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Westhill Consulting Insurance - IRS Offers Health Care Tax Tips

Machael Andrews 10 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0
IRS Offers Health Care Tax Tips to Help Individuals Understand Tax Provisions in the Affordable Care Act

February 25, 2014 - The Internal Revenue Service is offering educational Health Care Tax Tips to help individuals understand how the Affordable Care Act may affect their taxes.

The IRS has designed the Health Care Tax Tips to help people understand what they need to know for the federal individual income tax returns they are filing this year, as well as for future tax returns. This includes information on the Premium Tax Credit and making health care coverage choices.
Although many of the tax provisions included in the law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2014, most do not affect the 2013 tax returns.

The Health Care Tax Tips, which are now available at IRS.gov/aca, include:

IRS Reminds Individuals of Health Care Choices for 2014? Find out what you need to know about how health care choices you make for 2014 may affect your taxes.

The Health Insurance Marketplace - Learn about Your Health Insurance Coverage Options – Find out about getting health care coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace.

The Premium Tax Credit? Learn the basics of the Premium Tax Credit, including who might be eligible and how to get the credit.

The Individual Shared Responsibility Payment – An Overview? Provides information about types of qualifying coverage, exemptions from having coverage, and making a payment if you do not have qualifying coverage or an exemption.

Three Timely Tips about Taxes and the Health Care Law? Provides tips that help with filing the 2013 tax return, including information about employment status, tax favored health plans and itemized deductions.

Four Tax Facts about the Health Care Law for Individuals? Offers basic tips to help people determine if the Affordable Care Act affects them and their families, and where to find more information.

Changes in Circumstances can Affect your Premium Tax Credit? Learn the importance of reporting any changes in circumstances that involve family size or income when advance payments of the Premium Tax Credit are involved.

In addition to Health Care Tax Tips, the IRS.gov/aca website offers informative flyers and brochures, Frequently Asked Questions and in-depth legal guidance regarding the tax provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
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Crown Capital management environmental monitoring: For Already Vulnerable Penguins, Study Finds Climate Change Is Another Danger

e36lbavives 10 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0
Crown Capital management environmental monitoring: For Already Vulnerable Penguins, Study Finds Climate Change Is Another Danger


Life has never been easy for just-hatched Magellanic penguins, but climate change is making it worse, according to a decades-long study of the largest breeding colony of the birds.
The chicks are already vulnerable to predation and starvation. Now, the study at Punta Tombo, Argentina, found that intense storms and warmer temperatures are increasingly taking a toll.
“Rainfall is killing a lot of penguins, and so is heat,” said P. Dee Boersma, a University of Washington scientist and lead author of the study. “And those are two new causes.”

Climate scientists say more extreme weather, including wetter storms and more prolonged periods of heat and cold, is one impact of a climate that is changing because of emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. While monitoring the penguin colony, Dr. Boersma and her colleagues also documented regional temperature changes and increases in the number of days with heavy rains.
The study, which is being published online Wednesday in the journal PLoS ONE, is one of the first to show a direct impact of climate change on seabirds. Most studies have looked at how warming temperatures affect animals indirectly, by altering predation patterns or food supplies.
William J. Sydeman, senior scientist at the Farallon Institute in California, who was not involved in the research, said the study linked changes in climate, which occur on a scale of decades, to the daily scale of life in the colony. “That’s a unique contribution,” he said.
The colony at Punta Tombo, in a temperate and relatively dry region about midway along Argentina’s coast, is home to about 200,000 breeding pairs of the penguins, which are about 15 inches tall as adults. Dr. Boersma has been working there since 1982, with long-term support from the Wildlife Conservation Society.
For this study, the researchers compiled data on nearly 3,500 chicks that they meticulously tracked by checking nests once or twice a day throughout the six-month breeding season, which starts in September.
“We knew when each chick hatched, and its fate,” Dr. Boersma said.
Typically, nearly two-thirds of hatchlings at the colony do not survive to leave the nest. In most years, the researchers found, starvation and predation — by other seabirds and small animals — caused the majority of the deaths.
But they found that heavy storms killed birds in 13 of the 28 years of the study. In two years, storms were responsible for most of the deaths. Extreme heat killed more hatchlings as well, although the effect was less pronounced.
Like other young birds, penguin hatchlings can die from hypothermia if their down gets wet and loses its insulating air spaces. The birds are most vulnerable from about a week after hatching — before that they are largely protected by a parent — to about six weeks, when they develop waterproof plumage.
“They didn’t used to have to contend with this variability in the climate,” Dr. Boersma said. “And they certainly didn’t have to contend with all this rainfall.” …….continue reading @ http://crownecomngment.newsvine.com
http://crowncapitalmngt.com/
https://twitter.com/crownecomngment/

Image 282
Weather extremes are leading to an increase in penguin chick mortality in a large breeding colony in Argentina.
Source: http://blog.crowncapitalmngt.com/for-already-vulnerable-penguins-study-finds-climate-change-is-another-danger/


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Strong opinions voiced on single - payer health insurance system - Westhill Consulting Insurance

Rose McGowan 10 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0
Strong opinions voiced on single-payer health insurance system
By JENNIFER ROBISON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
If our email inbox is any indication, Las Vegans feel strongly about starting up a single-payer health insurance system.
After we wrote on Jan. 19 about a Vermont lawmaker’s federal proposal to mandate that states set up one-payer systems that would operate like Medicaid and guarantee coverage for all, the feedback rolled in.
We’ve selected two letters with opposing takes on the issue to keep the discussion going.
Once you’ve finished reading up on the debate, check out how a local consumer got a pleasant surprise when he recently signed up for new coverage.
■Al Popp reached out with a novel idea. He writes: Let’s just expand Medicaid to everyone. How do we pay for this system? We pay for it by taxing all food and beverages at 10 percent. Just add it to the price of the product before the sale, like we do with gasoline excise taxes. If a person spends $200 a week for food and beverages, whether it be in a grocery store, convenience store, restaurant or catering business, one would be paying $20 a week for their health care, which equates to $1,040 a year. That, to me, is affordable health care. The more you spend on food and beverages, the more you will contribute to health care. I’m curious what your thoughts are on this plan.
Well, Al, I’m a reporter, so I’m completely flexible and I have no opinions.
In the interest of public debate, though, your plan is definitely worth sharing.
One common criticism of this kind of funding source is that poor Americans spend an above-average share of their income on groceries, so it becomes a regressive tax that penalizes lower-income earners more than wealthier households. This is why Nevada’s sales tax exempts food bought inside grocery stores.
So although you’re correct that people would pay less if they spent less, a plan to tax food and drink would disproportionately hurt discretionary income among working-class households.
Plus, low-income households already face higher food costs because their neighborhoods might have fewer supermarkets and pricier food as a result.
As you note, Al, your idea does have upsides. No one would be mandated to use Medicaid; they could still buy a private plan for more coverage, the way some affluent households pay both local property taxes and private-school tuition. International tourists who buy pricey meals on vacation also would feed into the system. And undocumented residents would pay as well, anytime they visit the grocery store. So would “panhandlers, the underground market and cash-paid workers,” as you said.
So, readers: Add what you’d like to Al’s suggestion.
■On the other side, Las Vegas insurance broker Patrick Casale chimed in on single-payer with this: There are five reasons single-payer can never work for the United States: immigration; taxation; capping doctors’ and hospitals’ earnings; capping Big Pharma; and medical access.
Part of Patrick’s concern is that our country already is strapped financially, and a plan that opens free health care access to all (Medicaid doesn’t charge copays or premiums) would be unsustainable given current immigration rates. What’s more, he said, countries with one payer “have a tax rate that exceeds 50 percent, and numerous other taxes,” including sales taxes. Accounting firm KPMG backed that up with a 2012 study that pegged top marginal income-tax rates at 56.6 percent in Sweden, 55.4 percent in Denmark and 48 percent in Canada. The marginal U.S. rate is 39.6 percent.
Making a single-payer system work also might require limiting hospital charges and incomes, and that would in turn hurt access as providers perform fewer procedures to control costs, Patrick said. And tangling with the major pharmaceutical companies on what they charge would be a Herculean task in what he called “the most overdrugged nation worldwide.”
Patrick said he also would like to see the federal government eliminate fraud in Medicare and Medicaid before the programs expand to all Americans. Curbing malpractice lawsuits might make a difference in costs, too.
Anything else you can think of, readers?
■Steve Selbrede wrote in with praise for a little-known provision of Obamacare: There have been many recent stories and letters about the absurdly high deductibles of Obamacare insurance plans. When I first began to investigate the Nevada Health Link website to choose my own plan, I was distressed to see very high deductibles. After about 30 hours of studying my options, I found that these deductibles are not always so high.
Steve discovered Cost Sharing Reduction, a little-known discount in the Affordable Care Act that lowers what you owe out of pocket for deductibles, coinsurance and copayments. It’s above and beyond the tax credit that helps cut premiums for lower-income earners.
You do need to meet a few guidelines to benefit. For starters, you have to buy your plan through Nevada Health Link, the state exchange’s website. Plus, the discount is good only on silver plans, the federal law’s benchmark coverage. And you have to make less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s $59,625 for a family of four, or $29,175 for a single.
Steve qualified, and after he chose Nevada Health CO-OP’s Southern Star Silver Plan, here’s what he found: His calendar-year deductible dropped from $4,250 to $750, while his out-of-pocket maximum fell from $6,350 to $1,500. His office visits went from $15 or $45, depending on network level, to $5 or $30. Specialist copays were reduced from $50 or $150 to $10 or $50.
You do need to complete the sign-up process at nevadahealthlink.com to determine whether you’ll get the break. So Steve offered some tips on how to make it through, if you have issues with the site.
First, forget about browsing for a plan without creating an account, because you won’t get a full reckoning of the cost unless you put in your details. Start an account at the site with a user name and a password, or you won’t be able to get back into your account. Do not provide your e-mail address, or you might not be able to return to your account. Make sure you know exactly what your adjusted gross income is before you get started. And check your insurer’s website for a provider list because the state exchange’s site doesn’t always match, he said.
“Don’t wait for a bill. Send a check in right away,” he added.

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Jennifer Shearin Group Wellness Coaching for Health and Life | Exploreb2b

Cheng Park 10 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0
Life coaches are becoming very popular nowadays. What parents and teachers used to do exclusively has become the concern and livelihood of people who have the expertise and passion to provide general mentoring in life and all its many aspects, such as health, business, arts and marital counseling. Being a life coach essentially means you teach a person gain skills within a particular field or industry while visualizing how those skills will enhance one’s ability to cope and to compete in life.

Success is the aim of almost every person and enterprise. And without the need to reinvent the wheel, life coaches have collated much of the ancient and modern knowledge in specific fields for those seeking guided education for personal advancement.

Whereas only wealthy individuals and celebrities could afford voice or gym coaches in the past, now, almost anyone can find an online coach or even a personal coach for a reasonable and even at no price at all. Reading through Jennifer Shearin’s website is in itself a practically free but priceless tool for anyone who seriously takes her advices to heart.

Achieving balance in one’s life through having a health coach is the latest innovation in health management. More specifically, having an integrative health coach to provide an individualized health plan provides one with a focused strategy designed to address personal health issues through experienced health experts.

The main objective of having an integrative health coach is in obtaining a program that will help “sustain the mindset needed to make lifestyle and behavior changes for the long haul”. Developing and maintaining the discipline of a healthy and balanced life requires the help of a whole family or group of people, not just an individual. As they say, it takes a whole village to raise a child. It certainly requires a whole town to keep each individual become a healthy member of the community. Trying to go organic in a town that does not produce any such products would be tough. Let alone live in a town that does not care about proper sanitation and waste disposal.

Finding a health coach then must take into consideration not merely the qualifications of the coach itself but also with the specific health goals that a person has. Having a qualified health coach, nevertheless, is the first step toward attaining a sustainable personal health program.

Related Videos:
Massaging for Health, a Shearin Health Group Approach
Jennifer Shearin Group Wellness Coaching - Road to Wellness Less Travelled
Coaching for Health and Life, Integrated Group Jennifer Shearin


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WordPress | A Road to Wellness Less Travelled, Jennifer Shearin Group Wellness Coaching

Crystal Collins 10 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0
http://chengpark.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/blog-a-road-to-wellness-less-travelled-jennifer-shearin-group-wellness-coaching/

With the upsurge of the wellness industry in the past thirty years, more and more people are living well-balanced and active lives. And as the essential medical knowledge and practices improve even more, we can look forward to more people living up to a hundred years or more, something which was apparently a common thing in ancient times. In certain parts of the world, such as Thailand, Spain, Japan, France and the US, where we can find the most number of centenarians, dietary and lifestyle habits are commonly investigated and emulated as effective means of achieving not just long-life but for maintaining a sense of well-being.

If it was such a common thing for people to live up to a hundred or even much longer in ancient times, how come modern people no longer approach that level of physiological durability? We are more of an exception now rather than the rule in biological longevity. Sea turtles, swans and carps and some other animals have longer average life spans than us humans. And they do not even read bibles and blogs!

But we should not despair as life is, as often said, not measured in the length of one’s life but in the quality of life that one has. What human can survive living in water as tortoises and carps do? Yet the quality of life, not just the length of it, can now be attained through observing certain basic health tips and lifestyle changes any person can do without having to spend so much. And one need not reside in Okinawa or in Nepal to achieve this.

Jennifer Shearin provides a valuable list of how one can attain wellness, and, it follows, a long and happy life. She does not tell her readers to do all, of course. One only has to choose those that fit one’s budget and other conveniences in life.

Take, for instance, tip # 45 on taking up yoga. Yoga, admittedly, has so many health benefits. But such benefits can only be attained through some rigorous body exercises unique to yoga. Here is where many people feel challenged, especially the aged and the physically disabled? What then? As suggested, one must look for other alternatives while trying to achieve the same health benefits.

Certain ancient Chinese breathing exercises are known to provide rejuvenation of internal organs through slow, meditative deep-breathing routines. Almost any person of any age and even with disabilities can practice them. Perhaps, certain body movements, just as certain expensive foods are inaccessible to most people, are not meant for everyone. But there are certainly other ways to get the health benefits through some other means.

And with 74 ways to choose from, Jennifer Shearin has certainly covered most bases when it comes to having a healthy, happy and long life. For that, we can only thank her.

Watch the video online of A Road to Wellness Less Travelled, Jennifer Shearin Group Wellness Coaching

To join conversations about having a healthy, happy and long life, visit http://ellislab.com/forums/viewthread/242809/
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Travel Tips by Westhill Consulting Tours - 10 Things to Know About Travel in Southeast Asia

Adalet Albaf 10 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0
10 Things to Know About Travel in Southeast Asia
By travelwesthill

Lots of globetrotters and backpackers have journeyed to the fertile and culturally rich Southeast Asia. Known for its beautiful beaches, mesmerizing historical sights and a touch of adventurousness, this comparatively inexpensive travel destination baits thousands amongst thousands of people every year with landmarks like Angkor Wat, Cambodia; the city of Bangkok, Thailand; and the scenic views of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. Don’t forget Jakarta Indonesia a surprise in Southeast Asia.

As much as we highly recommend you visit these places, the prudent traveler will do his/her homework as to abide the laws and traditions of these very different countries, as well as be prepared to face the risks, both financial and otherwise that could wind up tarnishing your vacation.

Almost everything is negotiable, almost: Haggling can be more beneficial in Southeast Asia than in most places in the world. Vendors at most malls and shops do not have price tags and it is common that when you ask for one, the price will be quite high because it looks like you have cash to burn. Don’t be afraid to ask for a lower price since another vendor just a few feet way is sure to be selling the same thing.

The food is great, just be careful: Renowned for its amazing cuisine, both on the street and in the restaurants, eating in SE Asia is one of the most exciting parts of going, but be cautious before eating just anything. One tip is to check if you see other patrons dining at a location before you go in.
Also, many of these countries have free English-written dining guides. Check them out.

Watch your pockets: Whether you are on the back of a motorbike or walking down the street, muggings and scams happen everywhere. Keep your personal belongings near to you at all times, perhaps consider a fanny pack or only bringing along essentials where you’re out of the hotel. This is a justified warning.
There is more to life than ‘backpacker street’: SE Asian countries have become very good at creating mini-tourism hubs of inexpensive hotels or hostels and surrounding them with vendors and bars and everything you need so that you don’t leave.
Granted, in places like Saigon and Bangkok, they are a lot of fun, but make a point to get out and explore other places. You’ll never know what’s waiting just around the corner.

Wetshill Consulting Travel & Tours based in Singapore specializes in in giving advice and tips for tourists from Australia, Canada, US and all countries all over the world.
Check the local rags and mags: As I mentioned before, most SE Asian countries have English-written guides. That’s because in a number of countries there, there is already an established community of expatriates. If you are looking to just find your bearings and want a safe bet on places to go, pick one up.

Be prepared to be approached by strangers: Locals in Southeast Asia are often very nice toward westerners and truthfully enjoy telling you how nice you look. Whether it is coming from a man or woman, get ready for a swarm of compliments on your appearance. It may seem a little strange at first, but you will get used to it. I promise.
This scotch does not taste like scotch: Drinks are a quarter of the price than what you’d find in Europe or in the U.S., the reason being that many of the typical name brands are regionally produced and use local ingredients, so don’t be shocked when your beloved Grey Goose on ice tastes a little different from what you are used to. Use the opportunity to try some very interesting locally produced spirits.

Take the tour deals seriously: Pretty much anywhere you go (of the major tourist destinations) there are sure to be tour pamphlets sitting around with great deals. From boat rides to day trips, there are great tours around that will get you where you need to go.

Hire local transport for the day: One great way to get around is to hire a tuk tuk or a moto-driver for the whole day to take you everywhere you want to go for a very nominal price. Your driver can also work as a de facto tour guide, getting you around to the spots you may not have thought of and that you would regret not seeing.
When you can, take a bus or train: When it comes to budget traveling, this is the way. Night buses get you from one country to the next for next to nothing, although they do take longer, no doubt about that. Roads between many destinations are well enough to travel, although there are going to be bumpy rides. None the less, when you need to do it on the cheap, this is the best option.

Related Stories:
http://www.quora.com/Westhill-Consulting-Jakarta-Travel-and-Tours
http://syosset.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/westhill-consulting-travel-and-tours-jakarta-travel-tips_cad475dc
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/108506-westhill-consulting-travel-tours-inc
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Gemeinschaft Mesh-Netzwerk: Die DIY-Internet

gertudepark 10 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0
Da die NSA Spionage Kontroverse brach im letzten Sommer, scheint wahr Online-Datenschutz fast lächerlich.Das Leben im 21. Jahrhundert scheint eine schwierige Wahl zwischen Aufstellen mit Big Brother oder Rückzug in einer Blockhütte auf Such Ihre Manifest (Langschrift, kein Zweifel) sein.Aber was, wenn es einen dritten Wahl-was, wenn Sie die NSA durch den Aufbau Ihrer eigenen Internet umgehen können?Wie sich herausstellt, ist diese Idee gar nicht so weit hergeholt, sagt Clive Thompson inMother Jones(September / Oktober 2013).In der Tat ist es schon an zu passieren.

Die Idee begann als eine Lösung für die "letzte Meile"-Problem die Tatsache, dass Web-Nutzer den Anschluss an den Weiten einem Netzwerk ist für alle Beteiligten lächerlich teuer.Vor zehn Jahren bekam Möchtegern-Nutzer in ländlichen Spanien krank warten, um für Telekom für Web-Zugang zu verbinden und zu überladen und begann zu denken Alternativen.Sie schlugen auf die Gemeinschaft Mesh-Netzwerk, eine Art Koop-Internet, wo DSL, öffentliche Hot-Spots, und Langstrecken-Antennen an die Stelle der herkömmlichen Breitband-und WiFi.Und es hat funktioniert: Heute ist Spaniens Guifi Netzwerk der weltweit größte Masche mit mehr als 21.000 Nutzer-viele von ihnen genießen schnellere Internet zu niedrigeren Kosten als die von uns immer noch unter Berufung auf einen ISP.

Im Gegensatz zu einem traditionellen Hub-and-Spoke-Netzwerk, in dem die Benutzer eine Verbindung unabhängig voneinander an einen zentralen Zugriffspunkt-denken, AT & T ein Community-Mesh-Netzwerk verbindet Benutzer für alle anderen Benutzer in der Nähe.Also anstatt alle raub Daten aus der gleichen Quelle, Mesh-Benutzern teilen alles, was sie mit den in der Nähe empfangen, was Thompson-Bereich fordert der "Eimerketten"-Ansatz zur Verwendung im Internet.Manchmal bedeutet dies, den gemeinsamen Zugang zu herkömmlichen Servern in weit entfernten Orten, in anderen Fällen bedeutet es, eine völlig neue Internet von Grund auf.

Und wie sich herausstellt, all dies macht Big Brother die Aufgabe viel schwieriger.Die NSA kann Tabs auf Millionen von E-Mail-Konten und-Browsing Geschichte zu haben, aber sie haben keine PRISM-Programm für Mesh-Netze haben.Surveilling oder Herunterfahren eines Community-Mesh ist nicht unmöglich, aber es ist wie Hydra-Design macht es viel komplizierter.Und das hat Aktivisten und Befürworter der Netzneutralität angeregt.Networks mag klein sein, aber das Potenzial für eine wirklich freie und offene Internet ist da.
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Jennifer Shearin Group Wellness Coaching: Road to Wellness Less Travelled on Quora

Scarlet Gray 10 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0
View Source

With the upsurge of the wellness industry in the past thirty years, more and more people are living well-balanced and active lives. And as the essential medical knowledge and practices improve even more, we can look forward to more people living up to a hundred years or more, something which was apparently a common thing in ancient times. In certain parts of the world, such as Thailand, Spain, Japan, France and the US, where we can find the most number of centenarians, dietary and lifestyle habits are commonly investigated and emulated as effective means of achieving not just long-life but for maintaining a sense of well-being.

If it was such a common thing for people to live up to a hundred or even much longer in ancient times, how come modern people no longer approach that level of physiological durability? We are more of an exception now rather than the rule in biological longevity. Sea turtles, swans and carps and some other animals have longer average life spans than us humans. And they do not even read bibles and blogs!

[Make powerful choices to create your maximum level of health with my facilitation skills and the wisdom and support of a group. See Jennifer Shearin Group Wellness Coaching: Road to Wellness Less Travelled video update. ]

But we should not despair as life is, as often said, not measured in the length of one’s life but in the quality of life that one has. What human can survive living in water as tortoises and carps do? Yet the quality of life, not just the length of it, can now be attained through observing certain basic health tips and lifestyle changes any person can do without having to spend so much. And one need not reside in Okinawa or in Nepal to achieve this.

Jennifer Shearin provides a valuable list of how one can attain wellness, and, it follows, a long and happy life. She does not tell her readers to do all, of course. One only has to choose those that fit one’s budget and other conveniences in life.

Take, for instance, tip # 45 on taking up yoga. Yoga, admittedly, has so many health benefits. But such benefits can only be attained through some rigorous body exercises unique to yoga. Here is where many people feel challenged, especially the aged and the physically disabled? What then? As suggested, one must look for other alternatives while trying to achieve the same health benefits.

Certain ancient Chinese breathing exercises are known to provide rejuvenation of internal organs through slow, meditative deep-breathing routines. Almost any person of any age and even with disabilities can practice them. Perhaps, certain body movements, just as certain expensive foods are inaccessible to most people, are not meant for everyone. But there are certainly other ways to get the health benefits through some other means.

And with 74 ways to choose from, Jennifer Shearin has certainly covered most bases when it comes to having a healthy, happy and long life. For that, we can only thank her.
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Massaging for Health, a Shearin Health Group Approach – PitchEngine

Alvin Holmgren 10 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0
Massaging is one of the best remedies for many of our illnesses. It is very relaxing, like sleeping as a little baby while mommy strokes you all over the sores of your tired body. Just the thought that someone is there while you close your eyes and mind and lie down eases your mind like no other activity available on earth, except perhaps. . . .

But what power does massage have that it provides so much healing benefits to humans? Even animals practice it instinctively as a means to heal themselves, as dogs and cats apparently do. Of course, we know that muscles need massaging in order to remove obstacles in our veins and to enhance blood circulation and breathing. It also removes unwanted dry skin and toxins within our bodies that other cleansing therapies may not totally remove. All in all, massage offers health benefits which are both physiological and emotional.

View source link here..

The emotional side of massage therapy derives from its social dimension as a form of therapy, as we have mentioned. Having someone take care or treat your body in a way that you or someone else you know intimately cannot do for you crosses a barrier that revolves around trust and harmony. One cannot entrust one’s body to someone who does not have the ability or intention to provide healing. In many cases, massage and prayer (or meditation -- notice the spa music they use?) go together. The event becomes essentially a social or cultural activity which goes beyond attaining healing to that of providing peace and harmony among people.

Massage as a therapy then does not deal only with healing the body but more so the mind. Spas have provided a very valuable service to modern society by providing a convenient escape where tired, harried and lonely people can totally relax and obtain body and mental rejuvenation. No wonder that it has become such a lucrative business for many people.

Health, obviously, is wealth in many practical ways.

Make powerful choices to create your maximum level of health with my facilitation skills and the wisdom and support of a group. Visit Jennifer Shearin Group Wellness Coaching.

Related Video:
Massaging for Health, a Shearin Health Group Approach
Jennifer Shearin Group Wellness Coaching – Road to Wellness Less Travelled
Coaching for Health and Life, Integrated Group Jennifer Shearin

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Need an elegant antidote to global warming? Look to B.C.

Janus Neil 11 jaar geleden in Plugin announcements 0

Need an elegant antidote to global warming? Look to B.C.


The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in Stockholm Friday, leaves almost no doubt that human activity can take the blame for the warming trend, even if the warming rate seems to be slowing. The conclusion came as no surprise. The 1996 IPCC report stated that the “balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate,” and the updates since then have reinforced that stance.

Once environment ministers and big industries digest the report, don’t expect a lot to change – even though the 1983-to-2012 period in the Northern Hemisphere was very likely the warmest 30-year period in 800 years, and the frequency and costliness of natural disasters (storms, floods, drought, fire, extreme temperatures) has been rising since the early 1980s. Reinsurance giant Munich Re reports that the damages from the 10 biggest natural catastrophes of 2012 alone, topped by the Hurricane Sandy storm surge, totalled more than $130-billion (U.S.).

The pity is that there is an efficient, fair way to reduce carbon footprints without throwing economies into reverse. It is one that is not impossibly complicated and prone to abuse like carbon-credit trading, or based on command-and-control regulations, such as milking taxpayers to subsidize renewable energy. It is carbon taxes. They are quietly being introduced by governments in North America, Europe and Asia, although not quickly enough. Given their relative simplicity and effectiveness, they ought to be ubiquitous.

More than a few prominent scientists and economists, among them Paul Ekins, director of the Institute for Sustainable Resources at University College of London, and Stewart Elgie of the University of Ottawa, think British Columbia’s carbon tax is a fine model. “The design of that carbon tax was the best in the world,” Mr. Ekins said in an interview.

The B.C. carbon tax applies to all fuels, from gasoline to propane, at the point of sale. It was launched in July, 2008 as the main effort in the province’s campaign to drop emissions by one-third by 2020. The tax was designed to be “revenue neutral” – that is, all the income it raised would be offset by reduced taxes elsewhere – and it was introduced gradually. By 2012, the tax per litre of gasoline was seven cents.

A study led by Mr. Elgie found that in the first four years of the carbon tax, B.C. fuel consumption fell 17.4 per cent per capita, and 18.8 per cent compared with the rest of Canada. In the first three years, the province’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 11 per cent (more recent data are not available). If all this were not good enough, B.C.’s economy did not get clobbered, either. Since the tax was introduced, its gross domestic product has kept pace with the rest of Canada.

The tax does not take an army of bureaucrats to administer and was relatively cheap to introduce. It went from concept to reality in a mere five months.

B.C.’s little tax beauty is not perfect. It does not apply to all carbon emissions, notably the flaring of natural gas by the drillers. It is being frozen at the current level, taking away some of its future punch.

Quebec and Alberta have less useful variants of the B.C. tax. (Alberta’s, born in 2007, was the first of its kind on the continent.) The other provinces lack such a tax and none exists at the federal level, where any new tax is treated with fear and loathing. Ditto in the United States, where the mere utterance of “tax” is considered political suicide, at least at the federal level.

Too bad, because carbon trading and regulations lack simplicity, cost fortunes to administer and are less fair and effective. A carbon tax merely sets the price of carbon use, allowing businesses and consumers to change their fuel-consumption behaviour at the lowest cost. Some will use public transportation more often; others will buy more fuel-efficient cars. Companies will innovate, knowing that fuel efficiency will save operating costs.

France, Italy, China and South Africa have recently introduced, or announced they will introduce, carbon taxes of one form or another. Several other European countries have them. All work to some degree, although they tend to lack ambition and get lost in the clutter of other climate-change mitigation efforts, from clean-technology subsidies to appliance performance standards.

The IPCC report will receive a barrage of criticism from the climate-change skeptics. They will dismiss the report as a fraud or a hoax because of the declining rate of warming; never mind that the planet is warming. They will ignore the data that reveal an alarming increase in natural catastrophes, such as floods. They will condemn carbon taxes as yet another tax grab, even if they are revenue neutral. B.C.’s fine example of a tax that helps the planet, yet neither hurts taxpayers nor growth, will fail to sway them.


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