. The layers of bureaucracy, regulation and increased cost in the current, private, for profit insurance system that lets gigantic conglomerate dinosaurs run rampant through the system has gone too far. The competition of a strong public option ought to whip those inefficient behemoths into line, as it has done in most other industrialized nations.
Er...that is your point, right?
you replace small bureaucracies (insurance companies) with even larger bureaucracies (governemt) again that would only increase the problems, while giving us DMV /POst offive tpye waiting lines.
"RDurig wrote: Lets increase free market competition, so we could lower cost of medical help, and increase the level of health care.
I wholeheartedly agree. The problem is that in many states there is only ONE insurance provider. In most places, there are only two. That's not free market competition. Furthermore, even where there are multiple insurance companies, most individuals only get one choice through their employer. That's not free market competition.
In the absence of that radical reform, adding a public option would be a great to create free market competition. Simply give employers another choice, and you'll get downward pressure on prices.
Free market competition really is a big part of the solution. What I don't understand is why so many conservatives, who are usually free market absolutists, fear the free market solution in health care.
Private monopolies and cartels can be just as oppressive to freedom as are governments. In fact, they're often even more effective, because they don't even pretend to be democratically and transparently governed."
the republicans consist of mostly wealthy white people who think we are in a giant game of Monopoly, or the Golden Rule. Its all about getting every dollar out of your wallet before someone else does and forget the people. ELECT THE GOP AND TO WAR WE GO. Throw in economic slavery and we are in the old south agin. 50yr old white male saying god help us all.
increasd competion,yes. consumer protection,yes. increase supply of doctors and specialist. Require access to speciists and surgical options so I can get a hip and back surgery soon and get off of soc. sec. disability! I pay $1600 a year for med and rx and that payss for all the doc visits and drugs 2x over that I see and use. But I dont qualify for any surguries. Should I just go have an accident so Ill be f--ked up enough?
When will people realize that this is a myth? Most Republican voters are low income, living in rural areas. Other than race, there is no better predictor of voting patterns in a given area than income, the poorer the redder. Unfortunately, partisans on both sides drag out this canard, since both sides believe that it somehow helps their cause.
I see that DeanOR chose not to attempt to answer my question.
Please explain to me how the sole example you give has anything to do with the anti-trust exemption. If the activity in question were enabled by the anti-trust exemption, why would UnitedHealth be exposed to legal action?
Of course you said that was "for starters"; what other evidence do you have?
The anti-trust exemption also applies to property/casualty companies. If the anti-trust exemption enables cartel-like activity you should be able to find plenty of collusion in the P&C industry as well, no?
Do you think the state insurance regulators do a bad job of policing such activity in the health insurance and P&C industries? What exactly does the anti-trust exemption cover anyway? How do you evaluate the plusses (if there are any) and minuses of the anti-trust exemption and conclude that it should be repealed?
@Idler: You asked for evidence, I spent 30 seconds on Google and found you evidence of price fixing. I'm sure you'll find that there are numerous other cases - for example, one that was brought last year by the AMA.
The point is not that price fixing is "allowed" under the exemption. It's illegal under state laws, and some state AGs like Cuomo have been vigorous in protecting consumers. But the Feds at present don't have that ability/responsibility. I'd like to see them have it. Maybe you enjoy being continually gouged; fine.
Oh, and another thing: the situation re. state v. federal regulation of the health insurance industry is parallel to the situation that prevails re. the financial services industry, and is exactly why we need a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency - an idea that's enormously popular.
These AGs have said the financial crisis was caused in significant part by irresponsible sub-prime lending and inadequate regulatory oversight, which demonstrated the need for independent, comprehensive and effective consumer protection and enforcement at the federal level....These AGs also share a conviction that legislation creating the CFPA should explicitly preserve the states' authority and ability to fight unfair and deceptive practices, and should foster the states' role in collaborating with the new federal agency.
Dan, you Googled because you had no idea what you were talking about and simply found something that used the sensationalist expression "price fixing." You can't demonstrate how this example actually has anything to do with the anti-trust exemption because it doesn't.
I've been doing some research to examine what sinister behavior the anti-trust exemption enables and so far haven't found any. I start to think that "anti-trust exemption" is misinterpreted as "freedom to act as a cartel" and repeated by people who know what anti-trust means in general but have no idea what the McCarran-Ferguson anti-trust exemption for the insurance industry specifically enables.
Your comment about state laws is inane. If the state laws disallow what the federal anti-trust exemption allows, then the exemption is pointless and so are arguments against it on those grounds.
How precisely do you think federal regulators will do a better job than state regulators do? And don't give me some generalized blather about "consumers are raped by insurance companies and federal regulators will save them"; tell me specifically how state regulation enables bad behavior that repeal of the anti-trust exemption will correct, and how it will do so. If you can't do that, you're just talking out of your posterior.
I see now that when confronted with the examples and evidence you asked for, you simply resort to name calling. My point, I think, is pretty obvious: the health insurance companies are engaging in anti-competitive practices that cause enormous harm, and having Federal agencies able to crack down on such abuses alongside state agencies will be a great asset for patients, physicians, and small businesses as well.
As the Antitrust Modernization Commission put it, "[t]o the extent that insurance companies engage in anticompetitive collusion then they appropriately [should] be subject to antitrust liability."
The exemption has in fact been harmful to enforcing such liability, because states often lack the will and/or the resources to enforce regulations adequately - and the insurance companies lobby aggressively at the state level to keep it so.
"It's hard to believe but all the rules and regs have just pilled on so much that is the single reason why the whole system a failing."
Wellpoint just posted record profits AND just jacked their rates by double digits.
Oh, and they just dropped a couple of hundred thousand medically fragile clients from their rolls.
Just wondering, who contacted whom first?
Back to politics, the much more relevant question is why Obama is the one trying to kill it since day one.
I thank you for linking to something relevant, though I must point out that until this point you had not provided examples but merely reiterated your prejudices along with a bad example.
I do appreciate the DOJ document and find it useful. I don't find it decisive. It is still not "obvious that the health insurance companies are engaging in practices that cause enormous harm," as a result of the anti-trust exemption. The DOJ piece raises that possibility and suggests that it can and maybe has happened on occasion, but it's empty of specifics. The piece also affirms the pro-competitive dimension of McCarran-Ferguson and the need to preserve it.
You assert that the exemption has been harmful without providing a basis for that assertion. Similarly with your allegation that states lack the will and resources to enforce regulations. My impression is that state regulators have will in abundance. As for the resources point, the claim seems reasonable, but you don't substantiate it. The fact is that all insurance rates must be reviewed and approved by regulators.
The quote from the Antitrust Modernization is unobjectionable. The question is whether the exemption in fact does enable collusion. The health insurance industry seems less competitive than the property/casualty business in terms of number of participants. However, both industries fall under the exclusion. So perhaps some of the relevant differences have more to do with the health insurance industry than the exemption.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners insisted in an Oct. 21, 2009 letter to Sen. Pat Leahy that, "bid rigging, price fixing and market allocation... are not permitted under the McCarran-Ferguson Act and are not tolerated under state law." They add that "state regulators actively enforce prohibitions in these areas."
An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office last October said that new provisions relating to repealing the exemption in the Affordable Health Care for America Act "would have no significant effect on either the federal budget or the premiums that private insurers charged for health insurance."
Given these and other resources I've come across, it seems to me that the anti-trust exemption is not a significant factor, if a factor at all, in driving the high cost of healthcare. However, it reinforces the pantomime villain characterization that triggers the salivary glands of those susceptible to the stereotype.
Idler, very astute of you to challenge DeanOR based on a single datapoint. This allows you some degree of control over his response, thus stacking the deck in your favor. I love good honest debating on the merits.
Antitrust risks typically fall within three main domains: agreements that restrict competition, abuse of a dominant position, and merger control.
As to examples that meet your specific criterion on what constitutes egregious behavior, why should anyone bother to meet it?
"Consumer Federation of America estimates that removing the health insurance industry's anti-trust exemption would lower health insurance premiums by $10 billion next year."
Now these guys are undoubtedly either Far Left Whackos, Naive Purveyors of Propaganda, or perhaps something even more sinister, but I'm clear in advance that there is some very good reason that they can be dismissed out of hand. Off the cuff, my guess would be that they left a comma out somewhere, that makes their opinion irrelevant to this discussion as you define it.
Still: There are three possibilities here regarding repeal of McCarran.
It will enhance competition. It will dimnish competition. It will have no effect.
Why not expand on the merits of the CFA's case? Clearly there are differences of opinion, and as I said, I found the DOJ document helpful. I don't assume that the CFA folks are far left whackos, etc. Is suggesting that I do your idea of debating honestly on the merits? "Near left enthusiast" is probably a better characterization of the CFA, but I'm just guessing. They might be right, they might be wrong. Do you think the sources I quoted are "far right whackos"?
If the repeal of McCarran-Ferguson interferes with the procompetitive features of the exemption that the DOJ document referst to, then it's conceivable that it could harm competition. The sharing of loss information would appear to help smaller companies relative to larger ones, because the latter have larger pools of their own information. Many of the observers I've seen quoted don't talk about harm so much but express doubts that repeal would have any positive impact on competition. If I had to vote, I'd say "no effect."
I suspect that repeal would have other effects that would cause increased cost, confusion and inefficiency, at least for a time, since it upsets a system that has been in operation for a long time and changes law. One would have to do a cost/benefit analysis to know whether it was worth it. The larger question is whether it's worth the attention it's getting relative to other causes of high healthcare costs.
@Idler - while I appreciate that you found the DOJ piece useful, I'm not sure why you still suggest that a $350 million settlement of a price fixing case is NY is not relevant. Whatever.
Maybe I'm just misunderstanding you, and you're focused on the narrow point that of all the kinds of anti-competitive features built into the current health insurance system, lack of applicable Federal anti-trust statues is pretty minor. For argument's sake let's just say we stipulate that. So what?
The fact remains that the current system is remarkably uncompetitive. Just yesterday BusinessWeek reported on an AMA study documenting the continued erosion of even what competition there is. According to the study, in "24 of the states, the two largest insurers had a combined market share of 70 percent or more."
In other words, whether by illegal collusion or just by the current nature of the "market," there's no real competition.
At the time that I clicked "send", you had produced zero quotes or links to anything. Just challenges. That your comment precedes mine is just the luck of the draw, so your aside to Dan P seems to apply to you as well.
No, that's not in question. When an industry is singled out for protection from oversight, collusion is enabled by statute.
One could sure ask if collusion actually occurs, and if so, what overall impact it has on costs. Like you, I don't know the answer to the second half of the question, but there is good evidence that collusion does occur. And no, I'm not bothering to link it.
On to the entities quoted: BNA, founded by business journalists and employee owned, is likely to be "pro-business", but I wouldn't characterize that (assumed) bias as left or right.
CBO, for all it's varous perceived mistakes, is the standard for all Congress Critters, and White House Denizens, left and right.
The Center for Studying Health System Change seems to be my cup of tea, as they seem to focus away from insurnace premiums and toward a topic much more relevant to cost reduction. The rapidly increasing cost of health care as provided by alleged non-profits.
The insurance commissioners are drawn heavily from industry, based on the tired and false assumption that as they are the "pros", they will make the best decisions. I'm sure that there are many individuals of sterling quality in the mix here, but I wouldn't trust this group if they asserted that the moon is made of rock.
The argument over McCarran, seems to me to be similar to the argument over "tort reform". Both should be done, as there are clear examples of abuse. However, regarding "tort reform" the numbers are that such reform would decrease premium cost by around .5%, so it's a side show.
Populist acts by elected officials aren't necessarily entirely cynical as they send important messages to both industry and consumers, that things need to be tightened up a bit, and both groups tend to respond to these indicators.
Dan, with regard to the New York case, it didn't seem to be a matter of insurance companies colluding but rather a service recommending or establishing rates based its recommendations on input from insurers/payers rather than from providers — the payers said something should cost X, but the providers generally sought higher amounts. I have found that the mere mention of a phrase such as "price fixing" should be regarded with skepticism. I happen to believe that insurers often abuse their position relative to policyholders, particularly in the use of litigation. However, I also know that politicians commonly pander to the public by taking actuarially unsound positions. The Florida homeowners market is a good example of this, as is the entire federal flood insurance program, which is a fiscal disaster precisely because it's built on fanciful premises and pandering.
I originally reacted to DeanOR's post because I had been thinking about the subject. A friend asked me to comment on a New York Times editorial by Robert Reich a couple of days ago and then I happened to come across a document addressing the antitrust issue as it pertains to the property/casualty industry. I hadn't ever studied that issue, but it had appeared a great deal in the rhetoric surrounding the healthcare debate. I certainly had no inclination to support an antitrust exemption but I had no idea why it should be there. Having been provoked by circumstance into taking a closer look, it began to appear that it was something that sounded sinister but really wasn't. I began to think people were repeating it without understanding it.
I don't know if it's accurate to say that there's no real competition in the health insurance market. However, it certainly is less competitive than the property/casualty industry, as measured by the number of choices. The thing is that the antitrust exemption applies to P&C as well as health, so it seems unlikely that the exemption is the cause on that ground alone. Both industries are state-regulated as well, of course. I suspect that there are several other industries without an antitrust that resemble the health insurance industry in terms of the number of competitors and the relative predominance of big players. I doubt, however, that those industries have any non-profit companies among the big players, as the insurance industry does.
"No, that's not in question. When an industry is singled out for protection from oversight, collusion is enabled by statute."
Perhaps, but the health insurance industry isn't given protection from oversight; it's given the green light to share information that would otherwise not be shared (loss information), and that same information is available to the regulators. The resulting rates are also reviewed by the regulators. It's done deliberately (from a regulatory point of view) for actuarial purposes, not for the kind of market intelligence purposes normally associated with trust activity, which further more is concealed from oversight.
Idler, very astute of you to challenge DeanOR based on a single datapoint.
In fact, it can't be a testable hypothesis as there are no degrees of freedom. Try to use a parametric test with 0 degrees of freedom. But, as Pat pointed out, that was the point of the gimmick.
I would also like to hear that addressed. It seems odd for BO to be promoting something when the wet blanket is being applied by the White House. Yeah, most want the public option. Why are the Dems dragging their feet so much?
It's nice to note that it's no longer a case that socialized medicine- why is that old chestnut not being bandied about- does not automatically get rejected by physicians. Meanwhile big Pharma and the insurance industry have their way. Next time you hop in the car for a solo, discretionary trip, or use a plastic bag from the store, instead of bringing your own, consider that every major policy decision in the last decade has pandered to big oil. Pharma is just as much about big oil as ExxonMobil is.
What "gimmick," Zarathustra? I had a genuine interest in a topic about which I thought someone was commenting without knowledge. In any case, it wasn't a "data point," it was a sub topic about which a book could be written.
There was plenty of room to argue the question one way or the other so what you say clearly doesn't make any sense. Is throwing out dismissive nonsense in lieu of a cogent argument your "gimmick"?
Sorry, Idler, don't see it that way. If you have one fact and you repeat it for 150 pages, that doesn't turn a single data point into a body of evidence.
I think you'll find I appreciate your sincerity more than most do on here. Sorry if it didn't sound that way.
I appreciate the courteous reply, Zarathustra.
There's no reason someone shouldn't choose to focus on the one issue that happens to interest him. One could say, for example, "I agree with several points you've made, but I must insist that I find this one particular claim questionable."


text:
The Lone Ranger' a woeful misfire
Big-budget adaptation a cynical mess
The summer season is a time of cinematic spectacle. Nine-figure budgets and global stars are brought together in an attempt to build and/or maintain billion-dollar franchises. Sometimes, these plans go as intended and you get a real blockbuster. Other times, a variety of factors go awry cost overruns, reshoots, misreading of audiences and you get films that fall flat. These are movies that, while not necessarily utter disasters, nevertheless fail to deliver on expectations.
Published in Movies
Texas Chainsaw Massacre' gets a requel'
Film tries and fails to reinvigorate classic franchise
Few genres inspire multiple franchise offerings quite like horror. There are the big ones, of course series such as 'Friday the 13th,' 'Halloween' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street' but almost every horror film that has experienced even a modicum of success has produced a number of increasingly terrible sequels/prequels/reboots.
For instances, we have the new 'Texas Chainsaw 3D' film; did you know that this is the seventh (!) installment of everybody's favorite chainsaw-wielding maniac Leatherface?
Father knows worst That's My Boy'
Sandler's first foray into R-rated comedy falls flat
It has become common in critical circles to look down on the works of Adam Sandler. Sandler's man-child antics have lost their luster for film critics around the world; those who watch movies for a living have grown tired of Sandler's never-changing shtick. And with good reason with very rare exception, the films that Sandler and his Happy Madison production company have produced have been getting steadily worse over the past decade-plus.
But hey millions of people go out and shell out their hard-earned dollars to see this junk, so what do the critics know?
Sandler's latest offering is 'That's My Boy,' yet another example of Sandler taking a promising comedic concept and hammering into the ground under wave after wave of repetitive idiocy and poorly-acted cameos from Sandler's buddies.
Rock of Ages' less than solid
Movie musical combines the worst of Broadway, 80s rock
While they were once a vital part of the cinematic landscape, movie musicals have become much more of a hit or miss proposition. A musical with both good music and good execution can still be a bona fide hit, but the sad truth is that one or the other of those two primary factors is often found lacking.
'Rock of Ages,' based on the hit Broadway musical of the same name, is Hollywood's latest effort.
It's 1987 the golden age of the LA rock scene. Young Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough, 'Footloose') is a starry-eyed girl who has moved to the big city from Tulsa, Oklahoma to be a famous singer. Upon her arrival, she meets Drew (Diego Boneta, TV's '90210'), an aspiring young rocker who just happens to work at the legendary Bourbon Room, a music club owned and operated by aging rocker Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin, TV's '30 Rock') and his assistant Lonny (Russell Brand, 'Arthur').
Who's the lamest of them all?
Latest Snow White' adaptation both overwrought and dull
We live in an age of recycled creativity. The number of original stories that are being told in our popular media seems to shrink with each year that passes.
This shrinkage is what leads us to the release of 'Snow White and the Huntsman,' the second reboot of the classic fairy tale to debut in less than three months ('Mirror Mirror' hit screens at the end of March). So not only is it a story that has been told countless times before, it's a story that was just told a few weeks ago.
They're different movies, to be sure 'Snow White and the Huntsman' adopts a darker, more adult tone than its predecessor. However, that darkness and thematic maturity doesn't change the fact that this movie simply isn't very good.
Quoth The Raven' total bore
Film is uninspired, unoriginal and uninteresting
Sometimes, you just know. Maybe you're watching a trailer or reading a preview; you're learning about an upcoming movie for the first time. Just like that, an epiphany about this movie strikes.
It is going to be terrible.
More often than not, that visceral first instinct is usually right when it comes to cinematic stinkers. And if you're like me, you got that feeling instantly upon your first view of the trailer for 'The Raven,' starring John Cusack ('Hot Tub Time Machine') as Edgar Allan Poe in some sort of action-adventure/mystery genre mishmash that at first glance doesn't seem to know what it wants to be.
Upon viewing the film, I can safely say this - that impression is wholly accurate.
The Unlucky One
Sparks adaptation overwrought, underdeveloped
There are few writers out there who have mastered the art of emotional manipulation quite like Nicholas Sparks. And Hollywood has taken notice, adapting seven of his books to the big screen. He's responsible for such tearjerkers as 'A Walk To Remember,' 'Dear John,' 'Message in a Bottle' and of course, the Sparksiest of them all, 'The Notebook.' Number seven just hit the big screen with the opening of 'The Lucky One.'
Logan Thibeault (Zac Efron, 'The Lorax') is a Marine sergeant serving in Iraq. One day while standing guard, he catches a glimpse of something half buried in the sand. He goes to retrieve it; it turns out to be a laminated picture of a woman. As he looks at it, a rocket attack hits precisely where he had just been standing. From then on, Logan views it as a sort of lucky charm.
When he gets out of the service, Logan is determined to track down the woman from the photo. His journey takes him from Colorado to Louisiana, where he finally finds Beth Green (Taylor Schilling, 'Atlas Shrugged: Part I'). She runs a pet boarding kennel along with her grandmother Ellie (Blythe Danner, 'What's Your Number?'). When Logan arrives, he intends to tell Beth about the picture but instead gets swept into the idyllic small-town life of the Greens.
'Xenoblade Chronicles' also has a 'Heart-to-Heart' system
'Xenoblade Chronicles' is the kind of thing that can make you wonder what the hell you're doing with your life. 'Am I really literally systematically checking fetch quests off of this list right now?' you might ask yourself. 'Xenoblade Chronicles,' played at a state of near-unemployment at age 24 with an electric bass guitar plugged into a switched-off amp in the corner of the room, is the kind of game that maybe gets you to realize that you don't have to do this anymore, which is about as much praise as I can give anything that doesn't taste like gourmet root beer.
Not being a jerk: Man, these skies really are blue. That's nice. And man, these characters really do sound crazy and British. That's alright, too! Entering one of these overworld areas is maybe an actual fantastic feeling. It's crazy how far you can see and how you can just walk through all of it. I don't want to just write the same sentence over and over, but, man, the scope of this game is really something.
Being a jerk: Unfortunately, there's this arrow, which literally grins straight at you through the screen, and literally drools, and literally yells at you through your Wii Remote to go kill three more goblins and get three more goblin hearts to get one more pair of shoes that increases your defense by one but lowers your speed by one so that you'll have a pair for every member of your party, and it literally gets bigger, pixel by pixel, if you stray from the path that whatever sidequest you select is leading you along, until eventually it gets big enough to cover up your avatar, and then big enough to fill up your whole screen, and then you have to turn your Wii off if you want to see around it. Luckily, once you reach this point, the whole thing might not even be a metaphor anymore, and you can play 'Dark Souls' instead.
Published in Tekk
A Thousand Words' and zero laughs
Clumsy comedy has little to offer
Remember when Eddie Murphy used to be funny?
The past few months have heard rumblings that maybe Eddie was on his way back he'd shown us a little of the old razzle dazzle in 'Tower Heist;' he was set to host the Oscars but then the movie went nowhere and Brett Ratner's homophobic slurring took care of the hosting gig and the talk of Eddie's return sort of disappeared.
'A Thousand Words,' Murphy's latest, is indicative of the kind of dreck to which he has exposed audiences over the past couple of decades.
Project X' deserves an F'
Party movie not much fun
Sometimes, a movie comes along that looks just terrible. You see the trailers and read the advance coverage and you think to yourself 'Man, what a steaming pile that movie is going to be.' Of course, you're still kind of titillated by the idea of going to see this awful, awful movie. Sometimes it's fun to see something you know is going to be bad.
But sometimes you get a movie that's beyond bad, a movie that is exponentially worse than even the terrible trailers ever indicated.
Sometimes you get 'Project X.'
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Identify new sources of genetic resistance to sugarcane aphids (SCA), characterize the host plant resistance mechanisms and the resistance genes, and develop genetic stocks and/or varieties of sorghum lines with SCA resistance.
We have discovered new sources of resistance to sugarcane aphid (SCA) and will continue to screen germplasm collections for additional resistance sources. Characterizing the genetic diversity of new resistance sources and determining diverse resistance mechanisms (genes or regulatory pathways) will provide sorghum improvement researchers with the knowledge to develop durable resistant varieties. Pyramiding multiple resistance genes can increase the longevity of resistance (Nelson, 1972, Ebana et al. 2015). Experiments will be initiated to (1) confirm earlier determinations on resistance traits (i.e. tolerance, antibiosis, etc.) of the newly discovered germplasm sources and (2) to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with each of the traits. Upon estimation of the degree of resistance for each trait, we will generate sorghum populations, with a combination of these resistance traits and yield potential, for inbred development using a marker-assisted selection method. We will make crosses with different resistant traits and move them into adapted backgrounds to generate genotypes combining multiple aphid resistance alleles (each controlling a different response to SCA) and test gene combinations within a homogeneous genetic line under field environments. Desirable genotypes with the best combinations of target traits will be identified, selected, and tested. We will produce new genetically improved sorghum germplasm with durable resistance to SCA. SCA resistant germplasm will be timely transferred to public and private plant breeding programs. We will monitor aphid populations biannually at all monitoring sites for possible biotypic change, which if it were to occur would impact breeding programs for SCA resistance. If biotypes develop results will be shared project wide via myfields.info and used to modify strategies for developing SCA resistant sorghum.


Everybody is discussing "the cloud." Yet what does it mean?
To an ever increasing extent, we are seeing innovation moving to the cloud. It's not only a prevailing fashion — the move from conventional programming models to the web has relentlessly picked up energy throughout the most recent 10 years. Looking forward, the following decade of distributed computing guarantees better approaches to work together all over the place, through cell phones.
So what is distributed computing? Basically, distributed computing is a sort of re-appropriating of PC programs. Utilizing distributed computing, clients can get to programming and applications from wherever they are; the PC programs are being facilitated by an outside get-together and dwell in the cloud. This implies clients don't need to stress over things, for example, stockpiling and power, they can just appreciate the final product.
Customary business applications have dependably been extremely entangled and costly. The sum and assortment of equipment and programming required to run them are overwhelming. You require an entire group of specialists to introduce, arrange, test, run, secure, and refresh them.
When you duplicate this exertion crosswise over handfuls or many applications, it's anything but difficult to perceive any reason why the greatest organizations with the best IT offices aren't getting the applications they require. Little and average size organizations don't stand a shot.
With distributed computing, you wipe out those cerebral pains that accompany putting away your own information, since you're not overseeing equipment and programming — that turns into the obligation of an accomplished merchant like Salesforce. The mutual framework implies it works like an utility: You pay for what you require, overhauls are programmed, and scaling up or down is simple.
Cloud-based applications can be fully operational in days or weeks, and they cost less. With a cloud application, you simply open a program, sign in, modify the application, and begin utilizing it.
Organizations are running a wide range of applications in the cloud, similar to client relationship the executives (CRM), HR, bookkeeping, and substantially more. A portion of the world's biggest organizations moved their applications to the cloud with Salesforce after thoroughly testing the security and dependability of our framework.
As distributed computing develops in notoriety, a large number of organizations are just rebranding their non-cloud items and administrations as "distributed computing." Dependably burrow further while assessing cloud contributions and remember that in the event that you need to purchase and oversee equipment and programming, what you're taking a gander at isn't generally distributed computing yet a false cloud.
An outsider hosts components of foundation, for example, equipment, programming, servers, and capacity, additionally giving reinforcement, security, and support.
Utilizing the cloud, programming, for example, a web program or application can turn into a usable apparatus.
The part of distributed computing that enables clients to create, run, and oversee applications without becoming involved with code, stockpiling, framework, etc.
There are a few kinds of PaaS. Each PaaS alternative is either open, private, or a half and half blend of the two. Open PaaS is facilitated in the cloud, and its foundation is overseen by the supplier. Private PaaS, then again, is housed in on location servers or private systems, and is kept up by the client. Crossover PaaS utilizes components from both open and private, and is fit for executing applications from various cloud foundations.
Skin lighting up Orange Strip Cover works contemplates, the result may be moderate anyway the results are captivated. The people who need to clean their facial skin, discard dull spots on the face and tone up the skin here is the home answer for you.
Do whatever it takes not to dispose of the orange strips this winter. Assemble them and get them in light ward dry them from buildup. Ones they are properly vanished put it in your kitchen processor and make a fine powder out of it. You can store the powder in any plastic container for a significant long time gave the strips were suitably vanished. Ones you have the powders seek after the going with fundamental system to set up the cover.
Mix the orange strip, turmeric powder, lemon crush and make a paste like crème with deplete or yogurt. Set aside for 5-10 minutes thank apply on face. Back rub with the paste and desert it on the face for 30mins or till it dissipates. Than wash it off with warm water. Use it consistently for better results.
In case you see glossy frame magazines, you will see page after page stacked up with amazing individuals, blasting stunning locks and impeccable splendid skin. While they may owe their sparkle to enormous measures of improving operators and wide video modifying, you can get more splendid skin typically by using fundamental things from your kitchen.
We have thought of astounding natively constructed face veils that will give you smooth, immaculate skin nearby a sensitive glimmer. The best part is that these face covers are free of frightful manufactured mixes found in business blurring or skin illuminating creams that may make hurt your skin and in explicit cases even outrageous ominously helpless reactions.
So whether you are getting ready for a family wedding or basically need to leave individuals speechless wherever you go, essentially explore different avenues regarding any of these 9 best natively constructed skin helping (lighting up) confront veils.
If you wish to explore different avenues regarding even more such face veils, you can in like manner examine our DIY take off covers to discard zits and moreover our beginning and end ordinary face covers for smooth skin. If you encounter the evil impacts of excessively dry skin, we can propose you some genuinely continuing and immersing face veils that will give you newborn child fragile skin.
Thusly, immediately, read on to find how to make skin helping (lighting up) confront covers at home.
Turmeric has for quite a while been used in standard Indian culture for prosperity and excellence purposes. This splendid pizzazz is routinely used in regular answers for treat skin aggravation and get more wonderful skin.
The major skin whitening administrator is lemon juice, which is well off in citrus extricate, while ground oat flour serves to quiet and carefully shed the skin. The rose water further helps condition your skin and credit it a becoming flushed shimmer, while rough nectar soaks and feeds your skin, making this cover exceedingly convincing for skin illuminating.
Take 3 tablespoons of ground oats flour in a mixing dish.
Incorporate 1 tablespoon of regular unrefined nectar.
Incorporate ½ teaspoon of regular turmeric powder.
Pound out the juice from ½ a lemon.
Finally, add rose water as required to make a smooth paste for straightforward application.
Dunk a remedial brush into the prepared cover and apply wherever all over; essentially avoid the sensitive skin around your eyes.
Surrender it on for 15 to 20 minutes; by then gently wash it off with warm water and pat dry your skin.
You can apply this cover a couple of times each week for 2 to 3 weeks to ordinarily illuminate your skin and give it a sensitive splendid shimmer. In case you are slanted to skin irritation and routinely encounter the evil impacts of breakouts, you can moreover try different things with these face veils to discard skin aggravation and scars.
Nectar does not just taste scrumptious; it can give your skin a wonderfully smooth and glimmering surface too. In mix with ground rice flour that contains major enhancements, nectar endeavors to hydrate, settle, and recover your skin, giving it a fragile splendid sparkle. Next to rice flour, rice water can in like manner be used to get a shimmering skin and shiny hair.
Take 1 tablespoon of ground rice flour in a mixing dish.
Incorporate 2 tablespoons of rough nectar too.
Mix totally to get a uniform blend.
Using a helpful brush, apply the fine blend all over; just keep up a vital separation from the fragile area around your eyes.
Forsake it on for 15 minutes; by then step by step rub it into your skin in a round development.
Use a washcloth dunked in warm water to wipe the shroud off your face.
Wash your face with cool water; you can apply a light toner, for instance, rose water and line it up with a light cream.
Use this hand crafted skin helping (lighting up) confront cover multiple times every week for 2 to 3 weeks to illuminate your skin.
Aloe vera gel takes after a solution for skin; it reduces, continues, and patches hurt skin from inside; it furthermore contains malic destructive that upgrades skin adaptability to empower you to discard wrinkles and get more energetic looking skin typically. You can similarly make sense of how to make natively constructed aloe vera gel here.
While sandalwood powder is another extraordinarily ground-breaking component for countering smooth skin; it moreover mitigates your skin, while lemon press and rose water further redesign the shroud's skin-helping and – illuminating properties.
Take 2 tablespoons of sandalwood powder in a mixing dish.
Incorporate 1 tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel too.
Incorporate 2 teaspoons of normally pounded lemon juice.
Incorporate 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil too.
Last, yet not the smallest, add rose water as required to get a smooth blend for application.
Use a hand blender to mix everything by and large and reliably.
Dunk in a remedial brush and apply this hand crafted confront cloak to illuminate and encourage your skin.
Keep it on for 15 to 20 minutes; by then wash it off with warm water and delicately pat dry.
Use this cover 2 to multiple times every week for 3 to about multi month to get fragile especially hydrated skin with a more awesome tone.
Cocoa has honestly been known as an insidious delight; regardless, it isn't just wanton on the tongue as you can use this rich settling to give your face an incredible sparkle. Basically mix it with fixings, for instance, Greek yogurt that contains enhancing proteins and lactic destructive (whitens and lights up skin), rough nectar, fresh lemon juice, and a prepared banana to get fragile, hefty, and perfect skin without heaping on a tremendous measure of decorating operators.
Strip and hack up ½ a prepared banana into pieces; use a fork to squash them into pound in a mixing dish.
Incorporate 3 tablespoons of Greek yogurt into the bowl too.
Incorporate 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder.
Incorporate 1 teaspoon of unrefined nectar.
Incorporate 1 teaspoon of normally squeezed lemon press moreover.
Use a little automated hand blender to whisk all fixings into a uniform blend.
Dive in a restorative brush and apply all in all face, beside the delicate areas around the eyes.
Keep it on for 20 to 25 minutes and after that wash your face with water; gently pat dry.
Apply this cocoa– nectar confront cover 2 to multiple times every week for something like 3 to about multi month to get particularly soaked shining skin.
As far as even minded gadgets, there's none more valuable than the dash cam. A dash cam can be utilized to record your ordinary adventure, which is helpful in case you're taking a panoramic detour, as well as in the event that you get into a mishap too. Models like the Next base Dash Cam 212 and the Apachie G30 Dual Dash offer a reasonable method to keep you lawfully secured and to help catch some executioner film also.
In the event that you've at any point utilized a cell phone, a Bluetooth pack for your vehicle is one of the soundest device ventures you'll ever make. Bluetooth pack's made by organizations like Belkin enable you to associate your telephone with your vehicle and connect with your contacts hands free. This implies next time you get a call you'll have the capacity to reply without missing the call, or draw over to the side of the street!
Versatile GPS frameworks are maybe the most widely recognized gadgets found in present day vehicles. Regular a huge number of suburbanites utilize GPS to explore their approach to work, yet not the same number of utilization GPS trackers. A GPS tracker can be associated with your cell phone to keep you mindful of your vehicle's area. Organizations like Spy Tec offer reasonable trackers to enable you to ensure your vehicle isn't stolen!
On the off chance that you're a 4G information savage, this next contraption is ideal for you. A versatile WiFi hotspot box will enable you to move your vehicle into a portable switch! Section level models. In any case, it's important that you'll have to pay for information on a month to month premise so verify how costly your supplier is before obtaining.
A back view camera is outstanding amongst other buys on the off chance that you need to enhance your mobility out and about. With this contraption, you can mount a camera over your back tag, which will at that point stream live film directly to your telephone. Along these lines you can check what's behind you without extending your neck!
Keeping your telephone charged over lengthy drives can be a bad dream on occasion, yet with a USB vehicle charger you can keep your telephone charged regardless of whether you don't have a USB port in your vehicle.
With regards to support couple of gadgets can coordinate a brilliant vehicle connector. A brilliant vehicle connector is a machine that can be connected to your vehicle to produce information about your vehicle. Applications like Automatic can be utilized to run diagnostics and check for issues with your vehicle. In like manner the Car Lock Cloud connector will advise your contacts in the event that you get into a mishap! Savvy vehicle connectors are outstanding amongst other approaches to collaborate with your vehicle while driving.
Ultimately, there are a huge amount of versatile applications out there for drivers to utilize, tune in to, and cooperate with, in a hurry. On the off chance that you need to utilize your telephone as a GPS, Google Maps is an incredible place to begin, however that is not all. You can likewise utilize clever applications like Open bay to gather cites from carports in your general vicinity in the occasion you breakdown. Similarly, applications like Fuelly enable clients to follow their fuel utilization and in general efficiency.
Teeth unavoidably start to yellow with age, yet a scope of techniques can moderate the procedure and even turn around it.
While tooth-whitening units are promptly accessible at most drug stores, numerous normal cures can help expel recolors and secure tooth finish.
The external layer of teeth comprises of veneer, which is shaded relatively white and secures the more profound tooth structure. Underneath the polish is a layer of tissue called dentin, which is yellow-dark colored. At the point when the polish layer diminishes or wears away, the teeth start to look darker.
Acidic sustenances, gum infection, and maturing can wear out tooth veneer. A few people additionally have finish that is normally more slender.
Explicit sustenances and drinks, for example, espresso, can recolor the teeth. A few nourishments that recolor the teeth may likewise wear out finish, expanding the yellowing.
Different wellsprings of stains incorporate sm0king and tobacco items and particular kinds of anti-microbials.
Killing nourishments that check the teeth can avoid further recoloring. Nourishments and refreshments that contain tannins, for example, wine and tea, can recolor the teeth. Espresso and dull soft drinks and squeezes can likewise recolor them.
Acidic sustenances can make the teeth look yellow by wearing out the polish. Individuals who are worried about the shade of their teeth ought to maintain a strategic distance from the over the top utilization of citrus, espresso, and soft drink. On the other hand, they ought to dependably brush their teeth in the wake of having them.
Dental practitioners by and large suggest holding up 30 minutes subsequent to eating before brushing the teeth. Acids can debilitate the finish, so brushing too early can cause harm.
Stopping sm0king or tobacco items can diminish the danger of nicotine stains. It can likewise anticipate tooth rot and gum infection, the two of which can harm the lacquer and cause oral medical problems.
Oil pulling is the term for washing the mouth with oil to evacuate earth, microscopic organisms, and trash. It's anything but a substitute for standard brushing or flossing, however some examination proposes that washing the mouth with specific oils may whiten the teeth.
The American Dental Affiliation (ADA) consider oil pulling to be unusual dentistry, expressing, "there are no dependable logical examinations to demonstrate that oil pulling lessens cavities, whitens teeth, or enhances oral wellbeing and prosperity."
To attempt this technique, flush the mouth with oil for a moment subsequent to brushing, at that point spit it out.
Preparing soft drink can tenderly clean away stains on the surface of the teeth. A few people stress that preparing soft drink is excessively cruel and may granulate away polish, yet look into from 2017 observed it to be a protected method to expel stains.
Preparing soft drink may likewise battle microorganisms, which recommends that it might have the capacity to diminish plaque and avert tooth rot.
Hydrogen peroxide is a gentle dye that can whiten recolored teeth. For ideal whitening, a man can have a go at brushing with a blend of preparing soft drink and hydrogen peroxide for 1– 2 minutes two times every day for seven days. They should just do this once in a while.
Hydrogen peroxide may build tooth affectability, so it isn't appropriate for long haul utilize or for individuals who as of now have touchy teeth.
Papain and bromelain, which are catalysts that happen in papayas and pineapples separately, may both help to whiten teeth.
Keeping up great oral cleanliness is the most essential thing that a man can do to decrease tooth yellowing.
Standard brushing and flossing ensures the finish, avoids gum rot, and expels stains.
Brushing the teeth no less than two times every day. A man ought to make certain to likewise clean around the gums and the backs of the teeth.
Utilizing a fluoride toothpaste. Fluoride can battle and even switch tooth rot. Despite the fact that a few people restrict utilizing fluoride, dental specialists trust that fluoride is protected and advantageous for teeth.
Flossing to evacuate plaque between the teeth.
Barely any individuals have normally white teeth, as teeth will in general yellow with age. Nonetheless, keeping up fantastic oral cleanliness and having standard dental checkups can keep teeth brilliant.
Yellow teeth are not normally the indication of a medical issue, but rather a dental practitioner can check for veneer misfortune and tooth rot.
Characteristic cures can enable individuals to whiten their teeth at home. A dental specialist can likewise offer proficient teeth-whitening.


Yesterday was the day of the 2013 Toronto Santa Claus Parade! At 5.6km long and having been held every year since 1905, it's one of the longest running and altogether largest parades of its kind anywhere in the world.
Now, I'm normally a major grinch when it comes to Christmas-related items. I've always thought it was a silly celebration in the southern hemisphere (commercially speaking, anyway). We're bombarded with images of snow and Santa and reindeer when in reality it's 42 degrees under the blistering hot sun and as humid as a sauna. But seeing as I'll be in the northern hemisphere for Christmas this year, I figured I'd at least make a small effort to soak in the traditional wintry Christmas imagery we're all so familiar with.
I almost didn't bother going to the parade until my friend Laura mentioned on FB how impressive the floats all looked as she walked past them lining up for the event early in the morning – not to mention the fact that there was a One Direction float in the mix. That was enough to convince me to get out of the house, but I still had the inkling I wouldn't be impressed, so I declined to carry around my camera.
Thankfully I still had my phone camera, because it actually turned out to be a darn lot more impressive than I could have imagined. Never in my life have I seen such a conglomeration of clowns, marching bands, gorilla/monkey/bee/squirrel/giraffe onesies, fairy floss, Santa Claus hats and floats featuring all kinds of crazy Christmassy characters… it was insane! And I couldn't believe how many participants there were and how many people lined the streets to observe the jolly festivities.