One of the more unusual B'z songs is the "ALONE" B-side titled "GO-GO-GIRLS". The song, written from a female perspective, did not originate as a B'z song. Instead, it was written by the band for female pop artist Yuiko Tsubokura best known as the lead vocalist of B.B.Queens. Her version was released on her solo mini album I Wanna Be Myself three months before the B'z rendition. For her version, Tak also provides guitar throughout in what is ostensibly a dance-oriented song. Notably, the backing vocals on the B'z recording are provided by Tsubokura herself.
It would be some years before B'z would provide a song to another artist. In 2006, following the release of their hard rock single "Shoudou", the band were in the midst of recording what would become their fifteenth studio album, MONSTER. It was around this time that fellow Being artist Aya Kamiki was being staked for a major debut. Kamiki, a longtime B'z fan that had for years covered songs by the band on her own accord in live settings, was set up as the next artist to receive a new B'z song which would become "Pierrot".
The two versions of the song are as similar as can be expected, though a few words of the lyrics were changed to be slightly less masculine. Because B'z were releasing their own version at the time and were in the midst of recording their own album, they did not record for the Kamiki version.
The decision was made by Being to release the Kamiki version alongside the B'z single "Yuruginai Mono Hitotsu" which utilized their own version of "Pierrot" as a B-side. It was presumed by fans at the time that this synergy would drive curiosity sales, and it worked: To date, "Pierrot" remains Kamiki's best-selling solo single.
—Concerning the lyrics Koshi had to write, did Kim Hyun Joong request any special motives to be included in the song's lyrics?
Koshi: He didn't have any special requests as far as story and meaning go. However, he pointed out a couple of words that he found hard to pronounce, so we changed those as he was singing. I think it was fine overall. He had his own concerns, but when we listened to it, you could hear that it's not his native language. We could make out a couple of sections where he really tried hard to sing in Japanese and we debated if we should change those. Those are the times we changed things.
Previews of the song revealed that Tak and Koshi would indeed have a hands-on role, with Koshi participating in a backing vocal role at one point and Tak performing on guitar. Upon its release on July 4, 2012, "HEAT" by Kim Hyun Joong debuted at the top of the Weekly Oricon Singles chart spurred by the involvement of B'z.
At the time, B'z dismissed notions they were planning to release their own version but left open the possibility of including it in live setlists. The latter did come true some months later for Japanese showings of B'z LIVE-GYM 2012 -Into Free- EXTRA and its preceding Pepsi-sponsored live shows. The song was not performed as part of the North American leg of the tour and was reserved for the encore in the band's home country.
A year later, it was announced that a B'z version of the song had indeed been recorded in time for B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998. This version of the song is closer to Tak's original vision, being set in the original key for Koshi's voice used in the composition stage. Because Kim Hyun Joong's key was much lower by comparison his version of the song was adjusted accordingly.
In the years since, "HEAT" has become a fan-favorite and was performed on every stop of B'z LIVE-GYM 2015 -EPIC NIGHT-. Based on its popularity, the song is sure to return in the near future.
In addition to such collaborations as B'z proper, both members have served the same role in solo capacities as well. Tak, specifically, has written and provided dozens of songs for other artists—the most notable of which is likely his contribution to the KAT-TUN catalogue.
KAT-TUN would go on to become one of the foremost pop groups of the modern era, but at the time, they had yet to properly debut. Tak contributed the music to what would become their debut single, "Real Face", which would be the best-selling single for all of 2006 and remains the best-selling in their discography. A version entitled "Real Face #1" would be found on one of the band's albums, which featured Tak on guitar in a more rock-oriented arrangement.
Years prior, in order to raise funds for the Kobe earthquake disaster of the 1990s, Bon Jovi donated the cover rights of their song "Next 100 Years" to the Japanese boy band conglomerate J-FRIENDS, comprised of Johnny's Entertainment groups TOKIO, KinKi Kids, and V6. All proceeds from the resulting charity single were to benefit victims of the disaster.
So that the release could have the broadest impact, Johnny's turned to one of the foremost lyricists in Japanese music: Koshi Inaba. Here, he was tasked with writing the Japanese lyrics to accompany the original music created by Bon Jovi collaborators Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. "Next 100 Years" by J-FRIENDS was released on December 22nd, 1999, and debuted at #1 on the Oricon weekly chart. A demo of the song performed by Koshi himself has surfaced on the internet, but an official release has never come to fruition.
Shouldn't My Mirai be on this list, too?
Hi Laura! My Mirai was indeed another of the songs Koshi wrote for another artist. We didn't cover all of the songs written by them solo, but Koshi wrote quite a few for that artist (Saeka Uura). He wrote the music to five other of her songs and did both the music and lyrics to five more(!) for her outside of My Mirai (though he didn't do any self-covers of those outside of the latter). The most notable of those is probably Sha la la -Ayakashi NIGHT- which was used in the anime Kekkaishi if I recall, which he did do backing vocals on.
And, thanks for the reminder! In the future, we'll do expanded lists for both of them to give a little more insight into their solo activities. Tak, especially, has done more than enough to warrant an article of his own on the subject!
….Okay I'm shocked. As a fan of a couple of Johnny's Ent group (KATTUN included) I always thought "Real Face" was arguably the best debut song any JE group ever released (you see, when compared to A-RA-SHI or Ultra Music Power or other debut songs) and it was actually the work of B'z????? No wonder, lol.


text:
St. Louis Cardinals: Sending Knizner down is finally accepting reality
By Matt Graves
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 15: Andrew Knizner #7 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a run scoring single in the 1st inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on August 15, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
Every St. Louis Cardinals fan knows that when Yadier Molina is healthy, he is going to be starting. The team finally sent down Knizner, accepting that.
The transition from a Hall of Famer to new blood doesn't always go smoothly in the MLB. Right now, that is what is happening with the St. Louis Cardinals. I don't say this to bash likely HOF'er Yadier Molina, even with the cracks in his armor we are seeing this year, he's still been a nearly average batter at the plate.
What I mean to say is that now, for the second time in the past three years, Molina is blocking the rise of an MLB-ready catcher. Really since his debut in 2016, Carson Kelly was never given playing time behind Molina. That led to his eventual trade to the Diamondbacks before his age-24 season in the Paul Goldschmidt deal.
Kelly is doing just fine with Arizona and in this case, that is exactly what the Cardinals should've done with their excess of talent. Trade from a surplus to plug holes elsewhere.
This time around, the Cardinals are dealing with the same situation with Andrew Knizner and we have touched on this dilemma before. This time is different though. When the Cards traded Kelly, he was still on the young side of 25. Kelly had played parts of three seasons at AAA and clearly had nothing left to prove.
This time around, Knizner has played parts of two seasons at AAA and 2020 would've been his third. The big difference is that Knizner is already more than halfway to 26 years old. Last year, Knizner played in 18 games. This year, even when Yadier Molina was on the IL, Knizner has drawn just four starts out of his eight total appearances.
It's not like Knizner has looked overmatched either. His 41 wRC+ doesn't look great, but in the last two weeks, he's batting .667! Cut that time frame down to just the last seven days, and he is still batting .667! The joke here is that in the last 14 days, Knizner has gotten just three at-bats (two hits) over two games without drawing a start.
The main point many people have made is that if the Cardinals aren't going to trade Knizner, they need to at least give him playing time. To this point, it hasn't happened. Not that we expected anything else.
Unless I have missed anything, neither John Mozeliak nor Mike Shildt have addressed the lack of playing time for Knizner. Now, before Friday's game against the Cubs, the Cardinals finally accepted the reality of the situation and sent Knizner down to the Alternate Training Site.
Today, we activated C Matt Wieters from the 10-day Injured List and optioned C Andrew Knizner to our Alternate Training Site.
Additionally, RHP Jesus Cruz has cleared waivers and been assigned to our Alternate Training Site. pic.twitter.com/SvCnw7uWM3
It'll be good to get Wieters back, but the frustration surrounding Knizner's situation just keeps building.
Developmentally, playing at the alternate site makes more sense than rotting on the bench at the MLB level. Still though, playing time with the big club would be the best for him in the long run.
Yadi's stranglehold on the catcher position looks weaker than it has in years past, but I don't honestly know if the Cardinals have the strength to tell Yadi no. In the end, it's just Knizner that is getting screwed. He is not getting playing time which screws him down the line, and now that he's back in proverbial AAA, he doesn't get that juicy MLB paycheck.
If there is one big thing that the 2020 season has driven home, it's that if Yadi is anywhere near healthy, there's no reason to have any other player that needs development on the MLB roster behind him. It has just been proven too many times over that he's going to draw almost every start, for better or worse.
Kiz is still remaining on the taxi squad meaning he will still be with the team. This also means he won't get any regular playing time in Springfield until the Cardinals return home early next week.
Now is the best chance to catch the Cubs. dark. Next
I guess it's good to see the Cards accepting reality, but I wish they would just have the decency to either sit Yadi a couple of times a week or at least trade Knizner. There's no reason to stop beating the "trade Kiz" drum until Yadi is no longer a St. Louis Cardinal.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Which country should I sell to?
Currently our Amazon plan is for USA and Canada Amazon accounts only, so with this plan you will only be able to sell in the USA and Canada. We can help you with orders in the USA and Canada. If you want to ship to other countries you will need to process your orders directly with the suppliers.
Why can I only load products listed under the Amazon section?
Not all our integrated suppliers provide UPC codes, which are requried in order to find products on Amazon. When you sell on Amazon you can only pick products from our list of suppliers that have UPC codes. This is the reason why not all items are available, however you can easily browse products by Amazon products only so you can quickly narrow down the products with UPC codes only.
UPC codes are universal code numbers used throughout the markplaces however Amazon uses its own internal item numbers referred to as ASIN numbers. Amazon will try to match the UPC codes of your imported products to its own database of products to locate the corresponding ASIN number which is then used to display the item name and image. Occasionally Amazon will mistatch the UPC with the wrong ASIN number which can results in problems with pricing.
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text:
Out With the New
Updated April 3, 2000 12:01 am ET / Original July 16, 2019 4:33 pm ET
The Week's Top and Bottom 10 | The Largest 10
Investors spent the last week of the first quarter taking some of their recent Nasdaq winnings off the table, bringing the technology-driven average well below the 5000 mark again. The terrestrial economy, as gauged by the Dow Jones Industrials, fared a bit better, with the average sticking in a steady band near 11,000 during the week. Illustrating the New Economy bent of mutual funds, diversified domestic stock funds as a group lost 3.95% in the week ended Thursday. Small-cap and mid-cap growth funds, this year's stars, led the way down with declines of 9.33% and 9.34%, respectively. Equity income funds earned some of their reputation for safety, slipping a mere 0.06%. Natural-resource funds topped sector vehicles with a 3.65% gain, while science and technology funds gave up 10.93%. Signaling the fortitude of value stocks last week, Vanguard Wellington eked out the best gain among the 25 largest funds with a 0.89% advance. Fidelity Growth lost 10.3%, but remains ahead by 16.18% for 2000.
One Week Y-T-D
U.S. STOCK FUNDS -3.95 5.37
U.S. BOND FUNDS -0.32 1.09
TOP SECTOR/Japanese 4.81 -4.92
BOTTOM SECTOR/Technology -10.93 15.89


Depression and anxiety are real issues that are debilitating and dangerous to our mental health. In any one year, about 10 percent of the U.S. population would meet the diagnostic criteria for depression, and about 20 percent for anxiety. Of course, everybody gets sad and worried at times. So, what distinguishes those feelings from clinical depression and anxiety?
As runners we know the meditative and restorative powers of running. Studies show that aerobic exercise can be as effective as anti-depressants in treating mild to moderate depression (and with side effects like improved health and weight management rather than bloating and sexual dysfunction).
How Does Running Help with depression?
How does moving the body change the mind? A growing body of work—both in the lab and with patients—shows that there's more to it than endorphins, the well-known opioid the body produces during certain activities, including exercise.
But endorphins aren't everything. Significant studies have been done on endocannabinoid levels in runners, dogs, and ferrets. Endocannabinoids are substances that bind to the same receptors in the brain as THC, the primary substance responsible for a marijuana high. And, maybe something that gets us to our runner's high.
A short-term mood boost thanks to endorphins and endocannibinoids is one thing. But where running really helps with mental health is over time, thanks to a change in brain structure. A review of research published in Clinical Psychology Review concluded "exercise training recruits a process which confers enduring resilience to stress." This appears to occur because regular running produces the same two changes that are thought to be responsible for the effectiveness of anti-depressants: increased levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine, and neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons.
A hallmark of depression is self-defeating, absolutist thinking—"everything is harder than it should be," "there's no pleasure in my life," "it's always going to be like this." But running can help us banish those thoughts. Regular running can convince yourself that progress is possible regarding the many worries in our lives that lead to depression and anxiety. The experience of seeing yourself do something can make you feel better. If you take anti-depressants and they make you feel better, you come to rely on the drug for that better feeling. If you exercise and feel better, you know it's occurring because you're putting in the work to make it happen. That's very empowering and makes you realize you can take control of the situation.
It's nice to run for an hour and go from being in a good-enough mood to a better one. It's a fundamental shift to go from being miserable to content, thanks to an infusion of feel-good substances. And running may be the only exercise that really provides the rush. Have you ever tried swimming or cycling and found that you get that some "high" after the workout.
While depression and anxiety can be a year-round feeling, as we now enter the colder, darker days of the year we may all begin to feel a little more sluggish, sad and less hopeful. Just know, that lacing up those shoes and jumping on your treadmill or going out for that brisk run can be the best medicine out there - and one that is good to be addicted to.


text:
Karl Heinrich Slotta (* 12. Mai 1895 in Breslau; † 17. Juli 1987 in Coral Gables) war ein deutsch-US-amerikanischer Biochemiker.

Leben
Nach Ableistung des Wehrdienstes im Ersten Weltkrieg, in dem er schwer verwundet wurde (Granatensplitter im Gehirn), studierte Slotta Chemie an der Universität Breslau, wo er 1923 bei Heinrich Biltz promoviert wurde und mit dem Gynäkologen Ludwig Fraenkel zusammenarbeitete – 1927 heiratete er dessen Tochter Maja. In den 1920er Jahren entdeckte er die blutzuckersenkende Wirkung von Biguaniden (Metformin) mit seinem Studenten R. Tschesche. 1933 gelang ihm mit Heinrich Ruschig, seinem Doktoranden (er durfte seit 1927 Doktoranden betreuen), die Isolation von Progesteron, wie gleichzeitig mehreren anderen Gruppen. Das geschah auf Anregung von Fraenkel. 1934 schlug er auch die korrekte Strukturformel vor. Er wurde 1935 Professor, verließ aber im selben Jahr Deutschland um nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung zu entgehen (seine Frau war Jüdin). Er ging an das Instituto Butantan in São Paulo in Brasilien und arbeitete zunächst über Sexualhormone und die Chemie des Kaffees (man suchte in Brasilien nach neuen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten für den damaligen Kaffeeüberschuss), dann mit Schlangengiften (Isolierung von Crotoxin mit seinem Schwager Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat (1910–1999), als erstes Schlangentoxin in kristalliner Form) und deren medizinischen Anwendungen. Als seine Abteilung (Chemie und experimentelle Pharmakologie) im Institut 1938 aufgelöst wurde, gründete er eine Biopharma-Firma (Endochimica S.A.). 1956 wurde er Forschungsprofessor an der University of Miami. Dort isolierte er das Gift der Brillenschlange (Naja naja) und identifizierte es mit James Vick als Cardiotoxin.

Er entdeckte mit Klaus Neisser die Serini-Reaktion.

1961 wurde er US-Staatsbürger. 1965 wurde er Ehrendoktor der Universität Bonn. 1981 wurde er Ehrendoktor der Deutschen Endokrinologischen Gesellschaft.

Schriften (Auswahl)
mit R. Tschesche: Über Biguanide. II. Die Blutzuckersenkende Wirkung der Biguanide, Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft, Band 62 B, 1929, S. 1396
Grundriss der modernen Arzneistoff-Synthese, Stuttgart: Enke 1931.
mit E. Fels, H. Ruschig: Die Reindarstellung der Hormone aus dem Corpus luteum, Klin. Wochenschr., Band 13, 1934, S. 1207–1208
mit H. Fraenkel-Conrat: Crototoxin, Nature, Band 144, 1939, S. 290–291
Zur Chemie der Schlangengifte, Experientia, Band 9, 1953, S. 81–88
Chemistry and Biochemistry of Snake Venoms, Progr. Chem. Org. Nat. Prod., Band 12, 1955, S. 406
The isolation of progesterone, Am. J. Obstet. Gynec., Band 121, 1975, S. 428

Literatur
Barbara J. Hawgood: Karl Heinrich Slotta (1895–1987) biochemist: snakes, pregnancy and coffee, Toxicon, Band 39, 2001, S. 1277–1282, Online
 Slotta, Karl Heinrich, in: Werner Röder; Herbert A. Strauss (Hrsg.): International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933–1945. Band 2,2. München : Saur, 1983, S. 1090f.

Chemiker (20. Jahrhundert)
Biochemiker
Hochschullehrer (University of Miami)
Hochschullehrer (Universität Breslau)
Person im Ersten Weltkrieg (Deutsches Reich)
Emigrant aus dem Deutschen Reich zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus
Deutscher
US-Amerikaner
Geboren 1895
Gestorben 1987
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Silver Queendom (Paperback)
By Dan Koboldt
When you owe money to the biggest criminal in town you are going to need to step up yourthieving game a notch…
Service at the Red Rooster Inn isn't what you'd call "good," or even "adequate." Darin would be the first to say so, and he owns the place. Evie isn't much of a barmaid; Kat's home-brewed ale seems to grow less palatable with each new batch; and Seraphina's service at the bar leaves much to be desired. As for the bouncer, Big Tom, well, everyone learns right quick to stay on his good side.
They may be bad at running an inn, but they're the best team of con artists in the Old Queendom. When a prospective client approaches Darin with a high-paying job, he knows he should refuse. But the job is boosting a shipment of priceless imperial dream wine, the most coveted and expensive drink in the world. And, thanks to a stretch of bad luck, he's in deep to The Dame, who oversees criminal enterprises in this part of the Queendom.
If they fail, they're as good as dead, but if they succeed… well, it's enough money to get square with the Dame and make all of their dreams come true. Plus, it's an option for Darin to stick it to the empress, who he has good reason to despise.
Then again, there's a very good reason no one has ever stolen imperial dream wine...
Dan Koboldt is a geneticist. His science fiction novel, Domesticating Dragons, is coming out in January from Baen. His popular blog series "Science in Sci Fi, Fact in Fantasy", has led to two writing how-to guides from Writer's Digest books: Putting the Science in Fiction (2018) and Putting the Fact in Fantasy (2022). He is also the author of the Gateways to Alissia trilogy (Harper Voyager), and creator of the sci-fi adventure serial The Triangle (Serial Box, 2019).
"This epic fantasy about a crew of misfits with just a touch of magic and heartbreaking backstories is a rollicking good time of a read. Readers who fell for Christopher Buehlman's The Blacktongue Thief are going to be head over heels for Koboldt's latest."
– Library Journal
"Equally lighthearted and action-packed high fantasy.… Koboldt keeps the pace flying through the ensuing daring heist. Readers will hope to see more of Darin and company in future installments."
Publisher: Angry Robot
Publication Date: August 23rd, 2022
Fiction / Fantasy / Epic
Fiction / Fantasy / Humorous
Fiction / Fantasy / Action & Adventure
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When we established the Runic Games forums, our goals were twofold: first, we want to stay connected with the people who make possible the things that we do; and second, we want to cultivate a fun and inclusive community of people who share a common interest.
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Updated by BrianW on June 1, 2017 at 10:58pm Pacific Time: Reformatted in Markdown.


Learning in Hand #26 is about Padlet and Lino. Padlet and Lino are the two best online sticky note services around. They are web-based and work great on iPads, PCs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets. Walls can be set up so that students can use them without logins or passwords, making them easy to infuse into lessons. And the sticky notes aren't limited to text–they can have images, videos, and hyperlinks. Discover how teachers are using these virtual message boards everyday to collect student products, power communication, and fuel productive collaboration.
View the 14:30 video on YouTube, on Vimeo, in iTunes as a podcast, through RSS, or download to explore the educational possibilities of Padlet and Lino.
This is the Learning in Hand podcast. I'm Tony Vincent and this is the show where I share tips, how-tos, and ideas for using today's digital tools for teaching and learning. Episode 26: Communicate, Collect & Collaborate with Sticky Notes, recorded May 2013, happens now!
I like digital tools that work on many different kinds of devices. I also like tools that don't require students to sign in. So I'm excited to show you Padlet and Lino because they are websites that work on computers and touchscreen devices and don't require students to have an email address or to remember a username and password.
So, have you ever given each student a Post-It note to stick to a wall to gather ideas? That's what these two sites do and they do it digitally, with less mess and more interactivity!
For example, Steve Kirkpatrick's elementary students in Salford, U.K. posted to their Dinosaur Question Wall. You can see sticky notes with questions like, "How many different types of dinosaurs are there?" and "Were there any swimming dinosaurs?" These questions served as investigation topics.
Kathleen McGready's second grade students contributed to a wall to share what they learned after their dinosaur unit.
And, Mr. Sha has his English students use the Word of the Day in a sentence. He's even able to use a sticky note to give feedback.
Padlet calls the virtual bulletin board a wall. Lino calls it a canvas. So I'll use the word word and canvas interchangeable for the rest of this video. Padlet and Lino do have more similarities than differences.
I'll talk about setting up your own wall or canvas shortly, but here's how a student contributes to one. He or she simply visits a wall by going to a specific web address in their web browser. Then to add a note on Padlet, a student double-clicks the background to add an item. On a Lino canvas, a student drags a note from the upper-right corner to begin a post. For either Padlet or Lino, the student can be on a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android… really any device with a modern browser and internet connection. I've found that Padlet and Lino work best on Macs and PCs, great on iPads, and so-so on other devices.
Digital sticky notes don't have to be limited to text. Check this out: I created a wall with a selection of videos I've made. The wall was quick to put together. To view a video, all you have to do is click to enlarge the sticky and then click play for the video–all without leaving the wall itself. I can always go back to this wall and rearrange or add or remove videos.
And, in addition to being text or a video, a note can have a hyperlink. For instance, if students make a product that is uploaded to a website that provides a link, they can paste that link into a note so that links to all student products are collected into one spot. [Scrolling - Like from Haiku Deck, Flowboard, Thinglink, GoAnimate, etc].
For example, perhaps students record ideas using Croak.it on the web or using the mobile app [iOS or Android]. Croak.it saves your audio recording online and provides a URL. Students simply copy that web address and paste it into a new sticky note. So then the wall is full links to audio recordings all collected in one place. Everyone with access can click the links and hear the recordings.
You can also attach other files, like images, PDFs, and Word documents, as a way for students to turn in their work or to share it. Or as a way for the teacher to distribute files. Sadly, iOS users are limited to uploading only photos and videos at this time.
But, using an online canvas can be a great way for the teacher to collect, say, collages students have made on their iPads. Students save their work to the Photo Library where it will be available for uploading from Safari. It's a quick way to collect and share all sorts of images created on iPads.
In addition to choosing an existing photo or video, iOS users can take a photo or video as they add the sticky. This could make for a fun way for students to go on photo scavenger hunts and collect all the photos into one spot. And these images can be collected without students having to use email or having to log into a site.
There are lots of ways teachers and students are using online sticky notes to communicate, collect, and collaborate.
Here are some of them…. Make a KWL chart, post assignments, showcase student work, brainstorm ideas, display artwork, submit questions, sort word or concepts, keep a work wall, contribute observations, and use for prewriting.
Now, let's talk about making your own walls in Padlet and Lino. You'll first create an account. Whenever you login, you'll be able to access all of the walls you've ever created under that account. Over the years, I've created dozens and dozens of walls and canvases.
In Padlet, click the Plus to make a new wall. And actually, you could stop there. Your wall is created and ready to go. By default it's open for anyone that visits the link to be able to contribute. But, I have the feeling you're going to want to do some customizations to your wall. To make changes, click the Modify Wall button. If you want, you can add a title and description. You can select a different wallpaper to make this wall look different from other walls.
You can change the layout. Under Privacy you can modify who can see your wall and if others can write on your wall. This is also where you can turn on Moderate Posts so that you have to click to approve each sticky before it appears on the wall for others to see.
Perhaps you want to be emailed once a day with what's been posted to your wall. I like to change the Address of my walls to make them easier to type. By default you're given a random URL. In the Address settings you can pick a padlet.com address. It can be anything you want as long as it is between 6 and 20 characters and no one else has already claimed that URL. I suggest making it something short and easy to type and say. Avoid ones, the letter L, zeros, and the letter O to avoid confusion if students will be typing in the URL.
In Lino, you'll click Create a New Canvas. Before you can get started using your canvas, you give it a name and choose its settings. You can choose from the backgrounds Lino provides. Or, you can upload your own image to use as the background. Then you get to decide how public you canvas will be. It can be just for your use, or you can let others see your canvas but not add to it. Or, you can make it so everyone can see it and contribute to it.
If everyone may post stickies, then I suggest unchecking most of the Details. Be sure to leave Allow Guests to Post Stickies checkmarked. That way students will not need a Lino account in order to post. Unlike Padlet, Lino does not let you pick the web address of your canvas. And the web address Lino provides is long and complicated. I suggest using a URL shortener like TinyURL.com or Bitly.com to make the URL easier to say and type.
Yes, Padlet and Lino have a lot of options to choose from. The good news is that you can always come back and make more modifications to your Padlet walls or Lino canvases.
So you've got a wall or canvas created. How do you get students there? Well, if you have a website or class start page, you can simply add it as a hyperlink. A great option for mobile devices is to make the address into a QR code. That way students can scan the code and automatically be taken to your wall. Padlet is kind enough to provides a QR code for each wall. You can see it by clicking the Share button.
I chose to share Padlet and Lino with you because they don't require collaborators to log in to add a post and they work great on iPads and other devices. But what are the big differences between Padlet and Lino?
Most notably, Padlet has a Stream layout where posts are placed one below the other. I usually use this layout because it's easier to read than a big pile of overlapping notes. You cannot sort the posts like in a Freeform layout, though.
Lino doesn't have a Stream layout, but its posts are easier to drag and sort. You can even tilt your notes if you'd like. Lino lets you change the color of the notes and the text color. Color coding notes can be a handy feature. If working in groups, each group can have its own color when contributing to a class canvas. Or when brainstorming what technology could be used for a project, the notes could be color coded according to what device is required.
Both Padlet and Lino only allow contributors to edit and move their own notes. The teacher who is logged in can of course edit, move, and delete any and all posts.
Unfortunately, Lino annoys you each time you load a canvas on your iPad to download the app. You don't want the app because it requires a username and password. So each time you go to or refresh a Lino canvas from iOS or Android, you have to click the Close link.
Padlet allows for the upload of videos. To post a video on Lino, you have to upload it on YouTube, Vimeo, or Ustream first.
Stickies appear for everyone on Padlet moments after a user double-clicks the background. You can even see the note as its being created. This can be extremely distracting. Lino stickies do not appear until the note is completed.
Padlet has the option for moderated posts. With moderation turned on, each posts requires the teacher's approval before appearing on the students' screens. Moderating is as simple as clicking Remove or Approve. Lino does not have this feature.
Lino is the best choice if you plan to use your own background. Backgrounds can be a chart, graphic organizer, something for students to label… Anything. You can use an image from the web or make your own in, say, a PowerPoint slide, and export that slide as an image for uploading to Lino. For instance, I've had students collaboratively complete a Looks Like/Sounds Like chart for what our classroom should be like during project work time. Here are more examples: students could add details they know about characters, compare animals, or label their classroom in Spanish.
While Padlet also lets you upload your own wallpaper, I've had a hard time getting posts on Padlet to stay on a certain part of the background.
If you want to print, Padlet is your choice. Lino doesn't support printing. Padlet has a Print button under the Share menu. You can also save posts from Padlet in a variety of ways, like in a PDF or Excel file.
Here's a chart comparing Padlet and Lino. You can view this chart at learninginhand.com/26.
Of course, you can find lots more features in Padlet and Lino, like embedding and emailing. These online tools are sometimes updated, so you can be sure that there will be future changes, hopefully for the better.
Whether you are using Padlet or Lino, I do suggest that if it' s a wall you plan to keep, change the privacy of the wall so that no one else can add to it after all of the student contributions have been posted. This way it's not open for possible vandalism in the future.
With online canvases, keep in mind that not everyone needs to be in the same place at the same time to contribute. You can use these tools across classes, grade levels, buildings, or countries!
In your own classroom, online stickies can allow for more students to speak up and contribute. Digital walls can allow for anonymous responses.
I think a digital wall is a tool that can be used everyday by teachers to collect student ideas and work, power communication, and enable collaboration. It's a good thing that neither Padlet nor Lino limit the number of walls you can create and maintain!
That's it for Episode 26. For more about mobile learning, visit learninginahand.com and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Pinterest. And if you're looking for a mobile learning conference, consider coming to Mobile Learning Experience 2013 in Tucson, Arizona in September. Go to mobile2013.org for more information.


is a hub of Compassion, Hope and Love.
It was during the end of 1983, that the Lord called Elias Armenis, through a newspaper, to reach out to the drug-addicted, the people of the streets and every other face that does not know the Salvation of Christ.
to draw people near to Him and to save many addicted and hopeless.
Today they have their own families, live freely and serve others.
"Passage to Life" is an active member of the Pan-Hellenic Evangelical Alliance which is part of the World Evangelical Alliance.
Many addicted, homeless and prostitutes, have heard of the love of Christ the Savior and His power to give a new life and they were served in their needs.
Many have come to know Christ, their life has been transformed, they've created their own families, and some even preach and serve others today.
We praise God for the precious fruit that He has given us. The best is yet to come. The Mercy Center through it' s daily activities, creates a New Hope for the center of Athens, which is under the control of drugs and criminality becoming often an arena of battle, where fascists are present and the number of homeless and immigrants is consistently growing.
and get to experience BIblical Greece.
Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroia, Athens, Corinth.
The places of Greece where Apostle Paul, preached the Gospel 2000 years ago.
reliving the stories and the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
in downtown Athens. We accept individuals and teams all through the year.
Arrange a meeting for the dates you'd be interested.
Would you prayerfully consider responding to these needs?
Offering 500 Bags of love with a blanket, gloves, beanie, socks, croissant and a warm jacket.
HOW MANY BAGS CAN YOU HELP US BUY?
With the work expanding and the needs for human resources rising, we urgently need more staff. Please consider supporting us monthly in order to cover more needs.
The Mercy Center Mercy Center is the base of all "Passage to Life" operations. Come by and say hi!


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text:
Lynch Ryan's blog about workers' compensation insurance
Posts Tagged 'AIG'
Risk carnival, election wrap-up, and tooting our own horn
This week's Cavalcade or Risk is posted by Ironman at Political Calculations. This biweeky roundup of risk posts is a sampling or "carnival" or topic-related posts. Ironman grades the entries for topicality, quality and readability – check it out.
Election results – Washington's Initiative 1082 to privatize workers' comp was soundly defeated last night, as about 58% of the voters opted to keep the system that has operated since 1911 in place. Obviously, this is a disappointment to private insurers and independent agents that hoped to open the state.
In Louisiana, it looks like Amendment 9 passed, but news reports we found are still vague. This change would require that claims would have to be re-argued before a panel of at least five appeals court judges before an agency's decision could be reversed or changed.
In Arizona, Oklahoma and Colorado, voters cast ballots on constitutional amendments that would bar healthcare reform's mandate that individuals buy insurance. Opt-out measures were passed in Oklahoma and Arizona, but was defeated in Colorado. Missouri had rejected the mandate in August, but not by a a state constitutional amendment.
At Comp Time, Roberto Ceniceros took a pre-election look at what gubernatorial wins might mean in California and New York. He notes that Jerry Brown was very quiet on the issue of workers compensation in California, but in New York, Andrew Cuomo has employee misclassification on his radar screen. As the state's Attorney General, he recently joined attorneys general from Montana and New Jersey in an intent to sue FedEx.
And as long as we are on politics, it seems like a good time to bring up today's news that the Treasury expects to earn a profit on AIG investments. Overall, despite the controversy, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout looks as though it is earning a healthy return.
CT Commissioner resigns – somewhat upstaged by yesterday's election brouhaha was news that Connecticut's Insurance Commissioner resigned abruptly. National Underwriter reports that Thomas Sullivan resigns amid pressure over healthcare rate hikes. He faced criticism after approving a 47% rate hike by Anthem BC/BS of CT.
Workers Comp Insider again named to top WC blogs
We were gratified and pleased to be named to 2010 roster of the LexisNexis Top 25 Workers Compensation and Workplace Issues:
"Consistently at the top of the heap when it comes to workers' comp blogs, the Workers' Comp Insider is a rare combination of breadth and depth. Now in its eighth year, the Insider covers comp issues, risk management, business insurance, and workplace health and safety from Anchorage to Miami. It provides in-depth analysis concerning workplace legislation, occupational medicine, and best practices from Maine to Hawaii. It should be in the "favorites" folder of every comp attorney's web browser."
We thank you, our readers, for your continued interest and support. We were happy to see many friends and colleagues on the list as well – we're honored by the company in which we find ourselves. Be sure to check out some of the other fine blogs on the list. Also, if you haven't discovered the gem that is the LexisNexis Workers' Compensation Law Community, we urge you to check that out, too.
Tags: AIG, California, Colorado, Connecticut, honors, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, Washington
Posted in News roundups | 2 Comments »
Joe Cassano and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: Take Your Pick
Joe Cassano is not apologizing to anyone. The former AIG executive who helped bring the world economy tumbling down says he did nothing wrong. His underwriting standards never changed: he never saw any risk in underwriting those collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). And if AIG leadership had had the cojones to keep him on board after the proverbial waste matter hit the fan, he would have cut the tax payers a better deal. He would have stuck it to the financial institutions that AIG was so anxious to insure. You want tough – Joe will show you tough!
Joe has avoided an indictment (he walks), and now he testifies (he talks). In his own not-so-humble opinion, he is blameless in the collapse of the worlds's largest insurer. When the final story is written about AIG, it will confirm what we have suspected all along: Cassano is not too bright. Tough, yes. Greedy, yes. Arrogant, for sure. A leader of men (and women, only because he has to), not so much. Self-aware and reflective: you gotta be kidding.
In Search of Leadership
When the great men and women of the revolution founded this country, they wanted freedom from tyranny. I imagine they also envisioned generation after generation of principled leaders to further their original goals. It's highly unlikely that Joe Cassano is what they had in mind.
As we approach the nation's birthday this weekend, let's (somewhat arbitrarily) shift our focus to a real leader: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the prodigiously gifted general whose improvisation on Little Round Top turned the tide in the civil war. The Washington Post is running a series on leadership; here is their (video) take on Chamberlain's actions at Gettysburg.
The Insider extends to all our readers the wish for a fine holiday break. Amid the fireworks and family outings, pause for a moment in gratitude to those who brought us to this moment. In times of great need, great leaders have often emerged. Who knows, perhaps the same will eventually be said of these challenging times.
Tags: AIG, Joe Cassano
Cassano Walks
Joe Cassano, the man who brought insurance giant AIG – and the world economy – to their knees, has dodged the proverbial bullet: he will not be indicted for his actions in the collapse of AIG's Financial Products unit, which he ran until his resignation in 2008. Federal prosecutors searched diligently for evidence of wrong doing. What they found, however, was evidence of cluelessness. Joe Cassano was no crook: he was just a manager in way over his head. He apparently believed that underwriting credit default swaps was relatively risk free. Oh, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
If no good deed goes unpunished, incompetence on a cosmic level is not without its rewards: Cassano made about $280 million in eight years of running the FP unit, in addition to receiving a performance bonus of $35 million in his final year with the company. That last payment truly boggles the mind. Cassano was paid for high volume sales of a product that destroyed his company.
Joe Warin and Jim Walden, Cassano's (presumably high paid) attorneys were delighted with the outcome of the investigation:
Although a two-year, intense investigation is tough for anyone, the results are wholly appropriate in light of our client's factual innocence. This result was the product of two things: an innocent client and fair prosecutors and agents. The system worked.
It would be more accurate to say that the system was worked. As was evident in a prior blog, Cassano was not a nice guy who happened to make a mistake. He was a thug dressed up in a fancy suit. Perhaps on some level it's reassuring that his actions were not criminal, that he acted in the expectation that his company would make money. Cassano certainly made an obscene amount of money, but AIG rank and file, the shareholders and the tax payers have to foot the bill for the mistakes of one greedy goon.
Posted in Business, Insurance & Insurers | Comments Off on Cassano Walks
AIG: Equal Opportunity Thievery?
Monday, March 8th, 2010
As the holder of a couple hundred shares of AIG stock (your condolences are accepted), I feel compelled to track the remnants of the former empire, rather like an archeologist who finds fragments of an ancient civilization buried in a forgotten forest. The latest twist involves a lawsuit by two former female staffers in AIG's Financial Products unit – the unit at the very heart of AIG's collapse. Susan Potter, 56, and Deonna Taylor, 62, both former VPs, have filed suit alleging that Joe Cassano, the now-fabled head of the operation, favored younger staffers and ran the rogue operation like a "boy's club." Now that's a shock!
Potter and Taylor said that managers misled them about salary caps, paid younger, male employees more for similar work and fired them in retaliation for filing discrimination charges. Cassano's lawyer is disappointed by the lawsuit, because his client treated staff "fairly." This will be one fascinating discovery.
Raging Bull Management
Cassano is not actually a defendent in the lawsuit, as his employment ended prior to the firing of both women. But his over-sized personality placed a stamp as clear as a neck tatoo on the entire operation.
To get a flavor for Cassano's modus operandi, check out the fascinating August 2009 profile by Michael Lewis in Vanity Fair. Here is an example [obscenity alert]:
"One day he got me on the phone and was pissed off about a trade that had lost money," says a Connecticut trader. "He said, 'When you lose money it's my fucking money. Say it.' I said, 'What?' 'Say "Joe, it's your fucking money!"' So I said, 'It's your fucking money, Joe.'"
Here's another example of micro-management, Cassano style:
According to traders, Cassano was one of those people whose insecurities manifested themselves in a need for obedience and total control. "One day he came in and saw that someone had left the weights on the Smith machine, in the gym," says a source in Connecticut. "He was literally walking around looking for people who looked buff, trying to find the guy who did it. He was screaming, 'Who left the fucking weight on the fucking Smith machine? Who left the fucking weight on the fucking Smith machine?'" If that rings a bell it may be because you read The Caine Mutiny and recall Captain Queeg scouring the ship to find out who had stolen the strawberries. Even by the standards of Wall Street villains, whose character flaws wind up being exaggerated to fit the crime, Cassano was a cartoon despot.
Joe Cassano famously stated on an investor conference call: "It is hard for us, without being flippant, to even see a scenario within any kind of realm of reason that would see us losing $1 on any of those transactions."
Ah, the irony of that line: AIG stock was trading around $55 when Cassano spoke. After all the losses and the $182 billion government bailout, the stock is worth…about a buck.
It appears that Cassano believed his own blustery rhetoric. He was no Bernie Madoff. He was Joe Cassano, True Believer:
"When he said that he could not envision losses, that we wouldn't lose a dime, I am positive that he believed that," says one of the traders. The problem with Joe Cassano wasn't that he knew he was wrong. It was that it was too important to him that he be right. More than anything, Joe Cassano wanted to be one of Wall Street's big shots. He wound up being its perfect customer.
Serving Justice?
All of which leads me back to Susan Potter and Deonna Taylor. Their complaints are likely true, yet I am having some difficulty summoning up sympathy for them. They were part of a pirate crew. They simply wanted an equal share of ill-gotten bounty. Yes, they were forced to walk the plank (terminated) in 2008 (Potter) and 2009 (Taylor). But the entire operation is scheduled for shut down later this year.
The atmosphere in the financial products operation must have been difficult for middle-aged managers, especially women. Taylor and Potter were probably paid less than their male counterparts. But when you look at the actual work of the unit, which brought the world-wide financial system to its knees, it's difficult to feel sorry for them. Had they turned whistle blowers, had they been fired for calling attention to the house of cards being built by Joe Cassano and his pirate crew, I might feel different about their plight.
We'll let Jim Walden, Cassano's attorney, have the last word: Financial Products "had many capable women at all levels, including in senior management, who thrived under Joe's supervision, including these plaintiffs. That they would now turn around and accuse Joe of tolerating, let alone encouraging, chauvinism is disappointing indeed. Joe Cassano hired, promoted and supported employees based upon a single criteria: merit."
We can probably reduce Cassano's philosophy to a single criteria, but it would not be "merit." "Greed" is more like it, unadulterated, F-bomb greed.
Tags: AIG
Posted in Business | 1 Comment »
(Cannon) Fodder for a Friday: The Fate of Foreign Interpreters in Iraq
How would you like a job that pays $12,000 a year, where 1 percent of the workforce is killed annually and hundreds of others are seriously maimed? I didn't think so. You would probably take a pass on working for Titan Corporation (now part of L-3) as an interpreter for the U.S. armed forces in Iraq. The L-3 website promises that "as a member of the L-3 Communications team, you will be exposed to the most exciting career adventures situated on the cutting edge of technology." Alas, it's not just the technology that is cutting edge. The roadside bombs cut pretty deeply, too.
We read in the Los Angeles Times about the sad fate of translators in Iraq. There are about 8,000 in all. Over the five year period from 2003 to 2008, 360 were killed. Those who were lucky enough to survive were often shipped to Jordan for treatment. The workers comp benefits fell under the Defense Base Act and were administered by AIG, among others. (See our previous blog here.) According to some of the wounded, they were offered a stark choice: accept a proposed settlement (which absolved the insurer of any future costs) or be shipped back to Iraq, where retaliation and death awaited former employees of the U.S.
The Times article describes the life of Malek Hadi, an Iraqi national who lost a leg and several fingers in a roadside bombing. He now struggles to survive in Arlington, Texas. At first, he was unable to collect any benefits:
Internal AIG documents indicate that a claims examiner withheld Hadi's benefits in an effort to force him to accept the lump sum. Hadi was "clearly entitled" to benefits, a different AIG examiner wrote in a memo dated August 2008. The company had not paid because the previous examiner "was trying to get the claimant to decide whether to settle his claim," the memo said.
Malik now receives the maximum monthly disability benefit – a whopping $612 per month. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome, but AIG has refused to cover any treatments. Perhaps they are waiting for a second opinion from the company shrink? Meanwhile, Malik will just have to deal with it!
Former insiders at AIG describe how the game is played:
"If you're missing one piece of documentation, you got denied," said Colleen Driscoll, who oversaw the handling of interpreters' insurance claims for L-3. "These guys get murdered coming and going to work, and AIG turns them down because they don't have a letter from the insurgents."
Driscoll, a former United Nations refugee official, left L-3 in 2007. She said the cause was a dispute with company executives over treatment of injured interpreters.
She and another former L-3 official, Jennifer Armstrong, said their experience suggested that 10% to 20% of the company's Iraqi workers who should have received benefits were denied.
AIG stock is currently trading at the equivalent of about $1.40 a share. It would be nice to think that this was the market's judgment on the way things are being handled in Iraq, but that, of course, has nothing to do with it. The market, not exactly known for its humanitarian concerns, is punishing AIG for financial – not ethical – sins. Indeed, the market might well approve of the way the injured, the maimed and the dead are being squeezed in this mockery of a benefits program. After all, indemnity and medical expenditures are being kept as low as possible and that can only help support AIG's battered bottom line.
Tags: AIG, iraq, ptsd, war
Posted in Business, Disability | Comments Off on (Cannon) Fodder for a Friday: The Fate of Foreign Interpreters in Iraq
Cavalcade of Risk, Linkedin, AIG, fraud, Station Nightclub fire, & strip searches
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Nancy Germond is hosting Cavalcade of Risk #93 – check it out. And while you're at it, check out Nancy's regular insurance column on AllBusiness.
Mark Wall's excellent WC forum on LinkedIn – While recently attending the National Workers Compensation & Disability Conference in Chicago, I had the opportunity to meet Mark Walls who is the founder of LinkedIn's excellent Workers' Compensation Forum. Mark, who is a genuinely nice person as well as a commensurate professional, has created an impressive network of more than 2,400 members, which includes employers, claims adjusters, insurance carriers, third party administrators (TPAs), brokers, attorneys, risk managers, regulators, EH&S professionals, and vendors that provide service to the workers' comp industry. The group illustrates some of the best advantages and features of social media: industry networking, active discussion boards, and news feeds to blogs and alternative media sources. Members can pose questions or topics and get feedback from other members. Plus, Mark does a great job of ensuring that posts are on-topic and he is strict about disallowing spam. To join, you need to first be a member of LinkedIn, and then you can register to join the Workers' Compensation Forum. Hope to see you there!
The soft market and AIG – if you are wondering why the soft workers comp market persists, read Joe Paduda's post on the implications of AIG's price cutting – it certainly offers some clues. Of course, AIG's pricing isn't the only factor, but when you have an elephant in the room, it certainly can't be ignored.
Fraud surveillance – Roberto Ceniceros talks about cuts in fraud surveillance in both the public and the private sector. He's looking for feedback from others who are experiencing a similar trend. We've also heard talk about cuts in safety and loss control services offered by insurers as part of work comp policies. Any feedback on these issues? It would seem shortsighted to relax on either of these important services.
RI nightclub fire settlements – Insurance Journal covers a recent report on settlement details in the 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people and injured 200 others. More than 300 survivors and victims' relatives sued after the fire. You can also follow some of our past coverage related to workers' comp, or the lack of it, in this sad case: Workers' Comp and the Station Nightclub; Avoid Comp Premiums and Pay the Price; Station Nightclub: Who Pays?; Stone Walls and Steel Bars for Business Decisions
Strip search not covered by comp – For nearly a decade, fast food chains throughout the nation were plagued by a cruel and bizarre telephonic hoax, the so-called strip search hoax. The "pranksters" who posed as detectives called fast food restaurants and retail chains and somehow convinced store managers to detain hapless employees. The managers were then guided through a series of progressively questionable and invasive actions such as strip searches of the alleged criminal employees, supposedly on behalf of the police. Sounds weird? It certainly was. In recent developments, Louise Ogborn, a McDonald's employee and the victim in one of these cases, was awarded $6 million in damages for her humiliating ordeal. McDonald's attorneys appealed the ruling, invoking the exclusive remedy of workers' compensation. The Kentucky Court of Appeals disagreed, stating that "We do not find manifest injustice in the trial court's ruling that Ogborn was not acting in the course and scope of her employment while she was held in the manager's office."
Tags: AIG, exclusive remedy, fires, food service, LinkedIn, market conditions, Rhode Island
Posted in News roundups | Comments Off on Cavalcade of Risk, Linkedin, AIG, fraud, Station Nightclub fire, & strip searches
The AIG Saga, Revisited: Gang Wars in Three Piece Suits
AIG may have lost a bit of its swagger – that's what happens when your stock tanks and the government has to bail you out to the tune of $150 billion, give or take a few billion. But tough guys don't dance, they fight back. AIG is suing NCCI and a host of major workers comp carriers (Travelers, The Hartford, Liberty Mutual, etc.) for under-reporting comp premiums and conspiring to harm AIG. That's right. All those bullies have been picking on AIG.
AIG's lawsuit is in direct response to an eerily similar suit filed by NCCI against AIG, accusing the staggering behemoth of under-reporting its share of premiums in nationwide assigned risk pools. This suit, filed in U. S. District Court, was dismissed by Judge Robert Gettlemen, who found that NCCI lacked legal standing to file it. The fallen banner has been quickly retrieved by Liberty Mutual, among others, who intend to refile the complaint. After all, it is AIG's direct competitors who would have been harmed if, indeed, AIG under-reported premiums.
Badda Bing, Badda Boom
Which leads us to the not-so-lovely, two-can-tango result of AIG counter-suing, alleging a conspiracy to shift costs to AIG. "AIG's complaint asserts that a number of its competitors under-reported their workers compensation premiums over many years and formed an illegal conspiracy to conceal that fact and to harm AIG," said company spokesman Mark Herr.
It's a shame that this colorful gang war has to play out in sedate courtrooms, with immaculately dressed lawyers mouthing lines better suited for Brando, Pacino and Cagney. After all, these are suits filed under anti-racketeering laws. It's doubtful that the original crafters of the RICO legislation had insurance giants in mind when they fashioned this weapon to attack organized crime.
AIG stock is trading near $46, which sounds pretty good when compared to the under-a-dollar price of just a few weeks back. But appearances can be deceptive. To avoid the humiliation of trading as a penny stock, AIG did a reverse 20 for 1, carving each share into 20 pieces. For long-term shareholders, that $46 is really just two bucks and change. (Go ahead, shareholders, celebrate with a bottle of two buck chuck!)
"You gotta problem with that?" No, sir, no problem at all. I'm just walking down the street with my hands in my pockets, minding my own business. I'm not looking for trouble. What you folks do with all those premium dollars, all that TARP money, all those securitized loans, that's your business. I wish you the best, I really do. And by the way, that's a swell suit you're wearing. A really nice fit. Would you mind my asking how much it cost…?
Tags: AIG, lawsuits
Posted in Business, Insurance & Insurers | Comments Off on The AIG Saga, Revisited: Gang Wars in Three Piece Suits
News roundup: Health Wonk Review, WC recovery, fatalities, joint & several, AIG and web tools
Things are sure getting ugly out there in the national debate on health policy. Read what the health policy wonks in the blogosphere have to say about all this – a fresh Health Wonk Review is posted over at David Williams Health Business Blog.
The recovery and WC – Joe Paduda offers an excellent analysis of the likely impact of economic recovery on various segments of the workers comp industry in his post The recovery is coming – what does that mean for work comp? He offers a word of caution for employers: as hiring increases, so too will injuries. "The good folks at the NCCI have looked at the impact of economic recoveries on workers comp, finding "Job creation is related to an increase in the proportion of workers who are inexperienced in their current job and, hence, more likely to sustain a workplace injury."
Work fatalities down, suicides up – The good news: "A total of 5,071 fatal work injuries were recorded in the U.S. in 2008, down about 10 percent from a total of 5,657 fatal work injuries reported for 2007, according to preliminary government figures." However, some of the drop is attributed to the economy and a decline in the number of hours worked. Researchers also think that numbers may be lagging since budget constraints at reporting agencies may have delayed classifying cases. One of the most troubling parts of the report is that workplace suicides were up 28 percent to a series high of 251 cases in 2008 – "…the highest number ever reported by the fatality census. Suicides among protective service occupations rose from 14 in 2007 to 25 in 2008." Read more about the report in Insurance Journal's story, Fatal Work Injuries Dropped 10% in 2008; Down 20% in Construction.
Joint and Several Liability in action – Roberto Ceniceros blogs about the hefty bills that some New York employers are facing after the demise of self-insured trusts (aka SIGs) in his post Self insuring comp claims has its risks. About 1,789 will be footing about $133 million in unfunded workers comp claims – an average of about $74,000 per employer.
AIG wins one – An NCCI suit alleging that AIG has been shortchanging state workers comp pools for 35 years was dismissed by a federal judge yesterday, but the suit was dismissed on a legal technicality, with no ruling on the actual charges.
Web tools – here are a few good web tools we've come across in our travels:
Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need – a guide to some specialty search engines
Wordnik – An ongoing project devoted to discovering all the words and everything about them. We're liking this, and also recommend our long-term favorite word tool, OneLook.
Meeting ticker – log the number of attendees, enter the average hourly rate, and start your engines. You'll be surprised to learn how much meetings cost!
ParkWhiz – find and reserve parking before you get there. Enter a date, time & address and get nearby parking garages, rate comparisons, and distance from your destination.
Down for everyone of just me? – enter the address of a website to see if the site is having a widespread problem or if the problem with the page is on your end. It's surprisingly useful!
Tags: AIG, economy, fatalities, joint and several liability, New York, SIGs, suicide
Posted in News roundups | Comments Off on News roundup: Health Wonk Review, WC recovery, fatalities, joint & several, AIG and web tools
AIG in Iraq: A Cruel Way to Make a Buck
AIG has been in the news mostly for its ingenious method of losing money: insuring the riskiest possible financial transactions and tanking after these risks go bad. But give the biggest insurance company in the world some credit. They still know how to make money the old fashioned way: collecting premiums and denying claims. To be sure, this strategy is not easy to do in the states, where public scrutiny is never more than a phone call away. But it works rather effectively in Iraq.
T. Christian Miller from Propublica and Doug Smith from the LA Times have described in great detail how AIG transformed Iraq into a business opportunity with an enormous upside. AIG is the predominant workers comp carrier in the war-torn country, insuring civilian workers. When these workers are injured – and the injuries can be devastating – AIG has routinely denied their claims for basic medical care, artificial limbs and desparately needed counseling for post-traumatic stress syndrome. More than 1,400 civilian workers have died and 31,000 have been wounded or injured in the two war zones.
Insurers have collected more than $1.5 billion in premiums paid by U.S. taxpayers and have earned nearly $600 million in profit, according to congressional investigators. That's nearly 40 percent profit after expenses – an unheard of loss ratio in the states.
Collect and Deny
The AIG strategy is deceptively simple: first, charge exorbitant fees for premiums, roughly 100 percent of a worker's pay. (Don't feel sorry for the companies paying these premiums; they are fully reimbursed by taxpayers.) Then, accept all the small claims and fight almost any claim involving lost time (more than four days of disability). Delay, delay, delay. Never make a payment until ordered to do so by a court.
The denial rate on serious claims is pretty astonishing: about 44 percent. How could you argue that any injury – let alone a serious one – is not work-related, as civilian employees are in Iraq for one purpose, supporting the war effort? In addition, fully half the claims for PTSD are denied. All this in the context of a war where catastrophic injuries are all too common and legitimate PTSD is as prevalent as cuts in a glass factory. How many state-side workers have watched co-workers blown to pieces by roadside bombs? Do you think that such incidents might qualify as PTSD?
AIG used the argument of extremely high-risk working conditions to boost the premiums. Then they turned around and used the strategy of denial to boost profits. Who says capitalism is dead?
I suppose you could argue that this reporting is just piling on poor AIG.The behemoth just cannot catch a PR break. Oh, well, dear reader, don't waste too much energy feeling sorry for AIG. After all, you are paying for AIG big time: in the bailout that exceeds $200 billion; in the war-based premiums that generate profits nearing 40 percent; and in all likelihood, in the social costs of caring for devastated civilian employees, who have so much difficulty accessing the comp benefits to which they are entitled.
AIG may not know diddly about the risk in risky financial vehicles, but they certainly know how to make money in conventional comp insurance. Of course, it helps that the injured workers are so invisible, like obscure figures in a desert sand storm, struggling blindly to find some kind of shelter in a harsh and unsympathetic world.
Tags: AIG, defense based, iraq, ptsd
Posted in Business, Compensability, Disability | 7 Comments »
The Yogi Berra HWR, plus AIG, Florida lawyers, scaffolding & more news notes
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Anthony Wright hosts Health Wonk Review at Health Access WeBlog this week, and he serves up some of the wit and wisdom of baseball great Yogi Berra with this week's best of the health care blogs. It's a perfect posting for our times when "the future ain't what it used to be."
Florida – a bill that would restore a cap on attorney fees passed its first hurdle this week when approved by the Florida House. It must also pass the Senate and be approved by Governor Crist. Attorney fees were considered one of the primary cost drivers in the Florida system and a cap on fees was one of the cornerstones of the 2003 reform, but was overturned in the Supreme Court Murray decision last November. See our prior posts on the topic: Attorney Fees in Florida: What is "Reasonable" and Florida Lawyers Win, Employers Lose.
AIG – In addition to all the other ongoing investigations, state insurance regulators are currently examining whether AIG violated rules governing workers' compensation sales. "The probe is an offshoot of a 2005 lawsuit from then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who said AIG shortchanged the premiums used in calculating its obligations to state pools. In most states, companies that sell workers' compensation must fund pools that serve as insurers of last resort to cover injuries at employers that pose unattractive risks." The 50 state regulators expect to have their investigation completed by June.
Legal matters – In this month's Legal Clinic at Human Resource Executive, employment law attorney Keisha-Ann G. Gray tackles a few tricky legal questions: the length of time an employer must keep a job open for an employee who suffered a work-related injury, which touches on the anti-retaliation principles that apply across many states; also, a discussion about the relationship between the FMLA and workers' comp leave.
Scaffolding – Scaffolding (general requirements, construction 29 CFR 1926.451) was the most frequently cited standard in fiscal year 2008 by federal OSHA. It is also the standard for which OSHA proposed the second highest penalties. OSHA has resources to help employers and employees identify scaffolding hazards and solutions to those hazards at scaffolding and the OSHA publications page.
Workplace violence – HUB International Risk Consulting is offering a free Webinar on April 9: To learn more or register: Workplace Violence, What You Don't Know Could Kill You
Tags: AIG, attorneys, Florida, scaffolding
Posted in News roundups | 1 Comment »
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Edited with introduction by Yongwoo Lee. Foreword by Jean Boghossian. Text by Doryun Chong, Jeremy Lewison, et al.
Dansaekhwa is an artistic approach founded on the experiences of those who participated in the first generation of Korean modernism. Among those compiled in this beautiful and substantial catalogue are Chung Chang-Sup, Chung Sang-Hwa, Ha Chong-Hyun, KIM Whanki, Kwon Young-Woo, Lee Ufan and Park Seo-Bo.


text:
Bill Hamilton
Save Ugly – Wilderness Society
NZEDGE > News > Travel & Tourism > New Zealand > Dig This an Invercargill Playground for Adults
Dig This an Invercargill Playground for Adults
"A New Zealand attraction has just opened that will allow you to rip, push and pull to your heart's content using heavy machinery. Dig This Invercargill is [the country's] first heavy equipment playground, and while it doesn't sound like a typical tourist attraction, it definitely seems like great fun," Lonely Planet contributor Andrea Smith writes.
"Guests are given the opportunity to choose from nine fun options where they get to operate bulldozers, excavators, mini excavators and skid steers in a giant gravel pit. There's no need to worry if you haven't driven heavy machinery before, as the experienced team in charge will show you how. You don't even need to have a driver's licence, and there are activities for the young, young at heart and groups.
"The instructors will talk you through every detail you'll need to know in order to manoeuvre the machines and give you the confidence it takes to manage the machine. Operating them might take a little getting used to, so the company has designed a series of warm-up exercises to help. You will be connected via headset to the instructors at all times, which ensures you're under their watchful eyes. From here you will be digging, trenching and pushing yourself around the lot in no time."
Dig This was founded by New Zealander Ed Mumm who developed the concept in Colorado before setting up franchises in Las Vegas and Dallas.
Mumm, who is originally from Dunedin, told Stuff the operation in Invercargill was "almost exactly the same" as what was on offer in Las Vegas.
Original article by Andrea Smith, Lonely Planet Travel News, October 27, 2017.
Tags: Dig This Invercargill Ed Mumm Lonely Planet Stuff
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text:
How Magic Johnson Created the NBA Monolith
Date: April 27, 2020Author: Brandon Johnson 0 Comments
The Final segment of the fourth episode of ESPN and Netflix's The Last Dance is an awakening. After a tumultuous six years, the scene recaps the 1991 NBA finals, which marked the Chicago Bulls', and Michael Jordan's, first NBA title.
The series itself, a quick five games between the Bulls and Magic Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers, was unremarkable. Chicago dropped the first game, only to spring back like a trampoline-propelled sledgehammer, smashing through the NBA Finals barrier and simultaneously the Lakers Dynasty. Until this point, the NBA Finals of the 80s and 90s were dominated by Lakers appearances – eight times in 10 years.
Jordan, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippin and the Bulls finally broke through the yellow ceiling. In the documentary, Jordan acknowledged the victory was a turning point. Until then, Jordan wasn't a winner, let alone a team player capable of leading a group to the Larry O'Brien trophy.
"(It) ate at me," Jordan said, referencing the stayed success of Magic and Larry Bird. "It did. It did. My energy started to gear towards my teammates and pushing them to excel."
Winning the finals was as much vindication for Jordan as it was a newly penned chapter in basketball history. That series codified a changing of the guard – from the Showtime Lakers and Bird's Celtics to a 28-year old Jordan who would help grow the game to unseen heights.
Though it only spanned five games, we were fortunate to have witnessed the Bulls-Lakers series. The modern NBA – and sports – is built off of the notion of passing the torch amplified by the '91 Finals.
If the Magic and Bird-conquered 1980s were about flair – pushing the pace, extending the offense behind the newly created 3-point line – the 1990s were about force of will dominence. The Bulls were checked twice by the Detroit Pistons in 1989 and 1990, leading Chicago's front office to fire Doug Collins, whose coaching style was helping Jordan secure scoring titles and not much else.
Hiring Jackson and securing a title under his Triangle Offense put the Showtime Lakers in a chokehold in June 1991. Five months later, Magic would do the same to NBA equilibrium, announcing he tested positive for HIV and was ending his professional basketball career.
At the time of his announcement, the Lakers didn't appear to be slowing their Magic-led roll. James worthy was coming off the best scoring season of his career (21.4 points per game) and Vlade Divac was growing into a capable, 10 points, eight rebound centers. Though he'd play for the Dream Team in the 1992 Olympics, Magic's diagnosis let the air out of one of the greatest franchises in the history of sport.
And Michael Jordan reaped the benefit.
From there it was a revolving door of challengers against Jordan's bulls. Clyde Drexler tried. Charles Barkley Tried. Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton tried. John Stockton and Karl Malone tried. The Bulls' brilliance was too much to overcome. Until Jordan retired following the 1998 title, and barring his earlier retirement in 1993, the 1990s were coming up Jordan.
Dominating a decade has since become the mark of the most iconic hoopers of all time. Shaquille O'Neal might have won all three of the Lakers Finals MVPs between 2000 and 2002, but Kobe Bryant was heralded almost unanimously as Jordan's second coming. Bryant passed that mantle to LeBron James in the 2010s, during which he appeared in eight of the decade's ten Finals, winning three.
Maybe Bryant doesn't pattern his game so closely after Jordan if His Airness doesn't dictate the 1990s. Maybe James doesn't personify perseverance if Bryant falls into obscurity after 2002. Unilateral dominance, as defined by Jordan and the 1990s Bulls defined the NBA's future, in which players are vying to become monoliths by shaping the basketball universe in their own image.
"It's a beautiful feeling," Johnson said after losing Game 5 of the 1991 Finals. "If you're going to lose, you're going to lose to them, and I'm going to lose to Michael. That's how it should be." Replace "Michael" with "Kobe" or "LeBron" and the sentiment doesn't change. Magic's loss handed the NBA a blueprint for superstardom. Jordan built the prototype. Bryant mass marketed it and James exported it worldwide.
Chicago BullsKobe BryantLeBron JamesLos Angeles LakersMagic Johnsonmichael JordanNBA
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What do kids need from parents during divorce?
On behalf of Law Office of Michael L. Seidman posted in Child Custody on Friday, September 9, 2016.
The divorce process is a highly emotional time. When children are involved, the emotion meter escalates tenfold, with parents left wondering how to meet both their own needs and those of their children. And, regardless of their age, children contemplate whether they played a role in the divorce and often feel the need to choose one parent over the other.


Christmas Island's administrator Jon Stanhope has credited Labor's Papua New Guinea deal for a dramatic reduction in asylum seeker boat arrivals, even though he is uncomfortable with the policy.
Mr Stanhope says since the policy was introduced in July, the number of boat arrivals has gone from about five a week to just one.
"There certainly has been a significant change in activity, certainly since the beginning of July the number of boat arrivals, the number of asylum seekers arriving on Christmas Island has decreased," he said.
"Since the new arrangement, the PNG solution, and the arrangements of the new government, there has been a steady decline in both boats and asylum seekers and I don't think it's coincidental."
Under the deal signed by Labor and largely adopted by the Coalition, all asylum seekers who arrive by boat are now sent to PNG for processing and, if found to be refugees, resettled there.
Mr Stanhope says he respects the Coalition's mandate to continue with the tough asylum seeker policy and will not be providing any commentary about it.
But he is highly critical of his own party's handling of the issue and its current policy position, even though it appears to be working.
"Is that the indicator of success that any asylum seeker that gets to Australia is immediately deported? Or is a key performance indicator or an indicator of success that you acted with compassion, that you acted with humanity?"
Mr Stanhope says many within Labor are uncomfortable with the party's policy and he is hoping the new leader - to be announced on Sunday - will change tack.
"There's a high level of concern, regret, and I think it's fair to say, anger," he added.
Mr Stanhope was in Canberra this week meeting the new Coalition Government and the minister responsible for Christmas Island, Jamie Briggs.